“Special Assistant Ye.” Just as she was mentioned, Ling Mianmian came out of the elevator carrying a stack of documents.

“Perfect timing.” Ye Jian took the documents from Ling Mianmian’s hands and instructed, “Hand off your current work to Xiao Zhang. You’re responsible for entertaining Miss Yan.”

“Yes, Special Assistant Ye.” Ling Mianmian looked toward Yan Yunning with a professional smile. “Miss Yan, please follow me to the reception room.”

Ye Jian said, “No need. Just take Miss Yan to Young President Xuan’s office.”

Ling Mianmian was briefly surprised. “Alright.”

She walked a few steps forward and pushed open the door to Xuan Yanyu’s office. “Miss Yan, please come in.”

“Mm.” Yan Yunning gave Ye Jian a slight nod and walked into the office.

“Miss Yan, please have a seat.” Ling Mianmian poured a cup of water from the dispenser and brought it to Yan Yunning, the corners of her eyes carrying a smile. “Young President Xuan and President Xuan have gone to a meeting. They should be done in at most half an hour. Please be patient and wait a little.”

Yan Yunning’s eyes rippled softly. “Go ahead and get back to your work. I’ll just browse my phone to pass the time.”

“That won’t do, Miss Yan.” Ling Mianmian’s bright eyes curved warmly. “Special Assistant Ye specifically assigned me to look after you. I can’t just sneak off and slack.”

“Oh, right — Miss Yan, my name is Ling Mianmian. I’m Young President Xuan’s assistant. If you don’t mind me asking, are you here to discuss a collaboration?”

Yan Yunning smiled faintly. “No.”

Ling Mianmian pressed her lips together and asked no further, quietly keeping Yan Yunning company.

Ding. Along with the message notification, a phone call came in as well.

Yan Yunning saw an unfamiliar number with Yuanjin City displayed after it. She smiled without a sound, and waited until the ringing was almost about to cut off before she answered.

After a moment of silence, Yan Yunning said deliberately, “Wrong number? I’m hanging up.”

“Don’t.” A young man’s awkward voice came through from the other end. “I was wrong. When are you coming back to Yuanjin City? Can you take me off your blocked list?”

Yan Yunning suppressed a laugh. “Didn’t you say you’d never speak to me again?”

Wen Zhilu — the son of Uncle Wen and Aunt Lu, three months younger than her, and her neighbor. The two of them had grown up together, attended the same schools, and had cold wars often, but this one had been the longest.

More than four months.

The day before she came to stay with her Second Uncle and Second Aunt, Wen Zhilu had told her two months in advance that he absolutely had to have dinner with her that day, and she had agreed. As the day drew near, Wen Zhilu reminded her again several more times.

But, as fate would have it, just as she was about to head out that day, the puppy Xiaxia had given her suddenly began vomiting without stopping. She sent Wen Zhilu a message saying they should reschedule the dinner.

Wen Zhilu called her and told her to hand the puppy off to a servant and take it to the pet hospital — she had to attend the dinner, no exceptions. She refused. The two of them practically ate together every single day, so what difference did missing one meal make?

Wen Zhilu coaxed and pleaded for a long time, but she wouldn’t listen. She insisted on taking the puppy to the vet herself. Wen Zhilu threw out a harsh warning: if she didn’t come to dinner, he would never speak to her again.

At the time she was both anxious and felt that Wen Zhilu was being completely unreasonable. She told him fine, then go ahead and stop talking to her — and then she blocked him on every contact method she had.

She came to Chaxi City the next day, and since then, the two of them had had no contact at all.

The young man’s muffled voice came through the receiver. “Yan Yunning, we’ve known each other for twenty years. You’d really never speak to me again forever — all over that puppy of yours?”

Yan Yunning curved her lips slightly. “You were the one who said you’d never speak to me again. I never said that.”

The young man said urgently, “I take it back. Let’s make up.”

Yan Yunning’s voice carried a hint of amusement. “Hmm… let me think about it.”

“Can you take me off the blocked list first?”

“Sure.”

The young man asked carefully, “Then… can I come find you?”

“Hm? Aren’t you busy with work?”

“Isn’t there my dad and my older brother at the company?”

Yan Yunning thought for a moment. “Wait until I come back.”

Wen Zhilu grew anxious. “Why? It’s not like I don’t know Jingjing.”

“My brother is on a business trip. Right now I’m staying at a friend’s house of my parents. If you come, would you have to stay at a hotel?”

“So what, I’ll just stay at a hotel.”

Yan Yunning: “…”

“Can’t I? It’s been four months.” The young man’s low, aggrieved voice kept drifting to Yan Yunning’s ear through the receiver. “Am I still your best friend?”

Yan Yunning quickly said, “Yes, yes, yes. Your place in my heart is irreplaceable.”

The young man pursed his lips in dissatisfaction. “Yan Yunning, you say the same thing to He Qingxia.”

Yan Yunning: “…”

“Tomorrow you come pick me up from the airport, book me a hotel, have dinner with me, and apart from the evenings, you have to spend the rest of the time with me.”

“Better yet, bring me a bouquet when you come pick me up, and I’ll forgive you for telling He Qingxia behind my back that her place in your heart is irreplaceable.”

Yan Yunning twitched the corner of her mouth. “Wen Zhilu, we’re friends, not a couple. You sound like you’re talking to a girlfriend.”

“Is there a difference? Every time you came back from Chaxi City, haven’t I gone to pick you up? And bought you flowers every single time?” Wen Zhilu’s voice turned lazy and slow. “Except for our cold wars when you ignored me — what day has this lord here not been by your side?”

“There is a difference. How can friends be lumped in with a couple? Except for the part where you said I have to keep you company apart from evenings — I agree to everything else.”

“Yan Yunning, give me one reason. You never used to emphasize the distinction between friends and couples like this.” Wen Zhilu narrowed his eyes. “Yan Yunning, are you secretly in a relationship behind my back? You have a boyfriend?? Just four months, and you already…”

“Stop.” Yan Yunning clicked her tongue. “What do you mean ‘behind your back’? If I were in a relationship, why would it be behind your back? I would definitely tell you.”

Wen Zhilu let out a breath of relief. “So… so that means there’s no one?”

“Mm.”

The young man’s lazy, carefree laughter came through. “Remember to come pick me up tomorrow. I added you back as a contact before I called — go ahead and accept.”

“Got it, got it.”

“Don’t forget the flowers.” Wen Zhilu reminded her.

Yan Yunning clicked her tongue. “Won’t forget, won’t forget.”

“And I want to eat…”

“Truffle-seared foie gras, king crab with steamed vermicelli, steamed hairy crab, yam and spareribs stew — I know all of it. Anything else? If not, I’m hanging up.”

“I thought you’d forgotten.”

“Wen Zhilu, we’ve been apart for four months, not four hundred years!!!” Yan Yunning caught sight of Xuan Yanyu walking toward the office out of the corner of her eye. She left with a quick “Bye — message me if anything else comes up,” and ended the call.

“Young President Xuan.” Seeing Xuan Yanyu enter the office, Ling Mianmian rose from the sofa.

Xuan Yanyu gave a slight nod and walked over to Yan Yunning. His low, pleasant voice carried warmth. “Have you been waiting long?”

“Not at all.” Yan Yunning stretched lazily. The man took hold of her arm, exerting just the slightest bit of force.

Before Yan Yunning could register what was happening, she was already pulled up from the sofa by Xuan Yanyu. His arm circled her waist, and her whole person tumbled into his embrace.