TGSS - Chapter 30

Chapter 30: Chu Ze

On the day they went to A City on business they took Tan Qing's SUV. Chu He and Liang Zhouyi rested with eyes closed in the back seat while Tan Qing dutifully played driver. As they passed a tree-lined avenue, Tan Qing could not help complaining, "If I had known, I would have gone with the others. You two don't answer a single question, just making me play "silence is golden" by myself."

Chu He said faintly without opening her eyes, "Didn't I say I would drive? You didn't want to, and now you're twisting things around."

Tan Qing sneered behind his sunglasses, "Your car? Even if I had the guts to get in, I'm afraid I wouldn't get out alive." When Chu He had just gotten her license in college she had once given Tan Qing a ride, leaving him with a deep psychological shadow.

Liang Zhouyi leaned against the window, seemingly uninterested in their topic, only watching the deep green tree shadows fly backward, lost in thought with her fist clenched.

In the end Chu He still chose to go home. When Tan Qing found out he insisted on tagging along to visit Chu Ze at her house. When they dropped Liang Zhouyi at the hotel, Chu He lifted Liang Zhouyi's small suitcase from the trunk and asked, "Are you really not coming to stay at my place?"

"You weren't sincerely inviting me anyway." Liang Zhouyi took the suitcase, looking at Chu He with a half smile. Although Chu He had asked her several times, she could feel that Chu He hoped she would refuse.

Chu He blinked, feigning innocence, "You're wronging me now. Fine then, I'll come find you early tomorrow."

"Hey, how long are you two going to do this reluctant parting?" Tan Qing rolled down the window and complained, "It's not like it's a matter of life and death, will you ever finish?"

Chu He pushed up her glasses and turned to Tan Qing with a completely different expression. She put on a cold face, moved to the passenger seat and slammed the door hard, staring at Tan Qing intently until he felt extremely uneasy.

"What are you doing?" Tan Qing asked, trying to appear calm, his hands on the steering wheel faintly sweaty.

"Was it you who told Chu Ze about me and Liang Zhouyi?" Chu He rested her cheek leisurely on her hand, her fingers tapping lightly against her face as she narrowed her eyes to ask him.

"Why me! Couldn't it be Chen Xinluo?" Tan Qing bristled instantly, "I didn't say anything at all. Even when I said last time I would go find Brother Chu Ze, that was just talk. How would I dare?"

Chu He shook her head. It did not seem like Chen Xinluo. That woman was very perceptive and would not stir up trouble. She had always known how to keep things balanced. If it was not Tan Qing either, then who could it be?

"Besides, what is there between you and Liang Zhouyi?" Tan Qing thought of the matching wounds on the two of them that day, his tone carrying a bit of teasing and curiosity, "But you finally know she likes women? It's a good thing you used to try to set us up every day. I couldn't say anything and it was suffocating me."

"Oh, so you knew all along?" Chu He immediately seized on the key point, her voice carrying a chilling danger, "You knew but just watched me run around like a fool, right?"

Tan Qing knew he had misspoken and immediately clamped his mouth shut, refusing to say another word.

"You and Liang Zhouyi were high school classmates, so she liked women back in high school, but with her personality she would absolutely not have taken the initiative to tell you. Could it be she had someone she liked in high school?" Chu He stared at the expression on Tan Qing's face, deducing bit by bit, "Speaking of which, how did you and Liang Zhouyi get to know each other so well?"

Tan Qing was sweating profusely from her interrogation and could only flatly deny it, "No, I just found out by accident."

As for the second half of Chu He's question, Tan Qing subconsciously ignored it. He did not really want to bring up the embarrassing first meeting in high school when he had been beaten up and happened to run into Liang Zhouyi, who reluctantly saved him. It was from then that he gradually came to understand this girl who had excellent grades and strange behavior in high school and who shared his dream career.

Chu He fell silent, letting him off the hook. The car drove steadily along the road, and Tan Qing made several turns onto a secluded little lane.

This villa in the western suburbs was not far from the city center, but fortunately the environment was beautiful and the air fresh. Chu He looked at the interior, clean and tidy, as if someone cleaned it regularly. She changed into slippers, walked into the villa with her hands behind her back. The Chinese retro decor was understated yet luxurious, very much reflecting the owner's taste.

"You're back." The man sat on the leather sofa, a black lump lying on his gray cotton pants. He set down the teacup in his hand and fixed his gaze on Chu He, his voice not at all warm.

"Brother Chu Ze." Tan Qing bowed his head respectfully and was the first to greet him, his back held stiff.

Chu Ze gave a slight nod and turned that face, which bore a thirty percent resemblance to Chu He's, toward her, "Why didn't you bring that good friend of yours home? Didn't the family teach you how to treat guests when you were little?"

Chu He frowned slightly, feeling an unprecedented sense of crisis from this imposing man. She smiled faintly, "Just an ordinary friend. If I had to bring everyone home, I'm afraid our house would be packed full."

Ignoring Chu He's terrible attitude, Chu Ze reached out to stroke that furry lump and said lightly, "It's good you know that. Indeed, not just anyone can be brought home. After you get engaged, it will be the same at your fiance's house. Don't embarrass me."

"Fiance?" Chu He and Tan Qing asked in astonished unison.

The black lump in Chu Ze's arms was startled by the shouting and jumped onto the marble floor. Chu Ze stood up, a trace of nonchalance on his sharp face, "Oh, I forgot to tell you. You're getting engaged next month, but if you're busy you don't have to show up."

