My Ex Who Dumped Me Comes to Hook Me Up Every Day - Chapter 19

“I came to today’s interview because of you. You’re not happy… are you?”

Jiang Yuhuai’s voice was soft, her eyelashes fluttering like a dragonfly skimming across water, sending ripples through Jin Zhou’s heart.

Long ago, Jiang Yuhuai had held immense sway over Jin Zhou.

Those clear, cool eyes would narrow slightly, her brows furrowing, and if she softened her tone just a little, Jin Zhou would lose all sense of reason.

Even now, Jin Zhou couldn’t resist her.

She turned away, refusing to meet her gaze. “What else?”

Jiang Yuhuai paused, startled. “What else…”

Connecting this to their earlier greeting, she grew uncertain whether Jin Zhou had discovered she’d spent the night sleeping outside her door.

Feeling the silence behind her, Jin Zhou’s heart grew colder.

She mocked herself for even momentarily wanting Jiang Yuhuai to offer a proper explanation.

In that moment of hesitation—knock, knock, knock—

Another knock sounded from outside.

Jin Zhou stopped dwelling on trivial matters.

“Come in,” she said.

The two stood in the middle of the office, the floor littered with a mangled cupcake and spilled yogurt.

Assistant Liu, the intern, entered to find this tense scene.

Wow, wow, wow! This is huge news!

Attorney Jin, the kindest, most gentle person I know, is actually arguing with someone!

And the other person is a beauty too…

They’re both so pleasing to the eye.

But what’s going on here?

Though her mind was already feasting on gossip, Assistant Liu maintained a professional smile. “Lawyer Jin, Dr. Jiang, the interview crew is here. We can head over now.”

Jin Zhou nodded. “Alright.”

She strode out of the office with brisk efficiency.

Jiang Yuhuai silently cleaned up the mess on the floor, tossing the debris into the trash can before following Assistant Liu out.

All three parties had arrived well ahead of schedule, leaving an hour before the scheduled 3:00 PM interview.

This time was mostly spent reviewing the interview format.

The interview would consist of both solo and joint segments.

Recalling the case details was the most crucial part, requiring both of them to appear together on camera.

The remaining segments consisted of separate individual shots, aimed at popularizing legal knowledge and disseminating first-aid tips.

At three o’clock, the interview officially began.

As industry leaders, both Jin Zhou and Jiang Yuhuai displayed remarkable professionalism under the camera’s gaze. They answered questions about the case with seamless fluency and perfect coordination, showing no trace of the earlier awkwardness or stiffness.

After filming the joint segments, Jin Zhou moved on to prepare for her individual shots, while Jiang Yuhuai rested nearby, waiting.

Her gaze remained fixed on Jin Zhou when a sudden vibration buzzed through her hand.

She glanced down at her phone screen.

Incoming call: “Lu Yitong”

Standing at the corner of the emergency staircase, Jiang Yuhuai answered the call.

“What’s wrong?”

“Xiao Yu… I’ve messed up.”

Lu Yitong’s voice trembled with nervousness, sounding guilty.

“Did you oversleep again?”

Lu Yitong let out a dry laugh. “Haha, not that.”

“Then what is it?”

“Well—”

Lu Yitong fidgeted for a long moment, reluctant to speak.

Jiang Yuhuai glanced at her watch. Jin Zhou’s segment was likely to end in about ten minutes.

“I need to get back to work soon. If it’s not urgent, I’ll call you back later.”

“Wait! It’s urgent! Top priority!”

Jiang Yuhuai paused her hand, which had been about to hang up.

“Then tell me now.”

Lu Yitong had just woken up from a hangover. She wasn’t the type to black out from drinking, so the hazy conversation from her half-awake state came back to her easily.

Though she desperately wanted it to be just a dream, the call log on her phone—a call from the early hours of the morning, lying quietly in the history—shattered her last shred of hope.

This is bad…

Now facing her friend’s insistent questioning, Lu Yitong scratched her head. “Actually… Little Lawyer called me back last night.”

Hearing this, Jiang Yuhuai instinctively tightened her grip on her phone. “What did she say?”

Lu Yitong repeated Jin Zhou’s words:

“Hello, is Jiang Yuhuai there?”

It was an utterly ordinary question, barely even qualifying as concern.

Yet Jiang Yuhuai’s heart surged with uncontrollable joy.

After all, the fact that Jin Zhou had called back meant she still cared, didn’t it?

Jiang Yuhuai glanced several times in Jin Zhou’s direction, her hands unconsciously tightening their grip on the hem of her shirt behind her back.

She didn’t register a single word Lu Yitong was saying. It took about a minute for her emotions to finally settle.

Lu Yitong whispered, “Did you hear the second half of what I said earlier?”

Jiang Yuhuai paused. “No, was it important?”

Lu Yitong: ……

After a moment’s hesitation, she said, “I wasn’t thinking clearly at the time, so I didn’t call to tell you. Worse, Jin Zhou might think we slept together last night.”

“Dr. Jiang, you’re back. Let’s make the final preparations. The interview is about to start.”

“Alright.”

Sitting upright at the table, Jiang Yuhuai answered the host’s questions with ease, her expression now calm and composed.

Only the slightly curled pinky finger hidden beneath the table betrayed her inner excitement.

