Lu Meng woke up a bit early the next day. Lu Bofan had just returned from his morning workout and hadn't left for the office yet.
The man had just finished showering, his black hair slightly damp, with water droplets falling on his shoulder blades.
On ordinary days, he wore ascetic, refined shirts, and his demeanor was restrained and composed. But now, having shed his robe, the contours of his back muscles were firm and distinct, and further down, the V-line of his waist and abdomen was crisp and alluring.
Though he appeared to brim with vigorous strength, he was actually quite comfortable to hold.
Lu Meng's appraising gaze inadvertently collided with the man's eyes. She paused, then turned away as if nothing had happened, though inwardly she blamed him—how could he change clothes without even turning his back?
A faint smile surfaced in Lu Bofan's eyes. He casually buttoned his shirt one button at a time, deliberately leaving undone the one near his Adam's apple. "Do you know how to tie a tie?"
Lu Meng had no choice but to turn around. She didn't refuse. Lu Bofan lowered his head slightly to make it easier for her, but his gaze remained fixed on the woman's face without blinking.
His stare was too direct for her to ignore.
After tying it, Lu Meng didn't let go. Instead, she tugged on the man's tie and pressed a kiss to his lips.
It was light as a dragonfly skimming the water, without any guilt, and she even thoughtfully smoothed his collar for him. Her tone, however, carried a hint of levity: "Just collecting a little payment. President Lu doesn't mind, does he?"
Wanting payment just for tying a tie—Lu Bofan let out a soft chuckle from his throat. "Not at all."
Lu Meng was quite satisfied with President Lu's answer. But the moment she let go, she was suddenly hooked by the waist and pulled into his arms.
Her hands instinctively rested on the man's shoulders. Lu Bofan lowered his gaze and asked with utmost consideration: "Is this enough?"
The two were far too close. Lu Meng's heartbeat quickened. Her lashes trembled slightly as she looked into his dark eyes: "Is President Lu going to be this improper first thing in the morning?"
Lu Bofan raised an eyebrow: "I was just thanking you. Does that count as improper?"
Lu Meng answered firmly: "It does."
Lu Bofan smiled: "Fine, then let me rephrase."
Meeting the woman's puzzled gaze, his frank and open stare seemed to invisibly encroach upon her lips: "We haven't seen each other for so many days. The morning kisses and goodnight kisses—shouldn't they be made up for?"
Lu Meng was dazed: "Those need to be made up too?"
That was what she asked, but she hadn't really thought of refusing. After a moment's thought, she stood on her tiptoes and took the initiative to kiss him, somewhat as if completing a task: "There, done?"
Lu Bofan pinched her jaw and lifted her face. When he kissed her, his voice held a smile that was not hard to detect: "Seems it really is necessary to make them up."
Lu Meng parted her lips in response out of instinct, but didn't understand what he meant. Tilting her face up, she let out a questioning sound: "Hm?"
"It's only been a few days apart. Have you forgotten how I usually kiss you?"
Lu Bofan didn't go very deep. He gently held the woman's lips and could sense her somewhat nervous breathing.
Lu Meng wanted to answer, but her gaze went past the man and caught sight of the mirror behind him.
She loved this full-length mirror. Every time she finished changing into a dress, she would always admire herself in it.
But at this moment, she felt she couldn't look at it directly—
In the mirror, the man's tall, elegant figure almost completely blocked her from view. Only her hand, draped around his neck, was visible, the wedding ring on her ring finger catching a cold, gleaming trace of light.
Lu Meng unconsciously curled her fingers. She leaned back uncontrollably, her spine hitting the glass door of the wardrobe. Lu Bofan's hand came up to cradle the back of her head, yet his dense, unhurried kisses didn't stop.
Before marriage, Lu Meng had thought her marriage would be one of mutual respect and politeness.
She had never imagined kissing a man in the early morning—even now, her tongue felt somewhat numb.
A cool droplet of water fell into the hollow of her neck. She shivered from the cold, and it restored some of her rationality. Instinctively, she dodged his kiss, her voice carrying a hint of complaint: "Why didn't you dry your hair?"
Lu Bofan's fingertip wiped away the wet trace for her, admitting his fault with good temper: "It won't happen next time."
