Han Xi smiled and nodded, "We came here for dinner, what about you?"
"I have a social engagement." Tong Ze’s gaze unintentionally fell on the ring on Li Manman’s right ring finger, yet his gentle and cultured face showed no ripple of emotion.
"Manman, how have you been lately?"
Li Manman looked up at Tong Ze, feeling a bit indescribable inside, knowing that Tong Ze liked her, it was hard to be completely at ease.
"Pretty good."
"Even if we won’t be together, we are still friends; you can’t deliberately avoid me."
Tong Ze spoke directly with a deep smile playing at the corners of his mouth. Indeed, Li Manman had been avoiding him these days.
Even knowing this girl was married, Tong Ze couldn’t help himself from liking her; sometimes, matters of the heart aren’t so easy to cut off just like that.
"I’m not, it’s just... let’s all get together sometime when we have time."
Li Manman felt that if she kept making excuses, it would seem pretentious. They weren’t doing anything inappropriate, so just interact normally in the future.
"Then that’s settled, you’re not allowed to avoid me in the future." Tong Ze glanced at his watch: "I have things to do, I need to go."
Watching Tong Ze enter the private room, Han Xi linked arms with Li Manman as they headed to the restroom, "Kind of awkward, but it’s not like you can completely cut ties."
Li Manman nodded in strong agreement with Han Xi, "After all, we’ve been classmates for so many years, and he hasn’t crossed any lines. If I say not to contact him anymore, it’d feel too contrived."
"Just let things take their course, as long as you two don’t meet alone, Feng Yi probably won’t say anything."
"Yeah, I think so too."
Coming out of the restroom, Han Xi turned on the faucet to rinse her hands, pulled out a few paper towels from the sink to dry them, then returned to the private room with Li Manman.
"What took so long?" Lu Jinghan helped Han Xi pull out her chair and asked with concern.
"I ran into a friend outside and chatted for a bit."
Han Xi didn’t dare mention that the person she met was Tong Ze, to prevent Feng Yi from misunderstanding.
After the meal, everyone dispersed. When they got home, Han Xi had already fallen asleep. Lu Jinghan got out of the car, walked around to the passenger seat to open the door, took off his coat to drape it over Han Xi, and gently lifted her in his arms to carry her into the villa.
Once inside, Lu Jinghan didn’t even change his shoes, but went upstairs, opened the bedroom door, carefully laid Han Xi on the bed, and gradually undressed her.
Han Xi murmured and turned over, while Lu Jinghan tenderly smoothed the strands of hair on her forehead, tucked her under the covers, and headed to the bathroom.
......
When Chu Ci returned home, she was about to pack, but Fu Bin stopped her: "I’ll pack, you take a shower and get some rest."
"I’ll still pack with you. You don’t know what I need to bring."
Though Chu Ci was pregnant now, she was still particular about what outfits to wear, so she had to handle packing herself to feel assured.
"Then you just need to instruct me, I’ll pack." Fu Bin took a suitcase from the closet, opened it, and placed it on the floor.
Chu Ci smiled and nodded, holding her lower back as she walked to the wardrobe, pointing to a few clothes upfront, "I want to bring these, and those up there too."