Song Jia hums briefly, exchanges a greeting with Bo Xichen, and is about to leave. Unfortunately, Chen Ming arrives just then, still in his uniform. Due to the heat, his forehead is covered in a fine sweat, which somehow adds a touch of masculine allure.

Upon arrival, he hastily apologizes, "Sorry, I got delayed by a meeting."

Gu Anxi smiles and looks at Song Jia.

During this short time, Chen Ming also notices, his eyes fixed in place.

He’s genuinely staring at Song Jia, as if wishing he had an extra pair of eyes. Song Jia doesn’t look at him and immediately tries to walk away.

Gu Anxi beams, "Chen Ming, your car is parked downstairs, right? Jia isn’t feeling well, would you like to take her to the hospital?"

Chen Ming, with his straightforward personality, doesn’t grasp Gu Anxi’s roundabout hint, and promptly gets worried, walking over to check on Song Jia. "What’s wrong?"

Song Jia purses her lips, about to speak, when Gu Anxi sighs, "Feeling a bit nauseous, poor appetite, should really get it checked at the hospital..."

Before finishing, Chen Ming anxiously asks, "Could it be that she’s pregnant?"

As soon as he says it, Song Jia gives him a fierce glare and walks out.

Chen Ming stands there dumbfounded for a long time, "She seems unhappy, did I say something wrong?"

Gu Anxi becomes even more amused, "You didn’t say anything wrong, just wondering if you’ve done something wrong that might lead to a life-or-death consequence; you hear the slightest discomfort and immediately think of pregnancy."

Being an honest guy, Chen Ming’s face flushes red, and he stands there speechless for a while.

Zhou Yunchen scratches his nose, realizing that, the shooting was a pretense, this little rascal was just looking for some amusement. It’s quite amusing how a few words can get an honest person tangled, but he... with a bit of anticipation, lets Gu Anxi bully his sister and Chen Ming.

Even Bo Xichen can’t bear to hear any more, gently intervening, "Alright, stop teasing Chen Ming."

But he gives Chen Ming a way out, "She is feeling a bit off, you should go check on her."

Chen Ming seems like he’s been granted some kind of special pardon, sighs with relief, and immediately runs down, leaving everyone exchanging glances. 𝚏𝗿𝗲𝐞𝚠𝕖𝐛𝗻𝗼𝐯𝕖𝚕.𝚌𝗼𝗺

Zhou Yunchen loads bullets into the magazine one by one, saying, "You’re giving this rascal another chance. They’re not going to spark."

Gu Anxi smiles, moves to the shooting position ahead, raises his hand, and quickly fires a few shots, then turns back to say, "When have you ever seen Song Jia being so shy and indecisive?"

Zhou Yunchen frowns.

Gu Anxi laughs lightly again, stepping aside, "Aren’t you going to play?"

Zhou Yunchen walks over...

*

Downstairs, Chen Ming immediately spots a red sports car parked there, it’s Song Jia’s car.

He walks over, taps on the car window, Song Jia lowers the window, her tone none too friendly, "What do you want now?"

Chen Ming, not being great with words, takes a long time before saying, "I didn’t mean to do anything."

She glares at him.

He quickly explains, "It’s you... don’t you dislike me?"

Song Jia quietly looks at him, he scratches his head again, "Professor Bo said you weren’t feeling well, I came down to check if you wanted to go to the hospital, I can take you."

After speaking, his eyes were quite earnest.

"I’m not unwell." Song Jia pressed her lips, then looking at Chen Ming, "You can head back up, you don’t need to worry about me."

Chen Ming doesn’t leave but instead takes out a cigarette pack, pulls one out, lights it up and enjoys a few puffs, standing with his back facing Song Jia, a large portion of his light blue short-sleeve shirt is drenched in sweat, and Song Jia can’t help but glance over.

After finishing the cigarette, Chen Ming turns around just meeting her eyes, looking surprised, "It’s hot outside, why not close the window?"

"Mind your own business." Clearly, Song Jia doesn’t want to engage with him.

Chen Ming touches his nose, smiles sheepishly, suddenly says, "My mom is coming over this week."

Song Jia looks at him.

Chen Ming speaks slowly, "Is there truly no hope for us?"

"No."

He exhales and speaks again, "A friend of my mom has a daughter, they want to meet me, saying I’m not getting any younger."

"A blind date?"

"I guess so." Chen Ming can’t help but take out another cigarette, lighting it up, "I’m an ordinary person, eventually I have to get married."

After saying this, he extinguishes the cigarette butt, crushes it and throws it into the trash, then proceeds to walk towards the club’s entrance.

He doesn’t say much to her, that’s his last pride.

The last time they had an unpleasant departure, she said he couldn’t give her anything, he’s not worthy.

This time, he just asked casually, maybe just a casual question, he didn’t take it seriously, so there’s no need for her to dwell on it, both of them are adults, she didn’t lose anything either.

The more Song Jia thinks about it, the more she finds avoiding him to be pointless, if she avoids him every time they meet, then what does that make her?

Probably out of spite, she opens the car door and heads back inside.

As soon as she gets in, she sees Chen Ming and Gu Anxi practicing shooting, her brother and Bo Xichen sitting on the sofa, chatting. Her gaze shifts to Chen Ming and Gu Anxi, they seem to be getting along well, chatting and laughing, especially when Gu Anxi is shooting and Chen Ming watching on the side, his eyes full of admiration.

Song Jia rolls her eyes, unwilling to admit a slight twinge of jealousy.

At this moment, Gu Anxi notices her, smiles, "Want to join in?"

Song Jia instinctively declines, "I’ll just sit here." Having said that, she sits beside Zhou Yunchen.

Chen Ming glances at her, then continues chatting and laughing with Gu Anxi, he really enjoys playing with guns, sometimes forgetting about women when he gets into it, so for more than half an hour, Song Jia doesn’t get a single look from him. She thinks through gritted teeth, this is actually quite good, saves her from being pestered all day long, which can be annoying too.

Gu Anxi, very clear about the storm brewing between these two, also knows that given Song Jia’s temper, Chen Ming could be a real headache, but didn’t expect Chen Ming to have some backbone, not tangling anymore.

She laughs, fires an empty magazine, puts the bullets in, then hands the gun to Song Jia, "Since you’re here, why not play a bit? Besides, with everything out in the open, what’s there to be awkward about anymore?"

Song Jia glares at her.

If someone were to pick the most annoying person in the world, it would be Gu Anxi.

Gu Anxi lightly sighs, "Your brother gets along well with Chen Ming, you’ll have many opportunities to meet. Your matters, neither your uncle nor I mind, but if you continue being awkward, the whole of Beicheng might find out, wouldn’t that be bad, don’t you think?"

Song Jia continues to glare at her.

Gu Anxi again beams, "I’m right, aren’t I, be gracious."

Song Jia ignores her, quietly moving over.

Chen Ming notices her coming over, gives a slight smile, but remains fairly composed.

That incident seems to just pass over like that...