Lu Meng couldn't help but scrutinize him and ask, "Are you in a good mood today?"
Lu Bofan was adjusting his cuff. Hearing this, he gave a mild "Mm": "Not bad."
She turned around to pick out the dress she would wear today, as if asking casually, "What good news?"
"Maybe because someone baked new cookies for me."
Lu Meng's movements paused. She draped the chosen dress over her arm, didn't look at him, and lightly tossed out a remark: "Who baked them for you? I just wanted to eat them myself."
Lu Bofan let out a low chuckle, impossible to tell whether he believed her or not, and casually followed her out of the dressing room.
Previously, she had asked Tang Lingyi to bring back a gift. Lu Meng planned to go home today to give it to her mother.
She sorted out the things she had bought yesterday, only to discover she had accidentally brought Tang Lingyi's things along too—the tie she was going to give to her cousin.
Lu Meng sent a message. Tang Lingyi replied quite quickly. They agreed to meet in the evening for her to pick it up, since she happened to have business to discuss with Lu Meng as well.
After class in the afternoon, the two met.
Tang Lingyi got straight to the point: "Next month we have an important client coming to the country. They've read your translations before and greatly admire you."
"So I was thinking—could you help as an accompanying interpreter?"
Lu Meng thought it over and didn't agree right away: "Can I give you an answer in a few days?"
"Of course."
Tang Lingyi knew she was a wealthy young lady who didn't lack money, but in business matters, she always paid what was due. In the past, whenever she hired Lu Meng for translation, she paid in full according to market rates. This time too, if Lu Meng agreed, Tang Lingyi wasn't asking for her help for free.
The two chatted briefly. Tang Lingyi still had things to do, so she picked up the gift bag and left first.
Lu Meng drove to her parents' place. Lu Ling loved the gift she brought, but what made her happier was that her daughter seemed very happy.
Lu Bofan had been busy with a project recently. By the time he returned to Nanshan Courtyard, it was already eleven o'clock.
Lu Meng was lying on the bed watching an American drama. A thin red strap had slipped from her shoulder, and she hadn't noticed at all. Hearing the noise, she didn't even lift her head as she said, "You're back."
Lu Bofan gave a mild "Mm." He loosened his bow tie, his gaze casually pausing on one spot.
The things she had bought last night were all gone—the gift bag too.
Lu Bofan walked into the dressing room. He didn't see the packaging for that men's tie either.
His fingertips were slightly cold. He came out from the inner room and asked, as if casually, "Is Dad's birthday coming up soon?"
Lu Meng finally looked up from her tablet and gave him a strange look: "No."
Lu Bofan's voice was bland: "Then I remembered wrong."
That style of tie indeed didn't suit Shao Tingyuan, but it suited a young man very well.
So—who had she given the tie to?
Lu Bofan came out of the bathroom. Lu Meng turned over to face him, her nose twitching slightly. She tilted her face up and asked, "Do you think this body wash smells good? I just bought it."
Unlike the awkwardness of their early marriage, she no longer seemed afraid of him.
She leaned in just like that, completely unguarded, her dark, lustrous eyes clean and beautiful. Lu Bofan didn't answer. Instead, he suddenly pinched her chin and kissed her.
Lu Meng sank entirely into the soft bedding. She couldn't manage a single complete sentence, only feeling that he was a bit rough today.
They had always been quite restrained before, just once a day.
So when Lu Bofan's hand reached for the box, he hadn't expected it to be empty at all.
He stayed in there the whole time. Lu Meng couldn't help but kick him, the corners of her eyes still tinged red. Lu Bofan had calmed considerably. He kissed her thin eyelids, then gradually moved lower, gently prying open her lips.
Lu Meng's resisting hands had, at some point, hooked around the man's neck.
She wasn't truly angry either—it was just that the intensity was a first, and her whole body felt somewhat beyond her control.
When they came out of the bathroom, Lu Meng was already too exhausted to move.
In the pitch-black night, Lu Bofan pressed his elbow over his eyelids, yet had no trace of sleepiness.
He didn't want to speculate about Lu Meng, but he still couldn't help wondering who that tie had been given to.
