Chapter 45

That night, Shu Shiran didn't sleep very well.

Before falling asleep, her mind replayed Xu Ying's words and her lonely expression over and over again.

Xu Ying had always been calm and rational. In all the years they had known each other, this was the first time she had ever seen Xu Ying like that.

The next morning, Shu Shiran went to work carrying a hint of fatigue.

Entering the elevator, she thought of Ji Xi. Hesitating for a moment when pressing the button, she decided to head straight down to the basement parking instead.

Upon arriving at the firm, she sent Ji Xi a message asking how he was feeling.

Not long after, she received a reply.

-Ji Xi: Much better.

After finishing lunch at noon, Shu Shiran returned to her office intending to catch a quick nap when she received a video call from Xue Fu.

"Hi, Sis, you're not working, are you?"

Shu Shiran tucked her phone to the side. "I'm resting."

Xue Fu smiled. "I calculated that you should be on your lunch break right about now."
"Are you, Brother-in-law, and Luke in Haicheng this weekend?"

Shu Shiran: "How do you know?"

Xue Fu: "My mom said you sent her fish that Brother-in-law caught. And I saw Luke's updates are in Haicheng."

No wonder.

Xue Fu asked again, "What do you think of Brother-in-law's good friend after meeting him?"

Shu Shiran remembered how Luke could take a phone call while doing *that*, and recalled how boldly he was flirting with Sandy on the deck, leaving her with a rather complicated impression of Luke.

He was interesting and extremely capable, but also somewhat chaotic in certain aspects.

Xue Fu: "Is he like what I said? A pretty nice guy, just very flirtatious and loves to play."

Shu Shiran let out an "mm."

Indeed, he was.

"By the way, Sis, did Luke bring a woman back to the country this time?" Xue Fu asked.

She was referring to Sandy.

Shu Shiran's eyelids twitched. "Why are you asking about this?"

Xue Fu: "Actually, it was a classmate of mine who saw Luke's updates. Remember when we went to hang out at Brother-in-law's house in LA, and Luke arranged it? She met Luke once back then and developed some thoughts about him. She's the one who wants to know what kind of relationship that woman has with Luke."

"Sis, why that look? You don't think *I* am the one who wants to know, do you?"

Shu Shiran had indeed suspected Xue Fu.

Luke possessed a handsome face, coupled with a worldly romance and charm built on piles of money, and he was exceptionally smooth.

A young girl yet untried in the world like Xue Fu would easily be captivated.

Xue Fu, on the screen, turned her head and spoke a few words to someone out of frame, though it was unclear who it was.

Shortly after, Shu Shiran saw a young man appear in the video—a foreign handsome guy with red lips and white teeth.

Xue Fu introduced him, "This is my boyfriend, Evan."

"..."

Shu Shiran was slightly caught off guard.

Xue Fu made a few introductions in English, and Evan on the screen greeted Shu Shiran in English.

Shu Shiran responded in kind.

After the greetings, Evan stepped away, and Xue Fu said in Mandarin, "We haven't been dating long, don't tell my parents yet."

Shu Shiran asked, "Is he a classmate?"

Xue Fu nodded. "Same school, met at a party."

Xue Fu: "So rest assured, Sis, don't let your imagination run wild."

Only then was Shu Shiran relieved.

"Can you answer me now? What's the relationship between that beauty and Luke?"

When Luke introduced her, he said Sandy was his girlfriend, though perhaps every woman by his side was his girlfriend.

However, Shu Shiran wouldn't say that.

Since she was Xue Fu's classmate, she was just a young girl too, and it was better for her to give up this illusion early on.

Shu Shiran: "She is his girlfriend."

Upon hearing this, Xue Fu said, "That's good then. I'll tell her to give up on him early."

***

That evening, Shu Shiran got off work on time.

Returning to Chuansong No. 1 and going upstairs, she only saw Aunt Dou.

"Aunt Dou, where is Ji Xi? Is he still lying in his room because he's uncomfortable?" she asked.

