Chapter 46 Jealousy Overturned (…)
When Liang Qi appeared in Zhao Nan's private room in Tangwan, everyone present was quite surprised and delighted, including Shi Youning.
Zhao Nan, however, was surprised, but his eyes also held a mischievous smile that seemed to say he had seen through everything.
Liang Qi greeted everyone and sat down on the empty sofa.
He has always stayed on the fringes of the crowd, and everyone is used to it.
Zhao Nan held a glass of wine between his fingers and handed it to Liang Qi, glancing at him with a disdainful look.
Liang Qi ignored his gossipy probing, took the wine, and raised an eyebrow at him as a response.
Zhao Nan sat down beside him, smiling meaningfully, and said, "Your friend didn't come today."
Liang Qi took a sip of the whiskey in his glass and said, "The whiskey is good."
Zhao Nan was speechless at his completely unrelated Tai Chi skills and stared blankly for a moment.
"Why did you come alone? Where's the girl?"
Liang Qi still didn't respond to that.
Zhao Nan chuckled upon seeing this: "There's someone who can leave you so helpless?" He raised an eyebrow. "But yesterday, they were incredibly worried about you."
Liang Qi put his wine glass on the table, looked up and was about to say something when Shi Youning came over.
When their eyes met, he nodded slightly.
Shi Youning smiled politely at him and sat down on the single sofa closest to Zhao Nan.
Zhao Nan, sandwiched between the two, pursed his lips, touched his nose, and then touched his lips.
He couldn't help but laugh, always eager for a good show.
He really wanted to gossip a bit, but the two people on his left and right, seeing him there, both acted as if nothing was wrong and neither of them said a word.
Zhao Nan reluctantly got up, looked back and forth between the two, and finally swallowed back the words "Then you two talk."
After Zhao Nan had walked away, Shi Youning broke the silence first: "I'm sorry, Will."
Liang Qi glanced at her.
Shi Youning said remorsefully, "Those photos were leaked from me. I never expected it to turn out like this..."
Liang Qi's expression was ordinary as he said, "It's none of your business."
Shi Youning was speechless for a moment. She knew he wouldn't hold it against her.
Although she had let go of the past, looking at his handsome and sharp profile and feeling his seemingly unyielding gentleness—even his cold gentleness—still stirred indescribable emotions within her.
She gave a self-deprecating laugh, ignoring that emotion, and looked at him again, saying, "I'm still sorry."
Liang Qi didn't respond to her again, but seemed to shake his head very lightly, and leaned over to pick up the wine glass on the table.
Shi Youning knew he had no intention of continuing the conversation, so she changed the subject: "Why did you come to Tangwan today?"
Liang Qi twirled the wine glass in his hand, took a sip, and said nothing.
Shi Youning watched his unhurried movements for a while and said, "Jiang Nuanyu came to me and asked about the photos."
Liang Qi turned his head, looked at her for a second or two, and asked, "Yesterday?"
"Um."
Seeing that he seemed to want to know more, Shi Youning added, "After last night, she asked me for photos again this morning, about you. Did you see the article she posted?" She chuckled, "Even though she's leaving, she still cares about you quite a bit."
Liang Qi narrowed his eyes slightly, looking at her uncertainly; Shi Youning met his gaze, trying to decipher the meaning in his eyes: "...Didn't you see the article?"
Liang Qi turned his gaze back, seemingly casually asking, "Where is she going?"
“She went to France, to Paris.” Shi Youning was taken aback. “Didn’t she tell you? She changed jobs.”
Liang Qi lightly tapped the rim of the glass with his fingertips: "When did this happen?"
Shih Yu-ning said, "It's been quite a while. It was decided last month."
last month……
Liang Qi's gaze lingered in the air for a moment, as if he understood something.
"Didn't she tell you?" Shi Youning seemed a little out of the loop. "You guys..."
Instead of answering, Liang Qi asked, "You two talked? Before yesterday?"
Shi Youning immediately guessed what he meant: "You mean, the matter between you and me?"
