Because of the delay on the road, Gu Tuo arrived at the restaurant five minutes later than the appointed time.
The waiter respectfully opened the private room door for him, where the guest he had invited was already waiting.
Hearing the commotion at the door, the man followed the sound and looked over, a teasing smile flashing in his seductive peach-blossom eyes. “President Gu manages a thousand monumental tasks every day. Hard work, hard work.”
Though they hadn’t seen each other in years, the man closed the distance between them effortlessly with a single, simple line.
“I’m late.”
Gu Tuo stepped forward, his gaze sweeping across the table. True to his expectations, an open bottle of wine sat resting on the tabletop. The vintage had already been half-emptied by the person before him, a single translucent bead of liquid clinging to the rim of the bottle, diffusing a faint, ghostly fragrance of alcohol into the air.
This man was exactly the same as before—utterly consumed by his obsession with liquor.
Musing over this, Gu Tuo lined up three small porcelain cups on the table. He poured three full measures of wine for himself and downed them all in quick succession under the man’s watchful gaze. “Consider this my official apology.”
The man’s slightly hooded eyes snapped wide open. He stared at Gu Tuo in absolute disbelief before violently snatching the wine bottle away, securing it tightly by his side. Even as he moved, his mouth didn’t stop grumbling: “What earthly kind of apology is that? This vintage is incredibly rich and meant to be savored slowly, yet you barge right in and guzzle three cups down like a cow!”
Despite being heavily insulted for “guzzling,” Gu Tuo didn’t display a shred of annoyance. He calmly settled into his seat and noted, “If you favor it that much, I can always have another bottle opened for you.”
The man instantly burst into a grin. “Splendid!”
After voicing his approval, he immediately pressed to know the reason for Gu Tuo’s delay. To his absolute knowledge, Gu Tuo possessed an incredibly rigid sense of punctuality. For him to actually arrive late tonight—just what on earth had held him back?
Prompted by the question, the image of Fang Jinshi naturally materialized in Gu Tuo’s mind, causing a subtle ripple of warmth to stir in his dark eyes.
He was a man who notoriously kept his expressions perfectly under wraps, yet the slight shift in his gaze in this moment seemed to capture the soft, radiant glow of the dawn sun, exuding a profound warmth.
“I ran into a friend on the road and lost track of time.”
“Just a friend?” The man prodded suspiciously.
Could a mere “friend” genuinely exist on this earth who possessed the leverage to make Gu Tuo break his own unyielding principles?
“I highly doubt it’s just a friend!”
“Li Yizhou,” Gu Tuo stated in a deep, chilling tone, “there is absolutely no need to pursue this line of inquiry further.”
The man—Li Yizhou—caught the subtle shift in the tycoon’s cadence. Being highly socially adept, he smoothly pivoted to an entirely separate subject, launching into a lively account of his observations and experiences while living abroad.
The two conversed dynamically over dinner. As the meal drew to an absolute close, Gu Tuo finally extended his official corporate invitation: “Your concepts are exceptional. Have you ever considered joining the executive ranks of the Gu Group? We can systematically bring them to life together.”
The proposition sounded immensely tempting, yet Li Yizhou ultimately chose to decline. “I’ll pass on joining the firm. However, when my family’s corporation negotiates future joint ventures, we will grant absolute priority to the Gu Group.”
Evidently, Li Yizhou intended to launch his own independent venture.
Catching sight of the rare expression of absolute gravity mapping across Li Yizhou’s features, Gu Tuo knew his friend’s mind was set and further persuasion would be entirely futile. He smoothly let the matter drop.
Even though he had failed to recruit Li Yizhou into the conglomerate, the opportunity to converse so openly with a treasured old friend left Gu Tuo in high spirits. Driven by this profound satisfaction, he returned to his private estate feeling pleasantly, slightly tipsy, the tightly wound, ascetic nerves that typically dictated his existence gradually relaxing.
Slipping on the small bedside lamp in his bedroom, the warm, amber glow spilled across the room—and once again, the radiant, vivid face of the youth surfaced in his mind.
A sudden impulse stirred in Gu Tuo’s chest. For once in his life, he chose to unconditionally indulge himself. Riding the lingering warmth of the wine, he shot a text message to his executive assistant: Cancel the regional inspection scheduled for tomorrow afternoon at five o’clock.
