She knew Shen Zhirou couldn’t possibly have found her next partner so quickly—after all, Shen Zhirou liked her. With that thought, Lu Yao breathed a slight sigh of relief and called Wang Qi again.
She had Wang Qi’s contact information from their previous project collaboration, but they hadn’t spoken since it ended. Lu Yao never imagined she’d one day call a former business contact for personal reasons. The call connected quickly.
“Hello, this is Lu Yao.”
Wang Qi wondered why Lu Yao was calling her but still replied with a smile, “Does CEO Lu need something?”
“Yes, I have a small matter I’d like to ask about. Sorry to bother you,” Lu Yao said, sounding a bit apologetic.
“No bother at all. What does CEO Lu want to know? I’ll tell you anything I can,” Wang Qi replied politely. She’d racked her brain but couldn’t guess what it was about.
“There was a little issue between Zhirou and me. I wanted to ask which floor and workstation she’s on at the office—I’d like to send her some things,” Lu Yao said, pursing her lips.
“Oh, that’s all? Our department is on the 11th floor office. You can have someone deliver it straight there,” Wang Qi replied with a smile. It was such a simple favor, and she was happy to do CEO Lu a good turn.
“Alright, thank you so much, Supervisor Wang.” Lu Yao exchanged a few more pleasantries with her before hanging up.
Only after handling that did Lu Yao finally relax a little, especially since she’d learned the girl Shen Zhirou had been holding hands with was her sister—that made her feel much better. With her mood eased, her stomach started rumbling; she really was hungry, since she hadn’t eaten much the day before, and with everything on her mind, nothing had tasted good anyway.
Lu Yao got up and opened the door to head to the kitchen. Seeing her come in, Zhang Huichun asked, “What’s up? Mom and Xiao Ye have this covered. Go rest.”
“I’m hungry. I’ll cook some noodles,” Lu Yao replied as she started chopping green onions, planning to make a pot of shrimp fried noodles.
“Let me help,” Ye Qi quickly stood up.
Lu Yao frowned at him. “No need. I can do it myself.”
Noticing the awkward atmosphere, Zhang Huichun quickly tried to smooth things over. “Xiao Ye’s just trying to help out of kindness. You child, you won’t even appreciate it.”
“I know, and I won’t,” Lu Yao said. She went to the fridge to grab some frozen shrimp to thaw, ignoring whether Ye Qi felt awkward or not as she focused on her own cooking.
If Ye Qi had even a shred of pride, he wouldn’t be freeloading at her house all the time. Lu Yao figured she was already showing plenty of restraint by even speaking to him—any warmer expression was out of the question.
Seeing the cold look on her daughter’s face and remembering how drunk she’d gotten the night before, Zhang Huichun didn’t dare say anything more in Lu Yao’s defense. No matter how great Ye Qi was, he was still an outsider; her own daughter came first, of course.
Zhang Huichun had no choice but to chat with Ye Qi about other things, steering the conversation away from the awkward moment.
Lu Yao focused intently on cooking her noodles. With her mood a bit brighter, even the shrimp in the pot looked cute to her.
She boiled a heaping half-bowl’s worth—plenty for herself—then carried it to the dining room to eat. She didn’t forget to scroll through Shen Zhirou’s Moments while she ate.
In the past, Lu Yao would never have bothered with something like this; it would’ve seemed like a total waste of time. She never even glanced at those mindless posts. But now, she was poring over Shen Zhirou’s Moments with genuine interest.
Shen Zhirou hadn’t set any visibility limits, so Lu Yao scrolled back through them one by one. She still remembered what Shen Zhirou had told her—they’d been together for a while, but Lu Yao really knew so little about her. She’d only met Shen Zhirou’s sister for the first time yesterday, after all. Lu Yao figured browsing her Moments was a good way to learn more about her.
It was just before ten when Uncle and his family arrived. Zhang Huichun had already messaged Lu Jifeng on WeChat to give them a heads-up. This lunch was meant to get everyone together and nudge Lu Yao and Ye Qi along a little more. Her Yaoyao had just broken up and was in that perfect empty-window period—maybe if Ye Qi played his cards right, the two of them could actually make it work.
Lu Yao played with Taotao for a bit, which lifted her spirits some more. At lunchtime, the whole family gathered around the table. Lu Jitong shot Lu Jifeng a meaningful look.
Lu Jifeng got the hint right away and turned to Lu Yao. “Yaoyao, I heard you broke up with that girl from last time? Life’s full of breakups and makeups—don’t take it to heart. It’ll pass before you know it. The key is to cherish the people right in front of you. You might be too close to see it clearly, but at my age, Uncle can tell. Xiao Ye’s a really good kid—we’ve all seen it with our own eyes.”
“Yes, Yaoyao, even Uncle noticed it. Xiao Ye is an honest kid who’s always had feelings for you but never dared to say it out loud. He’s done quite a lot for you, though. You don’t have anything going on this afternoon anyway, so why don’t you go out for a stroll with him to clear your mind?” Zhang Huichun quickly seized the opportunity to chime in.
Ye Qi, sitting off to the side, was grinning from ear to ear. He had known that winning over the parents was the way to go. It hadn’t been for nothing that he’d kept coming over to Lu Yao’s parents’ place whenever he had free time, helping out with this and that. Finally, it was paying off.
