Shang Xinglu glanced at Xiao Zai for a moment.

The young man made an apologetic gesture, while simultaneously zipping his lips, indicating that he would no longer speak.

…Anyway, a single laugh was enough.

Shang Xinglu originally planned to speak honestly, but thanks to Xiao Zai’s previous apology, she successfully recalled the tense relationship between Lin Heng and Xiao Zai.

Then, to her surprise, she felt strangely guilty…

Shang Xinglu thought for a moment and said, “It’s nothing.”

Lin Heng: “…Did you go out to eat with Yin Yao today?”

Shang Xinglu quickly replied, “Yes, yes, it was Yin Yao.”

She tried to confuse the two questions into one, hoping to blur Lin Heng’s concept of things.

Unfortunately, after eating, Yin Yao had to return to work.

Lin Heng was downstairs in the restaurant, having his own lunch, when he happened to see Yin Yao cross the road and enter the office building across the street.

Yin Yao wasn’t with anyone else.

Louise lied.

Even though Lin Heng hadn’t seen Yin Yao at that moment, the laugh earlier was obviously a man’s voice, and Lin Heng had already known that Shang Xinglu was lying.

At this moment, Shang Xinglu asked, “What’s wrong? Is something happening?”

Lin Heng answered calmly, “I saw your message. I called you, but you didn’t answer. I was worried something happened.”

Shang Xinglu said everything was fine. She put down her phone, but as she hung up, her hand slipped, causing a slight delay…

Lin Heng should have hung up right away, but he waited a moment. At that moment, he heard Xiao Zai’s voice from the other side, saying, “Is this Mr. Lin?”

Lin Heng coldly ended the call.

Louise was lying to him.

She wasn’t always a liar, but this time, it was for Xiao Zai.

Lin Heng had known since yesterday that Shang Xinglu had arranged to meet Yin Yao for lunch. He even knew that Shen Wang had arranged to meet her as well.

He was jealous, yes, but compared to the feelings he had now, the jealousy was a completely different scale.

Maybe Louise had just run into Xiao Zai by coincidence.

But at this moment, Lin Heng couldn’t help but wonder—had Louise had lunch with Yin Yao today? In those two hours when he couldn’t reach her, was she also with Xiao Zai? Why had she turned off her phone? What was she doing with Xiao Zai?

He couldn’t dwell on these thoughts.

The most important thing was, Louise had lied.

Lin Heng didn’t finish his delayed lunch. He planned to find Shang Xinglu, but just then, Assistant Yuan said, “Mr. Lin, you need to leave for A City for a meeting this afternoon. If you don’t leave now, you’ll be late.”

Lin Heng: “…”

…

Shang Xinglu hung up the phone, and Xiao Zai rested his chin on his hand, grinning at her.

The young man had always been like this, with a gentle demeanor, looking quite charming.

Shang Xinglu couldn’t help but ask, “What are you laughing at?”

Xiao Zai: “Louise lied because of me.”

At this point, Shang Xinglu still didn’t understand Xiao Zai’s logic.

After all, her lie was just to save herself some trouble and avoid a conversation with the overly cautious Mr. Lin, which was really troublesome.

Xiao Zai’s gaze was alluring. “This proves that I have something worth hiding in Louise’s heart.”

Shang Xinglu: “…”

At this point, if Shang Xinglu didn’t understand, then she really would be a fool.

…After all, she was sure she wasn’t a fool, so she understood.

The meaning of his words was quite significant.

Shang Xinglu reconsidered her relationship with Xiao Zai. She probably first saw Xiao Zai’s true nature at the Huanylong company.

They had become more familiar during their conversations, and because of their time at Huanylong, Shang Xinglu didn’t take much of his flirtatious remarks seriously.

This gray-haired young man was like that—his words twisted in circles, one moment ambiguous, the next moment returning to his original intent. Whoever took it seriously was the fool.

But even Shang Xinglu realized that, since her divorce, Xiao Zai wasn’t just casually flirting anymore. It seemed… deliberate.

Deliberately flirting with her.

Deliberate to the point… of being quite serious.

