Chapter 187 Is this a blind date?

Qu He's probing and suspicions were dispelled by Zhuang Bieyan's words.

In the following days, he continued to pick her up and drop her off from get off work as usual.

After autumn arrives, it gets dark very early; by six o'clock, it's already dark.

The streetlights downstairs at Baiyuwan have already turned on, casting halos of orange light.

Zhuang Bieyan's Rolls-Royce stopped in front of the apartment building.

Qu He unbuckled her seatbelt and was about to push open the door to get out of the car when she saw that the man next to her had also unbuckled his seatbelt.

"Hmm?" She turned her head in confusion.

Zhuang Bieyan got out of the car, walked around to the back, and opened the trunk.

He brought out two large bags, which were filled to the brim with all kinds of ingredients.

"What's going on?" Qu He was a little confused as he looked at her as if he wanted to go upstairs with her.

Zhuang Bieyan walked to her side, the evening wind blowing the stray hairs on his forehead, making it impossible to see the emotions in his eyes.

He weighed the bag in his hand. "I heard you saying you wanted braised pork with abalone while watching short videos at lunchtime. Should I make it for you tonight?"

Qu He paused slightly, raising an eyebrow.

It was just a casual remark, yet she heard it and remembered it?

A warm feeling welled up in my heart, but I quickly suppressed it.

"No need for that." Qu He's eyes darted away.

Zhuang Bieyan ignored him and walked towards the entrance of the building with the bag, saying, "It's no trouble."

Qu He quickly stepped forward to stop him, "My parents are back today."

Zhuang Bieyan looked down at the bag in his hand, shook it, and said, "It's alright, this amount of food is enough for four people."

Qu He's brows furrowed even more.

Not long ago, Director Lian advised her to "think things through while you still don't have children."

If I saw him come over to cook today, I wonder what he would say.

Looking at the stubborn man in front of her, who had become so obstinate due to amnesia, she felt a headache coming on.

"It's not a problem with the ingredients; they just don't like braised pork with abalone."

The air fell silent for a moment after those words were spoken.

As soon as she said it, Qu He felt guilty and looked away at the green belt next to her, not daring to look Zhuang Bieyan in the eye.

Even Zhuang Bieyan, who was no longer perceptive, understood the implication behind her words.

He tightened his grip on the bag slightly, and the veins on the back of his hand stood out, but his expression didn't change much.

But there was a hint of sadness in the eyes that were looking at Qu He.

"I said I would wait for you."

He paused, then handed the bag forward. "Shall I help you carry the groceries upstairs?"

“No need,” Qu He refused almost immediately. “Take it back and eat it yourself.”

Zhuang Bieyan's arm fell to his sides, his voice tinged with melancholy: "I can't eat that much by myself."

The tone was flat, yet inexplicably, Qu He sensed a hint of grievance, as if the speaker had been abandoned.

But in the end, she hardened her heart and did not give in.

Zhuang Bieyan didn't insist any further. He saw her onto the elevator and then placed the two bags in the corner of the elevator.

"goodbye."

He finished speaking in a low voice, then turned and walked out of the building.

His tall, upright figure appeared somewhat lonely in the twilight, quickly fading into the dim light.

The elevator doors slowly closed, isolating the outside world and the man who left with resentment.

Qu He looked at the two large bags of ingredients in the corner, her feelings complicated and hard to describe.

Just then, a hurried male voice rang out: "Wait a moment!"

Qu He subconsciously pressed the open door button.

A man in a black trench coat strode in, bringing with him a touch of autumn chill.

Thank you.

He nodded slightly to Qu He, his voice clear and melodious.

The man was tall and slender with delicate features. A pair of gold-rimmed glasses perched on his nose added to his refined and elegant air.

He glanced at the elevator floor buttons after entering, but didn't press any further buttons.

Baiyuwan has three households per floor.

Qu He saw that he didn't press the elevator button, so she assumed he was a neighbor from next door or someone looking for someone, and didn't think much of it.

