As usual, Chu Lai didn’t attend any meetings or do any work this week. It was the last week before everyone would take their annual leave, and everyone was counting down the days, eager to start their vacation.

The online posts about him were getting worse, with the topic of “How to get over a breakup” turning into a breeding ground for rumors about Chu Lai. On the day of Chu Lai’s wedding, an anonymous user posted a long article pretending to be an insider, passionately defending him when a short video from the event spread online.

[Liu Yuan]: “That jerk updated the post again. I can’t believe it. I’m seriously suspecting this was posted by a friend of Shn Quanzhang.”

[Liu Yuan]: “Is this considered a seamless transition? And who cheated on who exactly?!”

[Liu Yuan]: “I’m so pissed off, so pissed off!”

After resigning, Liu Yuan hadn’t figured out what to do next, so he stayed home and cooked. His family’s restaurant stayed open until the early morning hours, and their crawfish dishes were incredibly popular. At this time, Liu Yuan had just woken up, while Chu Lai was eating lunch at his desk, messaging back: “I saw it.”

[Liu Yuan]: “Didn’t you say you were going to take legal action?”

[Liu Yuan]: “What did Cen Wei say?”

Chu Lai and Cen Wei never acted rashly during workdays, but their intimate activities over the weekends were enough to leave Chu Lai with a sore back for the rest of the week.

That morning, Xuān Róngqīng, who had dropped him off at work, had even subtly asked Chu Lai if he wanted to go for a massage with her, promising that it was from a blind masseur who couldn’t see.

Chu Lai politely declined. After chatting with Liu Yuan for a bit, he remembered what Cen Wei had told him: “Don’t worry about it.” He passed that reassurance on to Liu Yuan.

During lunch break, there weren’t many people around his desk area, and Chu Lai couldn’t be bothered to go downstairs. So, he laid down at his desk and called Liu Yuan. On the other end, his friend was more worried than he was: “I really want to compliment how great your relationship is, but you don’t seem worried at all! I’m freaking out here! Even my parents asked me what’s going on with you.”

“Of course, they don’t think you’re the type to do this. Oh, you have no idea what my mom said.”

Liu Yuan’s words naturally carried humor, with a crisp sound like an abacus clicking, “She said that feelings changing before marriage is normal. She even told me she didn’t like Shn Quanzhang either.”

Chu Lai asked, “Auntie met him?”

Liu Yuan: “You forgot? Before graduation, you brought him to the restaurant. After watching your wedding video, my mom said that Cen Wei is a much better match for you and even asked when you’ll bring him by. She’s already planning to cook a feast for you two.”

Chu Lai had always been on his own. Back in college, when Liu Yuan had nothing to do, he would often bring food to Chu Lai, and occasionally take him to eat at his family’s restaurant.

Liu Yuan’s parents doted on Chu Lai even more than on Liu Yuan. They had originally planned to attend Chu Lai’s wedding, but due to a prior booking from an old customer, they couldn’t leave the restaurant. So only Liu Yuan attended.

Chu Lai gave a small “Oh”: “I’ll mention it to Cen Wei.”

Liu Yuan: “Take down Shn Quanzhang hard! I’m so mad! But this kind of thing is easier said than done.”

He paused for a moment and then asked, “Are you quitting your job?”

You could hear the concern in his voice, even over the phone: “Are people talking a lot about you?”

Even though Chu Lai himself denied the online rumors, his coworkers on the same floor still sympathized with him. There were still some strange looks and a few people who specifically came up to see the subject of the gossip.

[Liu Yuan]: “Where do you plan to go after you quit?”

He didn’t ask much more, as if not surprised by Chu Lai’s decision. Chu Lai asked, “Aren’t you going to try to talk me out of it?”

[Liu Yuan]: “Isn’t this a good thing? Who likes working overtime just to make money? Now, you don’t have to worry about it anymore, right?”

He sounded almost envious: “But once you think it through, you realize that the most important thing is just living comfortably. As long as you’re happy, that’s all that matters.”

Chu Lai: “I…”

Before he could say anything sentimental, Liu Yuan interrupted with a loud “Wow, don’t fall in love with me, hahaha!”

