“No, thank you.” Tu Ming declined her invitation, “Anything else besides the essential oil balls?”

“Why are you rejecting my suggestion?”

“Because I’m not interested.”

“…” For the first time, Lumi felt a little deflated.  Yesterday, she thought he was open-minded, but today he wasn’t interested in taking a bath together. Why was Tu Ming so hard to read? “There’s nothing else I need, see you later!”

Lumi hung up the phone, feeling a little annoyed. As she packed her bag, she saw that she had brought her work files back. She opened them and took a closer look. On the third page, under “Partners,” it was Wumeng’s company.

Luke, that little rascal, probably saw that she was familiar with Wumeng, so he conveniently pushed the case to her. Tu Ming, on the other hand, probably thought anyone could handle it, it didn’t matter. Lumi was confused again. Didn’t Tu Ming have any possessiveness?

She was pondering Tu Ming’s mindset when a message from him came through: “Buy it.”

“Also, I don’t like that our conversations only revolve around sex. It’s not very common. I understand that we’re dating, and dating, besides sex, should also include daily life, love, and experiences.”

…

“Do you have anything else to share with me?” Tu Ming asked her again.

Lumi didn’t like being lectured. Tu Ming’s words just now were quite irritating. She replied, “No.”

“Okay.”

Tu Ming didn’t send Lumi any more messages. He probably guessed what Lumi’s mindset was towards him. A boss who would fight for her, who always had a serious face, but what was he like in bed? She was probably curious, and it was just a passing fancy.

Lumi probably had a little bit of feelings for him, but those feelings weren’t enough for her to consider it love. She was so open about her daily life with others. Sometimes he would hear her talking to Wang Wu about where she was playing, where she was eating, what happened yesterday, she would tell him everything.  But with him, she was purposeful, only wanting to get into bed.

He put the essential oil balls and other things in the trunk before going upstairs. It was getting late, and he was very tired. He left quietly.  Downstairs, Tu Yanjing asked Tu Ming to leave, “Don’t go, it’s just five intersections, it’s not far. We’re too lazy to drive. You go back, you have to go to work tomorrow.”

“Okay.”

Yi Wanqiu helped Tu Yanjing walk towards the school. As they were leaving, she turned back and looked at Tu Ming, “He was quite happy when he went out, but he doesn’t seem very happy now. He’s been acting strange lately.”

“Don’t interfere with your child’s business, he has his own ideas. The more you ask, the more rebellious he’ll be.”

“That’s why I didn’t ask.”

Yi Wanqiu remembered Fang Di, and asked Tu Yanjing, “Is Fang Di single? I saw her the other day when we were walking, I think she’s a nice girl. She’s always so polite and respectful, she can really immerse herself in her research. And her personality is quite good. Most importantly, when she saw our son that day, she blushed.”

“Don’t go matchmaking.”

“Oh.”

For the last week before the New Year, Lumi was happily slacking off, while Tu Ming was working overtime, as if his clients didn’t want to celebrate the New Year and had to finish their work before the holiday.

After that day, he didn’t actively message Lumi. First, because he was truly busy, and second, because he guessed that no matter what he talked to her about, she would always end up thinking about sex. Tu Ming didn’t deny that mutual attraction could lead to physical attraction, but sex shouldn’t be the only thing. Unless one party wasn’t serious.

Lumi noticed that Tu Ming was giving her the cold shoulder. Well, so be it. She went downstairs to buy coffee with Tang Wuyi and ran into Tu Ming, who was coming back from a meeting. She greeted him and walked past. She was planning to go to the alleyway after work, then go and dye her hair.

That day, she heard that the family wouldn’t be going back to celebrate the New Year, saying that the roundtrip fare was too expensive and they were worried about affecting their treatment. Lumi decided to buy a lot of New Year’s goods on behalf of the Lu family and planned to deliver them with Lu Qing.

As she left the company, she saw Tu Ming still sitting in the conference room. She knocked on his door. Tu Ming said “come in”, and saw Lumi, dressed and ready to leave work.

She didn’t say anything, walked to his desk, took a bag of soda crackers, a can of hot milk, and a lollipop from her backpack.

“The secretary said you haven’t eaten all day, so eat something.” She turned and left.

Lumi thought Tu Ming was a little out of his mind sometimes. If you don’t have time to go downstairs for lunch, order something! What’s the deal with not eating all day? Are you made of iron?

When she got on the elevator, she saw Tu Ming say thank you to her. She replied with a humph.

That was it.

The meaning of that “humph” was probably understood by Tu Ming. It was dissatisfaction with his sudden coldness. Like a child.

“If I finish early today, let’s go out and grab something to eat.” Tu Ming said again.

“I have plans.”

Lumi intentionally didn’t explain what she was going to do. She excelled at this kind of competition, and she hadn’t met an opponent yet. You don’t want me to chat with you about anything else? Fine, I won’t.

She picked up Lu Qing from her flower shop. It was almost the New Year, and the flower shop was quiet. Lu Qing gave her some instructions and then left. She was in a great mood, smiling brightly. She casually placed the flowers for Lumi in the back seat of her car, then sat in the passenger seat and told her how to take care of them.

Lumi drove off with Lu Qing. A luxury car next to them tried to cut in illegally. Lumi cursed under her breath, stepped on the gas, and forced the luxury car to back off. She hated this kind of thing the most. People who relied on their cars to run rampant on the road, what a bunch of jerks!

