Night Rose

"You have such good eyesight, no wonder you can be a race car driver." Su Jin said admiringly.

For race car drivers, both dynamic and static vision are important; the eyes are practically the precision instruments on the track.

Zhou Zheng smiled, toying with the glass in his hand, feeling somewhat restless.

Aren't you curious why I'm working there?

Su Jin shook her head. She didn't want to poke at other people's wounds; there was no point in reopening old wounds.

"Everyone has their own secrets. Boss Tu told me long ago not to be curious about other people's secrets. Besides, you must be having some difficulties."

Hearing her say that, Zhou Zheng's restlessness subsided, and he could finally talk to Su Jin about it.

"It's over."

"Um?"

"Once the difficulties are over, you can ask me."

Su Jin turned her head to look at him, carefully choosing her words.

"Then why did you go there to work, drive a taxi, and even sign up for racing with Boss Tu, earning so much money?"

"Grandpa is sick, very seriously ill. He needs surgery and needs someone to take care of him. I don't have that much money, so I'll do whatever pays the most," Zhou Zheng said.

After he finished speaking, he stared intently at Su Jin's expression, expecting to see pity or contempt.

None of these things happened. Su Jin just smiled faintly and said, "You're really amazing."

Su Jin raised her lemonade and clinked her glass against his. "Even after all this, you still dare to bet with me, offering to give me 200,000 as a salary?"

"I've never regretted it," Zhou Zheng said earnestly.

Su Jin's smile widened. Excellent, this was exactly the kind of confident and motivated race car driver she needed.

She had never seen a race car driver who lacked self-confidence win against others on the track.

"Is Grandpa all better? Do you have enough money?" Su Jin changed the subject.

"I'm almost better. I don't have enough money, can you lend me some?" Zhou Zheng asked.

Through her understanding of Zhou Zheng over this period of time, Su Jin realized that he was not that kind of person. He clearly had people around him who could lend him money, but he chose to hide it from him and Tu Ying.

"Lending you two hundred and fifty is no problem," Su Jin said with a smile.

The topic of idiots is unavoidable.

"Did you tell your grandfather before participating in such a dangerous event? There will be official media covering this event. If you win, you can't just go on stage under a stage name and not take off your helmet, can you?" Su Jin asked.

Zhou Zheng was silent for a rare moment, and from his silence, Su Jin understood what he meant.

Grandpa doesn't know yet; this person plans to act first and inform later.

Su Jin frowned, and out of consideration, she felt compelled to offer a reminder.

"This isn't appropriate. I think you should tell Grandpa. What if something happens? How are the three of us supposed to face him? Someone in the family needs to know about something this dangerous."

"What could possibly happen? I..."

Before Zhou Zheng could finish speaking, Su Jin grabbed his collar and started pulling him up.

He was wearing a white, wide-cut short-sleeved shirt, which was almost deformed when Su Jin tugged at it, leaving the collar wide open and revealing a patch of firm, wheat-colored chest muscles.

Su Jin smiled lightly, her eyes sweeping over his chest muscles, and winked at him mischievously.

With just that one glance, Zhou Zheng followed.

The original plan to act first and inform later was disrupted by Su Jin, so they had no choice but to tell their grandfather first.

Zhou Zheng wasn't worried about his grandfather stopping him, but... how should he introduce Su Jin to his grandfather?

Su Jin got into the car and sat quietly until they reached the familiar apartment building. When she saw Zhou Zheng about to get out, she realized that this time she was there to meet his parents.

"Hey, wait!" Su Jin grabbed Zhou Zheng's arm.

Zhou Zheng pulled his sleeve out of her grasp. "Realizing things now and wanting to back out?"

"No...it's just that I'm a little nervous." Su Jin clenched her fists.

"Why are you so nervous, engineer from Suzhou University? Just think of it as a home visit to an employee," Zhou Zheng teased her.

Su Jin thought to herself, the company really does have this procedure, but it's never her turn as an engineer to do home visits.

Since we're already here, we might as well make the best of it; there's no reason to back down now that we're downstairs.

