The car suddenly jolted over a bump in the road, snapping Bian Yiqiu out of his thoughts. He was startled to realize that, somehow, he had already started missing Ke Mingxuan, even though they had only been apart for less than half an hour.

While regretting his decision to play it cool and refuse Ke Mingxuan’s offer to ride together, he simultaneously told himself, with righteous conviction, that this wasn’t a good sign.

Just as the two conflicting voices in Bian Yiqiu’s mind were locked in a fierce, unresolved battle, his phone suddenly rang. The name “Ke Mingxuan” lit up on the screen, striking him like a thunderbolt. In that moment, the little voice called longing claimed victory, pushing reason into a corner to sulk and count mushrooms.

He picked up the call, pretending to act indifferent. “Hello?” he said coolly, though the word came out almost too casual.

Ke Mingxuan’s warm, slightly amused voice came through immediately. “Where are you guys now?”

Bian Yiqiu glanced out the car window. “We’re almost at the sports center. What about you?”

Ke Mingxuan replied, “I just turned onto Beihuan Road.”

“There aren’t any traffic lights on Beihuan, right? Why are you calling instead of focusing on driving?”

“Miss you.”

“…”

Ke Mingxuan’s deep, alluring voice paired with those blatantly illegal three words slipped effortlessly from his lips, landing squarely in Bian Yiqiu’s ears with unnerving ease. It was enough to make him momentarily forget how to breathe. If not for the seatbelt holding him down, he was certain he might have floated right out the car window.

Ke Mingxuan could tell from the change in Bian Yiqiu’s breathing just how powerful those words had been. Amused, he teased, “No response for me?”

“I… I too…” Bian Yiqiu opened his mouth, but after a long moment, he still couldn’t get a full sentence out. It was as if a room that had been empty was now overflowing with candied hawthorns, the sweetness filling the air and making his heart race.

“You miss me too?” Ke Mingxuan grinned, finishing the sentence for him.

“Mm.” This time, Bian Yiqiu gave a clear and definite answer.

Ke Mingxuan, delighted by Bian Yiqiu’s response, honked his car horn twice. The sound carried clearly to Bian Yiqiu, who pulled a face as if he had a toothache. “Ke Mingxuan, are you crazy?”

Ke Mingxuan said, “Yeah, ever since I met you, I haven’t been normal.”

With that one sentence, Bian Yiqiu was left speechless. He suddenly realized, to his dismay, that as soon as his relationship with Ke Mingxuan shifted even a little, his tongue had gone completely limp.

He was still struggling to come up with a comeback when Zuo Cheng’s serious voice cut through the moment. “Boss, I think something’s off with the car behind us.”

Bian Yiqiu turned to look, cursing to himself. He’d been so caught up in their conversation that he hadn’t even noticed they were being followed.

Ke Mingxuan, unaware of what was happening on this end, continued on the other line, “I’m heading to the office for a meeting,  how about dinner tonight?”

Bian Yiqiu immediately agreed, “Alright. You focus on driving.”

After hanging up, he turned to glance at the car trailing them. It wasn’t too far behind, but close enough. His eyes narrowed slowly, suspicion and warning flickering in them.

A moment later, he turned to Zuo Cheng and said, “Shake it off.”

It was around 5 p.m., and shaking off a car that was closely tailing them on a busy main road wasn’t going to be easy. However, Zuo Cheng’s driving skills had been honed through countless high-speed escapes. With a quick twist of the steering wheel and a heavy press of the accelerator, he expertly maneuvered the expensive Maybach, turning it into a sleek, agile serpent. In the flow of traffic, he darted left and right, quickly overtaking the slow-moving cars around them.

The sound of car horns filled the air, drivers expressing their frustration with anger. Zuo Cheng didn’t bother to care, but a quick glance in the rearview mirror revealed that the car was still following them, keeping pace despite the chaotic traffic.

Looks like we’ve got a pro on our hands.

Both Zuo Cheng and Bian Yiqiu thought the same thing.

“Boss, should we keep going?” Zuo Cheng asked. With his skills, losing the car behind them wouldn’t be too difficult. But at this time of day, with so many pedestrians and vehicles on the street, if they ignored the consequences, they would likely draw the attention of the police, and that could lead to even more trouble.

