In an instant, everything around became silent, and the atmosphere grew a bit awkward. Meng Suihuan didn’t expect him to suddenly say something like that—he would never lie to her for the rest of his life.

She doubted if she had heard him correctly. Lifting her eyes to look at him, his eyes were shining, full of passion. Actually, Meng Suihuan wasn’t very perceptive when it came to emotions, but Lu Linshen was really bad at hiding his feelings—everything was written on his face, full of youthful intensity and deep affection. Lu Linshen liked her? When did this happen?

At that moment, Meng Suihuan felt as if her head was about to explode, buzzing in her ears. She suddenly pushed him away with all her strength and slammed the door shut with a bang. Lu Linshen, caught off guard, almost fell to the ground. Fortunately, he reacted quickly, supporting himself with one hand to stabilize his body. By the time he stood up, the door was already firmly closed.

He quickly stood up and knocked on the door. There was no response from inside. He called out her name. “Suihuan, are you alright?”

How could she be alright? She felt like her brain cells were about to run out of energy. She thought carefully about the time she had spent with Lu Linshen. Her attitude towards him had been pretty harsh. She treated him like a tool for making money, forcing him to work tirelessly on the website and chip development. Under such a relationship dynamic, it was impossible for them to develop into lovers, and even less likely for them to become enemies. So, what step had gone wrong that caused him to transfer his feelings for the heroine to her?

She heard his knocking on the door, but deliberately didn’t respond. Outside the door, Lu Linshen was patient and knocked again, but when he didn’t get a response, he cautiously spoke up, “Is it because you’re not satisfied with the way the shares are divided, or is there some other issue? We can discuss it further.”

Meng Suihuan knew that her reaction had been too intense. After all, just a moment ago, they had been talking peacefully, and the next second, she had pushed him away and ran off. No one could figure out what had happened between those moments. So now, Lu Linshen could only think back to their discussion about the shares and wondered if something about it bothered her.

“…It’s not that,” Meng Suihuan didn’t want him to keep guessing, so she casually made up an excuse. “My stomach’s feeling a bit uncomfortable. I want to rest.”

She didn’t know if Lu Linshen believed her, but he didn’t continue knocking on the door.

Wrapped in her blanket, with the hot water bottle he had just given her pressed against her stomach, the warmth seeped through, and she thought again about Lu Linshen liking her. She carefully replayed everything in her mind, speculating that it must have been because she interfered with his choices and future direction, causing him not to enter Feiyun Group as described in the book, missing the opportunity to develop feelings for the heroine, Song Mian.

Yes, that had to be it. Now that she knew the root cause of the problem, what she needed to do was to draw a clear line with Lu Linshen and then find a way to correct the situation. With this thought in mind, she drifted off to sleep.

When she woke up again, the sky outside was bright. She got up and dressed. Lu Linshen had already been up, busy in the kitchen. When he heard her movement, he looked over and asked with concern, “You’re awake? Does your stomach still hurt? I’ve made some porridge for you. Go wash your face, and it’ll be ready when you come out.”

“I’m fine,” Meng Suihuan deliberately kept her distance, remaining indifferent. From the meal to the meeting at Feiyun Group to discuss cooperation, she kept her responses lukewarm. She only answered his questions briefly if she felt like it, or just muttered “Mm” if she wasn’t in the mood. The whole atmosphere was tense.

Lu Linshen hesitated several times, wanting to speak but holding back. She pretended not to notice.

This continued until their meeting with Feiyun Group. The meeting content was simple, a supplement to the previous chip data. Everything was progressing according to their original plan, but during one segment, Meng Suihuan suddenly spoke up.

“President Chen, I have no objections to the other contents, but I’d like to add one more person to your team.”

“Oh?” President Chen raised an eyebrow in surprise. “Who would you like to add, Miss Meng?”

Meng Suihuan casually mentioned a name.

“Song Mian.”

“Miss Meng, do you know Miss Song Mian?”

“I’ve met her once.”

“I’ve heard that Miss Song Mian has a great talent for product design. Since we’re creating a new smartphone, we can’t just focus on the chip; the appearance and user experience of the product should also be given importance. President Chen, don’t you agree?”

Naturally, President Chen had no objections. As long as it didn’t affect the cooperation, it didn’t matter whether or not they added someone. Meng Suihuan smiled with satisfaction, her plan, which she had thought about all night, had finally taken its first successful step. Because of this, her mood improved significantly, and she even smiled a little. However, when she saw Lu Linshen, her smile slowly faded, and she returned to her usual cold and distant demeanor.

