Unable to Fall in Love Syndrome - Chapter 2

Chapter 2 – Tricky Client 02

Over the next two days, Qiao Shan kept an eye on the activity next door.

Zuo Yi left at seven every morning and returned at seven in the evening. After eight, he’d change into workout clothes and head downstairs for a night run. On weekends, he’d go out at six for a morning jog.

After observing his habits, Qiao Shan decided it was time to bump into him.

So, early Saturday morning, she peered through the peephole to watch the opposite door. Right at seven, Zuo Yi stepped out on schedule.

She immediately grabbed the leash and dashed out with the dog.

Zuo Yi had just entered the elevator when a girl came barreling in with a big white dog, looking all flustered.

He adjusted his cuffs uncomfortably, his stern gaze shifting away.

Qiao Shan watched his elegant hands twist at the wrist, his long, slender fingers neatly straightening the cuff. The pale skin on the back of his hand revealed faint blue veins underneath. With graceful precision, he finished adjusting and moved his fingers to his throat, gently pressing the tie knot with his fingertip.

There was a huge height difference between them—Qiao Shan only came up to his chest.

Standing before him, she felt like she was facing a wall of solid male presence radiating testosterone. In front of this guy, her long-dormant girly heart suddenly started pounding wildly. She even had the urge to reach out and hug that human wall.

Awooo…

It wasn’t the first time Zuo Yi had been checked out by a girl on the street, but this was a new one—being stared down by a person and a dog like this.

The elevator fell into a hushed silence, thick with an invisible pressure and awkwardness. As soon as the doors opened, he strode out with his long legs into the parking lot.

Qiao Shan and the dog could only watch as the target walked away. Once Zuo Yi’s car vanished from sight, she had an idea. She hugged the dog’s head, gave it a rub, and instructed, “Dudu, business has arrived. Today’s target is that handsome guy we just saw.” She pointed to her own butt and added, “This afternoon when that hunk comes back, remember to bite his ass. Don’t bite too hard—just lightly, got it?”

Afterward, she’d take him to the hospital as the dog’s owner.

Making contact was the first step in getting to know a client. Sure, this method wasn’t exactly honorable, but sometimes you had to do what you had to… No bite, no acquaintance, right?

Qiao Shan and Dudu had been partners for five years now.

The dog was a mix of a Samoyed and a Chinese rural dog, with snow-white fur and a chunky build. It looked dopey and silly on the surface, but it was actually sly and clever as a fox.

At five that afternoon, she squatted in the hallway like a hunter waiting for prey. When she saw the elevator going up, she ducked back into her apartment.

Hearing the doors open, she poked her head out, leashed up the dog, and casually strolled out as if heading down to walk it.

Zuo Yi had just stepped out of the elevator with his briefcase when the chubby white dog charged at him like the wind, leaped up, and chomped down on his butt.

Zuo Yi: “…” He jumped away on reflex, swinging his black leather briefcase at the dog’s head. But this dog seemed specially trained—despite its hefty, pudgy body, it dodged the attack with surprising agility.

Qiao Shan rushed over at top speed, half-squatting to wrap her arms around the dog’s neck, her face full of apology. “I’m so sorry, so sorry, sir! My dog isn’t usually like this. Are you hurt?”

Dudu had been trained by Qiao Shan to control the force of its bites—it wouldn’t actually injure anyone.

It charged fiercely and looked intimidating with its size, but the bite was light.

He shielded his butt with the briefcase, his expression darkening as he said sternly, “Miss, if you can’t control your dog, please hand it over to a slaughterhouse. They’ll find a way to make a violent, stupid mutt useful. Luckily, it attacked me and not a pregnant woman, child, or elderly person—otherwise, you’d be facing serious consequences.”

Qiao Shan put on a thick-skinned smile. “I’m sorry, really sorry.” She tugged the leash, shoved Dudu back inside, then turned back to him with more apologies. “I’ll take responsibility for any injury. For now… should we head to the hospital for a vaccine?”

Zuo Yi’s thick brows furrowed, the air around him dropping like a sudden chill. The hallway was bathed in the warm yellow glow of sunset, but it felt icy cold.

He turned, unlocked his door, and slammed the heavy security door shut with a bang. Qiao Shan got the door in her face—contact attempt failed.

She trudged back home listlessly, boiled up a bowl of frozen dumplings in the kitchen. They were plump and round, glistening with moisture on the surface, looking temptingly delicious.

She’d made too many, and even between her and Dudu, they couldn’t finish them all.

An idea suddenly struck Qiao Shan. She picked out six of the fullest, prettiest ones, plated them in a bone china dish, drizzled them with sesame chili oil, and carried it over to the opposite door.

When the door opened, she flashed a brilliant smile and held up the plate overhead as an apology. “Neighbor sir, my dog was out of line today. This is from my dog—specially sent to apologize to you! Please accept it, don’t get mad at a dumb dog!”

