Chapter 57 The First Step in Chasing Your Wife - Playing Hard to Get
The plane landed smoothly at Beijing International Airport, its massive fuselage emitting a dull roar as it taxied. The cabin door opened, and the familiar, bustling urban air rushed in.
Zhou Ai carefully helped Chu Yi into the convenient wheelchair provided by the airport ground staff, carefully checking that his casted leg was properly positioned before pushing him out with the crowd. Xu Yang and several core members of the studio followed closely behind, making them quite conspicuous.
The airport entrance was bustling with people. Chu Yi looked up and saw that Cheng Yingzhi had originally been the one to pick him up, but now, standing in a prominent position and looking towards them, it was Cheng Yanqing, who had an upright figure and a calmer and more stern temperament.
"Brother." Chu Yi was a little surprised, but still took the initiative to greet him.
Zhou Ai stopped pushing the wheelchair, and his eyes met Cheng Yanqing's mid-air. He immediately recognized her as the man who had called Chu Yi "good boy" at Cheng Yingzhi's birthday party.
Cheng Yanqing naturally recognized that this was the rebellious and notorious "young master" of the Zhou family, Zhou Song's younger brother.
Cheng Yanqing first nodded slightly to Zhou Ai as a greeting, but when he saw Zhou Ai's hand on the handle of Chu Yi's wheelchair, a hint of surprise flashed across his eyes - he didn't expect that Zhou Ai would push Chu Yi out himself.
Immediately, his brows furrowed, his gaze falling on Chu Yi's foot, which was heavily casted. "What happened? Are you so careless?"
"It's just an accident, a minor problem, it will be fine after a few days of rest."
Chu Yi said as he took his backpack from Xu Yang and placed it on his lap.
Cheng Yanqing was obviously not that easy to fool, but he did not ask any more questions. He just turned his gaze back to Zhou Ai and said politely, "Mr. Zhou, thank you for your care along the way. Leave him to me."
As he spoke, he took a step forward naturally and reached out to hold the handle of the wheelchair.
Zhou Ai's fingers were still on the armrest of the wheelchair. Upon hearing this, her hands subconsciously tightened for a moment, and a strong reluctance surged in her heart.
He could almost feel that if he let go, Chu Yi would really be taken away from him and return to the world that he could not easily reach.
Xu Yang watched with trepidation, fearing that this young master would do something inappropriate in such an occasion. He quickly stepped forward, very discreetly tugged at the corner of Zhou Ai's clothes, and urged in a low voice, "Let's go, Brother Zhou, there are still many things waiting for us over there."
His eyes were full of pleading: Ancestor, please, don’t act out this sad farewell scene here, with so many eyes watching us!
Zhou Ai's jawline tensed for a moment, but he finally and reluctantly slowly loosened his hand and handed control of the wheelchair to Cheng Yanqing.
Chu Yi sat in his wheelchair and looked up at Zhou Ai, his face still showing that gentle and indifferent expression. He waved towards Zhou Ai, his tone as ordinary as if he was just saying goodbye to an ordinary colleague: "Goodbye, Teacher Zhou."
After he finished speaking, he even turned his head and waved to Xu Yang and several other staff members behind Zhou Ai with a smile: "Thank you for your hard work, everyone. Goodbye."
His attitude was natural and proper, and he had nothing to say, but in Zhou Ai's eyes, it was like an invisible wall that instantly pulled the distance between the two of them, which had been shortened with great difficulty, back to the safe and distant boundary of "ordinary friends".
Zhou Ai looked at Chu Yi who instantly switched back to "Doctor Chu" mode, and felt like something was blocking his heart, making him feel suffocated and uneasy.
He opened his mouth, but in the end, he couldn't say anything. He just looked at Chu Yi deeply, and then was half-pushed and half-persuaded by Xu Yang, turned around and merged into the crowd at the airport, heading in another direction.
