friend

friend

On Wednesday, Zhang Jin got home after 10 p.m. He was exhausted after working overtime to write a police report, and collapsed on the sofa as soon as he changed his shoes.

Zhou Jingxing came out of the guest room in his pajamas. He took a cup to the kitchen, poured himself a cup of hot water, and then sat down next to Zhang Jin.

"Working overtime again?"

Zhang Jin remained lying down, eyes closed, and answered him, "Yeah, writing reports. Where's Qianqian? Is she back yet?"

Zhou Jingxing told him, "No, she's supervising evening self-study today." He glanced at the time, "But she should be back soon."

As soon as she finished speaking, the door opened, and Sun Qian walked in with a lifeless expression. She kicked off her boots and didn't even put on slippers. She dragged herself to the sofa like a zombie and collapsed.

"Damn, I'm exhausted. Why did I ever think of becoming a high school teacher?"

Zhou Jingxing reminded her expressionlessly, "Because of dreams, I remember you said your favorite poem is 'The cicada spins its silk until death'..."

Sun Qian jumped up, "Aaaaaaahhhhhh, please don't bring up my embarrassing chuunibyou (middle school syndrome) past, okay?"

Zhang Jin smiled with his eyes closed, only to be slapped on the shoulder by Sun Qian. "Get up and cook me a bowl of noodles! I was bothered by a student after school this evening, so I didn't get to eat. I'm so hungry I want to eat a whole cow."

Zhou Jingxing had already brought slippers and placed them in front of her. "Put these on. You're not even taking care to keep warm during your period." He said to the two of them, "I figured you'd want to eat something when you get back tonight, so I went downstairs to the dim sum shop and bought some steamed snacks to heat up in the steamer. You can start eating as soon as you bring them out."

Zhang Jin opened his eyes, his face full of emotion as he grasped Zhou Jingxing's hand, "Good brother!" Sun Qian then nitpicked at Zhang Jin, "Look how considerate and thoughtful Jingxing is, why don't you learn from him and be a perfect boyfriend!"

Zhou Jingxing's expression darkened. "What kind of good boyfriend am I? Even Shen Zhou wants to break up with me."

Realizing she had spoken out of turn, Sun Qian cautiously exchanged a glance with Zhang Jin, who shook his head at her. So she asked Zhou Jingxing, "It's been three days, haven't you made up with Shen Zhou yet?"

Zhou Jingxing felt a bitter taste on his tongue. "No."

Zhang Jin went to the kitchen and brought out some food. While eating, Sun Qian comforted Zhou Jingxing, "Don't be discouraged. At least he hasn't blocked you yet, which means there's still a chance to salvage your relationship."

Zhang Jin, oblivious to the situation, said, "So what if we break up? We can just introduce you to someone else. That teacher at Qianqian's school is pretty good. Let's meet up this weekend..."

Sun Qian almost hit him on the head with her chopsticks, but Zhou Jingxing frowned and interrupted him, "I will not date anyone else except Chen Zhou. If I hadn't met him, I would be a staunch advocate of being single."

Zhang Jin quickly said, "Okay, okay, I misspoke. Then apologize to Shen Zhou and coax him back."

"I apologized, but he didn't reply to my message."

Sun Qian thought for a moment and asked Zhou Jingxing, "You said that on the day of the dinner party, you saw Shen Zhou hugging Zhao Xin, and then because you were jealous, he got angry and said he would break up for a while, is that right?" She frowned, "That's strange. Shen Zhou really hates that scumbag, how could he hug him? And just because you were jealous, he got angry and wanted to break up, is that a bit much?"

Zhou Jingxing grimaced. "Chen Zhou said I don't trust him or something." He complained, "How can I trust him? I was a mistress who rose to power myself, so it's not surprising that he would fall for someone else."

Sun Qian grasped the key point, and she looked surprised, "Wait a minute, you said you were a mistress who rose to power? Didn't Shen Zhou tell you that?"

Tell me what?

Sun Qian was speechless. "Chen Zhou broke up with that scumbag a long time ago! Their breakup has nothing to do with you. You're not a homewrecker at all!"

ha?

Zhou Jingxing was stunned.

Suddenly gaining a legitimate identity left him feeling lost and disoriented.

Zhang Jin was also speechless. "So you didn't know all this time? Even I knew."

Zhou Jingxing was bewildered. "No, nobody told me either. Wait, when did he break up with Zhao Xin?"

Sun Qian said, "I don't know the exact time, but we broke up when we went to the hot springs together. Chen Zhou said he wanted to tell you himself, so I didn't tell you. I thought you already knew!"

“…I don’t know,” Zhou Jingxing said bitterly. “No wonder he’s angry. What did I say to him?”

Zhang Jin asked incredulously, "No, didn't you even think to ask him?" Sun Qian looked at Zhou Jingxing sympathetically, "No wonder he was so angry and said he wanted to break up. If my lover misunderstood me as a cheating scumbag, I would be angry too."

Zhou Jingxing couldn't even drink water anymore. "What should I do now?"

Sun Qian shrugged. "Chen Zhou is still angry and doesn't want to talk to you. Let's wait until he calms down."

After finishing his late-night snack, Zhang Jin forgot everything else. "Now that you've figured out the key reason why Chen Zhou is angry, shouldn't you move out of our house and go back to pursue your wife? You're really delaying our baby-making plans."

Sun Qian finally knocked him on the head, "Don't talk nonsense again!"

Zhou Jingxing, even more shameless, said, "I'm not leaving. It's too painful to go back and think about Chenzhou all alone." He got up and went back to the guest room with complete ease. "I'm going to sleep now. You can do as you please. By the way, I wear noise-canceling headphones to bed at night, so don't worry."

Sun Qian was about to go crazy. What do you mean, "Don't worry"?