Corporate labor was a mountain that could never be fully leveled. But he desperately wanted to see Fang Jinshi.
The following afternoon, when Gu Tuo walked through the doors of the florist, Fang Jinshi was in the middle of refreshing the water for the floral stock.
Due to a complete lack of proactive marketing and public outreach, the flower shop didn’t host an overly substantial amount of foot traffic. Though he had already touched base with his suppliers to scale back the volume of his daily inventory, a significant quantity of blossoms still remained. Handing a daily dose of nourishment to these rootless, delicate flowers was an absolute, mandatory core routine for Fang Jinshi.
Stepping through the threshold, the automated chime chimed a crisp “Welcome!” across the space. Gu Tuo immediately caught sight of Fang Jinshi straining to hoist a massive, overflowing basin of water, navigating his way toward a long row of display shelves.
The basin was filled to the absolute brim, its raw weight rendering the youth’s balance highly precarious as he wobbled slightly with each step. Before he could cover much distance, the front of his summer clothes had already been heavily splashed with water.
Gu Tuo took several rapid strides forward, smoothly intercepting the heavy vessel right from his hands. “Let me.”
Fang Jinshi flinched slightly in surprise, only now registering Gu Tuo’s presence. Seeing the tycoon actively taking charge, he abandoned any attempt at polite refusal, willingly surrendering the basin into his palms. “Thank you, Mr. Gu.
Could you help me settle it onto that flower shelf over there?”
Gu Tuo effortlessly deposited the basin onto the designated shelf. Noticing that the liquid inside carried a deep, concentrated amber hue and diffused a sharp, distinct aroma of tea, he couldn’t help but ask out of curiosity, “What exactly is this for?”
Instead of immediately solving his riddle, Fang Jinshi meticulously scanned the man from head to toe. Only when he confirmed that not a single drop of the dark tea water had splashed onto the tycoon’s immaculate suit did he finally let out a breath of relief. Smiling brightly, he explained, “It’s a specialized method to preserve fresh-cut flowers. Rootless blossoms are incredibly fragile and wither rapidly; if you simply submerge them in ordinary tap water, their shelf life spans a mere three to four days. However, if you replace the fresh water with cooled, concentrated tea, the hydration cycle is significantly reinforced, and the blossoms will open looking far more vibrant and robust.”
Pouring the tea water into an elegant vase, Fang Jinshi began carefully arranging the fresh blossoms inside one by one.
Sensing Gu Tuo’s steady, unblinking gaze anchored to his movements, he displayed zero nervousness, stating with absolute composure, “If you keep premium tea leaves stocked in your executive suite, you should definitely give it a try sometime.”
Gu Tuo gave a firm nod, musing that the technique was well worth a trial.
Both of them were young masters born into immensely wealthy, elite households, so neither found a single part of this suggestion unusual. It was a massive blessing that Gu Tuo’s personal assistant wasn’t present to overhear the exchange; otherwise, he would have likely screamed internally at their sheer, ungodly display of privilege. The tea leaves kept in the executive suite were exclusively reserved for high-ranking corporate clients and carried astronomical price tags. Utilizing such rare, legendary harvests merely to hydrate cut flowers? It was a staggering, absolute waste of precious treasure!
Only after systematically replacing the water for every single vase lining the display shelves did Fang Jinshi finally manage to free up his hands.
Looking at Gu Tuo with a deeply apologetic expression, he noted, “I am incredibly sorry, Mr. Gu. I was the one who passionately invited you out here to sit down, yet I ended up completely consumed by my own chores, leaving you entirely without proper hospitality.”
Gu Tuo harbored absolutely zero sensation of being neglected. On the very contrary, he found the sudden acquisition of niche botanical knowledge to be highly engaging.
When he voiced his objective thoughts, a brilliant smile instantly bloomed across Fang Jinshi’s face. “Well, that’s a relief then!”
A sudden impulse stirred in Gu Tuo’s chest, and he prodded further, “Is managing a florist truly this grueling every single day?”
