After holding his gaze for a few seconds, Su Hao said, “No need.”

 

She slipped out of his arms, her heels slightly unsteady, and walked quickly toward the entrance. Only after swiping her card and stepping out did she realize that he had actually entered the residential compound.

 

Well, of course—if he could even use roses to win over Uncle Lin at the security booth, how could a mere access gate stop him? She lowered her head and kept walking. In that brief moment when their eyes met, she saw herself reflected in his gaze—and also seemed to glimpse a hint of tenderness hidden in his eyes. Su Hao didn’t want to think too much about it. Behind her, the man’s footsteps followed.

 

A few seconds later, he was beside her. He lowered his head to look at her, a smile at the corner of his lips. “Want to date me?”

 

His low voice brushed past her ear.

 

Su Hao shot him a sharp look.

 

Zhou Yang touched his lips. “Then I’ll ask again tomorrow.”

 

They reached the stairwell. Su Hao climbed the steps quickly, the fading light spilling across her back. A bit of her fair neck was exposed. Zhou Yang followed behind her, his gaze resting on her. For once, he didn’t say anything flirtatious.

 

The two of them climbed the stairs one after the other, footsteps echoing rhythmically. The stairwell held only the two of them. Out of the corner of her eye, Su Hao noticed his hand tucked into his pocket, the expensive watch—worth millions—visible. His arms were well-proportioned, sleeves rolled up to his elbows, still carrying that careless, devil-may-care air.

 

Su Hao withdrew her gaze and stopped looking.

 

There were still traces of how he had been back in high school.

 

Perhaps he really was born a flirt.

 

Just as they were about to reach the third floor, Su Hao suddenly turned around and stood on the step, glaring at him in warning. Zhou Yang had been about to light a cigarette; her sudden movement made him pause.

 

The next second, he instinctively put the cigarette away. “Hm?”

 

Su Hao said, “Go back.”

 

Zhou Yang raised an eyebrow. “Can’t I come to your place for a glass of water?”

 

“No.”

 

“I want to see Aunt Cheng.”

 

Su Hao: “……”

 

At that moment, Zhou Yang’s phone rang. His brows furrowed as he picked it up—it was Lu Qi. He swiped to answer, the laziness on his face fading noticeably.

 

“Speak.”

 

“There’s a problem with the last batch of materials,” Lu Qi said calmly, though his teeth were clenched.

 

“Got it. I’m coming over now,” Zhou Yang replied. As he spoke, he glanced at Su Hao. Seeing that he had taken the call, Su Hao immediately turned around, took the stairs two at a time, reached the third floor, and with a click, opened the door. She stepped inside and shut it behind her. The stairwell fell silent at once.

 

Zhou Yang: “……”

 

Back at home, Cheng Ling was working dough on the dining table. It was still early evening. Seeing Su Hao return, she said, “I made you a cup of lemon honey water. It’s almost cooled—go drink it.”

 

“Okay.” Su Hao went to wash her hands, then came out, took the cup, and stood by the dining table. She drank while chatting with Cheng Ling. The afterglow of dusk gradually sank into the clouds, and the voices of mother and daughter rose and fell in the room, warm and comforting.

 

Cheng Ling didn’t mention returning to Huijiang City.

 

Su Hao felt secretly happy.

 

“Did you talk to that landlord?” Cheng Ling asked as she kneaded the dough, glancing at Su Hao.

 

Su Hao sat down and nodded. “Mm.”

 

“What’s he like?”

 

“He’s okay.” Su Hao actually couldn’t quite recall Zhang Xinhua’s appearance. In her memory, he was quite young and called Zhou Yang “brother.” But the person she chatted with on WeChat seemed rather steady and mature.

 

“That’s good. Just keep chatting for now. Things have been noisy upstairs lately—he’ll probably come by in a couple of days. I’ll take a look at him then.” Cheng Ling felt a sense of anticipation, her spirits lifting.

 

As for Tang Rui, Cheng Ling knew Su Hao didn’t seem to have much interest. But as someone with experience, she could see the affection in Tang Rui’s eyes. She hoped that in relationships, Su Hao would be the one with the upper hand—and with Tang Rui, she likely would be. Cheng Ling glanced at Su Hao, saw her fiddling with her phone, and didn’t bring it up again.

 

After all, when she’d talked so much in the kitchen last night, Su Hao hadn’t responded. She more or less understood her daughter’s stance.

 

After dinner, the mother and daughter sat on the sofa watching TV.

