Gossip about him
During dinner the next day, Zhuang Jinghao brought a major discovery.
"Master, you're truly amazing!" she said excitedly, "My brother really did have a romantic encounter in Shanghai!"
Zuo Xiao and Zhan Jiaxin pricked up their ears. According to Zhuang Yu'an's secretary, Chen Quan, their boss had stumbled upon a wealthy, beautiful woman on a flight to Shanghai. She sat next to him and was attending the same event. Even more coincidental, she was in the same industry, her family owned a veterinary clinic, and there was potential for collaboration between the company and them. Even more coincidental, the two were staying at the same hotel!
"Wow, this is a match made in heaven!" exclaimed Janice Chan.
"That's right!" Zhuang Jing said happily, "Brother Chen Quan said they ran into each other again at the event, chatting and laughing! Later, they had dinner together and flew back together!"
Zuo Xiao looked at him coldly and said, "It seems that you just want a sister-in-law, and you don't care who it is."
Zhuang Jinghao was choked for a moment, and after a pause, he said, "Of course, love matters must be consensual. My brother doesn't have any feelings for Si Rui, so we can't force them to be together... Besides, didn't you also say that my brother and Si Rui haven't confirmed their relationship yet? If he meets someone he likes more, he can change his target!"
"What's that girl's name? Do you have a photo?" Zhan Jiaxin stepped forward at this moment, gossiping and also trying to save the situation. Zhuang Jinghao immediately became excited: "Yes, yes!"
She lowered her head and fiddled with it for a while, then handed the phone over like a treasure: "Her name is Yan Qing, she's 26 years old, a traditional Chinese beauty, beautiful and elegant!"
Seeing her acting like a little matchmaker, Zuo Xiao sneered and said to her, "Congratulations on finding the right career path. Matchmaking is a very suitable career for you."
"Really?" She took it seriously, her face slightly flushed. "Hehe, I think so too... Even though I failed the first time, when I think about my brother's lifelong happiness, I'm filled with energy!"
"She's really beautiful!" Zhan Jiaxin stared at the screen, her fingers sliding slowly. "It seems that there are very few girls with such classical beauty nowadays, and she studied in the UK. She's so outstanding!"
Zuo Xiao thought they were a bit snobbish. What, just because she'd been to a foreign land, made her superior to Liang Sirui, a native of China? She took her phone and looked at it. "It's okay. She looks a bit like Liang Sirui, but not as tall as her, and her appearance is not as impressive as her."
"As long as my brother likes it!" Zhuang Jinghao took back the phone, thought for a moment and said, "What do you think, should I introduce another one to Si Rui? I always feel a little guilty..."
"Tsk." Zuo Xiao scoffed. "Are you dividing the pork? Or give Chen Liqing to her?"
Zhuang Jinghao immediately fell silent.
The three of them ate in silence. After a while, Zhan Jiaxin suddenly said, "Xu Jin said he wants to join the badminton game tomorrow night. Is that convenient? If not, forget it."
Zuo Xiao thought for a moment and asked, "What's your progress?"
Zhan Jiaxin lowered her eyes: "It's still the same."
"If you want to play with him, you can bring him here," Zuo Xiao said. "If you are serious, then don't bring him here."
"Why?"
"Let's put it this way. That guy is a professional fish farmer, and you are a fish in the pond."
Zhan Jiaxin frowned and fell silent for a moment.
Zhuang Jinghao looked from one to another and said cautiously, "I also think there's something wrong with him... He's been messaging me every day lately, and I don't know how to respond to some of them..."
Zuo Xiao rolled his eyes: Just delete it directly, are you going to keep it for the New Year?
"Okay, I understand." Zhan Jiaxin said hesitantly.
"By the way..." It was Zhuang Jinghao's turn to make a request, "I want to invite my brother to play basketball tomorrow... Is that okay?"
Zuo Xiao smiled and said, "Okay, call your future sister-in-law too. The new one. Or the new and the old together, doubles."
Zhuang Jing pouted, a look of grievance in her eyes. After a moment, she whispered, "Can you please stop being angry? It's not up to me to decide who my brother likes... And I'll explain things to Si Rui..."