Zhou Jingxing calmly lay back on the bed and began to ponder if there was any way to find out how much anger Shen Zhou still had. Suddenly, he thought of Zhang Yang, the one who had leaked the information about Shen Zhou's birthday, so Zhou Jingxing immediately dialed his number.

"Jingxing? What's wrong so late?" Zhang Yang seemed to be asleep; his voice was low and he sounded very sleepy.

After exchanging a few pleasantries, Zhou Jingxing got straight to the point: "Are you free tomorrow night? I'd like to have a chat with you."

Zhang Yang said lazily, "You and Chen Zhou had a fight, huh?"

Zhou Jingxing said awkwardly, "Ah, I said something wrong and upset him."

Zhang Yang laughed, "Do you want me to put in a good word for you? I can't guarantee that my advice will work. Shen Zhou's mind is very upright, and he's not the kind of person who's easily influenced by others."

Zhou Jingxing naturally knew this, and he quickly said, "No, no, I just wanted to ask how Shen Zhou has been these past few days. To be honest, I'm a little worried about him."

After all, there are two other people around Shen Zhou who are up to no good.

Zhang Yang readily agreed, "Sure, see you tomorrow night."

Zhang Yang, being a helpful person, specifically contacted Shen Zhou before going to the banquet that evening to ask about the reason for their argument. Shen Zhou remained silent for a while before telling him the reason, which surprised Zhang Yang. "Zhou Jingxing thinks he's the other woman who got to you, squeezing out Zhao Xin?" He laughed for a long time, "How funny this guy is!"

Chen Zhou was still angry. "Who does he take me for, and who does he take himself for?"

After Zhang Yang finished laughing, she asked him, "Are you planning to just stay angry, or will you just end it all? If it's the latter, I'll find an excuse to refuse tonight."

Shen Zhou remained silent for a long time before finally coughing twice and saying, "Let me think about it some more. Do as you please tonight. You're still friends even without me."

Zhang Yang could easily understand Shen Zhou's protective tone, but he didn't point it out and simply said, "I understand."

That evening, Zhou Jingxing treated Zhang Yang with utmost sincerity and enthusiasm. Zhang Yang didn't beat around the bush and told him directly, "I sounded out the situation for you today, and Chen Zhou is still angry."

Zhou Jingxing looked worried. "Brother, do you have any ideas to help me out?"

Zhang Yang asked him, "Have you apologized to him?"

"I apologized a long time ago, but he won't reply to my messages."

"That's understandable, after all, he's still angry." Zhang Yang was a little curious. "Why would you think you're the other woman? You've got quite the imagination, buddy."

Zhou Jingxing actually felt quite wronged, "Because Shen Zhou didn't tell me he broke up with Zhao Xin! When I first confessed to him, he said he had a girlfriend, so he rejected me. Later, we had more and more contact and our relationship got better and better, but he never said that he had broken up with Zhao Xin. It was when we first went to your hot spring hotel that I thought they were together."

Zhou Jinghan, feeling flustered, said, "Oh right, when the exhibition of restored cultural relics opened, he also told me that Zhao Xin and I should stay in the south and the north and not interfere with each other."

Zhang Yang was also confused. "But he and Zhao Xin really broke up a long time ago." While Zhou Jingxing was explaining his grievances, he secretly took out his phone and texted Chen Zhou, "Why didn't you tell Zhou Jingxing that you broke up with Zhao Xin a long time ago?"

A while later, Shenzhou replied, "At first, I wanted to reject his pursuit because I was afraid of the trouble, but later, due to various circumstances, I just couldn't find an opportunity."

Shen Zhou added, "He didn't ask me either."

Zhang Yang was impressed; how could the two of them get along without communicating about something so important?

It's just a good thing that Zhou Jingxing is a love genius with a unique way of thinking.

Zhou Jingxing then asked Zhang Yang, "Was he in a good mental state when you called him?"

"It sounds like there's no problem, but he's quite busy with work. It seems like he's taken on some kind of project recently."

Zhou Jingxing started worrying again about whether Kyle and Bai Lian would cause trouble for Chen Zhou. He frowned and said, "He doesn't eat properly when he's busy. I don't know if he's eaten yet."

Zhang Yang laughed heartily, "Want to know? That's easy! Let's go visit the set!"

Zhou Jingxing's eyes lit up, then he lowered his head again. "That wouldn't be a good idea. He's still angry. If I force myself on him now, will he find me annoying?"

Zhang Yang waved his hand dismissively, "What are you afraid of? You're just giving me a ride and you can come up for a bit." He winked, "Don't worry, I know what I'm doing."

Half an hour later, Zhou Jingxing stood at the door of Shen Zhou's office, mentally ranting.

Zhang Yang, do you even know the basics?!

Shen Zhou led Zhang Yang into the office and closed the door in front of him. Bai Lian smiled rather smugly and led him to the reception room. "Teacher Zhou, please sit here for a while." He smiled gently, but his words were not very pleasant. "Teacher Shen has been busy with work lately, so it's normal for her to be irritable. It's not necessarily targeting you."

Zhou Jingxing may lose in terms of material possessions, but he won't lose in terms of words. "Haha, I know, of course Shen Zhou and I won't hold grudges over these things."

Bai Lian frowned, looking worried. "Teacher Zhou, I've actually been quite anxious for you these past two days."

Zhou Jingxing was unhappy inside, but he smiled as usual and said, "What do I have to be in a hurry for?"

A malicious glint flashed in Bai Lian's eyes, but he feigned concern. "These past few days, someone has been coming to see Teacher Shen. I saw him waiting for her downstairs last night when I took her home. By the way, he said he's Teacher Shen's classmate." Bai Lian's smile concealed a dagger. "I think his name is Zhao Xin or something. Do you know him?"

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