Chapter 15

Qin Mingchuan was originally aimlessly walking along the creek.

But suddenly, a burst of noise up ahead made him increasingly frustrated.

He lifted his head and looked toward the group of people.

At first, he couldn’t find the source of the noise, but instead, he caught a glimpse of a figure that was incredibly familiar.

Initially, Qin Mingchuan thought this person just looked a bit like Su Xingyao.

But as he unconsciously walked closer, he realized it was indeed Su Xingyao.

In that moment, a surge of unexpected joy overwhelmed all of Qin Mingchuan’s senses.

Just a moment ago, he had been regretting not being able to fulfill the promise he made to Su Xingyao six years ago.

Yet, unexpectedly, at this moment, on another familiar April meteor shower night, he encountered him in such a way.

Countless emotions surged in his heart, but in the end, they all turned into the gentleness that was reflected in Qin Mingchuan’s gaze.

He stood next to Su Xingyao, quietly watching his face.

It had been a long time since their last meeting in the hospital.

But he noticed that Su Xingyao’s complexion seemed noticeably better than it had been then.

Originally, Qin Mingchuan thought that with all the troubles Su Xingyao had gone through recently, he would look exhausted.

But after seeing the peacefully sleeping Su Xingyao, he realized that, after leaving everyone, Su Xingyao hadn’t been doing badly at all.

The orange-yellow warm light from the night lamp illuminated Su Xingyao’s face. When the night wind blew through the leaves of the trees, his long eyelashes slightly fluttered, casting a small shadow on his skin.

The cold wind blew away the remaining trace of alcohol from Qin Mingchuan’s body. Seeing Su Xingyao lying there, afraid that he might catch a cold from sleeping, he hurriedly took off his jacket, intending to cover him with it.

But just in those few seconds of taking off his jacket, a figure blocked his way.

The tall figure of the person in front of him shielded the sleeping Su Xingyao from the light and shadows.

Lu Jiuxu walked over to Su Xingyao, bent down, and gently covered him with the blanket in his hand.

Qin Mingchuan’s hands awkwardly stopped in mid-air, the jacket in his hand tightening slightly.

His gaze fell on the blanket that had suddenly appeared, and he found it particularly eye-catching.

A feeling of unwillingness surged in his chest, and, out of frustration, he wanted to replace it.

So, he moved closer to Su Xingyao, attempting to cover him with his own jacket.

But he couldn’t get any closer to Su Xingyao.

The man stood in front of him like a wall, completely separating him from Su Xingyao.

Qin Mingchuan raised his head and finally met the man’s gaze.

In the man’s cold eyes, he recognized him.

It was the man who had carried Su Xingyao out of the hospital last time.

The unpleasant memory of the last time, when the man came with bodyguards and forcibly took someone from the hospital, resurfaced once again.

Thinking about how the man had deliberately blocked him this time, a surge of anger arose in Qin Mingchuan’s chest.

“Excuse me, sir, please move aside.”

Although extremely displeased, Qin Mingchuan still spoke politely.

However, the indifferent man acted as if he hadn’t heard him at all, standing still like a block of ice, showing no intention of moving.

Qin Mingchuan, feeling increasingly frustrated with the man’s provocative behavior, gradually lost his patience.

Not wanting to say anything further, he decided to simply bypass the man.

But Lu Jiuxu still didn’t let him have his way.

With a cold glance, Lu Jiuxu grabbed his arm with one hand and spoke in a faint, almost dismissive tone.

“Sir, you might have had a bit too much to drink.”

The man’s tone made Qin Mingchuan uncomfortable.

Since taking over the family business, everyone had shown him respect, calling him “President Qin” and yielding to him.

But this person, who appeared to be about the same age as him, carried an aura that seemed to place him three ranks higher.

Once again, Qin Mingchuan was blocked, but instead of backing down, he felt a surge of competitiveness, wanting to take Su Xingyao away.

He lifted his gaze and met the man’s eyes.

In the night wind, the two stood—one cold and shadowed, the other with an icy gaze.

