Night Rose

He suspected that Zhou Zheng hadn't heard him clearly, or perhaps he himself had just lost his mind and reacted so strongly to the word "Sherry."

Tu Ying rolled out of bed, not even bothering to put on his slippers properly; one was hanging on his foot, and the other he had kicked into the hallway.

He didn't even bother to pick up his shoes and scrambled downstairs, almost stepping on his own toes. Luckily, he didn't trigger a relapse of his paronychia.

He ran downstairs in a disheveled manner, but didn't see Zhou Zheng anywhere. He thought to himself: Oh no.

Wang Tianle happened to be returning from outside, carrying a bag of steamed buns. He hid when he saw Tu Ying.

"Little Fatty, I'll deal with you when your sister Su comes back! Instead of dieting, you're still eating!" Tu Ying said angrily.

"Boss Tu, why did you run downstairs without even putting your shoes on properly?" Wang Tianle asked guiltily, trying to change the subject.

Tu Ying slapped her forehead. "Oh no! I forgot about the important thing! Have you seen Zhou Zheng? Didn't he just run out?"

"Yeah, he looked really bad. I called him but he didn't respond. He just threw the charging cable at me and left. What happened? Did you two have a fight?" Wang Tianle asked.

Tu Ying covered her face, squatted down on the ground looking dejected, and rubbed her face vigorously. "I wish we had argued! Then someone else would have been the one arguing!"

He took out his phone to warn Su Jin that Zhou Zheng knew! Zhou Zheng was testing him, and he accidentally let it slip!

Of course, the main responsibility doesn't lie with him. Who told Su Jin to keep it a secret? He, as the boss, didn't care, so Zhou Zheng, who was so eager to make money, certainly wouldn't care!

After all that trying to hide it, the truth has finally come out!

Zhou Zheng hates it when people lie to him or deceive him.

Tu Ying's eyes had seen through too much. He had long suspected something was amiss with the awkward relationship between Su Jin and Zhou Zheng, but he didn't know how far they had progressed.

Now it seems, things are in dire straits.

But then he thought, wouldn't sending a message to Su Jin now just cause trouble? Su Jin is in New York, Zhou Zheng can't possibly go to New York to arrest her, can he? He'll have to wait for her to return to China.

Just give her a gentle reminder.

Tu Ying opened Su Jin's chat box and quickly started typing.

Tu: Su Jin, it's extremely urgent! Come see me as soon as you get back to China! I have something to tell you.

Su Jin stood outside the bar, sulking. She was angry that Zhou Zheng wouldn't answer her calls. She looked through their previous chat history on her phone, and the more she looked, the angrier she became.

Just then, a new message arrived. She saw the pop-up notification and felt a little hopeful, but when she clicked on it and saw that it was from Tu Ying, she was immediately disappointed.

Tu Ying is definitely going to talk to her about continuing the competition again. She has been bothering her tirelessly these past few days, and Su Jin has already learned to ignore Tu Ying's new messages. She hasn't even replied to the last one yet.

This one also went unanswered.

Zhou Zheng's message, "What's up?", was left unanswered by Su Jin. The two cold words, coupled with the ambiguous question mark, left Su Jin unsure how to reply.

Su Jin stuffed her phone into her pocket, deciding to ignore them.

She turned and went back to the bar. Ling Keke was already quite drunk and was leaning on Nan Da's shoulder. When Nan Da reached out to touch her face, his hand was grabbed.

The young man looked up in surprise at the person who had just arrived. "Sister, what are you doing?"

"I'm taking her back now. You should go back early too, it's too late." Su Jin pulled Ling Keke close to her. Ling Keke mumbled that she wanted to drink more, but she had definitely reached her limit today.

The man licked his lips, seemingly still wanting more. "She wants to drink more, why is she in such a hurry to leave?"

Su Jin gave a forced smile. "She's had enough. I know what you're thinking, but she's not right for you. Find someone else. I can't leave her alone."

After saying that, Su Jin, with two bags hanging on her left hand and her right arm around Ling Keke, led her to the car while she could still walk on her own.

Drunk people are as heavy as sandbags, but fortunately Ling Keke still has some self-awareness and knows to fasten her seatbelt.

Back at the apartment, Su Jin finished getting the two of them settled in, and it was nearly four in the morning.

Ling Keke was not bothersome at all after getting drunk; she would lie down on the bed and sleep quietly.

Su Jin plugged both of her phones into the charger, rubbed her forehead, and closed the door to the second bedroom.

She tidied up the second bedroom, put on a new four-piece bedding set, and it was fine for a temporary fix.

She lay down on the bed and glanced at her phone; still no messages from Zhou Zheng. Was he just going to ignore her because she wasn't replying? She'd even called him twice, but he hadn't answered! Even if he hadn't answered, shouldn't he at least offer an explanation?

Su Jin gritted her teeth. Oh well, who cares about news of him? No news is no news, that's for the best. She's reluctant to go back to China, so she might as well spend a few more days with Ling Keke in New York before leaving.

Anyway, Zhou Zheng ignored her.

Holding onto these angry words, Su Jin drifted off to sleep.

She didn't know how long she had slept when she heard the sound of washing up in the second bedroom. She grabbed her pillow and went out, where she met Ling Keke, who was tidying up.

Ling Keke gave her a big hug. "Thank you, my baby, for bringing me back and for cleaning me up! I'll treat you to dinner tonight. I have to go to work now."

Su Jin sat cross-legged on the sofa, watching Ling Keke, dressed in an elite style, standing in front of the mirror fastening her cufflinks. She was nothing like the carefree and dashing person she had been last night.

This person really works like crazy. She glanced at the time; it was only nine o'clock, and Ling Keke was about to leave again.

She slept for a total of five hours, and there was no trace of alcoholism or staying up late on her face.

Su Jin lay on the sofa, yawning and half asleep. After Ling Keke finished tidying up, she came over and touched Su Jin's forehead.

"Sleep a little longer, and remember to eat lunch properly."

"Mmm," Su Jin replied. After hearing the door close, she originally intended to go to bed, but ended up falling asleep on the sofa with her pillow.

I slept until noon when someone called.

Su Jin thought it was some scoundrel of a man, but when she answered the phone, she saw that it was the food Ling Keke had ordered for her.

The food Ling Keke ordered for her from the Chinese restaurant was quite good, much better than the meals she'd been eating haphazardly over the years. But she couldn't help thinking about Zhou Zheng's cooking; it was just too delicious, irreplaceable.

Some people are like that, leaving indelible marks on other people's lives in a special way, so that even after they leave, they cannot be forgotten.

She rolled over in bed, lay on her back, and considered whether she should call Zhou Zheng.

She tentatively sent Zhou Zheng an emoji.

Su: [Mmm JPG]

One minute later, there was no reply.

Su Jin turned over and glanced at the time.

Five minutes later, there was no reply.

Su Jin turned on the TV, randomly selected a program, and played the sound out loud.

An hour later, still no reply!

"..."

Su Jin picked up her phone and slammed it hard into the soft sofa cushions.

Zhou Zheng! You just wait if you don't reply to my messages!