On the last Saturday of the year, Li Yixun was still working overtime at the company, finally finishing all her work by 3 PM.
Thank goodness, the work wouldn’t have to wait until next year.
A new year means a new beginning; no overworked office worker would disbelieve in this little superstition about working into the new year.
Li Yixun finally breathed a sigh of relief and clicked the shutdown button without hesitation. After the page circle spun a few times, the computer finally stopped working.
The world seemed to stop turning for a moment. The darkened computer screen reflected a face ravaged by deadlines; even makeup couldn’t hide the weariness and dullness in Li Yixun’s eyes.
Li Yixun picked up her bag and walked out. After reminding her subordinates who were still working overtime to leave early, she checked her phone for messages she hadn’t seen in the past few hours.
Surprisingly, at 2:21 PM, there was a message from her “plastic husband” in the pinned WeChat chat window.
“Are you at the company?”
Li Yixun didn’t hesitate and immediately called Chen Nian back.
The call connected quickly. “Hello?”
It was relatively quiet on the other end. Li Yixun pressed the elevator button and asked, “I’m at the company. Is there something you need?”
“I’m at the Starbucks downstairs from your company. Are you done? Want to come down?”
Upon hearing this, Li Yixun canceled the B2 floor button and pressed the 1 floor button instead. His voice was light when he spoke again, “Then order me a latte. I’m just getting off work.”
“Okay.”
When Li Yixun entered the store, Chen Nian had just picked up his latte and was about to return to his seat.
Chen Nian seemed to have no work scheduled today. He was dressed casually, exuding a lazy air, looking like a male college student wandering around on the weekend. Perhaps he had taken off his coat indoors, as he was only wearing a white sweater and holding a red Starbucks Christmas paper cup. He stood there waving at her, his eyes brimming with a subtle, overflowing smile.
Broad shoulders and long legs, her husband looked like a character straight out of a comic book.
Li Yixun admitted that her heart skipped a beat the moment Chen Nian waved to her.
Even at eighty, she’d probably still be obsessed with men.
She cursed herself inwardly, thinking, “All appearances are illusions. How could I be such a lecher?”
Chen Nian led Li Yixun back to her seat, placed a warm toffee hazelnut latte on the table, and pushed it towards her.
“A Christmas limited edition toffee hazelnut. You only mentioned latte, so I took the liberty of ordering it.”
Li Yixun picked up the paper cup and took a sip. It was perfectly sweet. She glanced at the label—one pump of sugar, a familiar scent.
The chill from her journey seemed to be effortlessly dispelled by this latte, and the fatigue from work was gently and subtly soothed by the sugar. Chen Nian scrutinized her closely, then suddenly spoke, “Your pimples are gone?”
Li Yixun was startled. “How did you know?!”
“You sent it yourself. I was abroad that day, and because of the time difference, I missed replying for a long time. I came back today specifically to check it out in person.” Chen Nian found it amusing; Li Yixun hadn’t texted her with such a lively tone in a long time.
Li Yixun suddenly remembered that day when she was too lazy to type a complaint, she casually forwarded the message to other friends, possibly accidentally sending it to Chen Nian.
She glared at Chen Nian awkwardly, but inadvertently melted in his radiant smile.
Perhaps it was his sudden initiative today that gave her courage, perhaps it was the perfect latte, perhaps it was the warm Christmas atmosphere at Starbucks… Li Yixun suddenly felt a surge of urgency to confide in him; she had so many trivial things she wanted to share with the person in front of her.
“I don’t know if I’ve told you before, but I really love Starbucks’ Christmas paper cups, and I also love toffee hazelnut lattes.”
“Yeah, I remember. You also can’t stand anything too sweet.” Chen Nian chuckled as he sipped his iced Americano, recalling, “That year, because I ordered regular sugar with my milk tea, you took one sip and didn’t touch it.”
Li Yixun clearly remembered, too, a relaxed smile playing on his lips. “Yes, you said I was wasteful, but you wouldn’t help me finish the rest, you wouldn’t even throw it away.”
“I hate sweets. Besides, I was on a diet at the time, and if I drank that awful sugary drink, my coach would increase my evening workout.”
“Why should I waste calories on sweets? I’d rather eat some protein.” Chen Nian shrugged, speechless. He clearly couldn’t understand why anyone would love such a sweet liquid.
Today, Chen Nian seemed to be under some kind of magical spell, unusually talkative and playful, like a genuinely simple and happy college student.
Li Yixun couldn’t find the reason for Chen Nian’s unusual behavior. It had been a very long time since they had sat together so relaxed and chatted like this. There was no tension, no unspoken restraint between them.
After considering for a while, still worried about Chen Nian’s state, she decided to break this fragile yet beautiful moment. “Is something wrong? You seem to be in a strange mood today.”
Chen Nian stroked his chin thoughtfully, then gave a playful smile. “Secrets make a gentleman gentle.”
Li Yixun didn’t press him, giving him an OK sign, and turned the topic to herself. “I was rushing to meet a deadline today, and I finally finished all my work… but then I thought, the year is almost over.”
Chen Nian shook his head, offering his perspective. “Obviously, ‘A new year is about to begin’ would be more appropriate, expressing new expectations and aspirations.”
Li Yixun had had enough of being a lackey at the company; outside, she naturally wanted to seize the opportunity of free speech to sharply criticize Chen Nian, who was the same age as her but of a completely different social class.
“That tone sounds strangely familiar; I bet that’s the same line our boss used in his New Year’s speech. No wonder we’re both CEOs; you’re the one who can pull off grand promises!”
“So, with a new year comes new beginnings. How much of a raise are you planning, Mr. Chen?”
Chen Nian asked her, feigning seriousness. “How much is Mrs. Chen’s monthly salary? Is Mr. Chen so rich that he doesn’t spend any of it on you? That’s really pitiful.”
Li Yixun lifted her eyelids to look at the seemingly innocent Chen Nian, not quite understanding what he was playing at. But if he wanted, she’d be happy to play along today.
“If it were you, Mrs. Chen would probably be happy to give you money to spend,” Li Yixun teased casually, thinking that the adorable Chen Nian deserved a kiss on the cheek.
But she also noticed the bright red lipstick mark on the paper cup, so she casually wiped away the remaining lipstick with a tissue. Just as she finished dealing with the potential lipstick mark and was about to lean over and steal a kiss on his cheek, she looked up and noticed the change in Chen Nian’s expression. It was like being watched by a vicious wolf, the poor prey about to be pounced on. This wolf would use its sharp fangs to slowly and deliberately savor its most prized possession.
It was precisely because the prey had come to it that its fighting spirit was so quickly ignited; the wolf wanted nothing more than to flaunt its uniqueness to the world. If the prey let out a painful, weak wail before dying, it would give the ferocious wolf an overwhelming sense of exhilaration.
That powerful and determined gaze was impossible to ignore; Li Yixun realized that Chen Nian had been observing her all along.
Years of tacit understanding made Li Yixun perfectly aware of the meaning behind that look.
Sure enough, the next second Chen Nian quickly grabbed his coat, picked up her bag, and half-carried, half-pulled her towards the door.
“Crazy,” Li Yixun gritted her teeth and cursed him in his arms.
Chen Nian couldn’t help but smile. He bit her ear, his voice hoarse, “Li Yixun, you’re too concerned about your image. If I hadn’t wiped off my lipstick, I probably wouldn’t have realized your intentions.”