In this tense atmosphere, Qin Mingchuan and Lu Jiuxu weirdly reached a subtle balance.

Neither of them spoke another word, but neither would give an inch.

After a long pause, it was Lu Zhiyun’s laughter, not far away, that finally broke the silence.

Amid the noise, Lu Jiuxu instinctively turned his head to look at Su Xingyao.

At this moment, Qin Mingchuan, seizing the opportunity, spoke again.

“I’m Su Xingyao’s fiance, Qin Mingchuan. He should be uncomfortable sleeping here, so please move aside. I’ll take him back to rest.”

It was as if he intentionally wanted to prove something. After emphasizing his fiance status, Qin Mingchuan turned to Lu Jiuxu and asked with a hint of challenge.

“Sir, are you his friend?”

When he said the words “fiance,” there was a trace of barely noticeable pride in Qin Mingchuan’s tone.

But soon, he was shocked by this sudden thought.

He had once deeply hated the word “fiance,” even despising the marriage contract that had been forced on him without his consent, and had hated Su Xingyao for many years because of it…

Yet, he never imagined there would be a day like this.

A day when he would have to rely on this identity to show the person blocking him the uniquely close relationship he had with Su Xingyao, one that was different from anyone else.

The man’s overpowering presence made Qin Mingchuan feel unwilling to yield.

He brought up his identity as a fiancé to deliberately assert dominance over the other man.

Thinking of this, he subconsciously glanced at Lu Jiuxu.

Only he knew that, despite his calm exterior, the feeling of being out of control inside him had already begun to scare him.

He feared that one day, he wouldn’t even be able to maintain the very identity he once hated so much with Su Xingyao.

The mere thought of this possibility was difficult for Qin Mingchuan to accept, and he deliberately chose to ignore it.

He shifted his attention back to Lu Jiuxu, carefully observing his expression, hoping to catch a subtle change on his face after learning his identity.

But the result was disappointing.

Lu Jiuxu’s face remained cold and indifferent, with not the slightest sign of emotional fluctuation.

“This is his own choice. No one can decide for him if he’s uncomfortable.”

Lu Jiuxu didn’t address his relationship with Su Xingyao, but his voice was as cold as ice that had been frozen for a thousand years.

It was a warning, reminding Qin Mingchuan, “No identity can.”

Not even being a fiance could make decisions for Su Xingyao.

The hidden mockery in Lu Jiuxu’s words made Qin Mingchuan momentarily speechless.

While they were talking, Su Xingyao vaguely heard some sounds.

He slightly opened his eyes, vaguely seeing two figures.

However, he was still in a daze, only recognizing the silhouette of Lu Jiuxu, who was closest to him.

“Mr. Lu…”

Out of habit, he softly called out to Lu Jiuxu, moving his arm slightly, which caused the blanket on his shoulder to slip down a little.

The undercurrent of tension between the two men suddenly stopped at this moment.

Qin Mingchuan turned to look at Su Xingyao.

“Xingyao.”

“Hmm, I’m here. It’s still early, just keep sleeping.”

Qin Mingchuan’s call of “Xingyao” was drowned out by Lu Jiuxu’s gentle and low voice as he soothed him to sleep.

As a result, Su Xingyao only paid attention to Lu Jiuxu the entire time.

Hearing the words he said to him, Su Xingyao softly replied with “Okay” before lying down again and falling back to sleep.

Lu Jiuxu didn’t say anything more. He simply lowered his head and carefully pulled the fallen blanket back up, covering Su Xingyao once more.

Qin Mingchuan, who had been ignored the whole time, stood there watching him do all of this.

Suddenly, his phone in his bag vibrated.

Qin Mingchuan glanced at the peacefully sleeping Su Xingyao and finally turned to leave.

—

Su Xingyao had a dream.

The friend who had not appeared in his dreams for a long time finally appeared quietly in his dream this time.

In the dream, he found himself back in the cramped, suffocating room of his foster parents.

It was late at night, and the outside was pitch black.