Bian Yiqiu understood this as well, so he replied, “No need.” He was more interested in finding out who dared to pull such a blatant stunt right under his nose.

Zuo Cheng silently reduced the speed, bringing the car to a steady stop at the red light.

The car behind them likely realized it had been spotted, so it stopped trying to be discreet. It moved into the adjacent lane and pulled up beside the Maybach, the window rolling down as it did.

Bian Yiqiu was a little surprised to see who was inside and raised an eyebrow, lowering his own window in response.

The person in the car flashed a provocative smile and called out, “Boss Bian, just a joke. Don’t take it personally.”

“Young Master Qian,” Bian Yiqiu replied nonchalantly, giving the driver’s seat a quick glance, completely unfazed by the provocation. “Your choice of driver’s not bad.”

“Not as good as your bodyguard, I’m afraid. My apologies,” Young Master Qian smoothly replied.

Bian Yiqiu didn’t bother with pleasantries. The red light lasted only a few seconds, not nearly enough time for compliments, and he was the type to get straight to the point.

“Young Master Qian, following me all the way here isn’t just to have your driver race my bodyguard, is it?”

“I was actually planning to visit Jiu’an Group sometime, but I didn’t expect to run into you on the road. They say there’s no better time than the present. How about a meal, Boss Bian?” Young Master Qian suggested.

Bian Yiqiu smiled warmly, his expression soft and composed. “I don’t have time today.”

Young Master Qian quickly seized the opportunity. “When will you have time, then?”

Bian Yiqiu really wanted to say that he never had time. However, after a moment’s thought, he realized that dealing with the Qian family sooner or later was inevitable. If the other party was reaching out directly to invite him to dinner, it was much better than dealing with their covert schemes behind his back.

“After the Lantern Festival,” Bian Yiqiu replied.

“Alright, after the Lantern Festival, I’ll come find you,” Young Master Qian said. As soon as the words left his mouth, the light turned green. He gestured to the front, and the driver smoothly pulled the car forward, quickly disappearing from Bian Yiqiu’s sight.

Zuo Cheng turned the steering wheel, making a turn. “That Young Master Qian is so arrogant it makes my hands itch. Should we find an excuse to deal with him?”

“No need, he’s too green. One squeeze and he’ll break,” Bian Yiqiu responded, barely offering even a look of disdain.

“What about his father?”

Bian Yiqiu clicked his tongue. “Too old, just a hassle.”

Zuo Cheng understood from his tone that Bian Yiqiu wasn’t interested in dealing with the Qian family for now, so he tactfully changed the subject. “Do you have any other plans for the next few days?”

“Yes,” Bian Yiqiu answered seriously. Then, just as Zuo Cheng was bracing himself for something important, Bian Yiqiu grinned and added, “I’m going to have a good talk about love with Ke Mingxuan~~”

Zuo Cheng’s heart took a direct hit, and his grip on the steering wheel slipped. The entire stretch of Lihai Avenue watched as the Maybach, which had just been glistening like a blinding jewel, suddenly swerved into a flashy S-curve, as if the car had drunkenly stumbled across the straight road.

Bian Yiqiu had this unique ability to remain calm and composed, no matter the situation. Whether it was good or bad, reasonable or not, he could quickly accept anything and then focus on figuring out how to deal with it next.

The change in his relationship with Ke Mingxuan had initially left Bian Yiqiu a bit unsure and awkward, but ultimately, this was because their previous dynamic had been so extraordinary. Anyone would need time to adjust when switching from being sworn enemies to intimate lovers. Compared to most people, Bian Yiqiu’s ability to adapt was already quite high.

From now on, Bian Yiqiu could consider himself someone with a partner. Ke Mingxuan had described their current relationship as “the kind where they would only have sex with each other,” so it seemed like a reasonable understanding on his part, right? Though, for Bian Yiqiu, the idea of “only having sex with each other” did feel a bit like a disadvantage…

Don’t ask him why he felt this way; it’s not something he wants to go into. Ahem, anyway, with time, he believed this situation could definitely change in the near future. What situation, you ask? Oh, the weather’s great today, isn’t it?