Cheng Yanqing pushed Chu Yi toward the VIP passage. He glanced down at his brother's calm profile, then glanced back at Zhou Ai's back, which stood out even in the crowd, though it seemed a little stiff, and seemed lost in thought.
The black sedan smoothly drove off the airport highway and merged into the endless stream of cars in Beijing at dusk. The atmosphere inside the car was eerily quiet.
As soon as Cheng Yanqing got in the car, he answered several urgent calls and handled official business in a low voice. His usual calmness and a hint of imperceptible fatigue were visible between his brows.
Chu Yi leaned quietly against the car window, watching the street scenes passing by quickly outside the window without saying a word.
The autumn in Beijing is completely different from that in Guizhou.
Autumn in Guizhou is always shrouded in continuous rain and mountain fog, damp and hazy.
Autumn in Beijing seems high and dry. The sky is a clear gray-blue, and the air is cool. The leaves of the tall ginkgo trees on the roadside have turned yellow, as if they were coated with a layer of gold. Occasionally, a leaf swirls and falls in the wind.
Looking at the familiar bustling scene and falling ginkgo leaves outside the window, Chu Yi seemed to have truly escaped from that thrilling and... indescribable experience in the mountains, and felt a trance-like sense of unreality.
Twenty short days seemed like an eternity. He was back in this orderly, high-speed city, but somewhere in his heart, there was an inexplicable emptiness, an inexplicable sense of loss, as if he had left something important behind in those wet green hills.
"Did you have fun?" Cheng Yanqing finally ended the call, put the phone aside, and asked casually, his tone like an ordinary brother caring about his younger brother's trip.
Chu Yi's gaze was still directed out the window, his voice calm and composed: "We are not going there to play, we are going there to help." He corrected with a procedural seriousness.
Cheng Yanqing glanced sideways at Chu Yi and raised an eyebrow in disapproval, clearly not taking his correction seriously. After a few seconds of silence, he casually changed the subject, "Are you and Zhou Ai... familiar?"
This question is much more acute than the previous one.
Chu Yi finally withdrew his gaze from the window and turned to look at Cheng Yanqing. His face was expressionless as he asked, "Which kind of 'cooked' do you mean?"
His reaction made Cheng Yanqing laugh softly, with a hint of playfulness: "Don't worry, I won't tell mom. No need to be so wary of me." He glanced meaningfully at Chu Yi's foot, which was still in a cast.
Chu Yi pursed his lips and looked forward again. His tone became even calmer, even deliberately adding a hint of alienation: "It's just a normal friendship. It doesn't matter if you tell me." He seemed to be stating an objective fact, but also seemed to be trying to convince himself.
The car fell silent again.
It was not until Chu Yi realized that the scenery outside the window was becoming more and more familiar, and that it was not the way back to his own apartment "Blue Lake", but the direction of the Cheng family's old house, that he suddenly reacted.
He immediately turned his head, his face showing obvious emotional fluctuations, and said with anger: "Send me back to Blue Lake."
Cheng Yanqing met his angry gaze in the rearview mirror, his tone still steady, "Why don't you go back and see your mother first? She misses you a lot."
"Do you think I should go back like this?" Chu Yi pointed at the plaster on his leg and said in a stern tone, "Should I go see her or get scolded?"
Cheng Yanqing was actually a little surprised. Seeing Chu Yi, who was usually calm and composed, now resisting and a little angry, a faint smile flashed in his eyes, but his tone was still non-negotiable: "It's just a simple meal. I'll send you back after the viewing. Mom specifically ordered it, and people are waiting."
Chu Yi took a deep breath, knowing that it was unlikely that he could persuade Yan Qing to do so. He could only hold his breath and lean back in his chair. His face darkened as he watched the street scene outside the window rapidly receding and getting closer and closer to the old house. The empty feeling in his heart was mixed with a hint of helplessness and resistance.