"I'm not angry." Zuo Xiao said, "Who your sisters-in-law are, or how many there are, is none of my business. I just ask you not to make me worry about your brother anymore, okay? He's not even got this one taken down when he cuts off another one. I can't think as fast as he can to change people."
"You're just angry. I can tell." Zhuang Jing was tough for once. "Do you think my brother's fickleness is annoying? Or are you standing up for Si Rui? Tell me, I can explain..."
Zuo Xiao didn't bother to pay attention to her. He finished the remaining two mouthfuls of rice, stood up and said, "I'm going to buy a drink next door. What do you want to drink?"
That night, Zhuang Jinghao felt more and more regretful. She had been trying to reconcile the relationship between her brother and Zuo Xiao, and finally her brother's attitude showed signs of softening. However, because of a piece of gossip she had spread without thinking, Zuo Xiao hated her brother even more.
Oh, why is it so difficult to be a peacemaker?
She sighed for half the night and didn't fall asleep until the second half of the night.
The next morning when I went out, I found that my brother was holding an exquisite paper bag.
"Brother, what is this?"
Zhuang Yuan paused and said, "It's a return gift for Zuo Xiao."
"Ah?!" Zhuang Jinghao was immediately flustered. "It's just a refrigerator magnet, and you're giving me a return gift? There's no need to make it so grand..."
"No matter how small the gift is, it represents someone's thoughtfulness," my brother said seriously.
"Let me see..." She took the paper bag and took out a -
Folding screen phone? ?
"Brother! Why did you give someone a cell phone?"
"I don't know what to give her. A cell phone would be a good idea, right? I heard these tri-fold phones are very popular among young girls."
"No, no, this is too grand! It makes people feel heavy and deliberate! I suggest you don't give it as a gift!"
"……Really?"
"Absolutely true!" Zhuang Jing said firmly, "It's like someone treating you to a cup of milk tea, and you insist on treating them to a kaiseki meal in return. That's really making a big deal out of nothing!"
Seeing her brother's hesitation, she continued, "Brother, don't even think about returning the gift! It was just a casual gift, and you're making it so awkward! It'll seem like she's getting you a souvenir in exchange for something big...and it's best not to mention it verbally, it'll seem so awkward!"
Zhuang Yu'an frowned slightly, thought for a moment, and nodded.
Zhuang Jinghao breathed a sigh of relief: Oh my god, I almost got caught...
On the way to the company, Zhuang Yu'an suddenly asked, "Has Zuo Xiao resumed updating?"
It took Zhuang Jinghao a moment to realize what he was referring to. She sighed and said, "After breaking up with her ex-boyfriend, her perspective on love has changed. She said she can't empathize with the heroine anymore, so she can't continue writing."
Zhuang Yuan paused and asked, "What exactly does a change in your outlook on love mean?"
"She didn't elaborate..." Zhuang Jinghao looked suspicious. "Brother, why are you suddenly concerned about this?"
Zhuang Yu'an remained calm: "You initially approached her to encourage her to resume her activities. But you seem to have forgotten your goal?"
"Oh... maybe it's because I've been so busy lately that I haven't had the heart to read novels!"
That's right! Zhuang Jinghao thought: My life is so full now. Besides playing and practicing badminton, I also have to think about Chen Liqing and worry about my brother's lifelong event. How can I have time to read novels?
At this time, I heard my brother say, "So what's Zuo Xiao's plan? Are you really going to stop updating?"
"I didn't say I'd stop updating. Maybe I'll resume when I'm in a better state." She thought for a moment and asked tentatively, "Brother, you don't mind me absorbing the dregs, do you?"
Zhuang Yu'an was stunned for a moment, then said after a while: "As long as you can distinguish between fiction and reality, don't bring the plot of the novel into real life."
Zhuang Jinghao gasped in shock and said in disbelief: "Brother, you really have changed!"
My brother smiled slightly and said nothing.
After a while, Zhuang Jinghao finally couldn't help but ask, "Brother, do you have someone you like?"
"...Why are you asking that all of a sudden?"
