A heart-wrenching feeling

  Zhou Ting entered the kitchen and only then realized that what was going on outside wasn't chaotic at all. She rolled up her sleeves and also started moving, otherwise she had no idea how long Chen Ran would take, and she didn't want to starve.

  "I can handle it myself." Chen Ran furrowed his dense sword-like eyebrows, if next time Ting wants to mess up the things he has organized again, that would be a loss.

  "What? I didn't even want to help you, if it wasn't for not starving to death, do you think I'd be willing to help you with this?" Zhou Ting said angrily, having thought she was doing a good deed but ended up being rejected instead.

  "Alright, Miss, as long as I don't say anything, please don't mess up the place I've just cleaned." Chen Ran continued to lower his head and tidy things up, afraid that Zhou Ting would ruin the spot he had just cleaned.

  Su Qiao saw a man and woman flirting at the entrance, the man was handsome, the woman was beautiful, it should have been a very beautiful scene, but for some reason he only felt a sour and unbearable feeling in his heart, as if something important was about to leave him.

  He quietly retreated to the living room, Su Qiao covered his somewhat empty heart, almost laughing out loud, what was wrong with him? Was he too idle, and was thinking nonsense here, tomorrow should go find a job.

  "Suqiao, Suqiao, what are you doing standing there? Come in quickly and help us." Zhou Ting was leaning against the door frame, and from a distance she saw Suqiao's dejected appearance.

  "Ah?" Caught off guard, Su Qiao raised his head in a daze, "I'd better not go, I'll only make things worse." With some disappointment, he lowered his head and started counting on his fingers.

  "Hehe" Zhou Ting was amused by Su Qiao's childish appearance, "How could that be? Hurry up and come over, can you bear to see me and Chen Ran cleaning up by ourselves?"

  Su Qiao slowly walked past, hesitated in front of the kitchen door, and still went in. He looked at Chen Ran with some unease, Su Qiao found that he didn't even lift his head to look at him, squatting down with a sullen face, Su Qiao felt a bit wronged.

  Chen Ran glanced at Su Qiao with a slight tilt of his head, his eyes narrowing slightly, "You go wash those pots and pans, we'll stir-fry later."

  "Oh, I'll go now." Su Qiao got up with a slump, as if his energy had been drained, and slowly picked up the pot to head to the faucet.

  Chen Ran saw Su Qiao like this and felt a bit helpless. He was about to say that he didn't need him to do anything, but was stopped by Zhou Ting's gaze.

  Zhou Ting was making an effort to blink at Chen Ran, she could see that Su Qiao's self-esteem must have been hurt, otherwise if Su Qiao couldn't regain some confidence, who knows what would happen.

  "I'll go sweep outside, you guys continue." Zhou Ting smiled slyly and turned to leave, taking the opportunity to sneak a peek at the two of them when they weren't paying attention.

  As a result, Chen Ran continued to bow her head and tidy up things, while Su Qiao was busy washing pots, the two were not speaking at all, Zhou Ting could only purse her lips and go to tidy up the living room.

  Su Qiao felt a bit apprehensive in his heart, the gurgling sound of the flowing water was just enough to cover up his unease, so he could only keep repeating the action of washing pots.

  "I'm done here, haven't you finished washing the pot yet?" Chen Ran's voice was low and husky, possibly from exhaustion after tidying up for so long.

  "Ah, okay." By the time Su Qiao reacted, Chen Ran was already standing behind him, his hot breath spraying against his ear, making his face flush slightly.

  Long and white hands took the pot from Su Qiao's hands, unintentionally touching each other. Su Qiao's heart skipped a beat, what was wrong with him? Wasn't it just a touch of hands?

  "What's wrong?" Chen Ran was somewhat puzzled, having only touched hands, Su Qiao quickly withdrew, and a hint of desolation flashed in his eyes. Indeed, Su Qiao still did not want to accept him.

  "Nothing, I'll go first." Su Qiao's eyes darted around in all directions, avoiding Chen Ran, and almost bumped into the door when walking out.

  Chen Ran shook his head, put the pot away and started washing vegetables. He had plenty of time, no need to rush, right?

  The living room was tidy and clean. Suqiao felt even more useless, looking around but couldn't find any trace of Zhou Ting. "Zhou Ting, Zhou Ting?"

  Didn't she fall asleep on the sofa? Su Qiao hesitated to move forward, but found that there was no one on the sofa. "Chen Ran, Zhou Ting is gone."

  Chen Ran helplessly rubbed his temples, Zhou Ting's old habit had struck again. "Don't mind her, she must have gone upstairs to sleep."

  "Oh." They seemed to be very familiar with each other, even understanding each other's daily habits. There was a tinge of envy amidst the heartache. Su Qiao lay down directly on the sofa, covering his eyes with his hand, feeling a slight dryness in his eyes.

  When Chen Ran brought out the dishes, he thought Su Qiao was also asleep. He hesitated whether to call Su Qiao, but saw Su Qiao suddenly get up and run into the kitchen. Chen Ran was stunned and forgot to move, just staring blankly at Su Qiao as he brought out dish after dish.

  "What's wrong with you? Are you stunned?" Su Qiao covered her mouth and smiled secretly, it was rare to see Chen Ran looking so silly, if only she had taken a photo of him just now.

  Chen Ran seemed to realize that he had been a bit silly, sat down and said: "Let's eat first, Zhou Ting can't be called for the time being, it's okay to leave some food for her later."

  "Going to bed on an empty stomach is bad for the body, or should I give it a try?" Su Qiao rubbed the back of his head and stood up, about to head upstairs.

  Chen Ran put down the chopsticks in his hand and immediately grabbed Su Qiao's hand, with a warm gaze. "She's used to tidying up before sleeping, once she falls asleep, no one can wake her up."

  "Ah, then let's eat first." Chen Ran's hand was warm to the touch, Su Qiao felt a bit flustered and stuttered slightly, quickly shaking off Chen Ran's hand and lowering his head to eat.

  Chen Yan gazed at the hand that had been pushed away, a hint of desolation flashing in his eyes before quickly disappearing. "Yeah, eat more, you're too skinny." He then picked up a piece of pork rib and put it into Su Qiao's bowl.

  Su Qiao took advantage of the break in eating to lift his head, and saw Chen Ran eating with a calm face, as if the words he had just spoken were not his own, and the dishes he had just served did not seem to be his doing. His heartbeat became more and more irregular, Su Qiao thought that he must have fallen ill.

  After dinner, Suqiao washed dishes as usual. When he came out of the kitchen, Chen Ran had already gone upstairs.

  Su Qiao sat on the sofa, sorting out his thoughts. He always felt that something was off about today. It was because of Zhou Ting and Chen Ran's intimacy that he felt a pang in his heart, and also because Chen Ran held his hand, causing his heartbeat to accelerate. Could it be...? No, no way, what was he thinking? He should just go to sleep and look for work tomorrow.

  Su Qiao pushed open the door and was about to go straight to bed, but was startled by the sound of breathing on the bed. Could it be that Chen Ran had snuck onto his bed? But Chen Ran didn't seem like the kind of person who would do such a thing. He slowly turned on the light and approached the bed, but froze when he saw the person's appearance.