allendalepharm Chapter 1635 A toad crawling on the back of my foot is disgusting
Chapter 1635 A toad crawling on the back of my foot is disgusting
The next morning, sunlight streamed in through the gap in the loosely drawn curtains. Huang Zhenhua struggled to turn over, his head feeling like it was filled with lead, his temples throbbing. His stomach churned, and his throat was parched.
"water……"
No one answered.
Huang Zhenhua struggled to sit up and found himself lying on his own bed in his bedroom, covered with a blanket, with his shoes neatly arranged beside the bed.
"woke up?"
Wu Yuejiang came out of the kitchen with a glass of honey water and handed it to him: "Drink this, it'll help you sober up."
Huang Zhenhua took it and drank two mouthfuls. The sweet liquid slid down his throat, finally giving him a sense of being alive again.
"Mom, how did I get home yesterday?"
"How else could you have gotten back?" Wu Yuejiang sat down on the opposite sofa, her tone tinged with schadenfreude: "Little Qin carried you back, of course."
Huang Zhenhua's hand holding the cup froze.
"Who?"
"Xiao Qin, Qin Hao. Last night you drank yourself into a stupor, and someone carried you all the way from the restaurant to the car without saying a word, and then carried you upstairs. They were sweating profusely from the effort."
Huang Zhenhua's face darkened visibly.
He would rather be thrown out by the hotel security guards, or even spend the night lying on the roadside, than owe Qin Hao this favor.
He put the cup on the coffee table, leaned back on the sofa, stared at the ceiling, and let out a long sigh.
"No wonder generals were forbidden from drinking in ancient times; drinking leads to mistakes. My illustrious career, Huang Zhenhua, was ruined in an instant, all because of roses..."
Huang Jianzhi strolled out of the study and slowly replied, "Don't overthink it. You're not some kind of idol in your sister's eyes, so there's no need for you to feel guilty."
Huang Zhenhua: "..."
"Is this how you comfort people?" Huang Zhenhua finally couldn't hold back anymore: "You really are my own parents!"
Huang Jianzhi and Wu Yuejiang exchanged a glance, smiled knowingly, and then went their separate ways.
Huang Zhenhua stood up angrily, grabbed his coat, and headed for the door.
"Where are you going? You haven't even had breakfast yet," Wu Yuejiang called from behind.
"What time is it? Still eating breakfast?" Huang Zhenhua glanced at the clock on the wall; it was almost eleven. "I think I'll go to the office for lunch."
After saying that, he went out the door.
After going downstairs, Huang Zhenhua hailed a taxi and rushed to the design institute, where his beat-up Jetta was still parked.
As soon as he pushed open the door of the design institute, he saw a scene that made his blood pressure spike instantly.
Qin Hao was leaning against Huang Yimei's workstation, and the two were chatting about something. Huang Yimei smiled with her eyes crinkling, and Qin Hao also had a smile on his face. The scene looked surprisingly beautiful.
Huang Zhenhua's temper flared up instantly.
What are you doing here?!
He rushed over in three strides, making a noise that could be heard throughout the entire first floor.
Qin Hao turned his head, but before he could speak, a man wearing glasses jumped out from the side, grabbed Huang Zhenhua's arm, and dragged him aside.
"Boss, boss, calm down!"
Huang Zhenhua shook off Yuan Zheng's hand: "Why are you pulling me?"
Yuan Zheng lowered his voice, his glasses almost sliding down to the tip of his nose in his anxiety: "Boss, you can offend anyone but the client!"
"Even the client won't do!" Huang Zhenhua pointed at Qin Hao: "That's my sister!"
Yuan Zheng looked around and lowered his voice even further: "The dean said that if anyone messes up this deal, don't blame him for turning his back on you."
"There's a vacancy at the top, and the dean is counting on this year's performance to improve even further."
Huang Zhenhua opened his mouth, but before he could think of a rebuttal, Zhou Shihui appeared out of nowhere, pushed up his glasses, and interjected righteously, "You can't trade roses for performance."