Liang Qi looked at her quietly without answering.
“We’ve talked,” Shi Youning said, raising her eyebrows. “But I didn’t mean to stir up trouble.” She admitted, “Maybe it was out of curiosity, curiosity about whether you would still be the same as before, respectful but indifferent after she made the same choice to leave as me.”
There was still a hint of resentment in her words. Liang Qi looked at her for a few seconds, then silently looked away.
He won't say the same thing a second time.
Shi Youning realized her slip of the tongue and retorted, "Of course, I have no right to blame you for what happened in the past. I admit that your indifference made me angry. But Will, you're always someone who makes it impossible to truly hate you."
Liang Qi pursed his lips, having nothing to say, and remained silent.
Shi Youning is also a person with a strong sense of self-respect. Faced with his intentional or unintentional indifference, she didn't want to appear as someone who couldn't let go.
“That doesn’t mean I’m not looking forward,” she said. “Like I said, I’m just curious. Don’t overthink it.”
Liang Qi lowered his eyes to look at the wine in his glass, curved his lips slightly, and slowly nodded, giving her this way out.
After a moment of silence, Shi Youning realized that Liang Qi would most likely not have any further interaction with her.
She got up and walked to his side, but instead of sitting down, she simply clinked her glasses with his.
Liang Qi was slightly surprised by her actions, but still remained silent.
Shih Yu-ning said, "I'm curious about this matter, and I can accept whatever the final outcome may be. Will, we've known each other for so many years, and I won't let you down, as it's your only expectation of me."
*
In another private room, it was Yu Miao's domain. Everyone was engrossed in playing a board game, Werewolf.
Jiang Nuanyu wasn't good at these kinds of social games, so she sat alone on the sofa, facing the screen, playing a cooking game with a controller.
She was busy chopping vegetables, cooking, plating, and serving the food, managing both little figures all by herself.
The first few levels are relatively simple and go smoothly, but they get more and more difficult as you progress.
In the middle of this level, the kitchen caught fire. She controlled the little character and struggled back and forth for a long time before finally putting out the fire, but the timer for serving the food had already started.
The controller vibrated as the seconds ticked by. This vibration made Jiang Nuanyu even more flustered, causing her to make several mistakes in a row. In the end, despite her frantic efforts, she still couldn't pass the level smoothly.
“Ah…” she muttered in frustration.
This is the third time she has failed at this level.
She placed the controller on the low table, picked up the drink next to her, leaned back on the sofa, and sighed again when she saw the failed settlement page on the screen.
Yu Miao came over from the other end of the card table and plopped down next to her: "You always 'stab' me first, it's too much!" Noticing the controller lying quietly on the table, she asked, "Why aren't you playing anymore?"
Jiang Nuanyu pointed her chin at the screen: "'Dead,' take a break."
Yu Miao lowered her eyes and fiddled with her hair, saying bluntly, "This game feels childish."
Jiang Nuanyu didn't deny it, and laughed: "Just passing the time."
Yu Miao wore her hair in low pigtails today, with many small braids in each ponytail, tied with hair ties of different colors.
Jiang Nuanyu glanced at her hairstyle and found it intriguing: "Did you do your own hair?"
"Hmm!" Yu Miao looked up, her eyes suddenly lighting up. "Do you want one? I'll make one for you!"
Jiang Nuanyu subconsciously felt that braiding hair was too intimate for their current relationship, and quickly waved her hand, "No need..."
"Alright then." Yu Miao didn't mind her refusal, tilted her head and leaned on her shoulder, and started scrolling through her phone.
Jiang Nuanyu was caught off guard by Yu Miao's sudden closeness that broke the social distance, but she didn't push her away and let her lean on her.
"Yu Miao, do you know what everyone's first impression of you was on the day of the shoot?"
"Aloof. Difficult to get along with," Yu Miao answered bluntly.
Jiang Nuanyu was surprised that Yu Miao's self-awareness was so accurate, and nodded in agreement: "Yes. It's aloofness."
