The next day, before Cheng Qicai was fully awake, she heard a noise beside her—it was Yun Suni getting up.

She rubbed her eyes groggily, struggled to sit up, and asked indistinctly, "Sister, are you going to work today? How about we both take the day off and I'll stay with you?"

She was still a little worried about Yun Su Ni's condition, even though she seemed to have returned to normal now.

Only slightly swollen eyelids showed traces of yesterday's sadness.

“No need. The project is at a critical stage, and I can’t let my personal feelings drag others down.” Yun Suni refused. Seeing that she was still not fully awake, she added, “It’s still early. You can sleep a little longer. I’ll go back and change my clothes.”

Seeing Yun Su Ni's determination, Cheng Qi Cai didn't want to do anything to stop her.

After Yun Su Ni left, Cheng Qi Cai lay back on the bed and closed her eyes, but she couldn't fall asleep. So she got up and went to work.

Today is another day that Gu Liji has missed work. He has been absent for four or five days now, ever since he became depressed.

Gu Liji had previously become more diligent in coming to work, greatly reducing Lin Fengjie's workload. Now, however, he has reverted to his passive and uncooperative state, causing everyone great distress.

When leaders act on emotion, employees can't really say anything.

Cheng Qicai had originally planned to go see Yun Su Ni early after get off work, but now she was lucky to get home by 10 p.m.

After finishing her overtime work, she got home at almost 11 p.m. and made a phone call to Yun Suni.

The call was connected, but the person who answered was not Yun Suni, but Lu Qi.

Cheng Qicai asked, "Brother Lu, where's my sister?"

"She's asleep. Is there something you need?"

Hearing that Yun Suni was asleep and that Lu Qi was also there, she didn't feel comfortable asking Yun Suni if ​​she was feeling better.

"No, I just called to ask. Brother Lu, since you're resting, I won't bother you any longer."

Cheng Qicai smiled, said a few words, and then hung up the phone.

...

Today is a holiday, and Cheng Qicai was sound asleep when she was woken up by the vibration of her cell phone next to her pillow.

Cheng Qicai fumbled for her phone, glanced at the screen groggily, and saw it was Gu Liji.

"Hey, Brother Gu, what's up?"

"Cheng Qicai, does Su Ni know that Lu Qi's childhood sweetheart has returned?" Gu Liji asked this question as soon as he opened his mouth.

Cheng Qicai suddenly woke up. Did they know about Gu Liji's news so quickly?

But she didn't want to talk to him about it, so she pretended not to know and said, "I don't know!"

Gu Liji was exasperated. "You live so close to Su Ni and the others, didn't you even bother to ask around?"

Cheng Qicai thought to herself, "I'm not the kind of person with ulterior motives like you, why would I pry into other people's business?"

So she declined, saying, "I don't know Brother Lu's childhood sweetheart, and it's really inappropriate to bring this up with my sister!"

"How about I give you 1000 yuan and you go ask about it now?"

Hearing Gu Liji's words, Cheng Qicai was shamelessly tempted, but remembering that she had just decided not to get involved two days ago, she still reluctantly refused: "Brother Gu, it's not about the money..."

Gu Liji was somewhat surprised to hear Cheng Qicai refuse. He thought that Cheng Qicai would definitely agree after he offered this bait.

It seemed the temptation wasn't strong enough, so Gu Liji raised the stakes, "How about I add more money for you, 2000?"

Stop talking, stop talking, or she'll undermine morale.

Cheng Qicai took a deep breath.

“…Brother Gu, it really isn’t about the money,” she said, her voice suddenly quickening as she struggled to find a way to refuse. “Actually, I have a fever and my head is spinning. I can’t even get up. Brother Gu, I’m really dizzy right now. I’ll hang up now.”

Fearing that Guliji would raise the price again, she made up a lie and hung up the phone.

Just as she was lying comfortably, a rapid "knock knock" sounded in the living room. Someone was knocking on her door. She shouted "Coming!" at the door, but the "knock knock" did not subside.

Cheng Qicai frowned, thinking to herself, "Who's being so rude? They've already told him they're here, but they keep knocking."

She walked unhappily to the door, wanting to peek through the peephole to see who it was, but as soon as she brought her face close, she met the eyes of someone on the other side.

She was so frightened that she almost collapsed to her knees. What kind of horror movie perspective was this? She was about to pee her pants.

After their eyes met, the rapid knocking stopped. She had only seen one eye; she didn't know who was behind the door.

Could it be some kind of psychopathic killer? Countless cases of single-person households flashed through Cheng Qicai's mind, and her heart nearly jumped out of her mouth in fright.

"Cheng Qicai, open the door, I see you."

Upon hearing the familiar voice, Cheng Qicai's tense muscles and nerves instantly relaxed, and her heartbeat calmed down. She let out a soft breath and opened the door.

In an instant, she met Gu Liji's somber face.

Gu Liji blurted out his complaint, "No, why did it take you so long to open the door after I knocked for so long? And you just looked through the peephole without making a sound, it scared me to death."

You're the one who's terrifying!

Cheng Qicai also complained with some dissatisfaction, "You didn't say anything either, did you? Who knew you were looking through the peephole too!"

"Will you open the door if I make a sound?"

He was right! If she had known it was him, she would have pretended she wasn't home!

Cheng Qicai lowered her eyes and did not answer.

Gu Liji stared at her face for a moment, then snorted coldly, "Your complexion is rosy, you don't seem to have a fever!"

Um?

Startled by his words, Cheng Qicai asked, somewhat touched, "Brother Gu, did you come all this way just to see me?"

"No," Gu Liji coldly denied. "You're getting bolder and bolder, even lying to me now. I still remember how polite you were to me at the beginning..."

When I first met you, I also thought you were a wild and unrestrained playboy. Who knew you were such a naive kid!

Cheng Qicai interrupted him, her heartfelt emotions wasted, "Isn't this what you learned before?"

When Cheng Qicai mentioned it, he suddenly remembered that he had also used her illness as an excuse, and he coughed lightly, feeling uneasy.

Changing the subject, "Let's not talk about this anymore. Since you're not sick, let's go find Su Ni."

As he spoke, he pushed Cheng Qicai out the door.

"No, why?!" Cheng Qicai clung to the wall, preventing him from pushing her away.

"There must be something good going on..." Gu Liji muttered. Cheng Qicai didn't hear him clearly. He impatiently urged her, "It's nothing, I'm just inviting you to have some fun. Hurry up and get ready."

"Is he really that kind?" Cheng Qicai was skeptical, but considering that he had invited Yun Suni, he probably still had ulterior motives.

Seeing Gu Liji staring intently at her, Cheng Qicai sighed helplessly, changed her clothes, and followed him to Yun Su Ni's house.

"Brother Gu, maybe my sister isn't home?" Cheng Qicai tried to dissuade him from this idea.

Gu Liji gave her a forced smile and said, "No, I just called to confirm, that's why I came to call you."

Hearing him say that, she fell silent.