The next day at 7 AM, Liang went to Zhichen's shop, but he wasn't there. She walked in and sat behind the billing desk, waiting. A few minutes later, an old man entered the shop and asked sternly, "Where is Zhichen?"
Liang stood up. "He's not here right now."
The old man frowned. "Then where did he go?"
"I don't know," she replied honestly.
He narrowed his eyes. "How can you not know? Aren't you working here?"
That was it — Liang's eyebrow twitched. She crossed her arms and shot back, "I'm not working here!"
"Then what are you doing behind the counter, young lady?"
Just then, Zhichen emerged from the back room. He took one look at them bickering and laughed.
Liang, clearly riled up, pointed at the old man and declared, "I'm his future wife!"
The old man recoiled in mock horror. "Hah! How can he marry a girl like you? You're so talkative!"
Liang's blood pressure rose on the spot.
Zhichen walked over, still chuckling. "Professor, she really is my future wife," he said calmly, wrapping his arm around Liang's waist.
Both Liang and the old man froze for different reasons — Liang because Zhichen just casually confirmed their relationship, and the old man because he had just insulted his former student's fiancée.
"You're serious?" the professor asked, squinting.
Zhichen nodded, holding Liang protectively. The two of them ended up pointing fingers at each other in frustration.
"Alright, alright," Zhichen chuckled. "Professor, why did you come here?"
The old man's expression returned to business. "I wanted to talk to you about a project. Can we speak in private?"
Zhichen nodded and led him into the office. As they walked away, Liang shot him a glare, clearly still annoyed.
After about ten minutes, the professor stepped out. He gave Liang a dramatic side-eye, but she ignored him and continued jotting something down in a notebook, refusing to argue further.
Still steaming, Liang stood up and silently pointed at the old man, then shifted her finger toward Zhichen — a wordless "look what I had to deal with" gesture.
Zhichen walked up behind her and wrapped his arms around her waist again. "My professor's just sharp-tongued. Don't mind him, alright?"
She blushed… for a moment.
Then Zhichen smirked, "But wife, how could you argue with him like that?"
Her blush vanished. She yanked his hands off her waist, walked to the door in silence, then turned around and made a goofy face at him before slamming the door shut.
Zhichen stared at the closed door, laughed, and shook his head in disbelief. "What a woman…"