 

Su Hao’s WeChat kept buzzing.

 

Wearing her loungewear, she leaned against the armrest, legs drawn up, replying to messages.

 

Su Qian’s birthday was originally supposed to be this weekend, but she said she’d looked wrong—it was actually next week.

 

Su Hao couldn’t help laughing.

 

Aunt Su Qian was really adorable.

 

At the same time, Z also messaged her.

 

Z: Have you had dinner?

 

Su Hao: Just finished. You?

 

Z: Still busy. Do you like drinking alcohol?

 

Su Hao: It’s okay. I don’t hold my liquor well.

 

Z: I can tell.

 

Su Hao: Really?

 

A few minutes later, he replied again.

 

Z: Isn’t there a “Nether Path” on the way back to Huijiang University?

 

Su Hao: You even know about that?

 

Z: That year when I went to Huijiang, I visited the university too. I walked down that path—it seemed endless, like you’d walk forever. In the end, it turned out to be just a wall you could push open. The design is quite clever.

 

Su Hao: Yeah. In my first year, my roommates tricked me into going there. Halfway through, I realized no one was behind me—I was so scared…

 

Z: You’re really timid.

 

Su Hao: Do you really like Huijiang?

 

Z: Yeah, I do. I like it a lot.

 

Su Hao: Then do you like Li City?

 

Z: I grew up here. It’s my roots. I can’t really say I like or dislike it. But if the person I love were here, I’d feel more of a sense of belonging.

 

Reading that, Su Hao’s heart skipped a beat.

 

This man really knew how to talk.

 

Z: Do you have a sense of belonging?

 

That question—

 

Left Su Hao not knowing how to answer.

 

After a few seconds, she sent a smiley emoji.

 

He replied.

 

Z: Looks like you don’t have one yet.

 

Z: What would it take for you to feel a sense of belonging? Hmm?

 

Staring at the chat screen, Su Hao felt even more unsure how to respond. He seemed to be testing the waters, yet not quite—just casual conversation. His words weren’t overtly flirtatious, but every sentence felt like it was teasing, probing for something. Su Hao thought to herself: this guy is impressive. She smiled and sent a few emojis back.

 

Z: Want to battle with emojis?

 

Z: I’m not very good at it.

 

Su Hao: Me neither.

 

Z: Mm.

 

Z: At home?

 

Su Hao: Mm.

 

Twenty minutes later, there was a knock at the door. Holding her phone, Su Hao got up and opened it. A delivery guy stood outside, holding a large bag. “Miss Su?”

 

“Yes.”

 

“This was ordered for you by a gentleman named Z.”

 

Su Hao took the bag and glanced inside—it was full of food: cake, fruit, all kinds of treats. There was also a card inside, marked [Ordered by Z].

 

She glanced at her phone.

 

A new WeChat message popped up.

 

Z: Did you get it?

 

Su Hao thanked the delivery guy, carried the things inside, sat on the armrest, and replied.

 

Su Hao: Got it. That’s too much.

 

Z: Eat more.

 

Cheng Ling leaned over and rummaged through the bag. “Who sent this?”

 

She seemed to sense something, a smile in her eyes.

 

Su Hao said, “The landlord.”

 

Cheng Ling exclaimed, “Oh my, how embarrassing—why buy so much? There’s even chocolate. What’s this?”

 

She pulled out a box.

 

Inside were all kinds of snow skin mooncakes.

 

Su Hao peeked over. “Snow skin mooncakes.”

 

“These look pretty tasty,” Cheng Ling said. She liked sweets too. Su Hao hummed in agreement and sent Z a thank-you message.

 

He didn’t reply.

 

After that, Su Hao and Cheng Ling ate some of it. Cheng Ling put the rest in the fridge, then picked out a few items, packed them into a bag, and told Su Hao to take them to the office to share the next day.

 

After washing up and seeing Cheng Ling off to bed, Su Hao returned to her room and lay down.

 

Almost instinctively, she picked up her phone.

 

Just as she glanced at it—

 

A message came through.

 

Z: Going to sleep? Good night.

 

Su Hao: Good night.

 

The next day, she once again saw roses at the security booth—this time, much larger than yesterday’s bouquet. As before, Su Hao asked Uncle Lin to handle them. Carrying breakfast and the snack bag, she went upstairs. The moment she entered the office, several people looked at her—one of them bouncing his leg vigorously.

 

Su Hao sighed. “What’s going on?”

