Shang Xinglu had met Lin Heng twice—once when he handed her a handkerchief and once when she returned it.

Although she learned his name, she promptly forgot it.

The only thing she remembered was—those handkerchiefs were expensive.

She had impulsively bought ten of them and regretted it immediately.

Originally, Shang Xinglu had thrown away the handkerchief Lin Heng gave her to wipe her tears and nose. At the time, she only knew it was expensive but not that expensive.

After crying, she went back and casually asked her friends about Lin Heng…

Then, she went back to retrieve the handkerchief.

Luckily, no one had touched the trash can. It was empty, and no one saw her.

Otherwise, by the next day, there would be rumors that Shang Xinglu had lost her mind after breaking up with Shen Wang and was digging through other people’s trash.

Just thinking about it made Shang Xinglu shudder.

At that time, Lin Heng rarely returned to the country.

He appeared in foreign media far more often than in domestic news.

His English name was more well-known than his Chinese one, which was so unremarkable that if you threw it into a crowd, you wouldn’t be able to fish it back out.

After lamenting her financial loss, Shang Xinglu carried on with her life.

Even though they had, in a particular situation, gone through a proposal—one person asking, the other agreeing—both of them understood without explanation that it wasn’t meant seriously.

One had simply been trying to talk the other out of an impulsive decision, but before they could finish their sentence…

The other had acted purely on a rush of emotions, letting temper override reason.

Neither of them had any romantic delusions about that misunderstanding from their first meeting. Shang Xinglu hadn’t even mentioned it to her friends.

She wasn’t stupid. She was in her heartbroken phase right now—if Lin Heng, a man with god-tier looks, popped up in conversation, her friends would absolutely dig three feet into the ground, pulling every trick to turn nothing into something.

Then, they’d make sure to shut Wangcai, that dumb dog, out of the picture for good.

After returning the ten handkerchiefs, Lin Heng went home, opened the gift box, and saw them neatly stacked, identical to the ones he had given her.

The only difference was the scent.

A woody fragrance—deep and steady, with a faint hint of a feminine perfume that slowly dispersed in the air, fresh and invigorating, leaving a lingering coolness.

Shang Xinglu hadn’t intentionally sprayed perfume on them.

Giving back someone else’s belongings with her scent on them might be well-intentioned, but it was ultimately inappropriate.

Since she didn’t have Lin Heng’s contact information, she had taken the simplest approach—carrying the handkerchiefs with her and waiting to run into him.

Their social circles were small; if not at this event, then the next.

Shang Xinglu wasn’t in a hurry.

The problem was, that day, her bag took a fall. Inside, two sample-sized perfume bottles shattered into pieces.

Forget the handkerchiefs—the entire bag was drenched in a mixture of the two scents.

At least the combination didn’t smell bad, so Shang Xinglu didn’t fuss over it and simply returned the handkerchiefs to Lin Heng.

Lin Heng rarely used cologne.

He was a perfectionist—both about himself and others.

Sure, perfume smelled nice, but everyone had different tastes. Most scents gave him a headache.

Instead of searching for one he liked, he simply chose not to use any.

No scent at all—that was true cleanliness.

Initially, when he noticed the handkerchiefs carrying a fragrance, he frowned.

But as the scent slowly spread, his brows gradually relaxed.

It was… surprisingly pleasant.

If cologne smelled like this, he wouldn’t mind using it.

So, Lin Heng asked his assistant to bring the handkerchiefs to a perfumer.

The perfumer quickly identified the two scents and, based on Lin Heng’s preferences, made adjustments. Eventually, this led to a custom cologne—one with a unique, one-of-a-kind formula.

The perfumer asked Lin Heng to name it.

Lin Heng thought for a moment and said, “Midnight Garden.”

A midnight garden.

The perfumer joked, “I feel like there’s a story behind this.”

Lin Heng didn’t respond. To him, the name was simply… logical and realistic.

—

Before Lin Heng’s promised “See you next time” could arrive, they ran into each other again by chance.

Lin Heng’s car had broken down, forcing him to pull over by the roadside while waiting for his assistant to send another vehicle. Shang Xinglu happened to drive past.

She had sharp eyes—she noticed him immediately.

She made a U-turn and stopped next to him.

To her surprise, Lin Heng’s first reaction was to wave her off.

Shang Xinglu got out of her car and burst into laughter.

Lin Heng had seen her at her most disheveled, but she had never seen him in an awkward situation before.

Both times she’d seen him, he had been calm, composed, and almost expressionless—so refined that his very presence exuded an untouchable air.

But right now? He looked exactly like those poor college students in suburban university towns being harassed by illegal taxi drivers.

On second thought, it made sense. A ridiculously handsome man, standing by the roadside in a perfectly tailored suit? Of course, anyone passing by would slow down.

Seeing that it was Shang Xinglu, Lin Heng stopped waving her off.

He said, “My car broke down.”

His assistant was already on the way—arriving in three minutes at most.

But for some reason, the freshly cologned Lin Heng chose not to mention that.

His car was broken.

He was standing by the road.

No problem with that.

Shang Xinglu offered, “Where are you headed? I’ll drive you.”

Before Lin Heng could answer, she added, “Oh, wait, no, the tow truck people still have to…”

“Someone’s handling it,” Lin Heng interjected. “I need to go to XX Road. I’ll trouble you.”

Then, without the slightest hesitation, he gave her an address.

