Xie Chenqiao heard his son respond with a low hum.
His expression remained calm, his dark eyes deep as ink.
“Miss Shen is well-mannered and precious. She’s a good girl.”
“See? I knew you’d like her.”
Xie Yuli neither agreed nor disagreed.
He simply remained silent.
“By the way, have you chatted with her? The two of you should talk more and get familiar with each other.”
The room fell silent for a moment.
Then Xie Yuli answered honestly.
“We haven’t exchanged contact information yet.”
“What?”
Xie Chenqiao nearly choked on his tea.
“How is that possible?”
“Did you make her angry?”
“I’m telling you, when a girl is upset, you have to coax her.”
His son clearly didn’t look like someone who knew how to sweet-talk women.
Normally he was quiet and reserved.
Only during business negotiations did he become talkative—and when he did, his words struck directly at the heart of the matter, often leaving opponents speechless.
But when it came to women?
Probably hopeless.
Xie Chenqiao genuinely worried about him.
“This won’t do.”
“You need to take the initiative and ask for her contact information.”
“Girls are shy.”
“You’re the man. You should take care of her.”
“Have you really not spoken to her at all these past few days?”
“Yes.”
That much Xie Yuli could answer.
Whether he meant he understood or admitted he hadn’t spoken to her was difficult to tell.
“I sent her a gift.”
His deep voice made it sound like the most ordinary thing in the world.
“Really?”
Xie Chenqiao finally relaxed.
At the same time, he felt both surprised and pleased.
“You’ve finally made progress.”
“You’ve never given gifts to women outside of business before.”
There were female executives and business partners whom he occasionally sent gifts to through assistants out of professional courtesy.
Outside of business?
Very few women had ever received gifts from him personally.
Partly because boundaries were important.
Partly because he simply disliked the practice.
He didn’t enjoy receiving gifts.
Nor did he enjoy giving them.
But Shen Bingci was different.
Giving a gift to his fiancée was perfectly reasonable.
He had personally selected the jade bracelets.
When he thought of her face, he felt expensive and luxurious jewelry suited her perfectly.
Seated upright on the sofa, his shirt and vest emphasizing his impressive physique, Xie Yuli looked as serious as though he were making a formal vow.
“In the future, I will indulge Miss Shen more.”
“I’ll give way to her more often.”
“And I won’t make her angry.”
Over the next few days, Shen Bingci kept opening the box to look at the jade bracelets.
Each time, her heart felt strangely heavy.
It wasn’t because she loved expensive things that much.
It was because Xie Yuli had personally sent them to her.
That fact still felt unreal.
Someone as rigid and aloof as him actually knew to give jade jewelry to a young woman.
It was completely unexpected.
Had he given jewelry to many girls before?
The moment that thought crossed her mind, she felt unhappy.
She shut the box and climbed back onto her pink bed.
Yet if she didn’t look at the bracelets, she found herself thinking about them constantly.
Her heart itched with curiosity.
Honestly.
Why did Xie Yuli keep appearing in her thoughts?
He was truly terrible.
A few days before Third Miss Xie’s birthday banquet, Shen Bingci arrived in Hong Kong early.
She wanted to familiarize herself with the area and perhaps find a suitable gift locally.
Zhuang Zhenying accompanied her as an advisor.
The two spent half the day shopping.
Several luxury boutiques provided VIP service.
Now they sat in a private lounge while dozens of models walked exclusively for them.
The displays included clothing, jewelry, shoes, and more.
The models were all famous professionals.
After learning that Miss Shen and Miss Zhuang were present, the stores had even invited internationally renowned bridal runway models.
Many of them had appeared on countless fashion magazine covers.
Zhuang Zhenying spun her car keys lazily.
“What about that coat? It looks pretty cool.”
Shen Bingci called the model over and examined the fabric.
After the model turned around for another look, she shook her head.
“It feels too mature.”
“His sister is only nineteen and still in university.”
“It doesn’t really suit her.”
“Fair point.”
The two continued selecting items.
They chose plenty of things.
Yet none felt like the perfect gift.
Naturally, Zhuang Zhenying noticed.
“Why don’t you ask your fiancé?”
“He’s her brother. He definitely knows what she likes.”
Heat immediately rose to Shen Bingci’s cheeks.
After thinking for a moment, she answered,
“But I don’t have his contact information.”
“What?!”
Zhuang Zhenying nearly sprayed her soda everywhere.
The manager rushed over, worried something had happened, but she waved him away.
“Miss Shen, are you serious?”
“How is that possible?”
“Didn’t he just send you a gift a few days ago?”
“It’s true.”
“He sent one.”
“But his assistant delivered it to my house.”
“He never contacted me personally.”
Actually, Zhuang Zhenying had a point.
Asking the brother directly would be much easier.
It would save her from searching blindly.
But…
Did she really have to be the one asking for Xie Yuli’s contact information?
Wouldn’t that make her seem overly eager about the engagement?
Just then, her phone chimed.
A friend request.
She opened it casually.
Then froze.
Her heartbeat accelerated instantly.
[L]: Hello, Miss Shen. I’m Xie Yuli.
Xie Yuli?!
He had added her first?!
She could hardly believe it.
The message felt completely unreal.
Her face immediately turned pink.
Seeing her reaction, Zhuang Zhenying leaned closer and grinned mischievously.
“Young Master Xie took the initiative?”
“Our Miss Shen must have quite the influence.”
Shen Bingci’s hands trembled slightly as she accepted.
His profile picture showed a patch of greenery.
It looked like a photograph taken in a private courtyard.
The camera faced a flourishing tree bathed in golden sunlight.
The image felt peaceful and profound.
Almost exactly like him.
Without thinking, she opened his profile.
She wasn’t even sure what she wanted to see.
Maybe she simply wanted a glimpse beyond his carefully maintained boundaries.
Maybe she wanted to get closer to that distant moon.
There was nothing there.
Not a single post.
A hint of disappointment flashed through her eyes.
But after a moment, she felt it was perfectly normal.
That was exactly the kind of person he was.
If his profile had been full of flashy posts and random updates, it wouldn’t have felt like him at all.
Less than a minute later, a message arrived.
[L]: Hello, Miss Shen.
She froze.
For some reason, her ears felt hot.
It was only a simple greeting.
Yet her heart reacted strangely.
Zhuang Zhenying became even more excited.
“Look!”
“Xie Yuli messaged you!”
“Hurry up and reply!”
“…What am I supposed to say?”
Shen Bingci looked completely lost.
That was the problem.
He had only said hello.
Should she simply reply with “hello” too?
Wouldn’t that sound too dry?
Zhuang Zhenying thought for a moment.
“Maybe ask what he’s doing?”
“Absolutely not.”
“That’s way too sudden.”
As Shen Bingci turned her head, her finger accidentally brushed the screen.
The two continued discussing possible replies.
Eventually she decided that a simple greeting would be safest.
But when she looked back at her phone—
Her eyes widened in horror.
At some point, she had accidentally sent a sticker.
The sticker featured a cute cat looking directly at the camera with the caption:
“Can this kitty see your abs?”
Shen Bingci nearly dropped her phone.