"There's no need to fawn over people you don't like or aren't interested in," Yu Miao said casually, scrolling through her phone.
Jiang Nuanyu opened her mouth, but had nothing to say in rebuttal, so she closed it again: "...That makes sense."
"Sister Nuanyu, who is this person you're talking about?" Yu Miao turned her phone screen around.
Jiang Nuanyu leaned over to look, and Yu Miao was reading the article she had posted today.
She paused for a moment, then said, "Oh, it's someone I know... a friend."
“I like his paintings,” Yu Miao said.
Jiang Nuanyu was stunned again.
In the comments section of her article, some people praised and appreciated Liang Qi's paintings, but Yu Miao's spontaneous "like" made her feel a little sour.
She couldn't explain where this feeling came from; on one hand, she felt inexplicably petty, and on the other hand, she didn't want Yu Miao to ask any more questions about Liang Qi.
Overwhelmed with emotion, she slowly sat up straight and made an excuse: "I'm going to the restroom."
"Okay." Yu Miao's attention was entirely on her phone, and she didn't notice anything unusual about her.
After leaving the private room and closing the door, Jiang Nuanyu's expression immediately wilted.
Aside from her slight "mindfulness" about Yu Miao's comment about liking something, the attacks and curses in the private messages and comments that followed the article, even without her consciously recalling them, subconsciously affected her emotions.
She strolled along the corridor, letting her emotions gradually calm down. When she passed the restroom, although she didn't want to use it at all, she went in and washed her hands.
She intended to return along the same route, but when she reached the first fork in the road, she realized she couldn't remember the way. Moreover, earlier, Yu Miao had picked her up and taken her upstairs, and she hadn't paid any attention to their private room number.
She had left her phone in the private room, so she had to rely on her intuition and a little bit of memory to find it.
She turned left and right, and somehow ended up in the elevator lobby.
She walked to the elevator door, turned around and stood facing the wide open space in front of her, trying hard to recall which direction she and Yu Miao had walked in.
Just then, the door on one side of the open space was pushed open. Jiang Nuanyu looked over instinctively; she had just been here yesterday and recognized it as Zhao Nan's private room.
To her surprise, the person who came out was Liang Qi.
Their eyes met in mid-air. Liang Qi remained calm, but Jiang Nuanyu subconsciously took a step to the side.
She remembered the scene from their last meeting very clearly. She had said some harsh words, and even if Liang Qi pretended not to exist and left directly, she thought she could understand his choice.
But as he took a step, she lowered her eyes.
Liang Qi walked up to her in a few steps, looked at her for a while, and asked, "Why are you standing here?"
Jiang Nuanyu was embarrassed to say she was lost and was thinking of other reasons when Liang Qi said, "Can't find your way?"
Jiang Nuanyu: "..."
She looked up and saw Liang Qi staring intently at her. His lips were pursed, as if he were smiling, but also as if he wasn't.
He seemed completely unconcerned about what happened that night, which made her feel a little disappointed.
Liang Qi looked at her downcast eyes and said, "I'll help you look."
"Huh?" Jiang Nuanyu looked up, blinked her surprised eyes, and after a long while said, "...No need."
Seeing her expression, Liang Qi felt an urge to tease her: "What, you don't want to? Afraid I'll come and freeload off you?"
Jiang Nuanyu was about to deny it when she caught a glimpse of a faint smile in his eyes. Her heart suddenly started pounding, and she completely forgot what she was going to say.
She glanced at the suit jacket he was holding, hesitated, but still didn't agree immediately: "But, are you leaving?"
Her saying that meant she wasn't refusing. Liang Qi naturally knew this, and he said, "It won't make a difference if it's just a little while longer."
"oh."
She quickly glanced at him, and Liang Qi gestured towards the corridor, indicating that she should go first.
Jiang Nuanyu turned around, not caring which way she was going, and started walking with her head down. Liang Qi followed beside her, silently following whichever direction she turned, just as he said—"accompanying" her on her search.
