If they were in a café, latte art like this would be perfectly normal.
But now it was just a man and a woman alone in the same room.
What did it mean when he suddenly made a heart?
You Jue’s expression turned cold. He glanced at the coffee again, trying to convince himself.
Maybe it was just her habit.
But when he looked up, he saw Ni Xia staring at him with sparkling eyes, her face full of expectation.
“Do you like it? I made the heart three times!”
“…”
You Jue picked up the delicate ceramic spoon and stirred the coffee. The layered hearts immediately turned into a strange-looking mass of foam.
Then he took a sip and nearly finished the whole cup.
“It’s okay. A little sour.”
“…”
What bad taste.
These were Jamaican Blue Mountain coffee beans.
But Ni Xia still looked at You Jue with a bright smile.
“Then I’ll add more sugar next time.”
You Jue said nothing.
He simply put the coffee cup back on the saucer. Even the sound of the ceramic touching the saucer seemed cold and distant.
But Ni Xia did not care about what he said or did anymore.
So what if everything had been a misunderstanding?
So what if he did not have feelings for her?
The wedding march was already playing in her head.
Ni Xia pulled out the chair beside him and quietly sat down.
Then she felt she was sitting too far away, so she secretly moved her chair closer.
You Jue calmly went through the various receipts and documents, apparently not noticing her movements.
So she moved closer and closer, like iron drawn to a magnet, like a bee drawn to honey, like…
When their shoulders were almost touching, You Jue suddenly turned his head.
His chilly gaze swept over her face like a cold breeze.
She immediately stopped moving and gave him an awkward smile.
“Is there anything you need me to do?”
“I need you to sit farther away.”
“Oh…”
Ni Xia lowered her hands. Before she could move her chair, the electronic lock at the entrance suddenly announced mechanically, “Unlocked.”
The next moment, Gu Yusheng walked in carrying several large bags.
She leaned against the wall and kicked off her shoes. Just as she was about to put on her slippers, she looked up and saw a man and a woman alone in the living and dining area.
“Sorry. I’m the neighbor from across the hall. I came to the wrong apartment.”
She turned around and started walking away barefoot.
“…You’re not in the wrong place.”
Ni Xia called out to her.
When Gu Yusheng turned around, Ni Xia gave her a meaningful look.
“This is Lawyer You.”
“Oh!”
Gu Yusheng suddenly understood. She looked You Jue over again, her eyes full of approval.
“So you’re Lawyer You! I’ve heard so much about you.”
Then she gave Ni Xia a meaningful glance before putting on her slippers and walking toward You Jue.
“I’m Gu Yusheng, Ni Xia’s friend and the producer of this project.”
Ni Xia understood exactly what that look meant.
What she did not understand was why You Jue also gave her a meaningful glance before greeting Gu Yusheng.
“Hello.”
“I just brought some things over. I’ll leave soon.”
Gu Yusheng looked at You Jue teasingly.
“Am I interrupting you two?”
“No,” You Jue said. “I just found that your chat records with Zhongyue’s finance department are incomplete. We need to confirm and supplement them with emails. Do you have time now?”
“…?”
Only then did Gu Yusheng notice all the documents spread across the dining table.
Confused, she looked at Ni Xia.
What is this man trying to do?
Ni Xia responded with an extremely affectionate look.
Just listen to him.
The sound of traffic downstairs gradually grew louder, keeping pace with the evening rush hour.
The sky darkened, and the streetlights lit up one after another, forming a line of lights along the horizon.
For some reason, Gu Yusheng had been dragged into work mode.
The actual female lead, however, was leisurely sitting on the sofa reading a book. Her expression was focused, and her posture was elegant.
But every now and then, Gu Yusheng could feel a gaze coming from the sofa.
Ni Xia wasn’t looking at her.
She was looking at the man sitting beside her.
The gaze was anything but subtle, yet You Jue seemed completely unaware of it. He remained focused on his work without looking away even once.
Gu Yusheng had to keep up with You Jue’s rapid train of thought while also wondering what exactly was going on between these two.
When You Jue finally closed his laptop, Gu Yusheng felt as if her brain had been shut down too. She could not think anymore.
“I’ll take these documents back to the law firm,” You Jue said as he picked up the organized files. “If you find anything else later, send it to me immediately.”