Seeing her brother trying to keep a straight face, with no visible expression on his face, yet his Adam's apple moving slightly, Zhuang Jinghao felt more and more suspicious. If she hadn't promised Chen Quan that she would never sell him out, she would have wanted to ask directly: Did you have an affair while on a business trip in Shanghai?
"You and Si Rui were getting along well, but you suddenly want to give up..." She stared at his face, "I thought you might have fallen in love with another girl."
The elder brother's expression changed slightly: "Don't talk nonsense."
"It's okay! You don't have to worry!" Zhuang Jinghao tried to persuade him. "You and Si Rui were just trying out each other before, and you haven't confirmed your relationship yet. Of course you can change people! Besides, you're already 27. If you meet someone you like, you have to seize the opportunity, otherwise you're really going to be a widower for the rest of your life."
My brother obviously didn't want to talk about this topic anymore. He asked abruptly, "Do you have any plans for the weekend? How about going back to visit Grandpa and Grandma?"
The more he avoided her, the more Zhuang Jinghao became convinced he had someone he loved, and it was most likely the beautiful Yan Qing he'd met in Shanghai that weekend. Her brother fell in love with her at first sight, but perhaps he was afraid of being accused of fickleness—like Zuo Xiao, who was unhappy with his fickleness. Or perhaps it was because he was unsure, or perhaps shy? In short, he seemed to have many concerns and was reluctant to admit he had a crush on someone.
Hehe, my brother is such a fool!
"Maybe next weekend." She said with a smile, "This weekend I plan to take Zuo Xiao, Jia Xin and the others to Jing Hao Home to have a look. Maybe they would like to take in a kitten or puppy? Brother, you can come too!"
"……good."
At the company, Zhuang Jinghao cordially invited Zuo Xiao and Zhan Jiaxin in the group chat to visit the stray animal rescue center named in her honor this weekend. They agreed, and she took the opportunity to invite Chen Liqing to join them. Zuo Xiao said Chen Liqing had been very busy recently and wanted to see if he had time.
At noon, the three girls walked out of the office together and met Chen Quan at the elevator entrance.
"It's so hard to wait for the elevator at noon." He had just finished speaking when the elevator indicator light came on. "Oh, please hold it for me first, don't let the elevator go down!" He turned and ran to the corner to look.
"Coming, coming!" He stretched out his hand, made an OK gesture towards this side, and then disappeared around the corner.
Zhuang Jinghao reached out and pressed the down button, nodding and bowing to apologize to the people in the elevator: "I'm sorry, my colleagues will be here soon, soon..." Zhan Jiaxin also lent a hand and helped her hold the elevator door.
There were a few colleagues standing at the elevator entrance, who had arrived earlier than them. They all stepped aside and didn't go in. Zuo Xiao watched coldly from the side, raised his leg, and stepped into the elevator first.
"This way, please." Chen Quan led a group of people out from the corner. Zhuang Jinghao was immediately amnestied: "Here we come!"
Looking closely, he saw his brother and a girl wearing a modified cheongsam walking in front, followed by the marketing director Hong Xuejia and two unfamiliar faces.
Oh my god! She suddenly realized——
Isn't this Yan Qing? !
Damn, I look better in person than in the photo!
After a brief moment of shock, Zhuang Jinghao turned to look at the elevator. There were already about ten people inside, and she wondered if it could hold more. After a moment's hesitation, she stepped aside to let her brother and his guests in first. Zhan Jiaxin also stepped aside.
Zhuang Yu'an walked to the elevator entrance, was slightly startled, and then made a "please" gesture.
The lady entered first. After Zhuang Yu'an entered, the others followed.
Soon, the overload warning sounded. Marketing Director Hong Xuejia, who was standing at the door, stepped out of the elevator without stopping.
Chen Quan turned his head and his eyes fell on Zuo Xiao.
Today, she wore a simple white T-shirt, denim shorts, and Forrest Gump shoes. She topped her head with a blue baseball cap embroidered with the words "Nevermind," and her hair was casually tied into a ponytail. She looked youthful and innocent, not at all like a social person. Her actions were even more "unsocial."
Zuo Xiao noticed his gaze and smiled slightly.
But he didn't move.
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