{Guys, is this for your kids? 5}

“Where should we eat?”

“Don’t you plan to take it back and eat with your friends?”

Zhao Buhui immediately dismissed that idea. “I have a pretty big appetite; if I have to share this with them, there probably won’t be much left for the birthday person.”

Qian Xu was speechless. “Then where? Are we supposed to go to my place?”

Zhao Buhui seemed to be waiting for her to say that, as he, the birthday boy for the past few days, eagerly responded, “Great, let’s go to your place.”

“Get lost.”

Qian Xu thought she’d only use words like that when really annoyed, but ever since she had some casual interactions with the boss’s son, she found this phrase slipping out more and more naturally.

“Then should we go to my place?”

Qian Xu quickly dismissed that option, thinking he probably had quite a few friends around his home too. The rumors would be even worse…so maybe her place was actually better.

Adjusting quickly to the situation, she said, “Alright, come over to my place.”

Unlike his usual carefree demeanor, Zhao Buhui carefully cradled the two-hundred-something-yuan cake, picking up a bottle of red wine from a nearby store as naturally as if it belonged with him, and then slipped into her car’s passenger seat.

Yesterday, Zhao Buhui seemed reserved and spoke slowly in the car, but tonight, he could chat at length. He casually mentioned a lecture he attended at Penn.

Jonathan Klick.
A well-known professor with expertise in law and economics.

Qian Xu felt a bit regretful—she’d originally planned to attend that lecture, too. Pennsylvania and Ohio aren’t that far apart, both in the Midwest. She could’ve just driven there.

“Did that interest you as well?”

Qian Xu wasn’t embarrassed to admit it and looked at the crowded traffic. “Yeah, but unfortunately, I missed it.”

Though he said nothing in response, Zhao Buhui silently decided to bombard that old professor’s inbox tonight, asking if he would consider coming to China to give a lecture and emphasizing he had a very special friend.

Qian Xu had no idea what he was so busy with in the passenger seat, holding onto the cake and takeout. She’d told him he could just put it in the back or on his lap.

But Zhao Buhui kept holding it, treating it like a precious treasure.

When they arrived, Qian Xu realized that since returning to the country, she hadn’t really hosted anyone, let alone her boss’s son. She used a few plain white plates for the takeout, but to her surprise, Zhao Buhui looked genuinely pleased. Once again, she noticed a rare trait in him: he was easily satisfied.

“Do you have a lighter?” Qian Xu asked, as she placed a childish heart-shaped metal candle on the cake. “Light it yourself.”

“No way I’d have one. Good men don’t smoke,” he said, realizing he might have overdone it.

Because, in the end, Qian Xu had to borrow a lighter from her neighbor.

“Oh,” he said, noticing her putting on her coat to go outside. He suddenly produced a lighter, which he held tightly in his hand. “I have no idea which friend stuck this in my pocket today. Don’t worry; they’re all good guys who don’t smoke much, probably just prepared it for my birthday—”

“Fine.”

Qian Xu was relieved not to have to go out, but she realized he seemed eager to impress her somehow.

“It’s not necessary; I don’t care what you do,” she said bluntly.

Zhao Buhui wasn’t bothered; he knew it was one thing for her to not care, but another for him to present himself well. He thought he’d made a good impression and, before saying goodbye, took the initiative to clean up, even taking out the trash for her.

On his way down, he felt the eyes of someone watching them from fifty meters away.

He didn’t avoid the gaze but looked directly at the car hiding in the dark. In the shifting lights, he recognized the license plate. It wasn’t registered under Shen Qi’s name, but he felt certain that Shen Qi was somehow involved.