Chapter 160 That night, I didn't go to see Yan Shu.

Qu He wanted to leave.

Zhuang Bieyan spoke with an extremely serious expression.

She was afraid, afraid that what he was about to say would exceed her current psychological limits.

But Zhuang Bieyan did not give her a chance to escape.

He held her hand the whole time.

Helpless, Qu He had no choice but to follow his force and sit back down on the sofa.

She pursed her lips, took out her phone and started timing, "Ten minutes, I'll leave when the time is up, not a second longer."

She was curious to hear what kind of excuse he could come up with now.

"Okay," he replied readily.

But the next second, he got up and walked behind the sofa.

Qu He's gaze followed him.

What are you doing?

Explain it, then. Go after her.

Are you planning a sneak attack?

However, Zhuang Bieyan simply picked up the hairdryer again and dried her hair, saying, "If your hair isn't dried, you'll get sick. You're just feeling better."

Qu He was puzzled. She reached out and tapped the countdown on the screen, which showed eight minutes left. "Whatever. I'll leave as soon as the time is up."

He seemed genuinely unhurried, calmly drying her hair. "Okay."

Qu He simply went along with him, holding the brown sugar ginger tea, leaning back into the sofa, and sipping it slowly.

Zhuang Bieyan stood behind her, patiently blow-drying her hair, and gently massaging her scalp with his fingertips.

As Quhe's nerves gradually relaxed, his head began to sway uncontrollably.

Zhuang Bieyan looked down at her gradually becoming dazed, his eyes filled with tenderness. He supported her head with one hand so she could lean on it for support.

At this moment, Qu He was unusually well-behaved, her soft hair flowing through her fingertips. He gazed at the scene greedily, wanting to freeze this moment forever.

The sound of the hairdryer in her ear was like hypnotic white noise, and Qu He slowly relaxed. Combined with his massage techniques, her mind began to feel drowsy.

I was almost drifting off to sleep when the sound stopped.

She felt a pair of hands supporting her head, and then the sound of breathing grew closer and closer.

When I opened my eyes, I was face to face with Zhuang Bieyan, who was standing right next to me.

Her heart skipped a beat. She kept a straight face and asked expressionlessly, "What are you doing?"

Zhuang Bieyan was caught red-handed, but he didn't panic at all. He lightly wiped her face with his fingertip and said, "There's dust on your face."

Her hair was already dry. Qu He glared at him warningly, then used her hands and feet to move back, putting distance between them again.

She picked up her phone, opened it, and glanced at it: "Thirty seconds left."

Zhuang Bieyan finally stopped his fidgeting and looked at her seriously.

Qu He silently counted down in her mind.

20...16...11...

Zhuang Bieyan initially showed no intention of speaking, which annoyed her. She frowned and made a move to leave.

Seeing her stand up, Zhuang Bieyan finally spoke: "Ahe, the things in the safe are yours."

3, 2, 1, 0!

The countdown alarm went off at just the right moment.

Qu He doubted that she had heard correctly.

She turned around and looked at him incredulously. "Have you been eating green beans lately?"

Although Zhuang Bieyan didn't understand the meaning of those words, he answered truthfully, "No, what's wrong with the green beans?"

Qu He was speechless. "Then what nonsense are you talking about? The things in the safe are mine? How can you make up such a reason? Why don't you just say we've known each other for ten years?"

Zhuang Bieyan didn't speak, he just looked at her quietly.

The air seemed to freeze.

Qu He was initially convinced that he was lying, but when her gaze fell into his eyes, she suddenly realized that her firm heart was being melted little by little by the tenderness in his eyes.

She felt flustered under his gaze and instinctively wanted to turn around and leave.

But after taking two steps, it suddenly stopped.

The look in his eyes from earlier flashed before my eyes again.

She stomped her foot in frustration, turned back to him, pointed at his chest, and demanded fiercely, "Explain yourself! What exactly happened?"

Zhuang Bieyan chuckled as he watched her return, her face contorted with rage.

He grabbed her hand, a hint of triumphant pleasure in his eyes, "Ahe, ten minutes are up."

Qu He: "???"

ha?

To hook her?

Did he deliberately say that at the last second to pique her curiosity and then start acting all high and mighty?

