“Let me tell you, Lu Rangchen’s temper is actually pretty bad — and he’s got absolutely no patience.”

“He was difficult to manage even as a child. Used to drive his adoptive mother absolutely crazy. No one could do anything with him.”

“He’s gotten much better as he’s grown up, but the temper’s still there — both stubborn and prickly.”

“Though to be fair, with everything Lu Rangchen has going for him, he’s allowed to have a few flaws. He’s one in a million, after all. And look at that face of his — you can just tell that any kid he has is going to be gorgeous.”

While they waited for the food, Lin Zhi had already warmed up to Zhu Yunque all over again.

Lin Zhi was a talker with a loose tongue — once she got going, she said whatever came to mind. When she got really worked up she’d lean in close to Zhu Yunque and whisper, saying, “And look at him — you can just tell his reproductive capacity must be insane!”

— Reproductive capacity.

Zhu Yunque had been taking small bites of ice cream.

This declaration hit her so hard she inhaled at exactly the wrong moment and ended up choking.

She coughed several times, and Lin Zhi scrunched her nose in disdain as she quickly pulled out a napkin and passed it over. “Look at you — you’re so innocent for someone your age. You and Lu Rangchen are a perfect match.”

Zhu Yunque was half crying and half laughing from the commentary, and had no time left over for rebuttal — her eartips had already gone red.

Just at this moment, Lu Rangchen and Xie Han came back and settled into their seats.

A faint trace of black sandalwood settled around her.

Before Zhu Yunque even had time to turn her head, she felt a broad, warm hand land on her back and begin to gently pat and rub in soothing strokes.

It so happened that she’d specifically worn a halter dress today — one that traced her silhouette and left a bit of her back exposed. With her outer layer off, skin meeting skin, the heat was like electricity sparking a chemical reaction.

Her heart trembled like the flutter of a feather’s tip.

Zhu Yunque turned her head and met Lu Rangchen’s deep, dark gaze — his eyes lowered, locked onto her with a burning intensity, hot enough to feel like it could melt straight through her.

“……”

A blush crept up both cheeks. Zhu Yunque’s urge to cough dissolved entirely, replaced by a warmth that scorched through her from head to toe.

She batted away Lu Rangchen’s hand.

Lu Rangchen’s eyebrow rose, his voice low and slightly rough. “What?”

Zhu Yunque’s lips moved, and several seconds passed before she managed to squeeze out a single word: “Hot.”

Though she said that, her hand never let go of his.

It was unclear who had reached for whom first, but their hands found each other beneath the table, quietly and without announcement.

Not just intertwined fingers, either.

Lu Rangchen was also tenderly and persistently stroking the smooth back of her hand.

Zhu Yunque silently pressed her lips together, a faint sweat breaking out on her palm.

Even her heartbeat had quickened until her breathing involuntarily stifled.

Just at this moment the server began bringing out the dishes — plate after plate, spread out until the eye could barely take it all in.

Having slept with someone does change things, apparently. Xie Han had caught snatches of whatever it was Lin Zhi and Zhu Yunque had been discussing from across the room, and laughed as he teased her: “What were you over there babbling about again? Look at the state you got someone into.”

Lin Zhi knew that Xie Han had once had his eye on Zhu Yunque.

Whether it was jealousy or some other feeling she couldn’t quite name, she gave a faint eye-roll and said, “Ease up on the flirting. Take a look at whose woman that is now.”

The phrase “whose woman” was rather gratifying to Lu Rangchen.

He heard it and let his gaze land on Zhu Yunque with a roguish, appreciative look, saying idly, “Quite right.”

“……”

“Do remember to show a bit of restraint.”

As he spoke, the possessiveness in his eyes grew even more unabashed — like a hunter watching prey that had fallen into his hands. It made Zhu Yunque’s thoughts stir and drift in a way she couldn’t quite name.

For some reason.

She kept feeling that Lu Rangchen’s expression in this moment was different from before — as if some part of his formerly reckless and untamed temperament had been tamed, and he was now settling into something tender and deeply immersed.

It wasn’t until dinner was over and they had parted ways with Lin Zhi and the others that Zhu Yunque finally couldn’t hold back and asked him: “Did Xie Han say something to you?”

Lu Rangchen held her hand with one hand and carried her bag with the other as they came out of the restaurant, wandering at an unhurried pace through the shopping mall.

He gave her a look that neither confirmed nor denied it. “Didn’t Lin Zhi tell you something too?”

“……”

Zhu Yunque’s eyes flickered with a flash of guilt. “That’s perfectly normal.”

Well — with a mouth like Lin Zhi’s.

As long as Lu Rangchen had a secret worth knowing, it would find its way out.

But this time, Lin Zhi wasn’t trying to expose Lu Rangchen’s past. Zhu Yunque turned to look at him and said, “She asked me to take good care of you.”

