“Rose bouquets, 11.80 a bunch!”
At the main entrance of the neighborhood, a young girl stood beside a camper van, cheerfully hawking to passersby with a smile.
The scent of roses drifted through the evening breeze.
Office workers heading home from work turned their heads at the girl’s lively calls.
A middle-aged man carrying a package walked by and asked the girl with a grin, “Can I just buy one stem?”
The girl generously pulled out a single vibrant red rose from the van. “Big brother, today’s romance is on me.”
He Kezhou had already ridden his e-bike a few meters out, but he gripped the handlebars and made a sharp U-turn.
The flower-selling girl noticed He Kezhou eyeing the flowers in her van. Blushing, she asked enthusiastically, “Handsome guy, want to bring a bouquet home for your girlfriend?”
Oh my god, this man was way too handsome.
Handsome enough to make her heart pound wildly.
He Kezhou carefully selected a bunch of yellow roses from the camper van.
From what he remembered, Ning Xi seemed to prefer pink roses.
He hesitated for two seconds between pink and yellow.
Seeing him unable to decide on a color, the vendor said generously, “Buy two bunches and I’ll give you a discount—how about twenty?”
The yellow roses bloomed bright and lively.
The pink roses were as gentle as the last rays of dusk on the horizon, their layered petals soft and unfurled.
He Kezhou opened his WeChat wallet.
He had just enough for two bunches.
He scanned the code and paid.
The girl took out the flowers and handed them to He Kezhou.
He Kezhou carefully placed both bouquets into the basket of his e-bike, then scanned the code to pay.
The girl propped her chin on both hands, watching He Kezhou’s retreating figure, reluctant to look away.
A man with a cold, distant exterior, yet clumsily and earnestly picking out flowers for his girlfriend—the contrast was especially striking.
His girlfriend must be so happy.
He Kezhou stepped out of the elevator holding the flowers.
The sky had already darkened.
He entered the passcode and pushed the door open.
Not a single ray of light inside.
The door, pulled shut behind him, blocked out the hallway light.
The room fell into complete darkness.
He Kezhou stood at the entrance, the ease on his face suddenly hitting pause.
Ning Xi wasn’t home.
Had she gone out today to meet another man—on a date?
He knew that when Ning Xi got bored at home, she’d start livestreaming. She’d even had late-night voice calls with strange men right in front of him.
Every time, after doing these things, Ning Xi would ask him if he was angry, if he was jealous.
His silence was met with Ning Xi’s tears and outbursts.
“I don’t want to chat with those men at all, and I don’t want to wear pretty dresses for them to see. But I’m just too lonely.”
“If you’d just touch me, if you’d just keep me company, I’d never go chatting nonsense online.”
“You think you’re torturing me, but you’re torturing me too. You make me feel like I have no feminine charm at all.”
“Every day, you’re giving me the silent treatment!”
Ning Xi’s past words flashed through his mind.
He Kezhou looked down at the flowers in his arms, his fingertips brushing against the thorns on the rose stems.
Ning Xi probably wouldn’t come home tonight.
Uncontrollably, his thoughts drifted to what the middle-aged woman at the repair shop had said that afternoon.
His phone lit up in the darkness.
He Kezhou stared at Ning Xi’s profile picture, his fingertip hovering over the video call button.
The next second, he pressed the phone dark.
The keypad lock beeped—
He Kezhou’s head snapped up.
Ning Xi was holding half a watermelon in one hand and cold dishes in the other.
The little tune she’d been humming died in her throat as she opened the door and saw the tall figure standing at the entrance.
The man’s eyes, in the darkness, were bright—and heavy.
They fixed on her without blinking, carrying an invisible pressure.
Ning Xi’s heart nearly stopped from fright. She complained, “He Kezhou, why didn’t you turn on the lights when you got back? You scared me half to death!”
The sudden light stung He Kezhou’s eyes.
Ning Xi met He Kezhou’s pitch-black gaze and blinked slowly.
He Kezhou didn’t seem to be in a good mood.
When she caught sight of the roses in his arms, a flash of surprise lit up her eyes.
“Are those flowers in your arms for me?”
He Kezhou didn’t say anything.
But clearly, the flowers were meant for her.
Ning Xi, who’d worked a full day, was exhausted and hungry. She caught the scent of flowers in the air and curved her lips.
He Kezhou’s lips moved slightly, and he asked in a hoarse voice, “Where did you go today?”
Ning Xi tilted her head to look at him.
She switched the watermelon to her left hand and rubbed her lower back with her right. “I went to do a part-time job.”
“Are you hungry? I’m starving. Let’s have tomato egg noodles tonight—noodles cook fast and are simpler. I also bought some cold dishes.”
Cooking, she was too worn out for.
Boiling noodles, she still had a shred of energy left.
He Kezhou’s gaze landed on her hand rubbing her lower back.
Ning Xi never left the house without makeup—except today, her face was as bare and plain as a glass of water.
She wore a pink slip dress, her delicate curves traced to perfection. Her features were soft, but beneath her eyes hid an undeniable weariness. The hand on her lower back and the faint pink scratch mark on her neck made He Kezhou’s gaze darken, sinking into dead silence.
He stepped aside.
Ning Xi was about to collapse under the weight of what she was carrying, and she couldn’t wait to set it all down.
With her hands free, she turned around and looked at the flowers in He Kezhou’s arms with a smile.
She held out her hand. “Give me the flowers, I’ll put them in water.”
He Kezhou walked closer to her. “How much did he pay you?”
Ning Xi supported her waist and honestly stated her part-time wage: “A hundred and twenty a day. Making money is really hard work. He Kezhou, I’ve never heard you complain or say you’re tired. You’re really amazing.”
The smile and gentleness in the woman’s eyes made He Kezhou grow even more silent.
“A hundred and twenty can buy a whole day of you?”