Chapter 14 She's Not Your Sister

The air froze instantly.

Three pairs of eyes met in the air.

A subtle awkwardness permeated the air.

Qu He noticed that Zhuang Bieyan's brows furrowed slightly.

Zhuang Bieyan, a frequent feature in Beicheng Finance Magazine, is the heir to the Zhuang Group and the dream partner of countless socialites and heiresses.

Rumor has it that a business partner once spent a seven-figure sum but still couldn't get his WeChat. In the North City business district, countless people would go to great lengths to get his contact information.

Qu He tactfully stepped in to defuse the situation: "Actually, exchanging phone numbers would be fine too..."

She was about to switch screens when a phone was handed to her, displaying a WeChat QR code scanning interface.

"Huh?" Qu He didn't react for a moment.

"Scan the code," Zhuang Bieyan said briefly.

Qu He was speechless for a moment, but quickly recovered.

Five years of professional experience had conditioned her to say, "Mr. Zhuang, let me scan your..."

"No need." Zhuang Bieyan's voice was deep as he pushed the phone forward slightly.

Qu He didn't dare keep him waiting, so she opened her WeChat QR code and sent it over.

The beeping sound was particularly clear in the store.

Xiao Zhuangxi stopped crying and started laughing, tears still clinging to his face, and clapped his hands excitedly.

After paying the bill, before leaving, she suddenly hugged Qu He's neck and gave her a quick kiss on the cheek, saying, "Goodbye, Teacher Qu."

Before Qu He could react, she heard Zhuang Bieyan's voice turn colder: "Zhuang Xi, get in the car."

She looked up and saw the man's brows furrowed and his jawline taut.

Qu He understood; it must be that the Zhuang family had rules against Zhuang Xi getting too close to outsiders.

After the two left, Qu He breathed a sigh of relief. She glanced down at the newly added black profile picture in her WeChat contact list.

There is a hand-drawn swallow in the lower right corner of the pure black background. It looks like it was drawn by a child. Its nickname is a capital 'Y'.

This was unexpected for Qu He. In her knowledge, it was rare for someone to use the last character of their name as a nickname.

She continued clicking into Zhuang Bieyan's WeChat Moments, which was completely blank, just like its owner—mysterious and unpredictable.

The black Maybach drove slowly down the road.

In the back seat, Zhuang Xi, still unwilling to give up, searched the seats again, but still couldn't find the watch. "Strange, how could it be lost..."

She sighed and muttered to herself.

The light turned red, and the car stopped.

Zhuang Bieyan glanced at her through the rearview mirror but didn't say anything.

His right hand rested on the steering wheel, while his left hand unconsciously rubbed against his suit pocket.

"Uncle." Zhuang Xi suddenly poked her little head out from the middle of the front seat and said in a childish voice, "When my new watch arrives, you have to give me Sister Qu's WeChat."

"Sister Qu?" Zhuang Bieyan's eyes darkened, and his voice sounded even deeper.

"Xi'er likes her!" Little Zhuang Xi innocently declared, "I want her to be my older sister!"

After she finished speaking, she started playing with the ceramic rabbit.

The car was eerily quiet.

Zhuang Bieyan's fingers tightened slightly on the steering wheel. He stared ahead, the lights and shadows of the rotating advertisements on the buildings on both sides flashing across his sharply defined profile.

After a while, a voice came from the front seat of the car.

His voice was so low it sounded like it was being squeezed out from deep in his throat, "She's not your sister."

Beishan Villa.

Zhuangzhai.

Zhuang, the great beauty, Liu Yue, was half-lying on the sofa applying a face mask, while her phone played a Douyin video of a handsome guy showing off his muscles.

Zhuang Xi, carrying her little schoolbag, skipped and hopped to her side, "Mommy, I'm back!"

She took off her schoolbag, sat on the sofa, and began to talk about what happened that day, swinging her legs.

"Today at kindergarten... my uncle sat in the car for a long time before taking me out... my uncle is so good at making ceramics... I like Sister Qu..."

Her little mouth kept talking.

When she mentioned that her watch was missing, she lowered her head in disappointment, but quickly perked up again, "But my uncle added Teacher Qu on WeChat!"

Zhuang Liuyue waved her hand lazily, clearly uninterested in these topics. "Mom will go shopping tomorrow and buy you a new one."

"Um!"

Xiao Zhuangxi nodded and continued rummaging through his schoolbag, trying to take out the ceramic rabbit, but suddenly felt a bulge at the bottom of the second compartment.

"Huh?"

Wow!

The sudden startle nearly made Zhuang Liuyue drop her phone.

Zhuang Xi waved the watch in front of her several times, and she exclaimed in surprise, "Mom! We found the watch!"

But soon, her little face showed confusion again, "But it definitely wasn't there just now..."

Just then, Zhuang Bieyan passed by the sofa and paused almost imperceptibly after hearing her words.

"Uncle!" Xiao Zhuangxi ran over and grabbed his hand. "It's magic! My watch has reappeared!"

Zhuang Bieyan looked down into his niece's innocent eyes and softly hummed in agreement.

"Then quickly send me Sister Qu's WeChat!" Zhuang Xi impatiently shook his hand.

Zhuang Bieyan withdrew his hand, his thin lips pressed into a straight line, and under his niece's expectant gaze, he casually uttered, "Children should play with electronic products less," before turning and going upstairs.

Xiao Zhuangxi: "...."

She tilted her head in confusion, not understanding why her uncle looked...like...angry?

But it doesn't seem like she's really angry.

She glanced down at her watch, then looked up at the stairs.

The little boy thought for a long, long time but couldn't figure it out, so he turned his head and saw his mother with her arms crossed, looking in the direction of the stairs with a half-smile.

She was even more confused.

The adult world is so complicated.

Second-floor study.

Zhuang Bieyan stood by the window, his phone screen lit up, the blank chat box displaying two simple words at the top: Qu He.

The man's long, slender fingers hovered below the screen. After hesitating for a long time, he finally just gently placed the phone face down on the table.

His slightly upturned lips were reflected in the glass window.

Outside the window, the last rays of the setting sun sank below the horizon, stretching his shadow long, very long.