At that moment, she felt a light pressure on her head as he gently ruffled her hair, his tone soft. “I’m staying at a friend’s place, so I can leave a little later today.”

All the chaotic thoughts in her mind settled with those few words. Her heartbeat, which had been racing wildly just a moment ago, slowly returned to normal. She nonchalantly responded with an “Oh,” her attitude now very different from before.

Lu Linshen was a little confused. He hadn’t upset her or said anything wrong. “Suisui, what’s wrong? Why—” he began, sensing she wasn’t happy.

But before he could finish, she hurried him to leave, citing that it was too late and he should go.

Lu Linshen stared at the closed door, feeling completely bewildered. He had stayed at a friend’s house so he could spend more time with her that evening. He hadn’t expected to be sent away like this. The outcome was far different from what he had anticipated. And what was up with her sudden change in attitude?

Meng Suihuan felt like she had fallen too quickly recently. Last night, she even had some inappropriate thoughts. The worst part was, she had even dreamed about it—dreamed of some unspeakable scenes. It was truly shameful. It had to be because of the advanced education from her past life. Yes, it had to be that. So, when she received Lu Linshen’s call and heard his voice, she subconsciously spaced out, her mind filled with the sound of his magnetic voice from the dream and the image of his hand holding hers. Oh, this was really unbearable.

“Suisui, what’s wrong?” His confused voice came through the phone. She quickly shook her head, trying to shake off those indescribable images. Then, she vaguely replied, “Uh, nothing. I just spaced out. I didn’t sleep well last night.”

“You also didn’t sleep well?” The word “also” carried a subtle meaning, and Meng Suihuan immediately caught it. She dragged out her tone. “…Also? So, you didn’t sleep well last night either?”

Lu Linshen: “…Hmm.”

Hmph.

It served him right for what happened last night; it was all karma. Meng Suihuan suddenly became animated, unable to stop herself from asking, “Did something happen? Tell me, and I’ll help you analyze it.”

Lu Linshen cleared his throat and answered vaguely, “Last night, I… was talking with a friend until it got really late.”

What could they have been talking about for so long? It must have been work. Meng Suihuan thought to herself. After all, Lu Linshen was known to be a workaholic; work was probably his greatest love.

Fearing that she would keep asking, Lu Linshen quickly changed the subject. “Suisui, what about you? Why didn’t you sleep well last night?”

Because of his words, those inappropriate images from her dream reappeared in her mind. He had been calling her name repeatedly, just like he did now, but in the dream, his voice was deep, hoarse, and somewhat seductive.

Meng Suihuan decided to play dumb. “What else could it be? Same as you.”

“…Same?” Lu Linshen frowned, “You were at home last night, right? More importantly, is this something that should make you think for so long?” He felt something was off.

“What else?” Meng Suihuan replied bluntly, not backing down. “What do you think it could be?”

Her cold words made the atmosphere tense between them. Lu Linshen, sensing she wasn’t happy again, was about to explain when he suddenly heard her cold voice from the other end of the phone, “I have something to do, I’ll hang up now.” Then there was the sound of the line disconnecting.

This situation left Lu Linshen frustrated.

In the laboratory, Qin Yu noticed Lu Linshen’s mood change and nudged Xie Zhixin beside him. “Hey, Lao Xie, look, Lu Ge’s face is even darker now. Did he have a fight with Meng Jie?”

Xie Zhixin ignored him, even shifting away slightly. “I don’t know.”

“Hey, Lao Xie, what do you think they’re fighting about?”

Xie Zhixin’s voice was cold, “It’s none of my business.”

“Other people in relationships are all sweet and loving in the first few months. Why is it that Lu Ge, after less than a month, already starts fighting? It’s strange, really strange—”

Xie Zhixin replied, “…Everyone has their own way of getting along. It’s not weird.”

Qin Yu couldn’t help but agree, “True.”

“Hey Lao Xie, do you think in this fight, will Lu Ge apologize first, or will Meng Jie?”

Xie Zhixin was getting fed up and couldn’t help but retort, “How would I know? Why don’t you ask Lu Ge yourself?”

Qin Yu immediately snapped his fingers, praising Xie Zhixin. “Yeah, why didn’t I think of that? I’ll just ask Lu Ge directly. Lao Xie, you’re so smart!”

Xie Zhixin didn’t know how to respond anymore. Whatever.

Qin Yu, always the action-oriented one, took the opportunity to ask Lu Linshen about it during work.

“Lu Ge, I can see you’re not happy lately. Is something bothering you? Maybe I can help analyze it for you?”

“You know, I have a lot of experience with this kind of thing.”

Lu Linshen hesitated for a moment but eventually shared his concerns. He had spent all night thinking about it and still couldn’t figure out the answer. Plus, he seemed to have upset Meng Suihuan again during their phone call, and he wanted to understand where he went wrong.

After hearing this, Qin Yu patted his thigh excitedly. “Lu Ge, it’s simple! You just need to apologize to Meng Jie, and everything will be fine!”

Lu Linshen rolled his eyes at Qin Yu. “What did I do wrong?” He still didn’t understand the situation—why would he apologize?