But this time, he wasn’t afraid of the dark at all. Instead, he bravely opened the door.

When he opened the door, he found that his friend was waiting for him at the door.

The friend took his hand and led him up to the rooftop.

“There will be a meteor shower tonight~”

“I’m so sleepy…”

“It’s okay, you sleep. I’ll stay awake. When the meteors come, I’ll wake you up.”

In the dream, he rubbed his eyes, unable to fight the sleepiness, and quietly leaned on his friend’s tender shoulder and fell asleep.

Then, after an unknown amount of time, his friend gently patted his shoulder.

“Yue Shuang, the meteor is here.”

Yue Shuang.

The meteor is here.

When the first meteor streaked across the sky, Lu Jiuxu immediately patted Su Xingyao’s shoulder.

“Su Xingyao.”

“The meteor is here.”

In the dream, the voice of his friend suddenly changed to Lu Jiuxu’s tone.

The vague face of his friend also suddenly merged with Lu Jiuxu’s face.

Su Xingyao drowsily opened his eyes and stared blankly at Lu Jiuxu.

For a moment, he couldn’t tell if it was his friend from the dream speaking to him or if it was Lu Jiuxu.

Seeing that Su Xingyao hadn’t come to his senses, Lu Jiuxu softly reminded him, “If you don’t look up, the meteor shower will be over.”

At those words, Su Xingyao finally woke up and hurriedly looked up at the sky.

The moment he looked up, a streak of meteors passed by.

The dark night sky was illuminated by the shimmering light.

The meteors, racing across the sky, left behind magnificent trails, where they passed, glowing brilliantly like fireworks exploding in the vast Milky Way.

Su Xingyao gazed at the scene, immersed in the awe-inspiring beauty.

However, this meteor shower only lasted for a very short time.

After watching the last meteor fall, Su Xingyao suddenly thought of something.

“I forgot to make a wish…”

He didn’t know if everyone watching a meteor for the first time was like him, so focused on admiring the brief yet beautiful light that they forgot everything else.

Realizing that he had forgotten such an important thing, Su Xingyao felt a little disappointed.

He turned to ask Lu Jiuxu beside him, “Did you make a wish just now?”

Lu Jiuxu hesitated for a moment before replying.

“Probably not.”

Still immersed in the regret of not making a wish, Su Xingyao didn’t notice the uncertainty in Lu Jiuxu’s tone.

He thought that Lu Jiuxu was just like him, and sighed, “Ah, how did we both forget?”

Lu Jiuxu lowered his gaze and noticed the disappointment on Su Xingyao’s face.

After a moment, his deep voice sounded again.

“You can make a wish next time.”

As Lu Jiuxu spoke, Lu Zhiyun and the others, who had been making a racket, came over to join them.

Having stayed up playing cards until after 4 AM, even the young ones, full of energy, were now yawning non stop.

After quickly freshening up, the group scattered into their tents.

Su Xingyao stood hesitantly in front of his own tent, not intending to go inside.

He had never camped before, so he didn’t know it would be uncomfortable to sleep inside.

Thinking about the feeling of being alone in the tent earlier, he eventually decided that after everyone else fell asleep, he would use the excuse of having already woken up from a nap to stay outside and play on his phone until dawn.

Just as he made this decision, Su Xingyao looked up and saw Lu Jiuxu coming out of his tent with a sleeping bag.

Lu Jiuxu walked up to him and quietly asked.

“My tent has some issues, and I probably can’t sleep in it. Would it be alright if I squeezed in with you?”

Su Xingyao was a little surprised and looked at him.

Before he could speak, Lu Zhiyun, who was passing by and yawning, looked at his brother in confusion.

“Huh? Your tent has problems too, bro? Didn’t you check it before going out??”

After saying this in shock, Lu Zhiyun immediately showed his usual considerate side as a younger brother.

“Hehe, bro, why don’t you just squeeze in with me… I don’t mind.”

However, after saying what he thought was a thoughtful remark, Lu Zhiyun immediately saw his brother’s eyes darken with an uncertain expression.

