In the days that followed, Liang Meng and Lin Qing were at it nonstop, barely touching their chairs, busy with livestreams every single day.

The entire Longquan tower and every one of the dealer stores were lit up through the night — all hands on deck, live streaming in full force.

But Liang Meng couldn’t shake the feeling that Lin Qing had been acting a little off lately. She often wouldn’t come home with her after work in the evenings, preferring to call a car on her own.

When asked about it, she always said she was meeting friends.

At first Liang Meng thought it might be Lu Zhou, but once she bumped into Lu Zhou jogging alone outside the building — without Lin Qing anywhere in sight.

One day, Lu Zhou came to pick up Lin’s mother for an appointment at Hua Rui Hospital.

“Auntie, your appointment at Hua Rui finally came through. It was incredibly hard to book — I put in the request two weeks ago before we got a spot.”

But Lin’s mother waved him off: “Oh, no need, no need! A few days ago, Lin Qing found a group deal for some International Medical Center. I thought it was pretty good — I’m still waiting for the test results.”

Lu Zhou was puzzled and repeated: “International Medical Center?”

Lin’s mother was glad to have someone to share the story with and launched right in: “It’s a private hospital out in the suburbs — transportation, checkups, specialist consultations, all included. From the moment you walk in, there’s someone handing you towels, pouring tea, bringing out snacks…”

Lu Zhou thought it over and asked: “Is it the Jinshan one?”

“Yes, yes! Jinshan International Medical Center, that’s the one!” Lin’s mother said, slapping her knee.

Lu Zhou found this internally puzzling. How could that place possibly offer something for 299 yuan?

He had twisted his wrist during an international competition once. The event organizers, worried about liability, had sent him there for a full checkup.

Just the wrist examination alone had cost over 20,000 yuan.

Even with steep discounts, 299 yuan still didn’t add up.

And later, his agent had told him that the organizers were trying to make a very sincere apology — and the Jinshan International Medical Center was membership-based. VIP membership fees were reportedly over 2 million yuan a year.

How had Lin Qing managed to afford a place like that for her mother?

“Auntie, has Lin Qing had any time to take you to a private hospital lately? Isn’t she at work? Did she take the day off?”

Lu Zhou probed gently.

“Her and Liang Meng — they’ve been doing this livestream shopping thing, and they are flat-out busy!” Lin’s mother shook her hands. “No time to breathe! When they get home, they’re out cold the moment their heads hit the pillow! Sometimes Liang Meng even makes it back a bit earlier, but Lin Qing regularly doesn’t get home until past midnight.”

Something about this didn’t sit right with Lu Zhou as he listened.

And then it hit him — Lin Qing had actually been reaching out to him less and less lately. She was sharing life updates with him far less frequently too.

“Oh, right — Lu Zhou, Auntie actually wanted to ask you something. Should we find a café downstairs to chat?”

Lin’s mother wiped her hands and seemed to have something important on her mind.

“Auntie, no need for a café — we can talk right here.”

Lu Zhou knew older people didn’t like spending unnecessarily, so he urged Lin’s mother not to stand on ceremony.

But Lin’s mother was insistent. She felt that the conversation needed a formal setting to be taken seriously.

“All right then.”

Lu Zhou agreed. He wasn’t getting any competition bookings lately anyway — he had plenty of time.

As someone once said, channel the time you’d spend on coffee into work. But since Lu Zhou had no work to do right now — he’d just have to drink the coffee.

“Lu Zhou, Auntie wants to discuss something with you.”

Lin’s mother sat very properly in the café.

“Of course.”

Lu Zhou took a sip of his flat white, a little taken aback by the seriousness of her manner.

“That apartment in Jiuting that you took me and Lin Qing to see last time — we both really liked it. The agent has followed up with me a few times. I was thinking… of locking it in sooner rather than later,” Lin’s mother said.

Lu Zhou assumed Lin’s mother wanted to borrow money, and responded generously: “Auntie, it really is a great place! If you want to lock it in, go for it. If you need any help, just say the word.”

