There were a lot of boxes, and He Xiaoyuan helped carry some.
As they took the elevator upstairs, he thought: Lu Chen is usually so measured—why bring so many gifts today? Even if it weren’t a friend’s house but parents, it wouldn’t need to be this much.
He Xiaoyuan quietly puzzled over it.
The elevator doors opened, and they rang the doorbell. The door quickly opened, revealing Xu Ruomeng, specially dressed up. She looked at Lu Chen with curiosity and delight.
“Hello,” she said.
“Hello,” Lu Chen replied.
Inside, the shiny boxes were stacked on the sofa. Xu Ruomeng tried a few times to speak politely, but recognizing the brands and seeing the quantities left her too stunned to form words. She kept covering her mouth and chest, then ran to the kitchen to pour tea. When she handed a cup to Lu Chen, she nervously said, “Lu-ge… we’re all family here. Do we need to be this formal?”
Lu Chen took the tea, smiled, and said evenly, “We’re family, so no need for formality. Just accept them.”
Xu Ruomeng almost floated with excitement, restraining herself from squealing in front of guests.
She politely invited Lu Chen to sit, exchanged pleasantries, and introduced herself—saying she was He Xiaoyuan’s good friend, giving her name, and mentioning which department she worked in.
He Xiaoyuan watched, amused. It seemed Lu Chen’s generous gifts had genuinely impressed her. On this first formal meeting, she had already started acting like a proper lady.
Luckily, Xu Ruomeng couldn’t maintain the act for long. Curious about Lu-ge, she soon reverted to her usual lively self. Plus, Lu Chen was steady and knew how to manage conversation, so within a few minutes, their chat became comfortable and relaxed.
He Xiaoyuan ended up being the one with nothing to do.
Sitting next to the pile of gift boxes, he glanced at a large bag nearby containing many smaller boxes. He picked one up and opened it—inside was a bottle of perfume. He smiled quietly, thinking: How many did Lu Chen bring? Did he pick one of everything from the store?
Xu Ruomeng, looking puzzled, said: “Hmm… I feel like I’ve seen you somewhere before. Did we meet at the company?”
He Xiaoyuan put the perfume back, looked at Lu Chen, and they exchanged a knowing smile.
Xu Ruomeng: “Why are you two laughing?”
Lu Chen gestured, asking He Xiaoyuan whether he should explain. He Xiaoyuan replied to Xu Ruomeng: “Nothing.”
He didn’t mention that Lu Chen was the big boss of Sipu.
Even later, when Lu Chen took a call and Xu Ruomeng quietly pulled He Xiaoyuan into the study to ask all sorts of questions, he still didn’t mention it.
Xu Ruomeng whispered: “Do we need to go this overboard? I’ve seen a lot of Hermès in my life, but this… even in the store!”
Xu Ruomeng: “Why bring so many? Are you proposing or what?!”
He Xiaoyuan laughed outright: “I don’t know why he brought so many. Since they’re for you, just accept them.”
Xu Ruomeng stared: “Accept what? If he gave me a vegetable basket, a Birkin, or rare leather, would I accept those too?”
He Xiaoyuan had no idea what vegetable baskets, Birkin, or rare leather were.
Xu Ruomeng: “I mean really expensive, super expensive bags!”
He Xiaoyuan understood her meaning and asked: “You don’t want to accept them?”
Xu Ruomeng: “I just can’t accept all of this. It’s way too expensive.”
Then she added, “Their executives’ incomes are insane… they can casually buy Hermès as a simple meeting gift.”
He Xiaoyuan thought of the perfume he had peeked at in one of the boxes and said, “How about this—accept a few of them, and the rest we’ll take back if you don’t want them.”
Xu Ruomeng: “Wouldn’t that hurt his pride? He went through the trouble to buy these and bring them here.”
He Xiaoyuan: “It’s fine. You take a few—you’re not refusing completely. You’re showing that you feel awkward and don’t want to take too many. He won’t make you feel bad about it.”
Xu Ruomeng relaxed, then thought it over again: “Your Lu-ge really is quite the gentleman.”
