When Su Hao saw the message, most of her sleepiness vanished.

 

She held her phone, not knowing how to reply. After a long while, she sat up and leaned against the headboard, still holding her phone.

 

Is this really a man who already has someone in his heart?

 

About five minutes passed.

 

Only then did Su Hao start typing.

 

Su Hao: No wonder you’re so familiar with Huijiang. How is she now?
Z: I also want to know how she’s doing.
Z: How about you?
Su Hao: Of course I’m doing well.
Z: I missed her once. I don’t want to miss her a second time.
Su Hao: Then you should fight for it.
Z: Thank you.
Su Hao: You’re welcome.
Z: Huijiang is a southern city. It shaped her into someone as gentle as water. Even when she grits her teeth in anger, she still looks beautiful. I’m completely obsessed with her.

 

Su Hao: Is that so? That’s really nice.

 

He must truly love that girl, to be able to talk so freely about her with a stranger like her—someone who just happened to be from Huijiang.

 

No wonder he had asked about Huijiang right from the beginning.

 

Su Hao felt a faint emptiness in her chest. She sat there in a daze for a while longer. He didn’t reply again—perhaps because it was already late at night.

 

After listening to someone else’s story, she felt a little melancholic.

 

A few seconds later, she hugged her knees and stared blankly at the fluttering curtains.

 

—

 

The next day, Su Hao overslept.

 

She rushed out with breakfast in hand. After arriving at the office, she worked while eating. Because she was late, everyone else delayed their breakfast too and gathered around her to eat together.

 

After they finished, only then did someone finally notice the roses placed to the side.

 

Qiqi poked Su Hao.

 

“You received roses today?”

 

Su Hao turned and looked.

 

Only then did she realize—she had been in such a hurry that when Uncle Lin handed them to her, she had taken them without thinking.

 

Qiqi pulled out the card inside and handed it to her.

 

Su Hao opened it.

 

Good morning.

 

My Su Hao.

 

Work hard today too. How about beating me one more time?

 

—Zhou Yang

 

Su Hao: “……”

 

“Damn it! They’re at it again! That website spent money again!”
Yan Chong rushed out with messy hair and a sleepy face.
“Get them!”

 

Xiao Qi echoed, “Get them!”

 

Su Hao replied calmly, “Okay.”

 

Qiqi laughed so hard her shoulders shook. Luckily, she hadn’t read Su Hao’s card—otherwise she would have discovered that the man pursuing Su Hao was the very big shot who caused trouble for them every day.

 

Today the other side was much harder to deal with. They clearly had figured out a new tactic. The entire morning was a mess.

 

It seemed that the other side had switched to a new sales operator.

 

Su Hao and her counterpart were almost evenly matched. In the end, Su Hao made a decisive move—she removed part of the images and replaced them with a “buy one, get one free” link.

 

By nearly twelve o’clock, they finally won back forty percent of the traffic.

 

Everyone let out a long sigh of relief.

 

Su Hao slumped back in her chair and checked her phone, only to realize that Z had sent her a good-night message the night before.

 

She scrolled back through their chat history.

 

His feelings for that girl from Huijiang were still right there—deep and unmistakable.

 

Yet the emptiness and melancholy she had felt last night had already faded.

 

She looked at her computer screen and realized that the sense of achievement from work could make her forget many things.

 

She glanced once more at Z’s profile picture, put down her phone, and went back to work.

 

—

 

The weekend arrived quickly.

 

Since they would still be staying one night in Dong City, Su Hao packed lightly and got on the company team-building bus.

 

Yan Chong had rented a seven-seater van and hired a driver. There were six of them in total.

 

Su Hao sat in the back by the window. Her phone rang.

 

It was Tang Yu.

 

Ever since Tang Yu’s birthday—after Zhou Yang had sent Su Hao home—she had barely contacted Tang Yu.

 

Tang Yu: Haohao.
Tang Yu: That trader, Tang Rui… he seems to have run into some trouble recently. He was operating for one of the Wen family’s subsidiaries and got hit by a sudden withdrawal of funds.
Tang Yu: He’s in pretty bad shape.

 

Su Hao: Is he… okay?
Tang Yu: Not very.

 

Su Hao: Thank you for telling me.

 

Su Hao didn’t really understand Tang Rui’s work. After hesitating for a moment, she still sent him a message.

 

Su Hao: Tang Rui, are you doing alright?

 

She waited for a while, but there was no reply.

 

After a few seconds of silence, she put her phone away and stopped thinking about it.

 

Outside the window, the scenery slid backward. When they entered Dong City, the view became much nicer than Li City. There were fewer skyscrapers.

 

Soon, they arrived at the resort.

 

Everyone got off the bus.

 

The weather was cool. Su Hao wore a thin jacket. From afar, she could see the steel cable stretched between two mountains.

 

Xiao Qi took off his cap and pointed.

 

“We’ll go play over there later! Hahaha. Nervous, Su Hao?”

 

Su Hao smiled. “It’s okay.”

 

“Don’t be nervous. We’re all here,” Xiao Qi said, patting her shoulder before heading into the hotel.

 

Su Hao followed.

 

Each person had their own room. All the rooms had floor-to-ceiling windows and a balcony, with a swimming pool behind the building.

 

Su Hao messaged Cheng Ling to let her know she was safe, then went downstairs to eat.

 

With only six people, it was easy to eat together.

 

Xiao Qi said, “It takes about an hour to climb up to the top. Do you guys want to take the cable car?”

 

Xiao Hua shook his head. “No. Since we’re here, we might as well hike.”

