Song family old residence

A vast traditional Chinese courtyard,
but only three people lived here:
Old Master Song, Old Madam Song, and Song Hecheng.
The rest of the Song family lived elsewhere and only gathered at the old residence for major events.

Inside the ancient and quiet study,
Song Hecheng sat at a tall official’s chair, his tall figure poised.
He was practicing calligraphy on a desk with a clay-bound painting table.

Behind him, the large wooden window was cracked with ice patterns,
and the moonlight poured in, illuminating the room.
But Song Hecheng furrowed his brows,put down his brush after only writing a few characters, and stopped.

He couldn’t calm his mind.

For some reason, his previously calm emotions were now disturbed.
And the warm feeling in his palms seemed to keep reminding him of the soft touch he had felt earlier that day…

_____

From that day on,
Tao Yu began arriving at the factory , about 20 minutes late, than usual.

Why?
Because after 20 minutes,
everyone on the third floor had either gone to eat or gone home to rest.
Only Mr. Song would still be working alone in his office.

Tao Yu had observed this.
Mr. Song was known for being busy to the point of neglecting sleep and meals.
He wouldn’t even notice that she was 20 minutes late every day.

And so, Tao Yu confidently carried a tray and boldly walked into Mr. Song’s domain.
There was no one inside, which was just perfect.

Mr. Song stood with his back to her, holding a pencil and crossing his arms, studying a large mechanical blueprint on the table.

Tao Yu looked at the soup on the tray, and her eyes gleamed with a dark light.
With the stealth of a cat, she quietly stood behind Mr. Song,
just one centimeter away.
Just one more centimeter, and the tray would touch the firm waist of Mr. Song.

Mr. Song, ever alert, sensed her presence just as she was about to get close.
He turned around swiftly.

And then, Tao Yu’s tray of soup splashed across Mr. Song’s white shirt.

I stained him…

“Sorry, sorry, Mr. Song!”
Tao Yu was in a panic, nearly dropping the tray she was holding.
However, Mr. Song didn’t mind the soup on his shirt at all.
Instead, he calmly took the tray from her hands and placed it down.
His expression remained calm, without a hint of panic, as he spoke in a low, soothing voice,
“It’s fine.”

Tao Yu, apologetic and regretful, took out her handkerchief and handed it to Mr. Song.
“Mr. Song, please use this to wipe it off. I’m really sorry.”

Mr. Song didn’t refuse and accepted the pink handkerchief from Tao Yu, but did not let his fingers touch hers.Tao Yu looked at his hands, which had become stained with the soup from touching the tray.
She gently spoke,
“Mr. Song, do you have spare clothes in the office? I can go get them for you.”

Mr. Song, still wiping his shirt, didn’t refuse.
His voice remained low and refined, as always,
“Please, they’re on the chair.”
He then went to the faucet in the secretary’s office to wash his hands.

That faucet had been specially installed in the office
because the factory had recently brought in many imported machines.
As a result, some workers unfamiliar with foreign languages had issues they couldn’t resolve.
And sometimes, the factory’s translators would be out,so Mr. Song would go to the workshop himself to troubleshoot and fix problems.
This made him quite approachable, and the experienced workers were not afraid to come to his office with questions.

Because of this, people’s hands often got dirty, especially when dealing with machines—just like that day when oil stains had been on Mr. Song’s sleeves.
So, the faucet was installed for convenience.

Tao Yu, with her clean and fair hands, was now holding Mr. Song’s shirt.
She looked at his back as he washed his hands, but felt no guilt at all.
She had let the soup cool on purpose.
It was unfortunate that Mr. Song wouldn’t be able to enjoy it today.
But it was fine—she had succeeded again.

After Mr. Song finished washing his hands and drying them, Tao Yu handed him the clothes and apologized once more,
“I’m truly sorry, Mr. Song.”
Mr. Song accepted them without making a big deal out of it,
“It’s alright.”

“Mr. Song, please remember to eat on time.”
After saying this, Tao Yu didn’t look back at the slight pause in his movements and turned to leave.

Afternoon

Mr. Song continued his work, and his soiled shirt was already replaced,
but he still couldn’t focus.
The entire afternoon, Mr. Song furrowed his brows,
because he kept smelling a faint, almost imperceptible fragrance near the collar of his shirt.
He couldn’t tell what kind of flower it was, but it was delicate and special.
Mr. Song didn’t dislike the scent,
but it felt… unfamiliar, distracting, and uncomfortable.

By evening,
if the cafeteria needed to deliver meals to the office,
Tao Yu always found an excuse to avoid it, asking someone else to deliver the food instead.After all, she only needed to appear once a day in the office…

Tao Yu lowered her head, sniffing the faint fragrance on her hands.
Hmm, it was the scent she liked,
well worth the time she spent carefully crafting it over the past few days…

The next three days

Tao Yu continued to appear at the office building, always 20 minutes late.
Every time Mr. Song was busy,
she would walk around the desk and place the tray right next to him.
She would stand very close, yet never touch Mr. Song.
After placing the tray down, she would softly remind him,
“Mr. Song, remember to eat on time.”
Then she would leave without hesitation.

At first, Mr. Song merely paused for a moment,
but soon after, he would slightly nod in acknowledgment,
as if he had become accustomed to her kind words.

Each time she left, Mr. Song could still smell that special faint fragrance.It lingered in the air around him.

On the fourth day

Tao Yu arrived at the third floor as usual.
When she saw the folded pink handkerchief placed near Mr. Song’s desk,
she slowed her steps.
The handkerchief had been washed clean.

“Mr. Song,”
Tao Yu called out softly.
Mr. Song looked up and, seeing it was Tao Yu, stood up to take the tray from her, smiling as usual.
Then he returned the handkerchief to her,
“Comrade Tao, here’s your handkerchief.”

Tao Yu smiled back, her eyes gleaming with a subtle light.
This smile was no longer the usual quiet elegance.
Now, it carried a hint of clear… allure.

“Thank you.”Tao Yu took the handkerchief, seemingly by chance, her fingertips lightly brushing against his.
It was only for a moment, but she felt Mr. Song’s eyelashes tremble slightly as he gave her the handkerchief.

Afterward, on the fifth day,
Tao Yu returned to the third floor, behaving as she had before.
She no longer arrived late, nor did she spend time alone with Mr. Song.
After delivering the meal, she would stay for a few minutes, sometimes helping others with materials or delivering something to another part of the building.

As for Mr. Song,
except for her usual reminder of “remember to eat on time,”
she no longer got close to him.
The only constant was the faint fragrance that still lingered in the office, almost imperceptible.A subtle change
was noticed by Mr. Song, who recalled something Xiao Zhang had mentioned:
“Xiao Zhang told me that Mr. Song rented the house to me.
That’s what she said, and Mr. Song didn’t deny it…”

Song Hecheng was momentarily stunned, shaking his head with a chuckle.

After years in business, always cautious with his words and actions,
now, he found himself making an unprepared mistake…
He placed the pen he was holding on the desk, his fingers lightly tapping it,
one tap after another.
His deep eyes grew darker, and no one could guess what he was thinking.

Why had Tao Yu stopped getting closer to him?
The reason was simple.
She realized that Song Hecheng’s self-control was far greater than she had anticipated.

First, he had easily returned the handkerchief to her.

Second, despite her deliberate attempts to get closer, he had never shown any clear reaction.
Tao Yu thought to herself that he wasn’t so easily tempted.
If she continued approaching him in the same way, the results would be minimal.
From then on, she needed a more aggressive strategy.