"Exactly!" Huang Zhenhua exclaimed, as if he had found an ally. "I absolutely have to have a serious talk with him today!"
He rolled up his sleeves and was about to charge forward.
As it turned out, Qin Hao took a document from Huang Yimei, nodded to her, and turned to walk towards the conference room.
Huang Zhenhua froze in mid-air. His anger was extinguished with a "whoosh" as if a bucket of cold water had been poured over it.
He paused for two seconds, then turned to look at Huang Yimei: "Wait, why is this kid here again? What does he want with you?"
Huang Yimei picked up the water glass on the table, took a sip, and said unhurriedly, "Their company is building a high-end residential area, and they plan to use a British style as the main theme. They have some English materials that need to be translated. I translated them for you last night when you were drunk, and I just printed them out for him."
Huang Zhenhua: "..."
It was like punching cotton.
So frustrating, so incredibly frustrating!
"Why would a director be needed for this kind of errand-running work?" Huang Zhenhua persisted. "Where are his subordinates?"
Huang Yimei put down her water glass: "He said that everyone under him was busy, and he was the only one who had nothing to do, so he did odd jobs and managed logistics, which was better than being idle all day."
Huang Zhenhua's lips twitched: "He does have some self-awareness."
"And you're talking about others?" Huang Yimei's tone shifted, her eyes filled with a hint of reproach. "Don't you know your own alcohol tolerance? You insisted on competing with others in drinking. Do you know how embarrassed I was yesterday?"
Huang Zhenhua's momentum instantly diminished.
"Well... I did it all for you..."
Before she could finish speaking, Huang Yimei raised her hand to interrupt, "No, we don't practice moral blackmail in our family."
Huang Zhenhua fell silent instantly.
In the end, he could only swallow his anger and turn to walk towards the office on the second floor.
Huang Zhenhua grew angrier and angrier. He picked up a pencil and drew a line heavily on the drawing paper, but he used too much force and the pencil tip snapped with a "snap".
He threw the broken pencil into the trash can, pulled a new one from the pencil holder, and continued to vent his frustration on the drawings.
He made a few strokes, then stopped.
No, we can't just let it go like this.
He needs to think of a solution.
But what can we do?
Qin Hao is now the client, the big spender, and the dean's cash cow. What can we possibly compete with him on?
Huang Zhenhua scratched his head in frustration, crumpled the drawing into a ball and threw it into the trash can, then spread out a new one.
That day, there were seven or eight crumpled pieces of paper in his office trash can.
-
Actually, if we're talking about who's suffering the most, Huang Zhenhua isn't the one in the entire design institute.
It is Zhou Shihui.
Before Qin Hao arrived, Zhou Shihui could at least use work as an excuse to occasionally chat with Huang Yimei at her workstation.
Back then, Huang Yimei would smile at him and say a few words in response.
But everything changed after Qin Hao appeared.
Zhou Shihui discovered a pattern: whenever he appeared next to Huang Yimei, Qin Hao would appear within two minutes, using various excuses.
Sometimes they come with a document to ask about translation, sometimes they bring two cups of coffee and say, "Just passing by," and sometimes they simply stroll over without anything, stand to the side, and ask with a smile, "What are you chatting about? Want me to join you?"
Every time, Zhou Shihui wished he could twist Qin Hao's head off and use it as a football.
But he can't.
In front of Huang Yimei, he had to maintain his composure and pretend nothing was wrong.
The feeling was like having a fishbone stuck in your throat; you couldn't swallow it or spit it out, so you had to just endure it.
That afternoon, Zhou Shihui finally found an opportunity.
He searched online for a long time and found a newly opened coffee shop. It was said to have a very romantic atmosphere, with dim lighting and soothing music, making it a perfect place for dates.
Zhou Shihui straightened his collar, took a deep breath, and walked to Huang Yimei's workstation.
"Rose, are you free this afternoon?"
Huang Yimei looked up: "Teacher Zhou, is there something you need?"
