Jiang Xiaoyi was extremely satisfied with “I Love You Duck.” After finishing the roast duck, she’d originally wanted to take Ye Zhen for a walk along the moat promenade in Rong City to see the night view, but Ye Zhen had a new plan instead —

“Let’s go watch a movie.” Ye Zhen smiled. “Don’t you have two movie tickets about to expire?”

Once he mentioned it, Jiang Xiaoyi remembered — it was an item on her “daily to-do list.”

“You have such a good memory — one glance and you remembered.”

Ye Zhen caught Jiang Xiaoyi’s hand and kissed it, saying calmly as if not fishing for compliments at all: “Oh, when it comes to things about you, I remember everything clearly. Even the small details — I take those seriously too.”

Just as Jiang Xiaoyi was about to praise him, she heard Ye Zhen continue: “Though I only remember the fine details about my own girlfriend — unlike some so-called warm, caring guys who remember everything about everyone, and somehow still get praised as thoughtful. Isn’t that just casting a wide net?”

Even though Dan Hui already had a girlfriend, whenever Ye Zhen brought him up, it was as if by nature he couldn’t help but take a jab: “Being nice to everyone — what’s the point of that? Being cold to everyone else and good to just one person, that’s the essence of socialist male virtue. What he does, in an earlier era, could be considered hooliganism — flirting all over the place, so improper for a man…”

Every time Dan Hui came up, Ye Zhen would get sarcastic and sour about it. Before, Jiang Xiaoyi would patiently explain and reassure him each time, but now she felt that no matter how much she said, it wasn’t as simple and direct as just doing something about it —

Actions speak louder than words. Jiang Xiaoyi rose up on her toes, cupped Ye Zhen’s face, and kissed him straight on.

To shut this man’s mean mouth, she had to sacrifice her own lips.

……

Jiang Xiaoyi and Ye Zhen arrived at the movie theater all lovey-dovey along the way. Jiang Xiaoyi redeemed the tickets with the voucher code, and the two of them walked hand in hand into the screening hall.

As it happened, coincidentally, this was exactly the romance film Xu Mengting starred in.

Ye Zhen and Jiang Xiaoyi arrived a bit early. Ye Zhen bought popcorn, and the two of them settled into their seats to eat, but as they ate, Ye Zhen started getting handsy.

The man held Jiang Xiaoyi’s hand inside the popcorn bucket, then pulled her hand and forced the popcorn she was holding into his own mouth.

Jiang Xiaoyi was helpless against Ye Zhen’s childishness, but she got into a playful mood too, and after having her popcorn snatched several times, she started retaliating by trying to grab popcorn from Ye Zhen’s hand in turn.

Unfortunately she didn’t quite get the timing right — every time, Ye Zhen managed to snatch the popcorn from Jiang Xiaoyi’s hand with his mouth just right, but Jiang Xiaoyi ended up biting straight down on Ye Zhen’s finger.

Fortunately it didn’t hurt, but Ye Zhen put on a show of being deeply wounded.

With only a few minutes left before the screening, the lights in the hall had already dimmed. Ye Zhen lowered his voice, leaning in close to Jiang Xiaoyi’s ear, his tone rather aggrieved: “You bit me.”

The breath brushing against Jiang Xiaoyi’s ear made her want to shrink her neck and flee — her ears strangely started burning hot too.

Yet Ye Zhen seemed to think that wasn’t enough. Before Jiang Xiaoyi could react, she felt a warm, soft sensation against her ear —

Ye Zhen had actually gently bitten her earlobe!

If they hadn’t been in a movie theater, Jiang Xiaoyi felt her reflexes would have sent her jumping three feet in the air like a startled squirrel. But with the movie about to start, she had no choice but to glare fiercely at Ye Zhen in the dark, despite feeling more flustered than fierce.

Yet the instigator remained perfectly calm. He leaned in close to Jiang Xiaoyi’s reddened earlobe, pushing his luck further, murmuring: “You bit me, so I bit you back.”

That was some logic there!

Jiang Xiaoyi felt that if Ye Zhen kept this up, she’d really have to flee in defeat.

Fortunately, the movie starting saved Jiang Xiaoyi in the end. After the opening credits passed, her heart gradually settled.