Chu Lai: …

He recalled the camping photos in Liu Yuan’s social feed and casually asked, “What’s going on with you and Dr. Jiāng?”

Immediately, Liu Yuan clammed up like a gourd, unable to come up with a word for half a day before hurriedly hanging up. Just then, Cen Wei’s call came in.

Cen Wei asked, “Who were you talking to?”

Chu Lai opened a bag of chips and started munching, “Who else? Liu Yuan.”

Cen Wei: “Why were you talking so long? You never talk this much with me.”

At first, it didn’t sound like much, but in reality, there was a hint of complaint in his voice. Chu Lai chuckled, “Not as much talking, but we do a lot more.”

He lowered his voice, not realizing how intimate his words sounded. The warmth in his tone trickled into Cen Wei’s ear, distracting him from preparing for his next meeting. As his chair turned slightly, the man in the top-floor office looked out the floor-to-ceiling windows, wondering why it wasn’t time to clock out yet.

Chu Lai chatted a bit more with Cen Wei, who wasn’t as busy today, and said he’d come to pick Chu Lai up.

Ever since they moved into Cen Wei’s family home, they hadn’t returned to the apartment. Even when Cen Wei was too busy to pick him up, the family’s driver would come for Chu Lai.

When it was time to clock out, Chu Lai waited a bit until the crowd thinned out before heading to the elevator. Unexpectedly, he ran into Dīng Xiūlín inside, making the atmosphere a little awkward. Some of the people around them who saw Chu Lai enter couldn’t help but think about the gossip post circulating online.

Dīng Xiūlín greeted him, but neither said much until they exited the elevator.

At the entrance, Dīng Xiūlín called out to him. The man walked over and asked, “How have you been lately?”

His expression carried a bit of hesitation, and since this wasn’t a place to talk, they decided to chat while walking.

Almost a month had passed since Chu Lai’s wedding, and normally, this kind of rumor would die down after a few days. After all, no one pays attention to this stuff forever.

But the online posts kept updating regularly, feeding people’s curiosity about private matters. Some who didn’t know better even thought the posts were detailing scandalous content. Others in the comments accused the anonymous user of defaming the story’s main character.

Chu Lai: “I’m fine.”

Dīng Xiūlín had been completely shut down in the past and hadn’t seen Chu Lai in the apartment complex since then. The apartment downstairs seemed to be unoccupied, which made sense—Cen Wei’s family had many properties and plenty of places to live.

Since returning from abroad, Dīng Xiūlín had found the world to be quite small. Running into Chu Lai again had felt inevitable, even though he had specifically chosen this company with an ulterior motive. Yet, bumping into him in the same building had been unexpected.

Chu Lai liked going to the B District cafeteria, and his favorite dish was beef with green peppers over rice. He would also buy the company’s newest drinks, always getting them extra cold, no matter how cold the weather was.

But the world could also be large. After a few too many coincidental encounters, Chu Lai switched to another cafeteria and began ordering delivery for his drinks.

Because of the nature of his work, his tasks didn’t require much inter-floor movement, making it even harder for Dīng Xiūlín to run into him.

Unable to hold back, Dīng Xiūlín asked, “How do you plan to deal with this?”

Of course, he didn’t think Chu Lai was the kind of person to heartlessly jump from one relationship to another. Standing next to him now, the sight of Chu Lai’s profile in the sunset reminded him of afternoons from years ago.

Chu Lai, as always, hadn’t changed much. Even after marriage, his style and preferences remained the same—he carried nothing but his phone for convenience.

Now, he seemed completely at ease, his face radiating calm and contentment. “It’ll be handled, thanks for your concern, class monitor.”

He smiled at Dīng Xiūlín just as a car pulled up. The window rolled down to reveal the person Chu Lai had been waiting for.

It was rush hour, and the fiery sunset filled the sky as Chu Lai walked toward the car, where Cen Wei stepped out to open the door for him.

Some things never change. Chu Lai still loved hugging. As soon as he reached Cen Wei, the first thing he did was wrap him in a tight embrace.

The car eventually merged into the flow of traffic, disappearing from Dīng Xiūlín’s view.