Shang Xinglu didn’t understand.

She sat on the sofa, staring at Xiao Zai, propping her chin up as she intently looked at him.

Xiao Zai naturally noticed her gaze. He sat there leisurely, smiling lightly, allowing her to observe him.

Shang Xinglu was a person with a highly scattered mind.

The universe could be as vast as her wandering thoughts.

She carefully recalled her recent encounters with Xiao Zai… Her memory wasn’t that great lately, but she managed to trace it back to the time she had walked to Xiao Zai’s company.

That was a coincidence, so it didn’t count!

The next time was after she was discharged from the hospital, when Shang Xingyu dragged Xiao Zai to the café.

The time after that was at Xiao Zai’s father’s funeral, where Shang Xingyu wouldn’t let her help, actually for Xiao Zai’s sake.

Then, at the burial of Xiao Zai’s father, Shang Xingyu, surprisingly thoughtful, waited nearby.

Wait a second, hadn’t Shang Xingyu appeared way too often?

And based on Xiao Zai’s twisting way of speaking…

The theme music of Detective Conan seemed to start playing!

—There’s only one truth!!!

Shang Xinglu’s eyes suddenly widened as she rushed to Xiao Zai, sitting down beside him.

Shang Xinglu solemnly took Xiao Zai’s hand.

At this moment, Xiao Zai looked at her with interest.

Shang Xinglu’s face showed a hint of shyness, mixed with a little awkwardness.

She said, “Well, gray-haired boy… You know, although our country has become prosperous and strong, the overall cultural literacy in society isn’t quite high… The moral standards that our people can accept are generally… just average.”

She said, drawing a horizontal line in the air.

Xiao Zai was skeptical. Could it be that Louise was worried about their age difference? But he felt that five years wasn’t that much.

Shang Xinglu continued, “Even so, I’m still very open-minded.”

At this point, Xiao Zai stopped doubting in his heart.

But his eyelids twitched slightly.

Shang Xinglu held Xiao Zai’s hand with one of hers, while the other patted his shoulder.

In the tone of a future mother-in-law admiring her son-in-law, she said, “If you want to use me as a smokescreen, that’s fine. I’ll support you and Shang Xingyu. Actually, my parents are quite open-minded too. How about I go check it out first…”

Before she could finish her sentence,

Xiao Zai flipped over, supporting himself with one hand on the back of the sofa and using the other hand to corner her, forming a closed space around her with his arm, trapping Shang Xinglu.

Shang Xinglu raised her head, seeing the young man’s handsome face. He didn’t have any expression, but his eyes were flashing with suppressed anger—very restrained.

He leaned in, bringing his face very close to hers.

Shang Xinglu reflexively turned her head, so Xiao Zai could only see her profile and a section of her white neck.

Her skin was delicate and fair, and Xiao Zai could see the faint blue veins beneath her skin. Her chest was rising and falling, seemingly a little nervous.

Xiao Zai didn’t kiss her.

He wanted to, but he knew he couldn’t. He had to hold back.

Instead, he whispered in her ear, “Louise, do you think this is a smokescreen?”

Shang Xinglu remained silent.

Xiao Zai raised the hand that was supporting the sofa cushion, gently caressing her cheek, and forcibly turned her face toward him.

Shang Xinglu had no choice but to look into Xiao Zai’s eyes.

She saw Xiao Zai’s eyes.

They were like stars at dawn— not too bright, but the light was steady.

Xiao Zai’s forehead gently touched Shang Xinglu’s.

It was light, soft.

When his warm forehead made contact, Shang Xinglu couldn’t help but shrink slightly. Her reaction made the young man smile.

Xiao Zai asked again, “Louise, do you think this is a smokescreen too?”

Shang Xinglu opened her mouth, then closed it again.

She opened it once more, then closed it again.

She felt that the air she was breathing in wasn’t just air—it was the tiny molecules of Xiao Zai that he was emitting!

Finally, Shang Xinglu gave up resisting. She sighed and said, “…I’m sorry.”

Xiao Zai released Shang Xinglu. He said, “You can refuse me, but Louise, you can’t ignore me.”

