The day Cen Wei returned from his business trip, he first went to the company. Every year, the company hosts employee appreciation events and various lotteries to celebrate the New Year. Although he’s known online as a cold, powerful CEO, in reality, he’s just a multi-generational private business owner without any excessive grandeur.

People on the internet have dug into his personal life, especially after Chu Lai’s revelations, trying to find some hidden reason why Chu Lai would favor the rich over the poor. Even Shen Quanzhang didn’t expect Cen Wei and Chu Lai to be former schoolmates.

Neither of them is a celebrity, nor even an influencer. In this age, anyone can be their own media publisher, but their emotional entanglements only gain attention within a small circle through limited data pushes.

On the 29th day of the lunar year, many employees had already left the company. The lottery event gathered the remaining staff on one floor, making it easier for Cen Wei and Shen Quanzhang to have a conversation.

In the evening, a colleague who sat next to Shen Quanzhang came back to his desk holding the headphones he won from the lottery, only to find Shen Quanzhang’s workspace completely empty.

Confused, he asked the person next to him, “Did he go back to his hometown? Come on, it’s just a holiday, why pack up everything?”

There were heated discussions around the office. The employees already knew that Shen Quanzhang was the ex-boyfriend of the boss’s legal spouse, but they all thought that with Cen Wei’s character, he wouldn’t fire Shen Quanzhang over personal feelings. However, the relationship was inherently awkward, so everyone avoided the topic altogether.

“He seems to have been fired.”

“What do you mean, ‘seems’? He was fired. He was the only one called into the meeting, wasn’t he?”

“I heard Cen Wei always brought the legal team with him. Do you think Shen Quanzhang did something unethical?”

“Wasn’t there talk online that he got dumped because he didn’t have money?”

“You believe that? If Chu Lai really cared about money, why would they have been together for three years? A former classmate even cleared the air, saying that Shen Quanzhang cheated.”

“Didn’t someone from our company see him hanging around with someone from another company in the park?”

“And then he plays the victim. What a nutcase.”

Colleagues continued gossiping behind the scenes, and someone even pulled up the account of the person Shen Quanzhang had cheated with. That person had posted a clarification video, specifically mentioning that they had no idea about Shen Quanzhang’s situation and that the moment Chu Lai found out, they had broken up with him.

The comments were buzzing with activity, and even some of Cen Wei’s high school classmates had chimed in.

Liu Yuan, after seeing a classmate’s comment, specifically called Chu Lai to verify it. When Chu Lai picked up, he was squatting next to his dog, watching it eat.

“I saw someone post that the owner of Lian Xin Umbrella is your senior at school. Does that mean you two already knew each other? Was it not love at first sight but rekindling an old flame?” Liu Yuan asked with a smirk. “Is that true? Did you guys know each other before?”

Chu Lai stood up and went to fix the couplets he had messed up earlier. “We didn’t know each other. If you’re going to gossip, get it straight. By the time I started high school, Cen Wei had already graduated.”

Liu Yuan added, “You both sure have a lot of personal info out there.”

Chu Lai replied, “At least I have classmates who can clarify things for me.”

The next second, Liu Yuan scrolled to Ding Xiulin’s account and couldn’t help but appreciate the good looks of Chu Lai’s high school class president. He sighed, “Man, it’s a shame you didn’t have a high school romance.”

Chu Lai replied, “Too much hassle.”

This response was typical of Chu Lai, and after reading him a few more messages, Liu Yuan and Chu Lai finished talking, and the couplets were all pasted up.

The best calligrapher in the family was Grandma Hong. With the seriousness of someone who doesn’t wear reading glasses to gossip but needs them to admire handsome men, she wrote couplets that completely defied traditional elderly taste:

“Enjoy every day as it comes, eat every bite with joy.”

The horizontal scroll read: “I just want happiness.”

Chu Lai couldn’t help but laugh and sent the couplets to Cen Wei.

But Cen Wei didn’t reply right away. Their last message was from the morning when Cen Wei told him when he’d be back. Chu Lai calculated the time and figured he should have arrived by now. He didn’t follow up, though, guessing that Cen Wei had gone to the office.

Sitting nearby, Grandpa Cen Jianxun admired his wife’s flair, showering her with compliments: “Our Hong is amazing. Look at those strokes, that open-minded attitude toward life…”

In this family, Chu Lai was never unhappy. No matter when, there was always someone around. Grandpa and Grandma were pure joy, despite their arranged marriage ending in white-haired devotion. They’d pass on advice about handling relationships, though Chu Lai didn’t find it particularly useful, he still listened.