He Xiaoyuan looked at her and considered whether he should tell her Lu Chen’s real identity—but in the end, he didn’t.
That day, the three of them played games at Xu Ruomeng’s place, then had hot pot together at night. The atmosphere was lively and relaxed the whole time, with plenty of laughter, which only improved Xu Ruomeng’s impression of Lu Chen.
She even added him on WeChat, praised him for being able to chat with younger people, and clinked glasses with him openly, welcoming him into their little duo as a trio. She jokingly said from now on, they were like a family of three.
He Xiaoyuan couldn’t stop laughing.
When it was time to leave, Xu Ruomeng went into her room, grabbed a few gift boxes, and handed them to Lu Chen. She explained that she had originally planned to give watches, ties, or tie pins as first-meeting gifts, but thought those were too personal—normally, a girlfriend would give those to a boyfriend. So she changed her mind and decided to give him some local specialties from her hometown.
Xu Ruomeng: “They’re fresh, and I asked my mom to pick the best ones to send me.”
Lu Chen didn’t refuse and accepted them graciously. “Thank you.”
Then Xu Ruomeng started picking up the orange-yellow shopping bags on the sofa and shoving them into He Xiaoyuan’s hands. As she did, she said, “Thank you for the Hermès, but it’s really too much. You should take them back—you get the thought, that’s enough.”
Lu Chen was about to speak, but He Xiaoyuan lightly tapped his arm. Lu Chen glanced at him and stayed quiet.
Xu Ruomeng didn’t refuse everything either. From a bag containing smaller boxes, she pulled out a flat little box, held it up, and gestured to Lu Chen: “I’ll keep this one.”
Lu Chen smiled—he understood perfectly that she didn’t want to accept expensive gifts. He didn’t insist. “Keep these for yourself. Later, on holidays, let Xiaoyuan bring them to you.”
Xu Ruomeng saw them out the door. “We’ll leave it for later. Next time you come, don’t bring anything—just come over.”
Lu Chen and He Xiaoyuan carried the bags out. Xu Ruomeng followed them to the elevator and waved: “Bye-bye.”
“Bye Lu-ge! Come play again next time, and we’ll message on WeChat.”
The elevator doors slowly closed, marking the end of that friendly visit.
As the elevator descended, He Xiaoyuan, still holding several bags, looked at Lu Chen and laughed.
Lu Chen didn’t expect to be hauling all these gifts up and then back down either.
Seeing He Xiaoyuan looking at him, he said, “Your friend is very polite.”
He Xiaoyuan just smiled and said nothing.
Lu Chen: “Hm?”
He Xiaoyuan: “I was just thinking—who brings this many gifts for a first meeting? You scared Xu Ruomeng half to death.”
Lu Chen said nothing further, only, “Keep these for her—I won’t give them. You take them back to her later.”
He Xiaoyuan drawled, “Got it.”
Once in the car, He Xiaoyuan finally couldn’t hold back and asked, “Did you really buy all of this?”
Lu Chen, driving: “Otherwise?”
He Xiaoyuan thought for a moment. “Did someone give you the idea to buy expensive gifts when meeting my friend?”
Lu Chen: “No. I bought them myself.”
He Xiaoyuan was even more puzzled: “You bought them yourself? Why?”
Lu Chen found He Xiaoyuan’s “why” question oddly amusing.
‘Why?’ What does that mean?
He Xiaoyuan looked confused. “You’re usually so careful and measured in everything. I understand bringing gifts for a first meeting, but luxury gifts? So many? So expensive? Even Xu Ruomeng couldn’t accept them all.”
“This really doesn’t seem like something you would normally do.”
Lu Chen lightly chuckled.
He Xiaoyuan stared, waiting for an explanation.
Lu Chen just smiled silently.
He Xiaoyuan urged, “Come on, tell me.”
Lu Chen finally glanced at him while driving: “Remember filling in the blanks in school? One blank, one correct answer.”
“Mm-hm.”
He Xiaoyuan waited.