OK, OK, OK.

fine, fine, fine.

She pulled her hand away, took out her phone, reluctantly set a ten-minute countdown, and sat back down on the sofa.

A wink signaled, "Please begin."

But Zhuang Bieyan didn't buy it, looking at her leisurely, "Ahe, I'm a businessman."

"Um?"

She didn't understand why he suddenly said this.

"Do you remember the deal we made when I accompanied you back to Yujia Ferry last time?"

Qu He recalled for a moment, and some ambiguous and lingering images flashed through her mind, causing her cheeks to slowly burn.

She coughed lightly, feeling awkward, and stubbornly replied, "I forgot."

"It's okay, we can make another deal."

Zhuang Bieyan stepped forward and said, "We haven't eaten together in a long time. Have dinner with me, and I'll tell you everything."

"I won't eat it," Qu He refused quickly.

Zhuang Bieyan looked over.

She pursed her lips and explained, "I have dinner plans with Brother Shi An tonight."

In the following days, Zhou Shi'an sent several more boxes of grapes. Director Lian gave her an order, requiring her to treat him to a meal in return.

Upon hearing the name "Shi An Ge," Zhuang Bieyan's face visibly darkened.

It's Zhou Shi'an again, that mistress who ruined their marriage.

Just then, Qu He's phone rang; the caller was Zhou Shi'an.

Just as she was about to answer the call, she heard Zhuang Bieyan casually say, "We met ten years ago."

Qu He was exasperated, “…You…you’re something else.”

She practically squeezed those words out between her teeth.

She took a deep breath, suppressing her anger, and answered the phone, "Hello, Brother Shi'an... I'm fine, I'm home now... um..."

While she was on the phone, she saw Zhuang Bieyan stroll over again, sit down next to her, and casually swipe through photos on his phone.

Qu He caught a glimpse of one of the photos out of the corner of her eye—a photo of her as a freshman at university.

She glared at him fiercely and accused him of his despicable behavior.

“Brother Shi’an,”

She said apologetically, "I'm sorry, I have something to take care of tonight... Oh... I'll ask you out for dinner another time... Okay, I'll text you later... Goodbye."

As soon as she hung up the phone, she lunged at him to grab it.

But Zhuang Bieyan acted as if she were teasing a cat, raising her arm and holding the phone higher than she could jump.

Qu He lost her temper, threw down her hand and got up to leave, but he grabbed her hand from behind.

With a gentle pull, she was drawn into his embrace.

Zhuang Bieyan wrapped his arms around her from behind, resting his chin on her shoulder. "Ahe, I need to defend myself. That night, I didn't go out to see Yanshu."

Qu He was prying his hand off when she heard those words and stopped.

Zhuang Bieyan then wrapped one arm around her while using the other to show her the call log.

“It was indeed Tan Cong who called that night, but I must admit that I went out not because I had company business to attend to, but to prepare a surprise for your wedding.”

As he spoke, he opened his photo album and pulled out several videos, all of which were surveillance footage of him entering and leaving the Zhuang Group at that time.

He was surrounded by Tan Cong and several foreigners as he entered the elevator.

Qu He recognized those foreigners; they were indeed the wedding planners they had hired.

Zhuang Bieyan patiently explained, guiding you step by step, "I don't know what caused your misunderstanding, but I will definitely find out and give you an explanation."

Qu He watched the video with a mixture of belief and doubt.

"Ahe, can you tell me who told you I went out that night to see Yanshu? And who told you the combination to my safe?"

Qu He's attitude softened slightly, but she remained wary. "What are you doing? Trying to settle scores later? Or trying to destroy evidence?"

“That’s not what I meant,” Zhuang Bieyan immediately denied.

“That safe is indeed very important to me, but you are the most important person to me. If one day you open that safe, I hope you ask me for the password yourself, not through this maliciously guided method.”

He spoke slowly and earnestly, as if he were handing over not just a password, but a treasured piece of the past.

Seeing his serious expression, and recalling what he had just mentioned about ten years ago, Qu He's curiosity was completely piqued.

She hesitated for a moment, then opened her email on her phone to show him, "Yan Shu emailed me to tell me."