The contract was signed smoothly, but the celebratory banquet was too grand. After lunch, various activities took place, with all expenses covered by Luo Zi.
Li Kaixing continued to take photos with his phone and post them in the senior management group chat of Yunrui. While enjoying his vacation time off work, he drew criticism from everyone.
The two teams had about 10 people, and the expenses amounted to several hundred thousand yuan. That was a significant amount for Luo Zi, but for Li Kaixing, it was equivalent to his annual salary spent in just one afternoon—that was far too extravagant. ” Li Kaixing recalled how he naively believed Xie Huai was Qi Xu’s assistant in the bar’s private room, and he wished he could slap himself for being so naive.
After lunch, Li Kaixing and Qi Xu were sunbathing on the balcony of the private room booked by Luozi.
The balcony overlooked a vast expanse of grass. The afternoon temperature was pleasant, and Qi Xu, warmed by the sun, felt drowsy: “What would you do with a hundred times my worth? Money has no place to go.”
Li Kaixing: “…”
“Boss, please don’t crush my confidence. I’m determined to earn a million dollars a year in the future.”
Qi Xu thought about it. Did Li Kaixing achieve a million-dollar annual salary in his previous life?
It seemed not. At that time, Li Kaixing was only the project manager of his team, and the main projects of the Shen family were still in Shen Fengkai’s hands.
Now that Li Kaixing was in their company, with Yunrui’s development, he should be able to achieve that annual salary in ten years. I have no other intentions. I’ve asked around, and the management team at Luozi starts with a master’s degree as the minimum requirement. I don’t want to pursue a graduate degree.”
Perhaps he had secretly asked about the annual salary of Luozi’s management team at the dinner table, and his boss overheard it, thinking he wanted to switch jobs. He was just aligning his future salary expectations.
However, Qi Xu glanced at him, and he made an “OK” gesture, which had nothing to do with swearing.
Li Kaixing blurted out, “With your status, you don’t need to take the graduate school entrance exam. You’re already the chairman’s wife.”
Qi Xu gave him a cold look: “I’m the one who’s going to be the CEO.”
Li Kaixing noticed footsteps behind him, turned around, and saw that it was exactly who he was thinking of. He quickly stood up to make room.
Qi Xu, who was enjoying the sunbath, had already closed his eyes and didn’t notice Li Kaixing’s departure. However, he caught a whiff of a familiar perfume scent and opened his eyes to meet Xie Huai’s gaze.
Xie Huai raised his hand and gently touched Qi Xu’s not-too-cool face: “I’m not his companion.”
Qi Xu smiled: “Then am I your companion?”
“Yes, to accompany you,” Xie Huai said.
Though it was supposed to be a celebratory banquet, after dinner everyone had disappeared. Staying cooped up on the balcony would be a shame on such a sunny afternoon.
The two stepped out of the private room, enjoying a couple’s date on a weekend workday.
Yuhai Mansion was still a leisure mansion, with many tents on the large lawn, young people playing, and balloons outside the tents floating in the wind.
Qi Xu looked at it for a while, lost in thought. Xie Huai said, “When the weather gets warmer, let’s invite Xu Yichen and the others to go camping together.”
Qi Xu thought to himself that even at 28, he still wanted to try new things. He had always kept it hidden, but now Xie Huai had noticed.
“I’ve never gone camping before.”
Xie Huai took Qi Xu’s hand, interlocking their fingers: “I’ll accompany you no matter what.”
Qi Xu shook his hand, squinting in the sunlight, and Xie Huai helped him put on sunglasses.
He looked up at the sun ahead and said to Xie Huai, “Sometimes I feel so lucky. I’m not a kind person in the traditional sense, and I never believed in karma, but it seems like I’ve been blessed by heaven.”
Xie Huai looked at him: “Then we’re a perfect match. We’re both lucky people, and our personalities aren’t entirely kind.”
Qi Xu’s eyes sparkled with a smile, revealing the “it’s still you” expression, and asked, “I’m starting to wonder—when we first met at the internet café, you suddenly took my hand and dragged me away. Was that out of concern for a younger classmate, or was it for personal reasons?”
After all, Xie Huai’s kindness could be described as sending all the younger students in the internet cafe to the principal.
Xie Huai led Qi Xu to the lakeside, letting the breeze mess up his hair: “Selfishness, I guess. It was the first time I took someone’s hand on my own initiative.”
Qi Xu, unaware of the situation, had taken Xie Huai’s first handhold. He asked, “Why did you hold my hand?”
Clearly, Xie Huai wasn’t the type to initiate physical contact with strangers; he had a touch of the spoiled-brat syndrome.
Xie Huai replied casually, “You can think of it as love at first sight.”
Qi Xu turned to look at him, peering through his sunglasses at Xie Huai. He didn’t doubt the truth of those words, but it seemed like he had found the uncertain answer.
Qi Xu stopped, stepped closer, and kissed him. “Xie Huai, I’ve received your feelings, and I like you too.”
The group had initially been uninterested in the competition and were about to leave when they turned around and saw the two kissing nearby. The leaders of the two teams had gotten married.
Someone cheered, reminiscent of the rowdy crowd during a confession scene under the dormitory building in their student days: “Say yes to him!”
Qi Xu seemed startled, while Xie Huai casually wrapped his arm around his waist, ignoring the onlookers.
The two fishing were also startled, causing their fishing rods to shake.
The fish were spooked and swam away, while the people went wild.
A week later, on March 14th, White Day, there was only one day left until Qi Xu’s birthday.
