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墨書 Inktalez
Xiao Cao was a bit flustered, sneezing several times in quick succession as he spoke.
It was no wonder after spending the night outside in such cool weather.
"You've worked hard; you should go rest now."
Zhou Xuanyu patted Xiao Cao on the shoulder. Xiao Cao seemed to want to say something but hesitated several times before finally nodding.
"Is there any reason to sit here and wait?" Zhou Xuanyu walked over to Zhou Ziyan.
Zhou Ziyan remained silent.
He opened the door and turned around, finding Zhou Ziyan still seated.
"I'll give you a spare key next time, or you can just enter 0315 directly."
"Why 0315?" Zhou Ziyan suddenly jumped up, like a wounded beast that had just been stepped on, furious and agitated.
"Why can't it be 0315?" Zhou Xuanyu calmly countered.
Zhou Ziyan was speechless. Indeed, why couldn't it be 0315?
Seeing that Zhou Ziyan couldn't respond, Zhou Xuanyu turned and went inside. His expression was calm, but he had already guessed the reason behind Zhou Ziyan's unusual behavior.
Zhou Ziyan followed him in.
"Uncle! Where have you been all night?"
"Why are you concerned about me?"
Zhou Xuanyu poured himself a glass of water and filled another for Zhou Ziyan, pushing it across the table.
Having not slept all night, Zhou Ziyan's eyes were bloodshot, and up close, he looked somewhat fierce.
"Answer me!" Zhou Ziyan insisted, stubbornly pushing the cup away, causing the atmosphere to drop to freezing point.
"Smack!"
Zhou Xuanyu slammed the cup down on the table, water splashing from the rim and wetting both their sleeves.
"Zhou Ziyan, what's wrong with you?"
Zhou Xuanyu raised his voice.
"Uncle..."
Zhou Ziyan paused. His uncle had always been gentle and refined; he had never spoken to him in such a loud tone before.
"If you have something to ask, just say it."
Aside from his bad temper, Zhou Xuanyu's patience was also wearing thin today.
Zhou Ziyan lowered his head, his earlier bravado dissipating completely.
"Yesterday at the bar, I saw you with Junxi." His voice was heavy.
Zhou Xuanyu rubbed his temples; even though he had guessed it, hearing Zhou Ziyan say it so weakly still made his heart ache.
"I saw it all." Zhou Ziyan scoffed.
When Zhou Xuanyu met his gaze, Zhou Ziyan looked at him as if he were a stranger.
"Zhou Ziyan. I..."
"Do you love her?" Zhou Ziyan interrupted Zhou Xuanyu directly.
Zhou Xuanyu took a light breath, his thoughts tangled in confusion. This question had been asked of him before, in a tone filled with despair. But he had never dared to ask himself.
Before he could respond, he heard Zhou Ziyan coldly continue, "You have no right to love her."
Zhou Xuanyu smiled bitterly; just that one sentence from Zhou Ziyan struck at his core and cut off all his self-justifications.
"Where were you five years ago when she needed someone by her side the most? Where were you every time she was ridiculed and trapped over these five years?"
"Stop talking!"
"No! I have to say this! No one else has the right to say these words but me, because for the past five years, I have been by Wen Junxi's side without fail!"
"You love her?" Zhou Xuanyu asked softly.
Although he already knew the answer to that question.
"Yes! I love her!"
Zhou Ziyan admitted with great confidence.
Throughout his life, he had been asked similar questions countless times, but never before had he answered so decisively as he did now.
Zhou Ziyan's momentum made Zhou Xuanyu feel as though he had already lost the battle before it even began.
"Uncle, I may not be as impressive as you in many things, but when it comes to loving her, I have no regrets! And you, since you love someone else in your heart, please keep your distance from her!"
Junxi rolled over in her blanket, hitting her forehead on the floor, which jolted her awake in pain.
The room was dimly lit, with the curtains tightly drawn.
Her head throbbed painfully, feeling like it might explode. All she remembered was getting drunk with Xue Waiwai at Heya the night before; everything else was a blur, and she couldn't recall anything.
As she rubbed her head, Xue Waiwai's call came through, ringing loudly and echoing throughout the room. She crawled over and managed to grab her phone to answer.
"Junxi, are you okay? Does your head hurt?" Xue Waiwai's booming voice came through, sounding a hundred times more energetic than she felt.
"It hurts," Junxi replied, her voice sounding foreign to her own ears.
"Of course it hurts! Have you forgotten how drunk you were yesterday?"
"Did you take me home?"
"Ah? You've forgotten? It was Uncle Zhou who brought you home," Xue Waiwai said, suddenly anxious as she added, "You're at home now, right?"
