TGSS - Chapter 39

Chapter 39: Fiancee

Recently Chu He had noticed that something was off about Liang Zhouyi. After work she was always appearing and disappearing unpredictably, and when asked she acted mysterious and refused to say anything.

She no longer waited to leave work together, and when she got home it was almost always past midnight, and whenever Chu He asked, Liang Zhouyi just brushed her off.

That day Liang Zhouyi sent her another message saying she would not leave with her. Chu He tossed her phone aside, quite annoyed. Is Liang Zhouyi seeing someone on the side? The moment the thought crossed her mind she could not sit still. Her hand on the keyboard pressed a little harder, her fingertips faintly paling.

After a moment's thought, Chu He threw on her coat and walked out with a cold expression. She was going to see for herself what Liang Zhouyi was actually up to.

"Chu He!"

Just as she reached the lobby on the first floor, a male voice called out to her. It sounded somewhat familiar. Puzzled, Chu He turned around and saw Chu Ze in a black overcoat, rising gracefully from the sofa with his hands in his pockets.

"Why are you here?" Chu He turned back from the revolving door, wariness surfacing in her eyes.

"You are not even willing to call me brother anymore?" A faint displeasure crossed Chu Ze's handsome face. "I am on a business trip in H City. Is it not reasonable to drop by and see my own sister?"

Chu He did not believe a word of his nonsense. Her tone was laced with sarcasm. "You are not going to see your girlfriend, you come to see me?"

She did not believe half of what Chu Ze said. He was a workaholic who rarely saw Chen Xinluo even though they were in a long-distance relationship. Come to see her for the sake of their thin family affection? Give her a break.

"Chu He, who taught you to talk to your family like that." Chu Ze pressed his thin lips together, a stern look gathering between his brows, as if he could not stand the sight of Chu He bristling all over.

Tsk, now there was trouble. Chu He glanced at the dim sky and knew there was no way she could go look for Liang Zhouyi today. She steadied her mood and focused on dealing with Chu Ze.

"Fine, then dear brother, what do you want with me?" Chu He put on a textbook smile, the cold distance on her face not lessening at all.

Chu Ze took two steps forward, the pressure of someone long accustomed to being in charge faintly radiating from him. Chu He met his gaze without flinching.

"Let's go." Chu Ze walked straight ahead, bumping her shoulder as he passed, and said lightly, "We will talk at your place."

Chu He frowned, her delicate brows knitting. "There is no need for that, is there?"

"It cannot be that there is something shameful at home, can it?" Chu Ze glanced back slightly, lifting his chin to signal Chu He to follow.

Chu He clenched her fists and strode toward him with a soft scoff. "You are overthinking it."

She said it forcefully, but in truth Chu He was not confident. After all, Liang Zhouyi had been staying at her place for some days, and with how sharp Chu Ze was, she did not know if she could hide it. But they would cross that bridge when they came to it. Even if he found out she was not afraid. If she could avoid trouble she would try to avoid it.

"Tomorrow, keep your evening free."

Chu Ze tossed out the sentence on his own as he sat in the car, his tone brooking no argument.

The commanding tone made Chu He feel rebellious all over. Sure enough, Chu Ze never came without a reason. She stared blankly at the taillights stretching down the road, barely suppressing her irritation, and gave a faint hum of assent.

"You are not going to ask what it is about?" Chu Ze was a little curious to see how readily she agreed.

"Does it matter?" Chu He raised an eyebrow. "I will know once I go."

"True enough. You do not have the right to refuse." Chu Ze gave a light cough and added, "Tomorrow you will meet your fiancee and her parents."

"Oh... huh?" Chu He was so shocked she nearly jumped out of the car. The seatbelt cut into her shoulder and collarbone as she moved too sharply. "Last time you said it was a fiance or something."

Getting even the gender wrong was a bit careless, wasn't it?

Chu Ze said indifferently, "The family from last time carries too much risk. There is a hidden problem with that kid. I reckon it will be exposed soon."

At this he gave Chu He a meaningful look, a trace of amusement on his face, but he did not explain in detail and just continued casually, "You will know soon enough."

In any case it was all tied to interests, and Chu He was not particularly curious. She just found Chu Ze rather amazing, so she said with a laugh, "Fiancee, you can actually say that with a straight face. Why do you not marry her yourself?"

"Watch your language. Saying that, where does that leave President Qin?" Chu Ze's voice turned cold and stern, displeased. "In any case you have never liked men or women since you were young. Gender should not matter much to you."

"Heh, it really does not matter much." After her sarcasm, Chu He fell silent. She had spoken without thinking, but even so, Chu Ze's first concern was President Qin rather than Chen Xinluo herself, which showed that his own marriage was also driven by interests.

Chu He sighed, completely uninterested in such matters. She could not help spinning her phone, thinking about how to get rid of him quickly.

But wishes rarely came true.

"Stay here?" Chu He's hand pouring tea trembled slightly, spilling some onto the table. She looked at him in alarm and disbelief. "You are going to skip your five-star hotel to freeload at my place and not leave?"

Chu Ze crossed his long legs, looking elegant and casual. He said lightly, "You seem very eager to get rid of me."

"Is this interesting?" Chu He set the kettle down hard, coldness finally gathering in her long eyes. "Or do you think it is fun to play dumb when you know perfectly well what is going on."

Chu Ze sat on the sofa and looked at the sharp woman before him without a word. "You do not want to pretend anymore? Who was the one pretending not to know in the first place?"

Traces of two people living together were too obvious in the apartment, and Chu Ze had come with the answer already in mind and was just looking for confirmation. Naturally, a little attention was enough to confirm what he suspected.

