Chapter 74 A Thousand Layers of Schemes, A Comprehensive Response
On her first day back at the Culture and Tourism Bureau after her annual leave, Luo Yan was immediately pulled into a corner by Liu Su as soon as she stepped into the office. Liu Su's gossipy eyes were like searchlights: "Sister Yan, how did the trip to Qingxi go? Did President Jiang manage to win you over completely and then you happily became intimate?"
"No reconciliation!" Luo Yan pushed her hand away, pretending to calmly tidy her desk. "A breakup is a breakup. Who goes back to an ex so quickly? Are you kidding me?"
Liu Su expressed disbelief: "I saw the fireworks photos you posted on your WeChat Moments. This atypical breakup is sweeter than the dating reality show I'm watching. Are you running a 'secret relationship 2.0'?"
Luo Yan's face flushed as she recalled what had happened in Qingxi. Just as she was about to retort, her phone rang.
"Hello, is this Ms. Luo Yan? Your takeout has arrived."
"I didn't order takeout, did they deliver to the wrong place?"
"That's right, it's for you, and it's right outside your office gate."
When Luo Yan returned, she was carrying a latte with a label that read "Less sugar, less ice, exclusively for Manager Luo".
Liu Su immediately felt like she'd stumbled upon the perfect gossip: "Haha, you know me so well, it must have been one of your 'ex-boyfriends' who ordered this, right?"
My phone vibrated; it was a message from Jiang Sui:
- Is your coffee to your liking? Special offer during the cooling-off period, one cup a day.
Luo Yan:
Don't give me that crap, I've already transferred the money for the coffee to you.
After transferring the money, she added:
-It's on my behalf, it has nothing to do with you.
Jiang Sui:
- I'll buy you breakfast tomorrow and transfer the money to you. It'll be my own food, and it has nothing to do with you.
Luo Yan: "..."
No problem, perfect logic.
As soon as Luo Yan finished her work for the morning, her phone started vibrating incessantly with messages from Zhou Jiaqi.
Good morning, Sister Luo. It's getting colder in Yu'an today, remember to wear more clothes.
Attached is a screenshot of the weather forecast.
- Sister Luo, did you take a lunch break? This newly opened takeout restaurant is pretty good, I recommend it to you.
Attached is a QR code for a discount coupon.
- Sister Luo, are you working overtime tonight? Take care and don't overwork yourself.
Attached is a link to a health article titled "The Dangers of Staying Up Late".
Luo Yan stared at the screen, feeling utterly overwhelmed.
After being discharged from the hospital, Zhou Jiaqi was recuperating at home. Logically, he should have been taking good care of his injuries, but instead, he focused all his energy on "pursuing" her, bombarding her with phone calls and messages, even more active than in work groups.
At first, she responded politely, thinking it was just a colleague's courtesy, but later she got annoyed by his relentless "warm man offensive".
This isn't about pursuing anything; it's just being a customer service representative with a pre-programmed routine, sending out "care packages" at set times every day.
Just as I was thinking about how to reply, Zhou Jiaqi sent another message:
Sister Luo, my mom made some snacks. Would it be convenient for you to bring them over to try? Can I deliver them to your workplace or home?
Luo Yan finally lost her temper and immediately replied:
- Xiao Zhou, thank you for your concern, but it's really not necessary.
Less than a minute after sending the message, Zhou Jiaqi called back, sounding a little aggrieved: "Sister Luo, did I do something wrong to annoy you? I just wanted to be nice to you..."
"It's not your problem." Luo Yan covered her phone, carefully observing the reactions of the others in the office, her voice so low it sounded like it was being squeezed out of her throat, "I don't want to talk about relationships right now, don't waste your time on me."
“I don’t think it’s a waste!” Zhou Jiaqi’s voice suddenly rose, as if he was eager to prove something. “Sister Luo, I really like you, and I did all this willingly.”
"..."
Luo Yan's brows furrowed into a tight knot.
No, I have to make it clear to his face and completely put an end to his idea! Otherwise, this will never end!
She sighed, "Xiao Zhou, no need for snacks. Your leg isn't very convenient. I'll come see you after get off work, and we can talk in person."
On the subway after get off work, Luo Yan was still pondering how to bring up Zhou Jiaqi in a way that was firm enough without being too hurtful. After all, they were colleagues in the same department, and if things got too tense, how could they continue working together?
As soon as I got downstairs, I saw a familiar figure in a long black dress coming out of the building entrance.
Luo Yan was taken aback. Wasn't that Lu Xingyao? Surely she hadn't gone to the wrong door this time?
Lu Xingyao also saw her, but wasn't surprised. She smiled and walked over: "What a coincidence?"
Luo Yan looked at the apartment building, then at her, momentarily stunned: "You... what are you doing here?"
"I came to see Zhou Jiaqi." Lu Xingyao readily admitted, "I've known him for a long time, we're old acquaintances."
Luo Yan recalled the school group photo she had seen at Zhou Jiaqi's house. She had only glanced at it briefly while busy packing, and it seemed strangely familiar. Now, she finally recognized Lu Xingyao and realized who it was.
"So you two knew each other all along? No wonder you asked me about it last time."
"It's kind of embarrassing to say, I wasn't even sure if we were just people with the same name." Lu Xingyao shrugged, then suddenly changed the subject and suggested, "Let's have a meal together, and I can talk to you about Zhou Jiaqi."