"Let's go!" Su Jin unbuckled her seatbelt and got out of the car first.

The hallway was more lively than the last time I came. A family was about to leave when they saw Zhou Zheng standing with a beautiful woman. Their gossip instincts were burning, but they didn't ask in front of them, for fear of misunderstanding.

Zhou Zheng greeted them, and Su Jin smiled as she walked by. The more she made eye contact with these people, the more she wondered if they were being too enthusiastic towards her.

I feel like I'm about to shower her with concern and care any second now.

Walking upstairs under those eager gazes, Su Jin turned back and whispered to him, "Why are you all staring at me and smiling like that? It's kind of scary."

Zhou Zheng supported her waist with one hand, afraid that she might fall if she turned around to talk.

"I thought you were my girlfriend."

These words were spoken so frankly that Su Jin almost didn't react.

"You thought I was your... ah, your girlfriend?" Su Jin pointed at herself in disbelief. "Me? I'm seven years older than you."

"So what if she's seven? There's a saying that a woman three years older than her husband is a golden brick. Are you discriminating against relationships between older women and younger men?" Zhou Zheng asked.

The setting sun outside the window shone on Zhou Zheng's face, bathing his profile in warm light.

Su Jin wasn't opposed to relationships with younger men, but she and Zhou Zheng were seven years apart. Besides, the conversation had gotten to this point in a rush, and she hadn't really thought about their relationship any further.

After all, she had been busy with racing for the past month and hadn't had time to think about anything else, and Zhou Zheng was probably in the same boat.

"I'm not discriminating, but you really have to call me 'sister' now," Su Jin said, feigning nonchalance.

Zhou Zheng exerted force with his palm, supporting her waist and pushing her forward, signaling her to keep walking.

"Don't call me 'sister,' we look like we're the same age."

"Please don't ignore my real age, okay? I am the older sister, call me 'older sister' and let me hear it."

"Stop talking nonsense."

The two of them shoved and jostled each other to the door, laughing and joking all the way. Before they could even change their demeanor to meet the parents, the security door opened.

Grandpa heard Zhou Zheng's voice from the balcony. After a while, he still hadn't seen him come upstairs, so he opened the door to take a look. He didn't expect to see this scene.

Grandpa's eyes brightened slightly as he opened the door wide. "Welcome, welcome! You must be Xiao Zheng's friend?"

Su Jin's grandfather passed away early, so she always feels a sense of warmth whenever she sees a kind old man.

She was pulled inside by her grandfather in a daze, and her mind went blank when the frog shoes fell at her feet.

How did Grandpa know she had been here? And how did he know these shoes were hers?

Grandpa was overjoyed when guests came to visit, and he brought her snacks and asked Zhou Zheng to wash fruit.

"Girl, what's your name?" her grandfather asked with a smile.

Upon meeting the parents, Su Jin even had her posture changed, sitting properly on the sofa.

"Grandpa, my name is Su Jin."

Grandpa took a liking to her the moment he saw her, and looked at her with a happy smile.

"Su Jin, what a lovely name. Are you Xiao Zheng's colleague? I heard from the neighbor last time that Xiao Zheng has a really pretty colleague."

The neighbor next door? Tofu pudding?

Su Jin remembered—it was the grandma who sold breakfast downstairs at the hotel! They were neighbors; no wonder Zhou Zheng patronized her business and was so close to her.

"Thank you for the compliment, Grandpa."

Zhou Zheng put the fruit on the table, and then his grandfather sent him off to cook.

Grandpa pulled Su Jin aside, wanting to show her photos of Zhou Zheng when he was a child.

Su Jin had a vague feeling that things weren't going well, but she still decided to follow the old man's decision.

Grandpa rummaged through drawers and cabinets looking for photo albums, and Aunt Su helped him look through them in front of the TV cabinet.

Su Jin couldn't open one of the drawers, and with some effort, she almost tore a piece of paper in half.

Her heart skipped a beat. Could it be something very important?

She cautiously peered inside.

What was stuck inside the drawer was actually a plane ticket!