Some people’s hearts are like amber, clean and transparent, with the years of accumulation visible at a glance.

Just like the piece of amber Lumi was holding in her hand.

She lay in bed, looking at the fluorescent amber under the small night light. She had bought it from Panjiayuan one year, and she liked it at first sight.

Tu Ming’s words made her think of this piece of amber, not knowing why. Or maybe she felt that Tu Ming, who was usually calm and unperturbed, had seen through her.

When she turned off the light, it was pitch black, and Lumi lay in the darkness with her eyes open, thinking of Tu Ming standing opposite her listening to the song. His eyes were clear, with a hint of light, a rare youthful demeanor. Even when she closed her eyes, it was still him, saying that sincere people would stay and could never be driven away.

Whether her eyes were open or closed, everything about this person was right.

I must be truly falling for him. Lumi thought to herself. Otherwise, why would I be tossing and turning like this!

She sent a message to Shang Zhi Tao: “I’m done for, I not only want to sleep with Will, but I also want something more with him.”

“Like what?” Shang Zhi Tao replied quickly, startling Lumi.

“Why aren’t you asleep?”

“I have something to do.”

“Like, I want to have a romance with him, stand under the old tree outside my house and kiss.”

“I imagined it, and the picture is beautiful! I approve!”

“Alright, I’ll tell you when I’ve sorted it out.”

On Monday, it was rare for Lumi to arrive at the company early. She bumped into Tu Ming in the parking garage. Neither of them had slept well the past two days. Lumi had put on makeup, so she still looked like a bright and beautiful woman. But Tu Ming didn’t wear makeup, and the hint of fatigue under his eyes was evident.

Lumi got out of the car and greeted Tu Ming: “Good morning, Boss! You look tired. What did you do yesterday?”

“Good morning.” Tu Ming replied with a simple “good morning” and nothing else.

Lumi was used to Tu Ming’s way of greeting and walked beside him. It was cold, and the day before, she had gone to Panjiayuan with Uncle Er to catch a cricket, which she kept warm in her arms. When she was free, she could listen to it chirp. Now that it was warm, the cricket chirped.

Tu Ming heard the sound and looked at her. Lumi chuckled, pointing to the bulge in her clothes: “I’m keeping a cricket warm, it’s lively.” Seeing that Tu Ming’s gaze didn’t shift, she simply took out a gourd from her clothes, opened the lid, and showed it to Tu Ming: “I caught it yesterday. Who would have thought it would start chirping after just one day!” She was delighted with her cricket and knew how to cheer herself up.

Tu Ming glanced at the cricket but didn’t say anything.

He found it novel that a young woman like Lumi would keep a cricket warm. Weren’t crickets something that older men played with? Lumi’s mind was full of eating, drinking, and having fun, pushing work to the sidelines, not worth mentioning.

“Have you decided on the location for the northwest exhibition hall?” Tu Ming asked her.

“Not yet, I’ve selected five places. I’ll go and check them out this week. Are you going?”

“You can handle it yourself, I won’t go. Take Wumeng with you. This project is important, let her assist you.”

“Wumeng is capable, why should she assist me?” Lumi raised an eyebrow: “I’ll leave the design drawings to her. I’ll talk to her later.”

Lumi couldn’t stand supervisors who bullied others. When the company hired interns, some supervisors would have them fetch water, pick up express deliveries, and tidy up the office desks. Lumi disapproved of this and often told her colleagues: “Are you looking for a nanny? A housekeeper? Did they come here to learn how to send express deliveries? Wouldn’t it be better for them to pick up express deliveries at the company?”

When she said this, some colleagues found her annoying, but she didn’t care: “Change the wind, would you like it if you were asked to pick up express deliveries and fetch water during your internship? I wouldn’t.”

Lumi really thought this way. Wumeng was independent in her previous company, so why should she come here to assist? What kind of thing was that!

Tu Ming glanced at her and saw her putting the gourd back into her clothes, showing no other reaction to the division of labor, knowing that she really intended to give important work to Wumeng. He felt that Lumi’s sincerity was a bit naive.

“You decide, you’re her supervisor.” Tu Ming said, giving Lumi the initiative. For some reason, he believed she could handle this well.

“Alright, leave it to me.” Lumi looked at Tu Ming: “Can you help me with something?”

“What is it?”

“I heard that there’s a particularly delicious pancake with everything at the school you used to work at. The Uncle Er downstairs wants to eat it, but he can’t get in.”