Junxi glanced around the empty room. Whose home could it be if not hers?
"Of course. Where else would I go?"
"You could have been taken home by Uncle Zhou. But from what I see, Uncle Zhou is quite upright and wouldn't do anything bad to you. Still, considering how you were yesterday, I wonder if you retaliated."
"What nonsense are you talking about? How could I?" Junxi looked down at herself; she was dressed perfectly well, showing no signs of having engaged in any intense activities the night before.
"Whether it's possible or not, we should ask Uncle Zhou..."
"Enough! Stop talking nonsense; I need to get up and go to work!" Junxi snapped, hastily hanging up on Xue Waiwai. Although she wasn't sure what she was embarrassed about, listening to Xue Waiwai made her feel as if she had indeed done something wrong to Zhou Xuanyu last night.
Forced intimacy? Oh my god, surely not...
When Junxi arrived at the office, it was just time to clock in. Her colleagues smiled at her and greeted her as if the scene from the conference room yesterday had never happened.
Yet she remained cautious, afraid of triggering the rumor mill again.
"Junxi, have you had breakfast?" Xiaolin shouted from the windowsill.
That was probably the biggest commotion of the morning, and Junxi felt all eyes naturally turning toward her.
"Not yet," she shook her head.
"Here, have a bun, and keep going!"
As soon as Xiaolin finished speaking, Junxi saw a white arc flying towards her, and she caught it steadily.
"Thank you."
"Don't mention it! We're all familiar with each other by now, no need to be polite!" Xiaolin winked and walked over, gently patting her shoulder. "We've seen what kind of person you are over these past few months; the petty gossip doesn't reach our ears. Don't worry."
"Xiaolin..." Junxi felt a lump in her throat, overwhelmed with emotions, but in the end, she couldn't find the words to say.
Xiaolin gave her an understanding look, and Junxi smiled.
Just as everyone was preparing to focus on their work, a few people stepped out of the elevator. The hallway suddenly became lively.
"Who are they?" someone whispered.
"I don't know; they look familiar. Are they new colleagues?"
"Isn't that the Young Master?"
"…"
The fragmented voices around her made Junxi instinctively turn her head at the mention of "Young Master."
"Come on, let me introduce a new colleague to everyone."
Galen was walking towards them, and right behind him was Zhou Ziyan.
Junxi had never seen Zhou Ziyan dressed in a suit before, and for a moment, he was taken aback. This guy really looked the part when he cleaned himself up.
"Hello everyone, I'm Zhou Ziyan. I'm new here, so please take care of me," Zhou Ziyan said clearly, accompanied by a standard smile that made him seem quite unfamiliar.
"Take care of you? With your last name being Zhou, we should definitely take extra care of you!" a colleague joked, causing everyone to burst into laughter.
Junxi winked at him, but Zhou Ziyan pretended not to see and seriously followed Galen to the temporary seat assigned to him.
As soon as Galen left, Xiaolin and her lively group of girls gathered around Zhou Ziyan's table. Junxi watched from a distance, unable to join in on the conversation.
Finally, when Zhou Ziyan had a moment to himself, Junxi immediately signaled for him to step out into the hallway.
This time, Zhou Ziyan didn’t pretend not to notice.
His leg wasn’t fully healed yet, and he walked with a slight limp, resembling a waddling penguin.
"What are you doing? Sneaking around like this!" Zhou Ziyan said with a mischievous grin.
"Why are you here?"
"Why shouldn't I be here?" he retorted.
Junxi thought about it; after all, he was the heir of Hengfu Group. The entire company belonged to his family—why wouldn’t he be here?
"I meant, why did you come to work here?"
"After becoming half a cripple, since I can't race anymore, I obviously need to find another way to make a living. Otherwise, how am I supposed to support myself?" He mocked himself, his tone rising, making it impossible to discern any sadness or joy.
"Oh! Is this still Zhou Ziyan?" Junxi said with a sidelong glance, putting on an expression of newfound respect.
Zhou Ziyan raised an eyebrow. "Aren't you always telling me not to get stuck in a rut? Well, I'm actually listening to you now."
"Such a good boy!" Junxi praised casually.
Suddenly, Zhou Ziyan leaned closer, his tone suggestive as he said, "Do you believe that I can be even better in the future?"
Junxi really couldn't stand his demeanor. She rolled her eyes and was just about to push Zhou Ziyan's head back when the elevator arrived.
Both she and Zhou Ziyan turned back at the same time.
The elevator doors opened, and Zhou Xuanyu and Jia Man stepped out.
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