In the evening, we had dinner.
I went to the window, looking at the gradually setting sunlight and the dimming world outside, a cigarette dangling from my mouth.
Zhou Qingya came to my side and said, "Can I have one?"
I didn't refuse. I took out a pack of cigarettes from my pocket and handed it to her. She skillfully shook one out of the pack, put it in her mouth, held the lighter in her right hand, and lit it with her left hand to shield it from the wind.
Zhou Qingya took a deep breath.
Honestly, there's a certain charm to seeing a beautiful woman smoking. Zhou Qingya used to be a star, so she looked quite different. Although her expression was languid and helpless, she was still very beautiful.
Zhou Qingya seemed to notice my gaze and chuckled.
I asked, "What are you laughing at?"
Zhou Qingya said, "It's been a long time since anyone has looked at me like you have."
I touched my nose, looking embarrassed, and said, "There are so many people in this villa community, haven't they all looked at you like that?"
Zhou Qingya shook her head. "No, as you know, because I used to be a celebrity, they always feel distant from me. Even those people who had meetings with me before kept their distance from me. It was as if they didn't want to talk to me directly and were always avoiding me."
I asked, "What about Li Kai? Doesn't he like you?"
Zhou Qingya shook her head and said, "There are many men here who like me, but their liking is completely different from what I want."
I nodded. "Oh, I see. No wonder Li Kai scolded you like that before. If he really liked you, he probably wouldn't have said those things."
Zhou Qingya said, "It's more comfortable when I'm with you guys because you don't treat me like a celebrity, and you don't look at me with those special eyes when you talk to me. Like just now, if it were someone else watching me smoke, I don't know what they would be thinking, but your eyes are different."
I smiled slightly and asked, "Why does my gaze seem different?"
"You're just looking at me, you're not thinking anything else."
I said, "Alright, let's not talk about this anymore. If you don't like it here, come back with us. The place we're living in now is pretty good, right? You'll definitely like it when you get there."
Zhou Qingya didn't answer me. I knew she was still worried about the people in the community, afraid that Sun Wenbo might do something outrageous after I left.
She said, "Are we really going to hand Li Kai over? Isn't there any other way?"
I said, "From my perspective, Li Kai has nothing to do with me, so handing him over in exchange for peace is the best thing that could happen. Of course, whether Sun Wenbo will abide by this peace is another matter."
Zhou Qingya asked in confusion, "Since he said it, won't he keep his word?"
I said, "If we really hand Li Kai over to him, we might be able to maintain peace for a while, but don't forget one thing: he wants you and the little girl to leave Ninghai. If you think about that, it's quite intriguing."
Zhou Qingya wasn't stupid. After listening to my words, she thought for a moment and said, "You mean he will definitely still make a move on the villa community in the future, it's just a matter of time."
"Um."
Zhou Qingya said, "If he really wants to do that, there's no point in handing Li Kai over, since he'll come after the villa community anyway."
I said, "I don't know about that. I came to Ninghai for you, not for this neighborhood."
Zhou Qingya said, "I really want to go back with you, but I can't just let this community be destroyed by Sun Wenbo. Before leaving, we must resolve the conflict between this community and Sun Wenbo. Otherwise, I won't feel at ease leaving with you."
We both pondered for a moment, but we had absolutely no idea how to resolve this matter.
I asked, "By the way, how did the conflict between you and Sun Wenbo arise? Is it really as Sun Wenbo said? Was it caused by your continuous expansion?"
Zhou Qingya said, "That's possible. Li Kai has been handling the external expansion all along. My main job is to manage all the affairs in the community and keep everyone calm. Li Kai has never explained the external expansion to me in detail. It wasn't until Sun Wenbo appeared that I learned about all the things that had happened outside."
I nodded and said, "If that's the case, then it's very likely that Li Kai was behind all of this. If he had been more lenient in his dealings with outsiders, perhaps those other groups wouldn't have united against you."
Zhou Qingya said, "Even if we knew, what could we do? It's too late."
I thought for a moment and said, "Actually, there is a way."
Zhou Qingya asked, "Do you have any ideas?"
I asked, "Tell me, did both of your teams suffer casualties during the battle?"
Zhou Qingya nodded and said, "Yes, there were casualties."
I said, "That's fine then. Since it's a war, casualties are inevitable. Since both sides have suffered losses, let's try to reach a settlement."
"What's the meaning?"
I said, "Sun Wenbo will definitely contact me to meet tomorrow morning. The person he wants is Li Kai, which means he also wants to end this matter. After all, if this fight continues, no matter who wins, someone will die. But nobody wants to die, right?"
Zhou Qingya asked, "And then?"
I chuckled. "And then, I'll have to rely on you. At tomorrow's meeting, I can only appear as a neutral party, not on either side. But Sun Wenbo probably won't believe me, so I'll have to depend on you then. Also, tonight around midnight, find two trustworthy people to..."
"Xiaonan, Qingya, come quick! The little girl is awake!"
Just as we were discussing it, Sister Jing ran out of the little girl's room and said something.
I paused, a little surprised, and said, "Let's talk about it later. Let's go check on the little girl first."
"Hmm, we'll talk about it later."
We ran into the room and saw the little girl who had already woken up.
…………
…………
Recorder Diary 29:
"Today is New Year's Day. We don't know what the situation is like outside. It's been several days since I went out to make contact. The institute lost power today and it was only restored using backup power. Due to the unstable power, the research equipment is no longer usable. We don't know what to do next. Should we go out? Contact with the higher-ups has been completely cut off. I guess the epidemic is much more serious than we imagined. I hope it will be restored soon."
(End of this chapter)
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