Zhou You returned to the café. Chen Youzi was pacing restlessly and looking around, while a maid chatted with her nearby.

“What exactly does your manager want with my brother? Why is it taking so long?”

“Perhaps the manager is enjoying the afterglow?” The maid’s words carried a deeper meaning. “So it’s only natural that she needs some time. Maybe she and your brother will go another round, ahem.”

“What afterglow?” Chen Youzi clearly didn’t understand the maid’s vague, contextless remark.

She was about to ask for clarification when Zhou You came out. She immediately hopped over and grabbed him.

“Big brother, you’re back!”

“Yeah.” Zhou You nodded and led Chen Youzi out of the café. “Let’s go home.”

The maids watched his steady stride from behind. Then they glanced at the length of the “conversation” and gasped in amazement.

Young people really did recover quickly.

The “siblings” stepped outside. Neon lights had already begun to flicker, and plenty of couples were walking hand in hand toward different destinations.

After walking beside Zhou You for a few steps, Chen Youzi was infected by the atmosphere around them. Her gaze kept drifting toward her brother’s hand.

I want to. I want to hold hands. I want to hold his hand.

After glancing over several times, she finally couldn’t suppress the impulse. She slowly lifted her hand and reached it forward.

If her brother looked surprised, she could just say there were too many people around and she was afraid of getting lost. Then she’d act cute. No big deal.

Zhou You happened to stop at that moment for an entirely different reason.

Chen Youzi seized the opportunity and happily grabbed his hand. His palm was warm and broad, just like him. She couldn’t understand why Yun Daidai had ever been willing to break up with her brother.

But that didn’t matter anymore.

It was Chen Youzi’s turn now!

Zhou You noticed what Chen Youzi had done, but he had no mind to focus on it. Not far ahead stood a girl whose looks ranked among the best of everyone he knew. She stood there quietly, as if she’d been waiting for a long time.

Her face was expressionless. Her slightly cold gaze had locked onto the hands Chen Youzi and Zhou You held together.

She knew very well that Chen Youzi wasn’t Zhou You’s biological sister.

Why was Yun Daidai here?

Zhou You froze. This was his first time seeing Yun Daidai since their breakup. He hadn’t expected it at all.

“How did you find me?”

He moved Chen Youzi, who was growing uncomfortable under Yun Daidai’s stare, behind him.

Yun Daidai stared at her former boyfriend. With her personality, she would never scream in the street like some shrewish woman.

“Why are you looking at me like that?”

She had always thought herself strong. After everything that had happened over the past few days, she should’ve been even stronger.

But when Zhou You looked at her with such wariness, she felt something indescribable.

She even forgot why she’d come looking for him.

Zhou You said a few words to Chen Youzi first, telling her to wait for him at the subway entrance. Only then did he face Yun Daidai.

He looked at her. The strange emotions that had surged from the depths of his heart the last time he’d heard Yun Daidai crying rose once more.

Ignoring all his countless efforts wouldn’t change. She was still that spoiled young lady who only ever thought of herself.

You must regret it now, don’t you?

You must’ve cried, right?

Then… you must be suffering terribly now.

Zhou You realized he truly couldn’t stop himself from smiling.

So you’re getting what you deserve after all.

“What do you want with me?”

Zhou You revealed a perfectly standard smile, warm and radiant. For a moment, Yun Daidai felt as if she’d returned to the days when they were still a couple.

See? It was the same smile, and the same genuine pleasure.

With just a little control, it could become a smile that made everyone else feel comfortable.

I learned all of this for you, Young Miss.

He walked a few steps toward Yun Daidai, slightly narrowing the distance between them. His voice was incredibly gentle. There probably wasn’t anyone in the world who could make it sound gentler.

“I was a little harsh a few days ago. Did you come looking for me because of that, Young Miss?”

“You know how awful the things you said were?” Yun Daidai immediately grew aggressive when she heard him admit it.

“Of course.” Zhou You nodded. “Since I was saying them for you to hear, Young Miss, I naturally had to be harsher and more direct.”

As Yun Daidai’s expression gradually stiffened, his smile grew even warmer.

“You never listened when I tried to speak properly. If I hadn’t put it that way, how could you have taken it in?”

Tap.

Yun Daidai took a step back. Her entire body staggered, and she nearly fell to the ground.

“You… you… I didn’t… That’s not how it was…”

Zhou You reached out and properly steadied her trembling body. He carefully smoothed several loose strands of hair back into place.

In the past, he’d learned all sorts of skills for styling girls’ hair, but he’d never had the chance to use them.

Touching that person’s face was an enormous privilege. He probably would’ve needed to work hard for another hundred years before earning it.

Heh.

“You look so disheveled. That doesn’t suit you, Young Miss. Let me fix you up.”

Zhou You gently arranged Yun Daidai’s hair, as if he hadn’t been the one to say those cruel words moments ago.

His hand brushed softly over her hair. She breathed in his warm scent and saw the gentleness in his eyes. For some reason, her unsettled heart gradually calmed.

He really had only been joking with her.

Otherwise, how could he be treating her so gently?

An uncontrollable, faint smile appeared on her lips. Her emotions were tinged with embarrassment as she stammered out her thanks.

“Th… thank you…”

“…”

He hadn’t expected the first time Yun Daidai thanked him to happen under circumstances like these.

But why was she only seeing him now?

He’d done far more for her before, and he’d been even gentler than this.

The saying that lapdogs never meet a good end really was the truth.

“You’re welcome.” Zhou You replied with a smile.

He stepped away from Yun Daidai and glanced at the subway entrance in the distance.

“I’m leaving. Someone’s waiting for me, and I don’t want to keep her waiting too long because of you.”

Before he even finished speaking, Zhou You brushed past Yun Daidai without stopping.

The smile on Yun Daidai’s face instantly vanished. She stood frozen in place.

Yet a tiny sliver of hope still remained in her heart. She convinced herself that Zhou You was merely upset and had played a cruel joke on her.

He’d come back for her soon.

Then everything would return to the way it had been.

Unfortunately, even after waiting for a long, long time, Yun Daidai never saw him turn around.

Her face gradually paled, all color draining away. The last trace of hope in her heart completely disappeared.

Yun Daidai’s hands trembled as she covered her face. She could no longer control her emotions. In utter helplessness, she crouched down.

Tears poured through the gaps between her fingers, falling to the ground like raindrops.

“Wuwuwu… Why are you treating me like this? Why did you become like this?”

Zhou You had already entered the subway. He tilted his head up and stared at the constantly flickering station map.

At last, he could no longer suppress the smile spreading across his face.

“Just thinking about the expression on Young Miss’s face right now makes me so happy.”

“Maybe I really should see a psychologist.”

He raised a hand and rubbed his face hard. His expression gradually returned to normal.

He would never feel oppressed by Yun Daidai again.

He could even turn the tables and suppress her instead…

This was good.

Very, very good.

……..