Lu Chen: “Life isn’t a fill-in-the-blank test. You can’t always pick the perfect answer.”
He Xiaoyuan: “What do you mean?”
Lu Chen, calmly: “Even me—though you see me as someone careful and measured, always knowing what to do and how to do it—that doesn’t mean I can always be perfect in everything.”
“For example, coming here to meet your friend. I wasn’t completely confident.”
“I knew the gifts were expensive and that your friend might feel awkward receiving them. But I still felt I should buy them.”
“While preparing, I thought: first meeting, first time seeing your best friend… to show my sincerity, the more, the better.”
“I knew girls liked bags and perfume, so I bought everything. I also knew I shouldn’t buy so much—but if I bought less, I felt that wouldn’t be enough.”
He glanced back at He Xiaoyuan. “Understand now?”
He Xiaoyuan’s chest felt soft all over—he understood perfectly. How could he not?
It was all because of him.
Because he liked him, because of feelings he couldn’t fully control, he lost his usual composure and precision, and when meeting friends, he went overboard.
Lu Chen’s unusual behavior stirred something deep inside He Xiaoyuan.
He didn’t know—he truly didn’t know. Had he known earlier, he would have personally arranged the meeting so Xu Ruomeng wouldn’t feel awkward accepting the gifts, and Lu Chen wouldn’t have had to struggle carrying them up to the apartment and then back to the car.
He Xiaoyuan leaned toward Lu Chen, speaking softly in a gentle, obedient voice: “I didn’t know either… and you didn’t tell me.”
Lu Chen curved his lips slightly: “It’d be embarrassing to say it out loud.”
The car slowed at a red light. He Xiaoyuan looked at Lu Chen, suddenly leaned in, and pressed a quick kiss to his cheek—he loved the composed, strong, capable Lu Chen, but he also adored this slightly off-balance version of him, the man who had lost his usual restraint meeting friends.
After the kiss, He Xiaoyuan murmured, “I didn’t tell Xiao Meng who you are.”
Lu Chen glanced at him: “Hm?”
He Xiaoyuan leaned across the center console, wrapping an arm around Lu Chen’s, as if pouting playfully: “You’re my secret.”
Six words, sweet and tender like a confession, made Lu Chen smile. He reached out, pinching He Xiaoyuan’s chin: “Okay, a secret it is.”
A secret that belonged only to them.
—
The new workweek began. After successfully recruiting Fang Dinghao, He Xiaoyuan was wrapping up his project on the OA backend.
Finally, he clicked “Confirm,” letting out a slow breath as the task settled into completion. His first solo project—done.
He allowed himself a brief moment of quiet joy before leaving the individual project page and returning to the main project directory.
He had planned to quickly check the recent projects from his team to see if there were any pending tasks he could take on. But when he came across Qin Chengfei’s logistics project, he noticed that it appeared grayed out in the directory.
He Xiaoyuan was slightly puzzled but didn’t think much of it—sometimes the OA backend randomly gray-outed items on the directory page, and they would return to normal later.
Assuming it was just another temporary glitch, he continued scrolling.
At that moment, Xu Ruomeng sent a private message on OA, including a photo from the nose down to the chest, with a silk scarf draped elegantly.
Xu Ruomeng: [“Lu-ge gave this to me. How does it look?”]
So the little box she had received contained a scarf.
He Xiaoyuan: [“Thumbs up.jpg”]
Xu Ruomeng: [“I was just reliving Saturday, spending time with you and Lu-ge.”]
Xu Ruomeng: [“Starry eyes.jpg He’s really handsome and so manly.”]
Xu Ruomeng: [“You hit the jackpot with this one.”]
He Xiaoyuan: [“Back to work—stop slacking off.”]
What jackpot? All the work value generated at the company came from this Lu boss.
On Wednesday, He Xiaoyuan received a WeChat message from his aunt:
Aunt: [“Xiaoyuan, we’re going to see Grandpa and Grandma on Friday, and we’ll also visit your mom then.”]
Aunt: [“You’re coming Saturday, right?”]
