Wait, Zhixing’s nickname is already Zhixing…
Wen Lan’s thoughts drifted farther and farther away.
“Wife?”
Lu Zhixing looked at her curiously.
“You seem distracted. What are you thinking about?”
Without thinking, Wen Lan answered,
“You.”
Lu Zhixing’s hand trembled.
He nearly knocked over the glass of milk beside him.
He had never expected Wen Lan to say something like that first thing in the morning…
Fortunately, the little girl was not here.
Feigning composure, he gave a light cough, though he no longer dared meet her eyes.
“I… I see.”
Wen Lan wished she could drag her own wandering thoughts back from a few seconds earlier.
Seeing the man’s shy expression, she could feel her own cheeks warming as well.
Still, she managed to remain more composed than he did.
She quickly answered,
“Mm.”
Turning her gaze outside, she immediately spotted the little girl.
“Dudu should be starting kindergarten soon, right?”
Wen Lan asked softly.
Lu Zhixing also looked toward the little girl.
By silent mutual agreement, they both pretended the previous conversation had never happened.
“Yes. She’ll be attending Angel Kindergarten nearby. She’ll be in the junior class.”
Wen Lan nodded.
That was good.
It was close to home, and Angel Kindergarten had an excellent teaching staff.
“She likes the piano. I’ll hire a piano teacher to come to the house and let her become familiar with it first. We’ll begin teaching her basic music theory next year.”
“For now, that’s all. If she develops other interests later, she can learn those too.”
Turning toward Wen Lan, Lu Zhixing asked,
“What do you think, Wife?”
“That sounds fine.”
Wen Lan had no objections.
Breakfast ended quickly.
After giving the little girl a hug, Wen Lan accompanied Lu Zhixing down to the underground garage.
The person who normally drove Lu Zhixing was a middle-aged man with an honest-looking face.
The moment he saw them approach, he hurried over to Lu Zhixing.
“President Lu.”
Lu Zhixing glanced at his wife and was just about to speak when Wen Lan beat him to it.
“I’ll be driving him today.”
Seeing that his employer raised no objections, the middle-aged driver blinked in surprise before nodding and handing the car keys to Wen Lan.
Wen Lan opened the driver’s door and slid into the driver’s seat. Reaching across with one long arm, she pushed open the front passenger door.
“Get in, Zhixing.”
“Ma’am, Boss, he…”
Wen Lan rolled the window halfway down, not quite catching what the driver had said.
“What was that?”
“N, nothing.”
The honest-looking middle-aged man waved his hand nervously, his face full of unease.
Wen Lan: …
Am I really that intimidating?
“Come on, Zhixing.”
After turning on the air conditioner, Wen Lan waited for him to settle into his seat before putting on some soft, relaxing music.
Although autumn had already arrived, the lingering summer heat still made the mornings stuffy. Out of consideration for Lu Zhixing, she did not set the air conditioning very cold.
The man’s lips were always a pale pink. Sitting there quietly, he somehow looked a little frail.
“What’s wrong? Are you feeling unwell?”
Noticing something was off, Wen Lan reached over and touched his forehead, but found nothing unusual.
“I’m fine.”
Lu Zhixing shook his head, suppressing the wave of nausea brought on by the smell of the air conditioning, and answered calmly.
Since he insisted he was fine, Wen Lan started the car.
She had already looked up the address of Lu Zhixing’s company, and with the navigation guiding her, the drive went smoothly.
Rush hour in Shangcheng had already passed, though the roads were still fairly busy.
Focused on driving, Wen Lan failed to notice the man beside her quietly watching her.
Lu Zhixing tightened his grip around his wrist, trying not to reveal anything unusual.
He had always hated the smell of car air conditioning. Old Zhou rarely turned it on because of that. Smelling it so suddenly now only made the nausea worse.
But…
This was his wife’s thoughtful gesture.
He could barely bring himself to accept her kindness, let alone reject it.
Stopping at a red light, Wen Lan turned to look at him.
To her surprise, his face seemed even paler, and his lips were pressed tightly together.
The moment he noticed her looking at him, he hurriedly turned his head away.
Then he gave a muffled cough, his brows knitting together involuntarily.
Watching his reaction, Wen Lan thought for a moment before picking up the insulated flask beside her and handing it to him.
As she did, her fingers brushed against his hand.
It felt rather cold.
The warm tea quickly eased the nausea in his stomach.
After taking several mouthfuls, Lu Zhixing screwed the lid back on and placed the flask into the cup holder.
