Lumi was so busy being angry that she forgot about the flowers Lu Qing had given her. The next day, when she was driving, she remembered. She decided to bring the bouquet to the office and arrange it in a vase.

Lumi often received flowers, and people didn’t think much of it before. Daisy stood beside her and said, “Lumi, you have so many suitors, I’m so envious.”

“It’s alright. I haven’t been able to snag a spot at the train station, though.”

Lumi was just making things up. She looked up and saw Tu Ming walking into the work area, so she deliberately picked up her flowers and said, “What do you think? Aren’t they pretty?” She looked them over, showing off, like a child throwing a tantrum.

“This suitor seems to have better taste!” Daisy flattered her.

“He’s okay.”

Tu Ming walked into his office with a cold expression. Daisy finally saw him, and she pursed her lips and hurried back to her desk. Lumi wanted to see Tu Ming’s reaction, but he simply said, “Yao Luan told me that your cousin, Lu Qing, owns a flower shop.”

…

Lumi had forgotten that Yao Luan was Tu Ming’s good friend. She thought Tu Ming was so cunning, always seeing through her. She was deliberately trying to provoke him, but he wouldn’t take the bait. Not even a symbolic hint of jealousy!

“They were sent by my date yesterday.” Lumi refused to back down, starting to make up stories.

“Congratulations then, being pursued is a happy thing.”

“What’s wrong with you, brother? I’m your girlfriend!”

“I think a real girlfriend wouldn’t show off flowers sent by a man in front of her boyfriend.” Tu Ming got straight to the point.

“What should a real girlfriend do then? That’s how all my relationships have started, I don’t know any other way. Tell me.” Lumi’s temper reached its peak. She hated Tu Ming’s preachy way of dating, telling her what to say and what to do. Dating was like following a script, strict and rigid.

“How about talking about your hobbies?”

“No.”

“How about talking about your mood today?”

“I don’t feel like it.”

“How about we talk after work?”

“No.”

Lumi simply ignored him. This was the first time she had experienced such a frustrating relationship. She had been pampered and adored, and within two days of starting this relationship, she faced a challenge. Lumi wasn’t used to it. Since it was so frustrating, she wouldn’t talk about it anymore.

So, before leaving work, she sent a message to Tu Ming, “I’m unilaterally declaring that our relationship is over.”

She was waiting for Tu Ming to argue with her, but he replied, “Okay. If that’s what you’ve decided.”

“Congratulations, you’ve made it to the top of my Lifetime Shortest Boyfriend Ranking.”

“Life is long, there will be even shorter ones.”

Tu Ming, who seemed so gentle, was actually quite tough when provoked. He replied to that message and then put his phone aside, focusing on writing his last email of the year. He kept rewriting the wording, and by the end, it was a mess. He couldn’t write a concise and well-organized email. He felt like there was something stuck in his throat, he couldn’t explain it, he just felt like he had encountered someone he couldn’t fight and couldn’t escape. You want to slow down, but she keeps whipping you, refusing to reason with you, only caring about her own happiness.

Lumi, on the other hand, casually transferred 30,000 yuan to Yao Luan, “I surrender. I’m not playing anymore.”

Yao Luan casually clicked on the payment, “Thanks, I’ll buy some new equipment with this.” He didn’t understand why Lumi suddenly surrendered. What was there to understand, they were not on the same wavelength at all.

“You’re welcome. Consider it a donation.”

“Don’t call it a donation, you’re surrendering. Of course, I always thought I could win with this set of equipment, but you had this inexplicable confidence that you could handle him.” Yao Luan just wanted to provoke Lumi. He loved watching the drama unfold, he wanted to cause more trouble for Tu Ming.

“I was one step away from handling him, but I don’t want to play anymore.”

“A miss is as good as a mile. As long as there’s no established fact, it doesn’t count. No matter how close he gets to you, as long as you haven’t gotten together, it means he hasn’t truly accepted you. That’s just how it is, I hope you understand. Since you’ve already transferred the money, turn back while you still can. The world is full of fun things, why bother with a man who has no sense of romance?”

Yao Luan added, “There are many people chasing after him, you two are just not a good match.”

“There are so many relationships in the world, not all of them are meant to be. Even married couples can get divorced!”

Yao Luan felt that he had achieved his goal and stopped. He was being deliberate. This guy Tu Ming, if he doesn’t really like you, he won’t even hold your hand.  What a bunch of bull, edging behavior. The real man is the one who can hold back.

