Chapter 77 Everyone's busy spending time with their wives right now.
At 11 o'clock, Shangqiu Zhu pushed open the door, and the motion-sensor lights inside the house turned on one by one.
He loosened his tie and his gaze fell on the shoe cabinet.
The spot where Yan Shuang's pink slippers always sat was empty.
The magazines she used to leave lying around were no longer on the coffee table in the living room, and the bottle of her usual hand cream was gone next to the remote control.
The faint scent of gardenias in the air had completely disappeared.
Shangqiu Zhu's breathing gradually became heavy.
He stepped upstairs and pushed open the door to the master bedroom.
All the bottles and jars on the dressing table were gone, and in the bathroom, her toothbrush, towel, and shower gel had all vanished without a trace.
The hangers in the walk-in closet that used to hold her dresses were now all empty, swaying forlornly.
Everything that could be taken was taken; anything that couldn't be taken was carefully stored in a storage box and the lid was closed.
Heh...that was really clean and efficient.
He closed the wardrobe door, his face darkening again.
At midnight, Shangqiu Zhu came out of the bathroom and lay down on the bed.
He habitually reached to his right, his arm sweeping across the empty bed before he frowned.
The warm little body was no longer on the bed, waiting to be pulled into his arms.
The cigarette pack on the bedside table was crushed and deformed.
Shangqiu Zhu took a deep breath, but the nicotine couldn't suppress the restlessness in his chest.
He leaned against the headboard. Although Lao Zhan had given Yan Shuang a detailed report of her itinerary for the day and he had confirmed that she had returned to the hotel safely, he still dialed the number that had been switched off all day.
The mechanical female voice repeated the same prompt for what felt like the hundredth time, as if waiting even a second longer would bring a different response.
The cigarette butts piled up in the ashtray, gradually forming a small mountain...
At eight o'clock in the morning, Yan Shuang, carrying a folder, walked side by side with Emma toward the laboratory building, while Emma chattered on about data models in her ears.
"Oh my god! Look over there!" Emma suddenly grabbed her arm tightly.
Yan Shuang looked toward the center of the commotion.
The students gathered in twos and threes, their phone cameras flashing, some even standing on tiptoe to peer inside.
Shangqiu Zhu stood next to the black Maybach.
The surrounding students instantly became low-resolution backgrounds, while he was so handsome that he seemed like a surreal being who had stepped straight out of a fashion magazine.
"Holy shit!" Emma gasped, her nails almost digging into Yan Shuang's flesh. "That guy is so hot!"
His sharply defined face was expressionless, yet it drew frequent glances from the girls around him, who whispered among themselves.
Despite the buzz of discussion, no one dared to approach and strike up a conversation.
He exuded an aura that kept strangers at bay, so even the school beauty, the heiress of the Qu family, Qu Yating, only dared to watch from afar.
Shangqiu Zhu seemed to sense something and raised his eyes, his gaze accurately landing on Yan Shuang.
In an instant, all the students' eyes turned to Yan Shuang, following his gaze.
In the crowd, Qu Yating clutched her limited-edition Hermes bag tightly. Just as she was hesitating whether to go up and say hello, she saw Shang Qiuzhu walk straight towards a girl with a bare face.
The girl was wearing a simple white dress with a pink cardigan and ordinary white sneakers.
Yan Shuang suddenly became the focus of attention and had no choice but to bite the bullet and walk over.
"Why are you here?" she asked awkwardly.
Shangqiu Zhu handed her an exquisitely crafted food box: "Here's your meal."
His voice was neither too loud nor too soft, just enough to elicit envious gasps from the girls around him.
Yan Shuang hurriedly took the food box. "Thank you, I'll be going now."
Shangqiu Zhu frowned slightly, then suddenly grabbed her slender wrist: "So eager?"
Yan Shuang's ears turned red as she glanced at the growing number of students around her, lowering her voice, "There are too many people here, brother..."
Some people were taking pictures with their phones, and a girl was excitedly tugging at her companion's sleeve.
Shangqiu bamboo, however, remained calm and composed, as if it were born to live in the spotlight.
“No need to deliver next time,” Yan Shuang said quickly. “The school cafeteria food is pretty good.”
