After sending the last email, it was already thirteen minutes past ten.

Sang Ru shut down her computer and packed up her things without hesitation. The new proposal had been sent over, and the rest would depend on whatever brilliant ideas the client might have.

However, these brilliant ideas came surprisingly fast today—the notification sound for a new email chimed simultaneously with the “ding” of the arriving elevator.

Sang Ru swiped open the message. Well, three options, all rejected by the other side in less than three minutes.

She didn’t reply, locked her screen, and entered the elevator.

In the thirty-eight-story office building, she wasn’t the only one leaving work at this hour.

Two other men from above the sixteenth floor stood in the elevator, well-dressed elites, one appearing relaxed, the other rigid.

Sang Ru glanced at them, then stood in front, facing away from them, carefully composing her email reply.

The gist was: Please take another look.

Pei Feng had seen Sang Ru before, and each time this woman made his heart flutter. Great figure, beautiful face, and a fragrance unlike common perfumes that swirled around one’s nose before sneaking straight into the heart when you weren’t paying attention.

Pei Feng dropped his casual demeanor, took out his phone, and typed a message for Zhou Tingzhao to see.

“My type, should I go for it?”

Zhou Tingzhao glanced at the woman’s back and said, “Up to you.”

“What?” Sang Ru had just pressed send on her email and reflexively responded, only realizing afterward that he hadn’t been talking to her. She smiled, apologizing without any trace of embarrassment, “Sorry, I misheard.”

“No problem,” Pei Feng smoothly seized the opportunity to move next to her, casually starting a conversation, “I’ve seen you several times late at night, sixteenth floor… advertising company?”

“Mm-hmm.”

“Must be tough,” Pei Feng commented while looking at her profile, but in his mind, he was calculating how to ask for her contact information in a way that would seem natural.

Some people are too quiet; the quieter they are, the more they provoke others.

So Sang Ru smiled imperceptibly and replied, “Same for you, investment bankers.”

Pei Feng was taken aback, then became delighted: “How did you know?”

He had almost believed this beautiful woman shared the same interest in him.

“I just know,” Sang Ru said.

The elevator moved faster than expected. Just before the doors opened, Pei Feng seized his last chance: “Need a ride home?”

Sang Ru dangled her keys: “No need.”

The elevator stopped.

“Then could I have your WeChat?”

The woman’s beautiful brow arched slightly, and Pei Feng’s heart inexplicably rose with it.

As the doors opened, Zhou Tingzhao walked past them first.

“Sure,” he heard her say.

Zhou Tingzhao sat in the driver’s seat but didn’t start the car for a long time.

He pinched the bridge of his nose, and in the moment of relaxing his nerves, thought about the difficult opponent he’d encountered in business today, trying to review where he might have made mistakes while dealing with him.

But he quickly found he couldn’t complete the review.

Unusually, he couldn’t focus his thoughts.

Pei Feng’s message popped up at that moment: “Why did you leave so quickly? You disappeared in the blink of an eye.”

“I got her WeChat hahaha! She’s even more interesting than I thought! Brother, put in some effort, this time I’m going to leave the lonely singles club.”

“You broke up less than a week ago,” Zhou Tingzhao replied. “Send me the merger case files again later.”

“…You’re going to spend your whole life with work.”

Zhou Tingzhao closed the chat window and opened the car window to light a cigarette.

He soon received the files Pei Feng sent, and then watched as his friend’s flashy red sports car roared past.

As the sound of the sports car’s engine faded away, the entire parking lot suddenly fell into a strange, eerie silence.

Yet there was still someone there.

Zhou Tingzhao, as if he had rested enough, finally started the car. The headlights came on, and the parking lot became noisy again.

He opened another chat window and tapped a few times.

“Come here.”

After a few seconds, Zhou Tingzhao heard another sound.

Besides the engine, besides his breathing in the car, another sound.

His focus, which had wandered when trying to think about work matters, now returned.

The sound of high heels approached bit by bit, from far to near. Zhou Tingzhao put out his cigarette and raised the car window.

Then, the owner of the high heels knocked on his window.

Someone deliberately repeated the same action, just to make her bend down and knock on his window.

A suffocating cloud of smoke hit her face. Sang Ru stepped back, frowning: “You’ve been smoking.”

“Get in.”

“Next time,” Sang Ru said.

The smell of smoke was a major deterrent from making love. She did want something to happen with Zhou Tingzhao, but not today.

Sang Ru said goodbye, but suddenly found her left wrist grabbed, and her whole body was unexpectedly pulled back to the car window. She barely stabilized herself by grabbing the window frame with her right hand.

Painful and awkward, she was somewhat annoyed. Sang Ru glared at the person in the car through the dim light: “What are you—”

What are you doing?

That’s what she meant to say, but couldn’t get the words out.

Zhou Tingzhao must have truly taken the wrong medicine, as he held the back of her head and kissed her with what seemed like all his strength. The tobacco scent suddenly enveloped her completely, entering her heart and lungs through her lips and tongue.

A kiss too passionate—all her anger that hadn’t fully formed was swallowed in an instant.