Chapter 4: When Will We Get Married? Part 4
“Oh,” Ning Qingqing was stunned for a moment, then quickly reacted, “Then if you really like this tiramisu, how about we split it in half?”
The rectangular box was actually quite large; Ning Qingqing couldn’t finish it by herself. Because it didn’t contain gelatin, the shape was irregular, and it wasn’t easy to repackage.
But after asking, she regretted it. Although she knew who he was, Gu Youchen probably didn’t recognize her, and maybe he didn’t even remember bumping into her in the hallway that day.
Before Ning Qingqing could take back her suggestion, she heard the man say, “Okay.” The ending note slightly rose, as if he was pleased.
Well, he must really like the tiramisu from this shop…
“Will the two of you eat here?” the clerk asked. “Should I divide it into two boxes for you?”
Ning Qingqing was annoyed with her suggestion, but it was done. She could only sigh in her heart, but her face remained calm, “Okay, thank you.”
The clerk had already divided the tiramisu in half, placing it on two plates, and handed them to each of them.
Few people ate in this shop; most customers bought and left. Therefore, there were only two small tables.
Ning Qingqing held her plate, hesitating slightly. She hadn’t paid Gu Youchen yet, and if they sat at the same table to talk about transferring money, it might feel too close and a little awkward.
But the man had already sat down at one of the small round tables. He wiped the seat opposite him with a napkin and nodded at Ning Qingqing.
“Oh, thank you,” Ning Qingqing could only sit down, then took out her phone, “You paid just now, I’ll transfer you my half.”
Gu Youchen seemed to hesitate for a moment. Just as Ning Qingqing was about to explain that they could use a payment app so she wouldn’t need to add him as a friend, avoiding any privacy issues, the man had already opened his WeChat QR code and handed it to her.
Gu Youchen’s WeChat profile picture was an abstract geometric shape. Ning Qingqing thought she must be crazy; even this shape looked like a tiramisu to her.
She opened her “Scan” function, clicked “Add Friend.” In front of him, she didn’t dare choose the option to “hide her profile,” so she clicked send.
Gu Youchen accepted immediately, and Ning Qingqing transferred half the price to him.
Gu Youchen put away his phone and began to eat.
His business attire made him seem out of place in this casual cake shop, but watching him scoop up the cream with a spoon had a strange appeal.
Ning Qingqing realized she had been staring at him for several seconds, quickly looked away, and silently ate hers.
Just then, her phone rang—it was Shen Zhiqian.
“Qingqing, are you done with the call? I didn’t see you.” Shen Zhiqian’s side was quiet, he must be in the hallway outside.
“I was suddenly hungry, so I got some cake from across the street, I’ll be back soon,” Ning Qingqing said, glancing at Gu Youchen sitting opposite her.
She was suddenly curious, in Gu Youchen’s eyes, was Shen Zhiqian his nemesis? Was there any real conflict between them?
“Don’t move, I’ll come get you,” Shen Zhiqian’s voice brought Ning Qingqing’s thoughts back.
Hearing this, she quickly stopped him, “It’s okay, I’ll be done soon, it’s just a few steps, I can go back myself.”
Jokingly, Shen Zhiqian reacted so strongly when he heard Gu Youchen’s name on the car radio that day, if they met, who knows what would happen!
“Okay,” Shen Zhiqian didn’t insist, but said, “Be careful, I’ll wait for you at the club.”
“Mm.” Hanging up the phone, Ning Qingqing subconsciously glanced at Gu Youchen across from her; the man looked up at the same time.
Their eyes met, she gave an awkward smile, and continued to eat the cake, with no further communication between them.
Until she finished eating, stood up, thanked Gu Youchen, and quickly walked towards the club.
Back at the club, Ning Qingqing went to the restroom first.
After washing her hands, she heard the door of the adjacent cubicle open, and then Si Luoqing’s carefully made-up face appeared in the mirror.
“What a coincidence,” Si Luoqing smiled at her, “Zhiqian said you guys just got back from a business trip and came straight here without going home.”
Ning Qingqing looked up, meeting Si Luoqing’s gaze in the mirror, “Mm, so I didn’t put on makeup, my apologies.”
Si Luoqing looked at Ning Qingqing’s flawless face without makeup, her smile stiffening slightly, “You guys must be busy, his sister’s 18th birthday party is tomorrow, you have to get up early, right!”
Shen Zhiqian’s sister’s coming-of-age ceremony? Ning Qingqing didn’t know about it at all.
A sigh escaped her lips, and Ning Qingqing instinctively thought of a sentence:
If someone really can use the people around you to attack you, it’s because the people around you have given them the opportunity to hurt you.
Pulling out a tissue, Ning Qingqing carefully wiped her hands, threw the tissue into the trash can, and said frankly, “I didn’t know his sister’s birthday tomorrow, they didn’t invite me.”
Then, she left directly.
Si Luoqing watched her leave, finding herself without a trace of satisfaction.
Back in the private room, Ning Qingqing chatted with Teacher Xu for a while. She was again asked about her personal relationship, how she got along with Shen Zhiqian, and when they planned to settle down.
Ning Qingqing suddenly realized that in this year when she was about to turn 25, she was asked more and more frequently when she would get married. And without exception, she couldn’t answer.
