Yuan Haolang sneered maliciously, “You say our childhood engagement doesn’t count, but what about the one on your boyfriend?”

“He said that he wanted to marry my girlfriend when he was little, and he is also the son-in-law recognized by Xiao Meng’s mother. What will you become, Zang Ling? Once Yan Wenshu climbs up to our social level, you’ll be abandoned by him!”

Zang Ling couldn’t quite follow Yuan Haolang’s logic and replied mockingly, “Do childhood promises really count? If that’s the case, then I said when I was little that I wanted 180 boyfriends. Do I have them now?”

“You… you’re just twisting words!”

Zang Ling couldn’t be bothered to waste any more time with him. She turned around and pulled Yan Wenshu away.

Outside the door, Yuan Haolang kept rambling on and on, his mouth dry from talking so much, but there wasn’t a single response from inside. It was only then that he realized — he had been acting out a whole play for no audience.

In a fit of anger, he threw the bouquet to the ground. The more he thought about it, the angrier he got. He pulled out his phone and made a call.

“Xiao Meng, where are you right now? I want to see you.”

…

Taking advantage of Zang Ling’s inattention, Yan Wenshu quietly pulled his hand back.

He needed to keep his distance.

He looked at Zang Ling, who acted as if nothing had happened, and asked, “You’re not going to ask about what Yuan Haolang said?”

Zang Ling waved her hand casually. “I told you I trust you, so I’m not going to believe someone else’s words so easily.”

“Besides, Yuan Haolang is full of nonsense. He’s just trying to stir up trouble between us. Even if — I mean even if — what he said was true, does he really think that without you, I’d end up with him? Dream on.”

“Enough about him, it’s boring.” Zang Ling turned her head and looked at him with bright eyes. “The Tomb Sweeping Festival is coming soon, do you have any plans?”

“If not, how about we go to Hawaii for a few days!”

Yan Wenshu apologized, “April 5th is my parents’ death anniversary. I have to go back to my hometown, so I can’t go.”

[Host, isn’t your parents’ death anniversary still a month away?]

[…Shut up.]

Zang Ling looked a little surprised, then said with guilt, “I’m sorry, that’s really important. I’ll go with you then. I’d like to pay my respects to them too.”

Yan Wenshu shook his head. “It’s in the countryside. It might be tough.”

“I’m not afraid of hardship. Besides, they’re your parents. It’s something I should do.”

Zang Ling grinned. “Then it’s settled! We’ll go to your hometown for The Tomb Sweeping, and we can go to Hawaii next time.”

The system almost short-circuited from laughing at its host’s failed scheming.

[Serves you right.]

Yan Wenshu felt a chill in his heart when he heard this. Looking at Zang Ling’s smiling face, he found himself unable to refuse.

and he thought, in a tone of giving up, Going won’t change anything anyway. I doesn’t like her…

“Yan Wenshu, what are you standing there spacing out for?” Zang Ling hugged a pillow and waved at him. “Hurry over here, it’s so scary here. Let me borrow your shoulder for a bit.”

Yan Wenshu snapped back to reality. Seeing her calmly say the word “scared” was a little amusing to him. He glanced at the movie. The part she was supposedly scared of… was just the scene where the main character forgot to close the bathroom door?

He didn’t expose her.

He walked over cooperatively and sat down beside Zang Ling. Feeling the weight on his shoulder and her body leaning closely against him, Yan Wenshu thought to himself, This is all for the mission.

When it got late, Yan Wenshu insisted on going home. He wouldn’t voluntarily stay over, and even if Zang Ling invited him, it wouldn’t change his mind.

Zang Ling frowned deeply as she watched Yan Wenshu get in the car. It seemed like his psychological issues were pretty serious. She needed to find the reason quickly.

The next day, Zang Ling immediately notified the Yuan Corporation to switch people. She had mentally prepared herself for Yuan Haolang to come and make trouble, but strangely, there wasn’t the slightest reaction from him.

