He calmly explained to Qiuyun, “When I was first released from the ban, my mom had people waiting downstairs at the company to stop me. The programming department hadn’t fully moved out yet, so I had to find a way to disguise myself and sneak in.”
He had dressed as a woman?
Qiuyun couldn’t help studying his face.
She was curious.
Jiang Chuling immediately reached out to her brother. “Do you have any pictures? Let me see!”
“Forget it!” Jiang Linzhi glared at her. “You’re just a kid. Don’t be so nosy. Where would I get a picture?”
“Tch!” Jiang Chuling scoffed. “You definitely took a secretly. Don’t think I don’t know you.”
“…”
As soon as she said that, both Qiuyun and Pei Cizhou looked over. One was full of interest, while the other’s expression turned unpleasant.
“Secretly took one?” Pei Cizhou gave a cold laugh.
Jiang Linzhi was entirely unapologetic. “So what? Do you know how much trouble your claim that you were my girlfriend caused me at the company? A few days ago, I even heard Wang Zhi say that everyone there thinks I’m a womanizing playboy!”
“Girlfriend!?” Qiuyun and the young miss exclaimed in unison.
Jiang Linzhi hurriedly clarified, “Male! Straight! Don’t get the wrong idea!”
Pei Cizhou coughed. “I didn’t have a choice. I had to come up with an excuse to get past the security gate.”
After all that, everyone’s appetite had been thoroughly whetted. If he didn’t show them the picture now, it would seem a little unreasonable.
Jiang Linzhi had no choice but to pull it up.
To be honest, he had taken it casually that day and left it buried in his photo gallery without ever looking at it again. He wasn’t gay, after all. Why would he stare at his best friend dressed as a woman for no reason?
Today was his first time, ahem, appreciating it.
The picture had clearly been taken secretly, from a forty-five-degree angle above. It happened to conceal the sharply defined line of his jaw, focusing all attention on his exquisitely sculpted features. He looked youthful and radiant.
“So cute!” Jiang Chuling looked from the picture to Brother Pei. “Brother Pei looks so pretty in girls’ clothes!”
Seeing the same look of surprise appear on Miss Qiu’s face, Pei Cizhou couldn’t help curling his lips upward. “Someone who looks good will look good in both men’s and women’s clothes.”
Qiuyun couldn’t help glaring at him. “Could you be a little more modest?”
Pei Cizhou tilted his head and mimed zipping his lips shut.
“But he really is cute.” Qiuyun took out her phone. “Fourth Young Master, could you send me the picture?”
Jiang Linzhi looked surprised and didn’t respond for a long moment. Jiang Chuling quickly stepped on his foot under the table. “I want it too! I’m going to use it as my wallpaper!”
“Oh.” Jiang Linzhi came back to himself. “Sure.”
After dinner, Qiuyun went to get the car. Pei Cizhou followed her out, using the excuse that three people in the back seat would be too cramped.
Jiang Chuling pulled her brother into the car and had the driver raise the privacy partition.
“Honestly, I can’t with you, bro.” Jiang Chuling shook her head. Putting on an exaggeratedly mature expression, she imitated their father by rubbing her forehead and sighing. “There are four people here, and even I—a primary school student—can tell that you like Sister Xiaoqiu. Don’t tell me you haven’t realized it yourself?”
“!?”
Jiang Linzhi loudly denied it. “Nonsense! Complete nonsense! How could that be possible!”
Tsk, tsk.
He was still refusing to admit it.
Jiang Chuling planted her hands on her hips. “Fine. If you ever realize that you really do like her, you have to call me Big Sis, and I’ll call you Little Brother.”
“…” Jiang Linzhi bared his teeth. “You little runt! Stay out of adult matters!”
“I’ll be eleven next month! I’m not a little runt!”
“Whatever. Just stay out of it.” Jiang Linzhi’s thoughts were a complete mess, and he turned away irritably, resting his head against the car window.