"Chu He. You are my sister. You have enjoyed what the family has provided for so many years, so you must shoulder the corresponding responsibilities, instead of being bewitched like this and getting involved with a woman who has nothing!" Chu Ze's voice carried a chill and a note of admonition, as if he were lecturing a disobedient younger sister from above.

Those words lit Chu He's anger as well. What had she enjoyed? This identity was fabricated to begin with. She had already cooperated where she needed to. For Chu Ze to wave that around like an imperial edict was so infuriating it almost made her laugh.

"Did I not say I would go tomorrow. You want me to get engaged and I have never objected. What do you mean by coming here to nag me and make me uncomfortable?" Chu He gripped the handle of the kettle, her shoulders slumping, and looked at him coldly.

"Chu He." Enraged by her careless attitude, Chu Ze shot to his feet. "What kind of attitude is this. You are 27 years old and no one has ever interfered with how you lived. Look at what you have done for a woman now. You even brought her home. You had better not force my hand."

"Oh, what do you plan to do?" Chu He walked over slowly with the tea, bent to set the cup down, and only then looked directly at the furious Chu Ze. "Know when to stop."

"You..." Chu Ze let out a long sigh, his tone a little weary. Looking at Chu He's unruly appearance gave him a headache. Was this really the kind of character their family could have raised?

The stalemate finally ended with Chu Ze giving in and compromising. He smoothed the wrinkles in his overcoat, looking as if he were exhausted, his voice dropping a little lower. "I will not have the tea then. I am leaving first. Be on time tomorrow, do not be late. You had better watch yourself."

As Chu Ze closed the door, he caught a glimpse through the crack of Chu He standing motionless. A faint flicker of guilt rose in his heart, extremely weak and gone in an instant.

He frowned and turned to leave, pressing the elevator button and watching the numbers tick upward.

The doors opened, and a woman in a khaki down jacket, strikingly familiar, frowned slightly in puzzlement when she saw him, then stepped aside to walk out.

Liang Zhouyi. This was the first time Chu Ze had seen her in person. His body tensed for an instant as he looked at the woman carrying a large bag, her shoulders sagging a little, her back very straight. She did not look as dejected as in the photos. Instead she carried an air of resilience.

With just a single glance, he could sense the similarity between her and Chu He. They were the same kind of person, resilient, as if they would never be trapped by external things and held no great attachment to feelings in this world.

When Liang Zhouyi entered, she noticed the cup on the table. She pressed her lips together. She had never seen Chu He use that cup. The man with the somewhat familiar face at the elevator flashed through her mind again, but since Chu He had not brought it up, she did not ask either.

"You are back." Chu He sat on the sofa and said with her usual feigned annoyance, "The busy person is back early today."

Liang Zhouyi hesitated, uncertain. She could not tell whether Chu He, with her expressionless face, was angry or joking when she said that.

"I have finished the busy work these past few days. I will come back and make you dinner tomorrow." Liang Zhouyi's hand on the backpack strap tightened slightly.

"Why are you so nervous, I am not angry." Chu He burst out laughing, a gentle look on her beautiful face. She sighed, "I am afraid tomorrow will not work. I have to have dinner with a client."

Client. Liang Zhouyi thought again of the man at the elevator entrance. She opened her mouth but still did not ask. She seemed a little disappointed. "What bad timing. Just as I have free time, you get busy."

"Blame that damned client." Chu He ground her teeth, looking quite angry. She comforted Liang Zhouyi, "It is fine, the day after tomorrow or the day after that will work too."

Liang Zhouyi gave a soft hum and took the bulging backpack off her shoulders. The contents stretched the fabric, leaving the outline of something square inside.

"What have you been busy with after work lately?" Chu He looked at Liang Zhouyi with a half smile.

Liang Zhouyi's hand on the bag paused. She just shook her head and refused to say anything.

"You have secrets now, classmate Liang Zhouyi." Chu He stretched out her long legs and leaned against the sofa, looking relaxed and languid without any aggression, as if she had asked casually. But Liang Zhouyi knew she actually cared.

"I will tell you in a few days." Liang Zhouyi did not avoid the topic, just gave Chu He a time. Visibly, Chu He's eyes drooped a little, as if she were reluctantly accepting the explanation.

"I have already mentioned resigning to Xu Lu. He said to wait until Wen Xiaoying's matter is resolved." Liang Zhouyi sat down naturally beside Chu He. The two were very close, almost pressed together, so close that even each other's breathing was clearly audible.

"Wen Xiaoying's matter?" Chu He forced herself upright, a little weary. "Did they not say it was mostly handled?"

The follow up had been handed to another team, and Zheng Xinyan had been following up the whole time. Chu He had spared some attention for it, but she was not getting updates in real time.

Liang Zhouyi seemed unsure where to begin. She picked a thread from the tangled yarn. "She and Liu Ziyu have started fighting online. It will not die down for a while."

"Heh." Chu He found it quite interesting. "That does not fit the persona she built for herself. It seems the conflict between the two of them is quite big."

Liang Zhouyi nodded in agreement. "So there is still some work I cannot pull away from, and after three years at Dark Color Culture, there is indeed quite a lot to hand over."

Chu He looked steadily at Liang Zhouyi. She no longer seemed like the stagnant pool of dead water she had been when they first met, unmoved no matter how you stirred. Now Liang Zhouyi had a clear plan for the future and was actively working hard toward some goal.

"So when do you plan to bring up resigning?" Liang Zhouyi suddenly narrowed her eyes and turned the topic onto Chu He.

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