Chapter 141: Extra Story: An Zhou × Qin You

"Miss Qin, to be honest, my family background is not much worse than yours. After marrying me, you just need to focus wholeheartedly on staying at home, supporting your husband, and raising the children."

In the cafe, the man wore a designer black suit. The cut was stiff and ill-fitting, looking as if it had been forced onto him. His hair was combed meticulously, heavy with hair gel, with a few strands deliberately teased high at the forehead, exuding a sense of overexerted elegance.

Even across the table, Qin You could smell the unpleasant scent of hair mousse.

With her legs crossed, she slowly lowered her eyes and took a sip of her coffee, attempting to dispel the smell with the coffee's aroma.

Another pig-headed nouveau riche.

The man completely failed to notice her coldness. After all, this woman had maintained the exact same expression from the moment she walked in and sat down.

As he raised his hand, he casually revealed the luxury watch on his wrist.

Then, he discreetly placed his luxury car keys on the table.

After this sequence of moves, the look he gave Qin You carried a bit more confidence.

But then again, if he could go on a blind date with the eldest daughter of the Qin family, didn't that mean his status wasn't bad?

"After we get married, that dance studio of yours... I remember you teach kids how to dance, right? Don't run it anymore. It's a loss of face for a wealthy young lady like you to do such things outside. My wife only needs to be beautiful. You don't need to go out and work; I will provide for you."

Qin You put down her cup, her cold eyes slowly looking up.

"Provide for me?"

She lowered her gaze and leisurely admired her manicure, her tone light. "My family gives me one million in living expenses every day. Can you do that?"

The man's expression changed instantly.

Every day?

"You're joking, right? One million? What do you do that requires so much money? Besides, once you're a wife, you need to look after the family. You can't spend money so extrava—"

"If you can't do it, go out the door and turn left."

Qin You interrupted him, making a 'please go ahead' gesture. "Walk straight for three hundred meters, and there's a public restroom. Go in, take a piss, and look at your own reflection."

"You!" The man stood up in anger, but remembering the identity of the woman across from him, he could only suppress his fury and stride out.

From behind him came the woman's unhurried voice.

"Don't forget your car keys, or you'll have to compensate the rental agency."

"Fuck!" The man's face turned ugly with shame and anger. He grabbed the car keys and turned to leave.

Before leaving, his defenses broke, and he cursed.

"A woman like you, no man would ever dare to want!"

After he left, Qin You picked up her bag and stood up.

Just as she reached the door, her phone rang.

Upon answering, her friend's voice came through.

"Another blind date failed?"

Qin You gave a hum of agreement, opened her car door, and got in. "Another brainless nouveau riche."

"Oh, Miss Qin, you know those men are just like that. I told you to look within our circle, but you refuse." Her friend sounded helpless.

When she first started going on blind dates, Qin You had completely excluded all the wealthy heirs in their social circle.

"The people in our circle are even more rotten. They play around wildly and are too cunning. I don't have time to play those games with them; I might as well find a dumb one."

Qin You calmly buckled her seatbelt. "Hanging up now. I'm driving to the hospital to see Grandma."

...

Arriving at the door of the hospital room.

Before Qin You went in, just as she was about to push the door open, voices suddenly came from inside.

"Did Youyou go on another blind date?" Grandma Qin's aged voice sounded.

Her footsteps stopped instantly.

Mother Qin replied, "Yes, recently she has been seeing about one a day, but none have caught her eye."

"Sigh, this child..." All the words ultimately dissolved into a sigh on her lips.

Only when there were no more sounds inside did Qin You walk in, a smile hanging on her face. "Grandma."

"Youyou is here." Grandma Qin quickly waved her hand. "Come sit here."

Seeing this, Mother Qin stood up from her chair. "Youyou, chat with your grandma for a bit. I happen to have something to do, so I'll step out for a while."

Qin You placed the fruit on the table. "I bought oranges today. These are really sweet. I'll peel one for you to taste."

Grandma Qin smiled and nodded. "Okay."

Qin You picked one, sat on the chair, and wrapped her fingers in a tissue to peel the orange so the juice wouldn't get into her nails.

Halfway through peeling, Grandma Qin suddenly spoke up. "Your mother said you've been going on blind dates every day lately. You silly girl, don't get married just for my sake. This kind of thing still depends on fate. My body is still strong, I can definitely wait until—"

"No."

Qin You lowered her head and interrupted her. "I'm not going on blind dates for you. I just feel that I've reached the right age."

She placed the orange in the elderly woman's hand and smiled. "Besides, I'm not going to marry just anyone. Aren't I picking and choosing? We'll see when there's a suitable one. You have to cooperate with the doctors; you still have to attend my wedding when the time comes."

Grandma Qin sighed inwardly, a helpless smile in her eyes. "Don't worry, Grandma will definitely attend. You also need to take care of your health with your recent work. Don't get too tired."

After chatting about family matters for a while, Mother Qin also returned.

After keeping the elderly woman company for a bit longer, she finally picked up her bag from the sofa.

