Chapter 137 The CEO’s Divorced Wife’s Gentle Knife (36)

Chapter 137 The CEO's Divorced Wife's Gentle Knife (36)

"Du Wenxing, you've got the worst luck!"

"Every time we get involved with you, something bad happens!" On their way to Haitang Kitchen, the group berated Du Wenxing.

They had privately started a betting pool, just for fun, but never thought it would get to the CEO’s ears.

Even worse, Du Wenxing, the traitor, had snitched on everyone.

The consequence? Everyone who placed a bet was stuck with a week of overtime.

The group complained loudly, shooting Du Wenxing dirty looks.

Du Wenxing, feeling unfairly blamed, tried to defend himself: "Well... the CEO asked me for the list..."

"I couldn’t just..."

The receptionist snapped through gritted teeth, "You should've just said we all bet on the CEO!"

"Du Wenxing, did you do this on purpose?"

"Just to show off your unwavering loyalty to the CEO?"

Her words inadvertently hit the mark—Du Wenxing, already guilty, fidgeted uncomfortably.

The five or six people surrounding Du Wenxing kept grumbling, completely unaware that Zhong Jiaze had been standing behind them the whole time.

After listening for a few minutes, Lawyer Zhong roughly understood the situation.

He cleared his throat.

Everyone immediately fell silent, turning stiffly to face Lawyer Zhong’s expression.

Was there anything more awkward than being caught red-handed by the person involved?

"Running a private betting pool with more than three participants and a total sum exceeding 5,000 yuan—that could get you in legal trouble, you know."

The lawyer spoke with a smile, but his words made Du Wenxing’s heart sink.

"Uh..."

Getting caught by the person involved twice in a row, Du Wenxing couldn’t help but curse his bad luck. He managed a weak smile. "Lawyer Zhong, we were just joking around."

"What betting pool? It was just fooling around..."

Zhong Jiaze remained smiling. "WeChat transfers are traceable."

"Those are all evidence of illegal activity."

Du Wenxing’s face fell even further. He couldn’t tell if the lawyer was serious or not.

He hesitated, "Come on, Lawyer Zhong..."

"We’re basically old friends, right?"

The lawyer’s smile was gentle, revealing no emotion. "Just calling it like I see it."

"Next time, keep such discussions private," he added. "If you run into a legally savvy do-gooder like me, I might have to report you..."

Seems like it’s nothing serious, Lawyer Zhong was just messing with us.

Once he realized, Du Wenxing let out a sigh of relief and nodded hurriedly, "Don’t worry, it won’t happen again!"

Just this one time was bad enough—working overtime for a whole week had left him so exhausted he was practically sleepwalking.

Not to mention, this was already the second time he’d been busted.

"We’ve deeply realized our mistake! We absolutely won’t do it again!"

Clutching his buddy’s arm, Du Wenxing blurted out in a panic.

Just then, Du Wenxing heard Zhong Jiaze’s low, ominous tone again, "But… you actually chose Li Zhou…"

Du Wenxing was stunned: "Huh? What…"

His smile was all teeth, no warmth, as he continued, "Picking him over me? Tempted to turn you in…"

Du Wenxing: ???

Perhaps frightened by Zhong Jiaze’s later words, Du Wenxing was rooted to the spot outside "Haitang Kitchen," not daring to step inside.

"Tang Qing, are you free tonight?"

Brushing it off, the lawyer walked right up to Tang Qing.

Handed to Tang Qing was an invitation. Expecting some formal banquet, she was surprised to first see the little stick-figure doodle she had once drawn on a sticky note.

"What’s this?"

Blinking in surprise, she saw the invite was for Zhong Jiaze’s balcony.

Apparently, there would be an Orionid meteor shower tonight. It was hard to imagine this high-powered lawyer would handcraft something like this. Staring at the little heart doodle on it, Tang Qing suddenly saw his dorky charm.

"Are you free tonight?"

"Supposedly this meteor shower only happens every hundred years."

Tang Qing looked up and saw her own reflection clearly in the lawyer’s eyes…

From their first meeting, Lawyer Zhong had always carried this gentle demeanor, his eyes holding a weirdly calming presence.

After hesitating for a moment, Tang Qing nodded slightly and whispered, "Sure."

Her system whooped: "Woo-hoo~ Lawyer Zhong’s Love Points are in the home stretch! Looks like it’ll be completed tonight!"

That evening, Tang Qing arrived at Lawyer Zhong’s balcony right on time, as stated in the invitation.

Unlike her last unannounced visit, the balcony had gone all out tonight.

Around the railing, Lawyer Zhong had planted a row of greenery, perfectly giving them complete privacy.

Zhong Jiaze had also prepared some string lights, scattered along the railing, twinkling with a warm, intimate light amidst the lush foliage—setting the mood.

Nearby was a set of camping-style table and chairs. Tang Qing noticed the beer chilling in the bucket was the same brand she had randomly grabbed that one time at home.

Noticing Tang Qing’s gaze, Lawyer Zhong smiled and said, "Well, since it’s a guest visit, I thought I’d make it nice."

Standing under the lights, Tang Qing seemed a bit flustered and murmured, "Ah… you didn’t have to go to all this trouble…"

"Don't worry about it."

"Tang Qing, for you, nothing's too much trouble."

Standing opposite her, Zhong Jiaze's tone grew even gentler. Only then did Tang Qing notice that he was wearing casual clothes today. Usually, the lawyer was always dressed in his professional white shirt, but today's casual outfit added a sense of familiarity to his presence. Paired with his gold-rimmed glasses, he looked every bit like a handsome lead from a Japanese drama.

A man like this, standing before her with his eyes fixed only on her—it was hard not to be moved.

The meteor shower was about to start.

Glancing at the time, Zhong Jiaze was the first to move closer to Tang Qing.

The moment their bodies drew close, Tang Qing just barely caught Lawyer Zhong's slightly hurried breathing...

And the subtle heat coming from Zhong Jiaze at this moment.

He wasn't as calm as he seemed—Zhong Jiaze was nervous too...

System: "Hehehe, detecting a rise in Zhong Jiaze's Love Points! Now at 98!"

"Tang Qing, Lawyer Zhong must be preparing to confess... I'm detecting his heartbeat is racing..."

The system chirped excitedly by Tang Qing's ear, its tone full of anticipation. "Just two points left!"

The meteor shower would begin in two minutes.

In those final two minutes of waiting, neither of them spoke, the only sound between them their breathing.

Gazing at the flickering night sky, the thickening tension quickly spread across the entire balcony. In the last few seconds before it began, Zhong Jiaze finally spoke: "Tang Qing..."

"Remember at Haitang Kitchen, do you remember...?"

"I wished on a shooting star, and it came true."

"Tang Qing, my wish was...to be with you."