 

Qiqi scurried over, took the bag from Su Hao, and wiggled her eyebrows. “Yesterday after work, did that handsome guy who tied your shoelaces—Tiempo viejo—come again?”

 

“You know, every company in this building knows about it now. And not just that—someone even asked me what that guy’s name was…”

 

“You need to be careful,” Qiqi said, following Su Hao to her desk. She grabbed some breakfast to eat and handed the rest out to others. They took it but didn’t leave, standing behind them like they wanted to eavesdrop.

 

Su Hao turned on her computer and asked, “Careful about what?”

 

“Careful of people trying to steal him away! When he swept his gaze over those women—damn, they were startled at first, but once they recovered, they started thinking about him. I was right there, and they even came to ask me.”

 

Su Hao opened the backend system, her tone calm. “He’s always been like that.”

 

Wherever he goes, women think about him.

 

Qiqi said, “Then he has to love you enough for you to feel secure.”

 

Su Hao smiled, but didn’t reply.

 

At that moment—

 

Yan Chong stormed out of the office, furious, slamming a stack of documents onto the table. “Feijie is really shameless! Damn it! I’m going to quote them a sky-high price!”

 

Still not satisfied, he shoved the table hard. “What a bunch of jerks!”

 

“What happened?” Qiqi asked, wiping oil from her mouth as she rushed over.

 

Yan Chong sat down, saying, “They opened another website and just threw money at it to grab positions. In one morning, they snatched thirty-five percent of our traffic!”

 

“What the hell?” Qiqi jumped up. “What a trash company—too much!”

 

“Lianwo and Chengfeng have already been acquired!” Yan Chong was livid. Bracing his hands on his knees, he thought for a moment. “If it comes to it, we’ll throw money at it too.”

 

“We’ll fight to the end.”

 

Qiqi said, “I agree.”

 

Su Hao said, “I’ll handle it.”

 

Everyone’s fighting spirit was ignited. No one gossiped about Su Hao anymore; they all returned to their seats and got busy. By afternoon, Meitong had clawed back eighty percent of the traffic. Orders exploded, and Su Hao was worked to death. Sweat covered her forehead as she sat at the computer and noticed an email.

 

She opened it.

 

Lu Qi: Miss Su, I truly admire you. President Zhou spent money and still couldn’t beat you.

 

At the same time—

 

Li Yi, Xu Dian, and Zhou Yang were gathered together. Jiang Yu walked in holding a document, smiling as he tossed it into Zhou Yang’s arms. “I hear you lost to Su Hao?”

 

Zhou Yang had a cigarette slanted between his lips. His hand paused as he flipped through the file.

 

Xu Dian took off his glasses to wipe them, smiling. “Not only lost—lost pretty badly.”

 

“Hahahahaha, serves you right!”

 

Li Yi said, “Can’t even catch the girl, and you still lose to her. Embarrassing.”

 

Zhou Yang said nothing. He swept them with a glance, gritted his teeth, opened his tablet, and asked Lu Qi, “What’s the situation now?”

 

Lu Qi replied, “We’re down to ten percent traffic.”

 

“Hahahahahahahaha—”

 

Zhou Yang: “……”

 

Fine.

 

Still—my future wife is impressive.

 

There was no way to get off work on time that day. They worked until after eight. Qiqi and her husband treated everyone to dinner at a small restaurant downstairs from Su Hao’s place. They discussed plans for a trip to East City next. Because Feijie’s aggressive move had forced them to spend money, they ended up generating so many orders that in a single day they secured the next half month’s sales.

 

In high spirits, Yan Chong decided to move the team-building trip up to this weekend.

 

Su Hao felt a bit excited too.

 

This was something she’d never felt at Feijie.

 

There was no scheming or backstabbing—everyone was moving toward the same goal. Feijie’s attempt at acquisition had only made the Meitong team more united.

 

By the time she got home, it was already 10:30 p.m. Cheng Ling only went to bed after seeing her return.

 

Su Hao kept her movements quiet while putting things away. After showering, it was past eleven. She lay down on the bed, hesitated for a moment, then picked up her phone.

 

Z: Busy today?

 

Su Hao: Very busy. Just got back.

 

Z: That was hard on you.

 

Su Hao: What about you? At home?

 

Z: Not yet. I’m out.

 

Su Hao: Mm.

 

About ten minutes later, Su Hao grew sleepy, her eyelids drooping. Then her phone rang again.

 

She picked it up.

 

Z: There’s something I want to tell you. Actually, I’ve fallen in love with a girl from Huijiang.