Chapter 016: Do You Know He Yunqing?

Jiang Yao took a deep breath, then turned around with a smile. “How could there be anyone else? I think you’re just so tired from catching your flight that you’re hearing things.” As she spoke, she pressed Ye Yiyi’s shoulders and gently steered her toward the bathroom. “Hurry up and wash up. After breakfast, you should take a break if you can.”

Ye Yiyi was nudged along by Jiang Yao, still muttering to herself in confusion, “Is that so?”

“What else could it be?” Jiang Yao patted Ye Yiyi on the shoulder and only released her once she’d brought her into the bathroom, finally breathing a sigh of relief.

When she returned to the dining room, He Yunqing was still asleep, though in his slumber he’d accidentally knocked a spoon off the table.

“Hey.” Jiang Yao called to him quietly, “Get up.”

He Yunqing slept on, unmoved.

Helpless, Jiang Yao had no choice but to drape his arm over her shoulder and pull him up by force. It took all her strength to finally drag him out of the dining room, and just as she did, Ye Yiyi’s voice drifted from the bathroom again. “But Yao, why are your dark circles so bad? Didn’t you sleep well last night?”

Jiang Yao’s heart leapt. She kept up the conversation as she supported the man toward the bedroom. “Really? Are they that bad?”

“Take a look in the mirror later.”

“Alright.” At last, Jiang Yao managed to get He Yunqing into the bedroom. She closed the door behind her, breathless and sweating from exertion.

After the chaos of the previous night, Jiang Yao felt as if her strength had doubled. Truly, human potential was limitless.

She turned around, only to find Ye Yiyi standing right behind her.

“Ah!” Jiang Yao cried out instinctively.

Her shout startled Ye Yiyi as well. “What’s wrong, Yao?”

“Nothing.” Jiang Yao forced a stiff smile. “Hehe.”

“Then why are you sweating so much?” Ye Yiyi reached out to help her wipe her brow, then glanced in confusion at Jiang Yao’s bedroom door. “Why did you close your bedroom door so tight today?”

“Why are you asking so many questions today?” Jiang Yao gathered herself, lightly tapped Ye Yiyi on the forehead with a finger, and urged, “Go have breakfast.”

Ye Yiyi nodded and went to the dining room. Soon enough, her voice echoed with delight. “Yao, the porridge you made today is delicious!”

After breakfast, Jiang Yao went to work as usual, but she was so tired she dozed off at her desk all day.

By the time she returned home that evening, the bedroom was empty—He Yunqing had long since vanished. Jiang Yao gazed at the neatly made bed and shook her head with a faint smile.

She fetched a can of cold beer from the fridge and stepped out onto the balcony, leaning against the railing to watch the sun set in silence. This was the one moment of the day when she truly felt at ease.

At some point, a tall figure appeared on the neighboring balcony.

Jiang Yao opened her beer and took a long swig. When she happened to glance sideways, she saw a man standing tall and straight, his shirt sleeves casually rolled up, revealing two lean, muscular arms resting on the railing. The last rays of the setting sun bathed him in a soft, golden glow.

She looked at him, then turned her gaze back to the sinking sun and took another drink.

“Ahem.” He Yunqing cleared his throat. “Cold beer is hard on your stomach.”

Jiang Yao glanced at him, swirled the beer in her hand, and defiantly took another gulp. “Says you. You can’t even hold your liquor, yet you still try to shield others from drinking.”

He didn’t look at her, his gaze fixed quietly on the horizon, though his lips pressed together almost imperceptibly.

“Did I… do anything strange last night?” he asked, as if by chance, his tone light and casual.

Remembering how she’d spent the whole night tending to him, Jiang Yao couldn’t help but lower her head to stifle a laugh.

When he didn’t hear her answer, the man turned to look at her.

Raising her head, Jiang Yao met his clear, questioning eyes.

“No, nothing at all,” she replied, though she couldn’t suppress a smile. “But… weren’t you exhausted?”

He narrowed his eyes slightly.

Jiang Yao gathered her windblown hair. “Why is it that you’re so energetic after drinking? You kept me busy all night.”

As soon as the words left her lips, she realized how ambiguous they sounded and flushed bright red.

“No, no, what I meant was…”

He Yunqing regarded her calmly as she stumbled through her explanation. Bathed in the colors of sunset, her cheeks were even more beautifully flushed.

A faint smile played at the corners of his mouth as he turned away to watch the sun dip lower in the sky.

Jiang Yao rubbed her forehead. “In any case, thank you for helping me out with the drinks. And thank you for the porridge, too.”

He Yunqing nodded thoughtfully.

“Oh, by the way, do you like snail rice noodle hotpot?” Jiang Yao remembered suddenly. “There’s a place on Zhonghua Road that’s amazing. Let me treat you.”

Neither Ye Yiyi nor Cheng Yanchi could tolerate the smell of snail rice noodles. Especially Ye Yiyi, who always said, “Yao, I’d go through fire and water for you, just don’t make me eat snail rice noodles with you.”

So every time Jiang Yao craved it, she had to go alone.

As soon as she spoke, she wondered if she’d overstepped. A man as immaculate as him, sitting in a pungent hotpot restaurant? The thought alone seemed absurd.

“If you don’t like it, that’s okay,” she added, biting her lip and awkwardly taking another sip of beer.

“Alright,” He Yunqing replied suddenly, a gentle warmth flickering in his eyes where she couldn’t see.

That single word lit up Jiang Yao’s face.

“Great! Finally, a friend who’ll go for snail rice noodle hotpot with me!”

“Friend?”

He Yunqing turned around, watching the smile playing on her lips.

“Yes, of course,” Jiang Yao replied, not noticing his tone. Her mind was already full of hotpot. “When I’m done with this busy spell, let’s find a time to go. There’s a big wedding coming up—I’m swamped.”

He Yunqing asked, as if casually, “Did you sort things out with the Zhang family?”

“Oh, yes.” Jiang Yao swirled her beer can. “Strangely enough, I thought it would be a real headache, but then the boss suddenly said He Yunqing would be attending the wedding as a guest performer, and the problem was solved. The boss even wants to give me a bonus.”

He Yunqing’s slender fingers tapped lightly on the railing as he squinted at her. “Do you know He Yunqing?”

Jiang Yao shook her head. “No, but my friend Ye Yiyi is a huge fan. She praises him to the skies.”

She pulled out her phone. “Let me look him up and see what he actually looks like…”