I feel really guilty
It was almost 10 o'clock after breakfast, so Xu Luoluo planned to have a simple lunch and then take her parents to a restaurant in the evening.
"Is this far from the Bund?" In a shopping mall on the pedestrian street in the city center, Xu's mother stood in front of the mirror, looking at herself from left to right with a dress in hand, when she suddenly remembered this.
Xu Luoluo knows her mother very well; how could she not check out these landmark attractions?
"Everything's arranged for you. It's hot now, so a stroll along the Bund after dinner would be perfect." She nodded at the mirror as she spoke, "This one looks good, why don't you go in and try it on?"
Xu's mother was still hesitating, but after being persuaded by her, she reluctantly went into the fitting room.
"Dad, how long are you planning to stay here this time?" Xu Luoluo took the opportunity to ask her father for information, then looked troubled. "You didn't even tell me in advance. I'm going on a business trip next week and won't be able to stay with you. Why don't you stay at my house first and wait for me to come back?"
"How long we stay is up to your mom." Xu's father gestured toward the fitting room and whispered, "Your Aunt Wu's daughter is getting married soon, and she comes to tell your mom about it every day. Your mom got so upset that she's hiding here."
She knew Aunt Wu; she was her mother's old classmate. Aunt Wu also had a daughter who was a few years older than Xu Luoluo. For the past few years, she hadn't had a boyfriend, and Aunt Wu would complain to her mother every day as if they were in the same boat. The two of them seemed to have developed a comradeship.
However, it is now clear that the other party has betrayed our revolutionary friendship.
After learning the situation, Xu Luoluo couldn't help but tremble. She wondered if her mother was planning to take her anger out on her.
Whether it was her prayers that worked or the saying "a bag can cure all ills" proved true, Xu Luoluo's meticulously planned shopping route kept her mother focused on buying, buying, buying.
She arranged dinner at Jin Feng Yue Restaurant. Actually, she loves spicy food, and according to her usual habits, she prefers Sichuan restaurants; she can easily find any good Sichuan restaurant in S City.
However, considering we're taking care of an elderly person, we should opt for milder, healthier dishes; otherwise, Xu's mother will definitely nag her again. Based on our experience choosing food last time, this restaurant is definitely a safe bet.
She thought her plan was perfect, but she forgot one thing: this place was incredibly popular, and there was a queue. At least an hour's wait.
Xu's mother frowned and said with disdain, "Big cities are so troublesome. You have to queue up to eat."
Xu Luoluo had no choice but to open her phone to see if there were any cafes or similar places nearby. Her parents must be tired after shopping all day, and they needed to find a place to rest. The row of seats outside Jin Feng Gate, which was meant for customers waiting for their food, was already full. She couldn't let her parents stand there and wait for an hour.
But after searching for a while, Xu Luoluo found that the nearest coffee shop was a ten-minute walk away. She couldn't help but sigh, wondering how Tang Yizhuo managed to do that. Recalling the scene last time she was ushered in as soon as she arrived at the door, Xu Luoluo looked up at the sky with a bitter face, wishing that a Tang Yizhuo would appear out of nowhere right now.
"What are you doing here?" A surprised voice came from above, then a hint of amusement in its tone, "Waiting for a windfall?"
Xu Luoluo was startled, and then she saw Tang Yizhuo standing in front of her. Are wishes really that effective now? It's like manna from heaven is falling from the sky!
Looking up at him from this close was too much strain on her neck, so she couldn't help but take a step back and instead of answering, asked, "What are you doing here?"
"In line?" Tang Yizhuo didn't answer, but just glanced down and suddenly pulled out the queue number from her hand. "There are still 50 tables ahead of us?"
Xu Luoluo immediately deflated, no longer willing to play the guessing game with him: "Yeah, I brought my parents here, they've been shopping all day, can you take us in like last time?"
"I see." Tang Yizhuo, being a shrewd person, had naturally already sensed the intense gazes directed at him from not far away, but he didn't mention it, waiting for Xu Luoluo to explain herself.
"It's not impossible."
Xu Luoluo's eyes lit up immediately upon hearing his words.
