After sending the message to Yan Cheng, Chen Jinyao suddenly slumped her shoulders. She had worked with tense nerves without much lunch rest, and when that tension finally relaxed, the aftereffects gradually appeared quite noticeably. She raised her hand to pinch her nose bridge, leaned back into her chair, and tilted her head back, deciding to rest her eyes.
In the moment her mind emptied, there were still faint traces of worry in her heart.
Not even a minute had passed before Chen Jinyao opened her eyes again, the whole process seeming like play. She leaned forward and grabbed her phone from atop the folder.
Yan Cheng hadn’t replied yet, the last message on their chat screen was still the one she had just sent. Chen Jinyao lazily lowered her eyelashes, stared at it for a while, exited, her fingertip paused, and then went to browse Moments.
The first thing that caught her eye was what Chen Jinlin had posted two minutes ago.
A screenshot of her chat with her boyfriend, highlighting a money transfer.
“…” The way to show off happiness was always so simple and crude these days.
Chen Jinyao pressed her lips together and liked the post.
Then, almost in the next second, Chen Jinlin, as if she had been watching her own post, found her way to Chen Jinyao.
Young people were strangely enthusiastic about the sense of ceremony in relationships.
And this enthusiasm wasn’t just reflected in themselves. Especially among girls, perhaps there was more or less a mentality of showing off, so they would subtly use not-so-subtle language to spark competition.
Chen Jinlin: [Sister!!!]
Chen Jinyao’s mouth twitched, and she instinctively replied: [Did you hide this from Mom and Dad?]
Chen Jinlin: [Hehe, I know what I’m doing.]
Chen Jinyao sighed helplessly: [You shouldn’t just say you know what you’re doing, you should give Mom and Dad some hints when it’s appropriate. You can’t keep hiding forever, right?]
The elder sister’s worry seeped through the screen.
Chen Jinyao: [Don’t think I’m nagging…]
The rest of what she wanted to say was stuck in her throat, not knowing how to continue.
After all, how could someone deeply immersed in love listen to well-intentioned but contrary advice? It was already good that she wasn’t impatiently talking back.
After a brief silence.
Chen Jinlin cleverly changed the subject, simply not responding to Chen Jinyao’s concerns, making Chen Jinyao furrow her brows before finally sighing helplessly.
When it came to others’ relationships, before any major crisis appeared, one should maintain a relatively positive attitude and not interfere too much. Of course, it wasn’t wrong to express reasonable concerns appropriately.
So, following the principle of crossing bridges when you come to them, the sisters tacitly let the topic drift through their screen conversation.
Though it drifted, they both knew clearly what the main point was.
Chen Jinlin: [Sis, did brother-in-law do anything special today?]
Chen Jinlin: [Reference my first Moments post.]
Chen Jinlin: [If he hasn’t done anything, you could drop some hints.]
Three messages in a row, without taking a breath, revealing deep distrust of her brother-in-law.
Chen Jinyao fell silent: “…”
Chen Jinlin guessed that although her brother-in-law had settled down now, and was even completely under her sister’s control, he was essentially still a macho man without a romantic bone in his body.
Don’t ask why she would say this – it was all woman’s intuition.
As her sister, Chen Jinlin sincerely hoped her brother-in-law could treat her sister better.
Who knew she was just worrying needlessly.
It was rather like finding trouble when there was none.
More accurately, oh, it was like asking for pain.
Chen Jinyao: [Of course he did something, he knows about today even better than I do.]
I’m afraid telling you will just upset you, she thought.
Chen Jinyao: [By my conservative estimate, your brother-in-law transferred me fourteen thousand.]
Chen Jinlin: [……]
Fourteen thousand was a huge number, but what meaning did it have?
Chen Jinyao: [I think I should post about this in Moments too.]
At this point, the brief sister conversation ended completely.
Whether it was just imagination or not, these seemingly contentless lines seemed to vaguely reveal the word “breakdown.”
Quick and decisive, the whole process took less than three minutes.
Meanwhile, under receptionist Xiao Liu’s astonished gaze, the flamboyant Yan Cheng confidently strode straight to Chen Jinyao’s office, familiar with the route.
Xiao Liu marveled at the bouquet of roses larger than a child’s bathtub, stunned for two seconds, fingers fidgeting with her mouse, feeling envious.
And thus concluded: the man who could win Dr. Chen was indeed extraordinary.
Chen Jinyao’s office was in Xiao Liu’s visual blind spot. No matter how she craned her neck, she couldn’t see anything. She slowly withdrew her gaze, suppressing her curiosity, and sighed softly with regret.
A slanting ray of sunlight dominated the corridor, with tiny invisible particles floating in the air. Yan Cheng paused his steps, braking in time, and stopped at Chen Jinyao’s office door. His previously flirtatious dreamlike demeanor suddenly became restrained, his peacock display half closed. Strangely, he now showed emotions of “growing more timid near home.” He pressed his lips together and quickly adjusted his clothing by feel, more formal than their first blind date.
If conditions allowed, he probably would have wanted to check a mirror to see if his hair was messy.
“…” After several minutes of hesitation, he finally regained his spirit, his brows showing fighting spirit, his lips uncontrollably rising. He rustled the roses behind his back, then knocked on the door.
“Come in,” Chen Jinyao looked up after editing her Moments post.
He pressed down the door handle, not rushing to enter, but instead leaned against the doorframe flirtatiously, raising an eyebrow, “Hi.”
