Early the next morning.
Jiang Zhirou woke up early. She changed into a loose set of home clothes, opened the bedroom door, and tiptoed out.
The house was very quiet. She scanned around but didn't see Chi Yu's figure. Finally, her gaze landed on the direction of the second bedroom.
Jiang Zhirou checked the time. It was six in the morning. He should still be sleeping, right?
Just then, Xiaoju somehow ran to Jiang Zhirou's feet and was rubbing its head against her ankle.
Jiang Zhirou instinctively wanted to dodge, but out of the corner of her eye, she suddenly noticed the empty cat bowl not far away.
Her eyes flickered. She took a few steps to the cat food bucket, filled the cat bowl, then looked at Xiaoju and tilted her chin in the direction of the cat food, as if to say, "Eat."
Xiaoju meowed, walked to the cat bowl, and started eating. Only then did Jiang Zhirou open the door and walk out.
...
There was a wetland park next to the Yuhaiwan residential area, which was very suitable for morning exercises.
Jiang Zhirou had made a training plan for herself.
Get up early for a morning run, and do strength training at noon. As long as the intensity was a bit higher, she could get enough training for her body in a short time and wouldn't be so weak.
Jiang Zhirou had already been out of breath after running two laps along the track outside the park.
Just as she was about to turn back, she was suddenly called out by a familiar voice.
"Qingmian."
Jiang Zhirou stopped in her tracks and turned to look behind her. She saw Shu Yi standing about five meters away from her. He was wearing a set of sportswear and a headband.
"What a coincidence! You're also out for a morning run, Senior Shu."
Jiang Zhirou greeted him.
Shu Yi smiled and walked towards her. "I just moved here. I live nearby. I didn't expect to run into you on my first morning exercise here."
Hearing this, Jiang Zhirou nodded in understanding and looked at Shu Yi with a hint of inquiry in her eyes.
There was only the Yuhaiwan property in this area. Could it be that he also lived in Yuhaiwan now?
If she remembered correctly, Shu Yi's family background wasn't very good. The houses in Yuhaiwan weren't cheap. The cheapest unit had a monthly rent market price starting at 30,000 yuan.
Shu Yi's income should not be enough to easily cover the rent and still have some left over.
Jiang Zhirou remembered the rumors in school at that time. It seemed that Miss Wen was really generous to him.
Wen Yuxuan was An Ya's best friend. Now Shu Yi was being kept by Wen Yuxuan, and it was so coincidental that he lived in the same community as her and happened to go for an interview at Chi Yu's company.
There were just too many coincidences.
Jiang Zhirou withdrew her gaze, with a faint smile on her face, and replied to him, "If you live nearby... Senior Shu, are you living in Yuhaiwan now?"
"Yes. It's very close to President Chi's company here. It's more convenient to go to work."
"It seems that Senior Shu is very confident about his interview."
Jiang Zhirou's words carried a hidden meaning. He had only had the interview yesterday, and today he had already moved next to the company, as if he was certain that he would be hired. It was a bit too deliberate.
Shu Yi also heard the meaning in her words, and his face changed slightly.
Jiang Zhirou showed a bright smile on her face and said to him, "I'm just joking. Don't mind."
Looking at the smiling woman in front of him, Shu Yi was instinctively stunned for a moment. It took him a long time to reply, "You seem much more cheerful than before. You're even joking now. You rarely joked before."
As soon as he finished speaking, Jiang Zhirou couldn't help but snort softly in her heart.
In Chen Qingmian's memory, Shu Yi didn't appear many times. His words made it seem as if he had known Chen Qingmian very well before.
Jiang Zhirou rolled her eyes in her heart, but still had that innocent smiling face on. "Are you still going to run, Senior Shu? Do you want to go back together?"
Hearing the invitation from "Qingmian", Shu Yi nodded repeatedly. "I've had enough for today. Let's go back together."
Jiang Zhirou rolled her eyes. She wasn't surprised by Shu Yi's answer at all.
The two walked towards Yuhaiwan one after another, chatting casually.
"Senior, I heard that you have a good relationship with Miss Wen."
Jiang Zhirou suddenly asked.
The expression on Shu Yi's face froze instantly.
Just for a second, he returned to his previous look. "Which Miss Wen?"
"Wen Yuxuan."
Jiang Zhirou didn't beat around the bush and directly said Wen Yuxuan's name.
This time, Shu Yi seemed to be well-prepared. He gave her a faint smile and said, "We're not really that close. She just took care of me a few times when I was working part-time in a bar before. We're not very familiar."
Hearing this, Jiang Zhirou instinctively raised her eyebrows.
What a "not very familiar".
"I see~"
Jiang Zhirou deliberately dragged out the end of the sentence, looking very regretful.
Shu Yi was silent for a while, then nodded. "Yes."
"I'm here, Qingmian."
He suddenly stopped and pointed to the building next to him.
Jiang Zhirou looked in the direction he pointed, and a fragmented picture quickly flashed through her mind.
She couldn't help but look at the building in front of her a few more times.
"What's wrong?" Shu Yi asked when he saw this.
Jiang Zhirou suddenly came back to her senses. "It's nothing." She waved to Shu Yi. "Then I'll go back too. See you another day, Senior."
After saying that, she turned around and walked in the opposite direction.
This building... If her memory was correct, Xiang Yun used to live here too.
It seemed that Shu Yi's sudden appearance in front of her this time was on purpose.
For the time being, she couldn't figure out what exactly Shu Yi was helping Wen Yuxuan do.
She got out of the elevator and just opened the door when she saw Chi Yu sitting with his back to her in the dining room.
"You're up?"
Jiang Zhirou greeted Chi Yu very naturally.
She didn't get a response.
She looked at the motionless man sitting at the dining table in confusion, took off her shoes, changed into slippers, and walked into the house.
When she got closer, she saw that he was lowering his head and swiping his phone on his own, completely ignoring her.
Jiang Zhirou's heart tightened. Did he... recognize her?
Or...
She hadn't done anything. How could he have found out in just one night?
Tsk.
It must have been when she suddenly mentioned that physics class last night that made Chi Yu suspicious.
Why on earth did she bring that up!
Jiang Zhirou was now filled with nothing but regret. She had finally adjusted her mindset. She mustn't let anything go wrong at this time.
Chi Yu beside her didn't say a word and didn't even look up at her. Jiang Zhirou made up her mind. She might as well give it a try!
She closed her eyes, took a deep breath, then opened her eyes, took a few steps, and sat down directly opposite Chi Yu. She stared intently at the man across from her.
"Since you already know, I won't hide it from you anymore."
As soon as she finished speaking, there was finally a hint of expression on Chi Yu's face.
He put down his phone.
"I really don't—"
"Still planning to hide it from me?"
The voices of the two rang out at the same time.