This was the day before the holiday, and there was basically nothing left to do at the company.

Tang Wuyi was on vacation, traveling with his family for the New Year. Shang Zhi Tao was on a layover on her way back to Harbin. Lumi felt bored.

She brewed a cup of herbal tea and sat at her desk, drinking it. Yao Luan’s messages were quite irritating, but Lumi decided not to get angry. If you can’t win, just withdraw. Would she really go and fight with Tu Ming again? How would she fight? Today, you wouldn’t let him take you on a motorcycle training session, tomorrow you’d dictate the content of your conversations, and the day after tomorrow you’d discipline his actions. Are you playing a game of chess?

“Clubbing? End-of-year finale.” Shang Zhi Tao sent a message.

“Let’s go, send the location.”

Shang Zhi Tao sent the location, “Old Fang, 9 pm.”

“Okay. I’ll go home and put on makeup and change clothes.”

“Ooh, going all out?”

Lumi didn’t reply. She left work with her backpack and happened to run into Tu Ming, who was sending an email and preparing to go to his parents’ place. They both got on the elevator, neither of them speaking, both with serious faces. Zhang Xiao called, and Lumi answered. Her voice was loud, she shouted into the phone, “I’ve invited a few handsome guys!”

“Take your pick! It’s almost the New Year, have fun!”

“Yeah, there’s one, he’s amazing! You’ll see when you get there! Get ready!”

“Dress up!”

Shang Zhi Tao finished speaking and hung up the phone. Lumi put her phone in her pocket and stepped out as the elevator door opened. Tu Ming followed her, and she said, “Going to a nightclub? If you’re trying to get back at me, don’t bother.”

Lumi stopped and looked at him seriously, “Do you know why Zhang Qing came to the company to find me? It’s because I never get entangled with ex-boyfriends, he kept looking for me, and I was too lazy to deal with him. I dated him for years, and after we broke up, I still beat him up. It’s only been a few days with you? You say you’re serious, you haven’t even gotten to the physical part yet! From now on, besides work, don’t talk to me. I have a bad temper, I’m not serious, I’m horny, I’m vulgar, I have no ambition, that’s just me.” Lumi spoke as if she were holding a machine gun, aiming directly at his heart, riddling it with holes.

She acted like she couldn’t see it. In fact, Lumi just wanted to figure out one thing. She had a primal urge towards him, was that something so unacceptable? Can’t I tell my boyfriend that I miss you, that I want to do something with you?

“Okay.” Tu Ming nodded and walked away.

Lumi got into her car too. They both drove out of the garage, blocking the passage. It was almost the New Year, and the garage was almost empty. They were both competing. Lumi stepped on the brakes and looked at him through the rearview mirror.  She felt like she hadn’t said enough. She had to say something harsher. She was about to open the car door when Tu Ming reversed and drove back into his parking space.

He saw Lumi slam the car door from the car. He felt a little uncomfortable. But he had to endure it, if they couldn’t get past this hurdle, there would be no future. Lumi was right, she had always been more physical than emotional with her ex-boyfriends, and she was following the same pattern with him. But none of them had lasted long.

Tu Ming had been divorced once. He knew what the most fatal part of a relationship was, and he couldn’t repeat the same mistake.

Lumi’s red car sped out of the garage, looking very ruthless.  Looking in the rearview mirror, Tu Ming’s car didn’t follow.

She casually turned on the music and drove home. She changed into a red sweater, jeans, and when she was looking for socks, she saw the ones Tu Ming bought for her. She picked out the pair with ginger yellow socks and a face on them and put them on. The socks were made of good quality cotton. She stepped on them, they were so comfortable.

She snorted again.

Lumi was just sitting at home, procrastinating. She made a cup of instant noodles and as she ate, she glanced down at the socks on her feet. They were really cute!

She then turned her head and looked at the other pairs on the sofa. They were all different colors, like socks for a girl of eighteen or nineteen, so festive.  Looking at Tu Ming, who seemed so rigid, but actually had great taste. Lumi thought these socks matched her a little.

She finished the noodles and sat there trying on the socks. She put on every pair, stretching out her toes and taking pictures. She took pictures of each pair and made a collage. She was so bored.  She procrastinated until 8:30 pm. Okay, forget makeup. She just put on some lipstick and went out.

