I'm Just Getting Your Luck - Chapter 26
What Does Zhou Chenyi Like?
Ying Yu didn’t expect Zhou Chenyi to actually move all her luggage into the villa he was living in.
“Aren’t CEOs like you supposed to own a bunch of houses?”
“This is called streamlining expenses. Besides, do you feel cramped here?” Zhou Chenyi nodded toward the two rooms at the end of the hallway. “I live in the one on the left, you take the one on the right. The vase in the middle is the DMZ line — don’t cross it for any reason. No ‘I got drunk,’ ‘wrong room,’ or ‘got confused’ excuses to take advantage of me.”
“What about rent… what do you pay here?”
“Fifteen hundred a month.”
Zhou Chenyi thought for a moment. “Since we’re sharing the kitchen and living room, I’ll cut the rent in half — 750.”
That high?
Ying Yu stared at him so long that even Zhou Chenyi started to feel unsure. Surely her salary at Million is enough to afford that?
“You really know how to do business,” Ying Yu agreed — she knew Zhou Chenyi was trying to help her. “Which room is Zhou Fan in? I saw him living here with you yesterday.”
“He’s staying with my sister next door.” Zhou Chenyi had just called to kick him out. His sister, Zhou Buping, was so delighted to hear Ying Yu was coming that she immediately took Zhou Fan in — even secretly swapped out his bedsheets for red ones.
Please, Zhou Chenyi thought, my moral threshold is sky-high. There’s no way I’d ever do anything like that.
Meanwhile—
Jiang Jiuji was also struggling to believe that a cat could possibly do something like that.
When Ying Yu went missing, his cat disappeared too. When she came back, so did the cat.
The most ridiculous thing? His cat could understand videos — it swiped up and down on the app, liked and saved clips it enjoyed.
Was his cat… too smart?
Jiang Jiuji leaned against the bedhead, lightly tapping the paw of Grape (his cat), who was currently liking clips of the talent show. He asked helplessly, “Grape, why are you so into this show? Who’s really your owner, huh?”
Long Qiuqiu (in cat form) guiltily backed away.
Suddenly, a ringtone echoed through the apartment — not good! That was Jiang Jiuji’s old tablet. She forgot to mute it!
Jiang Jiuji followed the sound and, before Qiuqiu could beat him to it, found the tablet under the cat bed.
“There’s still power?” He was genuinely shocked. He hadn’t used it in two or three years — it still looked brand new.
Long Qiuqiu cowered behind a potted plant. She relaxed only after hearing him say he forgot the password from not using it so long.
Good thing she had changed it.
Jiang Jiuji scooped her out from behind the plant and carried her to the bedroom. “Grape, you can’t stare at screens all day — it’s bad for your eyes.”
Long Qiuqiu finally relaxed.
They had slept together for so long that she felt out of sorts being apart last night. Add in all the running around and dance practice — she was completely exhausted and passed out shortly after.
At midnight, Jiang Jiuji stroked the sleeping cat in one hand and placed his finger on the tablet screen with the other.
[Fingerprint recognized successfully]
The tablet unlocked. With just a few swipes, he knew immediately that this wasn’t the setup he’d left it with. He might be crazy, but even in madness he’d never choose a pink Hello Kitty wallpaper.
He opened the photo album — it used to be full of research screenshots. Now it was crammed with photos of a single girl.
Long Qiuqiu.
She had even secretly worn his white dress shirt.
Jiang Jiuji’s lips curled into a small smile.
At the top of the screen, a message popped up from:
“Super Favorite Big Baby ❤️❤️”
[Cat-sis, you left your demon ID with me. I’ll bring it to you tomorrow.]
—
The next morning, Zhou Chenyi came downstairs and saw Ying Yu already sitting at the table.
He used to run every morning, but with his arm still injured, he’d let it go and allowed himself to sleep in. After several days of this, Zhou Chenyi realized — sleeping half an hour more worked just as well as running for half an hour. So he gave up on running.
He noticed the breakfast table was packed. Normally, he just had coffee and a fried egg in the morning.
“You made all this?”
Ying Yu, eating a pan-fried bun, replied, “Part of it.”
“I didn’t ask you to move in so you could be a housemaid. Even if you want to thank me, this isn’t the way to do it.”
“Actually—”
“Stop watching those brainless idol dramas. What you need now is to focus on work, make money, and break free from your parents — not waste time on this stuff.”
“Actually—”
Zhou Chenyi sat down. “Just let it go this time. Don’t do it again. Let’s eat.”