"However," Tang Yizhuo leaned closer to her, his warm breath brushing against her ear, his voice like a lover's whisper, "business is so booming right now, it's not easy to get an empty table without a reservation. How are you going to repay this favor?"
But what he said was calculated very precisely.
Xu Luoluo sensed a conspiracy and frowned without saying a word.
Tang Yizhuo created some distance and slowly prepared to turn around: "This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity."
This is taking advantage of someone's misfortune!
But when Xu Luoluo turned her head and saw her parents standing not far away and the line at the door that seemed to have not moved, she quickly reached out and grabbed Tang Yizhuo's arm, gritting her teeth and saying, "How do you want to pay me back?"
"Offer yourself in return..." Seeing Xu Luoluo's wide eyes, Tang Yizhuo smiled, "I don't need that."
Xu Luoluo couldn't help but roll her eyes. All that panting made it seem like she was the one eagerly waiting for him.
"I'll pay you back when I go on my business trip." Xu Luoluo was about to ask what she was going to pay back, but Tang Yizhuo interrupted her with a hesitant voice. He took a step back and raised an eyebrow at her, "You're not going to renege on your debt later, are you?"
The whole thing was so mysterious, which puzzled Xu Luoluo a bit. But since it wasn't a promise of marriage, and he wouldn't let her kill or commit arson, her parents' comfort was more important right now. She pouted and said, "It's a deal."
"Okay." Tang Yizhuo kept his word and went into the store. After a while, a waiter came out and welcomed Xu Luoluo and her family inside.
It was a private room. Xu Luoluo was even more curious. As soon as the waiter left, she leaned close to Tang Yizhuo's ear and whispered, "How did you do that?"
Tang Yizhu smiled faintly and remained silent. Instead, he stepped forward to greet Xu's parents and then looked apologetic, saying, "I have an appointment with a client to discuss work, so I can't chat with you and your parents any longer. Luo Luo, please treat them to a few more days in S City. We can have a proper meal and chat together next time."
"Haha, it's good that young people are ambitious. You go ahead with your work, we can chat again another time." Xu's father nodded cheerfully and saw the man to the door. Turning back, he smiled at Xu Luoluo and said, "This young man is not bad either."
Xu Luoluo couldn't help but roll her eyes again. What's so great about him? This guy is very cunning. He even calls her "Luoluo". When did she become so close to him?
Unlike her father's approving expression, her mother pulled her aside with a serious face and said, "You're not going to two-timing, are you? Su is handsome and treats you well, don't let him down. This Tang, although he's also quite good-looking, is too shrewd; he'll definitely have plenty of women around him. Listen to me, choose Su. Listen to me, I was young once too, I know that bad boys like Tang are popular with girls, but you have to think about it: if you like someone, someone else might like you too, that's definitely..."
Xu Luoluo initially nodded repeatedly, thinking that her mother had a good eye; wasn't Tang Yizhuo a playboy? But the more she heard, the more outrageous it became. She interrupted her mother, laughing and crying at the same time, "Mom, don't talk nonsense. This Tang Yizhuo is a partner in our company, my boss. We have nothing going on."
"So young and already a partner?" Mr. Xu's attention was drawn. "She really has a bright future."
Xu's mother rolled her eyes at him before speaking earnestly to Xu Luoluo: "That's the right way to think. It's best to be down-to-earth when looking for a partner. Don't waste your time if you're not from the same world, or you'll be the one who suffers in the end."
Xu Luoluo was surprised that her mother could say something like "we're not from the same world," which showed how much effort she had put into preventing her from having any feelings for Tang Yizhuo. But how could she explain that Tang Yizhuo, this capitalist, only saw her as a tool to be exploited, and had no romantic feelings for her at all?
To avoid making things worse, Xu Luoluo finally gave up and nodded, saying, "Whatever makes you happy."
"That's good. Then apologize to Xiao Su tonight." After they had almost finished eating, Xu's mother gave the final instructions for dinner.
Seeing Xu Luoluo looking at her with surprise, Xu's mother gently patted her head: "Do you think I didn't see it today? People treated you like that, and you treated them the same way, of course you got angry."
