Not only did Su Qian fail to seriously “evaluate” him for Cheng Ling, she even pretended to be clueless. After letting out a soft “oh,” she asked instead,

 

“Son, what exactly do you want your mom to say? That you’re tall and handsome? Charming and good-looking? Or that you take relationships seriously?”

 

Those last four words sounded almost like mockery.

 

Zhou Yang held back for a moment, then laughed in anger.

 

“How am I not serious?”

 

“I never said you weren’t,” Su Qian replied with a chuckle. Then her tone turned unexpectedly earnest.
“Zhou Yang… you actually care about this sort of thing?”

 

She was genuinely asking.

 

On Zhou Yang’s end, he found himself speechless.

 

He tapped the desk once, twice, then said,

 

“Why wouldn’t I care?”

 

“Well, that really is rare,” Su Qian replied.

 

Zhou Yang gave a short snort of laughter.

 

“Hanging up.”

 

“Good night.”

 

After Su Qian said good night, Zhou Yang turned off his phone and tossed it onto the desk. He opened the cigarette case, took out a cigarette, lit it, and leaned against the desk, smoking while his thoughts drifted back to Su Hao.

 

He did not know what time he finally went to bed. Zhou Yang had always kept the habit of exercising in the morning. At around five, he went out for a run. After coming back, he went down to the basement gym to work out some more.

 

Sweaty all over, he took a shower, wiped his hair, and went upstairs. He picked up his phone. It was almost seven.

 

After breakfast, it would be a little past eight—Su Hao should be awake by then.

 

He typed:

 

“Awake?”

 

Three words, sent.

 

At that moment, new messages popped up in the group chat.

 

Li Yi: Liu Yan’s bar opens tonight.
Xu Dian: Yeah, I know.
Jiang Yu: Where’s Zhou Yang? Bring Su Hao along and introduce her properly.
Zhou Yang: Okay.
Zhou Yang: I just messaged her.

 

Jiang Yu: Oh? You主动 messaged her?
Xu Dian: You actually send messages to women on your own now?
Li Yi: Tsk, what’s so surprising? He already knelt. He might even cry next.

 

Xu Dian: Hahahahaha.
Jiang Yu: Remember back when Zhou Yang was dating Shi Lin? Every time she couldn’t reach him, she’d message me instead. Damn.
Xu Dian: I got harassed too.
Li Yi: Li Xiu was the same—always asking me, “Is Zhou Yang there?”

 

Zhou Yang: …Don’t you guys proactively text your own wives?

 

The group went silent.

 

A few seconds later—

 

Li Yi: I really don’t.

 

Zhou Yang: Figures.

 

Li Yi: ……

 

After tying his tie, Zhou Yang checked his phone again.

 

Su Hao still hadn’t replied after half an hour.

 

He frowned and called her.

 

It rang for a while before she picked up.

 

“Why did you take so long to answer? And you didn’t reply on WeChat either.”

 

“I’m late. I’m rushing right now—no time to check,” Su Hao said breathlessly.

 

Only then did Zhou Yang finally relax. He walked down the stairs, his tie still hanging loose.

 

“Alright. Go to work.”

 

He had actually stared at his phone for half an hour just to wait for her reply.

 

Damn it.

 

Su Hao really was late.

 

Nearly ten minutes late, in fact.

 

The main reason was that a pipe burst in their bathroom that morning. She and Cheng Ling struggled with it for a long time but couldn’t fix it. In the end, they stuffed it with a towel, yet water was still leaking everywhere.

 

Not knowing who to call, Su Hao phoned Zhang Xinhua.

 

He kept rejecting the call.

 

Only after she sent a message telling him to call back immediately did he finally pick up.

 

The moment he answered, he said,

 

“Sister-in-law, what can I do for you?”

 

After Su Hao explained the situation, Zhang Xinhua immediately said,

 

“I’ll send someone over right away. Don’t worry, sister-in-law. Is there someone at home now?”

 

“Yes. My mom is here.”

 

“That’s great. Don’t worry.”

 

After speaking, he hung up as if she were something to be avoided at all costs.

 

Su Hao did not even have time for breakfast. She grabbed her bag and rushed to the office.

 

The moment she walked in, several people stared at her.

 

They were starving.

 

Su Hao immediately apologized.

 

No one blamed her for being late—they were just hungry.

 

So everyone rushed at the food like wolves.

