attend
Wang Ao turned around, looking surprised. "It's you?"
Zhou Jingxing thought of something and his face darkened slightly. "Who do you hope it is, Chen Zhou?" He didn't even blush when he lied. "He doesn't have time to deal with rebellious teenagers running away from home."
Wang Ao lowered his head, "I didn't say anything to him, I thought..."
"Your dad? He couldn't catch you; you ran too fast."
Wang Ao's eyes lit up. "You mean he came out to pursue me? But wasn't he angry with me because I made a scene?"
Zhou Jingxing slapped his head again without hesitation and sat down next to him. "Of course you're angry. You made such a blunder, it's so embarrassing, especially in front of your subordinates. If I were your father, I would definitely beat you up."
"Speak properly, and don't try to take advantage of me."
Zhou Jingxing rolled his eyes at him, "Who wants to act like your father?"
Wang Ao lowered her head. "I know I'm not good, I have a bad personality, and even my dad doesn't like me. If I were more obedient, smarter, and more outstanding, like my sister, and made them happy, maybe my parents wouldn't have drifted apart."
Zhou Jingxing asked curiously, "Your parents' estrangement is due to problems in their relationship. What does it have to do with you?"
“When my sister was alive, she always managed to make them make up whenever they had a fight. I’m so useless. I’m always scared when they argue and I have no idea what to do.”
"So you think you're responsible for your parents' bad relationship?" Zhou Jingxing disagreed. He said to Wang Ao, "Then I think you should pay my mortgage."
"What?" Wang Ao exclaimed in shock, "Are you crazy? What nonsense are you spouting!"
Zhou Jingxing said matter-of-factly, "It's all because of your dad that the housing prices in Mingcheng have been driven up so high. I'm still paying off my mortgage. You've spent a lot of your dad's money, haven't you? Didn't I contribute as well? Tell me, isn't it only right that you pay off my loan?"
Wang Ao looked at him like he was crazy. "You can't afford to buy a house outright because your salary is low, and you're blaming me? That makes no sense!"
Zhou Jingxing looked at him and said, "Yeah, how can you blame your parents' relationship? That makes no sense. Their incompatibility is due to their personalities, what does it have to do with whether you can mediate?"
Wang Ao was taken aback by what he said, and then he said, "It's different, isn't it? They are my parents. As their child, I have the obligation and responsibility to mediate between them."
"Don't parents have a greater responsibility to their children? They didn't provide you with a good family environment, so you have even less responsibility to mediate."
Wang Ao was getting confused by him. Zhou Jingxing continued, "It's really stupid to punish yourself for other people's mistakes. Speaking of which, I thought the conflict between you and your father was because he didn't care about you enough. I didn't expect you to be such a saint, actually taking the blame for your parents' bad relationship on yourself."
Wang Ao told him, "It's true that he doesn't care about me enough, but I really am too bad. It's normal that he's disappointed and doesn't want to invest too much energy in me."
Zhou Jingxing gave him a complicated look. "Why is your sense of 'worthy' so low?"
What is a sense of deservingness?
Zhou Jingxing patiently explained to him, "A sense of worthiness is your subjective feeling about having something; simply put, it's about 'whether I deserve it'."
Wang Ao took two minutes to process the information before saying, "But we were taught from a young age that we must work hard to get what we want, and we should be grateful for our parents' sacrifices."
"Nonsense, your parents should be grateful for your birth. Did you choose to come into this world and become their child? No. Since they chose to bring you into this world, they have an obligation to protect and love you until you become an independent adult."
Zhou Jingxing frowned and continued, “You feel guilty towards your parents because you’ve reversed your roles with them. You don’t treat your parents as adults, nor do you treat yourself as a child.”
"As for your parents' neglect of your upbringing, I can only say that loneliness is a normal part of life, and you should learn to adapt."
After being lectured on a long set of principles by Zhou Jingxing, Wang Ao, though unable to accept all of them, felt much better. He couldn't help but say, "I always thought you had a bad temper and no empathy, but I didn't expect you to be such a nice person."
Zhou Jingxing looked indifferent. "How could you fall in love with me? Please don't."
Wang Ao was extremely disgusted. "Stop being so narcissistic. The kind of person I like is gentle and considerate, strong, and with a stable core."
That's basically saying the ship sank!
"That kid is really daring!" Just as Zhou Jingxing was about to warn his rival, he heard hurried footsteps coming from the path behind him.
It turned out to be Shen Zhou. He seemed relieved. "Wang Ao, so you're here! Jing Xing found you? How could you run around like that? You worried your father so much."
Zhou Jingxing immediately wagged his tail and stepped forward to claim credit, "I searched so many places, my legs almost gave out before I finally found him." As he spoke, he also took a jab at his rival, "Isn't Wang Ao still a child? It's normal for him to be immature. We adults should be more patient with him."
Wang Ao looked a little embarrassed and said to Shen Zhou, "I'm sorry for making you worry."
Chen Zhou stepped forward, put one arm around his shoulder, and led him back. "It's okay. Are you feeling better now? Do you want to come to my place and play some more games?"
Zhou Jingxing was extremely annoyed. Why was his wife so good to this brat?
He subtly squeezed between the two, giving Wang Ao a smile that looked like he was gritting his teeth. "Want your Uncle to play 'Nonsense in the Kitchen' with you again? We'd be such good teammates!"