Just moments ago, Lu Yitong had explained the entire situation to her, from beginning to end.

Perhaps out of guilt for causing such a mess, her friend repeatedly apologized.

But Jiang Yuhuai didn’t utter a single word of blame.

Because Lu Yitong hadn’t done anything wrong.

And because…

She cherished this unexpected turn of events.

As the recording neared its end, a torrential downpour erupted outside.

The rhythmic drumming of the rain composed a symphony of emotions in her heart.

3, 2, 1.

“That concludes today’s interview. Thank you both for your cooperation!”

“Thank you for your hard work!”

“Everyone worked hard!”

After seeing off the crew, only Jin Zhou and Jiang Yuhuai remained under the building’s eaves.

Raindrops the size of beans splattered into puddles forming along the street, leaving tiny mud stains on Jin Zhou’s gray suit pants.

Jin Zhou frowned, her mood as crisp and immaculate as her tailored suit pants.

Staying here another second would only taint me.

Without a word of farewell, Jin Zhou turned to leave. Jiang Yuhuai, however, grew even more certain of a suspicion she harbored.

She called out to Jin Zhou’s retreating figure.

“Lawyer Jin, is there anything you wanted to ask me? Or—anything you wanted to say?”

Jin Zhou’s steps faltered.

Anything I wanted to ask?

Hours earlier, she had indeed had questions. But now, the urgency to find answers had long since faded.

With a detached tone, she replied, “Take care. The roads are slippery in the rain.”

A standard platitude, Jin Zhou used it to signal the end of their conversation.

Jiang Yuhuai, however, seemed oblivious to social cues and continued speaking.

“I didn’t sleep with anyone last night.”

Jin Zhou hadn’t expected Jiang Yuhuai to bring this up so abruptly.

Surprised, her first instinct was to dismiss it as a lie.

Didn’t sleep with anyone?

How then to explain the woman’s words?

Jin Zhou raised her eyes to meet Jiang Yuhuai’s, only to find herself caught in the other woman’s knowing gaze.

The secret thoughts hidden deep within her chest, the ones she couldn’t bear to expose to the light, seemed to have been laid bare.

She averted her gaze, her expression returning to its usual cold indifference.

“Who Dr. Jiang chooses to be with and where she goes are entirely her own business,” Jin Zhou said.

“But… there’s no need for deliberate deception. After all, at our age, finding a suitable partner is already a rare blessing. I would only offer my sincere congratulations.”

Jin Zhou’s level of sophistication was too low for insults.

Even after racking her brain, she could only come up with this veiled remark.

Yet, as it turned out, the most rudimentary attacks often proved the most effective.

Jiang Yuhuai froze in place, as if struggling to process the fact that she had just been called old.

Relief washed over Jin Zhou. She flashed a triumphant smile and continued toward the office building entrance.

But just as she was about to step inside, a cool hand gripped her wrist.

Without needing to think, she knew who it was.

Jin Zhou’s steps faltered, and she instinctively tried to shake off Jiang Yuhuai’s hand.

At that moment, Jiang Yuhuai’s signature detached voice drifted from behind her.

“I went to your place last night.”

Jin Zhou’s first reaction was disbelief.

After all, the phone call last night had been crystal clear.

Jiang Yuhuai had been in bed with someone else.

Perhaps it was just the beginning of something intimate.

Or perhaps they had spent the night together.

Jin Zhou had spent the entire night coming to terms with this reality.

But now, suddenly, everything seemed different.

She frowned and turned to study Jiang Yuhuai’s expression.

Jiang Yuhuai simply looked back at her calmly.

Jin Zhou could immediately pull out her phone and check the security footage from last night. One glance would reveal whether Jiang Yuhuai was telling the truth or lying.

But there was no need for such trouble.

After a few seconds of eye contact, Jin Zhou had already reached her conclusion.

This was the truth.

Went to your house.

Those four words carried countless possibilities.

Perhaps Jiang Yuhuai had merely stopped by briefly before leaving.

Or perhaps, like a fool, she had squatted outside Jin Zhou’s door all night.

Jin Zhou refused to entertain the latter possibility.

But knowing Jiang Yuhuai as she did, she suspected that was exactly what the words meant.

“You…”

If she had already come to the door…

Why hadn’t she knocked?

Why didn’t you just call?

Why did you treat your body so carelessly, spending the night in such a crude place?

The world is full of cases of home invasions, murders, and rapes.

For a woman to spend a night alone in a place with no security is incredibly dangerous.

Didn’t Jiang Yuhuai know that?

Jin Zhou opened her mouth, but for the first time, she felt utterly powerless.

There were so many things she wanted to say, but given their relationship, most of them would be inappropriate.

After a moment of silence, Jin Zhou asked softly, “It was drizzling last night. Weren’t you cold sitting on the ground?”

Jiang Yuhuai didn’t answer the question, but a rare tenderness softened her features.

“I told you, I wanted to see you.”

The same words, spoken at different times and places, seemed to carry different magic.

Jin Zhou felt as if she had been tossed high into the air. Thoughts swirled in her mind, even the rain before her seemed to turn upside down. She was trapped in a weightless, disorienting sensation.

She couldn’t see herself clearly, nor could she understand her own heart.