Gu Yusheng had barely recovered when she watched Miss Ni eagerly escort You Jue to the door, even helping him carry and hand over his things.
“Okay. Oh, right, what size shoes do you wear? I can prepare a pair of slippers just for you.”
“No need.”
“But…”
“We’ve finished organizing the paper evidence.”
You Jue opened the door and stepped outside first.
“I won’t be coming here again.”
“Really?”
The light above them fell on Ni Xia, making her eyes look especially bright.
As she looked up at You Jue, her gaze was direct and pure. It was impossible to tell whether she was questioning the first half of his sentence or the second.
The window was still open. The sound of traffic rushing along the elevated highway roared past like a distant waterfall.
You Jue looked away, his face serious, and closed the door.
Ni Xia: “?”
He wasn’t saying anything again.
She was simply shocked that You Jue had managed to organize all those things that gave her a headache just by looking at them in a single afternoon.
Why did he have to make that face again?
Ni Xia pouted.
When she turned around, she saw Gu Yusheng staring at her in confusion.
“Which one of you has a crush on the other?”
Ni Xia blinked twice before realizing what Gu Yusheng was asking.
“Ah.” She shook her head calmly. “It was all a misunderstanding. That painting wasn’t his. He doesn’t like me at all.”
Gu Yusheng, who had already been completely confused, became even more bewildered.
So the two of them had simply misunderstood everything?
Shouldn’t that be incredibly awkward?
Then why was Ni Xia so calm, and even…
“Then why were you acting so flattering toward him today?” Gu Yusheng became even more confused. “Anyone who didn’t know better would think you were chasing after him.”
As soon as Gu Yusheng finished speaking, Ni Xia turned around and looked at her guiltily.
“I need to tell you something. Don’t scold me, okay?”
The sudden change of topic gave Gu Yusheng a very bad feeling.
“What?”
“I might be getting married.”
For a moment, Gu Yusheng wondered if she had simply been too exhausted these past few days. She couldn’t keep up with Ni Xia’s thoughts at all.
Her mind went blank for a few seconds before she asked stiffly,
“To whom?”
Ni Xia shyly pointed toward the door.
Gu Yusheng: “Him?”
Ni Xia: “Mm!”
Gu Yusheng: “Marriage?”
Ni Xia: “Mm-hmm!”
Gu Yusheng: “Are you serious?”
Ni Xia: “Of course.”
“Of course my foot!”
With the crisis right in front of them and no time to spare, her partner suddenly announced that she wanted to get married.
Gu Yusheng almost couldn’t catch her breath and nearly fainted from anger.
“Are you crazy?! Just a few days ago, you told me that you two hadn’t been in contact since graduating from high school! I’ve only been away on a business trip for this long, and now you want to marry him?! How did I never realize you were such a hopeless romantic?!”
When Gu Yusheng first saw You Jue, she had assumed there was something going on between them. She had even thought that maybe Ni Xia should date someone. It might help relieve some of her stress.
But now Ni Xia had jumped straight to marriage.
Gu Yusheng suddenly realized this wasn’t about relieving stress anymore.
She might need to see a psychiatrist.
“Hey, don’t get so worked up.”
While Gu Yusheng became more and more alarmed, Ni Xia still smiled sweetly.
“He’s my family’s legal adviser. My grandfather really likes him and thinks he’s very suitable—”
“Stop right there.”
Gu Yusheng raised her palm and interrupted her.
“I know your grandfather wouldn’t choose someone bad. He is handsome, and his career is good too. But is this really the time to get married? Or do you think our project has no hope anymore, so you’ve given up and decided to follow your family’s arrangement and get married and have children?!”
Seeing how worked up Gu Yusheng was, Ni Xia became anxious too.
“But my grandfather said—”
“Don’t use your grandfather as an excuse. You’ve simply been bewitched by him.”
Gu Yusheng interrupted her again and suddenly pointed toward the door, in the direction You Jue had left.
“Fine. Even if you really want to pursue love, I support your decision. But can you please calm down? Do you really know enough about him? Is he someone who takes responsibility for his family? Is he considerate and attentive? Does he appreciate your talent? Can he accept your flaws? All of these things need time to find out!”
“And let me put it bluntly. Did he even look at you properly today? Just because he has a decent face, he thinks he’s so great. Who knows how he’ll—”
“My grandfather said he’ll give me 50 million yuan if I marry him!”