Grandma Hong was in high spirits, ready to write another set of couplets. Xuan Rongqing was hanging small lanterns on the large potted plants nearby.

Chu Lai went over to help, and Xuan Rongqing couldn’t help but ask, “Is something bothering you, Lai Lai?”

The smile hadn’t left Chu Lai’s face. The young man, dressed in a peacock-blue turtleneck sweater, looked even more pale and delicate, with his black hair contrasting against his fair skin, accentuating his refined features. He glanced at Xuan Rongqing in confusion and shook his head, “Why would it?”

Xuan Rongqing knew what had happened but had already discussed it with Cen Wei, so she rarely asked about it directly. Today, however, she couldn’t help herself. “Did you quit because of all the online drama?”

Xuan Rongqing also knew about Chu Lai’s side gig as a game streamer. The family now had a positive outlook on the gaming industry. Grandma Hong was even more fashionable, claiming that gaming could bring glory to the country, though she didn’t quite grasp the difference between esports and casual games.

Privately, Cen Wei had once joked that with Chu Lai’s personality, if he went into esports, he’d probably drive everyone crazy. Even playing horror games, he could frustrate his audience.

Chu Lai shook his head. “No, I just have other things I want to do.”

Xuan Rongqing studied his expression, noticing that he wasn’t forcing anything, and nodded. “That’s good. I was just worried you were upset.”

Chu Lai simply hated trouble. The online insults weren’t enough to faze him, and even public humiliation wasn’t a big deal—it was more annoying than anything.

He had lived alone for many years and was used to taking care of himself. His coworkers were nice to him, and this incident was just an opportunity for him to go with the flow and try stepping outside the boundaries he had set for himself.

In the past, when Chu Lai spoke about his dreams with Liu Yuan, he’d always add that it was just a thought. But now, he had a home, and this home gave him a sense of security. He couldn’t help but wonder: Maybe there are other possibilities for me?

Chu Lai muttered, “I just want to see if I can learn wood carving…”

“My dad…”

When he mentioned his late father, the look of longing on his face made him seem even more endearing. Xuan Rongqing patted his shoulder, “Of course you can.”

“This is something you should discuss with Awei. No, actually, it’s something he should take care of.”

“He even brought in a top woodcarving master for his new project.”

Even though Chu Lai was emotionally stable, Xuan Rongqing could still see the subtle caution in him. That insecurity, rooted in losing his father and his mother drifting away, wasn’t something that could disappear overnight.

Chu Lai said, “Grandpa’s going abroad after the New Year, and we’ll go too.”

Grandpa Cen Jianxun was going abroad for treatment. The old man’s agreement to the trip made the family happy, and Grandma Hong, despite her age, insisted on going with him. Having lived so long, she had already made peace with life and death, saying that in case anything happened, she’d at least get to say a final goodbye.

Xuan Rongqing said, “It’ll be a good chance for you and Awei to relax for a while. He’s been tense for so many years. Meeting you was the best thing that ever happened to him.”

By the time Cen Wei got home, the house was already full of New Year’s spirit, but he didn’t expect the couplets to be up already. “Aren’t those supposed to be put up tomorrow?”

Grandpa Cen sighed, “Your grandma’s showing off. Claims her calligraphy is the best in the world. Just had to show off. Look at what she wrote.”

Grandma Hong was still taking pictures to post on her social media. “You old geezer, you’re the one who praised my calligraphy as the best in the world.”

Inside, Chu Lai had just finished hanging small lanterns on the money tree. There were a lot of large potted plants around, and to make it easier, he had several strings of lanterns draped around his neck and arms, not realizing he had blended right in with the decorations.

Chu Lai didn’t notice when Cen Wei came back. It wasn’t until someone hugged him from behind that he realized. The man’s breath warmed his ear as he teased, “Who let the lanterns come to life?”

Even Xuan Rongqing noticed how much Cen Wei had changed since getting married. She thought to herself, love really can make a difference, no matter when it happens. Then she left to check if the dishes for the New Year’s Eve dinner were all set.

There was still a bit of the cold outdoor wind lingering on Cen Wei as Chu Lai said, “You’re the one who turned into a lantern.”

But the person hugging him didn’t let go, saying, “I’m so jealous of you. You don’t have to work. I don’t want to work anymore either.”

Almost thirty, Mr. Cen was ready to slack off, but Grandpa Cen overheard and said, “Then sell the company, and we can all live the good life.”

