"What are you looking at! I'm the closest person to her now," Ning Yizhan added insult to injury. He really couldn't understand why this woman wanted to possess Qiu Hu every time she saw him.
“You…”, A Yi didn’t want to waste words with him and tried to pull Qiu Hu away, but Qiu Hu was held back by Ning Yizhan on the other side.
Qiu Hu felt caught in the middle again and decided to let the matter drop, a practice known as "muddling through the mud." He said, "Alright, let's all get along."
Unfortunately, the method didn't work, and the two of them were still holding her back. She sighed and said, "Let go, don't force me to do it."
Fearing they would make a fool of themselves, the two slowly lowered their hands.
Qiu Hu's hands were finally freed, "That's more like it."
There was a moment of silence.
“Miss, I have something to say, two people,” A-Yi said, getting down to business, and then gave two thumbs up.
“Okay, we’ll talk over there,” Qiu Hu said, preparing to lead A Yi into the hotel office. Before stepping into the office, she let A Yi in first and gave Ning Yizhan a reassuring look, telling him to wait for her at the door.
Ning Yizhan nodded, reassuring her.
When Ayi saw Qiu Hu, who had come in later than her, she felt that Qiu Hu had changed and said, "You have really changed. You were not like this at all before."
"Nothing changes or remains the same. I've said a lot about you before."
"...Huh? What did I do before?" A-Yi started to dodge the question.
"It doesn't matter, what matters is now."
Ayi understood what Qiu Hu meant; the most important thing right now was to act immediately.
"Speak, what is it that we need to talk about privately?" Qiu Hu steered the conversation to the main topic.
“Didn’t you say last time that Lin Ning was a bit strange? Then I started paying attention to him. Except for mealtimes, Lin Ning is basically out and about every day, not for sightseeing, but alone, as if he’s looking for someone.”
“Zhao Shi is missing. It’s normal for him to be anxious to find him, especially since Zhao Shi disappeared on the island. Can you just get to the point?” Qiu Hu knew that A Yi was definitely not finished yet, and the previous sentences were just keeping him in suspense.
“He tried to go into the woods, but we stopped him. He was still determined to come in last night, but we found him again.”
Qiu Hu continued, picking up where A Yi left off, "That's right, we already said we've looked, it's not inside, so what's he looking for!"
“Last night, Qian and I knocked on his door to warn him. We could hear him talking inside, and he sounded very agitated. So who was he talking to?”
Qiu Hu recalled what Zhao Shi had said at home these past few days, and continued, "Very irritable? As far as I know, Lin Ning has a good temper when she's out, is warm-hearted to her family, and friendly to strangers."
"So, who is he taking his anger out on?"
"A subordinate? A rival? Or someone with whom he has a business relationship?" Qiu Hu guessed in a soft, gentle tone.
“I guess the third one, what about you?” A-Yi said, pretending to think but actually showing off.
“I think so too. He just came to see me, and he was very eager to know about Zhao Shi.”
"So you didn't tell him?" Ayi had already guessed that Zhao Shi had returned in the past few days, but she and Qiu Hu kept it a secret. She didn't say anything, and naturally she didn't ask.
“No, didn’t you say he had a problem? What did you mean?” Ayi offered an unrealistic suggestion, “Why don’t we kick him out, and then you can reunite with your family.”
"You really can't think of any good solutions. Actually, if this keeps up, even if we don't say anything, the three of us at home will soon be unable to hold it in any longer."
Qiu Hu recalled how the three men kept asking her in different ways if she could go out.
Qiu Hu wanted to speak directly, but then thought about it and said, "But I still need to go back and think about it, and ask the person outside for their opinion."
"...If it were before, we would have solved it long ago and wouldn't have given Lin Ning any face at all."
"Everyone knows that, but the problem is that Zhao Shi grew up in Lin Ning's family."
"Ugh, this is so troublesome! Fine, do whatever you want!"
"Okay, I'll be going now. Come to my house when you're done!" Qiu Hu didn't plan to stay any longer and prepared to get up.
"what?"
"Oh, my mom's looking for you!"
"Huh? What do you want?" In his memory, A-Yi didn't know Zhao Yan'er at all, let alone specifically ask to see her.
"You can ask her yourself later, how would I know!"
Qiu Hu left, leaving A Yi deep in thought in the office. She was the kind of person who was most afraid of seeing elders. She had never been close to elders since childhood, and she rarely saw them. But this time, however, she specifically asked to see them!
"What should I do? What am I supposed to do when I get there?" Ayi was completely baffled.
When Ning Yizhan saw Qiu Hu come out, his cold and sharp eyes finally turned serious. "Let's go, we've been chatting for quite a while."
"No, we just talked about those things, and then I told her I'd come over for dinner later."
"You told her? Didn't you say you wouldn't tell anyone?"
"That's Ayi, it's okay."
“So,” Ning Yizhan didn’t say anything more, but was stumped by Qiu Hu’s question, “You seem to be targeting her.”
"She doesn't like me, or rather, everyone around you doesn't like me," Ning Yizhan said, not knowing why, even though he hadn't done anything wrong, "why are the people around you so possessive of you?"
"No, maybe you just look fierce," Qiu Hu said, then chickened out and ran away.
"Who are you calling fierce? He's clearly very handsome, okay?" Ning Yizhan tried to grab her, but missed. Qiu Hu ran away.
Ning Yizhan smiled as he looked ahead and chased after her, catching up with her only at the elevator. He reached out and grabbed her, interlocking their fingers. "Still running away? Hmm?"
“I’m not running anymore, there’s nowhere to run,” Qiu Hu said, watching him laugh. She laughed along with him and leaned against him.
"Ding," the elevator doors opened, and only Lin Ning was inside.
Qiu Hu: What luck! Meeting you twice in one day.
Lin Ning glanced at their bodies leaning together and their interlocked fingers, a shadow of gloom flashing in his eyes. Skilled at disguising his feelings, he quickly regained his composure, replacing his usual expression with a calm one, and politely asked, "Shall we come in?"
Qiu Hu didn't really want to go in, but it would be awkward. Ning Yizhan quickly pulled her into the elevator, saying, "Thank you."
Lin Ning smiled slightly, her emotions unreadable, and closed the elevator door. "You're welcome. First floor?"
"Yes".
The elevator was silent until Ning Yizhan's voice rang out.
"Why did you run away? I'm not going to eat you."
Qiu Hu wanted to shut him up, so he pinched his thigh to remind him, but he didn't seem to understand what Qiu Hu meant and continued, "Besides, isn't it just that you like me because I'm handsome? Would you even want someone uglier than me?"
Qiu Hu suspected that he was implying something about someone else, so he pinched Qiu Hu's thigh and mouth at the same time, saying, "It's exactly as you said."
"Yeah, I knew it."
No one spoke again, but Ning Yizhan's goal was not yet achieved. He pinched her chin and kissed her.
Qiu Hu was shocked, frowned in confusion, and looked at him questioningly, "What's going on?"
Ning Yizhan did not answer her, but just kept kissing her lips. He then looked at Lin Ning, who had her back to them, and smiled, as if showing off or provoking her.
Qiu Hu let him run wild and didn't push him away.
"Ding," the elevator doors opened again, and they arrived at the first floor. Ning Yizhan then released her.
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