CHAPTER 55: CHAPTER 54: MID-AUTUMN NIGHT (PART 3)

Xiang Qichen moved quickly, finishing his shopping in less than half an hour. As he pushed the cart to the checkout, he happened to run into Zhou Huaiyi, who was picking vegetables in the fresh produce section.

He watched from behind as his tall figure buried itself in the freezer, feeling somewhat out of place.

He never thought he’d see a day when he would be picking vegetables and cooking, even though it didn’t quite count as truly himself in a certain sense.

After checking out, Xiang Qichen went back to the car first and sent a WeChat message to Zhou Huaiyi.

Zhou Huaiyi had just finished choosing two pieces of beef brisket, and after seeing Xiang Qichen’s message, she also grabbed two boxes of salmon before heading to the checkout.

While waiting in line, the chatter around her grew increasingly loud. Eventually, someone boldly started taking photos with their phone.

The line finally reached her turn.

Zhou Huaiyi lowered her hat brim and took out everything from the shopping cart for the cashier to scan.

"So handsome..."

"He’s so handsome even with a mask on, what do we do, what do we do!"

"I never thought he’d come to the supermarket to buy groceries. Vegetables and raw meat, is he planning to cook for himself?"

"Not only is he handsome, but he can cook too! His future wife will be so happy!"

As the items were scanned, Zhou Huaiyi bagged them while silently repeating in her heart: Unfortunately, I’m not your Qi Chen...

After paying, Zhou Huaiyi hurriedly carried her things to the elevator, but the people behind her seemed to have held back for too long, and just as someone screamed, a group of them broke into a run, causing quite a scene among the elderly onlookers in the supermarket.

Zhou Huaiyi, frightened, didn’t dare to take the elevator. She found the emergency exit and quickly ran down the stairs, searching for her car for quite a while.

She jumped into the car, slammed the door shut, took a deep breath, and said, "Charm level overloaded, they have me outnumbered, no way to output, let’s get out of here fast."

Xiang Qichen: "..."

In the evening, Yan Qing called.

Zhou Huaiyi was washing vegetables, and Xiang Qichen looked at the contact name and put the call on speaker, handing it over—

"Qi Chen! You went to the supermarket today?"

Zhou Huaiyi hesitated: How did you know?

Yan Qing seemed to hear what she was thinking, and continued, "It’s all over Weibo."

Zhou Huaiyi: "Huh? So fast?"

Yan Qing added, "Luckily, nothing dangerous happened. Next time, don’t go out alone. Let Yang Li or Zhou Huaiyi go with you when you need something, or have them send it to you."

Zhou Huaiyi gave Xiang Qichen a look of disbelief: Even a supermarket run can be dangerous?

Xiang Qichen gave her a glance, signaling her to respond, and Zhou Huaiyi came back to her senses with an "Oh": "Got it."

After hanging up, Zhou Huaiyi couldn’t care less about what she was doing and asked, "Is your everyday life that dangerous? Even going to a supermarket..."

Xiang Qichen nonchalantly put down his phone to help out, saying, "Recently, with what’s been happening on Weibo, Sister Yan is a bit worried."

Zhou Huaiyi paused, instinctively recalling the online backlash Xiang Qichen faced last month, surprised: "...Are they afraid you’ll get, um, something?"

"Yeah, I did receive some threatening letters... But honestly, they were just pranks, nothing more."

He spoke as if it were the most normal thing, without much care.

Zhou Huaiyi was shocked: "Threatening letters?!"

Xiang Qichen chuckled, thinking she was worried about being implicated. He was about to reassure her, saying "Don’t worry, nothing will happen to you," when she continued, "Then you might as well stay in my body a bit longer, I can still protect you..."

Xiang Qichen was taken aback, her earnest expression filling his view.

Despite being a delicate and petite girl, she was resolute in claiming she’d keep him safe.

Suddenly, he felt as if a door, barely ajar, was being gently pushed open by Zhou Huaiyi.

Then, step by step...

She began to walk deeper into his heart.

Seeing Xiang Qichen remain silent for a while, Zhou Huaiyi, fearing he thought she was unreliable, quickly added, "Don’t underestimate me! I learned some martial arts in high school, so my basic self-defense skills are pretty good." As she spoke, she rolled up her sleeves, showing off a bicep that wasn’t actually hers.

Xiang Qichen couldn’t help but laugh, "That’s my arm."

Zhou Huaiyi, embarrassed, shyly put down her sleeve and gave him a dry smile, "It’s all the same, it’s all the same. With your build, I’d be even stronger in a fight."

Xiang Qichen smirked, peeling a clove of garlic, smiling silently.