He didn’t understand what was going on with Lu Jiuxu, but the sleepy feeling he had almost disappeared due to the unsettling look.

Realizing that he had said something foolish again, Lu Zhiyun quickly got the hint and ran into his own tent, zipping it up and leaving only his eyes visible.

“Ahhh… I snore, grind my teeth, and talk in my sleep. Bro, you should still squeeze in with Xingyao.”

Su Xingyao looked at Lu Zhiyun, who ran away faster than a rabbit, and then at Lu Jiuxu standing in front of him.

He misunderstood Lu Zhiyun’s meaning, thinking that everyone was afraid of Lu Jiuxu and didn’t dare to sleep in the same tent as him.

Seeing Lu Jiuxu alone and a little pitiful, Su Xingyao nodded at him.

He was afraid of the dark in enclosed spaces, but if there was someone else there, he could overcome it.

After everyone else had entered their tents to sleep, Su Xingyao and Lu Jiuxu walked towards the tent at the farthest corner.

Halfway there, however, Lu Jiuxu suddenly turned back.

Su Xingyao waited for him and noticed that Lu Jiuxu went under the sky canopy, took a small star-shaped night light from the side, and carried it with him.

He placed the little night light in a corner of the tent.

The night light shone like a star trying its best to glow in the sky.

Although the light was faint, it was enough to banish the darkness in the tent.

Su Xingyao looked at the warm light and felt that Lu Jiuxu had really thought of everything.

He hadn’t even considered bringing a light over himself.

After organizing his sleeping bag, Su Xingyao lay down.

He wasn’t a talkative person, and neither was Lu Jiuxu.

After they both settled in their respective spots, Su Xingyao closed his eyes.

This was the first time he had slept in the same tent with someone else.

At first, he felt a bit uncomfortable and even worried that he might not be able to sleep.

But in fact, he quickly fell asleep.

The warm light from the night light and the presence of the person beside him strangely made him feel at ease.

Even after falling asleep, the dark dreams were peaceful.

Hearing the even breathing of the person beside him, Lu Jiuxu, in the soft glow of the night light, directed his gaze towards Su Xingyao’s face.

He had once known a crying child.

That child, like Su Xingyao, was sensitive and afraid of the dark.

When alone, he too had been afraid to sleep in an enclosed, dark space.

—

The next morning, Su Xingyao finally woke up naturally after a full night of sleep.

When he woke up, Lu Jiuxu had already gotten up before him.

After successfully seeing the meteor shower the previous night, everyone was satisfied.

Once everyone had gradually woken up, they packed their things and went home.

Today, since Su Xingyao was there, Lu Zhiyun shamelessly followed him back to the villa and refused to leave.

As soon as Su Xingyao got out of the car, Sunset and Coral rushed over to him.

The usually proud Coral unexpectedly started acting cute, circling around Su Xingyao and rubbing against him in various ways while meowing.

Lu Zhiyun crouched down and pinched Coral’s ears with his fingers. “Why don’t you act cute with me, you little heartless thing?”

Coral squinted its eyes, shook its head, and immediately escaped from Lu Zhiyun’s grasp.

Before running off, it deliberately swished its tail and flicked his hand as a provocation.

Lu Zhiyun, not at all angry for being ignored by the cat, instead went after the cat and dog to coax them.

A few minutes later, after successfully soothing the little animals, he came back with Sunset in one arm and Coral in the other.

Seeing both of his hands occupied, Su Xingyao laughed at him. “Fortunately there’s only one cat and one dog at home.”

Lu Zhiyun’s round little deer eyes opened wide. “What do you mean?”

“Otherwise, you wouldn’t be able to carry them.”

Lu Zhiyun grinned, a little smug. “Actually, I also have a duck.”

He added, “The kind that’s like a ^[1]Psyduck is a Pokémon, a fictional creature from the Pokémon franchise created by Nintendo, Game Freak, and Creatures. Psyduck resembles a yellow, duck-like animal with a round body, large eyes, and … Continue readingPsyduck.”