Once he finished his speech, it was finally Ying Yu’s turn to speak:
“The rice rolls and wontons were made fresh by Uncle Wei. The shrimp dumplings and soup dumplings were from the freezer — Uncle Wei steamed them. The pan-fried buns and potstickers were also made by Uncle Wei.”
Zhou Chenyi froze. “…What part did you make?”
“The soy milk. I used instant powder — tastes like fresh ground, but without the pulp.”
Zhou Chenyi: “…”
“Oh, and the chicken sandwich you’re eating — I made that. I promised you one the other day, and now I’m making good on it.” Ying Yu put down her chopsticks and looked at him expectantly. “How does it taste? Uncle Wei said you don’t like egg yolks, so I took them out.”
“Just okay,” Zhou Chenyi replied as he polished it off.
—
When it was time to leave for work, Ying Yu took her e-scooter and arrived at the office right on time.
After trending online twice — once with Zhou Chenyi and now again — her colleagues had started to pay more attention to her.
But since no one watched the talent show, and it wasn’t work-related, people didn’t really care that much.
Hesi and Cuise, however, were constantly praising her. They even said they’d joined her fan forum and were rooting for her to make it to the finals.
Ying Yu checked the forum: it had 13 followers — half of them were bots.
…
Ying Yu quietly followed herself.
During a break, Cuise came over to chat. “Are celebrities really even better looking than they are on TV? Did you fall for any of them instantly?”
“They do look good — pretty much the same as on TV, but very thin,” Ying Yu said as she studied data analysis. Cuise sighed about being too fat and having nothing to wear now that summer was coming, and vowed to lose weight fast.
Ying Yu encouraged her: “They have makeup artists and assistants. Their jobs require them to stay that thin. You don’t need to do that — you’re already very slim.”
“You’re so sweet, Ying!” Cuise invited her warmly. “There’s this new Korean BBQ place nearby. My boyfriend’s classmate owns it. Want to come after work?”
But Ying Yu had already been invited by Jiang Jiuji to dinner that evening. She glanced at her phone and said apologetically, “Sorry, Cuise, I’ve got something tonight. But next time, for sure!”
She had to deliver Long Qiuqiu’s demon ID anyway. And since Jiang Jiuji had already invited her, she didn’t have to come up with an excuse to go. She could also bring the clothes Qiuqiu wanted.
The clothes were something Qiuqiu had begged for. She’d waited three months for them to be restocked.
Ying Yu figured she should let Zhou Chenyi know — otherwise, he’d definitely blow up again.
That evening, after work, Ying Yu caught a ride with Zhou Chenyi to Jiang Jiuji’s place. As they passed the office building, she crouched down to tie her shoes.
“What are you doing?” Zhou Chenyi asked.
“It’s bad if people see us in the same car.”
“…The way you’re crouching is even more suspicious.”
Once they were past the office area, Ying Yu confirmed it was safe and sat up — but bumped the shopping bag by her side in the process. Some things fell out.
Among them, two pieces of thin black fabric caught Zhou Chenyi’s attention.
He beat Ying Yu to it and lifted them by the straps.
“Sexy camisole sleepwear… ‘a must-have when your boyfriend’s not home’?” Zhou Chenyi read off the box, then looked from the fabric to Ying Yu. “You’re bringing this… to Jiang Jiuji’s place?”
“This isn’t—” She couldn’t exactly say it was for the cat.
Ying Yu’s face turned bright red. After an intense mental battle, she lowered her head and admitted honestly: “It’s for Dr. Jiang.”
“???”
Zhou Chenyi never expected that answer.
“But he doesn’t have a girlfriend!”
“…Can’t he wear it himself?”
“You—he—I—He’s going to wear this?!”
Ying Yu stiffened her neck and insisted: “He might have a special hobby. You should respect everyone’s choices and not be discriminatory.”
His best bro was becoming his best sis?!
Zhou Chenyi stormed into Jiang Jiuji’s home and shoved the fabric in his face. “Ying Yu said you asked her to buy this. Is that true?”
“It’s mine,” Jiang Jiuji replied smoothly.
“You’re going to wear this? Your waist could even fit in it?” Zhou Chenyi’s voice trembled.
Jiang Jiuji: “?”
Ying Yu furiously signaled from behind: Please please please please…
Jiang Jiuji: “…”
Long Qiuqiu, mid-lick: “?”
Zhou Chenyi couldn’t handle it. At first, he thought Jiang Jiuji had tricked Ying Yu. But now… was Jiang Jiuji waiting for him to be weak with his broken arm so he could make a move?!
—
Dinner was hot pot.
Zhou Chenyi sat there, stunned. The meal was halfway through, but his bowl still only held the piece of meat Ying Yu had put in it at the beginning.