The following evening, after receiving Zhang Lian’s call that he had landed, Zhou Mi ran to wait at the main entrance, playing with her phone while chatting idly with the shopkeeper at the nearby convenience store.

Close to seven o’clock, the sky had completely darkened, and the city’s neon lights in the night were like colorful jewels embedded in blue velvet.

When Zhang Lian’s car appeared in the distance, Zhou Mi straightened up from her small stool and said to the shopkeeper: “My boyfriend is back.”

Then she waved both arms like carefree little seaweed.

Zhang Lian naturally spotted her too, promptly stopping the car not far away, lowering the window, and beckoning her to come over.

From the convenience store entrance to the passenger seat, Zhou Mi was beaming all the way.

As soon as she settled in, the man beside her asked: “How long have you been waiting?”

Zhou Mi glanced at her wristwatch and deliberately said: “Not long, not long, less than an hour.”

Zhang Lian shifted into gear and drove into the residential area: “Good thing it’s not summer.”

Zhou Mi turned her face: “What’s wrong with summer?”

Zhang Lian said, “Sitting there feeding mosquitoes?”

Zhou Mi still smiled: “I’m not an idiot, I would spray mosquito repellent first.”

Zhang Lian said, “Waiting foolishly for an hour, you’re not far off.”

Zhou Mi forcefully squeezed out a “hmph,” wanting to give him a knock on the head, but remembering he was still driving, she suppressed her restless fingers: “What’s wrong with wanting you to see me sooner? I was afraid you missed me too much.”

Zhang Lian curved his lips: “A bit.”

Zhou Mi raised her chin toward him: “Then shouldn’t you thank me? For helping you reduce the time you’re tortured by longing.”

Zhang Lian gave her a glance, his smile deepening, and then freed one hand from the steering wheel to flick her provocative little chin.

Zhou Mi immediately retracted and covered it, glaring: “What are you doing?”

Zhang Lian didn’t answer, slowing down at Zhou Mi’s building, reversing into the parking space with an unchanged expression.

Zhou Mi rubbed her chin in hatred, grinding her teeth.

After parking the car steadily, Zhang Lian unbuckled his seatbelt and glanced at the motionless Zhou Mi: “Let’s go.”

Zhou Mi sat there, staring straight ahead, saying nothing.

Zhang Lian changed his approach to coax her: “Your gift is in the trunk, along with one for your parents.”

Zhou Mi remained indifferent.

Zhang Lian’s lips curved upward even more as he leaned toward her.

Zhou Mi turned her face toward her window, puffing her cheeks, with an expression of “the princess is upset.”

Zhang Lian pretended to be puzzled: “What’s wrong?”

Zhou Mi muttered: “I waited for you so long, and not only are you not grateful, you hurt me.”

Zhang Lian asked: “Where does it hurt?”

Zhou Mi raised her chin again, pointing: “Here.”

Zhang Lian smiled and directly kissed the spot she indicated.

The action was quick and unexpected, and ticklish. Zhou Mi gasped in surprise, looking at him in astonishment, but she couldn’t maintain her composure and giggled.

Zhang Lian looked at her assessingly: “It shouldn’t hurt anymore, right?”

Zhou Mi’s fine eyebrows curved, and she unconsciously bit her lip, a mischievous thought arising, pushing her luck: “Now my mouth feels a bit painful too.”

They kissed, entangled in the car, for a while before getting out of their respective sides.

Zhou Mi received her gift bag and followed Zhang Lian upstairs.

This practically confirmed that “future son-in-law” naturally received a welcoming ceremony at the entrance from Zhou Mi’s parents, until Zhou Mi finally shouted: “Stop crowding here! I can’t even change my shoes!” Only then did the two elders reluctantly move away.

While Zhou Mi’s father was smilingly pouring wine for Zhang Lian, Zhou Mi was sucking at the rim of her beverage cup. Seeing this, she couldn’t help but let out a muffled laugh.

Both parents looked at her with questioning eyes.