He was about to show Su Xingyao a photo of the duck, but realizing his hands were occupied, he ultimately gave up.

Looking at the cat and dog in his arms, Lu Zhiyun suddenly sighed, “I really want to take them out for a walk~ It’s a shame I can’t carry all of them.”

After hearing Lu Zhiyun’s wish, Su Xingyao suddenly had a flash of inspiration.

He looked at the cat and dog in Lu Zhiyun’s arms. “Maybe… I can help you make an animal bus.”

“What??”

“What kind of bus is an animal bus??”

Lu Zhiyun looked at him with curiosity.

In order to help him understand, Su Xingyao quickly took out a piece of paper and drew a sketch for him.

The sketch showed a train-like animal carriage with several sections, with the three animals arranged in order.

After Lu Zhiyun understood, his face was full of anticipation.

“Can this really be made?”

Su Xingyao, while writing down the materials needed on the side, nodded confidently. “Yes, it can.”

With the affirmation, Lu Zhiyun’s eyes sparkled as he looked at Su Xingyao.

As soon as Su Xingyao told him what to prepare, he immediately scurried off to buy the materials.

The weather was very mild today, with the sun not too strong. The two of them moved the materials to the large lawn behind the villa to start building the animal bus.

Su Xingyao held a pencil and drew various lines on the wooden boards, then used different tools to cut the boards into various shapes.

Lu Zhiyun wanted to help him at first, but after failing several times to cut the boards himself, he realized he was completely useless.

Realizing he couldn’t be of any help, he decided to just sit on the grass with Coral and Sunset, acting as a spectator for Su Xingyao and cheering him on with his thoughts.

After working for a while, a thin layer of sweat appeared on Su Xingyao’s forehead.

He stood up and was about to use a tissue to wipe it off when he saw a bottle of ice-cold mineral water appear in front of him.

After handing the water to Su Xingyao, Lu Jiuxu took the hammer and nails that Su Xingyao had set down.

He glanced at Su Xingyao’s design plan next to him, then continued the unfinished task.

Seeing this, Lu Zhiyun immediately became anxious and tried to stop him.

“Bro, this looks simple, but it’s actually pretty hard. Don’t…”

Facing his most feared brother, his voice immediately dropped.

“Bro, please don’t make things worse…”

Without raising his head, Lu Jiuxu continued working steadily, securing the wooden board in place.

Only after a moment did he speak.

“You think everyone is as clumsy as you?”

Watching his brother’s flawless movements, Lu Zhiyun obediently closed his mouth.

His brother was so amazing.

It turned out he was the only one who was useless.

With Lu Jiuxu’s help, the progress of the animal bus picked up speed.

The two of them spent nearly four hours and finally completed the four carriages and installed the wheels.

In order to prevent Lu Zhiyun from adopting new pets in the future, Su Xingyao made an extra carriage for him.

As soon as the animal bus, resembling a small train, was finished, Lu Zhiyun couldn’t wait to put Sunset and Coral inside, running ahead, dragging the bus behind him.

Sunset and Coral lay on their respective buses, both poking their heads out and looking at Lu Zhiyun, who was at the front, grinning like a fool.

The animal bus was completed but still in its original color.

Not achieving the ideal result, Su Xingyao reminded Lu Zhiyun, “It’s not painted yet.”

Lu Zhiyun didn’t stop, instead jogging backward and waving at Su Xingyao. “I’ll take a lap first, wait a minute.”

Seeing that Lu Zhiyun was having fun, Su Xingyao decided to take out some paint, categorizing the colors and pouring them into the palette.

After quickly sketching an idea in his mind, he sat on the ground, ready to paint a train engine on the bus.

However, just as he was making a few strokes, Sunset jumped off the animal bus, unable to stop in time, and crashed into the palette, spilling it all over the ground.

Being closest to Su Xingyao, his white shirt and hands were instantly covered in various colors of paint.

Su Xingyao didn’t scold the dog. He stood up, intending to wash his hands.

