Spring Night Kiss.

Song Qingjia walked into Shen Lingyi's office. The office was not large, but it was clean and tidy.

Several pages of line drawings lay scattered on the table. She walked closer, bent down, and glanced at them. It was a set of bracelet design sketches, with a line of small print in the lower right corner: "To Qingjia, my darling."

She smiled slightly, carefully put them away, and returned them to their original place.

There was a small jasmine plant on the corner of the table, its leaves a little wilted and the edges slightly curled. She looked around, found a watering can by the windowsill, and watered it.

After wandering around the office for a while, she finally sat down on the sofa and started playing a match-3 game out of boredom.

I don't know how much time passed, but the office door was suddenly pushed open.

Nie Yuhuai stood at the door, then paused.

Zheng Zhiyi wasn't in the room, but there was someone he wanted to see but dared not. She was leaning against the sofa, breathing lightly, fast asleep.

As if possessed, he gently closed the door.

He walked over to the sofa and stared at her for a while. He took off his coat and bent down to cover her with it.

As soon as the lid was closed, Song Qingjia opened her eyes.

Their eyes met, and the air seemed to freeze.

Nie Yuhuai straightened up, his expression unchanged: "Awake?"

Song Qingjia looked away and sat up straight. Her coat slipped down a bit, but she caught it and handed it back to him.

What are you doing here?

Nie Yuhuai: "I thought I knew...they were here."

Song Qingjia rubbed her temples and said in a calm tone, "They're in the reception room. You've gone to the wrong place."

Nie Yuhuai naturally sensed the coldness in her tone. It seemed that ever since her mother married his father, she had become increasingly indifferent to him.

He paused for a moment: "My birthday is coming up soon, how are you planning to celebrate?"

"I'll just spend it with my boyfriend," Song Qingjia glanced at him sideways. "What else can I do?"

Nie Yuhuai didn't respond to that, but continued, "I thought you wouldn't be returning to Jingzhou, so I gave the gift to Aunt Cheng and asked her to give it to you."

Song Qingjia finally looked up at him, her brows furrowing even more: "Nie Yuhuai, I don't need your gift. You should spend more of your energy on Miss Zheng."

Nie Yuhuai: "It was just a birthday present."

Song Qingjia felt a headache coming on: "We're not really siblings after all. You should learn to avoid suspicion, instead of giving your future spouse any chance to misunderstand."

Nie Yuhuai paused for a moment, then suddenly said in a low voice, "What if I don't want to marry her?"

Some words were almost on the tip of his tongue, but reason held him back.

Song Qingjia stood up and said coldly, "You should say that to Miss Zheng."

She walked past him toward the door. Just as she opened it, the door to the reception room opposite also opened.

Zheng Zhiyi and Shen Lingyi walked out side by side.

Both of them paused in their steps.

Zheng Zhiyi looked at the woman in front of her, and behind her, at her fiancé.

Shen Lingyi was the first to react, and stepped forward to take Song Qingjia's arm: "Qingjia was waiting for me in the office just now, we made plans to have dinner together."

"Why is Mr. Nie in there too?" she asked Nie Yuhuai.

You scoundrel, don't even think about making Qingjia take the blame.

Nie Yuhuai: "I came to pick up Zhiyi. My assistant only said she was on the second floor, but didn't say which room she was in."

Shen Lingyi: "I see. Then it's definitely our fault for not doing our job properly. I will definitely retrain the staff."

Zheng Zhiyi remained silent, only looking at Nie Yuhuai.

Only then did she softly say, "Let's go then, we've talked about everything we needed to."

Nie Yuhuai: "Okay."

The two nodded goodbye to Shen Lingyi and Song Qingjia, and walked down the stairs together.

Once the two figures had disappeared, Shen Lingyi couldn't help but pat her chest: "Holy crap, what was that chaotic scene just now? It scared me to death."

Song Qingjia found it amusing: "What are you afraid of? Are you afraid that I'll actually develop some kind of illicit relationship with him?"

Shen Lingyi spat several times, "Pah, pah, pah! Don't damage your reputation like that." After a pause, she looked up, "How about I don't take this order? It's too awkward."

"Are you stupid to not make money when you can?" Song Qingjia couldn't help but reach out and touch her forehead.

Shen Lingyi slapped her hand away: "Fine, then we still have to make money."

-

Back at Xishan No. 1 Courtyard, Xu Zhouye was sitting on the sofa, looking down at his tablet.

Hearing the voice, he looked up and smiled at Song Qingjia: "Come here."

Song Qingjia walked over, threw her bag aside, and sat in his lap.

Xu Zhouye took the opportunity to pull her up, his palm sliding upwards until it landed on the edge of her chest.

"What's wrong? Why are you frowning so much?"

Song Qingjia: "This afternoon at Lingyi's studio, I ran into Nie Yuhuai and his fiancée again."

Xu Zhouye was pleased with the impatience in her words, but still chirped, "Like a persistent ghost."

Song Qingjia: "..."

Xu Zhouye chuckled: "And then?"

"They are ordering custom-made wedding rings," Song Qingjia said.

"That just reminded me. When we get married, we should order our wedding rings from Shen Lingyi too."

Song Qingjia: "..." He's really dreaming.

Oh well, let it be.

She continued, "Nie Yuhuai doesn't like Zheng Zhiyi at all—"

"I know he likes you," Xu Zhouye replied.

Song Qingjia: "...?"

Xu Zhouye pinched her cheek: "Everyone can see it, including that Miss Zheng."

Song Qingjia remained silent for a moment.

"So, even knowing the other person doesn't love them, they still get married? For them, marriage is just a mutually beneficial partnership?"

"For many people, yes."

Song Qingjia said with a hint of mockery, "So if there is a greater interest that conflicts with this marriage, they will not hesitate to sacrifice this marriage and the children born from it."

Xu Zhouye frowned; her mood had changed again.

Song Qingjia turned around, looking stubbornly into his eyes: "Xu Zhouye, will I be the one you abandon?"

-

Song Qingjia didn't know if she would be the one to be abandoned, but she was currently more inclined to abandon Xu Zhouye.

Completely unprepared, she ran into Jiang Yunsheng again.

That scoundrel didn't even tell her beforehand.

"Aunt Jiang."

"Oh, Qingjia is here." Jiang Yunsheng smiled with a very dignified and gentle demeanor.

Xu Zhouye couldn't help but take a second look. His mother actually had two faces?

The other person rolled their eyes at him.

Xu Zhouye: "..."

"The hot springs here are very nice. Since you're here, you should definitely try them out," Jiang Yunsheng said. "After soaking in the hot springs, you can also take a stroll through the nearby old streets."

Song Qingjia nodded in agreement.

Fortunately, Jiang Yunsheng had his own schedule, and after saying a few words, he left with Mrs. Zhao and her daughter beside him.

Song Qingjia watched them leave, and just as she was about to turn around, she noticed that Aunt Zhao's daughter had turned back to look at her with a very strange expression.

After being caught peeping, the person quickly turned back.