CH 12

Qu Zhi knew that Zheng Baozhu was also attending the cocktail party tonight, but neither of them had any intention of approaching each other. Now he suddenly received a friend request from Zheng Baozhu. Qu Zhi instinctively looked around the venue.

He didn't see any trace of Zheng Baozhu.

Knowing Zheng Baozhu well, he understood that she wouldn't send him a friend request unless something happened.

He clicked [accept], and Zheng Baozhu's message quickly arrived.

"I'm trapped in the restroom at the venue. Can I borrow your clothes for a moment?"

Qu Zhi: "..."

It was such a concise sentence, without stating the reason why she was trapped in the restroom or explaining what she needed his clothes for, but Qu Zhi somehow understood.

After all, lightning does strike twice. :)

He still remembered when he was a naive high school sophomore, he never could have imagined that he would encounter Zheng Baozhu by the restroom door during a physical education class break.

Zheng Baozhu, at that time, also didn't expect that after waiting at the restroom door for half an hour, hoping for someone to pass by, she was been surprised to hear footsteps and see Qu Zhi's face.

Zheng Baozhu was taken aback, and Qu Zhi was also momentarily stunned, but then he continued walking as if nothing had happened.

"Qu Zhi!" Zheng Baozhu called out, stopping him. Qu Zhi hesitated for a moment but eventually stopped and looked at her.

Zheng Baozhu looked at Qu Zhi's school uniform jacket with envy in her eyes, "Um, can you take off your school uniform and lend it to me?"

Their school wasn't very strict about wearing uniforms, except for the weekly flag-raising ceremony when it was mandatory. The rest of the time, students were free to wear their own clothes. Fashionable as Zheng Baozhu was, she disliked wearing the uniform, but today, for the first time, she felt the uniform offered a sense of security.

Qu Zhi remained silent for a moment. Zheng Baozhu's gaze made him contemplate—what should one do when encountering a rogue by the restroom door?

Zheng Baozhu was already in a hurry at this point. Seeing Qu Zhi's indifferent reaction, she wanted to reach out and snatch his clothing. Qu Zhi instinctively moved away, not expecting that someone would be lying in wait at the restroom entrance to rob him. Zheng Baozhu, acting as the robber, chased after him for two steps but suddenly realized something and swiftly retreated back to the safety of the restroom, seemingly as if fearing that leaving this protective circle would bring some unfortunate consequences.

Initially, Qu Zhi found Zheng Baozhu's behavior perplexing. However, as he turned to retreat into the restroom, he accidentally noticed the red stain on Zheng Baozhu's clothes.

"..."

Suddenly, everything became clear to his naive mind.

Without uttering a word, Qu Zhi took off his jacket and threw it to Zheng Baozhu, then without looking back, he entered the men's restroom.

Zheng Baozhu instinctively paused for a moment, then immediately put on the school uniform, zipping it up.

Qu Zhi was tall, so his school uniform completely covered Zheng Baozhu's body. Zheng Baozhu was finally liberated from the restroom's confinement and quickly ran out. She found Meng Yaxin, who was engrossed in watching a match, and tugged at her forcefully, "Meng Yaxin."

"Baozhu, you finally came back. Zhuo Haoyu just scored a goal..." Meng Yaxin stopped mid-sentence, only then realizing that the uniform Zheng Baozhu was wearing didn't belong to her, "Where did you get the school uniform from?"

"It's Qu Zhi's."

Upon hearing that name, Meng Yaxin exaggeratedly covered her mouth, "What? Why are you wearing Qu Zhi's school uniform?" She raised an eyebrow, implying something, "You two..."

"You're overthinking it," Zheng Baozhu firmly interrupted her, "I have something else to tell you."

When Qu Zhi returned to the scene, he saw Zheng Baozhu whispering something into Meng Yaxin's ear. After hearing it, Meng Yaxin shook her head at first, but then seemed to have thought of something. She took Zheng Baozhu and went to find another student in their class.

The three students gathered together, engaged in a hushed conversation, and this time, the other student nodded. The three of them walked towards the restroom together.

"..."

Sometimes, Qu Zhi hated how smart he was. He had actually understood the silent performance they just had. But it was the first time he learned that students could borrow things from each other in this way.

The loud conversation at the party brought Qu Zhi back to his thoughts. He lowered his head and looked at the message Zheng Baozhu had just sent him. He replied, "Wait for me."

Zheng Baozhu's phone, which she held in her hand, made a "ding" sound. She quickly checked the message and felt relieved.

After a while, footsteps could be heard at the entrance. It wasn't the sound of high heels, but rather the sound of leather shoes stepping on the floor.

Cough, cough.

Someone outside lightly coughed twice and softly called, "Zheng Baozhu."

Zheng Baozhu quickly ran out and saw Qu Zhi wearing a light gray waistcoat in the corridor, holding the suit jacket that he had been wearing earlier.

"Thank you!" Zheng Baozhu didn't say much, she just took the jacket from his hand and quickly moved to lean against the wall.

Qu Zhi: "..."

Back in the room, when Zheng Baozhu put on the jacket, she discovered a packet of sanitary pads in the suit pocket. The simple and elegant packaging had the words "ultra-thin" written on it, and there were a total of five pads inside.

... Zheng Baozhu didn't dwell on how Qu Zhi got these as she silently took out one pad.