Cen Wei couldn’t do that, though, so he stuck to Chu Lai like a large accessory, following him around. “No way. After all, when Lai Lai develops our new products, our names will be linked for life.”

Grandpa Cen chimed in, “You still haven’t made your new umbrella for this year. Why don’t you discuss it with Lai Lai?”

Grandma Hong adjusted her reading glasses, “Make it red! It’s for newlyweds. It’ll look beautiful. When your grandpa and I got married, we had a red umbrella made too…”

Chu Lai thought of the red umbrella in his studio’s umbrella cabinet and said with a smile, “Red with polka dots.”

The old lady nodded, “Oh, that was so fashionable back then. Everyone in the alley was jealous of me.”

Chu Lai figured an umbrella like that couldn’t be used outside and would just end up as decoration. He glanced at Cen Wei, who said, “After marriage, a couple makes one umbrella each year. It doesn’t need to be taken out. It just needs to be used once, the night it’s finished.”

He added, “It doesn’t even have to be a paper umbrella. You pick the fabric, and I’ll sew it.”

Chu Lai had always wanted to ask, “Is the embroidery on your company’s high-end umbrellas really all done by hand?”

Cen Wei knew what he was getting at. “If you want a ‘Hundred Birds Paying Homage to the Phoenix,’ it’ll probably take me a few years.”

Chu Lai intentionally made things difficult, “How about ‘Along the River During the Qingming Festival’?”

It was hard to imagine someone like him threading a needle, but the thought was amusing.

Leaning his head on Chu Lai’s shoulder, Cen Wei said, “Spare me.”

In a voice so low that no one else could hear, he softly called Chu Lai’s name, then added two more words.

Chu Lai relented, “Fine, it’s up to you.”

Cen Wei: “Then how about green peppers? We both like them.”

Chu Lai hadn’t expected that option at all. After a moment of hesitation, he glanced at the bickering old couple nearby and asked, “Is that something you can embroider?”

Cen Wei replied, “It’s not our…”

Even he found the next four words hard to say. Since Chu Lai wasn’t keen on calling him “hubby,” this moment seemed oddly direct. “Who uses green peppers as a token of love?”

Cen Wei thought for a few seconds, “Well, it can’t be that bottle of wine.”

Chu Lai: “Why don’t you just embroider a comic strip?”

Although their company could technically do that, Cen Wei still shook his head. “Green peppers are better.”

/

This New Year was particularly interesting for Chu Lai. Despite his outward disdain for the green pepper umbrella, inside he was curious about how the finished product would look.

On the other hand, the issue Cen Wei had mentioned was also reaching its conclusion.

After the hashtag #LastDayAtWorkThisYear# trended on social media, a popular topic thread on a certain platform that had been stirring for half a month was suddenly banned. The anonymous user spreading rumors about Cen Wei, the owner of Lian Xin Umbrella, and his spouse, Mr. Chu, had been officially dealt with.

Countless gossip-loving netizens clicked into the post only to find that the platform had issued a statement acknowledging the account’s violation and confirmed that third-party legal action had been taken.

At the same time, Lian Xin Umbrella’s official account also posted a full summary of events, stating that the anonymous user was a company employee and the ex-boyfriend of Mr. Chu. After being caught cheating, he spread lies to defame Mr. Chu and Mr. Cen.

The statement also noted that Mr. Shen had caused harm to the company’s reputation, and after multiple management discussions, they had decided to terminate his employment. Meanwhile, Mr. Cen and Mr. Chu would be suing the rumor-monger in their personal capacities.

At the end of the statement, they tagged Chu Lai’s Weibo account, Laic, which he used as an online streamer.

[Even ordinary people can get caught up in such big drama?]

[The main thing is that their 10-second wedding video was super romantic. Nature smiled on them—who wouldn’t be envious?]

[Some people are just worms in the gutter! Can’t stand to see others happy! Nowadays, anyone can get online. I wonder if those who were following along were also caught cheating?]

[Wow, the guy cheated, got caught, and still had the nerve to accuse the ex of moving on too fast? There’s a timeline compiled by fans that proves it clearly: there’s no way this was a rebound when they married 10 days later.]

[This sounds like the plot of a recently trending novel! Like, a rich family avoiding an arranged marriage?]

[Isn’t this the umbrella brand I’ve used since I was a kid? Oh man, the owner is so handsome! Who wouldn’t marry him in a flash? Please, give us more of their love story! Can we get wedding gift umbrellas too? That would be amazing!]

