February 14th, Valentine’s Day.

She quickly raised her head, meeting Xie Rongzhuo’s gaze, then nervously looked away.

It was obvious that Zhang Zhiqing was trying to match her with Xie Rongzhuo, deliberately setting up this situation.

“Shen Mi.” Xie Rongzhuo looked up, his glasses reflecting a bit of the light: “Are you going to just stand there?”

Shen Mi put away her phone and slowly sat down opposite him.

Holding the lemonade in front of her, she glanced at him unnaturally and made small talk: “You, you were also tricked into coming, right?”

Without the “official business” pretense, Shen Mi unknowingly revealed her true self in everyday life.

Xie Rongzhuo leaned back against the sofa, watching her with calm eyes. He didn’t speak.

It seemed so.

Shen Mi felt like a pincushion: “Should we, get takeout?”

“Is it so unbearable to have dinner with me?” Xie Rongzhuo’s expression slowly calmed down, his voice cold: “Do you want me to pay you overtime?”

His expression had said it all.

Shen Mi wouldn’t dare to work overtime. A small curve formed on her lips: “I was afraid of wasting your time.”

Xie Rongzhuo’s gaze rested on her face. When he focused his attention on someone, it created a suffocating sense of being under scrutiny. Shen Mi looked away, lowering her head to avoid his gaze.

Let the awkward silence reign!

After all, it wasn’t work time. She didn’t need to maintain her professional demeanor.

“Are you afraid of wasting my time, or do you have a date?” Xie Rongzhuo’s tone was casual, as if he were just asking a random question.

Shen Mi felt a hidden meaning in his words. She raised her head and stared at him blankly: “No, I only made plans with Qingqing.”

“Then why are you avoiding me?” Xie Rongzhuo calmly picked up the empty cup on the table. “Shen Mi, do you have something against me?”

“I’m not, I’m not avoiding you. I’m like this after work, uh… social anxiety.” Shen Mi nodded, feigning seriousness. “Especially when I’m alone with someone of the opposite sex. I get really shy.”

Xie Rongzhuo reached out, refilling her water glass, and said nonchalantly, “You’re very enthusiastic when you’re flirting with your online friends?”

Shen Mi: “Pfft—”

She quickly pulled out a napkin to wipe the table.

It was as if he wasn’t the one talking about “online friends”!

Shen Mi felt her face heat up, and she didn’t dare to look up at Xie Rongzhuo.

As long as she didn’t look at him, he wouldn’t see how flustered she was!

Xie Rongzhuo looked at the top of the girl’s head in front of him.

In the game, she could spout sweet nothings with ease.

She would say anything to him on voice calls, clinging to him all night and refusing to hang up.

So she could be shy too.

She put on a brave face at work, but off duty, she was too embarrassed to even look at him.

Shen Mi lowered her head, but she could feel the gaze on top of her head. Xie Rongzhuo had been watching her, and he didn’t seem to be planning on letting her off the hook easily.

“What should I do, what should I do!”

She and Xie Rongzhuo see each other all the time at work, even if I avoid him today, I’ll still bump into him tomorrow.

Today.

I have to.

Resolve this conflict!

The waiter came over to serve the food, easing the tense atmosphere.

The appetizers were served, followed by the pan-fried steak that Shen Mi liked.

Shen Mi picked up her knife and fork, cut the steak, and diligently pushed it towards Xie Rongzhuo.

She smiled with her eyes narrowed: “Let me help you.”

Xie Rongzhuo lifted his eyelids, his gaze still indifferent: “I can cut it myself.”

Good, I was rejected.

Shen Mi brought the plate back, a slight curve in her lips, she nodded: “Then I won’t be polite.”

She put a piece of beef in her mouth, stealing a glance at Xie Rongzhuo.

He was cutting the steak slowly and deliberately, looking as if he had no appetite. After cutting it, he put down his knife and fork and started peeling shrimp.

Shen Mi withdrew her gaze and buried herself in her own food.

She loved eating Western food.

When she was a child, she once went to the county town and passed by a Western restaurant next to her grandfather’s workplace. Shen Mi looked through the glass, longing to watch others eat steak with knives and forks. She thought it was very strange and wanted to try it too, but her grandmother said it was too expensive and told her to ask her parents if she wanted to eat. She said she was too old to afford it and impatiently pushed her away.

From then on, Shen Mi seemed to have an obsession with that restaurant. She thought to herself that she would definitely go to college in the future, earn money herself, and go eat there once.

When she actually went to college, Shen Mi got a part-time job at a Western restaurant. She learned that it wasn’t that expensive. It was just that her grandmother favored boys over girls and only liked her younger cousin, she didn’t like her, so she thought it was expensive.

“Do you want some more?” Xie Rongzhuo offered her his steak.

One piece wasn’t enough for Shen Mi, she looked at the cut steak in Xie Rongzhuo’s plate, “Don’t you want to eat?”

Before Xie Rongzhuo could say anything, his hand felt lighter, and the plate was taken away.

“…”

After Shen Mi finished eating, Xie Rongzhuo asked, “Do you want more?”

Shen Mi put down her knife and fork and shook her head: “Two pieces are enough.”

Xie Rongzhuo pushed the peeled shrimp meat towards her.

“Don’t waste it.”

Shen Mi didn’t refuse: “Thank you.”

