The congee was stewed until it became soft and fragrant.

Cheng Liu already felt it tasted good even before she ate it. She took out her mobile phone to take pictures of the congee on the table. Ji Chaozhou who sitting across from her would occasionally reach out to touch the spoon, and his hand would inadvertently come into the picture.

Cheng Liu didn’t know how to choose photos, so she simply posted all nine of them.

… …

While she was fiddling with her phone to show off on her WeChat Moments, Ji Chaozhou also picked up his phone. He looked at Cheng Liu sitting quietly across from him. When she stopped moving her fingers, he lowered his eyes to look at his WeChat Moments.

Sure enough, there was a new update in Moments posted by Cheng Liu.

Ji Chaozhou had a faint smile in his eyes. The nine photos were taken casually, but his hands could be seen in three of them.

He did not ‘like’ Cheng Liu’s post but continued to scroll down to the one posted by He Bai that morning. He gave He Bai’s post a ‘like’.

After Ji Chaozhou finished doing this, he put down his phone and looked up at Cheng Liu sitting across; she was eating congee with a spoon.

He didn’t want her ‘likes’; he wanted her to favor him in all things.

“It’s delicious,” Cheng Liu tasted the congee and said to Ji Chaozhou seriously.

Ji Chaozhou held a spoon in his hand, slowly stirring the congee in the bowl, and said casually, “If you like, we can make it again tomorrow morning.”

“Really?” Cheng Liu asked, suddenly happy. Wouldn’t that mean it was possible for her to stay with him for a while longer?

Ji Chaozhou’s expression remained unchanged, “There are still ingredients left in the kitchen. They can be used tomorrow morning.”

“Then I’ll come over tomorrow morning,” Cheng Liu said positively.

Although it was just because he didn’t want to waste food, Young President Cheng was still so happy. She made up her mind to also buy more ingredients next time so that they could have two meals together each time.

This trick was called learning and applying, and Cheng Liu was very good at it.

……

That night, He Bai wore a sapphire blue silk nightgown. Without his glasses, he looked a little less elegant, and his face looked even more handsome.

He held up the wine glass and gently swirled the crimson liquid in the glass.

His family collected a lot of good wine. He Bai once took out a few bottles and wanted to give them to Cheng Liu, but she was not interested in wine and refused.

‘I can drink it, but I don’t especially like it, and I don’t know how to appreciate it.’

These were Cheng Liu’s words.

For a long time after that, He Bai had observed Cheng Liu and found that she could do everything well, but her enthusiasm only burst out when she was working.

People like her have a natural ambition for their careers.

She was also a workaholic in the popular sense.

He Bai knew that Cheng Liu only had her career in her eyes, so he stood by her side silently, never daring to take a step beyond her boundaries.

Not because he didn’t want to but because it was useless.

Half a year ago, when He Bai learned that Cheng Liu was dating Wang Hongyang, he was surprised but not worried.

Cheng Liu’s career ambitions were too great. Wang Hongyang was just a model and couldn’t give her any help. What’s more, Wang Hongyang has no other advantages except his face, and he also liked to catch other people.

For so many years, He Bai was the only one who has been by Cheng Liu’s side. He had a superior family background and looked as good as Wang Hongyang.

In the future, after weighing the pros and cons, Cheng Liu would naturally realize that He Bai was the most suitable person for her.

He Bai didn’t expect Cheng Liu to like him. Her eyes never stopped on him, but he still looked forward to the time when the two of them would be together.

But it was different now.

Ji Chaozhou posed too great a threat to him.

His appearance and family background were all top-notch. Most importantly, Ji Chaozhou’s father also controlled Tianqi Automobile Company, which was related to the project that Cheng Liu deemed most important.

He Bai took a sip of red wine. Sometimes, he even suspected that the reason why Cheng Liu got involved with Ji Chaozhou was because of his father, Ji Mushan.

He Bai sat on a high bar stool, flipped through his phone, and casually opened WeChat. When he saw the red dot in the lower corner of the screen, he couldn’t help but raise his lips.

So Ji Chaozhou finally couldn’t bear it anymore?

He Bai clicked on the circle of friends, and there was a notification from Ji Chaozhou at the top. He raised his head and drank the wine in his glass, but out of the corner of his eye he saw a post in his timeline below.

‘cough cough cough…’

The mouthful of red wine that had not been completely swallowed suddenly choked his throat, causing He Bai to cough wildly. He stared at Cheng Liu’s post, and he almost crushed the wine glass in his hand.

This time Cheng Liu said ‘friend’, not ‘neighbor’, but He Bai knew that the person with Cheng Liu was Ji Chaozhou, and the hand in the photo was also Ji Chaozhou’s.

Even the tableware was placed in the same position as it was this morning.

He put down his wine glass and clicked on the notification, only to find that Ji Chaozhou had not commented on his post at all. He only gave a ‘like’.

He Bai pressed his hand hard on the island countertop, looked down at the floor, and laughed out of anger.

This ‘like’ was clearly clicked by Ji Chaozhou on purpose, causing him to subconsciously click on the Moments so that he could see Cheng Liu’s post.

This ‘like’ was more Ji Chaozhou’s ridicule than actual  like.

He Bai’s face was dark and ugly. Cheng Liu never posted on WeChat Moments casually. The content of each of her Moments post occupied an important milestone in her life.

But now, even when she had a meal with Ji Chaozhou, she would post it on WeChat Moments.

Was Ji Chaozhou so important to her?

He Bai couldn’t suppress the strong jealousy in his heart.

Don’t worry about scarcity but inequality¹.

In the past, Cheng Liu didn’t care about anyone, and He Bai naturally had no emotional fluctuations. But now, Cheng Liu suddenly had someone she cared about—and that person was not him.

He Bai couldn’t accept it and has become even more dissatisfied with Ji Chaozhou.

This Ji Chaozhou was much more scheming than a brainless person like Wang Hongyang.

If It’s Wrong, Then It’s Wrong translated by Maela @ whitemoonlighttranslations.com

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T/N: I wasn’t sick this time (I mean, I’m always in poor health but that’s par for the course 😅). My laptop died on me 😭 I tried editing chapters on my phone and gave up after a frustrating 10 minutes orz. I couldn’t buy a new laptop just yet so I brought the old one to the shop for repairs and only just got it back.

If ever you’ve been thinking about buying me ko-fi, now would be an EXCELLENT time to do it 🥰
Chapter 58.2 — Day 20: Housewarming

FOOTNOTE:

1. The full Confucian thought is ‘worry not about scarcity but inequality, not poverty but instability’. It was originally an exhortation for the ruling family on how to keep the populace happy and the neighboring kingdoms peaceful. Sharing 100% of a poor harvest to everyone is fine, but dividing up a good harvest by giving the majority to the wealthy ruling class and leaving only a small percentage to the people is a recipe for rebellion. And when its plentiful within your own borders but there is scarcity outside, you can expect war. ↩︎