CH 21.1

Shen Zhiqian returned to the car with the birthday cake and then drove back to Ning Qingqing’s community again.

In the past, Ning Qingqing had helped him get an access card, so he could park his car in the underground visitors’ garage.

After parking the car, Shen Zhiqian followed the familiar path to Ning Qingqing’s apartment building, swiped his card to go up to the floor, and knocked on Ning Qingqing’s door.

He knocked three times in a row, but there was no sound from inside, so Shen Zhiqian put his ear close to the crack of the door and listened again.

After making sure that no one was there, he thought since Ning Qingqing had blocked all his contacts, he could only send her a message. “Qingqing, I’m waiting for you at your apartment.”

After doing so, he held the cake in one hand and pressed the combination lock of Ning Qingqing’s apartment with the other.

Pressing the familiar numbers one after another, Shen Zhiqian waited for the sound of unlocking.

However, when he pressed the last pound key, the combination lock beeped three times.

Shen Zhiqian was stunned for a moment, and this time he repeated it attentively.

However, the lock still beeped the same error message.

""

He stood at the door in a daze, realizing that Ning Qingqing had changed the password.

At this moment, he couldn’t describe how he felt.

He even remembered when Ning Qingqing moved here not long after graduation, she had left her phone at home when she went out. He couldn’t find her, so he came to the apartment.

However, no one was in the apartment, and he got so worried he called anyone he could.

Later, when Ning Qingqing finally came back, she told him the password and even saved his fingerprint for emergencies.

At this moment, Shen Zhiqian could come to a conclusion, but it was like he still wanted proof, so he put his right thumb on the fingerprint sensor.

Beep Beep Beep.

Hearing this answer, all the expectations in his eyes were extinguished.

She was serious, she really wanted to break up with him.

In the nine years they had been together, it’s not that they hadn’t quarreled, but she was a pretty sensible girl. Others’ girlfriends may always mention breaking up, and sometimes they may even say it out for fun.

But Ning Qingqing didn’t mention it, no matter how angry she got, she wouldn’t say something that had irreparable consequences.

Shen Zhiqian felt fear gripping his heart inch by inch. For the first time, he felt particularly uneasy while waiting, so he couldn’t help but ask his group of childhood friends, “Is marriage really that important?”

The sentence came out of nowhere, but all the boys exploded into action.

Someone teased, “It can’t be, Brother Qian, you’re being forced to marry?”

“Haha, Brother Qian, did your sister-in-law discuss marriage with you? I say, be happy. Unlike my girlfriend, when I asked about getting married, she said she still wanted to play for another two years!”

“Zhiqian, why did you ask about this suddenly? I remember that you seemed to be anti-marriage?”

Shen Zhiqian replied, “She asked me about it before, but I didn’t answer directly, and now she wants to break up.”

“Sister-in-law is just kidding, right? You’ve been together for several years. How could you just split up? Maybe she just said it out of anger?”

“But to be honest, Brother Qian, have you really not considered getting married? After all, girls can’t afford to wait.”

Shen Zhiqian replied, “We are still young, I haven’t thought about it.”

“Brother Qian, isn’t this your problem? When she asked you whether you wanted to get married or not, you should at least give an answer. If you don’t respond, she won’t feel secure.”

“Zhiqian, if you don’t plan to get married, and the other party is more traditional, I suggest that you make your intentions clear early, so as to not waste each other’s time.”

Shen Zhiqian messaged his temple when he saw the last message.

He was about to say something when another friend suddenly asked, “Brother Qian, if you only had two options: 1) you don’t get married and break up 2) you get married, which one would you choose?”

Seeing this question, Shen Zhiqian felt as if he was hammered by something.

Basically only hesitating for half a second, he already knew the answer——

He didn’t accept the breakup.

Although he resisted marriage, more importantly, he felt suffocated and unbearable from the thought that Ning Qingqing might completely disappear from his world!

His heart had already given him the answer, so he didn’t reply to the message but opened his text history with Ning Qingqing.

Not knowing if he could still send a message after being blacklisted, Shen Zhiqian typed each word one at a time, “Qingqing, I don’t want to break up, let’s get married.”

After clicking send, he leaned against the anti-theft door of Ning Qingqing’s apartment, waiting for her without moving.

This afternoon, Ning Qingqing went out to the park to exercise for a while, and only after she finished her run did she realize that an unfamiliar number had called her many times.

After she called back, she found out that it was from the security guard at Shen Group.

She could guess what was going on, so Ning Qingqing ignored it. She bought a bottle of water from a vending machine in the park and drank it as she walked, preparing to go home.

Nie Yu’s call came at this time, “Qingqing, something popped up here in Beijing. I came here to deal with it and just finished. Do you have time later? Let me introduce you to some friends from the circle?”

If Ning Qingqing wanted to join Ning Venture Capital, she would naturally need to expand her network of contacts, especially those in the financial circle, so she replied, “Okay, but I just had a run in the park, so I have to go back and change my clothes.”

After asking for her address, Nie Yu said with a smile, “I happen to be nearby. It’s still early, I’ll take you to the mall to buy some clothes first, we can chat at the same time, and I can tell you some things that are happening in our circle.”

“Sounds good.” Ning Qingqing waited at the gate of the park for a while and saw a black business car stop. Nie Yu got out from the back of the car, called Ning Qingqing, and they went to a nearby shopping mall together.