QTIMP -Chapter 155 Character Persona – Love Brained (Part 26)

Si Qiu had only taken a few steps when she ran into her aunt, rushing over anxiously.

“What’s wrong? That woman giving you trouble?”

She moved as if to go confront her, but Si Qiu grabbed her.

“Aunt, stop it. I was nearly furious enough to pass out just now. If you go over there now, do you think we’d even make it out of the Zhou residence?”

Si Anqi immediately slammed on the brakes and turned to look at Si Qiu. Si Qiu led her to the small balcony and recounted everything that had happened just now, in full detail.

Si Anqi reached out and patted the railing. “Just call her Xu Fengluan ambitious, but with no matching intelligence. She wants to approach someone in the Public Security Bureau, so coming after you is even more fitting. Which family in the national Public Security Bureau doesn’t have influence? The Song family included.”

Si Qiu looked puzzled. “Then why does she look down on me?”

It wasn’t that she cared—it was pure curiosity.

As for why Xu Fengluan acted that way? She had simply been provoked by her sister-in-law. The moment she came back, she overheard her sister-in-law praising her son.

She should have been pleased, but upon understanding the reason, she realized it was because her son already had a partner. Hearing her sister-in-law’s compliments for that girl, a wave of unexplainable anger rose in her.

Liking someone might be difficult, but disliking someone doesn’t even require seeing them.

Among the three Zhou brothers, the one she looked down on the most was the eldest’s family. Zhou Jintao of the main branch was a professor, not particularly capable.

But the main branch’s sister-in-law was the deputy director of the Finance Bureau, and she was rumored to be on the verge of full promotion. At home, the old master might not heed the eldest son, but he would still listen to his daughter-in-law.

So Xu Fengluan felt a bit uneasy, but being a woman, she couldn’t make much of a fuss. In comparison, Zhou Jinzhou was far better than Zhou Jintao.

She thought to herself that in the future, the Zhou family’s network and resources would all belong to the third branch. But who knew the second son would suddenly rise so swiftly? The old master, being partial, bypassed their generation and handed his connections directly to Zhou Chengyu.

This was also why she had hurriedly brought her son back as soon as his vacation began. She wanted him to be close to the old master, hoping to gain some advantage. But before she could even get any benefits, he had already been charmed by a “vixen.”

When the time came, the old master, supported by Zhou Chengyu, came out and spoke a few simple words.

Then he left the others behind to network while he went to reunite with old friends.

Seeing the old master leave, Xu Fengluan wanted to make a dramatic entrance to regain the upper hand.

Si Qiu and Si Anqi turned and saw the imposing figure approaching, ready to meet her head-on.

Sure enough, Xu Fengluan came over, first sizing them both up from head to toe, then speaking in a condescending tone.

“The Si family’s company isn’t small either, yet why are the two legitimate young ladies of the Si family dressed so plainly? Could it be that something happened at the Si company?”

It was unclear whether she truly had no memory or if she was just taking advantage of being on Zhou family territory, repeatedly acting out of line.

Just as Si Anqi was about to respond, she suddenly heard someone say:

“Aunt Third.”

Zhou Chengyu walked over with a wine glass in hand. “Si Aunt, Si Qiu, welcome here. Grandpa mentioned you to me just now! But today has been far too busy to properly entertain you. I hope we’ll have time to meet again in the future.”

“Grandpa Zhou is far too courteous. Being able to pay respects to him is a blessing for us juniors,” Si Anqi said, glancing at Xu Fengluan. “The Zhou family is so hospitable, and we really feel guilty for imposing.”

Zhou Chengyu also turned his gaze toward Xu Fengluan. A gentle smile still lingered at the corner of his mouth, but his voice had grown noticeably colder.

“Third Aunt, Grandpa has already said before: the Zhou family is upright and honorable. The descendants of the Zhou family must never do anything that damages the family’s reputation. Otherwise, he would personally make the decision to expel them from the family records.”

Xu Fengluan’s hand trembled as she held her wine glass. She knew this was the old man’s warning—about all the efforts she had been putting in for her maternal family these past few days.

But that was the family that gave her life; how could she ignore them? Still, she truly didn’t have the courage to clash with the old man, so she forced out an awkward smile.

“Look, as Chengyu said, I’ve been in the Zhou family for nearly twenty years. The Xu family is my home, and the Zhou family is my home too!”

Zhou Chengyu understood what she meant, but he didn’t argue over it. He simply nodded with restrained acknowledgment.

“I’m glad you understand.”

Then he turned to Si Qiu and extended his hand. “Qiuqiu, little sister, may I have the honor of inviting you to dance with me?”

Si Qiu hadn’t wanted to dance with him—this was the future head of the Zhou family, and such prominence didn’t suit her. But when she saw Xu Fengluan’s cold, sharp gaze, she had no choice.

She set down her wine glass and lightly placed her hand in his. Zhou Chengyu’s presence alone was enough to intimidate the third branch of the family.

The two glided into the dance floor. Zhou Chengyu noticed that she still seemed down and smiled softly.

“What’s wrong? Dancing with me makes you so unhappy?”

Si Qiu looked up at him, glared briefly, then dropped her head again, her voice muffled.

“You know why I’m upset—why sprinkle salt on my wound?”

Hearing this, he frowned. “Is it just because you miss Xiao Wu so much?”

“We’ve been together for so long… I really still like him…”

Si Qiu’s voice cracked as she tried to hold back tears, swallowing her words with a sob.

Zhou Chengyu felt both anger and heartache. He glanced around and noticed many people were watching, so he lowered his voice.

“Hey, you better hold it in! There are quite a few people here. If someone sees this… don’t even think about how they’d gossip—you’d be accused of me bullying you!”

Si Qiu lifted her tear-filled eyes to him, sniffled, and said softly, “Got it.”

Those three words choked him up—“Good girl.”

Si Qiu didn’t argue further and added, “After this dance, I want to go back with Aunt first.”

Zhou Chengyu took a deep breath. Before the music ended, he led her across to the other side.

A few people were standing there, two of whom Si Qiu recognized.

“Brother He Shuo, Brother Bai Ye.”

“Well, our beautiful little Si Qiu,” one of them said, eyes briefly flicking to the hand Zhou Chengyu was holding, a smile of ambiguous meaning on his face.

Having grown up together, just one expression or movement was enough to know what the other was thinking. Zhou Chengyu shot him a sharp look and then said, “The young lady will be bored staying here. She’s leaving soon, so which of you two has time to escort her?”

They had already seen Xu Fengluan from the third branch leading a girl of similar age around earlier, so they naturally understood why Si Qiu wanted to leave.

They quickly nodded in agreement, suppressing anything Si Qiu might have said about a driver.

The others, unaware of the situation, simply assumed Zhou Chengyu had a bit of interest in the young lady.

So they all wore teasing expressions and didn’t say anything further.