At that moment, his phone, which had been set aside, rang.

With his hands covered in paint, Su Xingyao didn’t want to answer it at first.

But he remembered that Xiao Li had sent him a message earlier in the morning saying that the staff from the program team would contact him in the afternoon to discuss the contract.

Looking at the unknown number, he glanced up at Lu Jiuxu beside him.

“Mr. Lu, could you please answer the phone for me? Just put it on speakerphone,” Su Xingyao asked, his hands dirty with paint and no tissue in sight, about twenty meters from the nearest water source.

Lu Jiuxu, who had just reached for the tissue to help Su Xingyao, stopped. He immediately picked up the phone from the grass and pressed the answer button.

As soon as the speakerphone turned on, Su Xingyao softly said, “Hello.”

On the other end of the line, Qin Mingchuan paused for a moment upon hearing Su Xingyao’s voice, a wave of confusion washing over him.

He hadn’t slept all night, and he hadn’t even been able to focus on the meteor shower. All he could do was recall the small details of his time with Su Xingyao.

After an entire night of reflection, he realized that if he ignored Su Xingyao this time, as he had before, they might never reconnect again, forever strangers.

The thought of this outcome was unbearable.

Especially when he thought about the man who had repeatedly appeared beside Su Xingyao, his heart became more and more agitated.

Qin Mingchuan had no idea what their relationship was, but he was terrified of what might be developing between them.

He even thought that Su Xingyao’s sudden decisiveness to leave everyone might have something to do with that man.

Qin Mingchuan, in a hasty and brutal way, blamed everything on the man who had appeared suddenly, though he hadn’t yet clearly figured out why he was so desperate to find Su Xingyao.

It was simply that the thought of that man always being by Su Xingyao’s side made him unbearably uncomfortable.

He regretted leaving last night.

So this morning, he had gone back to try and find Su Xingyao, wanting to talk things through with him.

But he was too late, Su Xingyao and the others had already left.

After moping around all day, he finally couldn’t resist calling Su Xingyao.

It was better to clear things up.

If Su Xingyao was willing to come back, he could even overlook how Su Xingyao once used the engagement with him to suppress Shen Huaixi.

Having made up his mind, Qin Mingchuan immediately called Su Xingyao’s number from his assistant’s phone.

At first, he thought it would go unanswered like the previous times.

But to his surprise, he easily heard Su Xingyao’s voice.

Everything was happening too suddenly, and Qin Mingchuan hadn’t prepared what he wanted to say next.

Seeing that there was no response from the other side, Su Xingyao thought he had spoken too softly and that the other person hadn’t heard clearly. He politely asked again, “Hello, may I ask who this is?”

Seeing Su Xingyao tilt his head and focus seriously on the phone, Lu Jiuxu raised the phone a little higher and held it closer to Su Xingyao’s cheek to make it easier for him to hear.

Finally, Qin Mingchuan spoke.

“Xingyao, it’s me.”

The familiar voice from the receiver made Su Xingyao’s expression change immediately.

He glanced at the paint on his hands, regretting that he hadn’t washed them earlier.

Upon hearing this, Lu Jiuxu slightly lowered his gaze, glanced at the phone, and subtly moved it a little farther away.

Qin Mingchuan was surprised, but he quickly adjusted to the situation.

He knew very well that Su Xingyao would probably hang up as soon as he heard his voice, so he quickly stated his purpose.

“Xingyao, can we meet?”

“To talk about your contract.”

As Qin Mingchuan spoke his second sentence, Sunset also moved closer to Su Xingyao.

Curiously, it looked at the paint on the ground and stretched out its paw, trying to swipe at it.

Lu Jiuxu, quick on his feet, stopped it with his free hand.

“Sunset!”

When Lu Jiuxu called its name, Sunset immediately realized that the paint couldn’t be touched. It quickly turned around and went to find Coral.

But Su Xingyao’s phone was on speakerphone.

Not only did Sunset hear Lu Jiuxu’s voice, but Qin Mingchuan on the other end also heard it clearly.