Qu Zhi stood in the corridor and waited for a while until Zheng Baozhu came out wearing his suit jacket. The suit fit him perfectly, but now that it was on Zheng Baozhu, it looked oversize on her.

Zheng Baozhu once again noticed the difference in size between men and women. Qu Zhi's suit completely covered her body; the shoulders were much wider, giving the outfit a powerful presence.

The two of them stood at the restroom door, the atmosphere slightly awkward. Qu Zhi didn't say anything, while Zheng Baozhu, in her "I'm not awkward, awkward is for other people" mode, smiled at him nonchalantly and said, "I'll go back first. I'll wash your jacket and return it to you."

"Okay," Qu Zhi responded casually and walked out with her, "I'm leaving too."

"Alright," Zheng Baozhu didn't ask if he succeeded in impressing closing any deals, she just wanted to leave as soon as possible. They walked through the crowd, attracting some curious glances, especially towards the jacket she was wearing, which sparked people's imaginations.

Qi Sheng, who was busy selling the robot, also caught sight of them. He was also filled with curiosity, but could only watch them leave the party.

After leaving the venue, Zheng Baozhu finally sighed with relief, and Qu Zhi lightly hummed beside her. He spoke up, "I never expected that in my short twenty-five years of life, I would encounter you getting trapped in the restroom twice."

"..."

Zheng Baozhu remained silent.

Qu Zhi continued, "So many years have passed, yet some people have only grown in age, not in maturity. History always has surprising similarities."

"..."

Zheng Baozhu couldn't help but speak, "Aren't you going a bit too far? It was just an accident."

Qu Zhi looked at her and said, "Don't tell me you can't even remember your own menstrual cycle?"

Zheng Baozhu said, "You don't think it's always on time every month, do you?"

Qu Zhi: "..."

Seeing him speechless, Zheng Baozhu smiled playfully and said, "As an elite talent like you, you must have heard of hormonal imbalances, right?" She clicked her tongue and continued, "I'm sure my hormonal imbalance is all because of you, getting on my nerves."

"...Ha."

Zheng Baozhu unlocked her car and glanced at Qu Zhi beside her, "I drove here. Do you want to ride together?"

Qu Zhi took a moment to assess the situation and asked, "Did you drink alcohol just now?"

"No, do you want to come or not?" Zheng Baozhu opened the car door and got in. Qu Zhi stood outside for a second before following her into the car.

He didn't sit in the front passenger seat but chose the backseat. Zheng Baozhu didn't question it; in fact, it suited her preferences. She took out a pair of flat shoes that she always kept in the car, bent down to change them, and Qu Zhi curiously glanced at her, "What are you doing?"

"Changing shoes."

Qu Zhi raised an eyebrow unexpectedly and said, "I didn't expect you to have a sense of safety."

"Yes, indeed. After all, there are very few like me, losing even one is a huge loss to the world."

"..."

After driving back to the hotel, Zheng Baozhu and Qu Zhi walked in together. Xiao Yu, who saw them entering together, widened her eyes in surprise. Liang Huihui, who had just finished work, was also in the lobby and her eyes widened along with Xiao Yu's.

Both Zheng Baozhu and Qu Zhi had good appearances. They had just come from the cocktail party, dressed in sophisticated suits and formal attire. This scene could easily be inserted into any idol drama, and it would make the bullet comments flood with comments like "They're killing me!"

Liang Huihui and Xiao Yu also felt the same way.

Moreover, Zheng Baozhu was wearing a men's suit jacket, and it was clearly the one borrowed from Qu Zhi!

"Miss Baozhu, Mr. Qu, what's going on with you two?" Liang Huihui couldn't contain her curiosity and asked. Zheng Baozhu paused for a second, smiled, and explained, "Oh, we just came back from the cocktail party. I felt a bit cold, so Qu Zhi lent me his jacket."

"Oh, I see," Everything sounded reasonable, and Liang Huihui believed it without any doubts. When Zheng Baozhu and Qu Zhi entered the elevator, she excitedly exclaimed to Xiao Yu, "Miss Baozhu and Mr. Qu are such a perfect match! When they walked in just now, they looked even better than the idol dramas I've seen!"

"Yeah, absolutely!" Xiao Yu echoed, "And isn't Qu Zhi so handsome! I'm totally shipping this couple!"

"I'm shipping them too!"

Unbeknownst to Zheng Baozhu, her employees were already shipping her with her archenemy. Once she returned to her room, she immediately busied herself with tidying up. After finishing her toiletries, she picked up Qu Zhi's suit and examined it. Although there were no stains, it still needed to be cleaned. The fabric looked high-quality, so she decided to take it to the shop where she usually cleans her formal wear.

Lying on the bed, Zheng Baozhu felt much more comfortable. Now she had the time to check the messages on her phone and found that the wages from the set were already paid. She received a total of 220 yuan.

"Wow!" Zheng Baozhu felt somewhat happy. Although the amount wasn't much, it was the first money she earned as an actress. Being an extra on a set wasn't easy, and the pay was not even comparable to a regular job in a factory, but there were still many people fighting for chances in the Film and Television City.

Perhaps it was because everyone still had dreams in their hearts.

Zheng Baozhu inexplicably felt something, looking at the framed composition on the wall. The handwriting was childish, but every stroke was written with seriousness: "Keep up the good work, future star!"