Lu Ziqing was really going all out. She didn’t even bother changing her clothes, just grabbed a jacket at random, dialed Liang Sheng while chasing after him.
“Hey? Liang Sheng!”
At that moment, Liang Sheng hadn’t gotten out of bed yet. She was sleeping soundly when Young Miss Lu’s call jolted her awake.
Lying lazily under the covers, she rubbed her eyes in a daze, her voice carrying a hint of a babyish whine. “Mmm… what’s up? Young Miss?”
Lu Ziqing gave a concise reply. “Su Ze’s about to head out!”
“Oh, oh… what?!” Liang Sheng, who had still been groggy and eager to keep sleeping, snapped awake in an instant. She shot up from the bed like a launched spring.
Her hair was a total bird’s nest, wildly disheveled. “Ahhh! Young Miss, please!!! Stall him for me! I’m grabbing a cab to your place right now. It’ll take… it’ll take less than an hour!”
“What? An hour??” Hearing that she’d have to stall him for so long, Lu Ziqing nearly slipped and fell flat on her face.
Liang Sheng, meanwhile, was frantically stripping off her clothes and changing, having tossed her phone onto the bed on speakerphone at max volume.
“Aw, come on~ Please, Young Miss~ Help me out this one time, and I’ll grant you one wish, okay? Anything you want! Just help me with this!” Liang Sheng made her bold promise.
Lu Ziqing paused for a second. “Any… wish at all?”
“Yeah, yeah, yeah!” Liang Sheng, who was busy rushing to the bathroom to freshen up, didn’t catch the odd note in her tone.
“Fine, it’s a deal! Not that this young miss cares about whatever wish you’d offer, but… but anyway…” Even at a time like this, Miss Lu couldn’t help being tsundere and stubborn. “Seeing how sincerely you’re begging me, I’ll help you out. Wouldn’t want you blaming me for being heartless later.”
Haha, tsunderes always come up with the most contrived, flimsy excuses to dote on you and give you what you want.
“Yeah, yeah~ Young Miss is the best! I love Young Miss the most~” Lines like that came effortlessly to the green-haired girl these days.
By the time she reached the villa gates, Su Ze had already stepped into the guard booth.
Damn it. Lu Ziqing hadn’t even had time to say goodbye to Liang Sheng before hanging up.
“Su—Su Ze! Su Ze, wait up!” Lu Ziqing shouted as she ran.
Unfortunately, he was too far away to hear. Right then, he’d already spoken with the guard, who was preparing to swing the gates open.
Su Ze was just about to step through when Lu Ziqing finally closed the distance enough for him to hear her. Ah, Young Miss Lu, who had always been hopeless at sports, was suddenly bursting with energy all because of love.
“Su Ze!!!”
That shout finally reached Su Ze’s ears, even though he was a bit farther off.
“Huff… huff…” Lu Ziqing panted heavily as she ran up to Su Ze, who had come to a stop.
Su Ze was utterly baffled, but on the surface, he kept up his warm and gentlemanly smile—a far cry from how he’d treated her at the beginning, when he’d acted like a total jerk because he’d known Young Miss Lu had a crush on him.
“What’s wrong, Miss? Do you need something from me?” Su Ze gazed at the girl before him with concern, even lifting a hand to straighten the twisted jacket she wore. “It’s cold out, Miss. Make sure you bundle up properly, or you’ll catch a chill. If you got sick, I’d…”
He trailed off there, leaving plenty of room for imagination.
His furrowed brow and caring eyes made it clear he was worried about her.
In the past, Lu Ziqing would have been over the moon, jumping for joy. But now, her heart belonged elsewhere—specifically to the task her beloved green-haired girl had entrusted to her. She didn’t even register Su Ze’s expression.
“Uh, um…” Put on the spot, Lu Ziqing froze. She hadn’t thought up an excuse before chasing after him, and now she was stumped, not knowing what to say.
“Hm?” Su Ze tilted his head slightly, wondering what this young miss was up to.
Lu Ziqing swallowed hard, steeling her nerves. “Th-this young miss is bored right now! You! Come shopping with me!”
“Huh?” Su Ze stared at her in disbelief.
Yeah, Lu Ziqing had been so cold to him lately—sometimes even going out of her way to avoid him. How had she suddenly decided she wanted him to tag along shopping?
Still, it was a good opportunity to build some rapport.
But… it put him in a tough spot. A troubled look crossed his face.
Today, he had to go meet “that person.”
The woman who would become Liang Sheng’s father’s future mistress.
Once her family fell apart, how much attention would Liang Sheng have left for these girls? Su Ze had it all planned out.
After all, in previous loops, whenever her parents divorced, Liang Sheng took it hard—depressed for ages, even showing signs of developing depression.
Of course, there had been several times he’d already won before the divorce plot even kicked in.
“Su Ze?” Seeing him space out, Lu Ziqing’s heart started to drum with anxiety.
Was he going to turn her down? No way— the thought alone made Miss Lu bristle with anger. She’d always gotten her way at home, from childhood on. Who dared refuse her?
“Ah, Miss, I…” Su Ze met Lu Ziqing’s fiery, threatening glare.
In an instant, the refusal on the tip of his tongue went down his throat.
He glanced at his watch. After some thought, he figured a little delay wouldn’t hurt. So, in a pleading tone, he said to Lu Ziqing, “Miss, I’ve got something this afternoon. Can we finish shopping before one?”
It was nine in the morning now, and a cab from Liang Sheng’s neighborhood to Lu Ziqing’s massive villa took about half an hour.
“Sure,” Lu Ziqing beamed, relieved. “I’ll go back to my room and change first.”
Changing clothes would buy her some time.
By the time Liang Sheng got near the house, she could tell Su Ze she had a stomachache and bail on the shopping trip.
“Should I wait here for you, Miss?”
Lu Ziqing almost snapped “whatever,” but then thought better of it. What if she took half an hour dawdling and he got impatient?
“Ah, you should change too. That outfit looks bad on you.” With that, Lu Ziqing turned and headed back toward her villa.
Su Ze glanced down at himself, still full of his own handsomeness.
“What terrible taste,” he muttered—referring to Young Miss Lu Ziqing, not himself.
Once back in the villa, Lu Ziqing immediately messaged Liang Sheng to check where she was.
“Almost there, almost! Give me twenty more minutes.”
Liang Sheng was already in the taxi by then, anxious that Lu Ziqing might not be able to hold Su Ze back.
