0053 Stalemate

Qu Zhong got home at almost eight o'clock.

The living room lights were on, and her signature slippers were neatly arranged on the entryway rug, facing the door, indicating that someone was waiting for her to come home.

Qu Zhong felt a surge of warmth in her heart and smiled slightly. Just as she changed into her slippers, Zhai Shi walked up to her, his eyes questioning, "Why aren't you replying to my messages or answering my calls?"

During the time they've been living together, Qu Zhong has often worked overtime and come home late. Zhai doesn't want her to take the subway home alone, so he always asks her when she'll be off work and then picks her up. But today, she's unusually quiet and hasn't replied at all.

Upon hearing Zhai's question, Qu Zhong opened WeChat and checked, discovering that he had been sending her messages since six o'clock and calling her every so often.

"Ah..." She touched her forehead with the back of her hand: "Sorry, I was too busy to check my phone."

Zhai wasn't being resentful when he asked this. He glanced at her, then looked down and asked softly, "Have you eaten?"

Qu Zhong shook her head, looking pitiful: "Not yet."

"I knew it."

Zhai told her to go and rest for a while, then turned and went to the kitchen.

Qu Zhong slumped on the sofa for a while, and Zhai Shi quickly came out, holding a bowl of noodles in one hand, and asked her where she wanted to sit to eat: "The dining table or the sofa."

Qu Zhong, feeling weak and unwilling to move, said, "This is fine."

Zhai sat down next to her, attentively handing her a bowl and chopsticks, and reminding her to be careful of the heat.

Qu Zhong hummed in agreement and took the soup, then took a sip.

Huh, it's sweet? She glanced at Zhai Shi, puzzled.

He was smiling at her as he said, "Didn't you ask me last time if I knew how to cook Shanghainese cuisine? I just learned."

So this is a bowl of local Shanghai-style noodles.

Qu Zhong couldn't help but think of Haitian Catering, and his face fell into deep thought.

Zhai, unaware of her unusual behavior, casually brought up the latest developments in the public interest litigation case: "I received a court notice today that the compensation has been deposited into our account, and the case has been successfully closed. By the way, how's your friend's civil lawsuit going?"

I didn't hear her speak, nor did I see her touch her chopsticks; she was just holding her bowl, lost in thought.

Are you listening?

"Huh?" Qu Zhong only came back to her senses when she heard Zhai raise his voice to call her. "Public interest litigation? What happened? Did you win?"

It's obvious she's daydreaming; otherwise, why would she ask about the outcome of a public interest lawsuit? Like criminal cases, public interest lawsuits don't really have a clear winner or loser.

Zhai Shijing looked at her for a few seconds: "Something on your mind?"

Qu Zhong sniffed lightly and lied, "No, I'm just a little tired."

It wasn't exactly lying, but more like concealing something; she didn't want to vent her work-related frustrations at home.

Zhai had no idea what she was thinking, and simply gestured to the noodles in her hand: "Want some more?"

When she said she couldn't eat anymore, he immediately took the bowl and chopsticks and put them on the coffee table. He moved a few steps closer, pulled her close, and gently patted her head twice.

This gentle, comforting gesture finally broke Qu Zhong's composure. She wrapped her arms around him and buried her face in his chest. Like a potted plant drawn to the light, after enduring a long period of incessant rain, she greedily and passionately breathed in the sun.

After sitting quietly for a while, Zhai spoke again: "What are your plans for the Spring Festival?"

With his body blocking the way, Qu Zhong's voice sounded somewhat muffled: "What's wrong?"

Zhai lowered his head and gently kissed the back of her ear, as if stamping an invitation: "Want to come home with me?"

"Huh?" He suddenly said something startling, and Qu Zhong's nerves, which had finally relaxed, tensed up again instantly. She released him, looked up, and asked, "What do you mean?"

She knew exactly what he meant. In a romantic relationship, when one person takes the other home to meet their parents, it signifies the deepening and solidification of the relationship, with marriage being the next step.

Zhai looked at her, his eyes bright and dark: "Let me introduce you to my family."

Qu Zhong paused for a few seconds, then refused: "I don't want to go."

"You think it's too fast?" Actually, the moment he asked the question, Zhai felt it was inappropriate and a bit too hasty, and he didn't expect to get a positive answer.

“It’s okay, next time…” he said, leaning closer again, wanting to pull her onto his lap. But Qu Zhong moved a little in the opposite direction, like a cat reacting to being scratched.

Zhai's hand fell empty-handed.

"No." Qu Zhong felt it necessary to make things clear to him, her clear gaze meeting his eyes. "I have no plans to get married for the time being."

Zhai paused, a memory flashing through his mind. His gaze sharpened, and he asked, "How long is 'temporarily'?"