Chen Jinyao: “…”
The man’s clothes were different from his usual casual style – white shirt with a tie, unwrinkled suit pants obviously highlighting his firm buttocks.
With that mouth-watering, formidable public display of affection-ready waist of his, how could he hide the large bouquet of roses behind him?
When their gazes met, for a moment, Chen Jinyao’s mind conjured up the image of a groom picking up his bride, the scene vivid.
Chen Jinyao drew in a sharp breath, then showed a hesitant expression.
“I feel a bit overwhelmed,” she said calmly.
She even wanted to delete the Moments post she had just sent.
If showing off happiness had to come like this, with such unexpected attacks, she felt her heart probably couldn’t handle it. Her cheeks slightly flushed as she narrowed her eyes, stood up, and walked toward Yan Cheng.
“I didn’t think you’d do these superficial things.”
Yan Cheng walked in, closed the door, and leaned lazily against it, holding the roses obediently against his chest. His lips curled as he boasted: “Tch, don’t look down on me, I have thousands of strategists behind me.”
“All foolish advisers, right?” Chen Jinyao took the flowers, lowered her eyes to appreciate them for a moment, then put them aside. Compared to the alluring red roses, obviously his waist attracted her more. Chen Jinyao silently sighed about ‘women of a certain age being as fierce as wolves’ before unhesitatingly stepping forward to wrap her arms around Yan Cheng’s waist, taking the opportunity to feel it a couple times. She knew Yan Cheng was making up for not properly pursuing her before. Honestly, this was more like married couple’s intimacy. She looked up, stood on tiptoes, and kissed his chin twice: “If any man I’d only met a few times suddenly appeared like this before me, I basically wouldn’t have any more interaction with him.”
Yan Cheng reached out to pull her into his embrace – she was hugging his waist but still keeping some distance. He showed an expression of “women say one thing but mean another” as he narrowed his eyes and slowly curved his lips: “But now you’re throwing yourself into my arms.”
His tone even carried a hint of smugness.
“…” Chen Jinyao bit her teeth and directly pinched him. His waist was evenly toned without any fat, impossible to pinch properly. The lecture about judging peacocks that was about to leave her mouth suddenly stopped, “Your waist is really nice.”
Frighteningly, hearing her praise, Yan Cheng smiled shyly.
Chen Jinyao: “Was sending flowers the idea of your foolish advisers?”
Yan Cheng shook his head – this credit couldn’t be stolen.
Chen Jinyao let out an expressionless “Oh,” and concluded: “Then the money transfer, red envelope, and your styling must have been their suggestions.”
In fact, women really did say one thing but mean another.
At least, when Chen Jinyao saw Yan Cheng’s WeChat message, besides surprise, her heart had filled with sweetness, like being suddenly thrown into a honey pot.
“I like the first part,” she said straightforwardly. The latter part was fine too. “The styling is normal, but your expression irritates me. Put your smile down first, yes, yes, you need to be more reserved. Otherwise, with that flirtatious smile just now, you don’t look like you’re properly here to pick up your wife.”
After speaking, she paused, holding back the rest.
She licked her lips, planning to find a more tactful way to say it.
Yan Cheng: “…”
After two minutes of mysterious silence, the clingy couple finally separated.
They couldn’t just stay at the door forever.
That somehow felt a bit indescribable.
Chen Jinyao walked to her desk, turned around, leaned back with one hand, looked up at him, and raised her eyebrows: “What plans do you have after I get off work?”
Yan Cheng answered truthfully: “Take you to dinner, I’ve made restaurant reservations.”
Sunlight quietly spilled in, with fluffy dust particles seemingly floating in the light.
Yan Cheng had his hands in his pockets, lazily lowering his eyes to see Chen Jinyao’s “as expected” expression.
“…” His fingers fidgeting with the fabric paused slightly as the man immediately realized his arrangements were too common, without any novelty.
Everything had been easily guessed by her, with no surprise at all.
He slightly collected himself, looked away, the peacock’s display folding, raised his hand to rub his nose, a bit embarrassed.
Chen Jinyao: “And after that, you’ve booked a hotel room.”
Yan Cheng: “……………………”
The office suddenly fell silent, the air instantly solidifying.
After a while, the thunderstruck Yan Cheng turned his head to look at Chen Jinyao again, his expression indescribably serious. He walked closer to her, raised his hand to hold her chin, forcing her to look at him, pressed his lips tight, just short of saying the cliché “look into my eyes.” After a long moment, Yan Cheng solemnly declared: “I’m not that kind of person, don’t wrongly accuse me.”
Chen Jinyao was skeptical, very perfunctory: “…Oh.”
“Tch.” Yan Cheng narrowed his eyes, suddenly smiled, and cleared his throat. “But if you want, it’s not too late to book now.”
Chen Jinyao: “…”
Yan Cheng smiled ambiguously, turning the tables.
They looked at each other silently for a moment.
Chen Jinyao wasn’t intimidated at all: “Alright then.”
Yan Cheng’s rising smile suddenly froze: “????”
Honestly, this reversal came too fast, completely opposite to the scene he had anticipated. He was shamefully caught off guard.
…Disgracefully surrendering, defeated like a collapsing mountain.
After a long while, he finally found his voice: “What did you say?”
“Alright then.” Chen Jinyao raised her chin, smiling with a hint of challenge, the two short words slowly delivered like death by a thousand cuts.
Yan Cheng: “…”
This trip was worth it!
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