Quietly taking a breath, he realized he could no longer smell the air conditioner.
Looking up, he saw that the air conditioning had been turned off and the window lowered halfway.
He fell silent for a moment.
Did Wife realize I can’t stand the smell of air conditioning?
As his thoughts wandered, something suddenly appeared before him.
A pink strawberry candy.
The wrapper was instantly familiar.
He had made it himself.
“Eating something sweet helps improve your mood.”
Wen Lan placed the candy into his hand.
Feeling that the back of his hand had finally warmed up again, she quietly breathed a sigh of relief.
He really is delicate.
He can’t even tolerate the smell of air conditioning.
She heard the crinkle of the wrapper being torn open, followed by the man’s soft voice.
“Thank you, Wife.”
The traffic light turned green.
Just before starting the car again, Wen Lan glanced over and saw him lowering his head to eat the candy.
Unable to help herself, she smiled.
Strawberry hard candy was one of her favorite snacks. She always kept a few pieces with her, never expecting they would actually come in handy.
Still…
Her legal husband really did resemble a little animal sometimes.
Maybe I really should get a cat.
The urge to own one grew even stronger.
A faint strawberry fragrance filled the small space inside the car.
With the candy resting against his tongue, the sweetness seemed to flow all the way into Lu Zhixing’s heart.
Looking down at the pink wrapper in his palm, he carefully folded it flat, little by little.
With one deft movement of his fingertips, he folded it into a heart and closed his hand around it.
The soothing music continued to play.
Glancing sideways at Wen Lan as she concentrated on driving, Lu Zhixing suddenly felt that what he had just done was rather childish.
But he liked it.
As long as it came from Wen Lan, he loved it.
Watching the company building draw nearer and nearer, Lu Zhixing found himself wishing, for the first time, that the office wasn’t so close to home.
“Zhixing, what time do you get off work?”
As Wen Lan rounded a corner and watched the road ahead, she asked gently,
“I’ll come pick you up.”
Lu Zhixing immediately decided that he would not work overtime tonight.
In fact, he would leave work early.
“Five o’clock.”
Wen Lan nodded.
Seeing the office tower just ahead, she leaned over and opened the passenger door for him.
“Then I’ll come get you at five.”
“Okay.”
Lu Zhixing pushed open the door.
One foot had already stepped onto the pavement when the words from 108 Little Tricks to Win Your Wife’s Affection suddenly flashed through his mind.
“What’s wrong?”
Seeing him remain motionless, Wen Lan was just about to get out of the car herself when he suddenly turned back.
Leaning down, he gave her a quick kiss.
The touch lasted only an instant.
Then he turned and left without looking back.
No, he practically ran away.
Wen Lan clearly saw the tips of his ears glowing a brilliant red.
She froze.
For a long while, she couldn’t recover from the surprise.
…Did he just flirt with me?
Touching the slightly damp spot on her right cheek, she felt the blood rush to her face until it burned with heat.
My legal husband is just too adorable.
He looked like a mature, capable man on the outside, yet everything he did became more childish than the last.
As if she hadn’t noticed him secretly folding that little heart.
The paper stars in the little girl’s room had definitely been folded by him too.
With Dudu’s chubby little fingers, there was no way she could manage such delicate paper folding.
Recalling the way Lu Zhixing had secretly and carefully folded the heart just now, Wen Lan couldn’t help laughing.
Lu Zhixing really is an adorable fool.
After lingering there for a moment, she started the car and headed toward Zhou Nian’s company.
168 Chang’an Road, Haimen District.
“Good morning, President Lu.”
“Good morning, President Lu.”
With his usual cool expression, Lu Zhixing gave a slight nod.
“Good morning, everyone.”
With that, he stepped into his private elevator.
He needed to work more efficiently today.
He had to finish everything before his wife arrived.
The men at the reception desk all stood to greet him.
Only after Lu Zhixing disappeared from sight did they dare lower their voices and gossip.
What Xiao Wu had accidentally witnessed earlier had completely shocked every one of them.
“Wu Yu, are you sure you really saw the president kiss someone?”
Zhao Yun could barely contain his curiosity.
That was the famous Lu Zhixing they were talking about.
Cold and impartial, never smiling.
Zhao Yun had worked at the company for a full year and had never once seen their boss smile.
And now Xiao Wu was claiming that the president had actually bent down to kiss someone?
Wu Yu rolled his eyes impatiently.
“I told you already, but none of you believe me. If you don’t believe it, then forget it.”
“Did you at least see who the president kissed?”
