"Boss! Another pot of wine!" Li Yang was very happy, and the group had already drunk quite a bit. The women were whispering with their heads together, while the men were loudly gambling with cups and shouting toasts.
It was extremely lively.
"With our boss safely back, we have to have a few more drinks." Li Yang casually refilled an empty wine cup on the table and handed it to Hu Jia.
"Hey, this is my cup." Cai Xiaojuan quickly gestured for Hu Jia to put it down. "Don't you see my lipstick mark on the rim?"
"Heh, lipstick!" Lü Qingqing looked at Hu Jia with a half-smile that sent a chill down his spine. He quickly lowered his head and took a large bite of food.
Hu Jia's heart pounded. He found it strange. He had no memory of this fiancée, yet ever since she had touched him today, he felt an indescribable feeling towards her.
Li Yang had analyzed it, suggesting it might be his hidden emotions surfacing. Even with amnesia, feelings remained. Li Yang had even used a trendy term, "Perhaps seeing your wife stimulated your dopamine."
Whatever "amine" it was, Hu Jia felt inexplicably uneasy just from Lü Qingqing's glance.
The girls resumed their conversation, chatting about everything from clothes to makeup.
"Heehee, lipstick!" Lü Qingqing suddenly interjected.
The people from the training institute didn't understand, but Li Yang and his friends struggled to hold back their laughter.
The sister-in-law seemed to hold a grudge.
"Come, come, tomorrow is New Year's Day. Our little shop has specially prepared sweet dumplings for everyone. Wishing you all round smiles and a happy, fulfilling new year."
The hot pot restaurant had prepared a special dessert, and everyone thanked them.
Hu Jia served a bowl to Lü Qingqing, who ate it with a sweet feeling. Seeing this, everyone started teasing them again.
"Captain Hu, you have no idea how worried Qingqing was when you disappeared this week. She even skipped class to find you."
"Skipping class? I heard she couldn't sleep at night and didn't eat well during the day."
"Tsk, tsk, Captain Hu looks a bit fuller this week, but our Qingqing was so worried, she was like a walking skeleton."
Once Cai Xiaojuan, Zhou Fengjiu, and the others got familiar, they became quite outspoken.
Hu Jia didn't know what to say. Finally, after some thought, he told Lü Qingqing, "I made you worry."
Lü Qingqing snorted proudly, "Who was worried about you? I dressed myself up beautifully every day, heehee, lipstick!"
"Hahaha..." Yu Yue couldn't hold back any longer.
She had never seen Lü Qingqing act so shamelessly.
They say couples in love have a certain "sour" aura, and this must be how it's created.
"Why do you keep mentioning lipstick?" Zhou Fengjiu glanced at the corner of Lü Qingqing's lips. "You're not wearing any lipstick."
"Of course I'm not wearing any. Some people love to draw it all over their faces," Lü Qingqing replied sarcastically. At this point, everyone realized Lü Qingqing was making a jab at Hu Jia.
Only Yu Xiaohui, lacking in social cues, asked, "What do you mean, 'all over their faces'? Oh, right, Captain Hu, Qingqing said you drew a heart on your face last night with her name on it. Hahaha, it sounds hilarious, too bad I didn't see it."
Everyone: "..."
It was over!
This was Lü Qingqing's first thought.
"Hahaha..." This time, not only Yu Yue laughed, but Ouyang Wen also joined in, and especially Li Yang, who laughed the loudest.
Lü Qingqing was so angry she wanted to ladle some hot oil onto him.
"What's wrong with them?" Yu Xiaohui didn't quite understand.
"It's nothing, they're just having a moment. Ignore them." Lü Qingqing was extremely embarrassed and kept piling food onto Yu Xiaohui's plate with her chopsticks. "Is it good? Eat more if it is."
Hu Jia, sitting next to Lü Qingqing, also convulsed with suppressed laughter. Lü Qingqing couldn't stand it anymore. "Is it funny? Do you want me to do something even funnier?"
By this point, Lü Qingqing had completely abandoned her gentle act. Her tone was full of threats. "What should we talk about? Heehee, lipstick?"
Hu Jia quickly pretended to be deaf and mute. Oh dear, this was the familiar Lü Qingqing he knew.
...
After a satisfying meal, under Lü Qingqing's intimidating gaze, Li Yang didn't dare to say goodbye to Hu Jia and quickly slipped away.
Under the dim lights, they were once again a pair facing each other.
"I heard you live opposite me?" Hu Jia initiated the conversation.
"Did you not check your memo?" Lü Qingqing countered.
"Hmm, I was busy today and didn't really look." Hu Jia replied. After a moment, seeing Lü Qingqing didn't follow up, he added, "What's wrong? Did I miss anything?"
Lü Qingqing shook her head. "Nothing."
In the past, whenever Hu Jia woke up, he would diligently memorize things about her from his memo, especially her preferences, as they often cooked together.
This time, Hu Jia hadn't checked. Although there was a reason, Lü Qingqing felt a little disappointed.
However, Hu Jia was good at reading people. Seeing Lü Qingqing's expression, he knew something was up. He silently added a task for himself: work overtime tonight.
"Time flies. In a few more hours, it will be the new year," Lü Qingqing thought back to August, when she had first interacted with the man beside her. In the blink of an eye, summer had turned into the cold wind of winter.
"Yes, it flies!" Hu Jia sighed even more. He had just slept, and seven years were gone.
Lü Qingqing also detected Hu Jia's sense of loss and realized she shouldn't have brought up this topic.
But did avoiding it help?
Yes!
Because even if she talked until dawn tonight, he would still forget next Monday.
"Let's go hiking tomorrow. South Mountain?" Lü Qingqing looked at Hu Jia with hopeful eyes. "Bring Duobao along."
Hu Jia hesitated for a moment, as he was eager to investigate the matter of the key.
"Please?" Lü Qingqing took Hu Jia's hand and shook it.
"Okay. Fine." The moment Lü Qingqing touched him, Hu Jia agreed without hesitation. Just now, he felt his heart skip a beat.
Could this be what Li Yang called dopamine?
...
"Are you sure this is dopamine?" Yu Yue looked at Li Yang skeptically.
"Definitely! I learned it from a foreign book," Li Yang nodded seriously.
Yu Yue was exasperated. "Dopamine, my foot! Haven't you considered that boss's memory might be recovering?"
On the way home, Li Yang told Yu Yue about what Hu Jia had told him that afternoon.
Yu Yue was stunned. Hu Jia said that a scene of him holding Lü Qingqing's hand flashed in his mind. Although he didn't know when it happened, it was definitely from the past.
After that scene appeared, Hu Jia felt a sense of closeness towards Lü Qingqing, which is why he quickly accepted the premise of being Lü Qingqing's fiancé.
Li Yang's explanation of dopamine secretion might be correct. But in Yu Yue's eyes, this was a miracle.
For five whole years, this was the first flashback the boss had. Wasn't his memory starting to recover?
"No, we need to create more opportunities for them to be together in the future. It might be beneficial for the boss's recovery." Li Yang was also pleasantly surprised after hearing Yu Yue's analysis.
"How do we create them?"
"Lock them in a dark room? Or burn down Lü Qingqing's house to force them to live together? Or, forget about being fiancés, just get them married directly?"
Yu Yue's face darkened. "I can't guarantee Qingqing won't kill you for other methods, but if you burn down the house, Ouyang Wen will kill you first!"
Low IQ!