55 In the corridor

◎"Afraid of even a kiss?"◎

As Song Chiyu and Qi Yanzhou came out of the museum, they ran into Qi Zhannan and Zhou Yue coming from the parking lot. Just as they were about to call out to them, they saw the two of them walking straight towards the cultural relics protection building.

Song Chiyu couldn't help but show a hint of doubt: "What are they doing at the cultural relics protection building?"

Qi Yanzhou naturally couldn't answer either, and followed them upstairs.

The two of them didn't go upstairs, but stood downstairs with their arms crossed. It was rush hour, and the two attracted the attention of passersby.

Song Chiyu initially thought the two people had come to see her, but now it seems that's not entirely true.

Just as they were about to step forward to ask, they suddenly saw Chen Qinqing come down. The two of them went straight up to her, wearing sunglasses and with their arms crossed, and said, "Is this the Song Chiyu you reported?"

The little girl had never seen anything like this before, and she immediately took a step back in fright: "What are you going to do?"

"What are you thinking?" Qi Zhannan asked, leaning against the armrest beside him.

The little girl didn't understand what those words meant and kept backing away.

Qi Zhannan didn't stop her, quietly watching her crash into the steps behind her and fall to the ground.

Qi Zhannan leaned down and asked, "Do you think she's easy to bully? She and my second uncle are respectable people, but I'm not."

Chen Qinqing naturally saw through it too, and asked with red eyes, "I didn't do anything, I just had a misunderstanding about her, now that the misunderstanding is cleared up, isn't that enough?"

"That's all? I splashed dirty water on you, and all I have to do is say sorry?" Qi Zhannan asked.

"So what do you want?"

"Write an apology letter and post it on your company's bulletin board, then set up a few tables and properly apologize to the person."

“You’re dreaming!” Chen Qinqing replied.

Qi Zhannan also fell silent.

Zhou Yue grabbed the girl by the back of her collar and said, "Then I'll have to trouble you to come with us."

The little girl was terrified and struggled to hold his arm, but his arm was as strong as iron and she couldn't budge it no matter how hard she struggled.

Song Chiyu quickly looked at Qi Yanzhou, but he remained calm and showed no intention of stopping her.

She asked, somewhat surprised, "Really, you don't care?"

"It's alright, Zhou Yue knows what he's doing." Qi Yanzhou looked away and said, "Let's go eat, my dad and the others are already waiting."

Song Chiyu couldn't help but feel worried as she watched Zhou Yue throw the person into the back seat of the car.

"If she calls the police, won't that... cause trouble?"

“Report it,” Qi Yanzhou said without even changing his expression. “People always have to pay the price for their actions. Since she dared to report you, she must have thought of her bargaining chips.”

“Her family has quite a few connections.” Song Chiyu licked her lips. “I don’t want to cause trouble for Qi Zhannan and Zhou Yue because of this.”

"Give it a try," Qi Yanzhou urged, raising an eyebrow.

Song Chiyu was taken aback.

He's encouraging her to try and bother him.

She frowned in disbelief. Shouldn't they have tried to avoid trouble and settle things peacefully? But he clearly wasn't going to let it go so easily.

"Qi Yanzhou, I've realized that I still don't understand you well enough."

"You'll understand eventually." He held her hand and gently kissed the back of her fingers. "I'm not that hard to understand."

Seeing his composure, Song Chiyu was no longer worried, and even curious about how he planned to resolve the matter.

As a result, around 8 o'clock, when she finished eating and was about to go home, Chen Qinqing called her crying and apologizing, begging for her forgiveness.

Song Chiyu was at a loss for words.

After all, she wasn't that magnanimous; she simply remained silent.

"Tomorrow I will post my handwritten apology letter on the bulletin board at work, and I will also go to the leaders to explain the situation clearly. I will not let you be wronged. I'm sorry."

Song Chiyu did not accept her apology, but agreed with her previous actions: "Fine."