Hearing the query, Fang Jinshi gave a firm nod. “It is immensely grueling. Tending to flora demands absolute precision and endless care. Every single step must be executed flawlessly down to the millimeter; the entire craft is essentially a series of micro-obstacles hidden within the details.”
Noticing that a few tiny beads of cold sweat were still clinging to the tip of the youth’s nose, Gu Tuo couldn’t help but suggest, “Why haven’t you hired staff to manage the labor for you?”
“The sales volume isn’t overly substantial right now, so bringing a full-time employee on payroll feels a bit like making a mountain out of a molehill.”
As he spoke, Fang Jinshi poured a fresh glass of tea from an elegant pot, sliding it toward Gu Tuo. It wasn’t any rare, astronomical harvest—merely a simple, customized fruit tea blend. Kept at room temperature, it ran neither hot nor cold, serving as the flawless refresher for a sweltering summer afternoon.
“Truthfully, it’s rather embarrassing,” Fang Jinshi noted, resting his chin in one palm while using his other hand to gently swirl his glass. The vibrant fragments of fresh fruit spun rhythmically inside the clear liquid, looking exactly like a joyful, spinning dance number. “Before the shop officially opened, my structural visions were incredibly idealized. It was only after sinking my teeth into the actual operations that I learned absolutely nothing on this earth is simple.”
Gu Tuo sat flawlessly upright, his posture perfectly rigid as he waited for the youth to expand on his thoughts.
Lifting his eyelids, Fang Jinshi caught sight of the tycoon sitting as straight as a fully drawn bowstring—completely incapable of relaxing his frame for even a fraction of a second. A sudden laugh escaped his lips. “Mr. Gu, please, relax your posture a bit. If you sit like that, you’re going to make me incredibly tense right alongside you.”
Unsure of how else to execute “relaxation,” Gu Tuo merely shifted his seating angle by a minor fraction.
Recognizing that the man was a lost cause on this matter, Fang Jinshi could only push forward with his monologue, slowly guiding the tycoon into the fluid atmosphere of the conversation.
It was only after operating this florist that he truly grasped the monumental weight of anchoring a fixed consumer base. The tempo of modern society ran at a frantic, breakneck pace; the number of individuals who possessed the luxury to actually lounge inside a flower shop, browsing books while inhaling the subtle aroma of fresh blossoms, was staggeringly scarce. Furthermore, his core target demographic—white-collar professionals who pursued a boutique lifestyle—frequently possessed their own established social hubs, and wouldn’t be easily swayed to abandon them merely because a new shop offered a standard opening discount.
“Even so, despite the curveballs and formatting issues of launching this venture, I am absolutely going to dig my heels in and see it through!”
Fang Jinshi locked his eyes onto Gu Tuo, sharing the underlying conviction behind his business. “At the end of the day, regardless of whether this space plays host to a sea of customers or remains completely empty, it stands as my absolute sanctuary away from the world.”
When he spoke those words, an intense, pure light radiated from the depths of his eyes. Even the cleanest, most unpolluted starry night Gu Tuo had ever witnessed in his life failed to harbor stars this brilliantly bright.
“The customers will come,” Gu Tuo stated evenly.
“Hmm?” His voice had dropped into such a soft, quiet cadence that Fang Jinshi failed to track the syllables clearly.
Gu Tuo’s expression turned exceptionally solemn, his gaze locking onto the youth with absolute gravity as he repeated, “The customers will come, the true confidants will arrive, and a beautifully joyful life will manifest for you.”
He looked staggeringly intense, his features perfectly serious and his tone carrying the deep weight of an absolute verdict. He didn’t resemble a man engaging in casual banter inside a boutique flower shop; instead, he looked exactly like an elite corporate assassin sitting at a high-stakes negotiation table, ruthlessly wrestling for supreme leverage against a rival.
Within the hierarchy of the Gu Group, not a single employee lacked terror when faced with their CEO in this serious mode. Yet this universally feared, untouchable titan appeared thoroughly endearing to Fang Jinshi.
The corners of his eyes curved beautifully into twin crescent moons as he gave a fierce nod of agreement. “You’re entirely right. Every single bit of it will arrive!”
For instance, his absolute “confidant”—had already stepped through his front doors precisely as destined.