On the ninth day of the Lunar New Year, the almanac said that everything was auspicious. Going out, getting married, making money, and opening businesses had no prohibitions at all. It was truly a great day. Even the wind blowing through the slightly open car window felt less biting, growing gentler and more lingering.

It turned out that, without him realizing it, spring had already arrived.

After Bian Yiqiu, with his typically straightforward attitude, comfortably accepted his new identity, the little bit of awkwardness and inexplicable embarrassment he had vanished into thin air. He quickly set aside his hesitation and started to seriously, and with great focus, embrace the idea of “being in a relationship.”

Although Bian Yiqiu had zero experience in this area, it wasn’t like he had never seen a pig run if he hadn’t eaten pork, right? Winning over a lover’s heart? Easy.

At this very moment, in the conference room of He Sheng Media, Young Master Ke, listening to his subordinates’ reports, suddenly had a bad feeling.

When the meeting ended, his premonition was confirmed.

A massive bouquet of vibrantly red, dew-kissed, half-bloomed roses, equipped with a pair of legs, walked straight toward him with strange precision. No matter how you looked at it, the scene was downright unsettling.

He wanted nothing more than to step back awkwardly, but unfortunately, all the attendees were behind him, blocking the conference room door. Worse still, they were watching the walking flowers with expressions full of excitement and curiosity. Some of the more knowledgeable female colleagues even gasped in envy and amazement.

The reason for the commotion was simple: the bouquet was enormous, almost completely hiding the person carrying it. Not a single part of the person behind the flowers was visible. The 99 roses, carefully chosen and imported directly from Ecuador, were all remarkably uniform in size and bloom, showing the effort or perhaps just the extravagant expense of the person who had selected them.

Despite its understated extravagance, the fiery color of the bouquet immediately reminded Ke Mingxuan of Bian Yiqiu’s uniquely ridiculous face.

Honestly, no normal person would pull off something like this.

At least it wasn’t Bian Yiqiu himself delivering the flowers. The height was wrong, and so were the proportions of the legs. Otherwise, Ke Mingxuan couldn’t guarantee he wouldn’t have hurled the embarrassing bouquet straight out the window.

The bouquet walked up to him, and from behind it came a weak voice. “Boss Ke, please take it. My arms are about to fall off.”

It was Assistant Xiao Xu’s voice.

Ke Mingxuan took the bouquet and fished out a card from within. On it, a crooked line of writing read: I’m waiting for you downstairs. There was no signature, but judging by the chicken-scratch handwriting, it was undoubtedly penned by none other than Bian Yiqiu himself.

How bold, Ke Mingxuan thought. Even third graders write better than this. Where on earth did he find the confidence to scrawl something like this on a card?

He stared at the card with disdain for a full minute before calmly walking into his office, bouquet in hand. Behind him, poor Assistant Xiao Xu, who hadn’t managed to escape in time, was instantly surrounded by a mob of colleagues aflame with gossip.

“Who sent the flowers?”

“What did they look like? Was it a man or a woman?”

“Is it Mr. Ke new lover? Or an old flame?”

“Who’s brave enough to use such a cliché move like sending flowers to woo Mr. Ke?”

“Wait, Mr. Ke didn’t get mad? He actually accepted them!”

“What was written on the card?”

“What? You didn’t read it? Are you kidding me? Why didn’t you take a look?”

“…”

Poor Xiao Xu nearly had his glasses knocked off in the commotion. Yet, he couldn’t answer a single one of their questions. After all, he hadn’t seen who sent the flowers, so how could he know if it was a man or a woman? And as for the card, there was no way he’d dare peek at it. He wasn’t about to dig his own grave!

“You gossiping ladies, could you move aside? I need to use the restroom! Boss, save me!’

Ignoring Xiao Xu’s predicament, which was now spiraling out of control, Ke Mingxuan put down the bouquet and took another look at the card. He couldn’t help but feel that the words “I’m waiting for you downstairs” were almost too painful to bear, so he closed the card. Half a minute later, he opened it again, and with a smile at the corner of his mouth, he murmured, Actually, it’s kind of cute.

“Idiot,” he muttered, shaking his head.

If someone had walked in at that moment, they’d have seen the tenderness in his eyes, a softness so deep it could drown anyone who looked into them.