“A new coffee shop opened nearby, and I heard their hand-drip coffee is pretty good.” Zhou Shihui tried to make his tone casual. “I happen to be free this afternoon, so I’ll take you there for a bit. You’ve been working hard lately, so this will be a good way to relax.”
Huang Yimei thought for a moment, just about to speak—
"You wouldn't mind taking me along, would you?"
That persistent voice appeared again.
Zhou Shihui's back stiffened.
He slowly turned around and saw Qin Hao standing behind him, his hands in his pockets and a smug smile on his face.
"Director Qin," Zhou Shihui spat out the three words through gritted teeth, "Are you that free?"
"You didn't just find out today," Qin Hao said casually.
Zhou Shihui clenched and unclenched his fists at his sides.
He looked at Huang Yimei, hoping she would say something.
But Huang Yimei generously said, "Then let's go together."
The three of them went to that coffee shop.
The mood lighting and suggestive music that Zhou Shihui carefully selected seemed particularly ironic in the context of the three-person situation.
Qin Hao sat down next to Huang Yimei, ordered an Americano, and started chatting with her about French films. Huang Yimei's eyes lit up, and she nodded frequently.
Zhou Shihui sat opposite him, holding his latte, unable to get a word in edgewise.
He studied architecture; he could talk about architecture for three days and three nights. Movies? The movies he's seen most often are Tunnel Warfare and Mine Warfare; you can't exactly talk about those with Huang Yimei, can you?
Zhou Shihui watched the two chatting happily, and almost crushed the coffee cup in his hand.
But what truly broke Zhou Shihui's defenses was what happened later.
That day, the design institute arranged for him to go to the construction site for calibration, and Huang Yimei, as his assistant, also wanted to go with him.
Zhou Shihui felt this was an opportunity.
It's a construction site inspection, so Qin Hao can't possibly come to the construction site with him, can he?
He made all the preparations in advance, shortened the acceptance process to the shortest possible time, and worked tirelessly to finish the job. What would normally take four hours, he completed in just two hours.
At 4:30 p.m., Zhou Shihui wiped the sweat from his brow, walked over to Huang Yimei, and said casually, "Yimei, you've had a hard day. It's almost lunchtime, and I know a good restaurant. How about we have dinner together?"
Huang Yimei glanced at the time and hesitated for a moment: "Isn't it too early?"
“Not too early, not too early. We’ll arrive just in time for their evening service to open.” Zhou Shihui quickly said, “Their signature dishes are limited each day, so they’ll be sold out if you go too late.”
Huang Yimei thought for a moment and nodded: "Alright then."
Zhou Shihui felt a surge of joy.
Finally, finally, this day has come!
He hailed a taxi and set off with Huang Yimei.
This restaurant has a tranquil atmosphere and exquisite dishes; it was a place he spent several days searching for.
The two sat down, and Zhou Shihui attentively pulled out a chair for Huang Yimei, handed her a menu, and introduced the signature dishes.
Everything is moving in a positive direction.
Until that voice rang out again.
"Oh, what a coincidence?"
The menu in Zhou Shihui's hand fell to the table with a "thud".
He looked up and saw Qin Hao standing by their table, wearing that smile that he loathed.
"Qin..." Zhou Shihui's voice trembled, "How did you get here?"
"Oh, I just happened to be running some errands nearby and was passing by this restaurant, thinking I'd come in for a bite," Qin Hao said casually, then looked at Huang Yimei: "You don't mind sharing a table, do you?"
Before Huang Yimei could speak, Qin Hao had already pulled out a chair and sat down.
Zhou Shihui felt like flipping the table. He used all his willpower to stop himself from splashing the tea in front of him onto Qin Hao's face.
Unaware of anything amiss, Qin Hao picked up the menu and started flipping through it: "What's good here? Any recommendations?"
Huang Yimei pointed out a few dishes to him, and the two started chatting again.
Zhou Shihui sat there, feeling like he was invisible.
No, it's worse than being invisible. At least the invisible man doesn't feel embarrassed, but every cell in his body is screaming with embarrassment.
