After lunch, An had a meeting lined up—some business to handle—so Shi Zhi walked her downstairs.

They shared a light hug, exchanged a few goodbye words, and An left with her gold-brown Kelly bag in hand.

That left just Shi Zhi and Tang Wenting.

It was scorching outside. Tang Wenting said, “Let me drop you off.”

Back when Shi Zhi was into Shen Jia, she might’ve eaten this up. Now, it just felt draggy.

He’d clearly seen her ring, her phone lock screen too.

Yet he didn’t even dare ask if she had a boyfriend or how things were with him—just kept finding random excuses to suck up.

“No need.”

“Actually, it’s like this—Auntie often mentions Fu Zong to me, and I’ve never really liked life abroad. So, when I’m back, we might end up as colleagues.”

Tang Wenting acted like he couldn’t read Shi Zhi’s boundaries, all friendly and grinning as he stuck out his hand. “Miss Shi—oh, no, Shi Zhi—wanna say ‘happy collaboration’ ahead of time?”

Shi Zhi crossed her arms, gave him a look, didn’t budge, and reminded him, “Not necessarily the same department.”

“True.”

Tang Wenting awkwardly raised his hand, rubbed the tip of his nose, and asked when she was heading back home.

The afternoon sun was brutal, blindingly bright.

Shi Zhi had just lifted her hand to shield her eyes when Fu Xiling’s call came right on cue.

He didn’t ask anything, just said, “Date time.”

Way crisper than Tang Wenting.

Shi Zhi kinda liked it. “Where you at?”

Fu Xiling named a coffee shop. It rang a bell—Shi Zhi’s brain instantly pictured the logo.

Then…

She whipped her head around, looking across the street.

Sure enough, there was Fu Xiling, lounging in a chair outside the coffee shop, all relaxed, phone to his ear, smirking her way.

Shi Zhi tossed a quick goodbye to Tang Wenting, crossed the road, pulled out a chair, and plopped down diagonal from Fu Xiling.

“When’d you get here?”

“When that guy tried shaking my girlfriend’s hand.”

Shi Zhi shot him a skeptical glance.

She really wanted to know—without a camera on her, how’d he time it so perfectly? How’d he know exactly how long their meal would take?

“Guessing how long a meal like that lasts isn’t hard. Every year, I’ve had more dinners with tough execs like An—big shots from companies and groups—than the number of words Tang Wenting just babbled at you trying to make small talk.”

Shi Zhi teased a little on purpose. “No need to hate on him so much. Tang Wenting’s even requested a transfer—back home, we’ll be colleagues.”

Fu Xiling stayed chill. “Then he’s got even less of a shot. Dude’s basically sentencing himself to death row.”

“You know that how?”

No need to spell it out—they both got it.

Shi Zhi didn’t vibe with clueless clingy types, and she sure didn’t find it hot when someone switched jobs over personal feelings.

Not smart enough, not sexy enough.

Her spot was crap—half her body stuck out from the umbrella’s shade, her pale arms dazzling under the sunlight.

Fu Xiling glanced at her, reached out, and yanked her—chair and all—next to him.

He handed her an iced coffee he’d bought. “It’s this hot, even stray cats know to hide in the shade. Only you two idiots were standing there chatting on the street.”

Shi Zhi paused mid-sip. “How many idiots?”

“One.”

She didn’t move, just stared at him.

At least one—couldn’t be less.

Fu Xiling had to spell it out. “Tang the Idiot.”

Shi Zhi was satisfied, took a couple sips of iced coffee, then turned and spotted some Brunch pics drawn on the blackboard by the coffee shop door.

They looked good, so she asked Fu Xiling if he’d had lunch.

After all, he’d basically pulled an all-nighter on his laptop. At 4 a.m., she’d woken up groggy, looking for water, and faintly heard typing.

Back then, in the hotel bedroom, only the laptop screen glowed dimly.

When Fu Xiling handed her the water, she saw him rub his brow, saw the tired red veins in his eyes.

She’d asked if he was gonna sleep. He just pulled her into his arms, ruffled the top of her head, and told her to rest first.

Even when she left the hotel before lunch, he was still shirtless, working on the couch.

Fu Xiling jerked his thumb upstairs. “Ate already.”