Not polite at all.

Shang Xinglu was straightforward—she actually preferred this. Overly roundabout conversations only exhausted her.

She didn’t overthink it. It never crossed her mind that if someone was handling Lin Heng’s car, someone could probably handle him, too. Why would he need her to give him a ride?

Shang Xinglu just casually asked, “XX Road? You heading home?”

That area was a well-known villa district, also known as Shanhai View.

Lin Heng said, “Mm, yes.”

The two got into the car.

The moment the car door closed, sealing off the space, the faint scent of cologne on Lin Heng finally became noticeable.

It smelled quite nice, Shang Xinglu thought.

As soon as she finished that thought, she became aware of the oppressive aura Lin Heng exuded.

This was… a stranger she had only met twice.

Shang Xinglu suddenly felt a little regretful.

Oh no, was she really this weak-willed just because of a handsome face?

As she was about to drive off, she answered a phone call.

Someone from the planetarium urged her to hurry over, saying a group of elementary school students had come for a last-minute visit.

Shang Xinglu replied, “Right away, right away, I’m on my way.”

The planetarium job was a temporary gig she had picked up.

After returning to the country, she didn’t know what to do—she didn’t want to join her father’s company, nor did she want to continue acting.

She had considered all sorts of career paths, but none of them felt quite right. So, while figuring out her life, she decided to take on a part-time job related to her previous expertise.

Lin Heng asked her about it, and Shang Xinglu briefly explained.

Then Lin Heng said, “I’m in no hurry. You go ahead.”

Shang Xinglu didn’t think much of it.

She didn’t question why he wouldn’t just take a cab home or wait for his driver instead of tagging along.

Instead, this fool waved her work badge and said with a silly grin, “Hehe, I’ll give you a free tour later! I can go to areas that are usually off-limits to the public!”

His tone was full of pride, as if this was some sort of grand achievement.

Lin Heng let out a soft chuckle. “Alright.”

When they arrived at the planetarium, Shang Xinglu changed into her work uniform, and the elementary school students had already gathered.

Lin Heng followed her inside and naturally trailed behind the group, listening to her explanations.

When speaking to young children, Shang Xinglu made her explanations more engaging rather than purely informative.

Especially when discussing constellations—a topic that fascinated kids—she said, “Actually, there are 88 constellations in the entire celestial sphere. In the zodiac, there are more than just twelve. The line stretching from north to south above our heads is the meridian, and this one here is the celestial equator. Imagine taking Earth as the center, using the maximum distance visible to our eyes as the radius, and drawing a sphere in the vast expanse of space—that sphere is called the celestial sphere… (Note 1).”

After the elementary school group left, a university astronomy club arrived.

This time, Shang Xinglu’s explanations took on a more technical and scientific approach.

She said, “The classification of stars is based on their photospheric temperature. In 1868, Father Angelo Secchi created an early spectral classification system to distinguish the different spectra of observed stars. By 1878, he had expanded it into five categories. However, by the late 19th century, this system was replaced by the Harvard classification system.”

“The Harvard classification system ranks stars by temperature in the order O, B, A, F, G, K, M. There’s actually a mnemonic for remembering these letters—‘Oh, be a fine girl/guy, kiss me!’”

She smiled and added, “If your confession gets rejected, you can just pretend you were reciting a mnemonic.”

The students burst into laughter.

Lin Heng’s interest in astronomy was…

Mediocre.

He neither liked nor disliked it.

However, when listening to Shang Xinglu’s explanations, he was incredibly quiet and attentive.

Occasionally, when she glanced at him, she found his focused, side-profile expression—completely absorbed in listening—absolutely captivating.

Shang Xinglu quickly decided she shouldn’t look at him too much. She forced herself to focus on her job.

After finishing her work, she went to the gift shop inside the planetarium to buy an ice cream.

She originally planned to buy water for Lin Heng, but for the sake of fairness, she asked, “Do you want ice cream?”

Lin Heng glanced at the shelf.

This man, who looked like he survived solely on dew and fresh air, nodded calmly and said, “Yes, strawberry flavor.”

Shang Xinglu: “…?”

Lin Heng pointed at the shelf and said with absolute composure, “I like this brand’s strawberry flavor. It tastes better than the others. Highly recommended.”

…How peculiar.

Shang Xinglu blinked in confusion but quietly paid for the ice cream.

Under the shade of a parasol, they ate their ice cream.

Lin Heng finished his quickly. Seeing how much he genuinely enjoyed sweets, Shang Xinglu no longer found it odd and continued eating hers in silence.

After he finished, he asked, “That mnemonic you mentioned earlier—I didn’t quite remember it. Can you say it again?”

Shang Xinglu replied without hesitation, “Oh, be a fine guy, kiss me!”

Her crisp British-accented pronunciation was poised and pleasant to the ear.

As soon as she finished speaking, she felt the presence of someone drawing near.

She looked up and was instantly startled.

…He was way too close.

The man’s near-perfect face was just a few centimeters away from hers. His intoxicating cologne surrounded her in an instant.

Shang Xinglu was frozen in place.

The corners of the man’s thin lips curled slightly.

His voice was low and slightly hoarse as he murmured, “So it really ends with ‘Kiss me’? Your voice was a little soft—I didn’t quite catch it.”

Shang Xinglu: “…!!!”

Was he really just asking about the mnemonic? It had to be the mnemonic… right?!