Aunt Dou: "He said he was going to take a shower."

Aunt Dou mentioned that when she arrived at noon, Ji Xi still had a slight fever. After taking medicine and sleeping for a while, he woke up and insisted on taking a shower. She had advised him that it was best not to wash while still sick, but he wouldn't listen to persuasion.

Shu Shiran smiled and said, "Then just let him be."

Aunt Dou sighed. "Can only let him be. I know you young people are all like this, needing to be impeccably clean."

Shu Shiran figured that was true.

Sweating was inevitable after sleeping off a fever.

If it were her, she probably wouldn't be able to resist taking a shower either.

Aunt Dou: "I estimate he should be getting better soon. Dinner is ready, he can eat as soon as he comes out. He can only eat light things, so I made sweet and sour spare ribs and a tofu casserole specifically for you."

Shu Shiran: "Thank you, Aunt Dou."

After Aunt Dou left, Shu Shiran took out her phone and saw that Dai Jiao had sent a message a few minutes ago asking about work matters, so she called her back.

"Hey, Della, I didn't look at my phone just now."

Barely two sentences in, Shu Shiran saw Ji Xi walk out of his room out of the corner of her eye.

Ji Xi walked straight over to her.

He was wearing loungewear, his facial features washed clean by the water vapor, carrying a casual, languid weariness that couldn't conceal his illness.

Shu Shiran mouthed to him: *Feeling better?*

Ji Xi sat down beside her, his brows and eyes lazy, and said in a low voice, "Want to touch and see?"

On the phone, Dai Jiao, who had been right in the middle of explaining a functional breakthrough point she had just thought of, suddenly paused.

She gave a light cough and said, "Sharon, are you busy right now? I'll call you back another time."

Shu Shiran was stunned at first, then realized that Dai Jiao had heard Ji Xi's words and misunderstood.

She hadn't expected her to overhear.

And even less did she expect her to misunderstand.

"not that."

Shu Shiran immediately explained, "Ji Xi had a fever these past two days, he wanted me to check if he was still burning up."

Realizing that didn't sound quite right and hadn't hit the crucial point, she quickly added, "To touch his forehead."

Dai Jiao on the other end of the line burst into laughter upon hearing Shu Shiran's eager and flustered tone.

"I see. Actually, this proposal isn't that urgent either. I'll organize my thoughts and talk to you tomorrow. You go ahead and... touch."

Shu Shiran: "...Della!"

Dai Jiao: "I'm hanging up."

The call was disconnected, and Shu Shiran turned her head to see Ji Xi looking at her with a smile.

Even though she had said so much, Ji Xi could guess what Dai Jiao had asked without even hearing it.

This was the first time Shu Shiran had been misunderstood like this, and seeing his indifferent, utterly calm expression, she felt a bit shy and annoyed.

It was all his fault.

Irritated, she reached out and pressed her hand against his forehead.

A warm sensation radiated through her palm, and she suddenly realized that this action of hers had been far too natural.

Her gaze drifted, and she instantly pulled her hand back, saying, "You're not burning anymore. Let's eat."

Ji Xi let out an "oh," the corners of his lips curving upward as he slowly stood up and followed her toward the dining table.

***

Ji Xi's illness lasted three or four days, and he only fully recovered around the time Luke returned to Nancheng.

The day Luke returned to Nancheng was a Friday.

Feng Kuan came to Chunxiang that day.

The project for the Haicheng Golf Club was progressing smoothly, with the proposal basically finalized; after discussing a few more details, they could enter the refinement phase.

Once the meeting concluded, Shu Shiran asked Wu Tianqi to see Feng Kuan out.

Feng Kuan had nothing urgent to do afterward and wasn't in a hurry to leave, so he went over to Wu Tianqi's workstation to watch him work.

Wu Tianqi had quite a lot of tasks today and found him deeply annoying.

"Go away, go away, don't stand here and affect my work."

Feng Kuan picked up the small wooden fish on his desk, tapped it twice, and said, "You just do yours."

