“Xuan Xixi, I’m going to call you that from now on.”

“What’s wrong with you?” Yan Yunning saw Xuan Yanyu’s brow tightening into a deep crease and felt her heart lift with worry.

“Nothing.” The man pressed his fingers to his temple, his tone softening without him realizing it. “What were you just saying?”

Yan Yunning saw his expression relax and that there was nothing seriously wrong before she continued, “I was saying you’ve misunderstood me and Wen Zhilu. In my eyes, Lulu is just a little brother.”

Xuan Yanyu narrowed his dark eyes. His cool fingertips gently caressed the young woman’s earlobe. He let out a cold laugh. “And which flower shop did you order the flowers from for Lulu?”

Yan Yunning swallowed, hearing the name “Lulu” pass through Xuan Yanyu’s lips with a distinctly grinding undercurrent — as if spoken through clenched teeth.

The man raised an eyebrow. “Inconvenient to say?”

“I just ordered on my phone,” Yan Yunning said meekly.

Xuan Yanyu’s low voice carried a pressing weight. “Show me.”

Knowing he was stubbornly set on finding out how many stems she’d ordered, Yan Yunning said preemptively, “I truly had no deliberate intent. I just picked it casually. Please, look at how sincere my face is — trust me.”

“My brother loves sending roses too. You and he have been friends for so many years — has he ever sent you any?”

Xuan Yanyu glanced leisurely at the young woman’s excessively earnest little face and gave a brief nod. “Yes.”

Just recently — at the banquet celebrating his recovery, Jinzhi had walked into the private room carrying a bouquet of roses.

“Then doesn’t that settle it? It’s just a bunch of flowers. There’s no special meaning. Don’t overthink it.”

Xuan Yanyu let out a low laugh. “Yan Yunning, the flowers your brother sent were yellow roses. Yellow roses symbolize pure, sincere friendship — perfectly appropriate as a gift between friends. But what you gave Wen Zhilu were red roses, which symbolize romantic love.”

Yan Yunning pouted. “It truly means nothing. He simply likes red roses.”

Ye’an, standing around the corner, let out a quiet sigh. He could barely resist creeping up to Yan Yunning’s ear to tell her — their Young Master Xuan was simply unhappy because she had sent them to Wen Zhilu, and not to him!!!

Xuan Yanyu said with displeasure, “What if he simply likes you too? Would you become his girlfriend?”

Yan Yunning refused without a moment’s hesitation. “Of course not.”

“How many times have you sent flowers to your Lulu?” the man said with pointed sarcasm.

“He’s not my Lulu — mind your words.” She thought about it for a moment. Not wanting to deceive him, Yan Yunning said, “I’ve sent him flowers quite a few times — I’ve lost count. Every birthday, graduation, or when he asks, like when picking him up from the airport. I always send some.”

Xuan Yanyu’s eyes instantly went cold. “You two are very close.”

Yan Yunning gave a quiet “yes.”

Xuan Yanyu said nothing more, and the atmosphere between them stiffened again.

Yan Yunning looked up at him and curved her lips slightly. “Then from now on, I’ll only send flowers to you. Alright?”

The man cast her a lazy glance, his tone unreadable. “What about his next birthday? Or the next time he asks — will you send them then?”

Yan Yunning blinked. “You can send them.”

Xuan Yanyu: “?”

“Joking. Once he starts dating, he naturally won’t be accepting roses from anyone else anymore.” Yan Yunning leaned into him slightly, her voice soft and gentle. “He’s just the little boy next door. How could you possibly be jealous of him?”

The man’s arm instinctively circled her slender waist. The darkness in his eyes faded, and with stubborn pride he said, “Who’s jealous? I was only angry that you were toying with me.”

“……” Yan Yunning looked up, meeting his eyes with curious gaze. “Xuan Yanyu, if I hadn’t explained myself to you, and you’d brought me to this villa — what was your plan?”

“Nothing.” Xuan Yanyu deflected.

