Wen Xi suddenly lifted her head.
Her eyes lit up instantly. She opened her mouth, wanting to say something, but not a single word came out—
It was too sudden, too unexpected. She had not even had time to react.
Then she did something even she herself had not expected.
She threw her arms around Fu Linfeng.
Her arms wrapped around his waist, her face buried against his chest as her entire body pressed against him.
She moved so abruptly that she bumped him backward half a step, wrinkling the freshly pressed dark blue shirt beneath her grip.
“Thank you!”
Her voice was muffled against his chest, hurried and bright with unconcealed excitement.
“Fu Linfeng, you’re too good! You’re really too good! I promise I won’t waste the money! I’ll definitely do my best! I absolutely won’t disappoint you!”
She blurted out an entire stream of words in one breath, rambling and incoherent, even stumbling over herself midway through.
Her hands clutched tightly at the shirt he had just put on, turning the crisp, ironed fabric into a wrinkled mess.
Fu Linfeng froze.
Not because she hugged him—
But because he did not know how to respond.
He stood there with both arms suspended awkwardly in midair, like a robot that had suddenly been paused.
His expression did not change, but his mind had gone completely blank in that instant.
It had been a very, very long time since anyone had hugged him like this.
Not the polite hugs of social etiquette.
Not the perfunctory handshakes and pats on the shoulder from business occasions.
But a genuine embrace filled with warmth and emotion, wholehearted and without reservation.
Her body was soft and warm. Pressed against his chest, he could feel her heartbeat—
Fast and lively, like a cheerful little bird.
Her hair brushed against his chin, ticklish, carrying the faint scent of shampoo.
Fu Linfeng’s hands, still hovering awkwardly in the air, slowly lowered.
One hand rested against her back, while the other gently pressed the back of her head.
The movements were stiff and unnatural, like someone who had not performed the action in a very long time and was trying hard to remember how.
“Alright.” His voice was low, carrying a trace of huskiness that was difficult to detect. “You wrinkled my shirt.”
Only then did Wen Xi realize what she had just done.
Her face instantly burned red, as if someone had poured boiling water over her.
She abruptly released him and stumbled back two steps, lowering her head so quickly she looked like she wanted to disappear into the floor.
“I… I didn’t mean to… I was just too happy…”
Fu Linfeng glanced down at his shirt.
The fabric over his chest had been twisted into a wrinkled mess by her grip, and even the tie had been pushed crooked.
He reached up and tugged at the tie, adjusting it back into place before looking up at the small woman in front of him who looked as though she wanted to shrink her head into her neck.
Her face was red.
From her cheeks to her ears, from her ears all the way down her neck.
Her hair was even messier now. That sudden hug had completely ruined the already untidy ponytail, leaving loose strands sticking to her cheeks in a thoroughly disheveled state.
Looking at her like this, the corner of Fu Linfeng’s lips finally lifted.
Not by much.
Just a slight upward curve at the corners of his mouth, a touch more warmth in his eyes.
But it was a smile.
A real smile, one that genuinely came from his heart.
“I’m leaving.”
He turned and walked out of the dressing room, picked up his car keys and coat from the entrance hall, changed his shoes, and opened the door.
Wen Xi stood rooted to the spot, her heartbeat pounding so hard it felt ready to leap from her chest.
She clutched the wrinkled hem of her pajamas and stood at the doorway of the dressing room, watching his figure disappear outside.
The moment the door closed, she heard the sound of an engine starting outside before gradually fading away.
Slowly, she crouched down onto the carpet in the dressing room and buried her burning face against her knees.
“Wen Xi, are you crazy…”
She muttered to herself in a muffled voice so soft only she could hear it.
“How did you just hug him like that… Is something wrong with your brain…”
She stayed crouched there for quite a while before finally standing up.
Walking into the bathroom, she glanced at herself in the mirror—
Her hair looked like a bird’s nest, her face was blotchy red and pale, her pajamas were wrinkled beyond recognition, and the marks on her collarbone were clearly exposed.