Lu Yao silently ate her meal without responding. Seeing the awkward silence settle in, Lu Jitong hurriedly tried to smooth things over. “Yaoyao, we’re talking to you. Why don’t you go shopping with Xiao Ye this afternoon? You young people always say the best way to get over a breakup is to start a new relationship. Don’t do anything you’ll regret later.”
With a sharp “clack,” Lu Yao slammed her chopsticks down onto her bowl. Her face was frighteningly cold. “Shen Zhirou and I haven’t broken up. I’m going to find her and bring her back. She’s the girlfriend I chose myself, and she’s the only one I’ll ever consider marrying. I suggest you save your breath. Instead of hoping I’ll fall for someone else, you should pray I find Zhirou sooner. That way, at least you’ll get to see my wedding day.”
Lu Yao’s gaze swept over everyone seated at the table. She let out a cold laugh and turned to her mother. “The reason she and I are apart is partly because of that IOU you made her write. I haven’t even settled that score with you yet, and now you’re trying to shove Ye Qi in my face? Let me tell you, don’t even think about it. If this isn’t my home anymore, then I won’t come back. If you like Ye Qi so much, let him move in. Pretend you have another son, and just forget you ever had a daughter like me.”
Ignoring the others’ attempts to stop her, Lu Yao stood up and headed to the entryway to change her shoes.
Seeing her daughter truly angry, Zhang Huichun hurried over to persuade. “Yaoyao, don’t be mad. We’re all doing this for your own good. If you don’t like Xiao Ye, that’s fine—no one can force these things. But you can’t just say you’re never coming home.”
Lu Yao gave Zhang Huichun a cold look, her tone devoid of warmth. “I don’t think of this as my home anymore. You and Dad clearly like Ye Qi more. To be honest, if you really cared about me, you never would have made the person I like write that damned IOU.”
With that, Lu Yao shook off her mother’s grip on her wrist and slammed the security door shut with a bang. Zhang Huichun wanted to chase after her, but Lu Yao had already called the elevator and was heading down to the seventeenth floor.
Zhang Huichun panicked completely at her daughter’s reaction, especially after hearing that phrase “the person I like.” Did that mean Yaoyao really liked Shen Zhirou, and it wasn’t just some convenient marriage partner?
She knew her daughter’s temperament all too well—unapproachable with most people and stubbornly set in her ways. Once she decided on something, not even ten oxen could drag her back. This time, Zhang Huichun genuinely feared her daughter might never return home.
Lu Jitong was panicking too. “I shouldn’t have pushed so hard. With Yaoyao’s stubborn streak, what if she really doesn’t come back?”
“Uncle, Auntie, I’m really sorry. I didn’t mean to cause trouble between you,” Ye Qi said. He hadn’t expected Lu Yao’s reaction to be so intense, and hearing her admit she liked Shen Zhirou made his blood boil. Still, he had to put on a understanding front.
“It’s not your fault, Xiao Ye. Yaoyao’s just too stubborn. Sigh, what a mess. We meant well, but she won’t appreciate it,” Lu Jitong sighed.
“If you ask me, Lu Yao should make her own decisions about her life. Talking more won’t help—it’ll just push her further away,” Lu Yao’s cousin Lu Wenshen said, glancing at Ye Qi.
“I agree. And last time I saw Shen Zhirou, she seemed like a nice person,” Liu Pingping added while picking food for Taotao.
“Sigh, Shen Zhirou’s family background is too ordinary, and she’s got a bunch of unreliable relatives. I don’t want Yaoyao mixed up with someone like that,” Zhang Huichun shook her head, still dissatisfied no matter how she thought about it.
“The important thing is that Yaoyao’s happy,” Liu Pingping murmured softly.
The meal ended on a sour note. Lu Yao felt an inexplicable irritability bubbling up. Even she got upset facing her parents’ barbed words—what must it have been like for Shen Zhirou? When her parents had called Zhirou over to write that IOU, they must have said all sorts of harsh things. Unfortunately, Lu Yao hadn’t been considerate back then and had even found those WeChat messages from Zhirou baffling.
Along the way, Lu Yao’s phone kept ringing nonstop. She simply blacklisted her parents’ numbers. She didn’t want to return to that home for at least the next year or so. It would also be best to change the lock on the door of her new home. Lu Yao never wanted to see her parents freely coming and going in the home she shared with Shen Zhirou ever again. From now on, this home should belong only to her and Shen Zhirou.
After making up her mind, Lu Yao called Jiang Chen right away. She asked him to send someone over to change the door lock and instructed him to order some roses first thing tomorrow morning and deliver them to Shen Zhirou on the 11th floor of AFN Group. She had already prepared the card herself beforehand. She told Jiang Chen to wait in the living room for a moment while she went back to the study, found a pink card, and wrote a few lines on it with a fountain pen. Then she instructed him to attach the new house key to the roses and send them together—after all, with the lock changed, what if Shen Zhirou wanted to come home but couldn’t get in?
Jiang Chen gave Lu Yao a puzzled glance but didn’t dare ask any more questions. He just took the key and card and left.
Lu Yao sat on the living room sofa and let out an inexplicable sigh of relief. She had just declared over there that she liked Shen Zhirou and even called her her girlfriend. Lu Yao pressed her hand to the left side of her chest—it turned out that voicing her feelings wasn’t so difficult after all. Her previous demands on Shen Zhirou had been far too harsh. This time around, perhaps they could try starting things off by dating.
