"How come you're working in wholesale clothing here?" Qin Tianyi asked, taking another look inside the stall. He was a bit disappointed to find only Wei Yanan tending to it, with no one else around.
Wei Yanan quickly replied, "Something happened at home, so I'm doing a small business to make a living. President Qin, you're a busy man, always appearing on TV and in magazines. How do you have time to come to such a remote place?"
Before Qin Tianyi could answer, she added, "Do you like the clothes I'm selling? If you do, feel free to pick some to give to your girlfriend."
"The styles you sell are quite nice, but I don't have a girlfriend," Qin Tianyi said, touching the fabric of the hanging clothes.
"I didn't expect President Qin to be so humorous," Wei Yanan said as she started to pack up. "This market is closing soon, and I should be packing up too. President Qin, if you have nothing else to do, you can go wander around elsewhere. There's a mall nearby that doesn't close until ten at night."
"Alright, you be busy then." Qin Tianyi didn't linger at her stall and exited the market through the entrance.
Wei Yanan patted her chest, which had almost jumped out of her body. Fortunately, Susu had left early today, saying she was going to check out some garment factories in the area.
She walked back to her residence lost in thought and encountered Gu Susu, who had just returned with shopping bags. She asked with a hint of guilt, "Susu, what did you buy? Such a big bag!"
Susu lifted the shopping bag higher, letting her see the contents, and smiled, "Hot pot for dinner."
Wei Yanan saw the various ingredients in the shopping bag. She considered telling Susu about meeting Qin Tianyi at the market, but then thought it was just a false alarm. Telling her would only make her unhappy, so she decided not to mention it.
"Wow, it's so abundant, it's making my mouth water. Hurry up and cook it, my stomach is rumbling," she said, opening the door to their residence.
The two of them efficiently washed and chopped vegetables. Soon, the soup base in the pot was bubbling hot, and Susu placed the dishes of ingredients into the pot one by one.
Yanan was still in the kitchen preparing the dipping sauces and discovered they were out of vinegar. She quickly said, "How about we don't add vinegar to the sauces? We've just run out of vinegar."
"Ah, but I can't enjoy anything without vinegar," Susu said, turning down the heat. "It's okay, wait a moment, I'll go buy a bottle."
"Okay, okay," Yanan said, carrying two bowls of dipping sauce out of the kitchen. She saw that Susu had already left with her coin purse and phone.
There was a small supermarket not far from their place. Susu quickly bought a bottle of vinegar from her usual preferred brand and walked away quickly after leaving the supermarket.
She suddenly noticed someone standing motionless under a streetlamp. This person must be waiting for someone, right?
She didn't pay much attention, holding a bottle of vinegar in her hand, and walked past the person.
"Gu Susu."
Hearing the voice, she shivered and prepared to turn and flee, but Qin Tianyi grabbed her by the collar from behind.
"Where do you think you're running off to?"
Gu Susu was indignant, not understanding how he had found her. She had been confident that she was well hidden and that no one would discover her.
"Mr. Qin, hello." She had no choice but to pretend to be calm, turn around, look at him, and act as if she hadn't remembered anything, still treating him as the Mr. Qin she met in Paris. "How come you're in such a small place? What a coincidence."
Qin Tianyi released her, knowing she was playing dumb. He said coldly, "Hello, Miss Gu. Why aren't you studying in Paris, but instead came to such a small place?"
Gu Susu held up the bottle of vinegar in her hand and said, "I just came out to buy a bottle of vinegar. I won't disturb you while you're waiting for someone." With that, she tried to leave quickly again.
Qin Tianyi approached her. His tall figure and charming handsome face were like a celebrity walking out of a poster. He sneered, "Stop playing dumb. You've already recovered your memory. Why doesn't Yang Sijie want you to recover your past memories? Why are you even hiding from him? Isn't he the one you love the most?"
Hearing him ask this, she felt both angry and distressed. He still had such deep misunderstandings about her.
But it was she who had deliberately led him to misunderstand her back then, so who could she blame?
"This is between him and me. We will resolve it ourselves. You don't need to worry about it, Mr. Qin. If there's nothing else, please don't block my way, okay?" Gu Susu said to him politely yet coldly.
Qin Tianyi grabbed her arm and gazed into her eyes under the streetlamp, desperate for an answer. He asked, "Gu Susu, the person you like has always been me?"
He had also cornered her on a night like this in Paris. Back then, she had no past memories, and he couldn't ask this question.
This was a question that had been lingering in his heart for a long time. He desperately wanted to hear the answer from her own lips.
Even though he had imagined countless times that the answer might be negative or very hurtful, for some reason tonight, he still asked this foolish question.
Gu Susu was stunned, as if she hadn't heard his question clearly. Her lips moved, and the word "like" was on the tip of her tongue, but she still didn't utter it.
She had lost everything. Not only could she not help him, but she would also drag him into an extremely dangerous situation.
It was precisely because she cared about him that she couldn't give him this answer.
Qin Tianyi lowered his gaze to observe her reaction. He truly lacked the courage to wait for her answer. He smiled self-deprecatingly, "Why would I ask you such a foolish question? But you must apologize to me with your actions."
Gu Susu's heart ached faintly, but she still smiled and said to him shrewdly, "Mr. Qin, I apologize to you. I'm sorry."
After saying that, she thought she could finally get away from him, but he had no intention of letting go. He said, "I don't want to hear your verbal apology. I only want you to apologize with your actions."
"What actions?" Gu Susu asked blankly.
Qin Tianyi's gaze shifted downwards towards her face. Gu Susu suddenly became flustered. Seizing his momentary lapse, she stepped on his foot, shoved the bottle of vinegar into his arms, and fled in a panic, running all the way back to their residence.
As soon as she entered, she slammed the door shut as if chased by a ghost and immediately locked it.
Wei Yanan looked at her disheveled appearance with confusion. She was empty-handed, and asked strangely, "Didn't you go buy vinegar?"
Gu Susu was still dazed and said, "The supermarket was out of vinegar."
"No way, this common condiment is everywhere. How could you not find any?"
Gu Susu sat down, her legs still a bit weak, and said in a daze, "It was sold out today."
Yanan didn't think much of it. Looking at the cooked vegetables and meat in the electric hot pot, she said, "Then forget it. What are you still staring at? Come on, let's start eating."
Susu finally came back to her senses and looked up, saying, "I ran into Qin Tianyi when I went out just now."
Yanan's expression wasn't surprised. She said helplessly, "How did he find his way here again?"
Susu quickly asked, "Did you contact him behind my back?"