Under the Cheongsam Skirt - Chapter 19

Zhao Ciqin’s move was prepared quickly. All she needed to pack were her daily clothes and her handy painting tools. Additionally, she informed Aunt Zhou that she no longer needed to come and cook for her.

With an extra person at home, Xu Xing’s changes were also quite noticeable. In the past, he was always the first to arrive at the law firm and the last to leave. Even if he left early, it was mostly due to work-related social engagements. Now, however, he left late and returned early. Even Hang Zhihui, the receptionist at the front desk, noticed something was off. “Lawyer Xu, have you been busy at home recently? Why didn’t you take the Jing family’s case? They highly value you and specifically requested you to handle it.”

The Jing family was quite famous in Shanghai, controlling most of the city’s nightlife. However, they had a peculiar habit: before asking someone to handle their affairs, they would always invite them to bars or dance halls to show their “respect.”

Xu Xing smiled and said, “No, thank you. My household is quite strict.”

As he turned and walked out of the law firm, Hang Zhihui couldn’t shake a strange feeling. “Did I hear that right? Since when did Lawyer Xu have a family?”

By the time he was nearing home, the sky hadn’t yet darkened. A plump woman hanging clothes outside her door in the alley greeted him with a smile, “Lawyer Xu, you’re back so early today.”

“Yes, Lawyer Xu,” another woman chimed in, holding something in her hand. “I just made some pear syrup candy. Would you like a jar? It’s good for the throat! I heard that lawyers have to talk for hours in court, no less exhausting than teaching.”

Their enthusiasm was understandable. Xu Xing was good-looking, gentle-mannered, and would always respond politely to anyone who spoke to him, never letting the conversation fall flat. With a respectable job, even if they didn’t have daughters of marriageable age, they wanted to play matchmaker for him, either to earn a matchmaker’s fee or simply to enjoy a pleasant chat.

Xu Xing politely declined their offers and opened his front door. His eyes first scanned the rattan chair.

No one there.

Where had she gone this time?

For some reason, whenever he thought of Zhao Ciqin, a warm, tingling sensation filled his heart. The corners of his lips couldn’t help but curl up slightly. He pushed open the bedroom door and, sure enough, saw Zhao Ciqin leaning over the desk, an ink palette with still-wet paint beside her.

She had actually woken up the moment he entered. She straightened up and casually said, “You’re back.”

“Yes,” Xu Xing replied. He walked over to tidy up the paint supplies to prevent her from accidentally smudging them. “The lighting in here is poor. Don’t paint here in the future.”

This was one of the inconveniences of living here. Even though the street wasn’t particularly dirty or chaotic, the houses were packed closely together, and there was no balcony, making it inconvenient to hang clothes and affecting the natural light.

“I was just bored,” Zhao Ciqin said.

She stood up and followed Xu Xing into the bathroom, watching as he turned on the faucet to rinse the painting tools.

Suddenly, she felt the urge to tease him. “When I opened the door today, a little girl stared at me, wide-eyed. She was probably wondering which bad woman had stolen Lawyer Xu’s keys.”

To her surprise, Xu Xing didn’t respond immediately. He calmly finished washing the painting tools, hung them to dry in the corner, dried his hands with a towel, and then suddenly turned around, leaning down to kiss Zhao Ciqin’s lips. He looked directly into her eyes and asked, “Would that bad woman allow Lawyer Xu to tell everyone that he’s no longer single?”