Zhou Mi quickly took a sip, pressing her lips tightly together, shaking her head: “It’s nothing, just suddenly remembered a joke I saw on Weibo earlier today.”

Zhang Lian glanced at her, displaying a gentle smile but actually deliberately making things difficult: “Why not share it so we can all enjoy?”

Zhou Mi choked, giving him a knife-like glare.

Seeing the young couple exchanging glances now and then, treating each other like the main course, Tang Peili, who had spent the afternoon preparing carefully, couldn’t help but mock: “Why don’t you look more at the table? There’s no food on each other’s faces.”

Zhou Mi’s father chuckled loudly.

Zhou Mi’s face reddened slightly as she lowered her head to continue gnawing at the sweet and sour ribs in her bowl.

Tang Peili brought over the simmered soup and asked: “Did you two adopt a cat?”

Zhou Mi nodded: “Yes, a rescued stray cat. Isn’t it super cute?”

Tang Peili looked at her daughter: “You can barely take care of yourself, and now you’re bringing a cat into your household.”

Just as Zhou Mi was about to retort, Zhang Lian had already smiled and said, “I took Zhou Mi to adopt it.”

Tang Peili: “…”

Zhou Mi immediately raised her chin proudly: “Besides, how am I not able to take care of myself? Even if I couldn’t, Zhang Lian would help me.”

Tang Peili was speechless for a few seconds, then tugged at her husband’s arm: “Fine, fine, I can’t argue with you. So impressive that you have a man now, I have one too, who doesn’t have a husband? Zhou Xing, say something to your daughter!”

The whole table erupted in laughter.

—

After taking turns showering, Zhou Mi sat at the desk, on a conference call with her team members working on a deck, while Zhang Lian was on his laptop in bed replying to emails. They coexisted peacefully, not disturbing each other.

When she couldn’t contribute to the conversation, Zhou Mi would prop her chin and turn her head to secretly watch her focused boyfriend.

This time, the man wasn’t wearing her father’s somewhat length-challenged pajamas, but his loungewear. Even a simple black t-shirt and plaid pants looked extremely stylish on his tall body and with his handsome features.

He must have sensed her peeping, as Zhang Lian suddenly showed signs of raising his eyes.

Zhou Mi quickly turned back, with an upper body movement that was a bit too large, and the earphone cord that happened to be wrapped around her forearm was yanked from the laptop socket.

She let out an “ah” and hurriedly looked for the connector.

“What happened?” Zhang Lian straightened up slightly.

The somewhat noisy discussion in the conference call immediately went silent and dead.

“Was that Fabian’s voice?” someone asked.

“I think so.”

“Haha,” another person laughed dryly: “What a coincidence.”

“What time is it now?”

“It’s already ten o’clock.”

“Very normal, very normal, haha.”

“Good evening, Fabian—” someone quickly found their role and greeted them warmly.

Zhang Lian responded calmly, articulating clearly: “Good evening, everyone.”

Everyone responded in turn.

This was followed by another period of silence, and the Account Manager hosting the conference call suggested: “How about we work together for another half hour and then end?”

Everyone simultaneously agreed with laughter: “Yes,” “Sure,” “Okay,” “Alright”…

Zhou Mi’s face had turned completely red, and she immediately violently plugged the earphone jack back in.

The world finally returned to quiet.

Zhou Mi sat properly again, turned off her microphone, looked back at Zhang Lian, coughed twice, and laughed awkwardly: “Sorry about that.”

Zhang Lian looked at her unblinkingly, and after a moment, he frowned slightly and asked: “Do you have a pitch tomorrow?”

Zhou Mi nodded: “Yes, tomorrow morning at nine-thirty.”

Zhang Lian said, “Pass along a message for me.”

Zhou Mi blinked: “What?”

Like a strict professor supervising a thesis student, he said: “Forget about half an hour or not, work on it until it’s perfect.”

Zhou Mi obediently responded: “…Okay.”

But she only dared to type it.

After sending it through the chat, the earphones went silent again.

