Night Rose

"I'm practically floating on air! Someone pinch me and see if I'm dreaming!" Tu Ying drunkenly clung to the trophy, refusing to let go. The sponsorship offers he'd received these past few days were simply too many to choose from. He wished the race car was as long as the high-speed rail so he could collect all the sponsors!

Su Jin pinched his arm hard. "Wake up! Boss Tu, don't get too carried away. The competition hasn't even started yet, don't get too cocky."

"Aww!" Tu Ying howled. Luckily, they were in a private room, so no one could see their embarrassment. The waiter was very professional and didn't laugh out loud.

"Especially you two, maintain a good mindset for the big competition, stay humble and don't be arrogant! The professional competition is just around the corner, you can't relax." She raised her hand and pointed at Zhou Zheng and Wang Tianle.

"I know, Sister Su. The intensity is really different from Nanyuan. I feel like Brother Zhou is driving faster and faster, and he's becoming more and more skilled. He's almost like one with the car," Wang Tianle said.

Zhou Zheng poked a piece of meat with his chopsticks and threw it into his bowl, saying, "Eat yours."

"Zhou Zheng is doing well, keep it up." Su Jin's voice was somewhat indifferent. She glanced at Zhou Zheng again, and for some reason, she felt that something was still off about Zhou Zheng's condition, but she couldn't quite put her finger on it.

During the competition, he gave it his all and was full of energy.

In his personal life, he would sometimes secretly answer phone calls behind her back, keeping it a secret from everyone.

Although Su Jin trusted him, she had learned a lesson from Lu Mingzhou's betrayal and had to be more cautious.

While waiting for the food to be served, Zhou Zheng's phone vibrated.

He used to always keep his phone on ringer, but recently he switched to vibrate, seemingly trying to hide who he was talking to.

"Whose phone is ringing?" Wang Tianle hurriedly reached for his phone in the corner, but it didn't answer, so he looked at the other three.

Su Jin didn't say anything, but just took a sip of water, feeling quite displeased.

Tu Ying shrugged. "It wasn't me, it was Zhou Zheng's, wasn't it?"

All eyes turned to him, and Zhou Zheng glanced guiltily in Su Jin's direction, only to find that she wasn't looking at him.

"No," Zhou Zheng denied, and hung up the phone immediately.

After a brief respite, Zhou Zheng got up and walked out. "I'm going to the restroom."

"Go on, remember the way, don't get lost." Tu Ying waved her hand, signaling the waiter to continue serving the dishes.

Su Jin crunched loudly as she took a bite of the cold dish in front of her. What on earth was Zhou Zheng doing? He made several phone calls behind her back. What kind of phone call couldn't he answer in front of her?

After waiting for a long time, Zhou Zheng still hadn't returned.

Tu Ying and Wang Tianle were both planning to go out and look for him when Su Jin put down her chopsticks and said, "I'm full, let's go."

"Huh? You're leaving already? We haven't even touched the food yet. Let's wait for Zhou Zheng to come back, then we can go back together," Tu Ying called after her.

Su Jin left without looking back, walked back to the hotel alone, and lay on the bed, sulking.

She recalled Zhou Zheng's life trajectory, which almost overlapped with hers. How could he have had time to meet other new people?

But online dating is popular now, so maybe it's someone online? Zhou Zheng is so handsome, has a nice voice, beautiful hands, and even abs.

You can catch fish no matter what you send out.

However, Zhou Zheng's phone was practically transparent to her. She didn't like to look through her partner's phone, but Zhou Zheng was happy to let her see it and play with it as she pleased.

After receiving the prize money, he even bought a new phone so that Su Jin wouldn't experience any lag when using it.

Should I trust Zhou Zheng a little more?

Just as I was worrying, there was a knock on the door.

Su Jin had a premonition that it was Zhou Zheng outside the door. She pretended not to hear and covered her ears, not wanting to listen.

After a while, the knocking stopped, and her phone lit up.

Zhou: I packed some food for you.

Su Jin touched her stomach. She had left early in a huff and hadn't eaten much, so she was actually quite hungry now.

To avoid letting Zhou Zheng see her emotions, she took off her hair tie, ruffled her hair a little, and then went to open the door.

Su Jin opened the door a crack, not intending to let Zhou Zheng in.

Zhou Zheng watched her peek out from behind the door, took a step forward, and his foot got stuck in the crack of the door. "Why did you leave?"

"I'm not feeling well, I'm going back to the hotel to rest." Su Jin pretended to yawn, and seeing that he had nothing in his hands, she immediately became a little angry. "Where's your food? Didn't you say you brought some?"

Zhou Zheng then pulled out his other hand from behind his back, revealing a takeout insulated bag.

"here."

Su Jin reached for it, but he moved the bag back, saying, "Let me in."

Su Jin glared at him, "Fine, I don't want it anymore!"

This time, he was really angry.

Zhou Zheng noticed her temper and reached out to stop her from closing the door.

"Let go!"

"Not loose."

Zhou Zheng pushed forward through the door, instantly gaining the upper hand and squeezing inside.

As soon as he came in, Su Jin immediately moved aside, ignoring him, and sat down by the window in a huff.

He walked to the window, opened the takeout bag, and took the contents out.

He went to the same shop again and packed up several dishes that Su Jin liked, along with a box of soft and sticky osmanthus cake.

He unpacked them one by one and placed them on the table.

"I wasn't trying to tease you, I was just worried you'd get angry if you didn't let me in?"

Su Jin smelled the aroma and ignored him, burying her head in her food. Unfortunately, all of these were her favorite dishes, and the flavors were perfectly balanced. Su Jin ate most of the food, but couldn't finish the rest. Zhou Zheng naturally took her chopsticks and finished the rest.

Su Jin frowned as she looked at him. If something really happened, could he pretend to be so nonchalant?

Maybe I'm overthinking it.

"Zhou Zheng, who called you when you were at the restaurant?" Su Jin asked directly. She didn't want to keep guessing; it would just be a waste of her energy.

Zhou Zheng seemed to understand why she was "uncomfortable," and smiled, resting his chin on his hand. "You care about that a lot?"

"Who cares?" Su Jin instinctively retorted, but too lazy to hide it, she could only say, "Yes! Quickly, tell me, who is it?"

Zhou Zheng picked up a piece of osmanthus cake for her and held it to her mouth. Su Jin bit into the osmanthus cake and said, "Don't try to fool me with food. If you don't tell me, I won't ask anymore. Do as you please."

"Ask away, ask whatever you want." Zhou Zheng sighed, thinking that he couldn't hide it for long, so he should let her know at least a little bit.

"It's someone close to my relative. They're really annoying; they keep harassing me."

Su Jin remembered that Zhou Zheng's last dinner at a relative's house had also been very unpleasant. His expression at the time was tired and sad, which made Su Jin feel very sorry for him.

"Why did he have someone harass you?" Su Jin pressed, somewhat angry on his behalf.

"Because he wants to improve our relationship. Our relationship was terrible before, and we almost never contacted each other again." Zhou Zheng took a bite of the osmanthus cake, and the sweet taste suppressed the bitterness in his heart.

Su Jin nodded as if she understood, but she had a vague feeling that Zhou Zheng's relative sounded unusual.

If they are just ordinary relatives, and the relationship between the two sides has already deteriorated to such a tense point, there is no need to try to ease it further.

She considered one possibility, but she didn't ask it aloud.

The only family members she knew from her maternal grandfather and Zhou Zheng were relatives on Zhou Zheng's mother's side, while Zhou Zheng's father was never mentioned.

What kind of man was he? And what role did he play in this family relationship?