"Mom, Youyou and I are leaving now. Youyou still has classes this afternoon. You need to listen to the doctors more and make sure to rest."

"I know, I know. You two go on and get busy."

Leaving the hospital room, they walked to the elevator and pressed the button.

Mother Qin turned her head to look at Qin You, who was playing on her phone beside her. "Did today's fall through too?"

"Yeah." Qin You turned off her phone screen. "Another weirdo."

Mother Qin hesitated for a moment but still spoke up. "Actually, Mom has one in mind here too, and Mom thinks his character is pretty good. Do you know the An family?"

Qin You instantly refused. "Not considering it."

"Oh, Mom knows you don't like these young masters in our circle, but this time is different. I often play mahjong with his mother, and I feel that her personality is quite gentle. The An family is quite low-key. Their daughter was even married to the heir of the Shen family before. You surely know the Shen Corporation, right? Such a huge company."

Mother Qin was still persuading her. "Besides, aren't the people you've been going on blind dates with a mixed bag anyway? The ones Mom chooses have at least been filtered once."

Qin You didn't speak, seemingly a bit moved.

Mother Qin quickly took out her phone. "Anyway, just add him first. Chat and see how it goes. If you agree, I'll send your contact info to them."

"Ding—"

The elevator chimed. Qin You gave a soft "Mm" and stepped inside. "Go ahead and send it."

She naturally knew this was a connection between her mother and her mahjong friend. It wouldn't be good to refuse too directly.

Anyway, having met so many people, one more wouldn't make a difference.

Mother Qin's face lit up with joy. "Then I'll send it right now."

The progress was faster than Qin You expected.

Just as she drove to the dance studio, she received a friend request from the other party.

An Zhou: [Hello, Miss Qin, I am An Zhou. Very happy to meet you!]

She changed into her dance shoes and cast her eyes down for a glance.

The An family... she really hadn't heard of them. She could search for some information when she got back later.

Just as she tapped accept.

A colleague's voice came from behind. "Teacher Qin, it seems it's time. Aren't we going?"

She paused, put her phone back into the locker, closed the door, and locked it.

"Coming."

...

After finishing her classes and returning home from work.

Having finished teaching the kids how to dance, Qin You was covered in sweat. After taking a shower in the bathroom, she sat at her vanity table, drying her hair.

After looking down and replying to some messages from parents, she finally noticed a solitary chat box buried underneath.

She had forgotten to reply to his message.

She opened the chat window.

[Sorry, work has been a bit busy. Hello Mr. An, I am Qin You.]

After replying, she opened a search engine and typed in "An Group." A bunch of information instantly popped up.

The An family had one son and one daughter.

It was pretty much as her mother had said; the An family's daughter did indeed marry the heir of the Shen family, though they had recently divorced.

Qin You didn't usually pay attention to such things, so she had missed out on all this gossip.

She took a quick look; it was all standard, unremarkable stuff.

The person on the other end was still awake and sent a reply.

An Zhou: [No worries, Miss Qin. You're doing this for the blind date arrangement too, right? Actually, so am I, hahaha. Plus, it's my first time going on a blind date, so I might not be totally up to speed on the etiquette. The elders in our families want us to grab a meal and get to know each other, but I see you're pretty busy with work. If you don't have time, it's totally fine.]

Qin You: "..."

He talks so much.

Out of all the blind dates she had been on, this was the first time she had encountered someone so chatty.

She glanced at her calendar, confirmed her schedule, and sent him a time.

[Sunday at noon, lunch at the Fuli Hotel.]

As soon as the message was sent, the other side fell completely silent.

Over on his end, An Zhou had carefully crafted that massive paragraph, but seeing the woman's curt reply made him instantly feel defeated.

"Damn it." He slapped his phone down onto the table.

Crossing his legs, he leaned back. "I'm not replying."

He decided to play the aloof card too.

Five minutes later, he silently picked up his phone again.

An Zhou: [Sounds good.]

He. Was. A. Gentleman.

...

On the day of the lunch date, Qin You stepped out of her car.

As she walked toward the restaurant, she passed by a couple.

Catching a glimpse of the man's face from the corner of her eye, she paused and turned to take another look.

The heir to the Shen family?

When she was looking up information last night, the man in the photos did seem to look like him.

Her gaze lingered briefly on the girl next to him before she looked away.

Entering the restaurant, Qin You finally saw her blind date for the day.

The man was sitting in his chair, looking down at his phone. He had a clean-cut appearance, giving off the vibe of a young entrepreneur, pretty much matching the photos she saw online.

At the very least, he was better than her previous blind dates.

She walked over, lowered her eyes, and said evenly:

"You must be Mr. An, right?"

Hearing her voice, the man's movements stiffened. He slowly raised his head, his eyes filled with surprise and a trace of barely perceptible panic.

...Panic?

She paused slightly, thinking she must have misread his expression.

Immediately, he locked his phone screen, hurriedly stood up, and extended a hand with a smile. "Hello, hello, Miss Qin. I'm An Zhou."

She reached out and shook his hand. "Just call me Qin You."

