We Barely Know Each Other, but I'm Living with a Stone-Faced Mechanic! - Chapter 49

Tao Ying sat across from Qin Zheng, unable to fathom how the man she’d been set up with had turned out to be him.

They stared at each other in silence for several minutes before Qin Zheng finally spoke. “Should we order first?”

She had agreed to this blind date herself. Whatever else she felt, she wasn’t going to embarrass him.

Tao Ying nodded and took the menu.

She picked two dishes at random, then handed it to Qin Zheng.

Knowing her tastes, he added two more dishes, then ordered two drinks and a dessert.

When he was done, he asked, “Does that look okay?”

Tao Ying nodded distractedly.

Qin Zheng poured her a glass of warm water. She took it and sipped.

“Don’t you have anything to ask me?”

Tao Ying came back to herself. There was something she ought to ask. “How do you know my third aunt?”

Qin Zheng gave her a story that was half true and half not. “I was looking at a property and passed a park. I accidentally bumped into Ms. Li, and she grabbed hold of me and wouldn’t let me leave. Said she wanted to introduce me to someone.”

“And you agreed?” Tao Ying asked, surprised.

“I’m twenty-eight too.” Qin Zheng gave a quiet laugh.

That hadn’t occurred to her.

Her phone chimed with a message from Li Meili, asking if she’d met him yet.

Tao Ying replied: I have.

A voice message more than fifty seconds long followed. Tao Ying didn’t even need to convert it to text to know what her aunt was saying.

Was he handsome? What did she think of him? It would be questions like those.

Tao Ying knew Li Meili all too well. Her aunt thought Qin Zheng was a good man, that his personality complemented Tao Ying’s, and that they were an excellent match.

She also thought Tao Ying’s standards were too high and worried she might turn him down, so she’d launched straight into her sales pitch.

The server brought out the food. Qin Zheng prompted her, “Let’s eat first.”

Tao Ying really was hungry. She set down her phone, picked up her chopsticks, and began to eat.

Neither of them said a word during the meal. The silence felt strange.

They knew each other well by now. When they’d eaten at home before, they had always chatted normally.

This was worse than the meal they’d shared when they had first met.

Seeing Tao Ying keep her head lowered, Qin Zheng tried to lighten the mood. “Want to go through the usual blind-date routine?”

“There’s no need.” Her answer came out colder than she’d intended. “I only came because I couldn’t say no to my third aunt.”

The smile froze on Qin Zheng’s lips. He put down his chopsticks. “Ms. Li told me you were happy to meet me. Or is something else going on? Do you have a problem with me? You can tell me.”

Tao Ying’s fingers tightened abruptly around her chopsticks. What was he trying to find out?

She didn’t dare meet his eyes. “I don’t have a problem with you. I’m just surprised that you’re the person I met here tonight.”

“So if someone else had shown up, you’d have treated him better?” Qin Zheng deliberately twisted her words.

Tao Ying felt wronged. “…That’s not what I meant.”

“Then what did you mean?” Qin Zheng refused to let it go.

Tao Ying set down her chopsticks and looked him straight in the eye. “Tonight was a coincidence. My third aunt knows plenty of other wonderful women. I’ll ask her to introduce you to someone else.”

“No need.” Qin Zheng’s face chilled as well, and the words slipped out in the heat of the moment. “I’d be afraid of meeting another woman like you.”

Tao Ying went deathly pale.

What exactly was a woman like her?

Someone who got drunk and dragged a man into reckless intimacy? Or someone who remembered what she’d done, yet pretended she’d blacked out to save face?

“I’m full.” Tao Ying stood. “Enjoy your meal.”

Qin Zheng hadn’t touched a single bite either, and he had no appetite left. He rose to go after her, only for the server to stop him. “Sir, you haven’t paid yet.”

He hurriedly settled the bill, but by the time he got outside, Tao Ying was nowhere in sight.

He swore under his breath and called her.

She declined the call. He tried again and again, until she finally blocked him.

Out of options, Qin Zheng called Li Meili.

Thinking he was calling to report good news, Li Meili answered with satisfaction.

“Auntie Meili, could you call Tao Ying and ask where she is? Let me know when you find out. I’ll go get her.”

“What happened?” Li Meili was baffled.

“Ms. Tao and I already knew each other, but there’s been a misunderstanding. Could you please ask her? It’s dark, and I’m worried about her being alone.”

“Wait there. I’ll call her.”

Tao Ying hadn’t gone far. She was sitting beside a flower bed in the middle of a parking lot near the restaurant.

Her mind had been completely blank when she’d woken that morning.

Once the memories returned, she had no idea how to face Qin Zheng.

For one thing, he was her landlord. They saw each other every day. They might not have gone all the way, but they had crossed a line and been intimate. She no longer knew how to face him as a friend.

For another, she’d behaved wantonly and lost control while drunk. She had no idea what Qin Zheng thought of her now.

Tao Ying gave a self-mocking smile. She had once looked down on him for being improper, yet she had turned out to be the reckless one.

He probably regretted renting the apartment to her.

Her phone rang. She answered without looking at the screen.

“Taotao, what’s going on with you and Qin Zheng? You two know each other?”

“We do,” Tao Ying said. “Third Aunt, introduce him to someone else. He and I aren’t possible.”

“Why not? Neither of you is married. Where are you now? I’ll have your cousin pick you up and bring you to my place. You and I need to have a proper talk.”

“I’m still near the restaurant, but don’t send him. I’ll sit here for a while and take a cab home myself. I’m hanging up.”

Tao Ying’s thoughts were a mess. She had no energy to deal with Li Meili.

A shadow fell across her from the side. She looked up instinctively and found Qin Zheng staring back at her.

He sat down beside her and let out an incredulous laugh. “You blocked me?”

Tao Ying pressed her lips together and said nothing.

“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean anything by what I said earlier. As far as I’m concerned, you’re wonderful.” Qin Zheng explained every word carefully. “But the way you’ve been treating me really did bother me.”

Tao Ying’s heart tightened.

“Forget everything else for a minute. From March to July, we’ve known each other for four months. That at least makes us friends, doesn’t it?”

“Even if you’re not interested in me, you don’t have to ignore me. The way we are now is worse than when we first met.”

“I’m sorry,” Tao Ying said. “My attitude was out of line.”

Qin Zheng hadn’t wanted an apology. He wanted her to admit the truth.

But if he pushed her, he was afraid it would only make things worse.

For once, he had no idea what to do. He sighed. “Let’s go home. You didn’t drive, did you?”

“No,” Tao Ying murmured.

“Come on.” Qin Zheng stood first. “My car’s by the road.”

Tao Ying got up and followed him.

Neither of them spoke on the way home.

They both knew perfectly well that everything had changed the night before.

Whenever Tao Ying remembered how completely exposed she had been with Qin Zheng, the whole thing felt absurd.

Qin Zheng, meanwhile, felt stung and frustrated.

As long as Tao Ying refused to bring it up or admit that she remembered, he had to respect her wishes and feelings. There was nothing he could say.

When they arrived home, they climbed the stairs one behind the other.

Just as Tao Ying was opening her door, Qin Zheng called to her. “Tao Ying.”

Her hand paused. She turned her face slightly, waiting for him to continue.

Qin Zheng stepped closer, almost pressing against her back. Tao Ying spun around and planted both hands on his shoulders.

He didn’t budge. A low laugh escaped him. “What did you think I was going to do?”

Tao Ying pushed him back. “Stand properly.”

Qin Zheng straightened. “You could think about what you want our relationship to be.”