After turning several corners, Jiang Nuanyu finally said, "Um, I'm not sure about the room number..."
Liang Qi remained silent.
She added, "Wouldn't this take up too much of your time?"
Liang Qi said slowly, "Take your time looking. No rush."
Jiang Nuanyu didn't understand what he meant by doing this, and she didn't want things to remain unclear, so she slowly stopped.
Liang Qi also stopped and stood facing her.
She looked into his emotionless eyes and remained silent for a moment.
Liang Qi preemptively asked her, "What's wrong?"
"You..." Jiang Nuanyu hesitated, unsure how to begin. A quick glance caught sight of the door diagonally opposite her opening from the inside.
Yu Miao came out from inside, turned around and saw her, and said, "Sister Nuanyu? Why did you take so long in the restroom? I was just about to look for you."
Jiang Nuanyu glanced at Liang Qi and said, "I ran into... a friend."
Yu Miao turned her gaze and immediately recognized Liang Qi as the man who had escorted Jiang Nuanyu to the entrance of Tangwan last time.
She opened her eyes wide: "Huh...?"
Liang Qi met her probing gaze and nodded.
Upon receiving the greeting, Yu Miao nodded repeatedly, pointed behind her, and asked, "Do you want to come with us?"
Liang Qi did not agree immediately, but looked at Jiang Nuanyu instead.
Not wanting him to think she was genuinely worried about him crashing the party, Jiang Nuanyu casually asked, "Want to come along?"
She was just being polite, thinking he probably wouldn't be interested in attending her social gatherings, but to her surprise, Liang Qi nodded slightly to Yu Miao and said, "If it's not a bother, I'd be happy to."
Jiang Nuanyu: ?
While she was still in a daze, Yu Miao had already pushed open the door to the private room, smiling happily: "Don't bother me!"
Jiang Nuanyu: "..."
When they entered the private room, Jiang Nuanyu paid special attention to Liang Qi's reaction.
This room was much smaller than Zhao Nan's boss's room. Although it was divided into functional areas, the areas were not far apart. The young people playing board games were loud, and the noisy sounds hit you the moment you stepped into the room.
Liang Qi glanced at the young man arguing heatedly at the table, but didn't react much. However, his friends all quieted down in a short time after seeing Liang Qi.
Seeing that the person in front of them didn't seem like someone who would call them friends, the group didn't offer any greetings or ask for introductions.
Liang Qi followed Jiang Nuanyu to sit on the sofa where she was playing games. Yu Miao followed as well and asked him, "What would you like to drink?"
Liang Qi glanced at Jiang Nuanyu sitting diagonally opposite him and said, "Anyone like her will do."
Jiang Nuanyu's heart skipped a beat.
Yu Miao turned around and asked, "Sister Nuanyu, what are you drinking?"
Jiang Nuanyu asked blankly, "Coconut juice."
Yu Miao turned back and asked Liang Qi, "Is it okay?"
Liang Qi smiled and nodded: "Thank you."
Yu Miao blinked: "Don't you think it's too sweet?"
Liang Qi glanced at Jiang Nuanyu again and said, "No, thank you."
"OK."
Yu Miao went to get a drink, and the area around the sofa became quiet for a brief moment.
Jiang Nuanyu didn't speak first. Liang Qi glanced at the screen and asked, "Were you playing this just now?"
"Mm." Jiang Nuanyu nodded, then noticed the large "GAME OVER" on the screen and saw Liang Qi watching as well. Slightly embarrassed, she offered a self-justification, "This level is a bit difficult..."
Liang Qi curved his lips into a smile and said lightly, "Is that so?"
Jiang Nuanyu immediately regretted her earlier obvious attempt to cover up her mistake, and whispered, "...Yes."
Liang Qi looked at her, then suddenly smiled.
Yu Miao quickly returned with the drink and handed it to Liang Qi: "Here you go!"
Liang Qi took it and placed it on the table, saying politely, "Thank you."