Then there was dead silence.

He called his fiance, and yet that man was right there with him.

And the voice was so clear, which meant they were very close…

The thought of this scene made Qin Mingchuan want to throw his phone in frustration.

The conversation was interrupted by Sunset, and it suddenly came to a halt.

After a brief silence, Su Xingyao finally agreed.

“Okay.”

“Send me the time and address.”

His contract was still with Qin Mingchuan, and this matter needed to be dealt with eventually.

After saying these two sentences, Su Xingyao quickly winked at Lu Jiuxu, signaling him to hang up the phone.

Seeing that Su Xingyao didn’t want to hear another word from Qin Mingchuan, Lu Jiuxu couldn’t help but let a faint smile curve at the corner of his mouth.

After receiving Su Xingyao’s reply, Qin Mingchuan’s mood, which had been sour because of Lu Jiuxu, improved slightly.

He immediately took his assistant’s phone card and got busy reserving a restaurant.

He didn’t delegate these tasks to his assistant but took matters into his own hands.

He originally planned to book a restaurant at a place Su Xingyao liked.

But after thinking about it for a long time, he realized he could easily list the places Shen Huaixi liked, yet he had no idea where Su Xingyao liked to go.

He didn’t even have a clear impression of whether Su Xingyao preferred Japanese, Western, or Chinese food.

In his memory, it seemed like Su Xingyao was always casual about it, just eating whatever was ordered.

He had never paid attention to or considered Su Xingyao’s preferences.

As he thought about this, Qin Mingchuan felt increasingly guilty.

Because, without him ever explicitly asking, Su Xingyao knew each of his preferences very well.

Especially on his birthday every year, Su Xingyao would carefully gift him a set of mecha models.

Each model seemed tailor-made, perfectly matching his every aesthetic.

It was only when he thought of this that Qin Mingchuan suddenly realized how much he had neglected Su Xingyao over the years…

After spending an entire afternoon in his office, Qin Mingchuan finally recalled that Su Xingyao once mentioned that his childhood home was filled with peonies.

He had even told him the name of a specific variety of peony.

But at the time, he hadn’t paid much attention, and by now, he had completely forgotten.

Although Qin Mingchuan regretted his carelessness, he comforted himself in the end.

Remembering this detail was better than not remembering anything at all, so he quickly had someone look up places nearby where peonies could be found, and eventually chose a peony-themed restaurant.

He set the meeting time for noon two days later.

On the day of the meeting, Qin Mingchuan, who was usually the one waiting for others, deliberately arrived an hour early.

In order to avoid being disturbed, he even booked the entire restaurant.

After the driver parked the car, Qin Mingchuan, who was dressed very formally, followed the waiter to the reserved spot.

The private room was elegant, surrounded by flower walls made of roses and multi-headed roses.

On the right side, there was a semi-open balcony that was cleverly designed—if one looked toward it, they could see a field of blooming peonies outside.

It was currently the season for peonies to bloom, and even inside the private room, the sweet fragrance of the flowers drifted in.

The restaurant had perfected the atmosphere, making it a perfect spot for a romantic date.

After admiring the various peonies outside, Qin Mingchuan’s gaze shifted to a bouquet of peonies in the room.

He found the flowers familiar and asked the waiter.

“Do these flowers have a name?”

The waiter nodded and eagerly introduced them.

“These are Hawaiian Coral.”

Upon hearing the name, Qin Mingchuan took another look at the bouquet.

He suddenly remembered that this was the same one Su Xingyao had mentioned to him before…

Realizing that he had unintentionally recalled a forgotten detail, Qin Mingchuan felt a sense of relief about his choice of restaurant.

He was determined to ask Su Xingyao about his preferences later and remember them well.

As he was thinking this, he suddenly heard footsteps approaching.

Realizing that Su Xingyao had arrived, he quickly stood up to greet him.

“Xingyao…”

Qin Mingchuan’s tone was much warmer than usual as he spoke.

But when he looked up to see who had arrived, his smile immediately froze on his face.