His deep, boundless eyes were filled with affection.
Qiao Zhen was in a daze.
This must be a dream.
"Zhenzhen, promise me."
Lu Zheng's voice rang in her ears; he didn't want to give Qiao Zhen even half a second to think.
Qiao Zhen moved her lips but couldn't utter a single word, even though a voice inside her was screaming wildly.
She wasn't one to run away from problems, but right now she really wanted to avoid Lu Zheng.
Lu Zheng frowned, his eyes dark and brooding.
Qiao Zhen quickly laughed it off, "Aren't I watching you?"
Lu Zheng pursed his thin lips, his jawline taut, making Qiao Zhen wonder how else she could cheer him up.
Just then, the phone rang, bringing them both back to their senses.
It was Lu Zheng's phone. Qiao Zhen didn't even see the caller ID on the screen before Lu Zheng hung up.
“After breakfast, come to the study with me,” he said. “Always staying in your bedroom will make Auntie worry.”
"Mmm." Qiao Zhen buried her head in her breakfast.
The phone rang again.
Lu Zheng hung up without even looking at it.
Lu Zheng hung up on Qiao Zhen five times in total, until she finished her sandwich and went to the bathroom to change her clothes.
The other party kept harassing him, but he didn't block them, which was somewhat like teasing them.
Qiao Zhen watched silently. After entering the bathroom, she looked at her clean face in the mirror to make sure there were no ambiguous marks left. Then she buttoned up the top button of her shirt to make sure the "hickey" was completely covered.
She gave a bitter smile, her lowered eyelids concealing the faint mist in her eyes.
Even now, she still understands that she and Lu Zheng are not on the same path.
He was a prodigy, while she was just an ordinary passerby, penniless and not particularly capable, unable to add anything to his success.
So no matter how affectionate Lu Zheng was at that moment, he never mentioned the idea of being boyfriend and girlfriend.
Qiao Zhen pressed her hand against her aching heart.
But I've really fallen for it, what should I do?
Qiao Zhen rubbed her chest, inwardly cursing herself for lacking self-control.
After much thought, what else can I do but enjoy the present moment and treat it as a beautiful dream in life?
Qiao Zhen cheered herself up, put on a smile again, and opened the bathroom door to go out.
Lu Zheng was standing by the window making a phone call. His tall figure cast a long shadow on the floor, like a cold, sharp sword.
He didn't notice she had come out and continued talking coldly to the person on the other end of the phone.
"...I'm handling it, there's no need to worry. Your constant calling is affecting me, don't you understand?"
"Okay, that's all for now."
Before the conversation could even begin, Lu Zheng hung up the phone and turned to see Qiao Zhen.
Qiao Zhen didn't ask who was on the other end of the phone, and waved to Lu Zheng, "Let's go downstairs."
"Um."
The two went downstairs together. In the living room on the first floor, Qiao's mother was learning to knit a sweater with caregiver Deng. As a beginner, she was slow and often made mistakes, but caregiver Deng patiently guided her.
Qiao's mother beckoned to Qiao Zhen, "I'm planning to knit sweaters for you both. If you start learning now, you should be able to wear them when it gets cold, right?"
Qiao Zhen put her arm around her mother's shoulder and said coquettishly, "Then I'll be waiting to wear my new sweater!"
"Just wait!" Mrs. Qiao said confidently, and then said to Lu Zheng, "I'll prepare one for Lu Zheng too."
"Thank you, Auntie." Lu Zheng replied politely, and seeing the bright smiles on the faces of the mother and daughter, his deep eyes softened.
A warm feeling welled up in his heart, a feeling he had never experienced with his own family, even those who were related to him by blood.
Qiao's mother held the needle and thread as if they were precious treasures, saying, "You all go ahead and do your work. I can only show you when I've finished knitting it."
"Yes, yes, yes!" Qiao Zhen agreed repeatedly and entered the study with Lu Zheng.
Lu Zheng was busy with work, and Qiao Zhen didn't have much to do. She had already done most of her duties regarding the project, and was just waiting for other departments to move on to the next step.
She lay on the sofa, playing on her phone.
After a night of intense public discussion, the Shen Group's name appeared at the top of the trending searches, followed by a bright red "hot" label, and was subjected to inexplicable accusations and insults.
Aside from the building where the incident occurred, owners of other projects developed by the Shen Group, including residential and commercial buildings, are demanding answers.
Some demanded a re-inspection of the building's quality, others demanded refunds and compensation, and still others held up banners and signs, blocking the entrance to the Shen Group building. The massive crowd completely blocked the street.
The Shen Group was built by Mr. Shen when he was young. Over the decades, it has developed hundreds of properties of all sizes, involving the interests of millions of people.
Many working-class people work themselves to the bone their whole lives to buy a house and take on huge mortgages. Who would have thought that one day the house would be exposed to have serious hidden quality problems? It's like the sky has fallen. Who could bear that?
Qiao Zhen watched several videos, and the scenes were grand and impressive, but compared to the injustice her family had suffered, they were nothing.
She couldn't help but ask Lu Zheng, "How many housing developments will have problems?"
Lu Zheng said, "Only a few projects under construction."
Qiao Zhen sighed, "That's good, there won't be too many victims."
Her bright eyes revealed an undisguised look of relief.
Lu Zheng couldn't help but smile, and even dealing with heavy workloads felt easier.
In the afternoon, Qiao Zhen lazily lounged on the sofa, watching TV series on her phone with one hand and picking grapes from the fruit plate with the other, stuffing them into her mouth, thoroughly enjoying herself.
A news pop-up flashed across the top of the screen, and she almost swallowed a whole grape whole. She sat up abruptly and quickly clicked on the news.
It's a video showing an ambulance rushing to the hospital entrance with sirens blaring, and a woman covered in blood being quickly wheeled into the emergency room.
The news headline read, "Shen Group's daughter, unable to withstand violent harassment, attempts suicide by cutting her wrists at home and is rushed to the hospital."
She looked at Lu Zheng, and judging from his expression, he had also seen the news; his sinister eyes were extremely cold.
"Given my relationship with the Shen family, I have to go through the motions." Lu Zheng came to Qiao Zhen's side and gently stroked her soft hair with his fingertips.
Qiao Zhen understood the reasoning behind it.
Lu Zheng and Shen Yan's engagement is still valid.
If a fiancée is caught in a scandal and attempts suicide by cutting her wrists, her fiancé will be accused of being heartless and ungrateful if he doesn't appear in time.
Clearly, Lu Zheng did not want to be subject to any moral criticism.
When the head of a vast business empire has moral flaws, he will be constantly criticized and will have a series of negative impacts.
Looking at the soft, obedient woman in his arms, Lu Zheng felt a pang of heartache and kissed her forehead. "I'll be back soon."
"Hmm." Qiao Zhen watched Lu Zheng leave. Feeling bored being alone in the study, she greeted her mother and went for a walk by the lake.
When she returned to her villa after her walk and settled comfortably on the sofa to play on her phone, another news item caught her eye.
"The president of Lu's Group was involved in a serious car accident on his way to the hospital."
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