“Let’s talk business.” Xuan Shi’an dropped his earlier manner and asked with an easy smile, “You and Ningning are together now? Should Dad start getting ready to hold an engagement banquet for you two?”

Xuan Yanyu smiled and said, “No rush. In a few days I’ll formally ask Ningning to be my girlfriend. Once she says yes, then you can start preparing.”

Xuan Shi’an teased him with a look. “I see — young people want the romance, right? First the confession, then the proposal.”

Xuan Yanyu said nothing. It wasn’t about romance — he simply wanted to take it one step at a time. He didn’t want to skip a single step and leave his little darling with any regrets.

“You’ve got the venue ready? Hire a few more photographers — take lots of photos and video.” Xuan Shi’an smiled until the corners of his eyes crinkled. “And the company’s LED display screen could do with an upgrade.”

One upgrade for the confession, one for the engagement, one for the wedding — it would be well worth booking the landmark display screen in the city center.

“Mhm.” Xuan Yanyu didn’t want to talk to him any further. He nodded and disconnected from the meeting.

He stood, let his gaze drift idly toward the bouquet Yan Yuning had left on the desk, stepped over, and gave one of the petals a light touch. The curve at the corners of his mouth was impossible to suppress.

After admiring the vivid, dewy pink roses for a moment, Xuan Yanyu made his way to Yan Yuning’s room.

Inside, the young woman was lying in her thin blanket looking thoroughly done with life, growing more mortified with every replay.

“Come down and eat.” Xuan Yanyu sat on the edge of the bed, a faint laugh escaping through his nose.

Yan Yuning pushed the blanket aside, her voice carrying a soft note of reproach. “How did you not tell me you were in the middle of a video conference?”

Now his employees would think she was unreasonable — clinging to him even while he was in a meeting.

“Didn’t I?” The man raised an eyebrow at her, and said with a mild snort, “Didn’t I tell you to go sit on the sofa or the bed and play on your phone?”

Yan Yuning: “……”

That counted as telling her?!

Watching Yan Yuning scrunch up her little face in regret, Xuan Yanyu said, suppressing his laughter, “I’ll take the blame for this one. Next time I’ll definitely make it clear. Besides, they didn’t see your face, and they’re all overseas — no need to be embarrassed.”

Yan Yuning glanced sideways at him.

The man smiled and leaned down, propping himself on either side of her soft pillow, his voice low and languid. “Come on, let’s get food.”

Yan Yuning looked at the strikingly handsome face so close to hers, blinked, pulled him down by the back of the neck, and pressed their lips together.

Xuan Yanyu stilled in surprise, then, regaining himself, gently kissed the young woman’s sweet lips.

After a moment, Yan Yuning turned her head aside and lifted a hand to rest it against his chest. Her voice came out so soft it seemed to drift. “You said before that once I renewed my membership, you’d tell me about Ranran and A’Ci — does that still stand?”

The burning warmth in Xuan Yanyu’s eyes cooled as if doused with cold water and faded.

Yan Yuning read his mind in an instant and explained with a deep smile, “I’m only asking in passing. I’m definitely not asking just because I wanted to know about Ranran and A’Ci, and so I……”

“Do you think I’d believe that?” Before she could finish, the man’s unhurried voice arrived first.

Yan Yuning pulled the thin blanket back over herself, feigning resignation. “Whether you believe it or not is your business. I didn’t mean anything by it.”

Xuan Yanyu responded in kind, unhurried. “Whether I tell you or not is also my business. And since you don’t really want to know…”

Yan Yuning: “!!!”

“I want to know!” Yan Yuning admitted, unable to hold out.

The man stretched in an unhurried, unhurried way, and gave an insufferable smile. “Too late. You didn’t ask earlier — now the window’s closed.”

Yan Yuning drew a deep breath. “You… get out…”

Xuan Yanyu raised an eyebrow, bent down, and scooped Yan Yuning up into his arms.

“I’m temporarily not ready to part with the bed!!”