“And then?”

“Can you ask someone to let us in? They say the school has been strict with security these days, and you need to know someone to get in.”

“Such a small matter isn’t worth asking for a favor, is it?” Tu Ming saw Lumi’s eyes droop, obviously a bit disappointed, so he said, “I’ll treat you guys to lunch today. You can come with me to buy it, and ask everyone if they want some.”

“Alright!” Lumi’s eyes lit up: “I’ll send one to Uncle Er first.”

The colleagues were excited to hear about the famous pancake king. The fast food and simple meals around the company weren’t particularly good, and the pancakes sold at the subway station were just so-so, far from the delicious-sounding pancake with everything. So they all signed up.

Tu Ming felt that just eating pancakes was a bit monotonous, so he also asked his secretary to order coffee and afternoon tea for everyone.

At 11 o’clock, Tu Ming called Lumi: “Let’s go, to buy the pancakes.”

“Alright.”

Lumi followed Tu Ming to the underground parking lot.

“Shall we take your car or mine?”

“My car is registered, yours might not be able to get in.”

“Oh, okay.”

Tu Ming’s car must have been a few years old, but the interior wasn’t old. Lumi sat in the passenger seat, fastened her seatbelt, and played with her cricket. From the corner of her eye, she saw Tu Ming’s clean and slender fingers resting on the handbrake, with a vein on the back of his hand when he pulled the handbrake. Her mind wandered again, and some unspeakable images flashed through her head.

Fortunately, the cricket chirped, driving away her wandering thoughts. She noticed that Tu Ming’s car’s navigation screen was blank and found it strange: “Don’t you listen to music while driving?”

“Rarely.”

“How boring.”

“…”

“Were the songs on the CD good?” Lumi asked him: “Did they not suit your taste?”

“What do you think my taste is like?” Tu Ming asked her.

“I think you might like American country folk songs.”

Tu Ming’s lips twitched, and then he smiled: “How did you guess that?”

“Just a guess!” Lumi’s cricket chirped twice, quite lively.

“I listened to your compilation, it’s very nice. I don’t often listen to music, only occasionally. I don’t listen when driving, afraid it might distract me and be dangerous.” Tu Ming answered her questions in one go, not finding it troublesome.

“I still have CDs I bought back then at home! And burned discs, if you think they’re nice, I can give them all to you!”

Lumi held the gourd in her hand, leaned back in her seat, and looked at Tu Ming.

“Alright, thank you.”

“Don’t mention it!”

“If you could stop saying ‘you’ all the time, I’d be more comfortable.” Tu Ming said. Lumi’s constant use of ‘you’ was her linguistic habit, but today it sounded a bit awkward to him: “Friends don’t use ‘you’.”

“Oh.”

The two of them chatted as they entered the university. Tu Ming’s car had no trouble getting in and out. Lumi casually asked him: “Why is your car registered? Because you used to work here?”

“No, it’s considered a family vehicle. My parents live here.”

“Oh, I see.”

Lumi had heard before that Tu Ming came from a scholarly family, but she didn’t really understand what that meant until today, when she learned that his parents taught at this university. Lumi suddenly understood why Tu Ming was called Tu Fuzi. Thinking about this, she couldn’t help but laugh.

“What’s so funny?” Tu Ming didn’t understand and turned to look at her.

“I just suddenly understood why your personality is like this.”

“What’s it like?”

“Old-fashioned! Strange! Full of principles!” Lumi listed three words.

Tu Ming didn’t argue. Lumi was probably right. His personality and behavior style were closely related to his parents’ upbringing.

The two of them got out of the car, and the pancake king was already queuing. They were second in line. Lumi was amazed and finally understood what a pancake with everything was. There were twenty or thirty kinds of fillings in front, including meat, vegetables, and even spicy strips.

“Wow!”

Lumi’s eyes lit up, and she heard the person in front of them pay for their pancake, which was over thirty yuan. She exclaimed again.

Her one exclamation after another even amused Tu Ming, who turned around and saw her eyes fixed on the meat, like a greedy cat.

“Tu Ming?” Someone called out to him, and Lumi and Tu Ming turned around to see Yi Wanqiu pushing an old-fashioned bicycle. She leaned the bicycle against a tree, and the people behind them in the queue, some of whom were her former students who had stayed at the school, greeted her: “Good morning, Professor Yi.”