Yan Yunning reached out and poked the tip of his nose. “Fine, I won’t ask. But who told you I was at the airport?”

The man clasped her fingertip, the muscle between his brows twitching slightly. “Does it matter?”

Yan Yunning wrinkled her nose. “It matters. I want to know what was said to you to make you this angry.”

“No one told me.”

Yan Yunning: “……”

Seeing that Yan Yunning clearly didn’t believe him, Xuan Yanyu unlocked his phone and opened a group chat.

Yan Yunning saw that Pei Shunian had posted a video in the group and tagged Yan Jinzhi: 【Jinzhi, this is your sister, right? Is the boy hugging her her boyfriend?】

And her brother had just replied: 【What boyfriend — that’s Ningning’s neighbor. Just a good friend. Like us.】

Yan Jinzhi: 【They’ve known each other since childhood, grown up as good friends, very familiar with each other. How would feelings develop? I can’t speak for others, but Ningning absolutely would not and could not end up with little Lulu.】

Yan Jinzhi: 【The lens of friendship makes it very hard for romantic feelings to grow. And romantic relationships are too unstable — once it ends, you lose the friendship too. Besides, Ningning treats little Lulu like family, like a younger brother she watches over. Unless you know the full story, please don’t speculate about my sister.】

Yan Jinzhi: 【If you’re curious, you can ask me privately who this person is, rather than guessing whether he’s my sister’s boyfriend. Just because a girl stands next to a man, does that mean he has to be her boyfriend? Can’t it be friendship??】

Pei Shunian replied instantly: 【My mistake, my mistake. Jinzhi, noted for next time.】

What he didn’t say was that Yan Jinzhi had genuinely misread him — seeing Yan Yunning carrying red roses to meet a man around her age, then immediately embracing him, it was very hard not to jump to the conclusion that they were a couple!!!

Xuan Yanyu had also seen Yan Jinzhi’s four consecutive messages, and when he reached the line “Ningning absolutely would not end up with little Lulu,” that small knot of discomfort in his chest quietly dissolved.

“Not angry anymore. Shall we go eat? I want corn rice and roasted chicken legs.” Yan Yunning traced small circles in his palm with her fingertip, looking up at him pitifully. “I’m so hungry.”

“What else do you want?” Xuan Yanyu lifted her onto his lap, took her hand in his, and a warmth softened his face. “The villa has ingredients and a chef.”

Yan Yunning’s eyes paused for a moment. “Xuan Yanyu, you don’t come here often, do you?”

The man raised an eyebrow, gesturing for her to continue.

“You live at the Xuan estate now. When I went to your office last time, I heard Ye Jian mention that you used to travel frequently between branch offices. So you’d have come here even less. And yet now there are both ingredients and a chef on hand — you weren’t planning to keep me here at your villa, were you?”

The more she thought about it, the more plausible it seemed. “Xuan Yanyu, are you trying to……”

“What are you imagining?” Xuan Yanyu tapped her forehead and leaned back lazily into the chair. His gaze on Yan Yunning was deep. “I do want you to stay in my villa forever.”

Yan Yunning: “……”

“But……” The man paused, smiling with a kind of languid allure. “What I want even more is for you to marry me, and as my wife, stay in my villa forever.”

Yan Yunning clicked her tongue, a smile blooming in her eyes. “Let me think about it.”

Xuan Yanyu’s eyes darkened. His slender fingers rested against Yan Yunning’s delicate neck, applying the slightest pressure. In the instant the young woman tilted her chin up, he suddenly turned his head and pressed his lips against hers.

Breathing in the scent of the same shower wash on Yan Yunning’s skin, Xuan Yanyu’s breath deepened imperceptibly.

After a long while, an abrupt ringtone broke through the intertwined silence between them. Yan Yunning drew in a deep breath, reached into her pocket, and answered the call.

An urgent male voice came through the receiver: 【Ningning, Zhilu has a fever — 39 degrees Celsius. Xiaoxia and I have taken him to the hospital. Come quickly.】