Luckily the seats around Jiang Xiaoyi and Ye Zhen were all empty, so Jiang Xiaoyi managed to compose her embarrassed feelings, and Ye Zhen’s antics went unseen by anyone.

Except Ye Zhen seemed determined not to let her off easy — just as Jiang Xiaoyi finally settled into watching the movie, Ye Zhen’s hand found hers again in the dark. Fortunately, once the man held her hand, he behaved himself and made no further moves.

It was also around this time that people started arriving in the seats behind Jiang Xiaoyi and Ye Zhen, filing in one after another in the dark. Jiang Xiaoyi didn’t turn to look, but she could hear the sounds of people settling into the row behind them.

Before long, the movie officially began.

This film really lived up to its reputation as the current hit with great reviews — Xu Mengting’s acting was excellent too, and the plot combined the sweet romance genre with an engrossing mystery element, giving the whole film a strong pace. Jiang Xiaoyi found herself drawn into the movie before she knew it.

Soon, the movie’s biggest mystery was resolved, and the story reached its sweet ending as the couple finally got together, followed by the post-credits scene.

Jiang Xiaoyi looked at Xu Mengting’s flawless face on the screen and couldn’t help but softly compliment her: “She’s really beautiful.”

It was a genuine appreciation of another woman’s looks, with no jealousy at all. Ye Zhen, on the other hand, leaned in and kissed Jiang Xiaoyi’s cheek, murmuring close to her ear: “Not as pretty as you.”

The man said this with a completely straight face: “I think she’s just so-so. You’re more worth looking at.”

Jiang Xiaoyi felt she could practically crawl under her seat from embarrassment.

The cast and crew list was now scrolling across the screen, and the lights in the theater came on bright. Perhaps startled by the sudden brightness, Jiang Xiaoyi heard a loud commotion from the row behind them — the people behind had apparently already stood up to leave, and by accident, someone’s popcorn bucket must have knocked to the floor, scattering popcorn everywhere. But because she was absorbed in waiting for the post-credits scene, and still embarrassed from Ye Zhen’s compliment, Jiang Xiaoyi didn’t turn around.

She insisted on watching the post-credits scene through to the end, so Ye Zhen simply tilted his head to rest it on her shoulder, and the man began grumbling softly in a sulky tone —

“What’s so great about Xu Mengting — how come you’re looking at her more than at me? Keep this up, and this weekend at my place, I won’t let Xu Mengting come at all, so you don’t spend the whole time looking at her…”

This man, so jealous! Even jealous of Xu Mengting!

Fortunately the post-credits scene was very short and ended quickly. Jiang Xiaoyi turned her head and comfortingly ruffled Ye Zhen’s hair. Though Ye Zhen was much taller and bigger than Jiang Xiaoyi, when the man acted this childish and clingy, he was like some kind of large canine.

Ye Zhen seemed a bit surprised at having his head patted, but he quickly relaxed into it without a hint of resistance, even looking rather pleased: “No one’s ever dared to pat my head before. I think it feels pretty nice. No wonder dogs like having their heads scratched.”

What kind of comparison was that…

Jiang Xiaoyi was about to say something, when the sound of a spilled soda from the seat behind interrupted her train of thought.

This time, Jiang Xiaoyi finally couldn’t help but turn around to look —

And then she froze.

In the row behind, Jiang Xiaoyi found herself staring at Wang Yani, Li Junming, and Chen Zisheng, among others, all looking at each other in mutual shock.

Jiang Xiaoyi scanned the row with a blank expression, and only then realized that, of all the bad luck, the two rows directly behind her and Ye Zhen were entirely filled with Ruiyi coworkers.

At this moment, dead silence.

Everyone stared at each other, seemingly at a loss for what to say in this situation.

Seeing Jiang Xiaoyi had turned around for so long, Ye Zhen grew curious and turned to look too, and only then discovered the situation. But the man had, after all, seen the world; he was only stunned for a few seconds before regaining his composed demeanor —

“How come you’re all here?”