But when the man followed her out of the elevator and stopped with her at her own door, Qu He finally realized something was wrong.

Who is this person?

She couldn't help but take a few more glances at the other person; they were indeed a stranger, someone she had never seen before.

An absurd thought popped into my head.

Did Director Lian and Teacher Qu sell the house while she was away?

They don't even want their own daughter anymore?

When the man saw Qu He standing at the door preparing to enter the password, he also showed the same puzzled expression.

The two looked at each other, the atmosphere awkward.

At that moment, the door was opened from the inside.

Director Lian stood at the door wearing an apron.

"You're back!"

Her eyes lit up when she saw the man next to Qu He: "Li Qing is here! Come in quickly, we've been waiting for you! It's such a coincidence that you two kids met."

The man smiled politely, stepped aside and walked into the house. As he passed Qu He, he glanced at her with a puzzled look.

Qu He followed her into the house and found a middle-aged couple sitting in the living room. The woman was wearing an elegant dress and the man was wearing a casual suit. They both looked quite sophisticated.

Director Lian took her hand and pushed her in front of the middle-aged couple: "This is my daughter, Qu He, who studies pottery."

She then pointed to the couple, "These are my elementary school classmates, Uncle Cheng and Aunt Liu, who live in the next neighborhood. We happened to run into them during our autumn outing and team building trip, and since we all came back together today, we invited them over for dinner."

Qu He greeted her with a smile.

“This is my son Liqing, Cheng Liqing. He’s an orthopedic surgeon at the First Hospital of Beicheng,” Aunt Liu said, holding Cheng Liqing’s hand with a proud smile.

Suddenly, she changed the subject, her tone somewhat tentative, "I just got divorced two weeks ago, and now I live alone."

divorce?

Qu He's water glass wobbled, and the water almost spilled.

She looked up at Director Lian, only to see him chatting animatedly with Aunt Liu.

This looks more like a blind date!

She quickly gave Director Lian a meaningful look, her eyes almost aching from blinking, but Director Lian acted as if he didn't see it, and even gave her a look that said, "This young man is not bad, is he?"

“You and Liqing are both young people, so you have common topics to talk about. Chat more.”

Qu He's face was almost frozen.

During dinner, she practically buried her face in her bowl, not daring to make eye contact with Cheng Liqing for even a second.

My mind is filled with the idea that bigamy is illegal.

Fortunately, Cheng Liqing's phone rang right after he finished dinner; it was the hospital calling.

He apologized politely, saying he needed to go back immediately.

Director Lian quickly said, "So sudden? Ah He, come on, help me see Li Qing downstairs."

Qu He had no choice but to follow Cheng Liqing out of the house.

As I arrived at the entrance of the apartment building, a night breeze swept over me, carrying the chill of late autumn.

Cheng Liqing stopped and turned to look at Qu He.

The light from the streetlamp fell on his face, and the lenses of his glasses reflected a soft halo, making him look much gentler.

"Feel sorry,"

Cheng Liqing spoke first, her voice tinged with apology, "After get off work today, my mother suddenly called me and said there was an emergency and I needed to come over. I really didn't expect things to turn out like this."

Qu He was stunned, not expecting that Cheng Liqing was also kept in the dark.

She felt less embarrassed: "It's okay, I didn't know my mom would arrange it this way."

Cheng Liqing looked at her, a smile appearing on his lips, his restraint lessening: "What happened just now was indeed a bit presumptuous."

"There were some things I couldn't say outright at the dinner table. My family may have misunderstood my wife and me. We've been married for five years, and recently we've just had some disagreements and are temporarily separated, going through a cooling-off period. But when it got to my parents, I don't know how it turned into a divorce."

He paused, then his tone became more serious. "I'll explain this to them when I get back. I'm really sorry for the trouble I've caused you."

Qu He was even more surprised; it turned out to be a misunderstanding.

Looking into Cheng Liqing's sincere eyes, she felt too embarrassed to hide it any longer: "Actually, I'm not divorced. I just had some conflicts with my husband."