That upstairs restaurant—Shi Zhi had looked it up before planning to treat a boss to a meal.

Per person, it was pricier than the lunch they’d just had. No need to worry about Fu Xiling—this rich boy never let himself go hungry.

He’d brought his laptop out and, as usual, didn’t keep Shi Zhi waiting long.

Within ten minutes, he snapped it shut and took her shopping.

Shopping ate up time. A little browsing and buying, and it was evening.

They grabbed dinner at a restaurant, then strolled through the hazy dusk as the streetlights flickered on.

Maybe they’d stumbled into some art school grad event—the street was buzzing, someone even playing the violin.

They stopped nearby, listening for a bit.

“Been too busy lately, didn’t get around to prepping your grad gift. How about I play you a tune instead?”

Fu Xiling got a wild idea, walked over, chatted with the brown-haired violin kid, and the kid happily lent him the instrument.

“For our Shi Zhi, congrats on graduating smooth.”

Fu Xiling stood in the foreign city’s twilight, back to the sunset glow at the street’s end, drawing the bow.

A crowd gathered. He played a chill melody, all casual and confident.

He was different with the violin—more elegant than usual, smirking with that bad-boy grin, probably plotting something he was dead sure he’d nail.

Shi Zhi sat on a flowerbed edge outside the crowd, watching him finish the piece. He bowed like a gentleman amid the applause.

He handed the violin back to the kid, who asked something.

Fu Xiling tilted his head toward her from a distance. The kid glanced over, then turned back, grinning with him.

Shi Zhi caught the gist of his lip movements.

He was saying something about “girlfriend.”

This loud-and-proud favoritism? Shi Zhi had never felt it before.

Not bad at all.

The street was close to the hotel, so they walked back side by side.

Shi Zhi said, “You’re pretty good at violin.”

“Meh, just enough to fool an amateur like you.”

“You saying I can’t tell?”

Fu Xiling looked at her, dead serious. “So what’d you hear?”

Truth was, she didn’t get it.

If it was a song with lyrics, she could at least guess the mood or vibe. Pure music? She had no clue where to start.

Shi Zhi wouldn’t back down. “Better than the last one.”

She meant that tune he’d played at home for Valentine’s Day.

“Better than the last one?”

“Yeah.”

“Actually, it’s the same one.”

Shi Zhi turned to him, blank-faced. Fu Xiling cracked up, then bolted to dodge her payback.

He ran a few steps, ducked into a convenience store, grabbed her favorite juice from the shelf—like a get-out-of-jail-free card.

Even holding his truce offering, he wasn’t done messing with her. “Be real—last time I played, you weren’t even listening, were you?”

Shi Zhi sidestepped. “Let’s go already. We’ve been out too long, I’m beat…”

Back at the hotel, Shi Zhi sat on the bed sipping juice. Fu Xiling had been working on his laptop but started zoning out—she could feel his eyes on her.

Finally, he shut it, walked over, braced his hands on the bed, and leaned in slow.

No one mentioned abstinence. No one mentioned recovery.

Breaths mingled, lips brushed, kissing, peeling off each other’s clothes.

Desire flared like cherry blossoms falling outside the window…

By the time they were done, it was late again.

Fu Xiling carried her to the shower. After, Shi Zhi slipped into a short-sleeve tee he’d bought that afternoon, curled up in bed to rest. He, meanwhile, hugged his laptop and kept grinding.

The way he worked late, all cool and focused, was just as hot as when he gripped her waist hard.

Shi Zhi lay on her stomach, head tilted, watching him for a bit. She opened WeChat, feeling rare softness. “Fu Xiling, wanna change your contact name?”

He was too zoned into work to hear, just chewing strong mint gum to stay awake, one chomp at a time.

Shi Zhi, squinting mischievously, was too busy plotting a name to tease him with.

She didn’t clock the issue with his wake-up method.

Not until the airport security check.

No cigarettes, no lighter on Fu Xiling. That’s when Shi Zhi finally realized—she hadn’t seen him smoke in forever.

She’d thought it was the fever at first, but even after he ditched the meds, he still hadn’t bought any.

“You quit smoking?”

Fu Xiling shrugged casually. “Yeah.”

