“Welcome!”
Dong Yue stood at the entrance, carefully examining the less-than-twenty-square-meter dessert shop before him.
Having learned from Yan Lie yesterday that Ni Chang worked here every day after school, he had specifically come to check the place out during his free time today.
“One cappuccino, please.”
Ni Manxin looked up in surprise, staring blankly at Dong Yue as he gazed at her with a smile in his eyes.
Why is he here? Does he know I work here? But wait! I don’t remember telling him about this!
Only when Dong Yue repeated his order did Ni Manxin snap out of her daze and quickly pour him a cup of coffee.
The afternoon sunlight refracted off Dong Yue’s red hair as he sat by the window, making it particularly dazzling.
“Oh my! Manxin, tell me, why are all the men these days so handsome? How are we women supposed to survive in this world?” A junior schoolmate working alongside her sighed dramatically.
“Wipe that lovesick look off your face – you’re practically drooling! Aren’t you embarrassed?” Ni Manxin teased.
She had felt earlier that this man was different from others, though she couldn’t quite pinpoint how. There was just this feeling, a familiar sensation, as if she had met him somewhere before.
“Senior, you’re staring too! That’s rare!” The junior followed Ni Manxin’s gaze and couldn’t resist mocking her with a laugh.
“What are you talking about! He’s Fang Yi’s crush, you better watch out or she might…” Ni Manxin made a throat-slitting gesture while sticking out her tongue, bursting into laughter.
“Fang Yi? Fang Yi knows him? What’s their relationship, or did he come here today specifically to see Fang Yi?” At this, the junior’s curious and gossipy face pressed close to Manxin, afraid of missing any important information.
Hearing her junior’s words, Ni Manxin suddenly had an epiphany. Right! Why hadn’t she thought of that? So his appearance here today made perfect sense. It seemed Fang Yi had made her move quite quickly.
“Ni Manxin?”
Ni Manxin quickly turned around, examining the fair-skinned young man before her with suspicious eyes. After thinking for a long moment, she couldn’t help but exclaim: “You’re Yubo? Tang Yubo?”
“Glad you still remember me! I thought after all these years apart, you’d have forgotten me completely. So? You work here?” Tang Yubo said.
Not wanting to explain her family situation to her childhood friend, Ni Manxin hastily changed the subject.
“Yubo, why are you here?” Ni Manxin couldn’t help asking.
Tang Yubo looked at Ni Manxin and shrugged helplessly: “My father wants me to take over the family business, but naturally I’m not cut out for that. So I ran away and came here to seek refuge with you!”
“Seek refuge with me? Who would believe that! Tell me the truth – why are you here? If you keep spouting nonsense, I’ll beat you up.” Ni Manxin waved her small pink fist in front of him.
Fang Yi emerged from the back room and immediately spotted Dong Yue sitting by the window, his expression cold and stern as he watched Ni Manxin.
Deliberately walking over to Ni Manxin, Fang Yi smiled at Tang Yubo and asked pointedly: “Manxin, is this your boyfriend? He’s quite handsome!”
Just as Ni Manxin opened her mouth to deny it, Tang Yubo cut her off: “This sister sure knows how to talk! My Ni Manxin can be a bit immature, please go easy on her in the future.”Fang Yi was instantly amused by the man before her. Sister? This youngster was calling her sister—a hundred-thousand-year-old being addressed as “sister” by someone in their twenties. Fang Yi couldn’t help but laugh aloud.
“Can I take her away now?” Tang Yubo seized the moment to ask.
Without another word, Fang Yi quickly pushed Ni Manxin toward Tang Yubo: “Go, go, hurry up and leave!”
Tang Yubo took Ni Manxin’s hand and walked out of the shop. Just then, the junior schoolmate let out a frustrated sigh: “I was so busy staring at Ni Manxin that I didn’t even notice when the handsome guy by the window left.”
Hearing this, Fang Yi immediately glanced toward the window—sure enough, Dong Yue had vanished silently at some point.
“By the way, Fang Yi, I heard from Manxin that the red-haired guy is your boyfriend?”
Fang Yi stood frozen in place, staring blankly at her junior schoolmate. Boyfriend? Is that what Ni Manxin said? That’s just perfect.
Noticing earlier that the man named Yubo seemed particularly attentive to Ni Chang, why not play along and be the good matchmaker? That way, she could also create more opportunities to get closer to Dong Yue.
“Yubo, where are you dragging me? Wasn’t it fine for you to stay in S City? Why did you come all the way here?”
Tang Yubo replied helplessly, “To be honest, my dad wants me to go on a blind date. I heard the other person isn’t just incredibly ugly but also naturally foolish.”
Ni Manxin stared at Tang Yubo in disbelief. She had always known he had high standards—if the other person was really as he described, how humiliating would that be?
“If your dad is personally arranging the blind date, she probably isn’t as bad as you say, right? If she really is, what does your dad see in her family?”
Tang Yubo lowered his head, kicking a pebble on the street: “Her family is rich, you get it? A marriage alliance! A business marriage!”
With that, Ni Manxin completely understood. She recalled their childhood in S City, when their families lived across from each other and they were even betrothed as childhood sweethearts. After her parents took her away, they never returned, and the arranged marriage was eventually forgotten.
“Ni Manxin, I have nowhere to go tonight. Can I stay at your place?”
“Stay at my place? Are you sure? Is it appropriate for a grown man to stay at my house?”
Tang Yubo pouted: “What’s inappropriate? We even slept together when we were kids! Enough talk, hurry up and take me home. I’m starving.” He tightly gripped Ni Manxin’s hand and pulled her forward.
Because of Tang Yubo’s arrival, Ni Manxin had to rush to the supermarket every evening to buy his favorite snacks. After spending these past few days together, she realized his tastes hadn’t changed at all.
That day, when Fang Yi saw her bringing Yubo home, she looked utterly shocked and came to her room that night to interrogate her.
Ni Manxin initially wanted to clarify things, but somehow the more she explained, the messier it became. Eventually, she gave up and decided to let Fang Yi think whatever she wanted.
Just as she was about to take out her keys to unlock the door, she ran into Dong Yue, whom she hadn’t seen for days.
Dong Yue looked puzzled at the pile of snacks in her arms. He knew Ni Manxin rarely ate snacks, so it was unusual to see her like this.
“Do you have a guest at home?”
Before Ni Manxin could answer, she saw Tang Yubo, dressed in pajamas, crossing the garden to open the door for her.
Suddenly, a fierce wind blew, and a cold gust sent shivers down Ni Manxin’s spine.
Ni Manxin forced a smile at Dong Yue before being half-embraced by Tang Yubo as they entered the house.
Dong Yue clenched his jaw, took several deep breaths, then turned and walked back to his own residence.
Fang Yi watched the two downstairs in the living room snacking and watching TV, unable to suppress the upward curve of her lips.
If Dong Yue knew about this, who knows how he would react. Given his temperament, he would absolutely not tolerate another man staying at Ni Manxin’s place!