Apart from the initial coldness when they met, Meng Suihuan also deliberately avoided being alone with Lu Linshen. Whenever she saw him coming to the company, she either found an excuse to leave or pretended to be busy with someone else. These unusual behaviors not only caught Lu Linshen’s attention but also made others in the company notice, especially Qin Yu. After he realized what was going on, he made a point of going to Lu Linshen to whisper in his ear.

“Lu Ge, have you noticed that Meng Jie has been avoiding you lately? Did you offend her somehow?”

Lu Linshen’s eyes darkened, and his tone became stiff. “I don’t know.”

“It must be something like that, otherwise, Meng Jie is friendly to everyone, but when she sees you, her face changes faster than magic.” Qin Yu said confidently. “Let me think… the change in her attitude seemed to happen after our dinner gathering that night. Didn’t you take Meng Jie home alone that night? Think carefully, did you do something you shouldn’t have and unintentionally offend her?”

Lu Linshen pressed his lips together and said nothing. Qin Yu, seeing this, got excited and looked at him with sparkling eyes. “Lao Lu, you’re not denying it, so something must have happened between you and Meng Jie! Tell me, I’ll give you some advice.”

Lu Linshen was unmoved and ignored him. Qin Yu didn’t give up, continuing to talk incessantly for a long while. Just when he was about to give up, he noticed that Lu Linshen had stopped walking and was looking at him with a serious face, his tone cold.

“What did you just say?”

Qin Yu was startled and froze for a few seconds before preparing to repeat what he had just said. However, he was interrupted by Lu Linshen.

“Repeat the last part again.”

Qin Yu reluctantly complied, speaking in a meaningful tone, “Lu Ge, someone as outstanding as Meng Jie is always surrounded by wolves, and if you’re cold to her, aren’t you just giving others a chance? It’s a lose-lose situation! So, if there’s a conflict, it should be resolved in time, you can’t just let it drag on…”

Upon hearing this, Lu Linshen’s gaze sharpened, and his expression stiffened. “I have something to do, you should go back.”

After speaking, he turned and left. Qin Yu was overjoyed and raised his voice. “Lu Ge, girls need to be pampered! You should soften your tone and be sincere when apologizing—”

Unfortunately, his advice was met with Lu Linshen’s curt response: “Shut up.”

Once again, Lu Linshen stood outside Meng Suihuan’s door. He raised his hand and knocked. Soon, a familiar voice came from inside. “Who is it?”

“It’s me, Lu Linshen.” He answered truthfully, and as expected, she tried to find a reasonable excuse to avoid him. But this time, he didn’t give in and simply said, “There’s an issue with the chip data that needs to be discussed with you.”

Since it was a matter of business and a project that could bring her great benefits, Meng Suihuan couldn’t continue avoiding him and opened the door. “Come in and talk.”

Lu Linshen followed her inside and sat down facing her. For a while, neither of them spoke. Eventually, Meng Suihuan cleared her throat, breaking the silence. “What’s the problem with the chip data?”

Lu Linshen casually mentioned some small operational issues, but these had already been fixed once he noticed them.

“These are just small issues in the operation. You can handle them, there’s no need for you to come all the way here.” Meng Suihuan said, ready to dismiss him. “If there’s nothing else, you can leave now.”

She noticed that Lu Linshen didn’t move, still sitting on the sofa, silent and staring at her.

“Lu Linshen, did you hear what I just said?” Seeing him unresponsive, Meng Suihuan’s tone grew impatient.

“Yeah, I heard.”

“If you heard, then why aren’t you getting up? What are you sitting there for?”

Lu Linshen obediently stood up, but instead of walking to the door, he stepped closer to her, stopping less than half a meter away. He looked at her seriously and said, word by word, “Suihuan, I’m not leaving. I still have something to say.”

His serious demeanor startled Meng Suihuan, and she instinctively took a half-step back to steady herself. “Just say what you need to say. What’s with getting so close all of a sudden? You scared me.”

Lu Linshen also took a step back, giving her some space.

Seeing this, Meng Suihuan hurriedly urged him, “Alright, what do you want to say? Say it now.”

“Are you angry with me because of the company’s decision to part ways?” Lu Linshen asked.

Meng Suihuan didn’t answer directly and instead asked, “Everyone has the right to make their own choices. You were just making the right choice for yourself. Why would I be angry with you?”

Having received his answer, Lu Linshen pressed further, asking in another way, “If you’re not angry about that, then did I do something else to upset you?”

“You didn’t upset me!” Meng Suihuan replied indignantly, “I haven’t done anything wrong lately. I’m perfectly fine!”

Lu Linshen continued to gaze at her. As she looked up, their eyes met. At that moment, he slowly asked the question he had been wanting to ask.

“If I didn’t offend you, then why have you been avoiding me all this time?”