Zhou Weitong quickly nudged him and lowered her voice.
“No.”
“The president completely blocked the other person from view. How could I have seen them? Besides, he was walking so fast. The moment I saw him heading toward the building, I didn’t dare keep staring.”
Wu Yu curled his lips.
“But doesn’t our president already have a wife? Do you think he might…”
Rubbing his chin, Zhao Yun found his own speculation a little too scandalous.
“Shh, shut your mouth.”
Wu Yu immediately covered his coworker’s mouth and shot him a glare.
“The boss hates it when anyone brings up his wife. You’re not allowed to say a single word about her. Do you still want to keep this job?”
Their president had expressly forbidden employees from discussing his private family affairs, which naturally included his wife.
However, he never avoided bringing the young miss to the company.
Everyone in the company understood the unspoken truth.
Their president and his wife were a couple in name only, outwardly maintaining appearances while secretly despising each other.
Zhao Yun blinked to indicate he understood.
Only then did Wu Yu let go and return to his desk.
What he had seen today had been far too shocking.
The president actually has someone on the side!
No wonder he hardly ever goes home…
Rumors always found a way to spread through the tiniest cracks until they became a raging storm.
Today, the entire Lu Group was unusually restless.
Lu Zhixing set down his pen and looked up at his uncle, who also happened to be the deputy manager of the Product Department.
Speaking unhurriedly, he asked,
“Uncle Feng, this is already the third time you’ve come into my office today. You haven’t said a word. Is there something you need?”
Lu Feng was already well past fifty.
His position was easygoing, essentially a retirement role within the company. His daily work consisted of little more than light duties to keep himself occupied.
“Well, Zhixing…”
Uncle Feng gave a light cough before pulling a book out from behind his back and placing it in front of Lu Zhixing.
“You understand what I mean, right? I’m old now. Young people can have a little fun, but family should always come first. Don’t you agree?”
His meaning was as tactful as possible.
Even if Lu Zhixing was secretly keeping a lover, he shouldn’t let the company’s employees see it.
The corner of Lu Zhixing’s mouth twitched as he stared at the book in front of him, The Male Commandments.
Listening to his uncle’s completely baffling speech, he found the entire situation absurd.
What on earth is he talking about?
Uncle Feng really was getting old.
Looking at the faint streaks of gray in his uncle’s hair, Lu Zhixing quietly took a deep breath.
Maintaining a calm expression, he simply nodded, already deciding to transfer Uncle Feng to an even more relaxed position in a few days.
“I’m glad you understand.”
Seeing him nod, Lu Feng immediately beamed.
Just as I thought.
Young people making mistakes isn’t scary. What’s important is correcting them.
Those old fossils in the department had insisted he personally talk some sense into Zhixing.
Yet after saying only a single sentence, Zhixing had understood immediately.
Just as expected of the child with such a crystal-clear heart since he was little.
“Alright then, I’ll leave you to your work.”
Watching his uncle leave, Lu Zhixing immediately pressed the intercom.
“Don’t let anyone disturb me today.”
“Before five this afternoon, I won’t be seeing anyone.”
He was going home with his wife today.
He truly did not want any unnecessary interruptions.
Meanwhile, after leaving, Uncle Feng enthusiastically shared his “great achievement” and the president’s wisdom with everyone in the department.
After passing from person to person, the rumor gradually transformed into a story no one could have imagined.
According to the latest version…
The president of Lu Group had a beloved secret lover.
The two had somehow quarreled today.
Because of this lover, the president had refused to see anyone, shut himself inside his office, and had even canceled all his meetings.
Speculation spread in every direction.
Yet everyone agreed on one thing.
Whoever had managed to captivate the president of Lu Group had to be an irresistible femme fatale.
After all…
The president was still a married man.
Those who heard the gossip couldn’t help sighing.
Others were simply dying of curiosity.
Just what kind of woman could possibly steal the heart of their notoriously cold-faced president?
Completely unaware of the rumors circulating outside, Lu Zhixing tried to focus on his paperwork.
Yet his gaze kept drifting uncontrollably toward the clock on the wall.
Every time he buried himself in work for a while and looked up to see the hands had moved forward, he felt both happy and nervous.
He felt like a kindergarten child waiting for an adult to come pick him up.
The more time passed, the more eagerly he anticipated it.
I wonder what Wife is doing right now.
Staring blankly at the document in his hand, Lu Zhixing quickly snapped back to his senses and resumed working.
Meanwhile…
Wen Lan rubbed her forehead with a headache as she looked at the woman standing before her.