“Mm!”

Zhang Yang didn’t think twice and blurted out the reply.

Liu Qingqing was instantly even more puzzled and immediately followed up, “They’re really not here? At this hour, what could they be doing? Going to the movies? Or some other kind of activity?”

As if to mask her emotions, Liu Qingqing then deliberately teased, “What’s wrong? Are Uncle and Aunt so annoyed by your good behavior that they’ve sneaked off for a little ‘me time’ together?”

“How could that be? They wouldn’t possibly dislike me,” Zhang Yang explained. “It’s just that my aunt ran into some trouble—apparently she had a fight or even a brawl with my uncle, something like that. Anyway, it got pretty serious. My aunt went straight to my parents and cried her eyes out, so they quickly bought tickets and headed off to Yuncheng.”

“Yuncheng?”

Liu Qingqing asked, clearly intrigued.

Zhang Yang nodded. “Yeah, my aunt lives in Yuncheng. I just never mentioned it to you before. After all, she’s quite the free-spirited adventurer—every few years she moves to a new place, makes a splash here and there, and never stays put for long.”

“Oh.”

Liu Qingqing remained skeptical, but still felt uneasy inside.

Rather than hanging up right away, she quickly switched tactics and asked Zhang Yang slyly, “So have you called your aunt yet? Is everything okay over there…? Nothing serious, right?”

“What could possibly happen? From what I know about my aunt, if anything were to go wrong, it’d be my uncle who’s in trouble. Forget it—let my parents meddle as much as they want. Let’s get back to talking about us. Have you decided what we’re going to eat? I’ll see if we should reserve a table first.”

Zhang Yang showed no sign of suspicion, but he also didn’t want to dwell on the subject of his aunt any longer. So he deftly changed the topic, skipping right over it and returning straight to the dinner they’d been discussing.

Liu Qingqing wanted to ask a bit more, but she worried that asking too many questions might make Zhang Yang suspicious, so she reluctantly held back for now and smiled as she replied, “Whatever you pick is delicious—go ahead and choose. I’ll just focus on eating.”

“Alright, you little glutton,” he said, his voice brimming with affection.

Liu Qingqing couldn’t help but smile.

But as she smiled, she suddenly and unexpectedly found herself habitually thinking: How wonderful it would be if these very words came from another man’s mouth—spoken directly to her! How sweet they’d sound!

And yet…

Just the thought of that damn man made Liu Qingqing’s teeth itch uncontrollably.

For so many years now!

She had never treated—or tried to please—a man the way she did with him. From childhood to adulthood, it was always men who revolved around her, eagerly hoping she’d spare them even a single glance.

Only that one man, though, acted as if he were blind and foolish. No matter how hard she tried to win him over, how cautiously she probed, or how far she lowered her pride and principles, he remained completely indifferent. All he ever had in his eyes was that bitch, Li Ci!

Even today, Liu Qingqing still can’t understand what on earth Li Ci could possibly have that was so special.

She wasn’t as smart as Liu Qingqing, not as beautiful, and certainly not as socially adept. Compared with Liu Qingqing, she was utterly worthless—but somehow, she managed to catch that man’s eye. Not only did she become his one and only girlfriend, but he practically doted on her, spoiling her rotten!

Why?

Just why?

The more Liu Qingqing thought about it, the angrier she became. Even after all these years, the memory still made her teeth grind with frustration.

At that moment, standing by the floor-to-ceiling window in the office break room, gazing out at the neon lights and countless twinkling city lights, Liu Qingqing once again felt her chest trembling with anger at that man she considered hopelessly blind, her teeth clenched so tightly they began to chatter.

After exchanging a few perfunctory, flirtatious remarks with Zhang Yang, Liu Qingqing hung up the phone, looked up at the silvery moon shining brightly in the sky, and a single tear quietly slipped down the corner of her eye.

End of Chapter 206: Counterattack 133