Chapter 54

Zhou Qiyue arrived at Sijiucheng in the early hours of that night; after getting off the plane, she didn't go to disturb her parents' rest, and directly had the driver take her to Chen Yue Fu where Zhou Yinhe lived.

She knew the password to Zhou Yinhe's residence, opened the door, threw her suitcase in the entryway, and walked straight in.

Zhou Yinhe was still in Nys at the time, little knowing that someone lurking to deal with him had appeared in his home.

"Go back to the hotel, I'll stay here tonight." Zhou Qiyue glanced around, then said to the embarrassed assistant and driver who didn't dare follow her in: "Come pick me up tomorrow morning."

The assistant and driver exchanged a glance and left; Zhou Qiyue leisurely walked around, curling her lip in disdain.

The nice house had no atmosphere at all; Zhou Qiyue couldn't be bothered to look further, took a bottle of good wine from the cabinet, sat on the living-room sofa, turned on the TV, and drank while watching.

Zhou Yinhe returned home at two a. m., reeking of alcohol; seeing the lights on in the villa's living room, he frowned, instinctively thinking his mother had launched a surprise attack.

He slowly opened the door and walked in at a leisurely pace.

Zhou Qiyue sat on the sofa with her arms crossed; seeing him return, she slowly lifted her eyelids to look at the obviously drunk Zhou Yinhe.

"What time is it?"

Zhou Yinhe initially thought seeing her was a hallucination from drinking too much, but hearing Zhou Qiyue's icy voice made him realize it was real.

He said nonchalantly: "How come, I'm this old—do I still need to report what time I come home?"

As he spoke, he walked over to the long sofa, flung himself onto it and lay lazily, completely ignoring Zhou Qiyue's increasingly cold face beside him.

"No matter how old you are, you're still my brother." Zhou Qiyue stood up, reached out to tug at Zhou Yinhe's hair, and said disparagingly: "What ridiculous color did you dye it? Hurry up and dye it back."

Zhou Yinhe shook off her hand: "Don't learn from our mom, stop meddling."

Zhou Qiyue was angered by his tone and snapped: "I don't care if you put on airs with our dad, mom, brothers, and sisters, but you're putting on airs with me too—get up, or I'll go find Wen Ling to talk right now."

Zhou Yinhe opened his eyes, a flicker of displeasure crossing his gaze, and said coldly: "You dare? If you go look for her, I won't let this go."

"You won't let this go? I ask you—what are you doing at the Chu family? Are you trying to let Sijiucheng mock you as a forgetful fool? Or are you preparing to let them whisper behind your back that you're so stupid and easily fooled that Wen Ling has you running in circles?"

The more Zhou Qiyue spoke, the angrier she became; Zhou Yinhe's face darkened, his expression grim: "Do they dare?"

"They wouldn't say it openly, but what about in private? You begged Wen Ling in front of a crowd not to break up with you, and now you're groveling before everyone again—how is that? Not enough of a simp yet?" Zhou Qiyue kicked the sofa and snapped: "Get up—I'm not going to indulge you like Mom does."

Zhou Yinhe propped himself up on the sofa and sat up, saying coldly: "What's wrong with being mocked? What's wrong with being a simp? I just want Wen Ling; nothing else matters."

Zhou Qiyue gritted her teeth: "Fine, you're good at pretending—after Wen Ling left you acted indifferent, but now she's seeking you out, clinging to you for two days and your true nature shows, right? There are countless young ladies from wealthy families in Sijiucheng; if not, there's Shanghai, all of Hua Guo, even ordinary girls or celebrities and models—we wouldn't care who you like. So why must it be Wen Ling? Haven't you been hurt enough by her?"

"I've said it—I only want Wen Ling, I only like Wen Ling." Zhou Yinhe repeated, word by word, for her to hear.

Zhou Qiyue laughed at her brother's words, nodding: "Fine, you want it, you like it—just don't blame me for not warning you when she can't get through the Zhou family gate someday."

"Then I'll just become a live-in son-in-law." Zhou Yinhe curled his lip, returning her gaze without yielding.

Zhou Qiyue suddenly raised her hand; Zhou Yinhe didn't dodge, just stared straight at her.

"Do as you please."

Zhou Qiyue didn't actually strike; she turned with slightly red eyes, grabbed her bag and headed out. Seeing her eyes reddened, Zhou Yinhe felt a twinge of guilt, rose awkwardly, and asked: "Where are you going?"

"Don't bother." Zhou Qiyue tossed out two words and was about to leave.

Zhou Yinhe caught up with her, grabbed her arm, pressed his lips together, and said: "You're staying here tonight—it's too late for anyone to pick you up."

Zhou Qiyue glanced back at him; of the four siblings, they mostly take after their father, only Zhou Yinhe resembles their mother, but those eyes are inherited from their father.

She actually felt sorry for her brother, and eventually softened her tone: "What's so good about Wen Ling? Making you unable to let go—even if, because of her, you..."

"Don't bring up the past." Zhou Yinhe said firmly: "You're staying here tonight."

Zhou Qiyue sighed, shook off his hand, and went upstairs by herself.

She sat on the sofa for a while when Ning Qing's call came in.

Zhou Qiyue glanced at the clock—it was almost three—and answered with a frown: "Mom, what time is it? Why aren't you asleep yet?"

Ning Qing said earnestly: "Qiyue, I can't sleep; listen to me. Your brother has been stubborn since childhood, he listens to nobody—even when your grandfather was alive, he couldn't be controlled. You've seen it yourself. When you come back, don't argue with him—I'm not playing favorites, I just don't want you to get upset."

She truly hadn't meant to favor her younger son; it's just that his temperament is all too clear to her, and she can't control him—she might end up angering herself instead.

Zhou Qiyue rubbed her stuffy chest from the anger and said coldly: "It's late; we've already finished arguing."

"Huh?" Ning Qing blinked: "You're back?"

"Mm, he only arrived in the early morning, we just finished arguing." Zhou Qiyue angrily said: "Who does he resemble anyway? How can he have such a foul temper."

Ning Qing gave an embarrassed laugh: "Maybe I ate something wrong while pregnant with him."

"Never mind, Mom, go to sleep early; staying up late makes you age fast. I'll go back tomorrow morning and we'll talk after seeing each other." Zhou Qiyue comforted her mother with that, then after hanging up she went to the bathroom to wash up.

Ning Qing sighed, quietly returned to the room, and as soon as she entered she heard the person who had been asleep on the bed say: "Where did you go?"

Ning Qing startled, clutching her chest, said: "You scared me to death."

Zhou Shuanglin turned on the bedside lamp, narrowed his eyes and asked: "It's already 3 a. m., why aren't you sleeping yet?"

"I just called Qiyue to try to persuade her not to argue with Xiao Wu." Ning Qing walked to the bedside, kicked off her slippers, slipped under the covers, and yawned.

Zhou Shuanglin tucked the blanket around her; although Sijiucheng had entered summer, the night temperature was still a bit cool.

"Letting Qiyue give Xiao Wu a good scolding is fine too." He said softly: "We can't control her, but maybe Qiyue can."

"Qiyue has already come back, she just finished arguing with Xiao Wu and is furious at him." Ning Qing sighed again: "Qiyue even asked me who Xiao Wu takes after—I don't know who he resembles. Neither the Ning family nor the Zhou family has anyone with such a stubborn temper; you say, could we have taken the wrong baby?"

Zhou Shuanglin was amused by her fantastic idea and comforted her: "Xiao Wu looks so much like you; how could we have taken the wrong baby?"