The meal took almost an hour.
For Zhou Shihui, however, it felt like an eternity.
Finally, Huang Yimei got up and went to the restroom.
This was the moment Zhou Shihui had been waiting for.
He suddenly raised his head, stared intently at Qin Hao, and squeezed out a sentence through gritted teeth: "You did this on purpose, didn't you?"
Qin Hao put down his chopsticks, picked up a napkin to wipe his mouth, and then looked up at Zhou Shihui.
His expression changed.
He no longer had that carefree, grinning expression; instead, he wore a look that carried a hint of mockery and sarcasm.
"Oh, you noticed?"
Zhou Shihui's blood pressure instantly spiked to the critical point.
He clenched his fists so tightly his nails almost dug into his palms: "Why did you do this?"
Qin Hao leaned back in his chair, looking at him with a forced smile.
"Zhou Shihui, I'm doing this for your own good."
"For my own good?" Zhou Shihui almost burst out laughing: "You call this for my own good?"
"You have a fiancée," Qin Hao's tone suddenly turned cold. "Besides, you're already quite old, and you're still messing around with young girls. How can you be so shameless?"
These words were like a knife, precisely stabbing into the very spot Zhou Shihui least wanted to face.
His expression changed several times, his lips trembled a few times, and finally he managed to stammer out, "I... at least I'm sincere and devoted in relationships, unlike you who falls in love with every girl you meet and changes girlfriends more often than you change clothes."
The smile on Qin Hao's face vanished completely.
"Come on." His voice wasn't loud, but every word was like ice: "If someone else said that, I could barely believe they had a point. But someone like you, who's messing around with young girls behind his fiancée's back, shouldn't pretend to be innocent in front of me."
Zhou Shihui's face turned bright red.
Qin Hao didn't give him a chance to refute and continued, "To put it bluntly, someone like you is only ugly and poor. If we switched places, you might have a better life than me."
"At least I'm single now, so I can pursue whomever I want openly and honestly. What about you? Your wedding house is all decorated, and the wedding date is set, and you're still here fawning over some young girl."
"You're still pretending to be innocent."
"You're like a toad crawling on your foot—you're just disgusting."
Zhou Shihui was speechless, his neck turning red, and veins throbbing in his temples. He opened his mouth several times, but ultimately said nothing.
He stood up abruptly, the chair scraping loudly on the floor.
Then he grabbed his coat and walked away without looking back.
Qin Hao watched his retreating figure, picked up his teacup, took a sip, and his expression remained unreadable.
-
When Huang Yimei returned from the restroom, she found that Qin Hao was the only one left on the table.
She looked around and asked in confusion, "Where's Teacher Zhou?"
Qin Hao put down his teacup and said without changing his expression, "Oh, his fiancée called and said she wanted to break up with him, so he rushed over there like a puppy."
Huang Yimei glared at him: "Why are you talking nonsense? Teacher Zhou and his girlfriend have a great relationship and are getting married soon."
"Really?" Qin Hao looked at her with a half-smile. "How about we make a bet?"
"What are we betting on?" Huang Yimei sat down, picked up her chopsticks and continued eating: "Betting on Teacher Zhou breaking up with his girlfriend? I'm not as bored as you."
Qin Hao shrugged: "Didn't you say they have a great relationship and it's impossible for them to break up? What are you afraid of when it's a sure win?"
Huang Yimei paused in her act of picking up food.
Her eyes darted around, and she put down her chopsticks: "Then tell me what to bet on."
"How about the loser grants the winner one wish?"
Without even thinking, Huang Yimei refused outright: "Don't even try. Don't think I don't know what you're thinking."
"Don't think of me as something so despicable, okay?" Qin Hao spread his hands, with an expression that said, "You've misunderstood me too much." "Fine, my wish is actually very simple. I hope that when we get along in the future, you can forget about my past romantic experiences and give me a fair chance to pursue you."
Huang Yimei was taken aback.
She never expected Qin Hao to say such a thing.
"It's that simple?"
"It's that simple."