This time, Mr. Xu nodded in agreement: "Yes, putting aside everything else, from a polite point of view, our family should also have this kind of family upbringing."
Xu Luoluo originally wanted to argue a bit, but when it escalated to the level of "family education," she lowered her head and muttered, "I know."
Thinking of Su Ze's cold expression today, she wondered if she had really hurt him. Xu Luoluo felt that she was indeed in the wrong. Although she had a thousand reasons, she couldn't be wary of others just because she had been bitten once.
Su Ze is not that person.
So she swiped her phone and sent Su Ze a message: "What happened today was my fault, I'm sorry. Can we talk tonight?"
After taking a walk and dropping my parents back at the hotel, it was already nine o'clock when I returned to the neighborhood. Luckily, the hotel was nearby, otherwise my mother would have been worried about me coming back alone and would have wanted me to stay at the hotel for the night.
If she stayed at a hotel, wouldn't she be standing Su Ze up again? Then he might really have to say goodbye.
However, things aren't much better now. Xu Luoluo opened WeChat and saw that Su Ze hadn't replied to the message she sent at 7 o'clock even after two hours.
In the darkness, only the faint light from her phone screen shone through. She stood there, pursing her lips, staring at the silent chat box.
Only after her phone went into sleep mode did she take a deep breath, lower her head, and step into the building.
Upon reaching the 26th floor, the elevator doors slowly opened, revealing a completely dark hallway. Her sneakers made walking too light, so she stepped out and stomped her feet, causing the motion-sensor lights to turn on.
She instinctively turned her head, but didn't see a figure leaning against the wall like last time. Feeling a little disappointed, she also found herself somewhat amused, and prepared to take out her keys to open the door.
But she couldn't find it. She was wearing sportswear today, and the only pockets on her clothes were her shorts. But when she touched them, she realized both pockets were empty. A sudden thought flashed through her mind: had she left her keys behind?
She checked herself several more times, still unwilling to give up, before finally accepting reality. Going back to the hotel now was definitely out of the question; her parents were surely asleep. And she hadn't brought her ID with her, so she couldn't go check in herself.
After much thought and deliberation, I finally understood.
She gritted her teeth, decided to go all out, and turned to knock on the door across the street.
"Su Ze, please open the door." After knocking a few times and receiving no answer, she began to sob uncontrollably, "I've lost my keys, I'm homeless, please let me in."
No one answered. Could he not be home?
Xu Luoluo couldn't resist peering through the peephole. Although she couldn't see inside, at least she could see if the lights were on.
The door suddenly opened, causing her to lose her balance and stumble. Luckily, Su Ze reacted quickly and grabbed her arm to prevent her from falling.
"I lost my keys." Xu Luoluo suppressed her guilt from peeping earlier, looked up at him pitifully, and when he didn't speak, she secretly moved further inside the door. Su Ze noticed her little movements and took a step to completely block her out.
Su Ze looked like he had just taken a shower, wearing a clean white T-shirt. He stood in front of her, and the faint scent of soap and his warm breath hit her. The intense hormonal surge caused her mind to go blank for a moment.
It wasn't until something silver dangled in front of her eyes that her attention was drawn back.
Su Ze loosened his grip, and the silver item fell to the ground. Xu Luoluo instinctively reached out to catch it, only to realize it was her house key. She'd left it in his car. Xu Luoluo breathed a sigh of relief, then remembered that she'd taken it out and put it aside after getting in the car because she found it too uncomfortable.
She awkwardly stuffed the keys back into her pocket, then suddenly remembered her original purpose, but didn't know where to begin. She could only raise her head and say with difficulty, "Today..."
"You must be tired today, go to sleep early." Su Ze lowered his eyes and stopped looking at her, as if to say, "Send her away."
"Can you let me explain?" Xu Luoluo saw him about to close the door, and suddenly stubbornly squeezed in front of the door, refusing to go out. "I really didn't mean to say you were a 'colleague'. What happened yesterday was too sudden, and you didn't say anything formally, did you?"
In the end, she felt wronged and muttered with her head down, "I don't know what you're thinking."
After saying that, she felt a little guilty and didn't dare to look up at him.
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