Back in the car, the playful exchange from before had ended due to Xu Ruomeng’s interruption, so there was no need to resume it. They chatted casually on the drive, He Xiaoyuan sitting in the passenger seat, glancing at the paper bag containing the New Year gift Xu Ruomeng had given him.
Clothes? Pants?
Lu Chen glanced over: “What’s that?”
He Xiaoyuan: “A set of clothes.” He placed the bag in the back seat. Just then, his phone buzzed in his jacket pocket.
He pulled it out—Xu Ruomeng.
Xu Ruomeng: 【Laughing-crying.jpg】
Xu Ruomeng: 【The lighting was too dim tonight. I think I caught a glimpse of your Lu Zong’s face, or maybe not.】
Xu Ruomeng: 【All I remember is—he’s really handsome, tall, very manly.】
Xu Ruomeng: 【My untrustworthy eyes… teary.jpg】
He Xiaoyuan: 【Why are you running away?】
Xu Ruomeng: 【It’s like… you suddenly bring your boyfriend to meet your family, and they weren’t prepared at all.】
He Xiaoyuan chuckled quietly, shaking his head at the phone.
He Xiaoyuan: 【No boyfriend. Really, I don’t have one.】
Xu Ruomeng: 【But he drives a BMW!】
Xu Ruomeng: 【X what?】
He Xiaoyuan: 【7.】
Xu Ruomeng: 【He drives an X7?!】
He Xiaoyuan didn’t get it at first—X7? What’s the big deal?
Xu Ruomeng: 【And he’s a senior exec!】
Xu Ruomeng: 【Salary, bonuses, stocks… easily seven or eight million a year at least.】
Xu Ruomeng: 【Handsome, tall, comes to pick you up this late, definitely single, right?】
Finally, He Xiaoyuan understood: ???
Xu Ruomeng: 【Speak up, why aren’t you saying anything?】
He Xiaoyuan thought: What am I supposed to say?
Xu Ruomeng: 【A man this perfect can’t possibly be straight, right?】
This time, He Xiaoyuan replied with an ellipsis: 【……】
Xu Ruomeng: 【?】
He Xiaoyuan: 【Did you forget something?】
Xu Ruomeng: 【Huh?】
He Xiaoyuan: 【I’m straight.】
Xu Ruomeng didn’t respond immediately. After half a minute, she sent a brief voice message.
He Xiaoyuan, not using speakerphone, picked it up to listen—forgetting the car was connected to the car system, so her voice boomed through the car speakers.
Xu Ruomeng was going on and on through the car speakers: “The problem is, you’ll never meet a girl with the same conditions who treats you well!”
“Open up your horizons!”
“Let your orientation flow!”
He Xiaoyuan barely had time to hit the voice bubble, and when he did, he almost wanted to poke a hole in the screen with his finger.
But it was too late. Every word she said had already echoed clearly through the car’s speakers, filling every corner of the cabin.
He Xiaoyuan: “……”
He literally died socially on the spot, embarrassed to the point that even his toes were scrunching inside his shoes.
He slowly turned his head to glance at Lu Chen, curious about his reaction—but the driver’s lips were curved in a quiet, playful smile, measured and teasing, making He Xiaoyuan want to stop the car and get out immediately.
He Xiaoyuan could only repeat what he had just said to Xu Ruomeng: “Just joking, playing around.”
Lu Chen kept his eyes on the road, letting out a small hum of amusement: “Not entirely wrong. Horizons… they do need to be opened.”
He Xiaoyuan tilted his head toward the window side, wanting to facepalm: too awkward, too embarrassing.
Lu Chen continued in the same calm tone: “And the last line isn’t wrong either.”
He Xiaoyuan turned to him.
Lu Chen, deliberate and measured: “Though the world is large and the population vast, with men and women of all ages, finding a soulmate you truly like, someone who reciprocates your feelings… is still very difficult.”
“If one day you do meet such a person, age, status, gender—all these barriers are real limitations.”
“But only by breaking conventions and ignoring these factors can you truly hold onto someone.”
He Xiaoyuan listened, taking it all in, and realized it made sense.