After a good while, an art director finally asked: “Are your earphones plugged in, Minnie?”

Zhou Mi typed: Yes.

The art director’s tone was like punching and kicking: “#$%@{*&…”

Zhou Mi silently collapsed in laughter at the desk.

After midnight, Zhou Mi finally closed her laptop, stretched, and moved from the chair back to the bed.

Zhang Lian was already reading a book.

She snuggled up to him: “Hello, I’m coming to sleepy time!”

Zhang Lian lowered his book.

Zhou Mi nestled against his arm.

Zhang Lian tossed the book aside, freed his arm to hold her close, face to face: “All done?”

Zhou Mi nodded her head with exaggerated movements: “Mm, mm, seeing your employee working so diligently and conscientiously day and night, isn’t there a reward?”

Zhang Lian furrowed his brow: “What reward do you want?”

Though his expression was serious as they communicated, one of his hands was already gently massaging her lower back, gradually moving downward. There were some secret locks on her skin that no one else knew about, but he was well-versed, always able to input the keys with familiarity.

Zhou Mi suddenly felt like she had a bone-softening disease, unable to straighten her back in his embrace.

As she surrendered and lay flat, she whimpered: “We don’t have those things at home this time.”

Zhang Lian said, “It’s fine, I brought some.”

Zhou Mi wrinkled her nose: “So you came prepared, huh?”

Zhang Lian smiled faintly: “I grabbed them when I went back to feed the cat.”

Zhou Mi pretended to be reassured as she clung to him, then, when he bent down to kiss her, she confessed in a very small voice: “I lied to you I have some too.”

When they embraced each other on their sides again, Zhou Mi contentedly nuzzled against the man’s chest in various ways, seeking the most comfortable position, as if planning to pitch camp there for a long time.

Zhang Lian, unable to bear it anymore, clamped her tightly with his arm.

Zhou Mi felt suffocated and immediately warned him with her small fist.

“I’m going to suffocate…” she protested through gritted teeth.

Zhang Lian’s chest vibrated with a low-frequency laugh: “Isn’t this what you wanted?”

After struggling for a while, he finally released her: “Go to sleep, you still have your pitch tomorrow.”

Zhou Mi’s lips curved upward, her fingers lightly tapping on his back like playing a piano, her heart full of warmth: “Okay, good night.”

Embracing quietly, Zhou Mi seemed to recall something, her whole body pausing, then she said softly, “I think I forgot something.”

Zhang Lian rested his chin on her forehead: “What?”

Zhou Mi cleared her throat, solemnly: “I promised you yesterday that I would tell you I love you every day, but I forgot to say it today.”

Zhang Lian said, “Oh, then say it.”

Zhou Mi set a temporary condition: “You say it first, then I’ll say it.”

Zhang Lian calmly stated, “I never promised to say it every day.”

Zhou Mi began to ramble like a stuck record: “I want you to say it, I want you to say it, I want you to say it…”

Zhang Lian had no choice: “Alright, Zhou Mi, I love you.”

Zhou Mi immediately let out a laugh with high sugar content, then instantly turned cold, in a robotic, indifferent tone: “Oh, I love you too.”

He detected this and pinched her waist, making Zhou Mi cry out in pain, then she twisted him in retaliation.

Although the small bed had limited space, it didn’t affect the intensity of the battle.

And the final result, of course, was that she didn’t win.

When pinned beneath the man, Zhang Lian looked down at her: “Say it again, say it sincerely.”

“I won’t.” She turned her head with an expression of preferring death to surrender.

“Then no sleep.” He was completely at ease.

This time, it was Zhou Mi who had no way out. After a moment, she faced him properly, a hint of craftiness flashing in her eyes: “Come closer.”

Zhang Lian leaned in.

She pressed against his ear, like someone silently shouting from beyond a mountain, using something like a Shaanxi dialect, stretching each word very long while blowing air: “Zhang—Lian—I—love—you—”

Zhang Lian couldn’t help but smile, kissing her cheek with helpless affection, and finally responding seriously and properly: “I love you too.”