Lin’s mother was pleased with his answer, but still cleared her throat and kept her feelings in check.

“Lu Zhou, you’ve spent time in our hometown too — you know how different the earning potential is compared to here in the city. I’ve worked hard my whole life, and all I want at the end of it is to help Lin Qing buy a place here and give her a proper home.”

“That sounds like a great plan,” Lu Zhou said, taking another sip.

He assumed Lin’s mother had been circling around the point because she was too embarrassed to ask him directly, so he proactively offered: “Auntie, Lin Qing and I have been friends since we were kids. Honestly — we’re basically like siblings from different families. So whatever the gap is for Lin Qing’s down payment, as long as it’s within my means, I can lend it to her!”

“That’s exactly what I needed to hear. Lu Zhou, you really are a stand-up person.”

Lin’s mother clapped her hands, smiling warmly at the “future son-in-law” across from her.

Lu Zhou smiled and finally relaxed.

He had been worried Lin’s mother had something serious to tell him — turned out it was just about lending money for the apartment.

He’d already had that money ready. He’d liquidated an investment last week specifically planning to lend it to Lin Qing.

But what he didn’t know was that what Lin’s mother said next was the real point of the whole meeting.

“Lu Zhou, you just said you and Lin Qing are like…” Lin’s mother worked to recall his exact phrasing. “Siblings… from different families?”

“Ha! Auntie, that was just a figure of speech,” Lu Zhou said, suddenly self-conscious, and looked down.

He most certainly did not want to be Lin Qing’s “sibling.” Siblings were already family — and that was precisely why they couldn’t become family.

“Well, it wasn’t entirely a figure of speech!”

Lin’s mother was glad she had found her opening, and she worked her way toward the awkward request from there.

“As they say — even between real brothers, accounts must be kept clear. Whatever Lin Qing borrows from you, not only do we write a formal IOU, but we’ll also pay interest.”

“Auntie, if you invited me to a café just to talk about interest, I might as well head home right now.” Lu Zhou pretended to stand up to leave.

“No, no, no.” Lin’s mother gestured for him to sit back down.

She dropped her gaze, stared at the foam floating on her coffee for a moment, steeled herself through some internal negotiation — and then spoke: “Lu Zhou, Auntie wants to discuss something with you.”

“Go ahead.”

Wasn’t that the whole point of coming here?

The “something” had been shyly hiding backstage this entire time.

Seeing that Lin’s mother was still hemming and hawing, Lu Zhou felt the calm he’d finally found start to drift away again.

“It’s just — whatever Lin Qing borrows from you, we’ll pay it back on schedule with full interest. Auntie guarantees not a cent will be missing.”

The words that were hardest to say still had to be said.

Lin’s mother continued: “But could you agree to sign an agreement with me — stating that this debt can only be repaid in cash, not in any share of the apartment? And then we could get it notarized.”

Lu Zhou was completely lost. He couldn’t make sense of it.

He turned it over in his mind and finally asked, baffled to the core: “Why would we need to sign that kind of agreement?”

There was no logical reason for it.

Lu Zhou racked his brain until it nearly tied itself in knots, but he still couldn’t figure out why Lin’s mother would want to go through all that extra trouble.

“Auntie, will you sign?” Lin’s mother pressed.

Lu Zhou honestly replied: “Auntie, let me be straight with you — whether or not Lin Qing ever pays me back, it doesn’t actually matter to me…”

“No! It does matter!” Lin’s mother quickly shut that down.

“Alright, let’s say it does matter then,” Lu Zhou conceded, going along with her logic. “I lend money to Lin Qing, and of course she’d pay me back in cash. Are you worried she might not be able to pay it back in the short term?”

Lin’s mother said nothing. She wanted him to figure it out for himself.

“If she can’t pay it back, that’s fine!” Lu Zhou was genuinely perplexed. “It’s not like I’d tear the roof off her apartment if she doesn’t pay me back, is it?!”