Zang Ling kept an eye on him for a while, then stopped paying attention.

Over the next few days, huge bouquets of nameless roses kept being delivered to Zang Ling’s company nonstop, specifically addressed to her.

The first time Zang Ling received them, she instinctively glanced at Yan Wenshu. Seeing that his expression remained indifferent only confirmed her suspicions even more.

“Secretary Yan, please inform Chairman Zang that more flowers just got delivered downstairs.”

Yan Wenshu’s face betrayed nothing. “Okay.”

The system was confused. [Who’s sending Zang Ling these flowers? A secret admirer? The novel didn’t mention anything like this.]

Yan Wenshu’s gaze suddenly darkened. [You can’t find out?]

The system, aware of its own uselessness, sounded guilty. [Sorry, Host. I can only access information about you and Zang Ling. I’m powerless when it comes to anything else.]

Seeing Yan Wenshu stay silent, the system gathered its courage to ask, [Are you going to tell Zang Ling?]

[…You can hide it for a while, but can you hide it forever?]

Yan Wenshu hated the feeling of his plans getting out of control. It made him feel incompetent.

He didn’t go inside to notify Zang Ling in person. Instead, he called her.

Over the phone, Zang Ling sounded really happy, but to him, that happiness was especially grating.

Pretending to still be busy, he quickly hung up the phone.

His rational mind told him he should be working on raising Zang Ling’s affection, to complete his mission as soon as possible.

But the other half of his brain wouldn’t stop nagging: Let it go. Stop being curious. If you keep thinking about it, you’ll be right on the edge of the cliff.

Zang Ling put down her landline, her eyes curved in a smile. Yan Wenshu doesn’t even know how to hide his surprises properly. She had already figured it out, yet he was still pretending not to know anything.

Sigh, then she might as well play this game with him.

As Zang Ling passed by Yan Wenshu’s office, she couldn’t help but glance at him. Seeing him focused intently, head down and writing something, she smiled knowingly and walked away with an even lighter step.

Let’s see when he’ll blow his cover.

“Chairman Zang, these are your flowers.” Zhou Si respectfully handed the bouquet of roses to Zang Ling with both hands.

Zang Ling thanked her, happily hugging the flowers as she prepared to leave.

But then Zhou Si hesitantly said, “Chairman Zang… the person who sent the flowers wants to see you.” She had thought it was Secretary Yan who sent them, but after seeing the person herself just now, she realized it was that scumbag. Chairman Zang had been accepting his flowers for so many days, did that mean she broke up with Secretary Yan and was accepting him now?

Please, no way.

Upon hearing this, Zang Ling raised her eyebrows with interest — was Yan Wenshu finally going to admit it?

When did he come downstairs? Was there some secret passage in the company she didn’t know about?

Zang Ling happily let her imagination run wild, not noticing the odd expression on Zhou Si’s face.

With Zang Ling’s permission, Zhou Si knocked on the door of the lounge a little coldly and said, “Chairman Zang has agreed.”

About half a minute later, the door slowly opened.

Zang Ling looked over, her eyes carrying a trace of anticipation and curiosity, and then she saw Yuan Haolang walking out.

…?

Was she seeing things?

Did something dirty just crawl out of there?

Yuan Haolang looked at Zang Ling hugging the flowers he sent, unable to suppress a grin. “Chairman Zang, didn’t you say you’d never like me?”

“In the end, you still accepted my stuff. I know you’re not that heartless. You like me.”

When Tianhai requested to replace him, Yuan Haolang had indeed been furious; he’d even thought about killing Zang Ling at that moment, but his mother managed to talk him down.

Yuan’s mother told him to endure for now, saying that as long as Zang Ling married him, things like project manager positions would be easy to come by, even Tianhai would fall right into his hands.

Hearing the beautiful future laid out by his mother, Yuan Haolang decided to change his strategy and endure the humiliation to win Zang Ling’s favor first.