 

Qiqi even made Su Hao a cup of milk. Su Hao took it and thanked her.

 

Qiqi sat down, glanced at her collar, and noticed the bit of skin exposed because Su Hao had been in such a hurry to get dressed.

 

One second later, Qiqi leaned in and whispered into her ear:

 

“You slept together?”

 

Su Hao froze. Instinctively, she covered her neck.

 

“No. Just kissing.”

 

“He’s that aggressive? He kissed you hard enough to leave marks?” Qiqi asked, laughing softly.

 

Su Hao’s face flushed.

 

“My skin is just like this.”

 

“So… sensual,” Qiqi teased.

 

Su Hao pushed her away.

 

Qiqi laughed. She was already married and spent all day around Yan Chong. She had no filter at all and dared to say anything.

 

She used to be in a pregnancy-planning group too, and the conversations there were even more outrageous. Later she left the group after deciding not to have a baby for now.

 

Compared to that, Su Hao’s shy and reserved reactions were far more entertaining to her.

 

Qiqi kept teasing her until Su Hao blushed all over.

 

In the end, Su Hao hid in the storeroom and used concealer to cover the marks on her neck. Only then did she feel relieved.

 

When she came back out, Qiqi was already too busy to joke around anymore. Su Hao finally relaxed and began handling yesterday’s orders.

 

Only after she finished a batch of work did she notice Zhou Yang’s messages.

 

Zhou Yang: Why were you late this morning?
Su Hao: A pipe burst at home.
Zhou Yang: Huh?
Zhou Yang: Did you call Zhang Xinhua?
Su Hao: I did.
Zhou Yang: Okay.
Zhou Yang: I told you before—that place isn’t suitable to live in.

 

Su Hao: Got it. You’re so naggy.

 

Zhou Yang: ?
Zhou Yang: I’m naggy?

 

Who was naggy?

 

Zhou Yang could hardly believe it.

 

Just then, Lu Qi called out to him.

 

“President Zhou, over here.”

 

Zhou Yang slipped his phone into his pocket, rolled up his sleeves, walked over, and tugged at his tie.

 

An engineer immediately made space for him and handed him a modified model gun.

 

“This is the model Commander Nie mentioned last time. Take a look.”

 

Zhou Yang took it.

 

The engineer, also in uniform, said,

 

“The model is heavier than the real thing, but this is the comparison chart. The accuracy is the same.”

 

Leaning lazily against the table, Zhou Yang compared the data. His brows were sharp, his expression focused.

 

Smoking was forbidden at the base. He licked the corner of his lips and asked Lu Qi,

 

“What about the materials?”

 

“They’ll arrive in a week.”

 

Zhou Yang compared again.

 

“Next week, have Nie Ju come over. Make a real one and show him.”

 

“Okay.”

 

As he moved, his long leg accidentally kicked a white pipe on the floor.

 

He glanced down at it.

 

Suddenly—

 

He thought of water pipes.

 

Su Hao’s pipe burst?

 

A burst pipe.

 

He set the model down, pulled out his phone, walked aside, and called Zhang Xinhua.

 

Zhang Xinhua answered quickly.

 

“Morning, brother.”

 

“Su Hao’s pipe burst at home. Did you send someone?”

 

“Yes, yes. It’s almost fixed now.”

 

Zhang Xinhua sounded rather pleased with himself.

 

Zhou Yang narrowed his eyes and smiled faintly.

 

“Don’t fix it.”

 

“…Huh?”

 

Zhang Xinhua froze for a few seconds.

 

Zhou Yang didn’t say anything. He walked outside, lit a cigarette, and looked at the clear sky. It was bright, just a bit cold.

 

After about two seconds, Zhang Xinhua suddenly understood.

 

“Got it. It broke again.”

 

Zhou Yang gave a low “Mm.”

 

Then he hung up.

 

He turned back into the office, grabbed his car keys, put on his coat, and said to Lu Qi, who had just walked in,

 

“I’m heading out. Cancel the afternoon meeting.”

 

“But that meeting has been prepared for over a week…” Lu Qi looked confused.

 

“We’ll do it tomorrow morning. The materials aren’t even here yet. What exactly are you going to report to me?”

 

Zhou Yang glanced at him lightly.

 

Cold sweat broke out on Lu Qi’s back.

 

“Understood. I’ll follow up.”

 

Zhou Yang snorted and walked out.