Wu Tianqi: "You being here is a huge distraction. If I don't finish, are you going to stay and pull overtime with me?"

Feng Kuan: "That's not out of the question."

"..."

Wu Tianqi knew very well that he was dying for an excuse to stay.

Feng Kuan: "Aren't you a bit too enthusiastic about work now?"

Didn't you agree to just coast along and slack off?

Wu Tianqi choked for a moment before saying, "What do you know? This is what I call a sense of responsibility."

Unwilling to exchange any more words with Feng Kuan, he stood up. "Let's go, I'll walk you down."

Feng Kuan looked deeply dissatisfied. "Is this the kind of attitude you give to a client?"

Wu Tianqi: "This is the exact attitude I give *you*."

The two had just taken a couple of steps away from the workstation when they happened to see Shu Shiran walking out of her office.

Shu Shiran walked over to the front desk reception area and saw the person standing there.

"Qin Shengyan?"

Hearing her voice, the man turned around, smiled as he looked at her, and said, "Shiran, long time no see."

Shu Shiran: "Come into my office."

By the time Wu Tianqi and Feng Kuan walked over, the two of them were already heading toward the office.

Wu Tianqi glanced at their retreating figures and curiously asked Xiao Yu at the front desk, "Who is that? Our new client?"

Xiao Yu: "Seems like Sharon's high school classmate."

Both Shu Shiran and Qin Shengyan had attended Chongjia High School and were in the same class.

Graduates from Chongjia essentially all went abroad, usually heading to just those few countries.

After high school graduation, Shu Shiran went to the UK while Qin Shengyan went to the US, so they had lost touch; Qin Shengyan had stayed in the US all these years.

Shu Shiran had heard Zheng Tingyan mention last week that Qin Shengyan had returned to the country and that they had run into each other. Still, upon receiving his WeChat message just now, she had been quite surprised.

Entering the office, Shu Shiran asked the front desk to send in some tea.

Qin Shengyan looked around her office and said, "Tingyan mentioned your firm was located here, and since I happened to be passing by, I came up to take a look. I'm not disturbing you, am I?"

Shu Shiran: "No, just a bit surprised."

Shu Shiran sat down on the sofa as well.

"How long have you been back in the country?"

Qin Shengyan: "About ten days."

Shu Shiran: "Tingyan said you plan to stay in China permanently from now on."

Qin Shengyan nodded. "My grandfather's health hasn't been very good lately."

Mentioning this topic struck a deep chord with Shu Shiran. "Then you should spend more time with him."

After chatting briefly about their current situations, Qin Shengyan said, "I looked into it before coming over—your firm is doing quite well."

Shu Shiran: "It's alright."

Qin Shengyan: "Coincidentally, I have an industrial park development project on my hands right now, and you were the first person that came to mind."

So this was the real reason for his visit.

Dai Jiao was more experienced with this type of project, and since Dai Jiao happened to be in today, Shu Shiran planned to call her over.

Qin Shengyan smiled warmly. "No rush, I didn't bring many documents with me today anyway. We can officially discuss these details another time. Today is mainly about old classmates catching up."

Shu Shiran put her phone down.

Qin Shengyan: "I was quite surprised when I saw your marriage certificate post on Moments."

"And I certainly didn't expect the one you married to be Ji Xi."

Only then did Shu Shiran remember that he and Ji Xi had also been classmates for two years in high school, so they must have known each other.

Qin Shengyan had another engagement later and prepared to leave after sitting for about twenty minutes.

Shu Shiran walked him out.

Feng Kuan, who had originally intended to leave, stayed put upon seeing Shu Shiran come out to see Qin Shengyan off, sticking around to eavesdrop on the gossip among the Chunxiang staff.

In the end, other than hearing that the guy was handsome, they learned nothing else.

Neither Feng Kuan nor Wu Tianqi had attended Chongjia, so they weren't familiar with Shu Shiran's high school classmates.

However, hearing Xiao Yu mention that the man's surname was Qin, Feng Kuan figured he must belong to *that* Qin family.