Chu He was almost amused to anger by his elegant, casual manner. What did he mean she did not have to show up if she was busy? She retorted coldly, "Then when I get married I'll be busy too, so I won't show up either."

Unexpectedly, Chu Ze thought about it for a moment and said seriously, "That's not impossible either."

Chu He was speechless for a moment. She could tell Chu Ze was not joking. If she opposed him now it would inevitably cause a series of unnecessary troubles, so she quickly calmed down and instantly thought of the optimal solution, "Whatever, engagement is fine, but I don't want to get married within a year." Anyway, she would not be in this world in a year, so she would just muddle through for now.

Tan Qing stood stiffly, staring dumbfounded as the brother and sister settled Chu He's marriage prospects as if negotiating a business deal, without even mentioning who the man was. At once, he thought of Liang Zhouyi and broke out in a slight cold sweat. Beneath the luxurious tasselled chandelier, he felt as if he had been placed in an ice cellar. He simply did not dare imagine how Liang Zhouyi would feel if she learned this news.

Seeing that Chu He showed no intention of resisting, Chu Ze revealed a faint trace of satisfaction. He sat back down on the sofa, leaned down slightly and called softly, "Middleman."

Chu He frowned, wondering who he was calling, when that pure black little cat trotted on its short legs toward Chu Ze. She watched the man gently pick up the little cat with feelings she could not quite name. This black cat was called Middleman? What a terrible name!

---

Liang Zhouyi's hotel room happened to be directly opposite Wen Xiaoying's. A few days ago the makeup artist on the team had gossiped that the company had originally planned to book a better hotel for Wen Xiaoying, but she had taken the initiative to ask to stay with the team to make communication easier at any time. When Sen Sen heard this he showed a bitter smile, as if the experience had driven him into a shell, glad that as an editor he did not have to follow them to the shoot, otherwise he would really go crazy. This Wen Xiaoying probably wanted to make it convenient to work overtime together in the middle of the night.

Liang Zhouyi had just swiped her key card and opened her door when she ran into Wen Xiaoying coming out from across the hall. She wore a flowing hanfu with exquisite makeup, looked Liang Zhouyi up and down, and said with a sweet smile, "Why didn't Chu He come with you?"

Liang Zhouyi gave her a cold look and was about to push her suitcase in and close the door, but Wen Xiaoying pressed against the door and slipped into her room in a flash. She looked around the room without any politeness, and after a while said, "She really isn't here. But Liang Zhouyi, I didn't expect that with how you are now, Chu He could still take a fancy to you."

"Get out." Liang Zhouyi gripped the door handle, her expression like an oncoming storm. She spat the two words through gritted teeth.

Wen Xiaoying glanced at her, tilted her head childishly and sighed with full malice, "Zhou Yi, I really still don't want to see you, so why don't you just resign on your own?"

She wore a gorgeous hanfu with an exquisite and expensive hairpin in her hair, and her tone as she said this was as light as if she were saying please pour me a glass of water.

A flush spread across Liang Zhouyi's fair face, red from anger. She said calmly, "Wen Xiaoying, I did regret becoming friends with you back then, but the one thing I have never regretted is not giving in to you back then, so I won't back down now either. If you want something, go get it yourself. Don't always try to climb up by stepping on others."

Wen Xiaoying's pretty face twisted for an instant, her eyes as vicious as if poisoned, "Whether it's a person I want or a thing I want, of course I will go and take it! The most important thing is that you don't get in my way."

Liang Zhouyi looked at her with considerable irritation, pressing down hard on that bit of hatred in her heart, tugged at the corner of her mouth, and finding they had nothing to say to each other, only stared coldly toward the doorway, signaling her to get lost.

Wen Xiaoying slowly straightened her collar, moved with light steps toward the outside and resumed her usual gentle appearance. She smiled softly, "Then Zhou Yi, get some good rest. I have to go get busy. I'll have to trouble you with work tomorrow."

Only after watching her walk away did Liang Zhouyi gently close the door. When she spread her palm, there were many crescent-shaped wounds. She gave a bitter smile and suddenly missed Chu He very, very much. Clearly she knew Chu He probably would not like Wen Xiaoying, but the thought of her being coveted made a displeasure gnaw at her like little insects burrowing into her marrow. She did not even dare ask Chu He what she really meant to her.

Like an ostrich she did not dare think it through carefully. Besides, even if Chu He returned her feelings now, would she dare reach out and accept? So wait a little longer, she must wait a little longer for her. She would become a better person worthy of her.

After packing up and lying down, Liang Zhouyi answered a call from her mother, and her heart sank back to the bottom.

"Zhou Yi, Xiao Feng said he is traveling in A City these two days, so send him some money, will you? He and Xiao Chen can't always spend Xiao Chen's money, and your brother usually buys you a lot of things too."

Liang Zhouyi lay on the bed looking at the light overhead, raising a hand to shield her eyes, her tone somewhat sarcastic, "Buy what? The money I sent you these past few months already included his share. As for Gao Mingchen, you still haven't given up, have you?"

"What are you saying, child? Xiao Chen's mother and I are good friends. You made things so unpleasant last time, I bought a lot of things to apologize, you know. Alas, I'm really tight on money right now. Your brother is too embarrassed to ask you, so as his older sister you should take the initiative."

Liang Zhouyi closed her eyes wearily and was silent for a long time before giving a low assent. She knew her mother's habits all too well. Whenever she had a little money, it would be squeezed dry by those inexplicable friends and relatives at home. Even so, she still indulged her, just treating it as paying for peace with that guilt, thinking that a harder life was just a harder life.

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