A beautiful summer night

Xia Wanzhi had packed too much luggage to move in a short time.

Packing took the entire afternoon, and it was getting dark soon, so Xia Wanzhi didn't want to come back a second time.

"Sis, why don't you move in with me first?" Zhu Zi was worried about letting her live alone in the studio.

Xia Wanzhi got goosebumps the moment she heard that: "If you get rid of that cage of rats, I'll consider moving in with you."

"That's not a mouse, that's a hamster, a hamster!" Bamboo puffed out his cheeks in frustration.

"No, I'm scared." Xia Wanzhi had no backbone.

"You say you're fearless, so why are you afraid of my hamsters? They're so cute!" Bamboo's head was full of incomprehension.

Xia Wanzhi smiled and said, "I'm also afraid of ghosts."

bamboo:"……"

Later that night, Yunli closed the flower shop and went to the studio to help tidy up the storage room. The three of them worked together until almost ten o'clock. After finishing their work, Yunli stood in front of the floor-to-ceiling window and looked down at the night view outside. She couldn't help but exclaim, "No wonder it's the top floor of Xingyao Building. The night view from the top floor of Beicheng Hotel is probably not even half as good as yours."

No wonder Xia Wanzhi was unwilling to move out.

The location of Xingyao Building is truly excellent.

Xia Wanzhi was so tired she couldn't straighten up. She took the tea that Zhu Zi handed her and drank it all in one go.

Having finally found some free time, Xia Wanzhi lay down on the sofa to reply to the message Xie Tan had sent two hours earlier.

Xie Tan: [Sister Wanzi, aren't you coming back to stay tonight?]

Xia Wanzhi replied casually: 【I'll be staying at the studio tonight.】

After replying to the message, I also attached a picture of a storage room that had been converted into a temporary bedroom.

After seeing this, Xie Tan sent a crying emoji: 【I feel so sorry for you.】

Xia Wanzhi: [Don't cry, pat pat.jpg]

Xie Tan spouted nonsense: "My brother said you're too embarrassed to freeload off the Xie family, so if you marry into my family and become my sister-in-law, then you won't be freeloading anymore, right?"

Children speak without restraint, and Xia Wanzhi laughed so hard she covered her face, her shoulders shaking.

Yunli winked at Zhuzi: "Do you think she's dating someone now?"

Bamboo was shocked for a moment: "Does it look like it?"

"Doesn't it seem like it? Haven't you ever seen her all pink bubbles before?" Yunli crossed her legs and guided Zhu Zi, "Believe me, this is a sign that her second spring is coming."

Bamboo nodded emphatically: "I believe you. She's never smiled at her phone before."

Yun Li gave a dry laugh: "..."

"Is there something wrong?" Bamboo asked back.

Yunli sighed softly: "A person with a fiancé has never smiled at their phone. What's wrong with that? Have you ever seen a couple who don't flirt?"

Zhu blinked and honestly confessed, "Her chat history with the young master of the Zhou family is more serious than her chat history with clients."

Yunli: "..."

Well, now she understands why Xia Wanzhi and Zhou Yu have ended up like this.

There's a lack of spark between them; they clearly don't click.

Why did you get engaged in the first place?

Yunli became increasingly convinced that the Xia family's bankruptcy was because Zhou Yu and Xia Wanzhi were incompatible.

After laughing, Xia Wanzhi replied to Xie Tan's message, picking up where she left off: 【Which sister-in-law are you?】

Xie Tan replied instantly: 【To my older brother.】

Xia Wanzhi: [Go tell your older brother, believe me or not, he'll twist your head off!]

Xie Tan chickened out and didn't reply to the message.

"This is unprecedented! What were you talking about that made you laugh like that?" Yunli walked over and sat down next to her.

Xia Wanzhi flipped her phone over and held it to her chest, then sighed for no apparent reason: "Xie Tan wants me to live at the Xie family's house."

Yun Li casually replied, "Living with Xie Qiyan?"

Xia Wanzhi reflexively scolded, "Why do you keep mentioning Xie Qiyan?"

Xie Qiyan has been appearing far too frequently lately.

Xia Wanzhi, reflecting on everything that had happened during this period, suddenly realized—

The first time I got drunk was when Xie Qiyan took me home.

It was the first time in my life that I was homeless, and it was Xie Qiyan who took me home.

And counting back to the past, the first time I was rejected in my life was also by Xie Qiyan.

The first argument I ever had was with Xie Qiyan.

Why is Xie Qiyan everywhere?

-

The next day, a downpour began as soon as it was light in the north of the city, pattering against the windows and waking people up more than the alarm clock Xia Wanzhi had set.

There have been times in the past when I would stay in the studio all night to paint, but now it's out of necessity.

The rain was getting quite heavy, so the trip to the Zhou family to move the luggage had to be postponed. Xia Wanzhi no longer had a private driver and relied on taxis to get around.

Old Xia and Ms. Ross used to always say—

"With your parents around, all you need to do is be beautiful."

So she can't drive, can't cook, all she knows is how to be beautiful.

There wasn't much food in the studio, so Xia Wanzhi looked around and found a small packet of instant coffee, about the size of a thumb, on the table to make do with.

These are all things that Zhu Zi usually drinks to refresh himself.

But Xia Wanzhi doesn't like coffee.

But apart from coffee, there was nothing else to fill her stomach. She had low blood sugar and had to take care of her stomach when she woke up in the morning.

A rainstorm postponed all plans. The Lu family's wife also sent a message canceling today's meeting because of the rain, saying that she would find another time to come to their home to draw pictures for their two children.

According to the rules, when a client commissions a painting, they only need to pay half of the deposit. However, after agreeing on a painting time with Mrs. Lu last night, she paid the full amount in one go.

Whether it was out of trust or for some other reason, Xia Wanzhi was quite grateful to the other party.

This money is enough for her to settle herself down.

Some of the luggage is still at the Zhou family's house. To facilitate future contact, Xia Wanzhi agreed last night to remove Zhou Yu from her blacklist.

Half of the WeChat messages she received today were from Zhou Yu, sent around 3 or 4 a.m. Xia Wanzhi could roughly guess that he was probably quite drunk at the time.

Xia Wanzhi doesn't like drinking alcohol.

I especially dislike men who get drunk and act out.

Ever since she learned that she had a low alcohol tolerance and had once embarrassed herself in front of others while drunk, she silently vowed to never touch that stuff again.

Looking back now, I still feel very annoyed.

It wouldn't be good if anyone saw me drunk and out of control, but of all people, it was Xie Qiyan who saw me.

He even threw a tantrum and acted out with someone.

From then on, she was also a woman with a dark past.

Xia Wanzhi didn't reply to Zhou Yu's message. After washing up, she pushed open the glass door, entered the studio, and pressed the automatic curtain button.

Through a floor-to-ceiling window, she gazed into the distance, where the sky was overcast and rain mingled, like a net covering the entire city.

She was trapped under the rain.

She was guessing which bed Zhou Yu would wake up in after getting drunk.

Meanwhile, in a luxurious suite at the Jiang'an Club, a woman with disheveled makeup woke up on a messy bed, where she was being held tightly and unable to move.

The man was still fast asleep, his lips moved slightly, as if he were muttering in his sleep.

"Zhizhi, I'm sorry, don't go..."

"I was wrong, please forgive me just this once, just this once..."