She was instantly moved to tears: "Thank you."

Then, turning to the person next to him, he said, "She has accepted my apology."

Qi Zhannan answered the phone, "Hey, Song Chiyu, have you really accepted her apology?"

Song Chiyu replied, "I don't really want to accept it, but hearing her cry like this, I feel sorry for her."

"You're softening now? You didn't act like this when my second uncle broke my leg for you," Qi Zhannan sneered. "Think about what her purpose was in reporting you back then? Do you think she'll soften and let you go if you just cry a few times like this?"

Song Chiyu thought about it and realized it made sense. "I received the apology, but I don't really want to accept it."

"I understand." Seeing that she understood his good intentions, Qi Zhannan nodded with satisfaction and hung up the phone.

Perhaps influenced by Qi Yanzhou, Song Chiyu was no longer so worried and let them handle it.

The next day, as soon as Song Chiyu got up, she saw the message Chen Qinqing had posted in the company's work group. Whether it was the company's main group or their department's smaller group, there were messages from her apologizing.

It was over a thousand words long, and it took her quite a while to finish reading it.

Qi Yanzhou opened his eyes, saw the green light reflected on her face, buried his face in her neck, and asked, "What are you looking at?"

She immediately turned around and handed her the message in her hand.

Upon hearing that it was Chen Qinqing, he immediately lost most of his interest, but he still patiently listened to Song Chiyu's explanation. Seeing his lack of interest, Song Chiyu suddenly realized something and asked, "What did you think it was?"

“I thought it was Xie Yunjin,” he replied, lifting the blanket off his body as he stood up.

Song Chiyu hadn't expected him to still be so bothered by Xie Yunjin's matter. "Didn't you say you weren't jealous?"

"Does he look jealous?" he asked, taking off his pajamas and turning his back to her.

It doesn't look like it.

But it's hard to find someone who can hold such a grudge against him.

Song Chiyu did not answer.

He muttered to himself, "He really gave up so easily? I thought he was someone who would rise to the challenge."

Song Chiyu: "..."

His tone was as if he hadn't angered the person enough before they died of anger.

She was also convinced that her feeling was right.

This person is jealous of Xie Yunjin, but he doesn't show it. He's always thinking about how to make Xie Yunjin jealous.

She pretended not to hear.

Qi Yanzhou didn't bring it up again.

When Song Chiyu arrived at work, she saw Chen Qinqing's apology letter on the bulletin board. Her colleagues didn't feel sorry for her; instead, they were reminded that she might do the same to them again, and they all kept their distance from her.

A little while later, someone saw her appear in the leader's office. Song Chiyu thought she was just explaining to the leader how she was slandered, but she ended up hearing that she had resigned.

When they learned of her resignation, no one sympathized with her; instead, everyone felt that she should have left long ago.

Even He Zhu, who doesn't like to kick someone when they're down, couldn't help but sigh, "She shouldn't have come here in the first place. She's caused so much trouble. It's too good for her to just resign like this."

“That’s right,” another colleague chimed in, “Director Chen might get implicated by her too.”

Song Chiyu simply smiled and offered no comment on her matter.

A colleague spotted Qi Zhannan and couldn't help but ask him, "Is that your husband's younger brother? He looks quite handsome. Does he have a girlfriend? I have a cousin I can introduce to him."

Song Chiyu repeatedly told her to stop.

Although Qi Zhannan is not a bad person, he is definitely not a good match; whoever finds him will inevitably have a lot of trouble.

"He has a boyfriend, and he's not Teacher Qi's brother, he's his nephew."

"So Teacher Qi had a child late in life?" the colleague exclaimed in surprise.

Song Chiyu was amused by having a child late in life.

"Maybe."

He Zhu couldn't help but say, "Teacher Qi isn't young anymore, is he? If you have a child for Teacher Qi now, wouldn't that be considered having a child late in life?"

Song Chiyu burst out laughing.