Aunt: [“Everything is prepared for you.”]
He Xiaoyuan: [“Yes, I’ll be there Saturday. Thank you, Aunt.”]
He Xiaoyuan: [“Is there anything I can do?”]
Aunt: [“No need—we’ve got it all ready. Just come over Saturday.”]
His grandparents had passed before Qingming, and his mother in March—dates were close. So every year, the family’s visit for memorials was scheduled before Qingming. Sometimes they’d visit the grandparents and then check on his mother; other times, they’d visit his mother and then pay respects to the grandparents.
The exact date varied. This year, they chose his mother’s death anniversary in March, which happened to fall on Saturday.
Originally, his aunt and uncle had planned to go together on Saturday, but his eldest uncle had something on, so they moved the visit to Friday. That way, his aunt, younger aunt, and uncle would go on Friday, and He Xiaoyuan would go alone on Saturday.
After messaging his aunt, He Xiaoyuan leaned back in his chair, thinking: last year he had gone to the cemetery with SiPu to see his mom. Almost a year had passed.
On Saturday, he drove first to his aunt’s house to pick up the paper money, food offerings, and incense they had prepared. Then he went to the cemetery, paid his respects, and returned to his aunt’s house for a meal.
When his cousin helped load the offerings into the car, he noticed He Xiaoyuan was driving an X7 and was both surprised and impressed. “Xiaoyuan, you can already afford such an expensive car?”
He Xiaoyuan: “Borrowed from a friend.”
His cousin circled the car, admiring it. “Really nice ride.”
He Xiaoyuan got in and drove off. His cousin glanced at the striking front, then the rear of the car, before heading back inside.
Arriving at his aunt’s house, he could hear his aunt and younger aunt chatting. He didn’t catch the full conversation but heard one say: “What’s there to be unsuitable about him? Xiaoyuan’s got such a good job, makes good money, and is so handsome—what could be a mismatch?”
The other replied: “But what about Zhen Ting?”
Zhen Ting was He Xiaoyuan’s mother.
His cousin glanced at the two women, puzzled, didn’t comment, and went to his own room.
Aunt: “Zhen Ting is Zhen Ting, she’s different.”
Younger Aunt: “What’s different? She’s the same—good job, attractive.”
“She’s already gone through what she did. Xiaoyuan should learn from that.”
Aunt, flustered: “Of course I’ll introduce someone good for Xiaoyuan! Would I introduce someone inferior?”
Younger Aunt, patiently: “Even if he’s good, some will just be attracted to his looks and play around. Will they marry him?”
“Think about Zhen Ting—back then, she was already pregnant, but the director left the country. Did anyone marry her?”
The aunt was left speechless.
…
At the cemetery, He Xiaoyuan first visited his grandparents’ graves, then went to see his mother.
The area around her tombstone was meticulously cleaned—obviously, his aunt and the others had already tidied up on Friday.
He Xiaoyuan placed the offerings to the side and, using the wet wipes he had brought, carefully cleaned his mother’s tombstone and the photograph again.
Afterward, he crouched in front of the photo, smiling at the young woman in it. “Mom, I came to see you.”
“Last year when I visited, I told you I was at SiPu, right?”
“Well, I joined afterward. I got into the company.”
…
While speaking to her, he arranged the offerings neatly. Once done, he lit incense and candles, then set the paper money bundles ablaze in a metal bucket. Unlike when he had visited his grandparents, he didn’t kowtow; he crouched in front of her tombstone, hugging his knees like a child, chatting with his mother.
“Mom, I’m dating someone.”
“His name is Lu Chen. He’s our company’s boss.”
He Xiaoyuan smiled. “Pretty impressive, huh? I’m dating the big boss right off the bat.”
After saying that, he fell silent.
The cemetery was on the shady side of the hill. The wind was cool, yet gentle, brushing his face like a soothing hand.
He Xiaoyuan stayed quiet for a while longer, then looked up at the photo, expression earnest and resolute: “Mom, I’ve decided. I’m moving in to live with him.”