[@Laic I’m only interested in knowing when your next stream is! @PaperUmbrellaTownGameStudio gkd! How about some collaboration? Could the in-game umbrellas be made into real ones? Offline event, maybe? Don’t you want to make money?]

[So the ex and the current husband were in the same company? And the husband was the ex’s boss? That’s wild!]

[Proves once again that cheaters have terrible character. How did he have the nerve?! I heard from someone at that company that he used special software to hide his IP and spread rumors! What a scumbag!]

…

On New Year’s Eve afternoon, Chu Lai only found out because he was busy dressing his dog in a New Year’s sweater and hadn’t checked his phone.

Liu Yuan had sent him a bunch of voice messages.

“I knew it! It was that scumbag Shen Quanzhang! Pretending to be a friend—he doesn’t even have any friends!”

“You and Cen Wei should sue him hard!”

“‘Moving on too fast,’ my ass. That guy just couldn’t keep his hands to himself, thinking he could have the best of both worlds and using you as a backup plan!”

“Justice has been served!”

…

Chu Lai lay on the living room couch with his dog, listening to Liu Yuan’s messages. In the past, he would finish the last day of work before the New Year and still feel bored.

In his three years with Shen Quanzhang, they had never spent New Year’s together. Shen would always go home, and he never officially invited Chu Lai to join him. And Chu Lai wasn’t interested in going, especially after Shen mentioned that his family liked to play cards all night long. That only made Chu Lai less inclined to go.

New Year’s greetings from Shen were always generic, just mass texts sent to everyone in his contacts, with no special attention given to Chu Lai.

Chu Lai used to not care about holidays; New Year’s and Qingming Festival were no different. He’d spend those days thinking about his late grandmother and father.

The beer he left unfinished would go flat by the next day, and on the first day of the New Year, he’d walk the dog like any other day.

Like Da Cai, the dog didn’t know it was New Year’s, but Chu Lai always made sure to celebrate his dog’s important birthdays. They were his real family, with boyfriends being a secondary matter.

But now things were different. Chu Lai replied to a few of Liu Yuan’s messages, and they started talking about a gathering after the New Year.

Liu Yuan: “You didn’t give yourself away, did you?”

Chu Lai: “Of course not. It’s just that these reunions still make me a little nervous.”

Liu Yuan chuckled, “You can bring your partner, you know. Everyone’s dying to meet him.”

Chu Lai picked up on something off, “Everyone?”

“You didn’t invite me to the group?”

The person on the other end hesitated, “Well, you’ve been caught up in all this online drama, and we’ve been in the group cursing out Shen Quanzhang every day. We didn’t want to drag you into it.”

“But don’t worry, with me there, no one will talk bad about you.”

Chu Lai shrugged. “It’s fine. I’d block them all anyway.”

Liu Yuan sighed, “Just wait. Right now, even your old classmates are cursing Shen Quanzhang. It’s embarrassing how deep people are digging into our university.”

“You’re just unlucky, getting tangled up with someone like him.”

Chu Lai shook his head and tossed his phone aside, cradling his dog in his arms as he said, “Not really. If I hadn’t scrolled through my feed and seen that video that day, I wouldn’t have gone to that bar.”

“And I wouldn’t have met Cen Wei.”

“That’s true,” Liu Yuan said. “Fate really works in mysterious ways.”

“Oh, oh, Cen Wei just joined the group. I’m pulling you in too.”

After hanging up the call, Chu Lai opened WeChat and saw that Liu Yuan had added him to a group called “Happy Gathering,” just in time to see that Cen Wei had joined as well.

[Cen Wei]: “Hello, everyone. I’m Chu Lai’s other half, Cen Wei.”

Chu Lai thought that introduction was too formal, but the group erupted in cheers. He wasn’t very familiar with most of them, but when he scrolled up, he saw that the chat history was indeed full of people standing up for him.

Liu Yuan was great at stirring the atmosphere. Then, to everyone’s surprise, Cen Wei pulled another person into the group. Before that person could even react, Cen Wei introduced him: “This is Liu Yuan’s boyfriend.”

Chu Lai chuckled, thinking, That’s a bit sneaky.

The group chat exploded again, and Chu Lai just watched the excitement unfold. After a while, he opened Weibo and saw that a lot of people had tagged him again.

After Lian Xin Umbrella’s official account released the statement, it confirmed the identity of Cen Wei’s private account and also verified that the game streamer @Laic was legally married to their company’s owner.

@Cee: “My love, @Laic.”