The luxury car, however, wasn’t a pushover. It merged onto another lane and cut in front of Lumi again. Lumi stepped on the gas again. She had a good foot, and she stopped just ten centimeters away from the luxury car, honked the horn, and rolled down the window, shouting at it, “What the hell are you driving like! Get out of my way!” The other driver rolled down his window, a peach-blossom face, with a smirk that made him look like he was asking for a beating, “Beauty, don’t drive a grudge car, okay?” Then he gave Lumi her space.

Jerk. Lumi cursed him in her heart, flipped him off, and drove off.

While driving, she told Lu Qing, “I can’t stand those jerks, they’re always showing off with their cars. If they get out of line again, I’ll ram them.”

“You, you, I was about to call my dad just in case you got into a fight.”

“Don’t bother my uncle with this, I can handle it myself.”

“Alright, alright, you’re amazing.”

“How are you and Yao Luan doing?”

“I’m going to Turkey to find him on New Year’s Day.”

“I’ll give you a set of pajamas, bring them with you.”

“No, I’m not used to wearing your kind of pajamas.”

Lumi laughed at her, “Conservative!”

They arrived at the alleyway and unloaded things from the car. They had bought a lot of stuff, meat, vegetables, rice, noodles, oil, and even toys and clothes for the children. Just like last time, they left it at the entrance and left.

The hair salon was in the alleyway. Lumi had been getting her hair done here for years. There were big salons everywhere, costing tens of thousands, but she had never spent that kind of money. She was happy to pay three or five hundred for a haircut. She discussed hair colors with Lu Qing, and Lumi suggested they both dye their hair pink.  Seeing that Lu Qing was scared and shaking her head, Lumi finally compromised and dyed her hair chestnut brown with Lu Qing.

By the time they were done, it was past midnight. When they drove into the residential area, they saw a black car parked at the entrance. It couldn’t be anyone else but Tu Ming’s car.

She parked the car and walked towards her building. She saw Tu Ming standing at the entrance, with a pile of things at his feet.

“Why didn’t you say anything beforehand? How long have you been waiting?”

“Not long. Take these things upstairs, the essential oil balls.”

“Aren’t you coming up?”

“No.” Tu Ming took a step down the stairs, not intending to go up with her.

Lumi glanced at him. This man, who had such high standards for communication quality, was now full of bad vibes. But Lumi hadn’t yet lost her temper. She smiled at him, “Thanks, you came all this way just to deliver some things, that’s so hard. I’ll treat you to coffee sometime.” She opened the door and went home.  When she got home, she realized Tu Ming had called her twice, but she hadn’t heard. Now she finally understood why he was in a bad mood.

Lumi typed in the chat box: I was getting my hair done and didn’t hear, deleted.

I was with Lu Qing, deleted.

I was driving a grudge car today, deleted.

Finally, she threw her phone aside. Why do I have to explain to you why I didn’t answer the phone? Why do I have to tell you where I went? What are you to me? You’re so quick to get angry, I hope you die of anger!

They were both clearly competing. None of Lumi’s previous boyfriends had ever lectured her, they all went along with her. But Tu Ming said, “I don’t like the content of our conversations.” Those words themselves contained a question about Lumi’s preferences and actions. Go ahead and question me, I’m not missing any meat.

She opened the bags Tu Ming brought. He had bought a lot of things. The dozen essential oil balls Tu Ming bought were over fifty yuan each, the brand Lumi liked. Besides the oil balls, he also bought the brand’s essential oil diffuser and diffuser. Looking at the other bags, there were towels, bath towels, kitchen paper towels, and dishcloths. There was also a New Year limited-edition thermos and five pairs of socks.

Big men are very serious when they shop.

Lumi, who had been frowning, suddenly smiled.  This big idiot Tu Ming.

“Thanks, they’re all things I need.” Finally, she sent him a message.

“You’re welcome.” Tu Ming replied.

“Let me know when you get home.”

“Okay.”

Lumi tidied up and sat leaning against the headboard. The diffuser Tu Ming sent was put to use. He chose a light scent, not cloying, but very pleasant. Lumi sniffed, feeling like she was standing in a forest, with the scent of grass and a faint floral fragrance.

“He’s actually pretty good at buying things.” Lumi muttered to herself, smiling.

“I’m home. Get some sleep early.”

“Okay, good night.” Lumi thought for a moment, then took a picture of the diffuser and sent it to him, “Smell it, I want this one next time.”

It was a long time before Tu Ming replied, “There won’t be a next time.”

“?”

Tu Ming ignored the question mark and went to take a shower. When he came back, he saw that Lumi hadn’t replied. He knew she was being deliberate, not arguing with him, not bothering to respond. Her attitude was: I am what I am, I just want to sleep with you. I’m not going to bother with this anymore. You want me to connect with you emotionally? No way.

She seemed to be the one taking the initiative in this relationship, but her attitude was actually very arrogant. Tu Ming understood all this. He wasn’t arrogant, but he was proud. He had made his point clear, hoping they could take things slow.

Taking things slow meant getting to know each other’s likes, experiences, and personalities slowly, getting closer to each other. The premise of taking things slow was communication, high-quality communication. If Lumi wasn’t willing to engage in that kind of communication, then they couldn’t take things slow. Tu Ming had made this clear to Lumi, but she wasn’t taking the bait.

She demanded things on her own terms, wanting a fast-food love.

That was the crux of the issue.

Tu Ming saw the problem clearly, and he was very calm. He was very angry today, but after processing his emotions, he started to think about solutions.