Facing Ye Zhen’s question, it was finally Wang Yani who answered, trembling: “President Ye, the company handed out movie ticket vouchers earlier that are about to expire — they’re redeemable specifically at this theater. Lately this Xu Mengting film happens to be the only well-reviewed one currently showing, so we all arranged to come together…”

Jiang Xiaoyi’s vision went dark. She’d calculated everything except for this — she’d been so absorbed in the romance that she’d completely forgotten these were the movie ticket vouchers Ruiyi had distributed! All employees across the whole company enjoyed the same benefit as her…

And this had led to this sudden, unexpected public exposure…

Ye Zhen, however, remained quite composed. He even nodded at Wang Yani and the others with a boss-like air: “Noted, next time I’ll make sure Ruiyi’s movie ticket vouchers don’t have such a short redemption window, so you all have more freedom in choosing when and which theater to watch at.”

“But since the company gave out this benefit, it’s good that everyone’s making full use of it.” The man paused, as if the person leaning on Jiang Xiaoyi and acting clingy just moments ago hadn’t been him at all, and with a cool, composed expression, he pulled Jiang Xiaoyi close. “I also came to watch because the redemption deadline was about to expire, and brought my girlfriend along.”

“……”

Facing everyone’s silence, Ye Zhen continued naturally: “Oh, this is my girlfriend, Jiang Xiaoyi.”

Under Wang Yani’s complicated gaze, Jiang Xiaoyi steeled herself and awkwardly greeted her Ruiyi coworkers.

Finally, under everyone’s utterly admiring stares, Jiang Xiaoyi was led out of the screening hall hand in hand with Ye Zhen, the two of them walking out of step with each other in their fluster.

Almost the moment she stepped out of the hall, a message from Wang Yani came through on WeChat —

“Jiang Xiaoyi!!!!”

“No wonder President Ye suddenly came to me before, saying he wanted to ask about my project, but the topic always somehow drifted to you. Simple me didn’t think much of it at the time — I even kept it to myself, worried that you might have offended him during your time as his temp assistant and that he wanted to dig up dirt on you for revenge. Loyal me shouldered all that pressure alone, doing an anonymous good deed without ever expecting credit from you, and it turns out!!!! It turns out you and President Ye have THIS kind of relationship!!! Turns out President Ye wasn’t investigating you for revenge at all, but to win you over!!”

“I’m so upset!! I had a perfect opportunity to suck up to the boss right in front of me, and I completely blew it! Did you even consider me a friend?! Jiang Xiaoyi, I’m so disappointed in you, I’m going to—”

Reading this, Jiang Xiaoyi felt quite guilty too — with Wang Yani’s string of exclamation-mark-laden ranting, it sounded like she was about to cut ties with her…

Jiang Xiaoyi, feeling anxious, scrolled the phone screen down further, and saw the second half of Wang Yani’s dramatic, resolute-sounding message —

“I’m going to get down on my knees and beg you — can you please put in a good word for me in front of President Ye from now on?”

……

Reading Wang Yani’s message, Jiang Xiaoyi didn’t know whether to laugh or cry.

Though the unexpected exposure hadn’t been planned, it hadn’t left Jiang Xiaoyi feeling too troubled either — Ye Zhen had openly and generously acknowledged the relationship, introducing her to their coworkers properly and seriously, which made Jiang Xiaoyi feel safe and secure.

The reason she’d chosen not to go public with the relationship, aside from worrying it would affect her coworker relationships and her work, was also partly out of a private insecurity — even having mustered up the courage, there were still occasional doubts about whether Ye Zhen might choose to end things once the initial excitement faded…

But now, Ye Zhen’s various actions had only made Jiang Xiaoyi grow more confident.

Because this man was constantly, in every way, conveying one message through his actions — you are good, just as you are.

Experiencing such openhearted love in this relationship, in this positive feedback and acceptance, Jiang Xiaoyi finally found herself growing genuinely more confident.

Her confidence now no longer came from the backing she’d once had as Boss Jiang in the parallel timeline, but from a courage that came from within.

No matter which timeline she was in, no matter what identity or status she held, she deserved to be loved, and she could bravely choose to love.

Ye Zhen had no idea what Jiang Xiaoyi was thinking. The man glanced at his watch: “It’s still early. This place happens to be not far from the Fire Extinguisher Club’s offline themed store — why don’t we go take a look at the current foot traffic.”

Ye Zhen glanced at Jiang Xiaoyi: “Oh, why don’t you give your senior schoolmate a call — if he’s at the store too, we could chat about the recent business performance.”