When she arrived at the nightclub, Lumi heard the noisy music and, for the first time, felt her heart pounding uncomfortably. Shang Zhi Tao saw her coming and put her arm around her shoulder. Seeing Lumi frown, she asked, “What’s wrong?”

“Am I too old? Why does my heart feel like it’s about to jump out of my chest with all this banging? Oh my god, what’s wrong with me?”

“You just don’t come here enough! From now on, let’s make it a weekly Friday night thing! After two weeks, you’ll get used to it! It’s like lactose intolerance, you just have to drink more and you’ll get used to it!”

“You make a good point!”

Shang Zhi Tao glanced at Lumi, “Didn’t you say you were going to change clothes? Why are you wearing so much?”

“I’m cold! I’m old!”

“…”

They yelled at each other for a while. Shang Zhi Tao led Lumi to a booth. Lumi scanned the young men sitting in the booth and made a tsk tsk sound. Shang Zhi Tao had really put a lot of effort into dragging her to dance.

Lumi nodded to everyone in the booth to acknowledge them, then sat down and pulled out her thermos from her pocket. The one Tu Ming bought for her. Before she left, she had added some goji berries. She had already bought them, it would be a waste to not use them, so she just made do.

Shang Zhi Tao saw her pull out a thermos in the nightclub and finally couldn’t help herself, “Oh my god! Lumi! You’re drinking goji berries in a nightclub? You’re wearing a sweater, jeans, and floral socks, that’s one thing, but you’re drinking goji berries?”

Everyone else in the booth made noises of agreement. The guy sitting at the back also made a sound. He looked at Lumi through the flashing lights of the nightclub, his gaze was a bit aggressive. Lumi glanced back at him, her eyes said: What are you looking at? Keep looking, and I’ll gouge out your eyeballs!

She grabbed her thermos and went to dance. Someone came up to her, and she shook him off. He came up to her again, and she turned around and told him to get lost!

“You have such a bad temper?” Someone across from her, the guy from the booth, said, “Driving a grudge car?”

Lumi finally remembered, wasn’t this the jerk who tried to cut her off? What a jerk!  Look at you, all that money burning you up!  If you can’t drive, don’t drive!

She glared at him and turned away. The guy came up to her again, “Want to get to know each other?”

“Get lost!” Lumi was sick of this, she cursed at him again and went back to the booth, telling Shang Zhi Tao, “I’m leaving! This is boring!”

She turned and left the nightclub.

It was so annoying, you can’t even dance in peace, there are flies everywhere. It felt like a cat was scratching at her heart, so uncomfortable. She was walking down the street and she thought back to Tu Ming tricking her into hiking around the ring road. When she was being stubborn and refusing to walk, he would carry her for a while. He was such a big idiot. There was a clear straight path between them, but he had to drag her onto a goat path.

The street was getting quiet now, most people had gone home. Lumi walked a few steps and saw someone smoking at the entrance of another nightclub. He had shaved his dreadlocks and was wearing a leather jacket, looking like a tough guy. He had a cool way of smoking. Wasn’t that Zhang Qing?

Her eyes hadn’t had time to look away before Zhang Qing saw her and ran towards her, “Lumi!”

“Stay away from me!” Lumi told him, taking two steps back, “Why did you shave your head? Didn’t you like dreadlocks?”

Zhang Qing stopped in front of her, “Long time no see, how are you?”

“Fine.”

Zhang Qing ran his hand from his forehead to the back of his head, his brows furrowed, looking pretty tough, “How’s the haircut?”

“Fine.”

“My girlfriend likes it.”

“Tsk tsk tsk, congrats on having a girlfriend, see you later!” Lumi started to walk away. She didn’t want to talk today.

“Not that one!”

“Love is love, whatever it is, what do I care?”

Zhang Qing ran a few steps to catch up with Lumi, “Let me talk to you for a moment, Lumi.”

“Go ahead and talk.”

“You know, dating you is really insecure, right? We’ve been together for years, and every day I worry that you’ll fall for someone else, or that you’ll lose interest. Sometimes I wish you were like [his girlfriend’s name], so independent…”

“Cut it out! Whether or not you feel secure is your business, it’s not my fault if you get cheated on. You’re finding excuses for your cheating!”

“No, listen to me.”

“Don’t talk nonsense!”

“You always do this, you don’t give me a chance to speak.”

Lumi pointed to the entrance of the nightclub, “Is that your girlfriend?” Zhang Qing turned to look, and Lumi ran off.