After saying that, she tried to break free from his grasp, but couldn't, and looked at him in confusion.
Just as Shangqiu Zhu was about to speak, the school bell suddenly rang.
"Don't turn off your phone." He finally let go.
Yan Shuang nodded vigorously, and as soon as she was free, she darted out like a startled rabbit.
Shangqiu Zhu watched the fleeing figure turn away amidst countless burning gazes.
When Emma caught Yan Shuang at the entrance of the laboratory building, she was panting while holding a food box.
"That's your boyfriend?!"
Yan Shuang looked at the carefully arranged Chinese tea snacks in the food box.
"no."
The driver saw his boss approaching from afar and immediately sensed something was wrong. Shang Qiuzhu's brows furrowed and his thin lips pressed into a straight line.
He silently wiped the cold sweat from his forehead and carefully opened the car door for his boss.
Inside the car, Shangqiu Zhu loosened his tie, his face so gloomy it could drip water.
Suddenly, the phone screen lit up.
Shangqiu Zhu's brows relaxed almost imperceptibly for a moment, and his fingertips quickly swiped to unlock the screen.
Yan Shuang: Please don't come again next time.
His expression, which had just softened, instantly froze.
He tossed his phone aside, and the air pressure inside the car was frighteningly low; even the driver had to hold his breath.
For several days in a row, Yan Shuang was completely immersed in the project research, working wholeheartedly with Mark, Emma and other team members.
The laboratory lights often stay on until late at night.
The whiteboard was covered with dense formulas, coffee cups were lined up on the table, and the light from the computer screens shone on everyone's focused faces.
Yan Shuang liked this pure feeling. When everyone's thoughts collided and worked together for the same goal, the tacit understanding and sense of accomplishment made her extremely happy.
On Friday afternoon, Mark suddenly pushed open the door and walked in, mysteriously hiding something behind his back.
"Guess what I got my hands on?" He waved a few tickets. "The best tennis club in Los Angeles, afternoon session!"
Emma snatched the ticket, her eyes wide: "My God! Isn't this that place with a million-dollar membership fee..."
“That’s right!” Mark snapped his fingers triumphantly. “Let’s go! We’ve been cooped up in the lab for so many days, we’ll grow mushrooms if we don’t get some exercise!”
Mark, carrying a tennis racket, wandered around the lab like a large dog, bothering each of the team members.
Emma was the first to surrender: "Okay, okay, I'll go! Yanshuang, you come too~"
Yan Shuang was busy organizing data, and without looking up, she said, "I still have two more sets of data to test."
“The data won’t disappear!” Mark snatched the pen from her hand, gesturing exaggeratedly. “Do you know how harmful it is to work eight hours straight without exercising? You’ll become stupid! You’ll go bald! You’ll…”
"Stop, stop, stop!" Yan Shuang raised her hands in surrender, both amused and exasperated. "I'll go, I'll go, okay?"
Du Yunchuan has been unable to bear Yan You's pestering these past few days.
This young lady didn't dare to bother Shangqiu Zhu directly, so she spent all her time hovering around him, inquiring about his whereabouts both openly and secretly.
"Yun Chuan, will Qiu Zhu come to the club today?"
Du Yunchuan tied his shoelaces without looking up: "I don't know."
"How could you not know?" Yan You followed behind him. "Don't you guys play ball together all the time?"
"That was before." Du Yunchuan picked up his racket and walked towards the court without looking back.
Everyone else is busy spending time with their wives right now, Du Yunchuan silently added in his mind.
Yan You stomped her feet in anger.
She flew all the way to Los Angeles, but didn't even catch a glimpse of Shangqiu Zhu.
I dressed up so nicely today, but I was disappointed again.
Du Yunchuan had already started warming up on his own, but out of the corner of his eye he caught a glimpse of a familiar figure on the next court.
On the adjacent court, Yan Shuang was playing against a tall, blond-haired, blue-eyed boy.
She wore a white tennis skirt, her long legs dazzlingly white in the sunlight. Every time she jumped to catch the ball, the skirt fluttered, attracting frequent glances from people on several surrounding courts.
"Tsk tsk..." Du Yunchuan took out his phone and quickly snapped a picture.
[Old Shang, your house has been burgled.]
Attached are some fresh, hot photos.
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