Dan Hui was indeed Jiang Xiaoyi’s senior schoolmate, but he was also just a business partner — calling up a partner to discuss work matters this late at night seemed inappropriate no matter how you looked at it…

Though he’d made it sound proper and above board, Ye Zhen’s man quickly revealed his true intentions. He cleared his throat: “Mainly, well, didn’t you say your senior schoolmate has always been good to you, probably treating you like a little sister? Well, since that’s the case, he’s sort of a half-baked older brother figure, so now that you and I are together, bringing your boyfriend to meet your half-baked older brother is only reasonable — after all, before I met you, you were taken care of by him quite a bit at school, weren’t you? Didn’t he even give you a job opportunity? So it makes sense I should thank him now, however you look at it…”

He made it sound quite proper, but this “meeting the brother” attitude of his was clearly one of showing off and asserting dominance, not gratitude…

“Ye Zhen, didn’t you say you wouldn’t be so jealous once you and I got together?”

Ye Zhen paused, his expression turning a bit awkward, looking somewhat guilty, his voice dropping slightly: “Well, it’s not like Ruiyi will take more than a few hours — actually everyone there might already know about our relationship by now. Since that’s the case, there’s no need to keep hiding it from others anymore. I just wanted to experience what it’s like to flaunt being the official one.”

Jiang Xiaoyi wasn’t sure what was wrong with her, but hearing Ye Zhen lay out these little schemes of his so plainly, she found it not just exasperating but actually rather endearing.

That’s probably how it is when you love someone — everything he does, Jiang Xiaoyi could see through rose-colored glasses; even a simple bit of jealousy felt sweet to her. It was as if in every little gesture the man made, she could find a hundred pieces of evidence proving just how good he was.

Though she still didn’t quite understand why Ye Zhen minded Dan Hui so much, but…

“Since you’re so eager to meet him and show off, of course I’ll indulge you.” Jiang Xiaoyi couldn’t help but laugh, teasing Ye Zhen. “Since I’m so fond of you too, I’ll let you have your moment as the official one.”

Ye Zhen had originally just mentioned it offhandedly, without really insisting on going to the Fire Extinguisher Club to assert his claim, but Jiang Xiaoyi’s words now stirred something in his heart: “You’re really going to take me there? Don’t you think that’s a bit childish?”

Jiang Xiaoyi laughed, tugging at Ye Zhen’s hand, sighing with a “Boss Jiang” air about her: “Whose fault is it that I found myself a boyfriend like you? What else can I do?”

“What can you do?”

Jiang Xiaoyi rose on her tiptoes and, patting Ye Zhen’s head earnestly, said: “Just spoil you, I guess.”

……

In the end, though, Jiang Xiaoyi never actually went to the Fire Extinguisher Club’s offline themed store, because Ye Zhen changed his mind —

“Never mind, let’s not go. Why waste a wonderful night like this going to see Dan Hui.”

This fickle man completely reversed his stance, as if the person who’d just insisted on going to assert his claim in front of Dan Hui hadn’t been him at all.

He held Jiang Xiaoyi close, then, as if wanting to say something but too embarrassed to bring it up, his whole demeanor turned bashful for the first time.

He hesitated, but in the end, the man couldn’t hold it in. He leaned close to Jiang Xiaoyi’s ear and murmured: “Tonight, let’s do something else.”

Jiang Xiaoyi felt herself grow nervous and flustered almost instantly, her face flushing without her control, her whole body feeling like it was burning up.

What Ye Zhen meant by that…

“Something else” meant…

The man tightened his grip on Jiang Xiaoyi’s hand: “We’ve already experienced our first time dating, our first time holding hands, our first kiss — but there’s still so many more firsts ahead, ones that belong to each of us separately, or ones we’ll share together. Jiang Xiaoyi, I want to invite you to experience them with me.”

Ye Zhen’s voice was very gentle, carrying a hint of careful solemnity: “I cherish you, and I cherish every experience we have together. Tonight the moonlight is so beautiful, I don’t want to waste it on anyone who doesn’t matter — I only want to create new firsts with you. Is that alright?”

Ye Zhen said this very earnestly, then extended his hand to Jiang Xiaoyi, just as he had once invited her to dance at that gala before.

Under this man’s focused, expectant gaze, Jiang Xiaoyi, her heart fluttering nervously and sweetly, met his eyes earnestly and placed her hand into Ye Zhen’s —

“Okay.”