Xie Rongzhuo liked peeling shrimp, the plate was filled with delicate shrimp, all peeled by him. He peeled shrimp with skilled and elegant movements, unlike her.

Shen Mi was born in a place without the sea. She couldn’t eat seafood when she was a child and she didn’t know how to peel shrimp. Once, she went to a relative’s wedding with her uncle. She clumsily twisted the shrimp head and splashed the person next to her. She still remembers the disgusted expression on the other person’s face. Later, when eating out, Shen Mi never touched seafood, afraid of making a fool of herself.

Watching the shrimp shed their shells one by one under Xie Rongzhuo’s fingers, Shen Mi picked up one and secretly followed his movements.

Xie Rongzhuo twisted it, she twisted it too. He squeezed the shrimp tail, Shen Mi squeezed it too.

Xie Rongzhuo held the crystal clear shrimp meat in his hand, Shen Mi broke the shrimp into two pieces.

“…”

Xie Rongzhuo lifted his eyelids and slowed his movements, “You don’t need to learn with me.”

Shen Mi was stunned and looked at him: “What?”

Xie Rongzhuo finished peeling the last shrimp, asked the waiter for a hot towel, and lowered his head, slowly and deliberately wiping his hands.

He said: “Peeling shrimp is stress-relieving, I can do it.”

Shen Mi breathed a sigh of relief.

She thought he meant something else, it scared her.

After wiping his hands clean, Xie Rongzhuo lowered his head to send a message. After a few minutes, the restaurant manager walked over with a large bouquet of roses.

Almost subconsciously, Shen Mi stood up to block Xie Rongzhuo: “Sorry, he’s allergic to flowers, would you mind taking a detour?”

The restaurant manager was stunned and looked at Xie Rongzhuo.

Xie Rongzhuo grabbed Shen Mi’s wrist, pulled her back to her seat, and said to her with his head turned, “It’s not flowers.”

When the other person walked closer, Shen Mi could see that it was a bouquet of roses made of money.

The bills were brand new, without any creases, and quite beautiful.

“…”

A false alarm.

Shen Mi was about to sit back in her seat opposite him.

Just as she was about to get up, the man next to her called out to her: “For you.”

The “flowers” were in Xie Rongzhuo’s hands.

Shen Mi turned her head, her expression unbelievable: “For me?”

Xie Rongzhuo: “Yeah.”

Today is Valentine’s Day, Xie Rongzhuo is having dinner with her, peeling shrimp for her, and even giving her flowers?

An inexplicable sense of dread surged within Shen Mi, and panic started creeping in.

“Why are you so nervous?” Xie Rongzhuo raised an eyebrow slightly, his usually indifferent gaze softened just a bit by the bouquet in his hands. “I’m here today on behalf of my father to thank you.”

“Mr. Xie?” Shen Mi relaxed a little, glancing at the bouquet stuffed full of cash between them. “Why is he thanking me?”

Xie Rongzhuo studied her expression for a few seconds before handing the bouquet to her. “You saved his granddaughter.”

Shen Mi immediately understood. “Qingqing and I are friends. There’s no need to be so formal.”

Xie Rongzhuo’s tone was casual. “The old man doesn’t like to owe people favors. If you don’t accept it, he won’t be able to eat or sleep in peace.”

Shen Mi nodded in understanding. “Alright, I’ll accept it for now and give it to Qingqing later.”

Xie Rongzhuo shook his head. “She doesn’t need the money. You keep it — it’s not that much.”

He reached out, took a shopping bag from beside him, and placed it on the table.

“See if you like it.”

Another gift?

Inside the shopping bag was a handbag.

Recently, Shen Mi had been helping Xie Rongzhuo organize his wardrobe. She’d looked up care tips for haute couture and jewelry, so she now had some knowledge of luxury goods.

This white gradient platinum bag? It was worth seven figures.

Shen Mi was so startled she didn’t dare touch it.

Xie Rongzhuo lifted his wine glass. “Take it with you when we have a meeting.”

Shen Mi blinked in surprise. “Meeting an important client?”

Xie Rongzhuo nodded. “Yes.”

Shen Mi stared nervously at the rare leather. “How am I supposed to carry this? If it cracks… how much would I have to pay?”

“……”

“Boss?” she asked cautiously. This was a serious concern for her.

“You can carry it however you want, just buy a new one if it breaks,” Xie Rongzhuo said. “I’ll pay for it.”

“Okay,” Shen Mi felt relieved.

Xie Rongzhuo asked her, “Are you full?”

Shen Mi nodded.

But he didn’t seem to have eaten much.

Xie Rongzhuo looked down at his watch, picked up the shopping bag on the table, and casually grabbed Shen Mi’s bag, nodding towards the large bouquet of flowers.

“Take the money, let’s go.”

“Where are we going?” Shen Mi hugged the bouquet and ran after him.

“To watch a movie.”

Xie Rongzhuo walked into the elevator.

Shen Mi was afraid that a bill from the money she was holding would fall out of the elevator and be picked up by someone. She carefully held it, awkwardly stepping into the elevator, and looked up to ask, “Just us?”

Xie Rongzhuo looked down at her, “Who else would you want to be with?”

Author’s Note:

Well, Uncle Xie, you’re fine, you’re just here to offer yourself!