They ran into Tang Wenting again at the airport.

Fu Xiling had grabbed breakfast, handing Shi Zhi two kraft paper bags—one beef burger, one chicken—letting her pick first.

He sat beside her, tapping her phone screen with his knuckle. “Sent you a WeChat. You didn’t reply.”

The screen lit up.

His avatar had an unread red dot.

He glanced at it, took the beef burger she passed him, then froze mid-motion, pulling her into his arms by the shoulder. “What’d you set my contact name as?”

Shi Zhi kept a straight face. “Can’t you check yourself?”

He grabbed her phone, half-laughing, half-annoyed. “‘Probation’? No name, no nothing, just this?”

Shi Zhi couldn’t hold it in anymore and cracked up too.

They were goofing around with their steaming burgers. “How about ‘Intern’ instead?”

“You try changing it.”

Someone sat across from them, also holding a burger. “…Hey, Shi Zhi, what a coincidence. Looks like we’re on the same flight.”

Tang Wenting.

Shi Zhi dialed back her smile, gave a quick hello, and introduced Fu Xiling. “This is my boyfriend, Fu Xiling.”

That one line from Shi Zhi had Fu Xiling in a good mood all morning.

Maybe because she’d made it clear she wasn’t into that type anymore, he didn’t even see Tang as a threat.

He even chatted calmly with the guy when Tang struck up a conversation.

On the plane, Tang Wenting headed to economy in the back.

Shi Zhi’s ticket—booked by Fu Xiling—was first class. After settling in, he asked, “You sure you’ve thought it through? Not gonna live with me back home?”

Before, as bed buddies or friends with benefits, Shi Zhi could crash at his place whenever.

Convenient, no strings.

Now they were a couple, decisions needed more thought.

She’d planned to figure it out before heading back, but Fu Xiling’s sudden chase abroad threw her off.

With him around, her head wasn’t clear.

Still, these past few days dating him had been pretty fun.

Honestly, this kind of happiness blew her last relationship out of the water.

But moving into Fu Xiling’s place meant starting a long-term live-in life.

That made her hesitate.

Shi Zhi pulled up her phone order. “I’ll stay at a hotel first. Room’s booked.”

“Nah, don’t. That place you picked? It’s Shen Jia’s family’s.”

Shi Zhi didn’t overthink it.

She figured she and Shen Jia were done, and she’d ignored his messages anyway.

Nothing shady, no reason she couldn’t stay.

Noticing Fu Xiling’s tone, she frowned. “You’re way harsher on Shen Jia than Tang Wenting. Even went wild in his comment section.”

His answer caught her off guard.

Turns out Shen Jia had stirred up drama recently—got drunk at a friend’s party with Tao Jia and called out Shi Zhi’s name.

Word was, Tao Jia cried on the spot, grilling Shen Jia about who he really liked. He didn’t even answer.

Messy as hell.

Shi Zhi listened, feeling déjà vu.

When she and Shen Jia split, it’d been a similar playbook.

“They’re still together after that?”

“Maybe broke up for a few days, then patched it up. Didn’t you see it on my iPad? They posted pics.”

While the cabin was still half-empty, Shi Zhi canceled the hotel booking fast.

She wasn’t wading into that mess.

Fu Xiling was back on her laptop, probably rushing emails before takeoff.

Typing away, he said, “My place, the bedroom next to my hotel office, or a room at my hotel—pick one.”

All his turf either way.

Shi Zhi didn’t wanna choose. She just wanted quiet to think.

Two seconds of silence, and Fu Xiling got it. Didn’t need her to say it. “I know, anywhere’s fine. Back home, I won’t bug you. Think it over.”

“What’s that mean?”

He didn’t answer, just countered, “That probation period—it’s ten days, right?”

“Yeah.”

“Cool. I’ve been swamped lately. After we’re back, I’ve got a short trip out of town—three days tops—to wrap up Fu Xifeng’s project for good. Your probation’ll be up by then.”

Shi Zhi said, “So you’re saying we can talk when you’re back?”

Fu Xiling got real sly, slipping an arm around her neck while the crew wasn’t looking, leaning close. “Giving you time to think. Otherwise, when I’m around, you’re too busy wanting to sleep with me to judge straight.”