It was rare for Cen Wei to post a nine-picture grid. There were no full-face shots, just hazy, intimate moments, all clearly in family settings. Many of the photos, Chu Lai couldn’t even remember being taken.

The most recent one seemed to have been taken in the studio at home, though Chu Lai had no memory of Cen Wei ever taking a photo there.

Cen Wei’s account didn’t usually post original content. In fact, his old overseas account was more active, occasionally sharing work-related content and photos with other famous people.

Chu Lai saved each picture one by one, realizing that he hadn’t taken any photos of Cen Wei either. They didn’t even have the habit of taking couple photos. The only photo he had on his lock screen was one that Xuan Rongqing had sponsored. In hindsight, his previous three-year relationship seemed empty—it didn’t follow the typical trajectory of a romance.

Fans commented on how sweet the photos were, and Chu Lai couldn’t help but feel the same. He thought of the way Cen Wei hugged him, of the tenderness in his kisses.

He wondered, Why isn’t he home yet? Even as the owner of the company, he was still sticking to work hours. His employees must hate him for it.

Chu Lai’s own account was flooded with direct messages, mostly filled with collaboration invitations and some personal notes.

While he had a lot of followers, his commercial value wasn’t particularly high. The only reason he took the collaboration with Paper Umbrella Town was because of his connections to his old classmates.

Chu Lai, who hated clutter and had a mild case of OCD, didn’t like seeing the red notification dots on his phone, so he clicked through them all to clear them.

Among them, he noticed a message from an account with a gray avatar and a default username. The user had even paid for VIP access to leave private messages just to insult him.

User0912390: “Are you satisfied now?”

User0912390: “I really regret not taking more photos of you back then. Did you know all along?”

User0912390: “You’re no saint either.”

…

There were a lot of messages, filled with insults and some praise, but after reading only a few, Chu Lai closed the inbox.

Cen Wei’s birthday was in March, and he embodied Chu Lai’s vision of spring: full of life, birds chirping, and flowers blooming. Being with Cen Wei made every day feel like a fresh breeze. But finding a birthday gift for him was tricky.

Chu Lai wasn’t confident in his woodcarving skills, but he wanted to surprise Cen Wei with a handmade gift. So, he asked Xuan Rongqing to help introduce him to a woodcarving master early.

But how could he keep it a secret from Cen Wei?

Should he ask Cen Wei’s assistant about his post-holiday schedule?

While still lost in thought, the partially closed door creaked open, and Da Cai was gently set down. The dog happily ran over to Chu Lai, but its short legs couldn’t get it up on the couch, so a slender, bony hand picked it up and set it aside.

“This is my spot,” said Cen Wei, as he leaned in and hugged Chu Lai, resting his head on his chest.

Chu Lai patted his head. “The busy man is finally off work? Were you the last to clock out?”

“No,” Chu Lai paused, “I mean, the boss didn’t leave, so I bet no one on your floor dared to leave either.”

He sighed, “You really are the kind of boss I hate the most.”

Still lying on Chu Lai’s chest, Cen Wei’s voice was muffled, low, “Of course, I was the last to leave.”

He moved closer, brushing his lips against the exposed collarbone peeking out from Chu Lai’s oversized sweater, and gave it a light bite. “And I handed out a lot of red envelopes.”

Chu Lai: “But will you have to work during the New Year? Workaholic.”

Cen Wei began to trace the bite mark with his lips and tongue. Chu Lai tried to pull away, but he was firmly held in place. “Of course not. The factory’s on break too. But I’m happy to work overtime for Mr. Chu.”

Chu Lai grabbed the hand that was moving lower, “No funny business.”

Cen Wei hummed, “Just a hug.”

Chu Lai: “You’re hugging me.”

Cen Wei: “After the New Year, I’m going to the class reunion as your plus-one.”

Chu Lai laughed, thinking about the arrogant introduction Cen Wei would give: “Plus-one? Aren’t you my husband?”

Chu Lai rarely called him that. He only used the term when begging for mercy, which only made things worse because it fueled Cen’s excitement even more.

Cen Wei murmured, “It makes me happy.”

Chu Lai: “It’s not that big of a deal, is it?”

Holding him tightly, Cen Wei inhaled the scent on Chu Lai’s body—faint, like the sea.

“It is a big deal. You’re the treasure sent to me by the heavens.”

Chu Lai: “I don’t believe in religion. Please replace ‘heavens’ with ‘fate.’”

Cen Wei sighed in defeat, “Can’t you just play along for once?”

Chu Lai lay back on the couch. “I’ll play along with you tonight.”