Chapter 12

Chapter 7: Is This Considered Cold Violence? (1/2)

Hearing her words, Chu Jinhan’s fingers tapping on the keyboard paused briefly before resuming their rhythm.

Without even raising his head, he spoke in a tone void of emotion: “Paying so much attention to other people’s business—are you that free?”

Hu Yao, however, seemed entirely oblivious to the coldness in his voice. Instead, she leaned in closer, her face flushed with excited expectation.

“I’m serious! It’s been two whole days now. Based on her usual check-in frequency, she would have called the front desk multiple times by now.”

She wasn't wrong—Song Yunfei really had been that terrifying before. Whenever she couldn't reach Chu Jinhan, she would bombard the front desk with phone calls, interrogating them about his whereabouts or demanding they transfer the call straight to him.

Though the two of them spoke in low voices, everyone else in the office caught every word. They couldn't help but perk up their ears—especially the unmarried single female colleagues, who suddenly dialed their attention up to maximum.

Half of the single women in the office had harbored designs on him, though none were as thick-skinned as Hu Yao, nor did they sit as close to his desk.

Chu Jinhan finally raised his eyes, casting a cool, indifferent glance at her. “If you put even half of your focus into actual work, your client wouldn't have called my line yesterday.”

The smile on Hu Yao’s face froze. She straightened up with a sheepish, embarrassed expression. “I... I just didn't notice, alright? What’s the big deal anyway? I’m genuinely curious—did you two get into a fight, or did you actually split up? Come on, tell me.”

“It seems your workload is still too light. Do you need me to ask President He to assign you more tasks?”

Hu Yao was choked up by his reply, her face turning pale and green with a mix of embarrassment and humiliation.

“Fine, keep it to yourself then!” Hu Yao muttered under her breath, slumping back into her chair to pretend she was busy typing away on her keyboard.

Chu Jinhan turned his focus back to the computer screen in front of him. Looking at the chatbox where the client was continuously sending messages, his mind drifted away.

A moment later, he pulled out his phone.

There was a long list of messages, but not a single one was from Song Yunfei.

This woman.

Why the sudden, drastic change?

Late in the afternoon, right when it was almost time to clock off, Song Yunfei finally sent her very first message in two days.

She asked Chu Jinhan what time he was getting off work.

Chu Jinhan waited ten full minutes before replying. During that interval, Song Yunfei didn't resort to her usual phone-call bombardment to demand why he hadn't replied right away.

When Song Yunfei saw his text, her expression brightened. She hurriedly sent him a voice message back.

“Come meet up with me later! The shopping mall across the street is holding a lucky draw, and the first prize is a free air conditioner!”

She had just spotted it while handing out flyers outside earlier—as long as you bought something at the mall exceeding fifty yuan, you got an entry into the raffle. With both her and Chu Jinhan, they could enter multiple times. More importantly, she needed someone to carry everything home.

Chu Jinhan didn't text her back again.

Song Yunfei knitted her brows slightly. She had no idea whether the guy had agreed or not—couldn't he at least give her a clear answer on whether he was coming?

Half an hour later, she finally received his short reply: [I’m here]

Song Yunfei blinked in surprise, then stood up with a happy smile, grabbed her bag, and dashed out.

From afar, she spotted the man in the white shirt standing at the edge of the plaza outside the mall.

He was sitting sideways on an electric scooter, looking down as his fingers played with his phone.

This electric scooter was a secondhand vehicle he had bought specifically for food delivery. The battery wasn't great, so he usually saved it strictly for making deliveries. He rarely rode it to and from his main job; after delivering food at night, he would park it at the company to charge, then catch a ride back with their neighbor, Wang Yi.

Yet today, he had actually ridden his beat-up electric scooter over.

Song Yunfei jogged up to him. “Chu Jinhan, I’m here! How come you rode your electric scooter over?”

Chu Jinhan tucked his phone away and looked up at her.

“Riding is more convenient.”

Song Yunfei thought it made sense—carrying a bunch of heavy items later would be a nightmare on the crowded bus anyway.

She tossed her bag into the scooter's rear storage trunk, then turned to him. “Let’s go then! If we’re late, someone else might win the grand prize.”

Chu Jinhan gave a low hum of agreement, and the two walked side by side into the shopping mall.