We Barely Know Each Other, but I'm Living with a Stone-Faced Mechanic! - Chapter 37

Qin Zheng could more or less guess what Qu Le had meant.

After hearing that he liked Tao Ying, she had been unable to keep the information to herself. She had sounded Tao Ying out at once, unwilling to deny herself even a little curiosity.

He looked at Tao Ying and chuckled. “So I misunderstood you. You were this angry because you were defending Ms. Qu?”

“Who said I was angry?” Tao Ying frowned and stepped back again. “I was disgusted.”

Qin Zheng blinked. “By what?”

“The smell on you…” Tao Ying still left him a little dignity instead of saying outright that he stank.

He instinctively lowered his head and sniffed. Cigarette smoke mixed with women’s perfume. It truly was unpleasant.

Those two influencers had worn enough fragrance to marinate an entire neighborhood.

Even Qin Zheng frowned. “I’m taking a shower.”

“Wait.” Tao Ying stopped him. “I don’t care how colorful your private life is, but we signed a contract in black and white. Neither of us is allowed to bring anyone home.”

He stared at her. “You think I’d bring someone back here?”

“I’m only reminding you.” She gave him a cool glance.

“What have you been imagining?” Qin Zheng did not know whether to laugh or sigh. “The two women you saw were influencers. They wanted to borrow my shop to film something. I refused, and they kept pestering me. They were annoying as hell.”

Tao Ying fell silent.

Knowing perfectly well why, he asked, “Why aren’t you saying anything, Ms. Tao?”

She wanted to smack herself. She had worked herself into a frenzy warning him against something that had never been happening.

“Just how unreliable do you think I am?” Qin Zheng teased. “You see two women standing beside me and immediately decide my private life must be a mess?”

“I’m… sorry.”

He looked down at her from his full height. “Do you mean it?”

Tao Ying nodded sincerely. “I do.”

“I can’t bear being misunderstood. How are you planning to compensate me?” Qin Zheng never let a chance to gain something pass him by.

Knowing she was in the wrong, Tao Ying asked, “What do you want me to do?”

“I’m quite interested in industrial design exhibitions,” he said. “The next time you go to one, could you take me with you?”

She looked up. “That’s all?”

“Will you?” he asked again.

“Sure.” Tao Ying had no objection. An exhibition was an exhibition regardless of who accompanied her. “But what about your shop? Aren’t you opening?”

“I hired two managers. I’ll be a hands-off owner.”

*Must be nice,* Tao Ying thought.

Still, Qin Zheng did not look like a man capable of sitting idle.

The graduation exhibitions at the different art academies followed different schedules. Some had already ended in late May, but many would remain open until late June.

And so the two of them made their plans.

Back in her room, Tao Ying found her phone ringing frantically on the bedside table.

She answered, and Qu Le’s voice burst through the receiver. “Ms. Tao, are you home?”

“I am.”

“You scared me.” Qu Le sighed with relief, then realized something did not add up. “Ms. Tao, why did Boss Qin know you weren’t home?”

“Uh… it’s late, and we have classes tomorrow. I’m hanging up.” Tao Ying avoided the heart of the question.

Qu Le was in no hurry. The sun would rise tomorrow as usual.

When Tao Ying reached the university the next day, there was nowhere to hide. She could only agree to have lunch with Qu Le.

The moment they sat down, Tao Ying struck first. “I’m going to Hangcheng on the twenty-third. Do you want to come?”

“I was planning to.” Qu Le looked regretful. “But my mother hurt her back, so I need to look after her.”

“Is she all right?”

“She’s fine, she’s fine.” Qu Le waved the concern away. “What I’m more curious about is this: are you living with Boss Qin?”

Tao Ying’s lips pulled into an awkward smile.

Qu Le understood at once and raised a thumb. “Ms. Tao, you hid that well. If I’d known you two were living together, why would I have asked whether he had a girlfriend?”

“It isn’t like that.” Tao Ying rarely sounded flustered, but when she tried to explain, she had no idea where to begin.

“You don’t have to. I understand everything.” Qu Le patted her chest.

Tao Ying had nothing to say.

“Good thing Boss Qin rejected me. The man has principles.” Qu Le calmly picked up a piece of pork rib. “Otherwise I’d be part of whatever game you two are playing.”

“Ms. Qu…” Tao Ying said helplessly. “Certain things happened, and that’s why he and I are sharing—”

“It’s fine.” Qu Le extended a dramatic hand to stop her. “I understand. As long as you two live happily, nothing else matters.”

Deflated, Tao Ying gave up.

But Qu Le looked so cheerful and carefree that Tao Ying soon found it funny. She simply asked, “Did you really confess to Qin Zheng?”

“I wouldn’t call it a confession. I was only a little interested.”

“You’re impressive,” Tao Ying said. “You didn’t even ease into it.”

“I can’t keep things bottled up. I had the thought, so I said it.”

To Tao Ying, such an approach seemed rash. At the same time, she envied Qu Le’s open, carefree honesty.

“Do you think I’m too reckless?” Qu Le joked at her own expense.

“No.”

Someone else fit that description better, Tao Ying thought. Zhou Tao, for example.

After her third class that morning, she received a message from him.

He wanted to ask her face-to-face why she had rejected him.

After some consideration, Tao Ying agreed and arranged to meet him at a café near the university.

She did not return home until six that evening.

Qin Zheng looked up from the living-room sofa. “Back so early? Have you eaten?”

“I’m full of coffee.”

“Coffee?” he asked with studied casualness.

Who had she been drinking coffee with?

“Zhou Tao asked to see me. We spent the whole afternoon at a café.” Tao Ying sounded exhausted.

Qin Zheng paused. “Didn’t you reject him?”

While changing her shoes, she said, “He claims he can’t stop thinking about me.”

Qin Zheng shot to his feet and walked up behind her. “What, does he think persistence guarantees a response?”

Tao Ying turned and jumped. “Could you make some noise when you walk?”

She moved past him and sat on the sofa.

“If you don’t eat now, you’ll be hungry later,” Qin Zheng said. “Want me to make something in the kitchen for a late-night snack?”

“No. I still have to prepare tomorrow’s lecture slides.”

“Then… what exactly did you tell Mr. Zhou?”

“What else could I say? I’ve already rejected him. A few words from him aren’t going to make me start seeing him again.”

“Of course not,” Qin Zheng agreed like an eager supporting actor.

In truth, Zhou Tao had never seemed like a threat to him.

From their first meeting, Qin Zheng had known Tao Ying would not like the man.

Zhou Tao was foolish and impulsive, consumed by his own enthusiasm. He kept inviting Tao Ying to do this and that without caring whether she enjoyed any of it.

He mistakenly assumed she would like whatever he liked—or perhaps he was trying to show off for her. Either way, every effort produced the opposite result.

So far, the still-unseen Shen Cinan was Qin Zheng’s true rival.

For now, he would grant the man a little respect. Shen Cinan had, after all, reached the rank of unforgettable first love.

As final exams approached, Tao Ying grew busier for a while.

One morning, rushed and distracted, she left a document on the dining table.

Qin Zheng found it and picked it up. It was a complete schedule for the weeks before and during summer vacation.

He flipped through it. Tao Ying had divided the schedule into four stages and filled every one of them.

The second stage, from mid-June to mid-July, was an entire month of exhibitions and field research. She planned to collect case studies for a new course the following semester.

In late July, she would join Shu Ran for their rural community-service program.

In August, she planned to travel for two weeks, rest for a few days after returning, and then go back to campus.

With complete confidence in his right to do so, Qin Zheng photographed her schedule for himself.