Chapter 97: Sweet Dreams

Chapter 97: Mutual Feelings

"Relationships go both ways," Zhou Zuofei said earnestly, dropping her earlier playful tone. "You have to put your heart into it."

"Wow, we got deep fast."

Zhou Zuofei understood—this topic was indeed too early for Zhan Zilang.

His current state was much like hers a few years ago, loving his footloose and fancy-free single life. Though his sentiments were genuine, it didn’t mean he was ready.

Rushing into the next stage would be like forcing things before their time.

So she lightened her tone and said casually, "It’s fine, you’re still young. Your person might show up when you least expect it."

That evening, Zhan Zilang treated everyone to a farewell dinner, then dragged most of them to karaoke afterward.

Zhou Zuofei had been running on nothing but caffeine all day and was already running on empty.

Not wanting to bail too early, she found a quiet corner to catch her breath. When the time felt right, she went to bid Zhan Zilang goodbye.

"Xiao Zhan, I'm totally wiped out—I’m heading home to sleep," she added with a tired smile.

Seeing how exhausted she looked, Zhan Zilang immediately urged her to go rest.

"Ms. Zhou, how are you getting back? Should I ask someone to drive you?"

"No need, I’ll just grab a cab."

"You’re this tired—you might pass out in the cab!"

Zhan Zilang was really worried seeing Zhou Zuofei so exhausted, but calling someone over now would take time.

He glanced back at his colleagues who were singing their hearts out and decisively said, "Want me to walk you home? It’s not far anyway."

"This is your party—you can’t just bail," Zhou Zuofei reassured him. "I’m not that tired. I’ll just grab a cab."

"Hold on, I’ll get someone here."

Just as the two were at an impasse, a quiet voice piped up from the side, "I was just about to head home too. Mind if I tag along with Zhouzhou?"

They turned and saw it was Qiao Qi who had spoken.

"But that’s still two girls by themselves."

In Zhan Zilang’s view, letting women walk home alone late at night was a no-go. No matter who escorted whom, someone would still end up returning by themselves, wouldn’t they?

Zhou Zuofei didn’t want to dismiss Zhan Zilang’s concern, and since his reasoning made sense—after all, it was already so late—waiting a bit longer wasn’t a big deal.

So the final decision was for Zhan Zilang to call a driver.

Zhou Zuofei waited another twenty minutes before finally getting into the car with Qiao Qi that Zhan Zilang had called.

Zhan Zilang walked them out. Just before getting in the car, Zhou Zuofei suddenly remembered their conversation from earlier that afternoon.

With no one else around, she held out her arms and said, "How about a hug?"

He froze for a moment, then grinned and stepped forward, giving her a quick, light hug before pulling away.

"Zhou-jie, wish you all the best."

"You too."

"Let’s stay in touch when we’re free." After saying this, Zhan Zilang caught a glimpse of Qiao Qi’s nervous, darting gaze out of the corner of his eye, so he turned to face her openly.

"Qiao Qi, you coming?"

Her face instantly flushed bright red, and she stammered, "No need."

"Alright." Zhan Zilang dropped his arm with a regretful expression. "It’s been a pleasure working with you these past few months."

"Same here."

"Alright, enough with the mushy stuff. You two should head back and rest early. Text the group when you get home."

"Okay, goodbye."

After getting into the car, Zhou Zuofei noticed Qiao Qi occasionally glancing out the window—more precisely, at Zhan Zilang standing by the roadside—and immediately understood what was on her mind.

"There’s still time," Zhou Zuofei kindly reminded her.

Qiao Qi startled like a deer in headlights, lifting her head to look at Zhou Zuofei. "What?"

Zhou Zuofei explained, "I mean, if there’s anything else you want to say to Xiao Zhan, you can still hop out and talk to him."

The driver, catching the conversation, stopped and asked, "Want me to pop the door?"

At that moment, Qiao Qi was more worried about her feelings being exposed than about speaking to Zhan Zilang.

She put on a calm front, making an excuse to cover up. "No, it’s fine. I’ll just text him later."

Zhou Zuofei asked, "Should we head back, then?"

As the car slowly began to move, Qiao Qi couldn’t help but regret missing her last chance, even when it was right in front of her.

She knew all too well about her own hesitation. But knowing and fixing it were two different things. After her last failure, she hadn’t dared to act again.

On top of that, she started wondering where her feelings for Zhan Zilang even came from—or whether it was love at all.

She turned to Zhou Zuofei and couldn’t help but ask the question that had been bugging her forever: "Zhou Zhou, how did you and Secretary Xiao start?"

The fact that Zhou Zuofei and Secretary Xiao were dating was an open secret in admin.