Qu Zhong frankly said, "I don't know, but this idea won't change within five years."

Five years—how could she define such a long period of time as temporary?

Zhai was thinking of that day at the Renaissance Hotel, when marriage was mentioned, her expression was cold and distant, and she didn't care at all.

He thought their argument that day had already been resolved, but it turned out it was just a suspension of the trial. The trial will resume once the reasons for the suspension have dissipated.

But he never expected it to be today, at this moment.

Zhai had been silent for quite some time, so long that Qu Zhong had to take the initiative to ask him, "What are you thinking?"

Zhai said, "You've already shut me down. Does it even matter what I think?"

During interrogations, prosecutors must remain outwardly composed, because they cannot allow suspects to read their minds. Only by outmaneuvering them can they extract complete transparency.

Just like now, Zhai's gaze was unfathomable, but Qu Zhong knew he was angry.

She explained, "I'm not saying that you or your thoughts don't matter, I just think that the form of marriage doesn't matter."

As she spoke, she tried to pull him away, but Zhai raised his hand to avoid her.

He was clearly not swayed by her words: "I don't think so. If it's not important, then why are there provisions about marriage in the Code of Hammurabi?"

He started talking to her about law and legal history, which made Qu Zhong a bit more serious: "Just because there is a marriage law in this world doesn't mean that everyone living in the world has to get married."

Marriage law governs those who want to get married, are already married, or have been married and divorced. However, the decision to marry is a right, not an obligation.

“If we really get to that point, then we’ll have to draw up a prenuptial agreement, have our assets notarized, and then we’ll have to deal with a lot of complicated relationships. Don’t you think that’s a lot of trouble?”

She thought she had thought things through thoroughly and spoke with great conviction, but Zhai looked at her incredulously: "I didn't expect you to be so clear about things with me."

Qu Zhong didn't see anything wrong with what she said; on the contrary, his overly sensitive attitude made her uncomfortable. She didn't want to waste any more energy trying to appease him and calmly said, "This is more compliant with regulations."

“Compliance?” Her choice of words made Zhai Shi’s lips curl into a ridiculous smirk. “So, to you, I am a risk.”

"Marriage itself is a risk." Qu Zhong became increasingly agitated as she spoke, and coupled with her exhaustion after a busy day, her tone grew impatient. "Just consider it a professional habit of mine."

She didn't want to confront him anymore, but Zhai Shi had no intention of stopping. All his dormant emotions burst forth at this moment: "Qu Zhong, don't use occupational hazard as an excuse. The reason you think this way is because you don't think our ending is good from the bottom of your heart. You think that dating might end in a breakup, and even marriage might end in divorce, so you're thinking about agreements, notarization, and property division in advance."

He transformed himself from a party involved in the case into the judge of this trial, meticulously crafting the main text of her verdict. His words were piercing, each sentence penetrating, leaving no room for argument.

Yes, Qu Zhong admits that his judgments were all correct, and that's exactly what she thought.

The noodles in the bowl grew colder and colder, the broth like a sinking coastline, and my heart was stranded.

Qu Zhong was too exhausted to argue with him any longer, and weakly pleaded, "Zhai Shi, can we talk about this later?"

After saying that, she got up and walked towards the bedroom. All she wanted to do was lie down and get some sleep.

But Zhai wouldn't let her. He chased after her, forcefully pulling her back, his knuckles white, and forced her to look at him: "Qu Zhong, do you like me?"

Qu Zhong's shoulders ached from his grip, and she tried to break free but to no avail.

Her patience had reached its limit: "Aren't we already together? What do you think?"

Zhai stared intently at her, his gaze as dim as the approaching polar night: "I want to hear it from your own mouth."

This is why Qu Zhong is unwilling to date, much less get married. These meaningless arguments, like unauthorized additions, keep piling heavy objects on the walls of her heart. They offer no positive value other than crushing her.

She concealed all expression and said coldly, "I'm so tired, can you just let me go?"

After waiting for a long time, all I got was this sentence.

As she wished, Zhai released her, his eyes losing their light, and uttered a single, heavy word: "Fine."

After saying that, he resolutely walked towards the front door, splitting the world in two with a "bang".

Qu Zhong is inside the door, while he is outside.

The moment he slammed the door and left, Qu Zhong seemed to have lost her soul, as if she had been dehydrated and shrunk away, and slumped back onto the sofa helplessly.

The boundless silence caused all her thoughts to crumble. She slowly leaned over the coffee table, her eyes soon overflowing with tears, and she burst into sobs.

She cried for an unknown amount of time before she finally regained the strength to lift her head. Through her blurry vision, the bowl of noodles in front of her was completely mushy.