“…”

Shang Xinglu still avoided looking at Xiao Zai.

At this point, Xiao Zai reached out and flicked Shang Xinglu’s forehead. Shang Xinglu yelped and quickly covered her forehead with both hands.

Xiao Zai smiled naturally, “Sister, do I really annoy you that much?”

At this moment, Xiao Zai was no longer as aggressive as before. He was just his usual self.

Shang Xinglu mumbled, “…No.”

Xiao Zai said, “Then that’s it. I just want you to pay more attention to me.”

Saying that, Xiao Zai stood up.

“I’ll be going now.”

Shang Xinglu replied, “…Okay.”

Xiao Zai leaned on the doorframe, turned his head, and smiled with his eyes crescent-shaped, “Sister, don’t forget to think of me.”

Shang Xinglu: “…”

How dare he overstep! Forget you? Dream on!

As Xiao Zai turned and left, he walked a few steps, leaned against the wall, and covered his smiling lips with his hand. His expression was a mixture of amusement, frustration, longing, and confusion.

…

Of course, Shang Xinglu didn’t think of Xiao Zai, nor did she think of him in any way.

That night, she had a nightmare.

In the dream, Yin Yao, Xiao Zai, Shen Wang, and Lin Heng were sitting around a table playing Mahjong, discussing how to divide her into pieces—how many pieces each person would get, and then hand her over to a biotechnologist to create a whole army of Shang Xinglus, just like Alice in the Resident Evil movies!

When they started discussing which parts of her body would be best, Shang Xinglu suddenly sat up in the dream, terrified!

“I’m not tasty! I really am not! Don’t divide me up!!”

Marilyn was holding a phone beside her, saying, “Mr. Shen, Madam’s awake. She was just saying she really isn’t tasty.”

Shen Wang: “…”

Shang Xinglu: “…………”

Shang Xinglu looked very distressed, “Assistant, whose assistant are you, really?”

Marilyn smiled, “Since I’m still getting paid by Mr. Lin, I suppose I’m Mr. Lin’s assistant. But the usage rights belong to you, Miss.”

Shen Wang: “…………”

This is bad—everywhere there’s Lin Heng’s spy.

The call was transferred to Shang Xinglu.

Shen Wang: “You didn’t forget about dinner today, right?”

Shang Xinglu: “Wh-what? How could I?”

Shen Wang: “…”

Sure, she forgot. No wonder he had to make a call.

Shen Wang: “Anyway, I’ll pick you up soon. Get ready.”

Shang Xinglu, feeling guilty towards Young Master Shen, got up to prepare.

She washed her face, brushed her teeth, did her hair, applied a face mask, changed clothes, and then began… scrolling through penguins, cats, and polar bears…

When Shen Wang arrived at Shanhai Guan, he found Shang Xinglu sitting with a face mask on, staring at her phone with a strange smile, looking like some NPC from a horror film with bad intentions but little ability.

Shen Wang: “…”

Shen Wang glanced at the suit he’d chosen after much deliberation, then sniffed his specially chosen cologne…

Shen Wang: “Aren’t you going to wear makeup? There’s still time, the reservation’s in two hours.”

Shang Xinglu: “Huh? Why?”

Shen Wang: “…”

Why…

The girl he was meeting with hadn’t bothered to put on makeup? At the very least, she should look fresh and lively, but here she was, just having woken up, with a face mask on and asking him why.

Shen Wang also wanted to ask why.

At this moment, Shang Xinglu received a call from Yin Yao. Shen Wang watched them chat happily over the phone for a while. Then Shang Xinglu called her assistant to pack her bags. She turned to go into the makeup room, but then remembered Shen Wang was still waiting, so she ran back to him.

With a fake apologetic expression on her face, Shang Xinglu said, “Shen Wang, can we do it another day? I have an urgent matter.”

Meanwhile, the pigeon continued to sing its cheerful song to itself.

Goo goo goo goo goo goo, so very happy!

Shen Wang’s temples bulged with veins as he grabbed Shang Xinglu’s face, furious, but didn’t dare use much force—he was just being a paper tiger.

“What did you say?!”