Everyone often saw Xiao Wang coming to see Zhou Zuofei. At first, they’d give them some light teasing, but over time, it became normal.

Qiao Qi was no exception.

She’d catch herself watching them, seeing how naturally close they were. While envious, she also wondered whether she wanted the same kind of relationship with Zhan Zilang.

But no matter how hard she tried to picture it, she just couldn’t see it.

Because she knew nothing about Zhan Zilang—aside from knowing he liked gaming, she only knew he was an optimistic, cheerful person.

It was precisely his free-spirited, confident aura that had drawn her in—a life she’d never seen—one she couldn’t even picture for herself.

"Dating a coworker’s kinda weird, right? I used to think so too. But our work doesn’t really overlap, so when I interact with him, I don’t associate it with work. Plus, we had private conversations, and I thought he was great, and he felt the same way. So, we just ended up together."

"Truthfully, I’m the timid type. At first, I doubted whether my feelings were real. But doubting alone didn’t help, so I put out feelers—and it turned out my instincts were right."

Qiao Qi couldn’t help but say, “That’s so wonderful.”

Even the most beautiful fairy tale couldn’t compare. I like you just as much as you like me.

“I feel the same way.”

“You and Secretary Xiao are a perfect match. I hope you'll always be happy together.”

“Thank you, Qiao Qi. You’ll find your happiness too.”

For someone like me...who knows?” Qiao Qi forced an awkward, bitter smile and said.

Could someone as shy and ordinary as her really find someone who loves her?

“It depends on how you define happiness. As long as you feel happy, that's enough. My life now is wonderful, but I don’t deny my past. I was happy alone a few years ago too, because it was my choice.”

As she spoke, Zhou Zuofei hugged Qiao Qi. “With a positive outlook, I believe everyone can find happiness.”

Startled by the sudden hug, Qiao Qi stiffened at first, but the warmth of the hug—the most direct and sincere expression—gradually eased her tension.

Her racing thoughts quieted down under this comforting warmth.

Her eyes suddenly welled up. She closed them to hide the tears from Zhou Zuofei.

But her trembling voice betrayed her emotions. “Zhou Zhou, you're so kind.”

“Heh, I know I am.”

Zhou Zuofei knew she wasn’t strong enough to handle everyone’s problems. She couldn’t change the world, but at this moment, she could give Qiao Qi a small hug.

If this hug could help Qiao Qi, then she’d be happy too.

Back at home, Zhou Zuofei snuggled in the blanket, turned over, and took out her phone to send him a goodnight message. The sheets still smelled like Xiao Wang.

She'd just sent an emoji when Xiao Wang called.

“All done for tonight?”

“Yeah, heading to bed now. What’re you doing?”

“Going over stuff for tomorrow. I’ll turn in soon.”

“Don’t stay up too late. What did you have for dinner?”

“Had a welcome dinner with the Xinxing folks. They specially arranged it.”

“Oh, was it okay?”

“It was okay. You know how these work dinners are…”

“Yeah, I guess…”

Hearing Zhou Zuofei's voice getting quieter, Xiao Wang asked, “Getting sleepy? You should sleep.”

“Just wanna talk a bit longer. You’ll be busy tomorrow.”

“It’s fine. You didn’t get much rest today.”

“Okay…”

Zhou Zuofei was worn out after a long day and couldn't keep her eyes open, so she simply closed them, waiting for him to hang up.

But after a few seconds, the line was still open.

"Why aren't you hanging up?"

"I'll hang up once you fall asleep." Xiao Wang couldn’t bring himself to end the call—once he did, the room would be left with nothing but him and his laptop full of documents.

So he placed the phone beside his computer, letting Zhou Zuofei’s breathing accompany him as he worked.

Hearing Xiao Wang’s words, even though Zhou Zuofei was exhausted, she couldn’t help but laugh.

"That's so childish!"

She still remembered back in college when a roommate got a boyfriend and had to fall asleep on call with him every night.

Honestly, she couldn’t understand that behavior at the time. Now, looking back, she realized it was simply because she hadn’t had that lightbulb moment about love yet.

Seems like Du Yu’s saying, "If you can still think rationally, it’s not love," keeps proving truer.

Xiao Wang gave a helpless laugh and was about to reach out to end the call when Zhou Zuofei’s voice came through again.

"A little childishness now and then doesn't hurt."

Doing something alone is childish, but doing it together is called being on the same wavelength—why care what others think? As long as they’re happy, that’s all that matters.

"Then I’ll sleep now. You should rest early too."

Xiao Wang slowly withdrew his hand. The screen's blue glow illuminated his face but couldn’t hide the softness in his eyes.

"Sweet dreams."