“Hello there.” Yi Wanqiu smiled and greeted the people, walking up to Tu Ming: “Aren’t you at work today?”

“I am at work, treating my colleagues to pancakes.” Tu Ming introduced Lumi to Yi Wanqiu: “This is my colleague Lumi, we met by chance at the morning market before.”

“This is my mother, you’ve met her before.”

“Good morning, Professor Yi.” Lumi rarely stood up straight, politely greeting her like the people behind her in the queue.

Lumi felt that Tu Ming was very much like his mother. The two of them standing together had a similar demeanor, with Yi Wanqiu appearing gentler and Tu Ming giving off a sense of distance.

“Hello, Lumi.” Yi Wanqiu looked at Lumi seriously and smiled at her. Lumi was wearing a lavender color padded trench coat, a pair of over-the-knee boots, and diamond earrings, looking like a thoroughly modern lady, both beautiful and dazzling.

“You guys continue queuing. Will you be back tonight?” Yi Wanqiu asked Tu Ming.

“I’ll be back on the weekend, I’m a bit busy these days.”

“Alright, see you later.” She smiled at Lumi, without any airs, very polite. Yi Wanqiu pushed her bicycle a few steps and, before getting on, turned back to look at the two people standing there. They seemed worlds apart, and for some reason, she felt slightly relieved and rode away.

Yi Wanqiu didn’t interfere much in Tu Ming’s life, but she did have expectations for his partner. She always felt that Tu Ming was suited to someone who could live a steady and peaceful life, like Xing Yun. Their divorce was very sudden, and when Yi Wanqiu asked Tu Ming the reason, he said they were incompatible and didn’t elaborate. She also asked Xing Yun, and she said she was the one at fault. That was it.

She looked back again. The girl was saying something, her eyebrows dancing, as if the whole world loved her.

Tu Ming saw Lumi standing stiffly, as if facing a great enemy, and asked her: “What’s wrong? Why are you so nervous?”

“I’ve been afraid of teachers since I was a kid. I used to skip class to play video games, and the teachers always caught me. I have a shadow over it.”

“Then don’t skip class, wouldn’t that be better?”

“If I didn’t skip class, how would I have time to play video games?”

“…”

Lumi’s head was full of twisted logic, and Tu Ming couldn’t argue with her, so he simply shut up. When it was their turn, they bought ten pancakes in total. Lumi’s pancake was the most generous, with meat and sauce; it smelled delicious. She couldn’t resist and took a big bite, her cheeks puffed up as she gave Tu Ming a thumbs up: “Uncle Er didn’t lie to me!”

“Eat it in the car, drill the wind.”

“Oh, I’ll make your car smell!”

“It’s fine.”

The two of them got into the car, and Lumi was so engrossed in eating her pancake that she couldn’t speak. Tu Ming reached back and grabbed a bottle of water, opened it, and handed it to her. She took it and drank.

“Are you going to send one to Uncle Er?”

“Alright. Thank you!” Seeing Tu Ming’s glance, she quickly corrected herself: “Thank you!”

Tu Ming watched as Lumi took the pancake to Uncle Er, who was waiting. They exchanged a few words, and Uncle Er was very happy, as was Lumi. Their relationship was really good.

Lumi’s relationship with her colleagues was average, but her relationship with her neighbors was surprisingly good.

Thanks to Lumi’s spontaneous idea, the marketing department had a special team-building event. Everyone gathered in the conference room to eat pancakes, drink coffee, and enjoy fruits and afternoon tea, chatting about various topics. They even played Truth or Dare.

Daisy asked Tu Ming: “There’s a rumor that the boss is divorced. Please ask the boss about the rumor.”

“No need to ask with it, it’s true. As for the reason, it’s not very convenient to say.”

“Oh, I see.”

Everyone expressed their regret, and Lumi sat there watching their performance, feeling quite hypocritical. Tu Ming glanced at Lumi, who was lounging in her chair playing with her phone. Her look of disdain was obvious, clearly not liking the topic. Sure enough, a minute later, she sat up straight in her chair: “I say, friends, are you all so interested in the boss’s marital status? Could it be that you have some unspoken thoughts?”

Everyone looked at Lumi, and Wumeng blushed.

Lumi had an unconcerned expression, and no one could tell that her thoughts about Tu Ming were the most unspoken of all.

Who couldn’t pretend to be a big bad wolf!

Pshaw!