"You must not say this in front of Teacher Qi. Besides, Teacher Qi is not that old. He is only a few years older than me."

He Zhu nodded, looking at her with a sympathetic expression: "Then I guess... it's probably not going to work, right?"

Song Chiyu didn't like discussing such private matters with her colleagues, so she pretended not to hear.

However, this piqued the interest of her colleagues, who began to complain about their husbands. After they had finished talking, Song Chiyu replied in a low voice, "Actually... he's quite capable."

"What?" The others, who had vaguely heard something, immediately became interested.

Song Chiyu didn't say anything more and walked away with her toolbox.

After Chen Qinqing resigned, Song Chiyu became the acting head of the Ancient Book Restoration Room. Everyone else congratulated her on her promotion, but Song Chiyu didn't seem to care much. Perhaps having experienced too many ups and downs, she had become indifferent to such things.

Qi Zhannan took credit for the incident and asked Song Chiyu to treat him to a meal.

Song Chiyu didn't refuse, but it was already quite late. Song Chiyu opened the takeout menu for him to choose from, but he showed no interest. He then rode out on a two-wheeled electric scooter from somewhere and said, "I know a really good barbecue restaurant nearby. I'll ride there with you; it'll only take a few minutes."

Song Chiyu subconsciously looked towards the study.

Qi Yanzhou has recently been not only writing a historical manuscript about the Yin-Shang Dynasty himself, but also processing students' papers, spending several hours in his study every day. Song Chiyu didn't want to disturb him, and gave Qi Zhannan a disdainful look, saying, "It's just a few minutes' bike ride, can't we walk there?"

"Too lazy to walk, get in the car." Qi Zhannan urged, "Don't stay with the old man for too long, or else..."

“You’re the old man! Your second uncle isn’t old at all, is he?” Song Chiyu said impatiently. “He only looks a year or two older than you.”

Moreover, it's about temperament.

But judging from his appearance, he seems to be younger than Qi Zhannan.

"Okay, okay, as long as you don't think he's old." Qi Zhannan felt that Qi Yanzhou's old age had nothing to do with age, but was entirely a matter of perception. No matter how you looked at him, he felt that Qi Yanzhou was of the same generation as his father. "Hurry up and get in the car."

Song Chiyu reluctantly got into the car.

With her hands behind her back, she kept defending Qi Yanzhou, while Qi Zhannan remained indifferent. The two of them argued and bickered, and even after they returned from their late-night snack, they were still arguing about it.

As Qi Zhannan parked the car, he replied, "Song Chiyu, you're practically my only friend of the same age in this courtyard, so don't try to imitate them."

They've started calling him Song Chiyu again.

I don't know what got into me before, but I was polite to her for a while. Now that more time has passed, I've reverted to my old ways.

Song Chiyu didn't argue with him, and got off the vehicle while supporting herself on the seat: "Yes, yes, Master Qi, you're right."

She stepped aside and watched Qi Zhannan back up the car. When she turned around, she saw Qi Yanzhou wearing a gray loungewear sweatshirt, leaning against a wooden pillar in the corridor, looking at her. The bone china cup to his lips covered most of his face, and his eyes and brows, hidden in the darkness, revealed no emotion. Song Chiyu walked towards him happily: "Teacher Qi, are you done with your work?"

He put down the bone china cup from his lips and gazed at her tenderly. "Mm."

When Song Chiyu mentioned that Qi Zhannan had asked him to treat her to a meal, he nodded from time to time, looking quite interested. Qi Zhannan rarely saw him so gentle, and couldn't help but glance at him a few more times.

Qi Yanzhou glanced at him.

He immediately looked timid and said, "It was my second aunt who insisted on inviting me."

"What do you mean I have to..."

Before he could finish speaking, Qi Zhannan had already made an excuse and run away.

Qi Yanzhou lowered his eyelids slightly, put his arm around her shoulder and asked, "Is it fun being with him?"

“It’s not fun,” Song Chiyu complained. “He talks too much.”