The man nodded repeatedly. Suddenly, he bent down, picked up a bouquet of flowers from the table, and seemed to want to hand them to her.

Qin You paused and raised a hand to politely decline. "I'm sorry, could you put those down? I'm allergic to pollen."

At her words, he let out an awkward laugh and stiffly lowered his arm, setting the flowers back down. "Sorry... I didn't think that through."

"It's fine, it's my own issue."

Qin You was already used to this.

A few of her previous blind dates had also given her flowers. Usually, this kind of rocky start with a rejection meant that the rest of the date wouldn't go too smoothly.

Qin You hadn't held out much hope for this blind date, but she realized... the man sitting across from her seemed incredibly nervous.

During the meal, the man wore a smile and pushed a plate of pre-cut steak toward her, his movements a bit unnatural.

"Um, here, you can have this. I cut it for you."

Qin You reached out and took it. "Thank you."

"You're welcome."

Their fingertips accidentally brushed against each other. He froze, immediately withdrew his hand, and pretended nothing had happened.

She paused slightly, picked up her glass to take a sip of water, a thoughtful look in her eyes.

Throughout the entire meal, the man would occasionally bring up new topics, seemingly terrified of awkward silences.

She didn't really like talking while eating, so she merely gave light, agreeable responses.

Later, they went to see a movie. Qin You had actually already seen this film once, but she still accompanied An Zhou to watch it again.

Feeling a bit bored in her seat, she propped her chin on her hand and casually glanced over at him.

In the dimly lit theater, the man sat perfectly straight. He didn't look like he was here to watch a movie; it looked more like he was attending a board meeting.

When a funny scene came on, he slightly raised a hand to cover his mouth. The corners of his lips twitched from the effort of holding it in. He looked like he desperately wanted to laugh but didn't dare, making his entire expression look somewhat bizarre.

"..."

She stared at him for a few seconds, raised an eyebrow, and silently curled her lips into a smile.

Interesting.

...

On the sofa, Mother Qin was holding her phone, chatting with Mother An.

Hearing the sound of the front door opening, she looked up.

"Youyou is back."

Qin You gave a hum of acknowledgment, put down her bag, opened the fridge, and took out some ice water.

Mother Qin stood up and asked with a look of anticipation, "You met the An family's boy today, right? How was it?"

Qin You's movement of twisting off the bottle cap paused for a fraction of a second before returning to normal. "It was fine. I'm quite satisfied."

Although the guy was a bit silly, she could at least tell he didn't have a bad heart.

He fit her criteria.

Mother Qin was shocked.

To think it was such high praise!

"Really? Then I'm going to tell your Auntie An."

"Really."

Thinking back to the man's behavior today, Qin You leaned her hands against the table and mused, "However, he didn't seem too satisfied with me."

It was only after meeting him that she realized he seemed a bit averse to the whole blind date thing.

She turned to look at her mother. "Before we get married, An Zhou and I will spend some time interacting and getting to know each other better first."

...

Their first official date.

An Zhou actually didn't really want to go on a date. It was just a loveless arranged marriage, so what was the point of nurturing feelings? Besides, given Miss Qin's demeanor, was she even willing to nurture feelings with him?

But before heading out, An Zhou still dressed up a bit.

Parking his car at the gate, he sent a message to a certain young lady, then stepped out of the car to wait for her.

The villa's front door opened. The woman was wearing a plain, off-white long dress. It was simple and understated, yet exuded the elegance of a good upbringing. Her lightly made-up face looked cool and aloof.

An Zhou walked over to open the car door for her.

However, the woman stopped in her tracks, glanced over, and swept her gaze up and down his outfit a few times.

An Zhou was used to her cold and indifferent expression, but being stared at like this made him think there was something wrong with what he was wearing.

Just as he was about to look down and check, the woman's voice suddenly rang in his ears.

"You look nice today."

This unexpected sentence made him freeze instantly. He stood there stupidly holding the door handle, unable to process it.

"Huh?"

Holy crap? Did she just compliment him?

Or was there something wrong with his ears?

By the time he finally snapped out of it, the woman had already gotten into the car.

He closed the door, walked around to the other side, and got in. Still somewhat in disbelief, he started the engine while glancing at the passenger seat.

"Were you... genuinely complimenting me just now?"

Or was she being sarcastic?

The woman was leaning back against her seat with her eyes closed, resting. Hearing this, she replied calmly, "I was genuinely complimenting you."

Her tone lacked emotion, yet it inexplicably made one feel that she wasn't lying.

An Zhou was delighted to hear this.

After all, this aloof young lady almost never had a word of praise cross her lips.

And today, she had actually taken the initiative to compliment him.

He knew he definitely looked handsome like this.

Unable to hold back, he fussed a bit with his perfectly styled hair. "Keep it low-key, low-key. I just threw this together."

Despite what he said, the smile on his face was impossible to hide. His tone brimmed with pride, and he couldn't even stop himself from humming a tune as he drove.

Qin You cast a sidelong glance at him, the corners of her lips curling up slightly before she closed her eyes again.

He really was quite silly.