“…” Zuo Yi had already shed his suit jacket, wearing just a thin white shirt with the sleeves neatly rolled up to his elbows, revealing toned forearms with smooth muscle lines.

His voice was ice-cold. “No need, thanks for your dog’s kind intentions.”

Qiao Shan said earnestly, “We’re neighbors now—we’ll be seeing each other all the time. What happened this afternoon was my fault, and I sincerely apologize! Did you get the shot? Are your pants ruined? How much? I’ll compensate!”

“You’ll compensate?” Zuo Yi paused for two seconds, then shot back sarcastically, “Why not have your dog come apologize?”

“That dog… it’s just an animal, doesn’t understand anything. What apology could it give? I’ll do it for it.” She bowed a perfect ninety degrees. “Neighbor sir, I’m sorry. On behalf of my dog, I apologize.”

Bang—the door slammed shut mercilessly again.

Qiao Shan stood there with the dumplings, rubbing her chest as if her heart had been wounded.

No need to treat a matchmaker like this…

If you can’t find a girlfriend later, don’t! come! begging! me!

Okay, fine, right now it was basically her begging him to find a girlfriend.

She slunk back home dejectedly and flopped onto the bed, exhausted.

Off to a rocky start. In five years of matchmaking, this was the first time she’d been given the cold shoulder by a client.

Qiao Shan had a verified Weibo account with the ID “Gold Medal Matchmaker Qiao Shanshan.” Thinking of Weibo, she typed Zuo Yi’s name into the search bar and hit enter.

No personal account came up, just his company’s official Weibo.

Zuo Yi was one of the founders of Yunyi Technology Company and currently served as general manager. The company wasn’t huge, but it held a solid spot in the domestic market.

Through Yunyi’s official account, Qiao Shan found one of Zuo Yi’s employees with the ID “Tongtong Loves Pear,” verified as “Yunyi President’s Office Supervisor Assistant.”

Her latest post was venting about Zuo Yi: “The boss is a beast!”

Latching onto the word “beast,” Qiao Shan switched to her alt account “Shanshan is a Pig” and struck up a conversation. She chatted with Tongtong Loves Pear for a full half-hour, starting with Weibo celeb chasing and moving to beauty and skincare. Once Tongtong Loves Pear let her guard down, she steered to the point.

She asked, “Saw you cursing your boss on Weibo. Heard he’s pretty hot—aren’t you worried he’ll see? How’s he being a beast to you? Want sis to help hang him out on Weibo?”

Tongtong Loves Pear replied: “The boss doesn’t do social media—everyone at the company knows, we all have Weibo to rant about him (covering mouth laughing emoji). I missed a page of materials in a meeting this morning and got chewed out like crazy. He doesn’t hold back at all! So many colleagues watching. What’s the point of being handsome? His temper stinks, zero friendliness! No wonder he doesn’t have a girlfriend! I’d take a bald, potbellied uncle boss who’s all smiles over this any day. TAT. Can’t even imagine what it’d be like if he got a girlfriend—probably yell at her nonstop…”

Shanshan is a Pig: “Aw… pat pat, don’t cry! Hey, we click so well—same fave celeb, both into skincare and makeup. Wanna add each other on WeChat?”

Tongtong Loves Pear: “Sure.”

They added each other on WeChat and chatted a bit more. Tongtong Loves Pear found a sympathetic ear and poured it all out like the Yellow River in flood, painting Zuo Yi as some evil capitalist overlord.

After hearing it all, Qiao Shan sighed deeply. This was probably a big reason why Zuo Yi was single.

After all… what girl wants a boyfriend who’s always barking orders?

Qiao Shan bundled up in her blanket to sleep, but just as she turned off her phone and closed her eyes, she heard erratic erhu sounds from next door.

It sounded like a cow being slaughtered, giving her goosebumps all over.

Even Dudu, dozing in its bed, jolted awake at the bovine-killing erhu noise, sitting up with ears perked, teeth bared as it scanned around, growling angrily in its throat.

As if saying—Holy crap! Poop scooper! Go check who’s slaughtering a cow!!

Qiao Shan was baffled too. Could there be someone else living with Zuo Yi?

He seemed like the type who didn’t indulge in worldly pleasures, living a high-quality life—no way he’d play the erhu this murderously, right?

The erhu music dragged on, driving Qiao Shan and the dog nuts!

Dudu, all worked up, trotted over, nosed open Qiao Shan’s blanket, and barked twice at her, like: Go on, take out that idiot next door for your dog lord!

Qiao Shan changed clothes, slipped on her slippers, and shuffled over to knock on the opposite door.

It opened quickly, the man expressionless, showing zero guilt… as if he wasn’t the one making the racket.