Zang Ling was utterly speechless.

“You like me that much? Can’t help but smile the moment you see me. I’ve figured it all out — you and Yan Wenshu were just putting on a show to test me. If you really like his looks, treat him like a toy for fun. But after we get married, you’ll have to focus all your energy on staying home and having children for me. The more you give birth to, the more rewards you’ll get.”

Expressionless, Zang Ling snapped the rose in half.

At that moment, Zhou Si wished she could bury herself deep underground. She’d learned so many secrets — would she get assassinated for this? Making an excuse about needing the restroom, she quickly slipped away.

Zhou Si had never met a man as shamelessly confident as Yuan Haolang. She’d once complained about him to her best friend, only for her best friend to actually think he was handsome.

Their little boat of friendship nearly capsized right there.

It wasn’t just her best friend either, she also found that people outside the company held Yuan Haolang in very high regard. Some news outlets even praised him as “the most charming, rich and handsome man of the 21st century.”

Zhou Si just wanted to say, Y’all need to eat something good and clear your heads.

——

[Host, aren’t you curious about who sent flowers to Zang Ling?]

Yan Wenshu lowered his head and continued working on his documents, looking extremely focused. Upon hearing the system’s words, his pen didn’t even pause for a second.

[Don’t tell me. I’m not curious.]

At this point, the system finally stopped doubting whether Yan Wenshu liked Zang Ling. With that attitude of his, it seemed like even if Zang Ling married someone else, he wouldn’t bat an eye.

[But what if Zang Ling falls for someone else? Then we’ll fail our mission.]

[Does that person look better than me?]

The system thought about Yuan Haolang’s appearance.

[No.]

Yan Wenshu didn’t explain further. In his heart, he knew, unless someone even more handsome than him appeared in the future, there was no way Zang Ling would fall for someone else.

That was exactly why he remained calm and unmoved.

It was just a mere admirer who sent flowers, hardly worth worrying about.

Right at that moment, Yan Wenshu accidentally tapped into the company group chat. He was about to exit when a newly posted photo caught his eye, making his gaze freeze slightly.

In the photo, there was a man and a woman. The woman had her back to the camera, her figure graceful, and it was faintly visible that she was holding a bouquet of red roses. Facing the camera, the man was handsome, smiling gently, his gaze full of affection as he looked at the woman before him.

The photo was taken from an overhead angle. From this perspective, even though the woman’s expression wasn’t visible, the first impression this photo gave was intimacy.

Anyone unaware of the situation might think it was a proposal.

Yan Wenshu sneered. In the group chat, people were already gossiping about how a marriage between Tianhai and the Yuan family was just around the corner. Someone kept @-ing him, saying they supported him in snatching Zang Ling back.

System spoke up, [Host, actually, it’s not like you think—]

Before the system could finish, Yan Wenshu cut it off swiftly.

[I’m not overthinking it. Yuan Haolang isn’t better looking than me. Zang Ling won’t like him.]

Then why are you still lurking in the group chat?

The system felt so stifled. The host could’ve just asked it directly, but not only did he not ask, he even forbade it from saying anything.

He kept saying he didn’t care, but everything he did totally said otherwise.

Click — the sound of the door opening. Zang Ling walked in, immediately meeting Yan Wenshu’s eyes.

Six seconds later, Yan Wenshu lowered his gaze and silently reached out to close the company group chat.

Zang Ling blinked blankly, closed the door behind her, and walked over to his desk.

“Yan Wenshu, do you have something you want to say to me?” she asked.

Yan Wenshu lifted his eyes.

Zang Ling said, “Why do you keep staring at me without saying anything?”

“Miss me or something?”

She tilted her head slightly, her smile charming and playful.

But what flashed through Yan Wenshu’s mind was that photo he had just seen. Slowly, he withdrew his gaze and gave a low, barely audible reply.

How could she act so naturally like nothing happened?