Dīng Xiūlín pulled out his phone and opened the bookmarked post. The anonymous user hadn’t posted an update today. Like many others, he suspected the user was Chu Lai’s ex-boyfriend.

Wasn’t that man working at Cen Wei’s company?

How could he not handle this?

Cen Wei: “Why were you with him?”

Having seen Dīng Xiūlín earlier, Cen Wei had obviously noticed him. He still remembered what Dīng had said to Chu Lai when he barged into their wedding dressing room.

Chu Lai: “We just ran into each other in the elevator and walked out together.”

Cen Wei looked like he wanted to know more but didn’t ask. Chu Lai studied him for a long time before saying, “We didn’t talk about much, just the anonymous post.”

In public, Cen Wei was a polished elite, but in private, he was nothing like that.

He couldn’t handle alcohol, needing several secretaries to accompany him to social events. When playing games, he would stubbornly stay up late if he couldn’t clear a level, his competitive nature pushing him to beat Chu Lai by at least one point, as if that single point proved he was the dominant one.

Perhaps sensing Chu Lai’s teasing, Cen Wei apologized with a bit of frustration: “Sorry, it’s taken longer than expected, but I’ve already gathered the evidence.”

He hesitated, unsure of how to continue. The evidence collection process had been grueling, especially since Shn Quanzhang still worked at his company. Cen Wei used to pride himself on keeping personal matters out of business, but now it was hard to maintain that boundary.

Moreover, he already had the evidence that Shn Quanzhang was the one behind the posts. Firing him would be a natural step.

Chu Lai: “So it was Shn Quanzhang, huh?”

He said it casually, his attention focused on reading comments on his new game footage. Many people were still eagerly awaiting updates on Paper Umbrella Town, with some even asking in his Weibo comments whether there would be a collaboration with Cen Wei’s umbrella company.

Before Cen Wei could respond, Chu Lai added, “I really hate him.”

His phone case was new again, while Cen Wei’s remained eternally black. They both had the same phone model, and sometimes when Chu Lai switched to a black case, Cen Wei would mistakenly grab the wrong phone.

Chu Lai: “I really regret knowing him.”

He muttered softly, “I wish I had met you earlier.”

A tremor ran through Cen Wei’s heart. He wanted to kiss Chu Lai right then, and at the same time, he wished he could kick Shn Quanzhang out of the company.

For some reason, Chu Lai shook his head, “Never mind. If I had met you earlier, I wouldn’t have liked you.”

Cen Wei: …

That emotional moment lasted only for a second.

Chu Lai: “We probably wouldn’t have crossed paths anyway. If you, a rich third-generation heir, came to my high school, I’d have been in my first year and you’d be graduating. We both had the 12th release edition of ‘Lop.ut,’ which could only be purchased in-store at that time.”

“Our codes were one number apart, and we still didn’t meet.”

He rambled on about how “we had no fate” as they drove through the sunset traffic. When the light turned red, Cen Wei cut him off mid-analysis.

Chu Lai: “And besides, you looked like this…”

His words were swallowed up as Cen Wei bit his lower lip lightly, forcing him to fall silent. The man at the wheel, eyes on the countdown timer of the red light, said, “But you’re still sitting next to me. Even without fate, we’ll make it happen.”

“Even if it wasn’t Shn Quanzhang, it would have been someone else. But you would only ever marry me.”

Cen Wei clasped Chu Lai’s hand. The young and successful umbrella company CEO never took off his wedding ring during business meetings. When asked about his spouse at the dinner table, Cen Wei always said it was love at first sight.

Some connections were destined, as if written in the stars, and love never cared about who arrived first or last.

Cen Wei said, “Arriving early doesn’t guarantee a lifetime together. And arriving late doesn’t mean you’re too late.”

Chu Lai opened the manga he was following and disagreed with the sentiment. He didn’t believe in those sudden love-at-first-sight situations, saying, “You’re the type who believes that hard work can change everything.”

Cen Wei mulled over those words and asked, “How exactly does hard work change things?”

A few seconds later, Chu Lai got the hint. His screen showed a pure romance manga where even a kiss made the characters blush. Though he was no longer a teenager, certain adult innuendos still made his face heat up.

Chu Lai: “No way, I’m afraid of working myself to death.”