The furious speech suddenly stopped.
Only Ni Xia’s voice continued to echo through the luxurious apartment.
Gu Yusheng forgot even to blink.
After a long while, her eyes finally came back into focus.
She slowly turned her head and looked at the golden sunset outside.
“Why didn’t you ask your husband to stay for dinner? How thoughtless of you.”
That night, the sky was as dark as diluted ink, with the outlines of layers of thick clouds still faintly visible.
Hengtuo Law Firm was brightly lit. The employees working overtime were discussing what to order for supper in the group chat.
You Jue glanced at the time.
It was already nine o’clock.
After returning to the law firm from Ni Xia’s home, he had not had time to eat dinner. But even after looking at the takeout food his colleagues had ordered, he had little appetite.
He closed his computer, stood up, and left his office.
As he walked toward the entrance of the law firm, he checked his phone, planning to deal with his unread messages before reaching home.
After scrolling down for a while, he finally saw a message Ni Xia had sent half an hour earlier.
[Ni Xia]: You worked hard today~ I guessed you’d be coming back to the office to work overtime, so I made some late-night snacks myself and had them delivered to you. No matter how hard you work, you have to take good care of yourself!
You Jue suddenly stopped walking.
He hadn’t even finished typing the words “No need” when an unfamiliar call came in.
“Hello, your delivery has arrived. Please come and collect it.”
You Jue looked up.
The elevator doors ahead opened, and a middle-aged man hurried out while talking on the phone. He was carrying a bag in one hand.
Seeing that You Jue was the only person nearby, the deliveryman simply handed the bag to him without even checking whether he was actually the recipient.
“Hello, please show me the pickup code.”
Even the deliveryman seemed to be rushing around like the people who had ordered the deliveries.
You Jue frowned and opened his text messages.
Sure enough, there was a pickup code.
“3025.”
“Got it.”
After checking the code, the deliveryman immediately turned around and ran off to rush to his next order.
The entire process took barely a minute or two.
Now You Jue was holding an extra bag.
The surroundings were quiet and empty.
You Jue looked down at it.
It was surprisingly heavy and tightly wrapped.
“You’re still here?”
Cai Xin appeared out of nowhere. He hurried to the reception desk and grabbed the takeout he had ordered.
Then he looked at the bag in You Jue’s hand.
“Perfect. My takeout is here too. Let’s eat together.”
You Jue looked away without meeting Cai Xin’s eyes. He said nothing and silently walked toward the pantry.
The law firm did not allow employees to eat at their desks. Whether it was takeout or food brought from home, everyone had to eat here.
The two of them chose a round table by the window.
You Jue opened the bag.
Inside was a household three-tier insulated food container.
The moment Cai Xin saw it, he stopped what he was doing and sat down beside him with a knowing smile.
When You Jue opened the container layer by layer, Cai Xin saw the seafood congee, crystal shrimp dumplings, and baby bok choy in soup.
Only then did he say sourly,
“Oh, the boss really splurged today and ordered me takeout from Xiangyan Restaurant. I normally can’t even bring myself to order something this expensive.”
He slowly opened his own takeout.
“But I guess it’s nothing special. No matter how fancy the packaging or how expensive it is, how could it possibly taste as good as something someone made by hand?”
His teasing was so obvious that it practically overflowed from every word.
You Jue couldn’t be bothered to explain.
Just then, another message from Ni Xia came in.
[Ni Xia]: How is it? Is it good? I spent a long time making it.
You Jue didn’t reply.
Instead, he lowered his head and took two bites.
He had to admit that it really was delicious.
You Jue had not been hungry before, but the seafood congee was rich, fragrant, and perfectly cooked.
He ate quietly while Cai Xin opened his own takeout beside him.
As the containers were opened one after another, the rich aroma of food filled the room again.
While eating, You Jue suddenly turned his head and looked at Cai Xin’s meal.
In front of Cai Xin were a bowl of seafood congee, a serving of crystal shrimp dumplings, and a plate of baby bok choy in soup.
Cai Xin also examined his own meal before glancing at You Jue’s food container.
Not only were the portions and colors exactly the same, even the three-colored pansies decorating the shrimp dumplings were identical.
Cai Xin checked several times before finally looking at You Jue.
“Did you start dating a chef from Xiangyan Restaurant?”