She put the cake on the table and went home. Everyone in the living room looked at each other in surprise. Her grandparents were also very puzzled. Xu Lai had always been very good at distinguishing between what was important and what was not, but today, on Zhao Qingyun's birthday, she actually left.

Zhao Qingyun was furious. He thought something had happened to her and was so anxious that he wanted to drive over to find her.

It turned out she had gone to make a cake for him, and her phone was off. His mood fluctuated wildly, and he couldn't help but feel a little angry.

He originally intended to leave her hanging for a while, then give her a way out, but she just left like that.

Xia Ning witnessed the whole process. After everyone finished eating the cake and left, she stayed behind and said to Zhao Qingyun, "You really shouldn't have refused the cake that Xiao Lai fed you in front of everyone today."

Zhao Qingyun loosened his tie. "I admit I was wrong, but she went out on her own without saying a word and turned off her phone. Doesn't she know people are worried about her?"

Xia Ning couldn't help but say, "So what if she didn't answer your call? Can't she be independent? Your concerns are certainly valid, but she was making a cake for you. Otherwise, why would she get up early this morning and go to the county?"

Xia Ning left after she finished speaking; that was all she could do for the two of them.

After everyone else had left, only the two of them remained in the house. Grandma Jiang said to them with a rather earnest tone, "Be more considerate in everything. Don't make a big deal out of it. So what if she didn't answer the phone? Is Xiao Lai going to get lost? Who are you trying to impress by putting on such a face here?"

Zhao Qingyun: Here we go again, lecturing?

He felt quite uncomfortable; everyone was coming to lecture him, as if his concern for her was wrong?

Xia Ning took her grandmother home, and then rode her electric scooter to Xu Lai's house. She knocked on Xu Lai's bedroom door, "Xiao Lai, it's me, open the door."

Xu Lai opened the door. Her expression was normal, but you could clearly feel that the atmosphere around her was off.

Xia Ning scolded her: "You should just buy him one directly. Why bother with a cake? He doesn't deserve it."

Xu Lai couldn't help but say, "You're absolutely right. Why should I bother? It's a thankless task."

Xia Ning asked, "So what's going on between you two? Did you break up?"

Xu Lai spat and said, "What are you talking about? Did I agree to it? He dares to break up with me. If we were to break up, I would be the one to suggest it first."

Xia Ning typed: "Boss Zhao, your girlfriend says she wants to break up."

Upon receiving the message, Zhao Qingyun laughed in anger and couldn't help but punch the wall.

After Xia Ning finished talking with her, she went back. Then she sent a private message to Zhao Qingyun: "Lai Lai's Moments are set to be visible only for the past month, but mine are not. You can take a look if you're interested; she's in there."

Zhao Qingyun found Xia Ning's behavior somewhat inexplicable, but he still clicked on it.

He scrolled through the pages, and actually, Xu Lai didn't appear in many of her posts. He ended up scrolling to her WeChat Moments from a year ago.

He saw her old videos, the cover of which was a scene of her in a bar. He clicked on it and watched. It was a noisy bar, and Xia Ning was probably the one filming. She was shouting, "Xu Lai, look at the camera."

Xu Lai tapped the camera with her wine glass, and the camera zoomed out to reveal her face.

Zhao Qingyun couldn't describe his feelings at that moment. He had never seen Xu Lai like this before, so aggressive. Perhaps the Xu Lai in the video was the real her. The clinking of the wine glasses, after so many years, struck a chord in his heart.

He suddenly realized that he didn't really know her, and that Xu Lai could walk away at any time.

That night, Zhao Qingyun climbed over the wall and onto Xu Lai's balcony.

Xu Lai heard the noise and locked the balcony door to prevent him from coming in.

Zhao Qingyun knocked on the door and tried to open it, but found he couldn't. He scratched his head and went back inside.

Xu Lai snorted, "No perseverance, and he doesn't even know how to beg me."

The next day, Zhao Qingyun took a day off. He wanted to look for Xu Lai, but Grandma Xu said she wasn't home.

He was staying at home, feeling a little anxious. At noon, while he was cooking, he heard a noise next door, so he peeked out and saw Xu Lai walking with a man.

The man was dressed like an engineer. Xu Lai spoke to him warmly and even took him home.

Zhao Qingyun almost crushed the spatula in his hand. He looked away and couldn't help but use more force when stir-frying the vegetables.

Xu Lai invited Engineer Xu to sit down. He was in charge of installing the machine. Xu Lai thought that someone a little older would come, but unexpectedly, someone about her age came.

It was almost noon, and they wouldn't be able to get food until they reached town, so she invited them to stay and treated them to a meal. She had her grandmother prepare all the dishes, so she could just cook them herself.

Half an hour later, the dishes were all cooked and Xu couldn't sit still, so he helped her serve the dishes.

Xu Lai picked up her drink: "It's just simple food, please forgive me."

Engineer Xu shook his head: "It's already a very generous meal, thank you for your hospitality."

After finishing the meal, she escorted the person to the car, and Engineer Xu said, "Contact me if anything comes up later."

Zhao Qingyun watched from the second floor, gripping the cup in her hand tightly, feeling incredibly jealous.

That night, he climbed over again. This time, he tried to open the balcony door and found that it was not closed. He knocked on it and then opened the door to go inside.

There was no one in the room. Xu Lai was still taking a shower, so he didn't look around. He just sat on her small sofa and waited.

When Xu Lai came out of the shower, she wasn't surprised to see him. She had deliberately left the door open. When it came to relationships, she insisted that a cold war should never last more than two days, otherwise she would face a breakup.

So she specifically wanted to have a good talk with him tonight and resolve the matter.

She took out a hairdryer and started drying her hair, not even glancing at him.

When Xu Lai was halfway through drying her hair, Zhao Qingyun took the hairdryer and dried her hair.

After the blow-drying was finished, the room was very quiet. The two remained silent until Xu Lai finally spoke first, "I thought you were just going to sit there and not come to blow-dry my hair."

Zhao Qingyun hugged her, "How could that be? I was just afraid you haven't forgiven me yet."

Xu Lai faced him and asked, "What did you do wrong? What do I need to forgive you for?"

Zhao Qingyun softened her tone: "I'm sorry, I shouldn't have refused the cake you offered me in public. Besides, you meant to make the cake for me, and I shouldn't have lost my temper with you just because I was worried about you."

Xu Lai patted his head: "Alright, let's put our differences behind us."

He kissed her and asked, "Who was that man today?"

Xu Lai couldn't help but ask, "Who is it?"

He bit her lip. "The one who came for lunch."

Xu Lai smiled and said, "Why are you in such a hurry? That's Engineer Xu, who's installing the machines for our oil plant."

Zhao Qingyun let out an "oh," and the sense of crisis in his heart dissipated. He had never seen such a young and handsome engineer before.

He picked her up and threw her onto the bed, saying, "It's been a while, you should make it up to me."

Xu Lai kicked him, "Are you sick? I don't owe you anything."

In other words, he said, "Please have pity on me."