After a moment, prompted by the topic, he asked Lu Chen: “So… if you ever met someone like that, would you… open your horizons?”
Maybe even let your orientation flow?
Without hesitation, Lu Chen answered firmly: “I would.”
He paused, then asked in return: “And you?”
Him?
He Xiaoyuan thought for a moment and replied honestly: “I don’t know.”
He really didn’t understand romance, had no experience, and no strong opinions.
He added thoughtfully: “Maybe if one day I meet someone, I’ll know then what I’d do, what choices I’d make.”
Practical and grounded as always, this answer wasn’t surprising.
Lu Chen said: “Romantic opportunities aren’t like projects.”
“Good projects are rare; chances for love are even scarcer.”
His tone was steady and decisive: “I wouldn’t let such an opportunity pass. To miss it would be a loss in my life, a regret for the future.”
He Xiaoyuan nodded internally—again, it made sense—and realized how deep their conversation had become.
Apparently, it had started from Xu Ruomeng’s voice message: “Open your horizons.”
Lu Chen’s horizons were certainly… expansive.
Then his voice sounded again: “For me, if I like someone, gender doesn’t matter, age doesn’t matter.”
He Xiaoyuan froze for a moment, glancing at him: meaning…?
Lu Chen went on calmly: “That includes men.”
Boom.
Suddenly, He Xiaoyuan’s heart skipped a beat.
Before he could even process why, Lu Chen turned his head to glance at him in the passenger seat, asking steadily: “You… only like girls?”
Of course, he thought. He’s straight. Naturally he only liked girls.
But somehow, when the words reached his lips, they got stuck, and he swallowed them silently, ultimately saying nothing.
Lu Chen took the silence as confirmation—though he already knew He Xiaoyuan was definitely straight.
The car fell quiet.
After a moment, Lu Chen spoke slowly: “Your friend wasn’t wrong. Whether it’s about opening horizons or letting orientation flow…”
“…it’s worth listening to the suggestion.”
He Xiaoyuan again found the logic reasonable.
Yet, curiously, hearing it come from Lu Chen’s mouth made him feel slightly off.
He Xiaoyuan: hmm?
With his sharp mind, he could always reflect, even on casual conversation.
He thought a moment and said: “I guess the takeaway is, you can’t limit yourself too much.”
As for liking men… he really couldn’t be as decisive as Lu Chen.
“But if there’s a person—a soulmate, man or woman,” He Xiaoyuan said, thinking carefully, “I wouldn’t like them because of their gender, nor would I like their gender because of them.”
“I’d just like them… as a person.”
Gender doesn’t matter, nothing else matters.
Lu Chen glanced at his clear eyes and guided him with a question: “Even if it’s a man? Or someone much older than you? Or someone who doesn’t fit your usual aesthetic standards?”
He Xiaoyuan was firm this time: “I don’t know if orientation can be changed.”
“But if such a person exists, if there are indeed these ‘barriers,’ I’d be willing to try.”
He shrugged, honest: “You’re right. Opportunities like this are rarer than good projects. Missing one would be a lifelong regret.”
“Adults might regret missing a childhood snack, but they can’t regret a chance they could have actually seized.”
“Childhood regrets can be remedied later.”
“Adult regrets… might last a lifetime.”
He Xiaoyuan’s mind grew reflective, clear and lucid: “I don’t want to regret later. If I have a chance now, I have to seize it.”
Lu Chen smiled faintly, appreciating such insight and depth beyond his years.
And Lu Chen had his own private thoughts.
He asked again: “Even if the person is a man?”
The condition was fixed—male. For a straight guy, this was a scenario nearly impossible to imagine or accept. After all, a straight man can hardly picture being pressed against another man instead of a girl.
But He Xiaoyuan didn’t feel awkward at all. Instead, his thoughts drifted back to the WeChat chat with Xu Ruomeng just now.
And then he imagined… if that man were Lu Chen… Lu Chen…
Lu Chen didn’t smoke, always clean.
When he leaned close before, He Xiaoyuan had caught the faint, crisp scent of wood on him.
So if he were to… kiss Lu Chen…
The image suddenly appeared in He Xiaoyuan’s mind.