Qi Yanzhou was immediately amused.

Song Chiyu continued to complain, "It's tiring to talk."

"Hmm." A knowing smile appeared on his lips.

Song Chiyu couldn't help but say, "It's all your fault..."

She suddenly realized halfway through her sentence that this wasn't something she should be accusing someone about, and immediately pursed her lips.

"What's it to blame me for?"

"Who told you you didn't have time to go, otherwise..." Qi Zhannan wouldn't dare to be so arrogant, saying whatever came to mind, leaving her no choice but to retort.

He had been thinking about this too, and it just so happened that she brought it up. He lowered his eyelids thoughtfully and said, "Why didn't you call me?"

"Aren't you busy?" Song Chiyu felt somewhat puzzled.

He raised an eyebrow slightly. "What am I busy with?"

Song Chiyu immediately realized she had misunderstood something. "I thought you were very busy."

He thought for a moment and said, "So you're blaming me because work has neglected you?"

"No!" Song Chiyu quickly denied, after all, there were times when she neglected him because of work, and sometimes the situation was even more serious. If he really held a grudge, it would never end.

He didn't explain, but his hand, which had been on her shoulder, followed the curve of her neckline under her sweater. He leaned closer and asked, "Is this the neglect you're experiencing?"

Her face instantly became burning hot.

This was still in the courtyard corridor. Although there was no one around at the moment, he could be seen at any time, and his slender fingers were carelessly kneading and rubbing.

But he had a serious expression on his face, and if you didn't look at his hands, you would have no idea what he was doing.

Song Chiyu crossed her arms in front of her, pressing his hand that was covering her body even deeper, enveloping and rubbing her whole body against him.

"Chi Yu," he whispered in her ear.

"Huh?" She looked up in a panic.

He parted his lips slightly and slowly bit her earlobe.

Song Chiyu unconsciously lowered her head to avoid it, "It tickles."

He held her waist and pressed her against a wooden pillar to the side.

Before she could react, he had already bent down and kissed her lips.

Song Chiyu tightened her arms on the back of his hand again.

Caught between a rock and a hard place, he looked up and asked, "Do you want me to continue, or do you want me to stop?"

"Go back to your room," she said, restraining him with her arm.

"No?"

Song Chiyu thought she had misheard, "Huh?"

Without any explanation, he kissed her lips again. Seeing that she was unwilling to open her mouth, he gently pinched her sharp lips, and she immediately let out a soft cry. He instantly pried open her lips and teeth and entwined his tongue with hers.

The two were locked in a passionate kiss, the sounds of their lips and tongues intertwining faintly audible.

Qi Jianguo and Qi Zhannan were smoking together on the balcony. Neither of them could convince the other, and they both stared blankly at the courtyard below. Suddenly, they heard a popping sound and turned to look.

As a result, they saw Qi Yanzhou's face with his eyes closed and his shoulders and arms behind the wooden pillar, which were turned away from them.

Qi Jianguo's eyesight wasn't very good, and it took him a while to realize what he was looking at. He immediately blushed and covered Qi Zhannan's eyes, saying, "Stop looking."

Qi Zhannan had never seen Qi Yanzhou so vivid before, and he stood frozen in place as if struck by lightning.

"I just..." It felt like I was dreaming.

Fearing that Qi Yanzhou would beat him again, Qi Jianguo cleared his throat awkwardly, put his arm around Qi Zhannan's head, and walked away.

Song Chiyu was already terrified, and upon hearing this sudden voice, he immediately stuck out his tongue and said, "Go back to your room."

"You're even afraid of kissing?"

Song Chiyu tightened her arms, implying that it was more than just a kiss.

His smile deepened, and he gently pulled away her arms that were blocking his way, withdrawing his hands and saying, "Let's go, let's go back."

She believed him and adjusted her bra, but unexpectedly he suddenly lifted her waist, pressed her back against the wooden pillar behind her, and buried his head in her arms through the thin fabric.