After a while—
Jiang Chuling had already finished two advanced math problems on her study tablet when he finally turned back to her, looking glum. “What if I really do like her?”
“Then pursue her!” Her eyes lit up. “Bro, if you can marry Sister Xiaoqiu and bring her home to be my sister-in-law, I’ll do whatever you say from then on. I’ll listen to everything!”
“Ahem.” Embarrassed, Jiang Linzhi said, “You could tell that I liked her, but what about your Brother Pei…?”
“Brother Pei does have pretty good taste.” Jiang Chuling consoled him. “You may not be as handsome as Brother Pei, but you have other advantages!”
“What advantages?”
“Hehe. Brother Pei offended Sister Xiaoqiu soon after meeting her. Tsk, tsk. You can imagine what kind of first impression he made.”
“Uh, it might be difficult.” Jiang Linzhi coughed awkwardly. “I probably offended her too.”
“Huh?”
“I suspected she had ulterior motives back then.”
“…”
Jiang Chuling tugged at the corner of her mouth. “You’re really good at ruining your own chances.”
The moment Jiang Linzhi realized that he liked Assistant Qiu, everything that had happened in the past came flooding back with perfect clarity.
Her nimble, gentle hands beneath the streetlights. Her poised and graceful figure at the dining table. The way she had served tea at the birthday banquet without the slightest trace of servility or arrogance.
He had clearly found her uniquely captivating even then, yet it had taken him until now to finally understand his feelings.
Jiang Linzhi let out a long breath and decided to find a time to ask Old Pei out for a talk.
On the other side, Pei Cizhou settled into the passenger seat of Qiuyun’s car. “Miss Qiu, you chose a great car. It looks good, and it’s comfortable too.”
Qiuyun got in. “Can I ask you something?”
“Go ahead.”
“Why do you always call me Miss Qiu?”
He fastened his seat belt. “Don’t you always call me President Pei?”
“…”
Apparently, even this had to become a competition between them.
Qiuyun sighed helplessly. “Fine. From now on, I won’t call you President Pei, and you don’t call me Miss Qiu either. It sounds awkward.”
“Agreed.” Pei Cizhou humbly asked, “Then what should I call you? What sounds more natural?”
“Xiaoqiu is fine.” Qiuyun started the car.
Pei Cizhou didn’t like it.
He felt that this nickname must have been used by countless people in her past. It wasn’t special at all.
“By the way, when did you realize what A Zhi was thinking?”
He changed the subject.
As for what he would call her in the future, he already had his own plans.
Qiuyun drove out of the parking lot. “Hmm? What about Fourth Young Master? What is he thinking?”
Pei Cizhou gave a low chuckle. “Don’t pretend you don’t know. Didn’t you just use me as a shield?”
“…”
Qiuyun tugged at the corner of her mouth. “I told you, I only realized it today. Do you believe me?”
“I do.”
Because he had only realized it today as well.
They had been close friends for five or six years. The two of them had stood together on the steps, yet the first person they noticed hadn’t even been the brother they knew better.
Their feelings couldn’t have been more obvious.
Qiuyun glanced at him when she had a moment and teased him openly. “So, how does it feel to like the same woman as your best friend?”
He remained perfectly composed. “That depends mainly on what the woman in question thinks. No matter how many people like her, it’s useless if she doesn’t care for any of them.”
“What if she doesn’t have any feelings for either of you?”
“The advantage is mine.”
“…”
Qiuyun shot him an exasperated yet amused glance, too lazy to continue that line of conversation.
She dropped him off midway and sped away, leaving only a trail of exhaust behind.
Qiuyun drove to the estate, registered the license plate with the gate guard, and parked in the underground garage beneath Mingyue House.
It was Sunday, and the weekend family dinner—which had been quiet for a long time—was starting up again.
Qiuyun accompanied the young miss to the main building, where they happened to run into Jiang Yifeng arriving in his wheelchair.
Jiang Chuling greeted him politely. “Fourth Uncle.”
