Shu Hua didn’t lift her head, thinking to herself, Isn’t it obvious? I’m doing flower arranging.
Yet her lips were mischievous: “I’m performing the ‘Beauty Flower-Arranging Show’, exclusive session—Mr. Pei is lucky to observe.”
She lifted her head and winked at him.
Pei Yanzhou stood while she sat, the angle giving him a clear view of the pale skin at her slightly open neckline and the faint curve beneath. His eyes darkened for a moment, but he said nothing.
“Finished your work?” Shu Hua asked while trimming the extra leaves.
“Not yet.” Pei Yanzhou rubbed his brow. “Do you have an extra USB drive? Mine’s full.”
“A USB?” Shu Hua paused, thinking. “I think I have a new one… wait, I’ll go find it.”
She put down the scissors and walked toward the wardrobe.
Pei Yanzhou’s gaze followed her back, noting how her narrow waist seemed so fragile it might snap, the ruffled hem swaying lightly with each step.
Soon, Shu Hua returned with a pink, cartoon-styled USB drive, handing it to him. “Here, this one hasn’t been used.”
Pei Yanzhou took it, raising an eyebrow at the style so unlike his own. “Thanks.”
“You’re welcome.” Shu Hua’s attention returned to her flowers as she sat back down, carefully tending to the roses.
Pei Yanzhou watched her for a few seconds before returning to the study.
Less than a minute after the study door closed, Shu Hua suddenly froze.
Wait… that pink USB…
It was the one Chi Yuchu had given her last time! The one supposedly containing “tutorial materials” and “exclusive private videos”!
She had shoved it into the drawer for watches, completely forgetting about it until now.
“Oh no, oh no, oh no…” Shu Hua’s face drained of color, and the bouquet slipped from her hands onto the rug.
She absolutely could not let Pei Yanzhou see it!
Without even grabbing her slippers, she dashed barefoot toward the study.
“Pei Yanzhou! Wait!” she gasped, pushing open the study door.
Pei Yanzhou, just about to sit at the desk and plug the pink USB into his computer, froze at her sudden appearance. His eyes lowered to her bare feet on the cold floor, frowning. “Why aren’t you wearing shoes?”
Shu Hua didn’t care about shoes. She ran forward in a few quick steps, reaching for the USB. “This USB is broken! It doesn’t work!”
Pei Yanzhou casually raised his hand, avoiding hers. “Broken?” he asked, curious.
“Yes! Broken! I just remembered!” Shu Hua stomped her feet anxiously. “Give it to me now, I’ll buy you a new one tomorrow!”
Seeing her flustered, flushed face, the cute style of the USB, and her earlier panic, Pei Yanzhou probably had a pretty good idea what was going on.
Instead of giving it back, he held the USB higher, deliberately teasing her: “Broken or not, why not just try plugging it in and see?”
“No!” Shu Hua instantly protested, hopping to reach. “You can’t try it! It’s broken, I tell you! Give it back!”
At 168 cm, Shu Hua wasn’t short for a woman, but facing Pei Yanzhou’s 188 cm, she still looked small. Besides, he was clearly teasing her, holding it just out of reach.
“Pei Yanzhou!” she called, exasperated, using his full name. “Give it to me!”
“No.” He watched her spin and jump in frustration, amused, like a flustered little kitten. “Tell me what’s on it, and I’ll give it back.”
“Nothing’s on it!” Shu Hua insisted, bouncing on her toes.
After a few failed attempts, she froze.
Her eyes welled up, the redness spreading visibly, her nose turning pink, lips trembling—looking utterly wronged.
Her hair, loosened from her earlier rush, fell in a few stray strands, making her look pitifully adorable.
“Pei Yanzhou…” she said, her voice quivering with the tiniest hint of tears, soft and weak, “you’re bullying me…”
Pei Yanzhou froze. He hadn’t expected her to cry.
The USB in his hand suddenly felt like a hot potato. His playful teasing vanished instantly, replaced by panic and heartache.
“You’re crying?” He lowered his hand and leaned closer, his voice softening. “Really crying?”
Shu Hua turned her face away, tears streaming silently down her cheeks, shoulders shaking with quiet sobs.
Pei Yanzhou was the clumsiest when it came to comforting a crying woman. Awkwardly, he reached out to wipe her tears. “Don’t cry… I won’t tease you anymore. Here—okay?”
He held out the USB toward her.
Shu Hua didn’t even glance at it, letting out a heavy snort through her nose, and turned to leave.
“Shu Hua.” Pei Yanzhou called her.
She ignored him, walking quickly out of the study barefoot, her posture full of stubbornness and grievance.
Pei Yanzhou looked at the pink USB in his hand, then at the direction she had gone, feeling—perhaps for the first time—the sting of being “beaten at his own game.” He hesitated for two seconds, then took long strides to follow her.
In the bedroom, Shu Hua was back on the carpet, sitting with her back to the door, continuing to arrange the roses, her movements noticeably annoyed.
Pei Yanzhou knelt beside her. “The floor is cold. Don’t sit here—get up and do it properly.”
Shu Hua ignored him, tossing the trimmed leaves into the trash with a little more force than necessary.
Seeing her flushed eyes and red nose, his guilt deepened. He reached under her arms, lifting her up gently but firmly.
“Ah!” Shu Hua gasped, too shocked to react, and suddenly found herself sitting on the soft sofa, perched on his lap.
“Pei Yanzhou, put me down!” she struggled.
He didn’t. One arm circled her waist, the other brushed the loose strands of hair behind her ear. His voice lowered: “Really angry?”
Shu Hua turned her face away, silent.
Pei Yanzhou sighed, took out the pink USB, and placed it in her hand. “Here. No more teasing.”
The cool touch of the USB against her palm finally eased her tension.
With the USB back in hand, her heart felt like a weight lifted.
Yet she still kept a stern expression, turning to glare at him with watery eyes, her voice laced with lingering grievance and a hint of petulance: “Pei Yanzhou, you made me angry just now. You owe me an apology.”
Pei Yanzhou raised an eyebrow in surprise.
Seeing her red eyes and pouty lips, he felt all his temper melt away.
“Sorry,” he said sincerely. “It’s my fault. I shouldn’t have teased you.”
Shu Hua hadn’t expected such a straightforward apology. She froze for a moment, then her lips couldn’t help curling into a slight smile, which she quickly suppressed. She huffed, pretending magnanimity: “Alright, since you’re so sincere, I won’t hold it against you. But next time, don’t do that.”
Shu Xiao Hua knew how to graciously handle a superior.
“So easy to appease?” Pei Yanzhou chuckled, gently flicking her nose.
“Not easy to appease,” she corrected, raising her chin with a mock “I’m very magnanimous” air. “It’s that I’m good-natured, generous, and don’t bother with petty arguments.”
Pei Yanzhou’s low laugh rumbled in his chest as he tightened his hold on her waist, drawing her closer. “Yes, Mrs. Pei, your generosity humbles me.”
Shu Hua blushed slightly at his praise and pushed him lightly. “Have you finished your work? Go on, then.”
“Sending me away?” he raised an eyebrow.
“I just don’t want to keep the ever-busy Mr. Pei from his duties.” Shu Hua held the USB tightly in her hand.
What a close call… she almost suffered social death.
She decided she would find a chance tomorrow to completely destroy that USB.