The man tuned out her words completely and carried her out of the room.

“Put me down — I can walk.” Yan Yuning didn’t want an audience.

“There’s no one downstairs at this hour.” Xuan Yanyu said as he stepped into the elevator and pressed the button for the first floor.

Yan Yuning checked her phone — it was nearly ten o’clock. At this hour, Uncle and Aunt would be resting in their room and wouldn’t be in the main hall.

She was hungry and too lazy to move anyway, so she simply settled into Xuan Yanyu’s arms and let him carry her downstairs.

“Ding.” The elevator slowly opened, and Yan Yuning found herself looking into several pairs of eyes. She closed her eyes. She really wanted to fall asleep on the spot.

Twice today!!

She had encountered awkward situations twice in one day!!

Xuan Yanyu was also momentarily surprised by the people in the main hall.

“In the blink of an eye, A’Yu has grown so tall and handsome.” A middle-aged woman wearing heavy makeup smiled broadly, the corners of her eyes creasing into several wrinkles.

Yan Yuning quietly patted Xuan Yanyu on the lower back. He was reluctant to set her down.

“My goodness, whose girl is this — unmarried, not engaged, and already living in a man’s home? She doesn’t even know what shame is — can’t even walk on her own two legs.” The woman gave a dismissive curl of her lip. “Mianmian, don’t you go learning from her.”

Ling Mianmian gave a nod.

Wen Shuyun’s expression cooled. “I practically had to beg Ningning to agree to stay at our home. Unlike you — you make a point of showing up at my home every time.”

Ling Mianmian’s mother had been Wen Shuyun’s high school classmate — they had sat next to each other for a year but were never particularly close, and after graduation had lost touch entirely.

That was until last year’s class reunion, where Old Xuan happened to have nothing on and had accompanied her. It was then that everyone learned she was the Lady of the Xuan Group.

After the reunion, Ling Mianmian’s mother had added her on the group chat and sent a friend request, her previous air of haughtiness entirely gone — from then on, she kept in regular contact.

Wen Shuyun found it tiresome, but out of courtesy toward a former classmate, she replied to her messages here and there, one exchange at a time.

Half a year ago, the woman had come crying to her, saying her daughter couldn’t find work and asking whether she could arrange something for her daughter at their company.

Their company’s hiring standards were strict. Ling Mianmian’s resume and academic qualifications didn’t meet the requirements, and her area of study didn’t match either, so the HR department couldn’t place her.

But Ling Mianmian’s mother kept turning up at her home under the guise of catching up. Unable to stand it any longer, Wen Shuyun had asked Old Xuan to arrange a minor assistant position for Ling Mianmian — printing documents, serving tea to clients, tidying up the office.

Today, Ling Mianmian’s mother had come asking whether they were hiring domestic staff, saying she wanted to work there as a maid.

When all was said and done, they were only casual classmates. Before Old Xuan accompanied her to that reunion, there had been no contact between them to speak of. She had already been generous enough to find her daughter a job. Even if they were close friends, one couldn’t just walk in and take jabs at Ningning like this.

Her daughter-in-law was family. When it came to choosing between family and outsiders, she still knew where her priorities lay.

Ling Mianmian’s mother’s face went pale. “Shuyun, I didn’t know — I thought this young woman was after money……”

She didn’t finish the sentence, but the contempt in the glance she directed at Yan Yuning left the meaning unmistakable.

“This… um… ma’am — it’s so late and you’re here wearing heavy, unflattering makeup and a slip dress that doesn’t suit your age. What for? Here to see my dad? What a pity — even if you threw money at my dad, he still wouldn’t spare you a glance.”

“I, on the other hand, am different. I throw money at Ningning and beg her to look at me.”

Xuan Shi’an, who had been coming downstairs, stumbled at that. Say what you want to say — why drag him into it?

Ling Mianmian’s mother’s face flushed a mortified, ugly red. She turned an aggrieved look on Wen Shuyun. “Shuyun, listen to A’Yu — what kind of thing is that to say?”