Huang Yimei stared at him for a few seconds, as if trying to determine whether his words were true or false.
Aren't you afraid I'll make some unreasonable demands?
"You have to accept the consequences of your bet."
"What if you can't make it happen?"
"Unless you want to be the President of the United States."
Huang Yimei was amused by him and pouted, saying, "You're bragging."
"You clearly think I won't make any unreasonable demands."
"Then it's a deal?"
"It's a word."
Qin Hao picked up his teacup and clinked it against hers.
-
at the same time.
The new apartment is in a residential complex in the east of the city, on the sixth floor, without an elevator.
Zhou Shihui climbed upstairs, took out his key, and opened the door.
The lights were on inside.
Guan Zhizhi was squatting on the floor wiping the baseboards when she heard the door open. She looked up, smiled at him, and said, "You're back? Have you eaten? There's still soup in the pot, I'll heat it up for you."
She was wearing an old T-shirt and sweatpants, her hair was casually tied back, she wore rubber gloves, and there was a fine layer of sweat on her forehead.
Standing in the entryway, looking at this scene, Zhou Shihui suddenly felt a tightness in his throat.
From its initial bare state to its current appearance, every tile and every inch of wall in this house was done under Guan Zhizhi's supervision. He was busy with work, so Zhizhi basically handled all the renovation matters.
To save a few hundred yuan in cleaning fees, she even lay on the floor herself and wiped the surfaces bit by bit.
"Zhizhi."
"Ok?"
Zhou Shihui opened his mouth and found that his voice was a little hoarse.
"Stop wiping."
Guan Zhizhi straightened up and wiped the sweat from her forehead with the back of her hand: "Almost done, just this one piece left. You go have some soup first, I'll be done in a minute."
"Zhizhi," Zhou Shihui called again.
His tone was off this time.
Guan Zhizhi finally stopped what she was doing, stood up, took off her gloves, and walked up to him.
"What's wrong? You look so pale. Is something wrong at work?"
Zhou Shihui looked at her.
Looking at the concern in her eyes, he suddenly felt like he wasn't human.
But he knew even more clearly that if he didn't say it today, he would never be able to say it again in his life.
"Zhizhi."
He called her name for the third time, then took a deep breath.
Let's break up.
Guan Zhizhi was stunned.
She thought she had misheard.
"What did you say?"
“I said…” Zhou Shihui’s voice trembled, but he still managed to say it: “Let’s break up.”
Guan Zhizhi's expression changed from confusion to disbelief.
"Zhou Shihui, are you kidding me?"
"I'm not joking."
"Why?" Guan Zhizhi's voice began to tremble. "There has to be a reason, right?"
Zhou Shihui lowered his head, not daring to look her in the eye.
"There's no reason. It's just... I don't want to get married anymore."
"Don't you want to get married?" Guan Zhizhi repeated those four words as if she were hearing such an absurd statement for the first time: "The wedding room is decorated, the invitations have been sent out, the hotel has been booked, and all my parents' relatives have been notified—and now you're telling me you don't want to get married?"
Zhou Shihui remained silent.
Guan Zhizhi's tears finally fell.
"Zhou Shihui, are you having an affair?"
Zhou Shihui suddenly raised his head: "No!"
But he denied it too quickly.
It was so fast that even he himself couldn't believe it.
Guan Zhizhi looked at him, tears streaming silently down her face.
She knew Zhou Shihui too well.
This man can't lie. When he does, he blushes, stutters, and avoids eye contact.
Just like it is now.
"Who is it?" Guan Zhizhi's voice was very soft, as soft as a feather.
Zhou Shihui opened his mouth, but ultimately said nothing.
Guan Zhizhi didn't ask any more questions.
She turned and went into the bedroom, closing the door behind her.
Zhou Shihui stood in the living room, looking at the new furniture that had been purchased for the wedding, the couple's photo hanging on the wall, and the unfinished invitations on the coffee table.
He suddenly felt like it was all a dream.
A dream he destroyed with his own hands. (End of Chapter)