The small hot pot restaurant on the street corner was bustling with business at this time, the air filled with the aroma of butter and rising steam.
After sitting down, Lu Xingyao got straight to the point: "Don't you think Zhou Jiaqi is quite sunny and innocent?"
“I used to think so, but now…” Luo Yan shook her head, recalling Zhou Jiaqi’s obsessive pursuit, “I don’t understand it anymore.”
Lu Xingyao took a sip of tea, her tone becoming serious, "He should have told you about being bullied in high school, right?"
"Yes, he also said that a female senior who happened to be passing by saved him..."
Luo Yan recalled, then suddenly looked at Lu Xingyao: "That senior, was it you?"
Lu Xingyao nodded: "That's right, it was me. I was a senior in high school at the time, preparing for the art college entrance exam, and I didn't pay much attention to him. Later, I was a junior in college and he was a freshman. He would come to our dance club every day, bringing tea and water and asking about my well-being. At that time, Jiang Sui and I had just started dating, and he would often 'accidentally' appear around me, in the library, the cafeteria, and even the small park where we went on dates. At first, I didn't pay attention and just thought that this junior was quite grateful, and he still remembered that little thing. Later, I gradually felt that something was wrong because the frequency of his appearances was ridiculously high, and he always acted very familiar with me in front of Jiang Sui. You know Jiang Sui's temper, so there were more and more inexplicable misunderstandings."
Luo Yan was somewhat incredulous: "Zhou Jiaqi's version of events is that he knew you were together, but... he just... did nothing."
"You actually trust him quite a bit." Lu Xingyao smiled and continued, "Back then, whenever Jiang Sui and I argued, Zhou Jiaqi would always appear in time to 'thoughtfully' comfort me, acting very innocent and guilty, and I would have to appease him... Doesn't this routine sound familiar? It's exactly the same, isn't it?"
"So, he doesn't really like me, but just wants to..." Luo Yan didn't finish her sentence, but she already knew the answer in her heart.
"It's hard to say." Lu Xingyao shook her head. "In short, this person is quite cunning and not as cheerful as he appears. It's always good to keep an eye on him."
Luo Yan recalled that Zhou Jiaqi always appeared gentle and polite at work. It turned out that the so-called "sunny and warm man" had two faces.
The boomerang he threw hit her right between the eyebrows, and he even looked down on Xu Jingfei for being bewitched by a scheming man? She's no better.
After finishing their meal, the two said goodbye.
As soon as Luo Yan stepped into the house, she saw Jiang Sui sitting on the sofa, stroking Jiang Xiaosui in his hand, clearly having waited for a long time.
"You're back?" Jiang Sui looked up at her, a smile in his eyes. "You look so gloomy, did you run into trouble at work?"
"Jiang Sui, I want to tell you something, but please don't get excited..."
"What happened? Why are you so serious?"
"Zhou Jiaqi... confessed his feelings to me."
"..."
Jiang Sui paused for a few seconds, then stopped petting the cat.
"Oh...and then?"
"I wasn't planning to tell you, I thought I'd just explain things to him and resolve it, but I ran into Sister Xingyao today, and she told me some things, and I feel like this matter might not be so simple..."
Luo Yan threw her bag onto the sofa, sat down, and told Jiang Sui everything Lu Xingyao had said.
Jiang Sui frowned: "I remember now. Back in college, Xingyao always had a 'well-behaved' junior brother by her side, calling her 'senior sister' all the time. So it was him... No wonder I felt inexplicably annoyed by Zhou Jiaqi the first time I saw him."
"How come you didn't recognize him before?"
"After all these years, who still remembers that this person even exists?"
Jiang Sui suddenly remembered something, "I suspect that this matter is also related to my father."
"Zhou Jiaqi knows your father too?"
Luo Yan was completely bewildered. Was the world really that small? What were they all talking about? Jiang Qiming and Zhou Jiaqi had absolutely no connection, how could they possibly know each other?
"My dad deliberately induced me to say those things in the parking lot, just to create conflict between us. Then, on the day Zhou Jiaqi broke his leg and asked you to help deliver something, my dad 'coincidentally' fainted and ended up in the same hospital. He was perfectly fine but insisted that I go. Now that I think about it, he probably wanted me to see you supporting Zhou Jiaqi... Ha, those two were working together."
"No way..."
Luo Yan found it hard to believe. If it was just to make them break up, wasn't it a bit too low for someone of Jiang Qiming's status to resort to such petty tricks?
"What should I do now? Zhou Jiaqi is sending messages and making phone calls more frequently than he ever is a scammer. I'm so annoyed by him. Maybe... I should just bring it up directly?"
“No need. You’re colleagues, and we need to consider how you’ll get along in the future.” Jiang Sui’s gaze darkened, and he looked up to think for a moment. “Just refuse him, and leave the rest to me.”
"What are you going to do?" Luo Yan looked into his eyes, sensing that something big was about to happen. "You...you're not trying to set a trap for Zhou Jiaqi, are you? What if he really has some kind of 'conspiracy' with your father?"
Jiang Sui didn't answer, but smiled and pulled her into his arms, his tone relaxed: "Don't be so nervous, just treat it as a game... How about we guess whether they'll end up shooting themselves in the foot?"
Looking at his smile, Luo Yan felt inexplicably at ease.
Having known Jiang Sui for so long, this was the first time she'd ever felt that this male fox was full of scheming... Hmm, he's quite handsome.
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