Wang Ao held back for a long time, and only swallowed his words, "Are you crazy? I, Wang Ao, would rather die than be your teammate than jump off this building." He only said that he was a little tired and wanted to go back to rest.
Zhou Jingxing was satisfied. "You're smart, kid!"
Back at the hotel, after much hesitation, Wang Ao went to apologize to Wang Kun first. Zhou Jingxing pulled Shen Zhou, who wanted to accompany them, away, saying, "Let's give them some space. Let's not get involved."
When only the two of them were left, Zhou Jingxing asked Chen Zhou, "How come you're suddenly so close to Wang Ao? Weren't you not familiar with him at all last time we met?"
“I’ve been in a lot of contact with Mr. Wang lately because of work, and that’s why I’ve been meeting with Wang Ao quite often.” Shen Zhou thought for a moment and said, “I think he’s a lot like me in middle school, lonely and longing for companionship and recognition. What’s that saying? You want to hold an umbrella for someone else after you’ve been rained on yourself.”
Zhou Jingxing sighed, "You're such a kind person. When I get caught in the rain, all I want to do is tear everyone else's umbrellas to shreds."
Chen Zhou scolded him, "You're talking nonsense again. Thank you for today, but it's me who's caused you trouble."
Zhou Jingxing suddenly said with a serious expression, "Comrade Chenzhou, there is something you need to correct your thinking about."
"Huh, what?"
Zhou Jingxing's expression was extremely serious. "Your affairs have never been a problem for me."
"It is my honor to be able to do anything for you."
Chen Zhou laughed out loud, "What corny love talk."
Why is my wife like this! I've been holding back my emotions for so long before I finally said it.
Zhou Jingxing looked aggrieved, but then Chen Zhou said, "I understand your feelings." Chen Zhou smiled at him, her gentle gaze enveloping Zhou Jingxing. "Thank you."
Zhou Jingxing felt a tingling sensation all over his body, and he couldn't help but ask Chen Zhou, "May I kiss you?"
"What? No way!"
Just one kiss.
"Is this something that can be done in a minute or two? You're pushing your luck!"
"Can I just kiss your forehead? Hey, don't walk so fast. What about your cheek? A kiss on your hand is fine too..."
Zhou Jingxing stayed at the hot spring hotel for two days before leaving. It wasn't that he wanted to leave, but he had already used up all his leave and had to return to work. Fortunately, this short leave was effective; before he came, Zhou Jingxing was single, and after he came, it seems he's still single?
But as long as Shen Zhou is willing to forgive him, Zhou Jingxing thought, isn't finding a partner just a matter of time?
Xiao Li, an intern at the provincial museum, was surprised to find that Professor Zhou had returned to his old self after his short vacation.
No, I'm in even better shape than before. I smile more often, talk to people more, and even walk more briskly.
However, I've also been slacking off at work by looking at my phone more often, and I sometimes even break into a silly grin.
People are definitely more cheerful when they're not working!
You've done all sorts of bad things at work!
The day after Zhou Jingxing returned to work, he received a call from Li Weilin, who told him that he had to leave for the exchange meeting in City A the next day.
"Tomorrow? Teacher, can I go a day later?"
Li Weilin's disgruntled voice lashed out at him through the receiver, "No way! You're supposed to be presenting your paper this time, so get there early so I can give you some more pointers on your presentation slides. All the attendees are top experts in the field, you'd better do your best! Besides, what could be more important than this?"
Zhou Jingxing frowned. "Shen Zhou is going back to Mingcheng tomorrow. I promised to pick him up."
Li Weilin paused for a moment before scolding him, "All you ever think about are these romantic entanglements! Prepare your presentation slides properly, or you'll embarrass me and I won't let you off the hook! I'll pick you up at 8:30 tomorrow morning, get ready!" With that, he hung up the phone without another word.
Zhou Jingxing had no choice but to send a message to Shen Zhou, telling him that he couldn't pick him up. Half a day later, Shen Zhou told Zhou Jingxing that his schedule had changed and he had to go on a business trip, so he wouldn't be able to return to Mingcheng the next day.
Zhou Jingxing was filled with melancholy. He didn't know when he would be able to see his wife again. He longed to see her.
The next day, Zhou Jingxing had a long face after getting on the bus. Li Weilin couldn't stand it and scolded him under the pretext of helping him revise his PPT.
Zhou Jingxing dared not speak out despite his anger, keeping his head down and revising the PPT the whole way. Even after getting off the bus, he was still thinking about which font size would make the layout look clean and nice.
When they arrived at the hotel where the meeting was to be held, it was already noon. There was only one person sitting at the reporting desk in the hotel lobby.
"Senior Brother Zhou! It's been a long time!"
Zhou Jingxing only realized after signing in that the person sitting in front of the registration desk was Wu Qin, his junior from his graduate school group.
"Wu Qin? You're here for the conference too?"
Wu Qin smiled sweetly and said with a hint of shyness, "Yes, I work at the Museum Association. This meeting was organized by our unit. I knew you were coming a long time ago, and I even sent you the invitation. But you guys are so late! I've been waiting for you for ages."
Zhou Jingxing wasn't listening to what Wu Qin was saying at all; his attention was completely occupied by the figure at the hotel reception.
He looked down at the sign-in book in his hand, and the last line read "Sinking Boat". A surge of joy welled up in Zhou Jingxing's heart.
Honey, you've come to see me!
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