With caution, Zhou Jianghao opened the message, only to find it was from her mother, Zhou Qiu.
The joy in her eyes slowly faded. She furrowed her brows, her gaze settling on the line that read, “When are you coming over with her?”
It was probably because Tan Qingya had told Zhou Qiu about her identity the day before. In just one day, Zhou Qiu’s attitude had shifted from disbelief and anxious worry to eager ingratiation and fawning.
She kept indirectly probing the other woman’s preferences, her words urging Zhou Jianghao to humble herself and do everything to please Tan Qingya.
Zhou Jianghao’s feelings toward her weren’t particularly deep.
Her memories of Zhou Qiu only went back to before she was ten. She recalled how the woman rarely came home, occasionally taking her out to a restaurant but chatting like a social butterfly with anyone she met, talking for half a day and completely forgetting the starving daughter trailing behind her.
Later, Zhou Qiu had sent her to the Tan Family, clutching her hand and repeating that it was all for her own good. In the end, she even instructed the child to latch onto someone powerful, never to forget a kindness, and to bring her along one day to share in the good life…
Zhou Qiu loved her, that much was true, but it wasn’t pure maternal love. It was tainted with too many ulterior motives, like a merchant investing in her own wares for future profit.
With a blank expression, she replied:
— Very busy.
“Doctor Zhou!”
Liu Zhiyi’s voice came from behind her. Zhou Jianghao paused mid-step and turned back in confusion. “Something wrong?”
“Jianghao.” Liu Zhiyi carefully adjusted her address, making it more intimate. “When did you get married? I never saw you close to anyone before.”
“This is my private business.” Zhou Jianghao frowned.
“I know it’s private.” Seeing how blunt Zhou Jianghao was, Liu Zhiyi’s face burned with embarrassment, but she pressed on. “That’s why I’m not asking as a colleague, but as your senior sister… as a friend…”
But she had no friends.
Zhou Jianghao pursed her lips, ultimately swallowing the hurtful words. This senior sister had helped her out many times, so after a moment’s thought, she said, “We’ve known each other a long time. She’s like a sister I grew up with.”
Liu Zhiyi’s face drained of color in an instant.
Growing up together… that meant they knew each other inside and out.
All her words of persuasion caught in her throat. Even breathing grew difficult.
“The car’s waiting for me.” Zhou Jianghao had no patience to stand there awkwardly with Liu Zhiyi any longer. With that, she turned and strode away without hesitation.
The car that had come to pick her up was parked not far off. Not wanting to keep the driver waiting, Zhou Jianghao quickened her steps.
Suddenly, someone stepped out of the car.
It wasn’t Little Wang. It was Tan Qingya.
She was still wearing the trench coat Zhou Jianghao had bought her, her expression casually aloof. Simply standing there, she looked like a painting come to life.
Zhou Jianghao froze for a moment, surprised that Tan Qingya had come to pick her up from work herself. She couldn’t hide the joy bubbling up inside her. Pressing down her curving lips, she hurried over faster.
Her tone held a lightness she didn’t notice herself. “Why are you here?”
Tan Qingya’s eyes curved in a smile. She reached out to ruffle Zhou Jianghao’s hair, but her gaze drifted past her into the distance as she said meaningfully, “If I didn’t come, someone might run off with my little dog.”
“What nonsense.”
Zhou Jianghao flushed in embarrassment. Her courage had grown a bit; at least she dared to retort to Tan Qingya right to her face.
Tan Qingya chuckled, neither confirming nor denying it.
Little Wang was still driving. The two of them sat in the back seat. Unlike before, when they’d kept a clear divide like the Chu-Han boundary between them, now their shoulders brushed, drawing them noticeably closer.
But Zhou Jianghao’s shyness lingered. Last night’s intimate wife-wife bonding still left her ill at ease. She was fine in public, but in this enclosed space, tension gripped her hard. The moment she got in the car, she ducked her head, not daring to look at Tan Qingya.
Tan Qingya seemed unaffected. She simply took Zhou Jianghao’s hand, placed it on her lap, and kneaded it absentmindedly.
At last, her fingertip gently traced the ring on Zhou Jianghao’s ring finger. Abruptly, she asked, “Was that your colleague just now? You two seem close.”
“She’s a colleague.” Zhou Jianghao nodded. “Also my senior from the same department back then. Our relationship is just average.”
As she spoke, she glanced puzzledly at Tan Qingya, wondering why she thought she and Liu Zhiyi were that close.
“Mm.” A shadow flitted through Tan Qingya’s eyes. “That’s good. A senior from the same department to look out for you—you two must get along pretty harmoniously as colleagues.”
Zhou Jianghao frowned slightly, tempted to argue, but Liu Zhiyi had indeed taken good care of her, and they did get along well enough. So she nodded. “Mm.”
The next second, she felt Tan Qingya stop pinching her fingers.
Zhou Jianghao turned to look at her and saw her lips pursed in clear displeasure. For once, Zhou Jianghao’s mind turned quickly. “You don’t like her?”
She frowned to herself, already dismissing the idea. As far as she knew, Liu Zhiyi and Tan Qingya had never crossed paths.
“No.” Tan Qingya masked her feelings and curved her lips. “It’s fine.”
She wouldn’t meddle in Zhou Jianghao’s friendships—that was her freedom. But that woman’s glance earlier had been intriguing.
It carried hostility and resentful bitterness.
Tan Qingya was all too familiar with looks like that. From childhood on, she’d been adored everywhere she went, but it always drew envious stares—people glaring with that same bitter resentment, as if she’d stolen their prized possession.
