In the evening, Tang Zhi Chu took a shower and changed into clean clothes.
He'd done some cleaning and was covered in sweat.
Sitting on the sofa, Tang Zhi Chu picked up the phone from the coffee table. He had several WeChat messages.
His aunt had invited him to visit her family sometime, and his uncle had, too.
After replying to his relatives, Tang Zhi Chu opened his chat with Jiang Lan.
"Where are you? There's something I meant to give you, but I forgot."
Tang Zhi Chu rubbed his stomach. He was just getting hungry, so he typed, "Sister Lan, are you off work?"
"Nothing much going on today, so I got off early. Should I come find you?"
"I'll send you my location. Let me treat you to dinner. There's a highly rated hot pot place next door."
"I don't feel like hot pot."
"Then what do you want to eat? You name it. You're the boss today."
"Can't you cook?"
"Uh, I guess I could."
"If you don't want to, forget it. I've been running around these past few days and finally lost a little weight. I'm worried I'll put it all back on if I eat."
Tang Zhi Chu sucked in a sharp breath. That stung. Who had she been running around for? She'd even lost weight!
"But... but cooking makes me feel awful."
The other person fell silent. After a long while, she finally replied, "Sorry about that. I'll cook for you."
When Tang Zhi Chu saw her message, he pressed his palms together and bowed to the empty air.
Tang Zhi Chu and Jiang Lan met outside the supermarket.
Jiang Lan was still dressed in office wear, though today she had on tailored women's trousers, a white shirt, and a matching blazer. She looked