Obviously, the last time the two met was only two months ago, but then he was just a young man just beginning to show his edge. Now, his demeanor had become much deeper and more composed, completely transforming from the Zhou Wang she remembered.
After they stared steadily at each other for a few seconds, it was Zhou Wang who first broke the strange silence with a laugh:
"Why didn’t you wake me up, just sitting there waiting?"
"I’ve been pretty busy lately. Besides school, I also went to intern at a law firm in Beidou, and then I have to go to the newspaper office, the TV station, the youth league committee... In short, I’ll be very busy for the next year, so sitting in your luxury suite reading a book, taking a rare quiet moment, is quite nice for me."
Ding Yi came back to her senses and replied with a smile.
"Why do you need to go to so many places?"
Zhou Wang was surprised, and inexplicably a bit sentimental.
In the past, he wouldn’t have not known that Ding Yi had started her internship, but now he only heard about her recent situation when they met again.
Many things had inevitably changed.
"Because my parents’ opinions and my choices conflicted, this is a compromise. I have to try everything to convince them, you know..."
Ding Yi laughed and then glanced at Zhou Wang’s solid chest faintly revealed through his robe. She pursed her lips and said, "Do you plan to keep talking to me dressed like that? I’m not one of your assistants, after all, you should be a bit more considerate, right?"
Zhou Wang could only respond with an awkward smile. Of course, it wasn’t because of his "undressed state," but he wondered if Yun Rou and Yun Lan weren’t "undressed" when Ding Yi arrived...
"Give me a second."
Zhou Wang cleared his throat and said before going to the closet to change his clothes.
When he came out, Ding Yi was wandering around the room with her hands behind her back, commenting, "These later-built courtyard houses still lack a bit of the feeling. I’ll take you to my grandma’s house tomorrow, and you’ll see the difference..."
"Sure."
Zhou Wang replied with a smile, "Will your parents be there?"
"They’re working in another province. My dad will only be transferred back at the beginning of the year... Are you afraid to meet them?"
As Ding Yi spoke, she glanced at Zhou Wang.
"Of course not, I was just thinking of preparing some host gifts..."
Zhou Wang chuckled, not caring if this was enough to deceive Ding Yi.
Ding Yi didn’t press on either and changed the topic with a smile, "Dinner at Quan Ju De?"
"I heard it doesn’t quite suit our Southern palate, but since we’ve come to Beidou, we must try it..."
Zhou Wang nodded in response. He was about to ask about Jiang Mo, but at that moment, his phone suddenly vibrated.
Coincidentally, Ding Yi’s phone rang at the same time.
They shared an amused look before Ding Yi walked out, and Zhou Wang stayed in the room to answer the call.
"Hello, Sister Ran, what’s up?"
The call was from Lin Ran, and Zhou Wang assumed she was rushing him about the next short video shoot, so he asked casually.
"Mr. Zhou, I wanted to confirm with you, are you in that kind of relationship with Xia Xiwei?"
Lin Ran probably didn’t know how to ask appropriately and hesitated slightly before asking directly.
"What do you mean?"
Zhou Wang frowned slightly. Lin Ran asking so abruptly, given her position, inevitably made Zhou Wang a bit displeased.
"Mr. Zhou, please don’t misunderstand... Well, maybe check the online trending topics. Five minutes ago, Xia Xiwei updated her Weibo with a post, though she quickly deleted it, someone took a screenshot. The content is related to you."
Sensing Zhou Wang’s impatience, Lin Ran quickly explained.
...
Meanwhile, in the hallway outside, as the content of the call was overheard, Ding Yi’s barely formed smile suddenly froze.
"What did you say she did, could you repeat that?"
After listening to the person on the phone repeat it, Ding Yi’s expression turned calm.
"I understand, thank you."
Ding Yi hung up and didn’t put the phone down. Instead, she searched through the contacts and dialed another number.
When the call connected, Ding Yi had already returned to her smiling demeanor:
"Hello, Aunt Lin, it’s me, Yi Yi. I wanted to ask you if Brother Yu is still working at the headquarters of the broadcast media... Oh, he’s been promoted again, so I’ll take this opportunity to congratulate him, um, could you please give me his number? ... Thank you, Aunt Lin, I’ll visit you over the weekend."