Yu Miao sat down next to him without any awkwardness and introduced herself: "Um, my name is Yu Miao, what's your name?"
Liang Qi looked at her and nodded: "Hello. Liang Qi."
“Oh, Liang Qi.” Yu Miao smiled halfway, then suddenly turned her head and asked, “Sister Nuanyu, is the person you wrote about in that article Liang Qi?” She pointed to the person sitting next to her as she spoke.
Jiang Nuanyu had no idea that Liang Qi had already read the article she posted. When Yu Miao mentioned it, she panicked and stammered, "No... no, it's not..."
When she met Liang Qi's gaze, her face turned bright red, down to her ears.
Yu Miao had already found the article on her phone and was reading it aloud: "Isn't the first line 'Mr. Liang Qi'?" She looked back and forth between the two of them. "Isn't it?"
Jiang Nuanyu lowered her eyes, wishing she could disappear underground. He had confidently declared he "didn't want to play anymore," but now he was secretly posting articles defending her—what kind of nonsense was this…?
Yu Miao clicked on an image in the article, handed her phone to Liang Qi, and asked, "Did you draw this?"
Liang Qi turned his gaze away from Jiang Nuanyu, glanced at the screen, and nodded.
"I've had that thought too!" Yu Miao exclaimed excitedly, "but when I drew it, it always felt like it was lacking something. Yours is so much better!"
Upon hearing this, Jiang Nuanyu immediately raised her eyes, wanting to see how Liang Qi would react to Yu Miao's rather admiring praise.
But she didn't expect that the person who was talking to Yu Miao was staring at her with clear eyes.
When their eyes met unexpectedly, her heart skipped a beat and then started racing. She quickly looked away guiltily.
“Look, doesn’t it look a bit like it?” Yu Miao showed Liang Qi a photo of her painting.
Liang Qi's gaze lingered on Jiang Nuanyu's face for a second longer before he looked down at his phone screen and said, "A little."
Jiang Nuanyu slowly raised her eyebrows—Oh ho, so there's resonance now?
She bent down to pick up her drink, put the straw in her mouth, and before she could even take a sip, Yu Miao asked again, "So how did you come up with the idea to draw it this way?"
Liang Qi said, "I just drew it for fun."
"Oh..." Yu Miao nodded, then asked, "When did you draw this?"
"A long time ago."
"A long time ago?" Yu Miao pressed. "How long ago?"
"I don't remember very clearly."
"So what have you been drawing lately?"
"I haven't painted in many years," Liang Qi said.
Yu Miao was like a walking encyclopedia of questions, bombarding him with one after another without stopping. Liang Qi wasn't aloof at all; he engaged in a lively back-and-forth with her, and they seemed to share similar interests.
Jiang Nuanyu had almost chewed the paper straw in her mouth to pieces.
Sure enough, a woman's intuition is the most mysterious of all mystical things. She had felt from the beginning that Liang Qi was absolutely attractive to a girl like Yu Miao, which is why she was so sensitive to Yu Miao's "I like you" comment.
But then again, what kind of girl wouldn't be attracted to Liang Qi? And the fact that she cares so much now, doesn't it mean she thinks Liang Qi might also be attracted to a girl like Yu Miao?
Just as she was getting jealous, Yu Miao's voice rang out again: "Can I add you on WeChat?"
Jiang Nuanyu: …………
Well, I spent a whole day with her before asking to add her on WeChat. And now, after only chatting with Liang Qi for a short while, she's already asking for his contact information.
Prioritizing romance over friendship... prioritizing romance over friendship!
"I don't use WeChat often," Liang Qi said.
Jiang Nuanyu immediately loosened the paper straw between her teeth.
Although she didn't have Liang Qi's WeChat, hearing him say that made her feel inexplicably better.
Yu Miao paused for a moment, then asked, "What about other social media apps?"
Liang Qi said, "No need."
Yu Miao was somewhat dejected: "Okay..."
Liang Qi looked up at Jiang Nuanyu and saw that she was still sucking on the straw, looking completely nonchalant.
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