"Hmph, so she caught after all!"
Zhouzhou had finally caught him in the act! Jing Bai tried to look indifferent, but deep down, he knew she had been right all along. He wasn't the emotionless person he tried to appear to be.
When Zhouzhou spotted him, he froze for a mont, but after less than a second, he quickly regained his composure. His eyes, cold and expressionless, passed over Zhouzhou and Qin Ren without pausing, as if he hadn't even noticed them. He finally stopped at a glass of water on the desk beside them, casually picking it up before returning to his workstation, not sparing them another glance.
See? He was just grabbing sothing, and it was purely coincidental that he saw them. He hadn't been sneaking peeks at them at all.
Zhouzhou, on the other hand, was fuming. "Hmph, go ahead and pretend! I see through you!"
Her eyes darted around mischievously before she suddenly turned to Qin Ren and said, "Big Brother, you're the best. You're nothing alike to those small-minded and petty people!"
As she spoke, she gave Jing Bai a direct glare, making it clear that she was talking about him.
Jing Bai was always trying to act like he doesn't care, but Zhouzhou knew that he was just sulking again, and he couldn't stand anyone saying anything about him. Zhouzhou had never had the chance to speak badly about him to his face, but now she was going to give it a try!
With that, Zhouzhou opened a bottle of water and drank half of it. She cleared her throat, fully preparing for her speech.
She started, "So people, who are in their twenties, still hold grudges like little children, and they even claim to be PhD holders. Hmph, but I bet their 'maturity' isn't even as good as mine. My little elentary school belly is broader than his!"
Qin Ren quickly understood what she was trying to do and fought to suppress a laugh. He corrected her gently, "You an 'broad-minded,' not 'broad belly.'"
Zhouzhou's eyes widened imdiately. She glared at him, clearly annoyed. "Is this really the right ti for a grammar lesson?! Why are you nitpicking now when I'm making a point!"
She huffed and continued, "Broad belly it is! That's what I'm talking about! His little belly is so flat, I bet it would be hard to keep a fish in it!"
Zhouzhou shot a triumphant glance at Qin Ren, clearly proud of her own cleverness.
Qin Ren couldn't help but smile inwardly. She was right. He nodded in agreent.
Zhouzhou looked up at him with a mischievous smile, "See, I'm still smarter than you give credit for!" Then, she added, "And so people not only have small bellies, but their ears are also tiny, making it impossible for them to listen properly."
She looked back at Jing Bai, unfazed by the silence, and continued her monologue. "I've told him countless tis that I love my dad and I don't want to hurt him. But he insists, over and over, that I should kill him. How can I be happy when he forces to do things like that?"
Qin Ren glanced at Jing Bai, noticing that his expression had darkened. He couldn't help but feel a little uneasy. He rembered that Jing Bai had once wiped out an entire lab of people, people who were once close to him. Qin Ren wasn't sure if Zhouzhou's words would provoke him into doing sothing drastic.
Zhouzhou, however, remained completely oblivious to the tension. She continued as if nothing was wrong, "This is how friends should behave. If sothing's wrong, say it out loud. Otherwise, even if you're polite on the surface, inside, you've already distanced yourself from the other person. That kind of friendship isn't going to last."
After Zhouzhou spoke, Qin Ren noticed that Jing Bai had paused his work, seemingly lost in thought. He appeared to be reflecting on her words. Qin Ren relaxed slightly, feeling that Zhouzhou's strategy was working.
Zhouzhou then smiled at him. "See, just like you and , Big Brother. At first, we had our differences. I thought you were going to cut into pieces, but after talking things out, you turned out to be my most beloved big brother."
At these words, Qin Ren couldn't help but shoot her a look. She had done quite a lot to scare him when they first t, but now she was acting all sweet and innocent.
Zhouzhou seed to read his thoughts, giving him a cheeky grin. She climbed into his lap, snuggled her little head against his chest, and nuzzled into him.
Qin Ren, who had a soft spot for her, couldn't resist patting her head, his face softening.
Still nestled in his arms, Zhouzhou swung her short legs back and forth. She turned to look at Jing Bai again and said, "And you know, after a fight, the worst thing you can do is give soone the cold shoulder. It doesn't matter how close you are, after a while, it just cools off."
She looked pointedly at Jing Bai and added, "For soone so grown up, not to understand this simple thing... And yet, here I am, a little kid, teaching them how to behave. I'm not calling him 'brother' anymore. From now on, I'll be the 'big sister' to certain people!"
She turned to Qin Ren and asked with a grin, "Big brother, do you think I'm right?"
Qin Ren smiled without saying anything. He glanced over her shoulder and noticed Jing Bai staring at them. Zhouzhou, sensing sothing was wrong, was about to turn around when she suddenly felt a sharp tug on her ear.
She turned, only to see Jing Bai standing there, his face expressionless but with a faint trace of irritation in his eyes. His cold voice cut through the tension. "So, you're happy now, badmouthing right in front of my face?"
Zhouzhou, rubbing her ear, scowled at him. "Let go! You moved all the chairs out, didn't let step on them. You're bullying because I'm short! I'm not playing with you anymore!"
Jing Bai let go of her ear and glanced at her, mimicking her words in a cold tone, "So people just can't take the truth. If you're so short, why can't I ntion it?"
He paused, then added, "An elentary school student is still an elentary school student. You can't compare with a PhD holder. For example, a PhD won't go around fantasizing about growing to seven ters tall. And yet, an elentary school student insists on calling herself Seven-ter Qin, even though she might not even reach 1.7 ters."
At this, Zhouzhou's eyes widened, and she imdiately jumped to her feet. "Brother! If you keep talking like that, I'll be mad!"
But Jing Bai's lips curled into a subtle smile, though his eyes remained cold.
Qin Ren, leaning back in his chair, found the whole scene amusing. "These two," he muttered to himself.
Jing Bai released her ear, glancing at her belly. "You're always talking about how big your belly is. And yet, look how easily you get upset."
Zhouzhou sniffed and retorted, "I'm small. Small people have small minds."
With that, she gave him a playful look, then suddenly jumped into his arms, wrapping her little arms around his neck. "Brother, now you're paying attention to ? Not pretending to be deaf anymore?"
Jing Bai, completely caught off guard by her affectionate gesture, froze for a mont. He had never felt anything quite like this before, but strangely enough, it felt good. He didn't want to pull away.
Looking down at her, he remained still for a few seconds before finally lowering his head and muttering, "I don't understand... You'll have to teach ."
His voice was quiet, almost reluctant.
Jing Bai had always been locked inside his own world, surrounded only by cold, sterile lab coats and instrunts. His food and drink were all chemicals. No one ever treated him as a human, and even now, after leaving that place, he still didn't know how to act like one. He had agreed to co to the lab for Zhao Xinghua's sake, but also because he had nowhere else to go.
He loathed the people around him, but in the end, he had beco just like them.
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