That landed exactly where Lin’s mother wanted it to. She quietly took a sip of her coffee, said nothing, and left the pause open for Lu Zhou to fill.

Lu Zhou wasn’t dense. Looking back at all of Lin’s mother’s unusual behavior today, he also had a creeping sense that this request of hers hadn’t been made on a whim — she had thought it through carefully.

What he couldn’t figure out was why any of it was necessary. Wasn’t it doing things the hard way, like wearing a raincoat inside an umbrella?

Seeing his expression, Lin’s mother quickly reached into her bag and pulled out a pre-written agreement on plain white paper, ready for Lu Zhou to sign.

She had originally hoped to slip it past him before he could fully process it.

But Lin’s mother had underestimated one thing: Lu Zhou was a professional athlete operating in a commercial world.

Every day he dealt with competition contracts, endorsement contracts, business agreements of every kind — they were countless.

That had trained Lu Zhou to have a sharp instinct for contracts. Not only would he refuse to sign anything without his legal team having reviewed it, but any contract with a clause he couldn’t reason through to his own satisfaction — he would never sign carelessly either.

“Auntie, would you mind giving me some time to think it over?” Lu Zhou said carefully.

Seeing this, Lin’s mother knew she couldn’t push any harder, so she reminded him to “not tell Lin Qing about this” — and headed home first.

That evening, the more Lu Zhou thought about it, the stranger the whole thing seemed.

When he couldn’t make sense of something, his habit was to go for a run and think while he moved.

“Lu Zhou!”

And as it happened, while running, he ended up outside the apartment building — and ran right into Liang Meng, who had just finished work.

She was also alone, with no Lin Qing in sight.

“Liang Meng.”

Lu Zhou flashed a warm smile and called out a greeting — but didn’t slow his pace.

Liang Meng smiled back, also showing no sign of stopping. The two of them crossed paths.

Lu Zhou ran several steps ahead, then suddenly remembered something and turned around, doubling back to catch up with her.

“Liang Meng, there’s something I’d like your opinion on, if you have a moment — maybe we could find somewhere to sit and get a drink?”

Liang Meng was surprised. Lu Zhou wanted her opinion on something?

Could it be about pushing for Longquan’s endorsement contract?

He couldn’t wait any longer?

Maybe he wasn’t as composed as she’d thought.

Out of courtesy, Liang Meng nodded and said: “Sure. There’s a bubble tea place up ahead — let’s go sit for a bit.”

The two sat down. Two cups of steaming hot milk tea were set on the table.

Lu Zhou found himself unable to bring the question out.

Liang Meng calmly poked at her cup with her straw, watching him steadily and waiting.

Lu Zhou was still warring with himself internally.

Having no other choice, Liang Meng checked her watch and took the initiative: “Are you here to ask about the Longquan contract?”

Lu Zhou startled and quickly waved his hands: “No, no, no! That, please go at whatever pace is right for Longquan!”

“Then what did you want to see me about?” Liang Meng was genuinely puzzled.

An endorsement deal worth several million yuan — Lu Zhou hadn’t come about that. What on earth was bigger than that?

Enough to make him stop her in the middle of the street.

The two of them had no real personal connection. Their only link was Lin Qing.

Lu Zhou thought it over. This was something he needed someone else’s perspective on — he had been thinking himself in circles all afternoon without getting anywhere. Maybe Liang Meng, living under the same roof as Lin Qing and her mother, understood them better than he did.

So Lu Zhou took a breath and, in a measured and unhurried way, recounted everything about Lin’s mother pulling him aside for the afternoon’s negotiation — and sincerely asked for Liang Meng’s take.

At first Liang Meng couldn’t figure out what was behind it either, and said in agreement: “Right — you said it yourself. If Lin Qing doesn’t pay you back, it’s not like you could tear the roof off her apartment!”

The two of them sat in puzzled silence together for a while. By the time their milk teas were nearly empty, Liang Meng suddenly had a flash of insight — and the answer came to her.