Looking at herself in the mirror, she could not help smiling.
Then she picked up her toothbrush, squeezed toothpaste onto it, and began brushing her teeth.
Halfway through brushing, with foam filling her mouth, she suddenly stopped and blinked at her reflection in the mirror.
He agreed.
He had agreed to the flower shop.
Fu Group Corporation.
When Fu Linfeng walked into the Fu Group Corporation building, he was exactly fifty minutes later than usual.
The receptionist in the first-floor lobby dropped the pen in her hand the moment she saw him.
She had worked at this position for three years—over a thousand working days—and had never once seen Fu Linfeng appear in the building after eight o’clock.
The most outrageous incident had been during last year’s once-in-a-century snowstorm. The entire city’s transportation system had been paralyzed, and everyone arrived late.
Everyone except Fu Linfeng.
Rumor had it he had walked for forty minutes—
And still arrived at the office on time.
Yet today, the weather was clear, traffic flowed smoothly, and the sunlight was bright—
Fu Linfeng was late.
As he walked through the lobby, his steps remained as steady as always, his expression as indifferent as ever.
Anyone looking at him would never think anything about him was unusual today.
The only unusual thing—
Was the time he appeared.
The receptionist watched him enter the private elevator. The instant the elevator doors closed, she immediately pulled out her phone and sent a message into the company group chat.
“President Fu was late today. Fifty minutes.”
The group chat remained silent for about three seconds.
Then it exploded.
“What??? President Fu?? Late??”
“Are your eyes broken or are mine?”
“Is today April Fool’s Day?”
“Impossible. Absolutely impossible. Even if the sky collapsed, President Fu wouldn’t be late.”
“I saw it with my own eyes!” the receptionist typed furiously, fingers practically smoking. “And guess what? His tie was slightly crooked today!”
After that message was sent, the group chat fell into an even deeper silence.
His tie was crooked.
Fu Linfeng’s tie—
Was crooked.
That man who could not tolerate even a wrinkle on a cuff.
That man who demanded subordinates align PowerPoint slides down to the pixel level—
His tie was crooked.
“The sky is falling,” someone typed into the group chat.
Everyone reacted with likes.
Top floor. Hallway.
Chen Mo stood outside the office holding a freshly brewed cup of coffee.
He glanced at his watch—
Eight fifty.
Then he looked toward the elevator—
No one.
He turned around, set the coffee on his desk, and checked the message Old Zhou had sent him:
“Madam hasn’t left the house yet.”
Chen Mo lowered his phone and stood expressionlessly in the hallway, waiting.
About three minutes later—
The elevator chimed.
The doors opened.
Fu Linfeng stepped out.
His suit was immaculate, his steps steady, his expression indifferent—
Everything appeared normal.
Except for that tie. The knot was indeed slightly smaller than usual, and it sat about one centimeter off-center.
Chen Mo’s gaze paused on the tie for exactly half a second before immediately moving away, his expression unchanged.
“Good morning, President Fu.”
“Mm.”
Fu Linfeng pushed open the office door and walked inside.
Chen Mo followed behind him, placing the prepared documents onto the desk before handing over the day’s schedule.
“At ten this morning, the quarterly board meeting. Estimated duration: two hours. At twelve-thirty, lunch with President Zhou from Wansheng Group. At three in the afternoon, the new project launch meeting—”
“Understood.”
Fu Linfeng sat down and opened the documents before him.
Chen Mo stood there and hesitated for one second—
Only one second.
Having followed Fu Linfeng for five years, he knew exactly when he should speak and when he should not.
Ordinarily, under circumstances like today’s, he should not ask.
But if he did not ask, it would seem even more deliberate.
“President Fu.”
Chen Mo’s tone remained calm and professional.
“Was there some delay on the road this morning? Do we need to adjust the later schedule?”
Fu Linfeng turned a page in the document without even lifting his head.
“It’s nothing. I overslept.”