“If you don’t have any other ideas, just leave me alone,” he said, clearly irritated.

Qin Yu was serious. “I’m telling you, this isn’t a joke. All my relatives and friends, they all do this, and it works every time. Like my sister and brother-in-law…” He enthusiastically started giving examples, almost running out of breath.

Finally, Lu Linshen reacted. “Are you sure it will work?”

Qin Yu became anxious. “Lu Ge, don’t you trust me? When you were chasing after Meng Jie, I gave you so many good ideas, didn’t they work?”

“Really, trust me on this one, I won’t steer you wrong.”

“This method is really effective—”

Lu Linshen was getting tired of hearing Qin Yu’s chatter, his tone growing more indifferent, “Alright, alright, I got it.”

“Lu Ge, you really should give it a try. If you don’t understand anything, just call me anytime.”

Lu Linshen pinched the space between his eyebrows, feeling some regret. He shouldn’t have said so much to Qin Yu!

Late at night.
Lu Linshen stood at Meng Suihuan’s door, knocking but getting no response. He tried calling, but still no answer. At first, he tried to rationalize that she must have been too busy, but after waiting for more than an hour with no sign of her, he started to get anxious. He immediately took a cab to Xuyu Group, but still couldn’t find her.

He searched through his contacts to see if any of her friends were listed, but only found his older sister. He called her, but again, no answer. Left with no other choice, he decided to call Qin Yu.

“Hey, Lu Ge, you’re calling me at this time—does that mean you’ve decided to try out my advice?”

“Heh, what problem are you facing? Tell me, and I’ll analyze it for you—”

“I’ll definitely help you resolve whatever’s going on between you and Meng Jie.”

Lu Linshen, uninterested in his endless chatter, cut to the chase, “I’m asking you one thing: do you have any news on Suisui?”

“Ah!” Qin Yu was stunned, ” Lu Ge, did I hear you wrong, or did you ask the wrong thing?”

“Isn’t Meng Jie your girlfriend? How could you not know—”

Lu Linshen took a deep breath, forcing himself to resist the urge to hang up. “You know a lot of people at Xuyu, right? Can you ask around for me?”

“Oh, okay.” Qin Yu eagerly agreed and quickly used his connections to gather information. “Lu Ge, I have news. Meng Jie went to Qingcheng again.”

“She must be mad at you, ran away from home. You see, if you had asked me earlier, things wouldn’t have gotten to this point—”

Lu Linshen, who had been anxious and unsettled before, felt some relief upon hearing this news. He calmly corrected Qin Yu, “She’s not that kind of person, don’t jump to conclusions.”

Just as he hung up with Qin Yu, his older sister called him back.

“Xiao Shen, what’s up? I was busy handling something, just got free.”

He had originally called to ask about Suisui’s whereabouts, but now that he knew, he saw no need to bring it up.

“It’s nothing, I just wanted to ask if you’re busy lately. I was thinking about having you help me with renovating a house.”

Lu Xiuhe raised an eyebrow. “Renovate a house? You and Suisui are moving fast, planning to live together?” She had just heard that they were thinking about divorcing, but now, not long after, they were talking about renovating a new house. She couldn’t help but marvel—her brother was really surprising her.

“Xiao Shen, I didn’t expect you to move this fast.”

The siblings had a very good relationship, especially since she had watched him grow up. She had seen him pursuing Meng Suihuan desperately, and each time things didn’t go as he hoped, she had been anxious for him. But with love, you can’t rush it, and others can’t do much to help. He had to rely on himself. Fortunately, he had finally won Suisui’s heart. Now, things were moving forward.

“Live together?” Lu Linshen found himself still thinking about those words. It was something he hadn’t actually considered. After all, he had just started dating Suisui and knew where she came from. He didn’t want to scare her. But once those words were mentioned, he couldn’t help but imagine what it would be like to have a home with Suisui, to live together.

After a while, he slowly replied, “It’s not for me, it’s for my good friend. They bought a new house and need help with the renovation, so I was just asking if you had time.”

“Oh.” Lu Xiuhe’s tone softened, as helping someone else with renovation wasn’t anything unusual.

“Are they in a hurry? You know I have a few projects right now, so I don’t have much energy for anything else.”

She had only agreed to help because it was her brother’s friend asking, but she still had to explain the situation.

“If you’re not too busy, we can find time to talk about it in person.”

Suddenly, Lu Linshen called out, “Jie.”

“Mm?”

“Regarding the house in Ning City, which location do you think is better? Do you have any recommended areas?” This was the right person to ask. Lu Xiuhe had been involved in the real estate industry for years and was very knowledgeable about it. She suggested a few good locations and even thoughtfully added, “These areas not only have good locations but are also conveniently located, so both you and Suisui will have an easy commute to work.”

Lu Linshen’s tone immediately became awkward. “Jie, I was just asking casually.”

Lu Xiuhe, knowing her brother too well, wasn’t bothered by his response. Instead, she spoke earnestly, “Now that your relationship with Xiao Huan is stable, these things are inevitable. As a man, you should take the initiative to shoulder this responsibility, think more about her, and think about your future together.”

Their future? Would they have a future? He didn’t know, and he didn’t dare to think too deeply about it.