 

After hesitating for a few seconds, Lu Qi called after him,

 

“President Zhou… are you going to fix a water pipe?”

 

The only response was the sound of a car door slamming shut.

 

Bang.

 

Lu Qi muttered sympathetically,

 

“For a CEO to end up fixing water pipes… that’s rough.”

 

After Su Hao messaged Zhang Xinhua, someone came to fix the pipe about one or two hours later.

 

Cheng Ling opened the door and let them in.

 

They worked very quickly and seemed to have almost finished. Cheng Ling hurried downstairs to buy water for them.

 

Just as she handed the bottles over, one of the workers fiddled with the pipe again—no one knew exactly what he did.

 

And then—

 

The water sprayed out even more violently.

 

The man looked at Cheng Ling.

 

“Sorry, Auntie. It broke again.”

 

Cheng Ling was stunned.

 

“Wasn’t it just fixed?”

 

“Yes… we still need to work on it…”

 

At that moment, footsteps came from the stairwell.

 

Cheng Ling turned around—and saw Zhou Yang.

 

She froze.

 

Zhou Yang walked in with a smile.

 

“Auntie Cheng, what’s going on? I happened to pass by and saw your door open.”

 

His narrow eyes glanced toward the bathroom.

 

Cheng Ling poured him a glass of water.

 

“They’re fixing the pipe. It was just repaired, and now it broke again.”

 

“Oh?” Zhou Yang took the glass and walked over lazily.

 

Inside the bathroom, several workers stood silently, waiting for him to speak.

 

Zhou Yang took a sip of water, his eyes smiling, then turned to Cheng Ling.

 

“Why don’t I try? I actually know how to fix this.”

 

“You do?” Cheng Ling was doubtful.
“Zhou Yang, you’d better leave it to the professionals.”

 

“It’s fine. I’ll do it.”

 

As he spoke, he set the glass down, took off his coat, casually draped it over the sofa, loosened his tie, and removed his watch.

 

Watching him go through all that, Cheng Ling grew even more nervous.

 

This man looked so refined and carefree—was he really going to squeeze into a cramped bathroom and fix a pipe?

 

She felt extremely uneasy.

 

Turning away, she quickly sent Su Hao a message.

 

Cheng Ling: Zhou Yang just happened to pass by and is helping us fix the water pipe now.

 

When Su Hao received the message, she froze.

 

She glanced at her chat with Zhang Xinhua. Half an hour ago, he had very obediently told her that it was almost done.

 

Why was it Zhou Yang fixing it now?

 

She checked the time. It was almost the end of the workday, and most things were already settled.

 

She asked Qiqi for two hours off, grabbed her bag, and left.

 

When she got home, she happened to run into the other workers leaving.

 

As she brushed past them, she heard them mutter something under their breath.

 

Su Hao frowned slightly.

 

She walked in.

 

The moment Cheng Ling saw her, she grabbed her and pointed toward the bathroom.

 

Su Hao immediately noticed the coat, tie, and watch on the sofa.

 

She put down her bag and said to Cheng Ling,

 

“Mom, go start cooking. Make one more portion.”

 

“Oh, okay.”

 

Cheng Ling glanced toward the bathroom once more before going into the kitchen.

 

Su Hao walked over and leaned against the bathroom door.

 

Zhou Yang was squatting on the floor. Tools were scattered beside him. He was wrapping tape around the pipe.

 

His collar was open. Light from outside fell across his brow.

 

There was less of his usual flamboyance, and more seriousness.

 

Sweat rolled down his cheek, slid to his chin, and dripped onto the floor.

 

Su Hao walked in and gently wiped his cheek with a tissue.

 

He paused, turned around, and saw it was her.

 

He curled his lips into a smile and held her hand with his wet one. His hand was cold from the water.

 

He looked at her.

 

She looked back at him, eyes curved into a gentle smile, as if she truly admired him.

 

Zhou Yang raised an eyebrow and pulled her hand down slightly.

 

“Why are you back?”

 

Su Hao smiled faintly and bent down. With her other hand, she wiped the sweat from his face.

 

Her voice was soft and tender.

 

“I came back to watch you perform.”

 

Then she lowered her voice.

 

“So… you broke the pipe again after it was fixed? Zhou Yang, you’re really something.”

 

Her voice was as gentle as water.

 

Water—cool and clear.

 

Zhou Yang’s body stiffened.