With that in mind, she turned her head and casually rested her hand on Zhou Jianghao’s head, stroking it gently.
After knowing Zhou Jianghao for so many years without winning her over, who was that expression supposed to disgust now?
The impotent rage of a loser?
A soft snort escaped her.
Her gaze drifted to the hair beneath her hand and suddenly caught on Zhou Jianghao’s hair tie. She couldn’t help laughing. “So cute.”
She reached out to touch it.
It was a carrot-orange hair tie with a tiny plush bunny attached—completely at odds with Zhou Jianghao’s cool demeanor. The contrast was striking, irresistibly adorable.
Unable to resist, she leaned down to kiss her.
“Ah—” With Little Wang still in the car, Zhou Jianghao dodged the kiss. Then she suddenly added, “Doctor Liu gave it to me.”
Tan Qingya froze.
She straightened slightly. “Mm?”
“My hair tie broke, and Doctor Liu had an extra one, so she gave me this.”
“Who’s Doctor Liu?”
Tan Qingya clung to a sliver of hope.
“That colleague just now.”
Tan Qingya fell silent. She stared at the obnoxiously toothy, grinning bunny, suddenly finding it far less appealing—downright childish.
She was only concerned that Zhou Jianghao liked this style. If she suddenly called it ugly, she might hurt the girl’s feelings. So she feigned nonchalance. “Do you like hair ties like this?”
Zhou Jianghao hesitated.
She didn’t care for the cutesy style herself, but Tan Qingya had seemed to like it moments ago, even calling it cute.
After mulling it over, she nodded. “Mm.”
To her surprise, Tan Qingya went quiet, her expression turning oddly strained. Just as Zhou Jianghao opened her mouth to ask, Tan Qingya called up to Little Wang. “Pull over at that accessory shop ahead.”
“What’s wrong?”
“I just remembered—I’ve lost my hair tie too.” Tan Qingya smiled and pinched Zhou Jianghao’s cheek. “Come shopping with me?”
“Sure.”
Zhou Jianghao nodded, then glanced hesitantly at Tan Qingya’s hair. She’d never seen her with it tied up before.
She wondered what she’d look like that way.
Anticipation stirred in her, making her extra diligent as she browsed the hair ties. The dainty, feminine styles on the rack all looked lovely; she felt dazzled.
Movement stirred at her side.
She turned her head. “Do you like…”
Her words trailed off as she saw the hair tie in Tan Qingya’s hand. Her gaze shifted subtly upward to Tan Qingya’s face. “…any?”
It was a cutesy hair tie much like the one on her own head—the kind she’d instinctively dismissed when they entered the shop.
After all, it didn’t suit Tan Qingya’s style at all.
But now, she realized she might not know Tan Qingya at all.
Zhou Jianghao stayed stunned too long for Tan Qingya to ignore. She drew a subtle breath and forced composure. “What about this one?”
“…You like this kind?”
Zhou Jianghao couldn’t help confirming again.
The hair tie in Tan Qingya’s hand was fluffy yellow, similar to hers, but adorned with a plump tiger head.
Zhou Jianghao could scarcely picture something so cute on Tan Qingya.
In her mind, Tan Qingya had always favored mature, even sensual styles.
She’d never imagined that someone with such a commanding big-sister aura harbored a girlish heart…
“Is it that weird?” Tan Qingya arched a brow. Meeting Zhou Jianghao’s wide-eyed stare, her gaze flickered. She sighed softly. “I knew you’d react like this.”
Sometimes, when she wanted to tease Little Beauty, she’d play pitiful. It worked well, always leaving Silly Dog flustered and spinning.
So she launched right in. “I was raised as the heir from childhood. Old Madam had such high expectations. I never dared ask for girly little things—had to pretend to be all grown up and mature…”
Suddenly, Zhou Jianghao seized her hand.
Tan Qingya glanced down to see the girl’s eyes shining, her face set with resolve. “It’s fine. I’ll buy it for you.”
Her palm burned hot against Tan Qingya’s skin, and the light in her eyes burned even hotter. Tan Qingya rarely froze like this, but in those few lost seconds, Zhou Jianghao had already swept up the entire tray of hair ties from in front of her.
“Any more you like?” Zhou Jianghao looked up.
She had the air of someone who would buy out the whole store if Tan Qingya so much as nodded.
Tan Qingya inexplicably swallowed the explanation rising in her throat. A smile bloomed across her face. “The ones I like are already in your hands.”
And so, the next day, Tan Qingya paid the price for those words.
It was the weekend, and Zhou Jianghao had the rare luxury of a proper day off.
Just before seven in the morning, Tan Qingya sensed movement at her side. She cracked her eyes open in a haze and reached out, hooking an arm around Zhou Jianghao’s waist. She tugged the other woman—who had been about to sit up and get dressed—right back into the warmth of the bed.
“Weekend, and you’re up this early?”
Tan Qingya pressed close, stretching her limbs in contentment as she wrapped the other woman securely in her embrace.
They said that once you got a taste for meat, the craving never really went away—and how true that was. They’d spent the past two nights in deep, intimate exchanges, yet here she was, holding Zhou Jianghao close, and already her thoughts were wandering down that path again.
She brushed her lips against Zhou Jianghao’s shoulder while her other hand deftly teased the soft, rounded curve. With a laugh, she murmured, “Little Doctor Zhou, you’re so diligent.”
“Auntie Chen’s coming soon.” Zhou Jianghao’s breathing hitched, though she hadn’t forgotten that the housekeeper would arrive any minute to tidy the apartment.
Tan Qingya grinned like a tempter luring an innocent child astray. “We’ll be gentle.”