 

Qiqi leaned against Yan Chong and nodded. “Yeah, let’s hike.”

 

Su Hao had no objections.

 

After lunch, they walked to the foot of the mountain, picked up a map, and started climbing.

 

Su Hao’s stamina was actually pretty good. The others clearly weren’t. They walked and rested along the way.

 

Seeing this, Qiqi hugged Su Hao’s arm.

 

“Haohao, you’re really strong. You don’t complain at all.”

 

After spending time together, she had realized that Su Hao was very steady and gentle, rarely complained, rarely said she was tired, and always seemed able to endure everything—as if she had already seen through so much.

 

Su Hao took a sip of water.

 

The closer they got to the summit, the louder the screams from the cable crossing above became.

 

She looked at Qiqi and said quietly,

 

“I’m tired too. It’s just that saying it won’t help. I’d rather save some energy.”

 

Yan Chong glanced at Su Hao and poked Qiqi.

 

“You should learn from Su Hao.”

 

“I can’t!” Qiqi deliberately retorted.

 

Seeing them about to start bickering, Su Hao quickly walked a few steps ahead.

 

Perhaps only when someone is being protected, when someone truly cares, does complaining come naturally.

 

At last, they reached the summit.

 

Their luck was good—there weren’t many people waiting.

 

Xiao Qi and the others had been eager for this. They immediately went to put on their safety gear.

 

The distance across wasn’t long.

 

Su Hao stayed behind.

 

She watched as Xiao Qi and the others stepped onto the steel cable one after another. It looked easy.

 

But when she stood at the edge and looked down, all she could see were green mountains and water below. The view was vast—and bottomless.

 

Her legs went weak.

 

Qiqi and Yan Chong crossed together.

 

Qiqi screamed nonstop the whole way.

 

Yan Chong held her and said, “Hurry up, just walk a few more steps and it’s over. Stop screaming, my eardrums are about to burst…”

 

“Ahhhhh—!”

 

They finally made it across.

 

Qiqi collapsed on the other side and waved at Su Hao.

 

“Haohao, maybe you shouldn’t come. Just go back the way you came. It’s too scary…”

 

Su Hao was already fully geared up.

 

She pressed her lips together and smiled, reassuring Qiqi.

 

Since she was already here, once she crossed the cable, they could go down the mountain from the other side.

 

She took a deep breath and, following the instructor’s instructions, stepped onto the cable.

 

The moment her foot landed, her body swayed violently.

 

Her legs went weak.

 

She glanced into the valley below, her vision went dark, and she froze in place—completely unable to move.

 

“Su Hao, come on over!” Xiao Qi shouted from the other side.

 

At that moment, the cable shook again.

 

Su Hao turned her head.

 

A tall man in safety gear stood at the other end of the cable. He wore a white shirt and black trousers. The watch on his wrist looked familiar.

 

He lowered his head and adjusted his collar. Then he lifted his eyes.

 

That handsome, effortlessly charming face came into view.

 

Su Hao froze.

 

Zhou Yang raised his eyebrows slightly, grabbed the overhead handrail with one hand, and took two steps forward.

 

“You’re pretty brave. Turn your body forward and move ahead. Don’t look down.”

 

When did he get here?

 

Su Hao couldn’t move her feet. She clutched the handrail tightly.

 

Every step he took made the cable sway.

 

She swallowed hard, unable to stop herself from looking down.

 

Zhou Yang walked up to her, lifted her chin gently, and turned her body forward.

 

His hand hovered at her waist.

 

In a low voice by her ear, he said,

 

“Go. Move forward. Don’t scare me. Your face is really pale.”

 

Su Hao looked at Xiao Qi and Qiqi on the other side. They were frantic with worry—but at the same time, they kept staring at the man behind her.

 

His hand pressed lightly against her lower back, giving her a bit of support.

 

Her lips trembled as she finally took her first step.

 

“Good girl. You can do it,” Zhou Yang encouraged softly above her head.

 

She swallowed again.

 

Her legs were shaking. Several times, she felt as if her foot couldn’t find the cable and was about to step into empty air.

 

Each time, his hand steadied her and guided her back.

 

Her palms were drenched in sweat.

 

Fixing her eyes on Xiao Qi and Qiqi ahead, she inched forward, step by step, until she finally reached the opposite mountain.

 

Qiqi grabbed her arm.

 

Once her feet touched the platform, Su Hao felt as though her knees were still trembling.

 

Zhou Yang stepped down behind her. The instructors came over to help them remove their safety gear.

 

After Su Hao finished unfastening hers, she walked a few steps forward and stood by the edge of the pavilion, taking deep breaths.

 

For so long, she had been holding everything in—being sensible, taking care of her family, trying not to make them worry, working hard alone, always considerate, always enduring, always being abandoned.

 

One after another, those tightly stretched strings in her mind snapped.

 

Zhou Yang rolled up his sleeves, twisted open a bottle of water, and handed it to her.

 

But when he noticed her turning her head away, he held her shoulder and turned her back toward him.

 

A teardrop landed on the back of his hand.

 

Two clear streams of tears slid down her cheeks.

 

She frowned, trying to avoid him.

 

Zhou Yang threw the bottle aside and pulled her into his chest, one hand cradling the back of her head.

 

The familiar scent of fir wrapped around her, unexpectedly calming.

 

Su Hao blurted out softly,

 

“I was so scared…”

 

Zhou Yang lifted his hand and gently stroked her hair.

 

His fingers were trembling too.

 

“It’s okay. You made it over.”

 

“I was scared to death because of you, too.”