Because Shen Zhiqian had never mentioned it, even though she felt she had hinted at it, he hadn’t planned anything. Even saying they’d get married at 30 would have been something, but he…
Ning Qingqing was listless for the rest of the gathering, and almost fell asleep leaning on the sofa later. Shen Zhiqian had only come because he thought Ning Qingqing had agreed to attend, and took her away.
“I’m going back to my own apartment,” Ning Qingqing said, “Xiaomian is coming back tomorrow, we have a shopping date.”
“Okay,” Shen Zhiqian nodded, “I have something to do tomorrow too.”
Just “something to do”… Ning Qingqing didn’t call him out on it. As she got into the car, she suddenly realized that she and Shen Zhiqian had been together for nearly nine years, and the number of times he mentioned his family could be counted on one hand.
For the first time, Ning Qingqing seriously examined their future, and a thought began to sprout in her heart…
The next day, she woke up naturally and went to the shopping street where she had made a date with Qiao Xiaomian.
They had hotpot together, saw a movie, and went shopping at a clothing brand Qiao Xiaomian liked.
Just then, a female voice entered her ears, with an inexplicable arrogance, “I don’t know what’s wrong with my brother, that woman clearly wants to marry into a wealthy family, yet he’s been dating her for so many years without breaking up!”
The voice came from the fitting room next to them; there were obviously two people inside.
The arrogant female voice continued, “My brother was dating her out of spite! He was in a bad mood because you went abroad, so he just found someone! Haha, nine years have passed, and he can still put up with it!”
Hearing the word “nine years,” Ning Qingqing subconsciously frowned.
At that moment, a familiar voice sounded, “Zhiyu, don’t say that, I think your brother really likes her, it must be true love.”
“True love? It’s just a way to pass the time!” The female voice sneered, “Cinderellas all want to marry into wealthy families, but they don’t look at reality, it’s not a fairy tale! Otherwise, why hasn’t my brother ever taken her to meet his family after all this time? It’s because he’s not planning to marry her!”
At this point, the female voice suddenly changed her tone, giggling, “Sister Qing, I still like you! Many of our classmates are your fans, and I want you to be my sister-in-law!”
At this point, if Ning Qingqing still didn’t know who was in there, she would be a fool. She took Qiao Xiaomian’s arm, who was choosing clothes, “Xiaomian, let’s go to another store.”
“Ah?” Qiao Xiaomian hadn’t heard the conversation and was a little confused. She held two dresses, one S, one M, handing the M to Ning Qingqing, “Baby, I think this dress is perfect for you, let’s try it on, we’ll be twins later!”
Ning Qingqing looked at Qiao Xiaomian, who was 7 or 8 centimeters shorter than her, and asked, “Twins?”
“Hey, hey, hey, don’t look down on people like that!” Qiao Xiaomian laughed, pulling Ning Qingqing’s hand to try on the dresses.
Just then, the door to the fitting room, which had been closed, was pushed open.
Shen Zhiyu came out wearing the same red waist dress. She looked at herself in the mirror, “It seems a little big? I need to change to an M.” She usually wore M or L, this dress was a standard size, maybe M would fit too.
“Excuse me, I’d like an M,” Shen Zhiyu said. She was always arrogant and wouldn’t look at other customers.
But Si Luoqing saw Ning Qingqing, wearing a mask and sunglasses, fully armed, making her expression unclear.
“I’m sorry, we only have one size of each dress, the M is with this lady…” the clerk said hesitantly.
Following the clerk’s words, Shen Zhiyu finally looked at Ning Qingqing. Seeing her, her eyes flashed with mockery.
Walking directly towards Ning Qingqing, she said arrogantly, “This dress costs 12,000, which is more than a contract specialist’s normal monthly salary, right? So if you want to buy it, will you use my brother’s card?”
Her voice wasn’t deliberately lowered, and since they were all beautiful women, everyone around looked over. Immediately, people’s expressions turned complex.
Qiao Xiaomian had a fiery temper, and immediately guessed the other person’s identity, about to step forward. But Ning Qingqing stopped her.
“Please wait a moment, Miss.” Then, she went into the fitting room.
Shen Zhiyu didn’t know what she meant until Ning Qingqing came out of the fitting room.
Suddenly, everyone’s eyes lit up.
The woman in front of them was like a plain ink painting suddenly splashed with color, elegant and bright. She had no makeup, but her skin was fair and her hair was black, making Shen Zhiyu, wearing the same dress, look like a poor comparison.
“If you like this dress, then I’ll give it to you. Didn’t you say it would save your brother money?” Ning Qingqing said calmly. “I hope you enjoy wearing it.”
Author’s Note:
Babes, to force myself to focus on writing, I’ve changed to posting at 0 AM every day. It will always be this time from now on. Don’t stay up late, read it after you wake up the next day, muah~
Ning Qingqing: Calling me Cinderella? Haha~~
The heroine has an independent career. Let’s see how we slap the faces of those scumbags who look down on us later!
Gu Youchen, who loves desserts: Qingqing, please take me in, just give me tiramisu~
Thank you for the nutrient solution irrigated by the little angel: Fuling 1 bottle;
Thank you very much for everyone’s support, I will continue to work hard! Thank you to the little angels who cast their overlord votes or irrigated nutrient solution for me between 2022-05-18 12:59:412022-05-18 23:15:28 oh
Thank you for the nutrient solution irrigated by the little angel: Fuling 1 bottle;
Thank you very much for everyone’s support, I will continue to work hard!