However, Qi Xu didn’t seem to remember his birthday and was still occupied with his courses and projects.
He hadn’t celebrated his birthday in a long time and didn’t have much of a sense of occasion, often ignoring holidays.
For example, on Valentine’s Day, the day before his birthday, they had classes from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m., leaving them exhausted.
Qi Xu was fine, as he could go straight home, but Xie Huai went to a social event right after class. Luo Zi had opened a branch office in the capital, and Xie Huai had abandoned his image as a secret investor, instead attending the event as a director of Luo Zi.
The discussions about Xie Huai in the circle never stopped, and some nosy people even asked Qi Xu about it.
Qi Xu has never been part of this circle, so he ignored them—that’s his style.
After returning home, Qi Xu ate dinner, took a shower, and waited in the living room for Xie Huai to come home.
He waited until 11 p.m., then yawned and went back to his room. Compared to Valentine’s Day, he remembered more clearly that it was the middle of the month and time to pay the rent.
Under the pretext of collecting rent, Qi Xu helped Xie Huai save money. He had never touched the red envelope Xie Huai gave him for the New Year, keeping it all in his bank account.
Lao Gao had to take a day off for personal reasons. After Chen Wei dropped Qi Xu off at home, he went to the banquet venue late at night to pick up Xie Huai.
Xie Huai, sitting in the backseat, suddenly spoke up: “Stop at the next intersection.”
Chen Wei was startled. Xie Shao rarely spoke when riding in his car, and now, hearing his words and looking at the dark intersection ahead, he glanced warily at the rearview mirror, preparing for battle.
“Xie Shao, is there something wrong with the car behind us?”
Following the incident where Qi Xu was kidnapped, the entire security team had become overly cautious, and they had undergone intensive training during this period to eliminate potential dangers promptly.
Chen Wei, who was alone, had no idea it was Valentine’s Day; he only knew that mid-month was payday.
He drove silently to the intersection ahead.
Xie Huai got out of the car and walked into the flower shop at the corner of the intersection.
It was White Valentine’s Day, and despite being close to midnight, the flower shop was still bustling with customers.
Xie Huai, dressed in a suit, walked up to the counter and gave his surname and contact information.
While waiting for the bouquet, Xie Huai took out his phone to check the message Qi Xu had sent him. It had been an hour ago, and he replied, but there was no response from the other side—maybe they were asleep.
The clerk quickly took a bouquet of purple roses from the wrapped bouquets behind them and handed it to Xie Huai: “Mr. Xie, your flowers.”
Compared to the red roses in everyone else’s hands, that bouquet of purple roses caught everyone’s attention.
Xie Huai signed the order form, his expression neutral but his eyes betraying a hint of tenderness. He carefully held the purple roses and walked out of the flower shop.
After Xie Huai left, someone asked the clerk, “Um, I was wondering what the meaning of purple roses is. Are they suitable for Valentine’s Day?”
The clerk replied, “The meaning is eternal love. They’re suitable for couples who’ve weathered storms and are ready to enter the marriage hall, perfect for proposals.”
Qi Xu waited a long time for Xie Huai to return, yawned, and went back to his room to sleep.
After sleeping for an unknown amount of time, Qi Xu suddenly opened his eyes upon hearing a noise outside.
Given his ability to sleep, the noise from the neighboring room wouldn’t have woken him up. Perhaps his mind was elsewhere, as he hadn’t collected the rent today.
Every time Xie Huai returned late at night after socializing, he would wash up in his own room to avoid waking Qi Xu, who was already asleep.
Qi Xu got up with the payment code in hand, not feeling very sleepy, and politely knocked on Xie Huai’s door.
“Time to pay the rent.”
Xie Huai was surprised when he opened the door, and he couldn’t help but laugh when he heard what Qi Xu said.
He casually wiped his half-dry hair: “Today is Valentine’s Day. Are there any special offers?”
Oh, it’s Valentine’s Day. Qi Xu didn’t seem to have forgotten that today was Valentine’s Day, following the landlord’s aloofness: “Sorry, the rent isn’t part of the couple’s package deal.”
Xie Huai acted like a tenant who was incredibly sincere, but his words and actions were those of a tenant who wanted to get ahead.
He bent down and kissed Qi Xu’s lips: “Can I enjoy the discount of free utilities and half-price rent?”
Free utilities and half-price rent hit Qi Xu’s bottom line, and he sneered: “You wish.”
As soon as he finished speaking, Xie Huai dragged him into the room, seemingly intending to use his body to offset the rent.
Qi Xu touched him and said, “Happy Valentine’s Day.”
Xie Huai grabbed his fingers and said, “Happy birthday.”
Qi Xu kicked him and said, “Get lost. Is it midnight yet? Just say happy birthday.”
“I’ll do it at midnight.”
“…”
Xie Huai stopped teasing Qi Xu and held his ankle, giving him an early birthday gift.
Qi Xu felt an itch on his foot and looked down to see a red string tied around his ankle.
“What does this mean? To bind me at all times?”
Xie Huai thought about it but didn’t say anything, instead tugging on the red string: “The Matchmaker has tied us together. In the next life, and the life after that, we will always be together.”
Perhaps no matter how many times they started over, the two of them would still fall in love—not at first sight, but through the passage of time.
Two souls drawn to each other, without grand declarations of love, only the gentle flow of time worth savoring.
Late at night, the two slept in each other’s arms. In their dreams, there was nothing else but a brilliantly blooming purple rose.
There was also a future of walking hand in hand.
————The End————
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