In the silence, a warmth pressed into his embrace. The woman was holding him almost out of instinct.
Lu Bofan's hand moved, as if in surrender, and he gathered her into his arms.
"Lu Meng."
Knowing full well she was already asleep, he still couldn't help asking in a low voice, "Could you buy me a tie?"
Saturday afternoon, the sales associate sent Lu Meng a message. The tie she had ordered a couple of days ago was relatively hard to get in stock—the earliest would be the end of the month.
Lu Meng wasn't particularly anxious: [Okay.]
The driver was already waiting at the school gate. She put away her phone and saw that Lu Bofan was there too.
Tonight they were attending a charity auction, and Lu Bofan had already prepared her gown.
Before the auction began, quite a few people came over to chat with Lu Bofan.
Lu Meng's smile was faint, but in truth her lower back was sore.
Lu Bofan noticed her small movements. The hand resting at her waist rubbed it with moderate pressure. After that, whenever someone approached, he politely declined.
Lu Meng asked him, "Isn't this a bit impolite? How about I wait for you over there?"
Lu Bofan looked down at her: "These are just perfunctory social obligations. How could they compare to you?"
Lu Meng shifted her gaze away, but couldn't help the smile that curved her lips.
She leaned against the man with complete ease. The auction began soon after. Influenced by her mother, Lu Ling, Lu Meng had some insight into paintings as well.
Occasionally, she would lean close to the man's ear and tell him whether a painting was good or bad, whether it was worth bidding on, and the maximum price to offer.
Lu Bofan was casually playing with her hand, listening to her words, yet not really looking at the paintings being auctioned—he was looking at her: "I didn't expect Teacher Lu to be so impressive, knowing about everything. It seems I've married a treasure?"
Lu Meng propped her chin up with a proud air: "So, you'd better cherish me well."
Lu Bofan held her hand, his voice light and faint as it sank into her heart: "I will certainly cherish you like a treasure."
Heat crept up the shell of Lu Meng's ears. She shifted her gaze away somewhat unnaturally, but didn't withdraw her hand.
The items up for auction today were actually all quite good, but Lu Meng was used to seeing fine things—there wasn't anything she was particularly interested in.
Until the staff brought out the final painting—by a very obscure artist, with a starting bid of only ten thousand—yet hardly anyone showed interest.
Lu Meng's gaze, however, froze.
Lu Bofan noticed her hand trembling. He furrowed his brow, about to say something, when he saw she had already raised her paddle. Her cool, resolute voice broke the deadlock: "One hundred thousand."
Someone turned to look, seemingly wanting to know which fool was willing to buy such a cheap thing.
Lu Meng paid no attention to the others, only staring fixedly at the painting.
Following her gaze, Lu Bofan looked as well. His fingertips turned cold as he finally sensed something was off.
The woman in the painting bore some resemblance to Lu Meng.
Or rather, she resembled her mother, Lu Ling, even more.
He had thought no one would compete for this painting, but unexpectedly another voice rang out from the diagonal—
"Two hundred thousand."
Lu Meng pressed her lips together. For the first time, she lost her reason and continued to raise the bid: "Five hundred thousand."
The other party likewise refused to yield: "Eight hundred thousand."
Lu Meng clenched her hand: "One million."
"Ten million."
The person seemed unwilling to waste more time with her. The price they tossed out set the room abuzz.
For such a painting, by such an unknown artist—what was it really worth?
Lu Meng grew anxious. She knew very well that this painting was worth ten thousand at most. But she was unwilling to let it slip away, and the most she could currently offer was ten thousand.
The only way to secure it now was to borrow money from Lu Bofan.
But she knew he never entered into a losing partnership.
And if things went even worse, twenty million still might not be enough to win it…
Lu Meng hesitated, staring fixedly at the painting. Seeing the staff about to bring down the hammer, Lu Bofan suddenly spoke. His deep, calm voice sent ripples through the room.
"Fifty million."
Lu Meng looked at him in disbelief, but Lu Bofan remained calm throughout. Meeting her gaze, he only soothingly stroked the skin on the back of her hand.
Only then did she realize—their hands had been clasped together all along.
But fifty million—had Lu Bofan gone mad?