In fact, he rarely used his mobile phone since he went to Guizhou. On the one hand, he didn't have many people to contact after work, and on the other hand, the signal in the mountains of Guizhou was intermittent, and he had almost no patience for having to wait more than ten minutes to reply to a message.
But at this moment, Chu Yi didn't know what he was waiting for. His fingers kept rubbing the edge of the phone, and the screen lit up and went out over and over again.
This subtle movement did not escape Cheng Yanqing's eyes, but he said nothing.
Chu Yi himself actually realized that he had been feeling unconsciously anxious since he got off the plane and said goodbye to Zhou Ai at the airport.
Having studied psychology as a minor while pursuing his medical degree, he knew that this repetitive rubbing of objects often stemmed from underlying anxiety.
But what is he anxious about?
Back in a familiar environment, with no serious injuries, everything seemed to be returning to normal. But the feeling of emptiness and inexplicable restlessness in my heart lingered.
He subconsciously knew that he was indeed waiting for a message.
But this expectation itself made Chu Yi feel confused and irritated as if he were loathing himself.
The car finally stopped in front of the grand yet somewhat dreary gate of the Cheng family's old house. As Chu Yi had expected, the atmosphere at dinner was not relaxed.
When his mother Chu Ruoyin saw him being pushed in by Cheng Yanqing with his leg in a plaster cast, her well-maintained face was instantly filled with shock and disapproval.
She put down the teacup in her hand, her tone filled with suppressed anger: "Chu Yi, why didn't you discuss this with your family before participating in such a dangerous program? Do you think you can treat your body so casually?"
Her words, as always, were filled with a strong desire for control and order. In Chu Ruoyin's worldview, everything needed to be planned and run on a pre-set, safe track.
Almost every step Chu Yi took from childhood to adulthood was strictly framed by her within this "order".
Any deviation, such as participating in a variety show in a remote mountainous area without saying hello and getting injured, is seen by her as unreasonable "heresy" and irresponsible to her own life.
Chu Yi lowered his eyelashes and slowly stirred the soup in the bowl with a spoon. His voice was flat and level: "It happened suddenly, it was just an accident. The nature of my job is inherently risky, you know."
"Work? Your job is in the operating room, not playing in the mud in some remote village!" Chu Ruoyin's tone became more serious. "I think you've been getting more and more outrageous lately."
The meal was silent and depressing. Chu Yi barely touched his chopsticks, spending most of the time quietly listening to his mother's accusatory concerns and Cheng Yanqing's occasional, insignificant conversations to smooth things over.
He felt that every time he returned to the old house, it was as if he was stuffed back into a carefully crafted but suffocating glass cover, completely isolated from the fresh air of the outside world.
Finally, when dinner was over, Cheng Yanqing stood up and said, "Mom, I'll take Xiaoyi back to rest. He needs to rest."
On the way back to the Blue Lake Apartments, the two remained silent. It wasn't until the car stopped downstairs that Cheng Yanqing spoke again: "Your leg is injured, and it's not convenient for you to move around. I'll hire an auntie for you. She'll be responsible for cooking and cleaning, and can also take care of you."
Chu Yi almost subconsciously refused immediately, "No. I'm not used to having outsiders in my house."
His private space is one of the few areas where he can be completely independent, and he cannot tolerate a stranger staying there for a long time.
Cheng Yanqing glanced at Chu Yi, as if he wanted to say something, but in the end he just nodded: "It's up to you. Call me anytime if you have anything."
He knew that Chu Yi seemed gentle, but was actually extremely stubborn in some aspects.
Chu Yi maneuvered his wheelchair into the elevator and returned to the apartment, where the only sound was his own breathing. The cold smart home system sensed its owner's return and automatically turned on the lights, only making the house feel even more desolate.
He moved himself to the sofa, carefully resting his injured leg. His phone lay quietly on the coffee table, the screen dark, without any new message notifications.
That inexplicable feeling of anxiety quietly spread again.
————
On the other side, as soon as Zhou Ai got into the nanny car arranged by the company, the calmness and alienation she had forced herself to maintain at the airport instantly collapsed.
