We Barely Know Each Other, but I'm Living with a Stone-Faced Mechanic! - Chapter 31

At three in the afternoon, a warm breeze drifted through the sunlit open-air parking lot.

The SUV stood high enough to conceal Tao Ying from view, leaving her in the strip of shadow carved out by the sunlight.

The space between them was far too intimate. Tao Ying surrendered first. “It’s not that I’m not interested in you. The words just came out in the moment, so don’t misunderstand.”

As she spoke, she raised a hand between them.

Qin Zheng lowered his eyes and laughed softly, his chest pressing against her wrist. “Blurting out that you don’t like men like me doesn’t sound like something that just came out in the moment, Ms. Tao.”

“Qin Zheng.” Tao Ying was backed against the car door with nowhere else to go. “Move back.”

“Tell me what’s wrong with me first. Or do you just dislike men like me?” He sounded genuinely frustrated.

Qin Zheng had always been direct, but around Tao Ying, he found himself holding back at every turn.

She shook her head. “I don’t dislike you. You saved me. How could I?”

“But you did at first.” His gaze held hers. “Didn’t you?”

They had known each other for three months. Moving under the same roof after only three months was fast by any measure.

But their becoming housemates had been completely outside his expectations.

The wariness and distaste in her eyes the first time she walked into his repair shop had been real, however hard she tried to conceal it.

Today, he intended to seize the chance and find out why.

“I didn’t.” Tao Ying avoided his eyes.

Qin Zheng said nothing. His expression made it clear he saw straight through her.

“Fine, I admit I was narrow-minded before.” With him this close, it was becoming difficult to breathe normally. “There was always a crowd of people hanging around your shop instead of doing anything useful, sometimes in the middle of the night. Such a large shop, yet you didn’t have a single employee. It wasn’t unreasonable for me to question your skill.”

“That was it?” Qin Zheng raised a brow.

Tao Ying nodded. “Though I was also curious. Why were there so many luxury cars there on opening day?”

That had been entirely Liang Chong’s fault.

“I used to spend time at a racing club,” Qin Zheng said. “I met some rich young guys there.”

“No wonder…” Tao Ying murmured. Realizing she had misjudged him, she gave an awkward smile. “Sorry.”

Qin Zheng let out an unreadable chuckle. “So you thought I was an unskilled layabout? You prefer the steady, reserved type—someone who keeps his head down and never steps out of line?”

His presence filled the tiny space around her. Unable to adjust, Tao Ying pushed him away with more force in her manner than she felt.

“I like men with full benefits, including social insurance and a housing fund.”

Qin Zheng fell silent.

Tao Ying opened the passenger door and scrambled inside.

The trip to the shooting club had restored her to her usual self.

On Sunday, Li Meijuan called twice. Tao Ying answered neither call.

Not long afterward, Tao Xi phoned.

Tao Ying picked up. “Sis.”

“Taotao, did you move?”

“Mm.” Tao Ying lowered her eyes. “I moved closer to the university.”

“I’ll buy you an apartment near campus.”

“No.” Tao Ying refused without hesitation.

Tao Xi had suggested the same thing during Tao Ying’s first year at work, only to be mocked by her mother-in-law.

Since then, Tao Ying had avoided the Mo family whenever possible. She did not want to irritate them or make life more difficult for her sister.

Tao Xi’s life looked glamorous from the outside, but nothing she had gained had come easily.

“Mom went to see you today and discovered you’d already moved,” Tao Xi said, puzzled. “Your lease wasn’t up yet, was it? Why the rush? Did something happen?”

“Nothing. I just wanted to live closer.”

Tao Xi sighed. “All right, I won’t nag. But if anything happens, you have to tell me.”

“I know.”

Tao Ying understood the reason for her sister’s sigh. Her relationship with Li Meijuan was only growing worse.

Perhaps it would be fine if things remained this way for the rest of their lives.

The final two periods on Monday morning were an introductory course for the entire major, taught in a tiered lecture hall.

Tao Ying normally taught studio courses. Broad introductory classes like this were usually assigned to senior lecturers or veteran members of the department.

The regular instructor had fallen ill, however, and the department was short staffed, so Tao Ying had been asked to fill in.

She arrived five minutes early. Six or seven students were already scattered through the hall.

She took her laptop from her bag, tapped the trackpad, and opened the slides.

After setting her thermos on the lectern, she hooked the stool closer with one foot and prepared to sit for two minutes before class.

Tao Ying always took a sip of warm water before teaching.

She had barely touched the thermos when she spotted an extremely familiar man in the back row—one who looked entirely out of place in the lecture hall.

He sat casually, his features relaxed, and even lifted a hand to wave at her.

Tao Ying stared for a long moment, then took out her phone and messaged him.

*Why are you here?*

Qin Zheng looked down and replied: *I just came from your university garage. I had nothing else to do, so I thought I’d sit in and experience a little campus culture.*

Only then did Tao Ying remember that the university had a service agreement with his repair shop. He had probably come to maintain an official vehicle.

She clearly thought his presence inappropriate, and her fingers flew across the screen.

*Didn’t you go to university? Hurry up and—*

Her fingers stopped.

Tao Ying looked up at Qin Zheng.

People often entered the auto repair trade young, going straight to work to earn a living. Qu Le’s cousin, for instance, was only twenty.

Had Qin Zheng… never attended university?

She deleted the message and suddenly did not know what to say.

Two minutes remained before class. Students began filing into the room.

Tao Ying’s classes were always full. She took attendance and found no one absent.

When the time came, she clicked her laptop, and the slide appeared on the large screen behind her, outlining the core logic of commercial visual identity design.

“All right, quiet down. Let’s begin. Today we’ll discuss commercial logos and how a visual identity is carried through to a physical storefront…” Tao Ying’s voice was clear and gentle.

Two brand identities appeared side by side on the screen. Tao Ying compared their color, detail, visual presentation, and design logic without glancing at Qin Zheng once.

He, on the other hand, listened with genuine interest.

Later, she invited the students to raise their hands and name brand logos they considered especially well designed.

Qin Zheng tapped the young man beside him. The student sprang to his feet. “Ms. Tao, I’d like to ask about storefront logos in the auto repair industry.”

Tao Ying glanced at Qin Zheng beside him. “What would you like to know?”

“Most repair shops use bright red and yellow. It looks cheap and dated. What kind of visual style works best for a hands-on industrial service business like auto repair?”

Tao Ying nodded and motioned for him to sit.

“The key ideas in auto repair are professionalism and safety, precision and reliability. The corresponding design language naturally uses strong lines and cool industrial colors. Minimal mechanical elements suit the professional image of this kind of industrial service business.”

“As for the bright signs commonly seen on neighborhood shops, they have their own practical logic. That visual style developed to meet the needs of those businesses…”

“Then, Ms. Tao, what do you think of Zhengtu Auto Repair across the street? Does it suit your taste?”

Tao Ying silently glared at Qin Zheng. If he was going to sit in, could he at least behave? Who had given him permission to ask questions?

His voice had come without warning, and the students in front did not even know who had spoken.

But the moment the question landed, the lecture hall erupted.

“I think it looks great. The design is really tasteful.”

“The storefront sign is nice too. I took a picture of it.”

“The owner is handsome, and the shop’s style kind of matches him.”

The young women nudged one another and launched into their own discussion. Then someone asked a completely unrelated question.

“Ms. Tao, we heard you’re close to the owner across the street. Are you two friends?”