Cheng Qicai returned to her rented apartment, tidied up, and prepared to go to work the next day.

The thought of going to work tomorrow makes me feel exhausted.

She walked heavily to the company, greeted her colleagues, and saw that their faces were more or less round like hers, which made her feel a little better.

It seems that no one can escape the rule of gaining weight during the Chinese New Year.

At first, everyone is a little unaccustomed to the new job, but after a few days, it gets much better.

On her way home from work that day, Cheng Qicai saw a familiar car drive into the residential area, and she stopped in her tracks.

The other car also stopped, and the window rolled down, revealing Lu Qi's somewhat gaunt face.

After more than ten days apart, his demeanor seemed to have changed somewhat. His previous sharpness, like a needle point, seemed to have softened considerably and become more reserved.

"Brother Lu!" Cheng Qicai greeted him, "Are you here to see my sister?"

Lu Qi nodded.

“But my sister is still staying at my uncle’s place.” Cheng Qicai had gone to see Yun Suni during her stay here, so she knew that Yun Suni hadn’t come over.

Lu Qi remained silent. "I know, I just came to check on things."

Seeing Lu Qi's dejected look, Cheng Qicai hesitated before speaking, "Brother Lu, how about we grab a bite to eat together?"

Lu Qi was taken aback, not expecting her to invite him to dinner. After hesitating for a moment, he nodded.

Cheng Qicai led her to a small stir-fry restaurant she often ate at. "Brother Lu, this restaurant is a bit small, but the food is pretty good."

"It's okay." Lu Qi saw that although the shop was small, the environment was quite clean, so he didn't have much of a resistance.

Cheng Qicai handed him the menu, "By the way, I still want to thank Brother Lu for sending us so many things."

"It's just a small gift," Lu Qi changed the subject, "How was Su Ni's New Year celebration with you?"

“It’s fine,” Cheng Qicai paused in opening the cutlery, “but I can tell she’s not very happy.”

When this was mentioned, Lu Qi fell silent for a moment.

She then spoke, her tone filled with self-reproach and frustration, "I know it was my parents' actions that hurt her. I didn't know they would pull this stunt..."

As he spoke, Lu Qi realized it was too late to repeat himself, and he gave a wry smile. "Given the current situation, I've tried my best to make amends. If she doesn't like my parents, she doesn't have to see them anymore. Anyway, we're in China..."

“Brother Lu, her problem isn’t with your parents,” Cheng Qicai interrupted him, speaking earnestly. “It’s that seeing you and your parents at odds made her feel upset and guilty. She didn’t want to tell you and end up like this.”

"In addition, your constant visits to her and your saying things like what you're saying now have increased her pressure. She'll feel even more guilty, which is why she told you she wanted you both to calm down."

“I…” Lu Qi opened his mouth, then fell silent again.

His self-assured assurances turned out to be completely different from what Yun Suni had imagined.

He thought she refused to spend the New Year with him because she wanted to give up.

He complained, he hated... but he never considered things from her perspective.

He suddenly felt how much of a failure he was as her boyfriend.

“Brother Lu, when my sister came to talk to you about what your parents did, she was trusting that you would have a better way to handle it. She definitely didn’t want you to go back and argue,” Cheng Qicai added.

Cheng Qicai's words brought his thoughts back to the day Yun Su Ni had told him.

After hearing this, he ignored Yun Su Ni's objections and forcefully drove her home to confront his parents. His parents, who had always ignored him, stood up angrily this time and admitted their behavior, listing Yun Su Ni's shortcomings one by one and telling them how unsuitable the two of them were.

The three parties each held their own version of events, arguing heatedly until their faces were red and their necks were bulging, while Yun Su Ni tried to break them up the whole time.

But the three men, enraged, refused to listen to anyone.

His parents went even further, saying they didn't need her, an outsider, to speak in their house.

The argument escalated, and his father picked up an ashtray from the table and threw it at him, which angered him so much that he pulled Yun Su Ni away.

He always believed that it was because of his parents that Yun Su Ni wanted to break up with him.

"You deliberately used Su Qianwei to upset my sister at the jewelry store. That day, she realized her relationship with Brother Gu wasn't working out, and actually, she wanted to go back and apologize to you..."

Hearing this, Lu Qi felt even more guilty, because he was furious when Yun Su Ni followed Gu Li Ji.

In fact, after watching them leave, he soon abandoned Su Qianwei to go find her, but when he came out, he could no longer see where they had gone.

He had no choice but to go home and wait for her. The room was pitch black. He sat on the sofa, torturing himself with thoughts of what she and Gu Liji were doing and saying...

When she returned and he saw her enter the room, he couldn't control his temper. No matter what she said, he twisted her words.

A hysterical madman.

It turns out that it was all due to his arrogance that he never realized that the main responsibility for their relationship ending this way was because Yun Su Ni had always been accommodating.

Having figured out the reason, he stood up abruptly and said to Cheng Qicai, "I'm leaving now."

“Brother Lu, aren’t you going to eat…” Cheng Qicai held Erkang’s hand behind his back.

Seeing Lu Qi's untouched chopsticks, Cheng Qicai grinned, thinking, "I should at least take a bite. How can I possibly finish all this?"

Finally, Cheng Qicai leaned against the wall to leave, feeling extremely full.