The air pressure in the car was low. Zhou Ai scratched his hair with one hand and held the mobile phone with the other hand. His knuckles were stuck on the edge of the phone, and they turned slightly white due to the force. He repeatedly turned the phone screen on and off, making a slight "click" sound.
His fingers opened WeChat countless times, swiping accurately to the chat box with Chu Yi. The chat history still stopped before the work group message created by the program team.
His fingertips fell on the phone screen, editing and deleting, deleting and editing again.
"Are we there yet?"
——Too ordinary, like a group care message.
"Does your foot still hurt?"
——Nonsense, how can it not hurt to have a plaster cast on?
"Did your brother give you any trouble?"
——Even if it’s difficult, you can’t just rush up and beat him up.
Every word I typed felt wrong, and every question mark made me feel uneasy.
His fingertips hovered above the send button, and the courage that had carried him through the life-and-death crisis in Yuntou Village disappeared without a trace.
Zhou Ai was afraid that what she would get was a polite and distant reply, or even... no response at all.
That was more difficult for him to bear than any clear rejection.
Xu Yang was talking on the phone in a low voice, arranging the follow-up crisis public relations, media liaison and work that was forced to be postponed, but his eyes never left Zhou Ai.
Looking at his absent-minded and anxious look, which almost made him want to pull out a few clumps of his silver hair, Xu Yang sighed in his heart.
After finally handling an urgent call, Xu Yang pressed his solar plexus, turned around, and looked at Zhou Ai, who was emitting a low pressure. His tone was full of helplessness as if he had seen through everything: "In my opinion - you'd better not send it."
Zhou Ai suddenly raised her head, and her peach blossom eyes, which always looked nonchalant, were now filled with irritation and a hint of imperceptible fragility. She asked in an aggressive tone: "Why?" It was as if her most sensitive heart had been touched.
Xu Yang had long been accustomed to his bad temper, so he didn't get annoyed. Instead, he analyzed the situation slowly and methodically, like an emotional strategist: "Haven't you heard of 'playing hard to get'? Brother Zhou, you're being so eager to send a message now, which is really putting you down. It seems like you can't live without him."
He observed Zhou Ai's expression and continued, "Teacher Chu's personality is that of aloof, rational, and someone who keeps his distance. Think about it, would he be the type to proactively send messages to others to ask about their well-being?"
Zhou Ai pursed his lips. The answer was obvious. Chu Yi definitely wouldn't. He could even imagine Chu Yi looking at his phone with those calm eyes, then casually putting it aside.
"So," Xu Yang slapped his thigh, "Why don't you take advantage of his situation and give him the cold shoulder? Take a gamble and see if he'll feel uncomfortable with you not contacting him, or if he'll...take the initiative to ask you a question."
He paused, then threw out his last, most realistic sentence: "Even if we take a step back and say that Teacher Chu really didn't send you a single message in the end, what does that mean? It means that he doesn't think about you at all. It's perfect, you should give up, focus on it, come back with me, record the album, run promotions, and stop dwelling on these fruitless things all day long."
These words were like an ice-cold needle, accurately piercing all of Zhou Ai's lucky fantasies.
The carriage fell into dead silence.
Zhou Ai's face turned pale, then blue, and then blue again. He stared at the silent dialog box on his phone screen, as if he wanted to stare a hole through it.
Xu Yang's words were cruel but realistic, pulling him out of his anxious anticipation and forcing him to face the worst possibility.
After a long time, Zhou Ai seemed to have been drained of all his strength. He leaned back suddenly in the wide seat, raised his hands to cover his eyes, and his Adam's apple rolled with difficulty.
In the end, he said nothing, but just put the phone screen face down and slammed it heavily on the seat next to him, making a dull sound.
It was like closing with my own hands a crack that had just let in a ray of light, and burying myself back in the unknown, suffocating darkness of waiting.
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