Lu Rangchen heard this and raised an eyebrow, as if not entirely believing it. “Really? She’s that considerate?”

“……She is,” Zhu Yunque replied in a particularly earnest tone, inexplicably serious. “I even gave her my word.”

This time Lu Rangchen was genuinely amused.

He mimicked her little sound of understanding and said, “And how exactly did you give her your word?”

Zhu Yunque pressed her lips together lightly, her eyes soft and gentle. “I said… no matter what we encounter in the future, I won’t let you down again.”

Having said this, she was slightly ill at ease, and yet she looked at Lu Rangchen with a hopeful, searching gaze.

In her life, she had never once expressed her feelings for another person so directly. This was the first time.

And it was for the person she loved most.

How could Lu Rangchen not feel the sincerity behind it?

So he stopped walking, and looked down at her.

The clear depths of his eyes reflected the bright, warm light of the shopping mall, his emotions unreadable — and yet scorching, in a way he wasn’t aware of himself.

Like that, they held each other’s gaze for a few seconds.

Zhu Yunque gave his hand a small squeeze and said, “What’s the matter? Why aren’t you saying anything?”

Lu Rangchen felt a tickle in his throat from her squeeze.

Without any pretense, he looked straight at her, curving his lips into a roguish grin. “Just suddenly wanted to kiss you.”

As he said it, he went ahead and did it.

While Zhu Yunque hadn’t yet had time to react, he cupped the back of her head and pressed a warm, heated kiss onto her lips — saturated with desire held carefully in check.

Zhu Yunque’s heart gave a pull.

Instinctively, she reached up to graze the sharp line of his jaw — but before she’d even had time to close her eyes and register what was happening, Lu Rangchen had already pulled back.

All around them, people came and went.

Strangers catching sight of a beautiful pair sharing a kiss couldn’t help but look a moment.

But Lu Rangchen cherished his white camellia too deeply.

He couldn’t bear for anyone to look at her with even a single appraising glance. So he reached up and lightly smoothed away the trace left on her lips, his gaze circling back to hers, drawing and teasing. “I’ll properly deal with you when we get home.”

“……”

Zhu Yunque couldn’t help her mind drifting back to Lin Zhi’s question — “You two didn’t do it?”

An utterly inexplicable image surfaced in her mind.

And all of a sudden, the tips of her ears went red.

She felt as though she’d been bewitched by something. By the time she came back to herself, she had completely forgotten what she’d wanted to ask about what Xie Han had said to Lu Rangchen.

All she knew was that she was being held by his palm — indulgently, possessively — as he led her down to the luxury goods boutique on the first floor.

She hadn’t expected him to be the type to visit these sorts of places, and asked him who he was buying for. Lu Rangchen said, very seriously, a friend.

She had to admit — Zhu Yunque felt a subtle pang of feeling in that moment.

Perhaps he noticed the look on her face, because Lu Rangchen gave an almost imperceptible curve of his lips, and said, offhandedly as though it had just occurred to him, “A business partner’s wife. It’s a gift.”

Then he gave Zhu Yunque a look. “Your bag is quite nice too. Where did you get it? How much was it?”

She hadn’t seen the conversation turning in this direction.

Zhu Yunque paused slightly.

If she were being honest with herself, over the past few years her salary at the international school in the capital had been quite good — but half of it had gone to Zhu Ping’an and Feng Yanlai. Since coming back to South City, her pay wasn’t what it used to be, and rent and living expenses weren’t cheap either, so she didn’t have a lot of spare money to splash around on luxuries. More importantly, she wasn’t a vain person to begin with.

So her bags had always been small, understated, design-forward pieces she’d found online — practical, everyday styles. Real leather, a few hundred yuan each, versatile, the kind that held up well over years.

For someone on a regular salary, that was perfectly reasonable.

But the issue was that Lu Rangchen needed something as a gift.

And even her modest sense of self-worth couldn’t help rearing its head.

After a moment’s thought, Zhu Yunque decided to be honest. “Mine is a very ordinary style, and quite affordable. You’d embarrass yourself giving it to someone.”

Better she hadn’t said anything.

Because once she did, Lu Rangchen actually turned to study her small bag. “Is it? Funny — I think it looks very good on you.”

“……”

She couldn’t quite tell if it was embarrassment or awkwardness.

Zhu Yunque decisively took her bag back from him. Right at that moment, a sales associate came over to greet them with warm enthusiasm.

This luxury boutique’s staff were, as a rule, rather cool and standoffish — Xu Linda had been given a cold reception here once. But Lu Rangchen simply radiated the kind of bearing that said money, so the treatment here was noticeably different.

The associate smiled and asked, “Sir, are you buying a bag for your girlfriend?”

Lu Rangchen was just about to say something, but Zhu Yunque got there first. “He’s buying a gift.”

Lu Rangchen let what he’d been about to say fall away and gave a mild raise of his brow, turning to the associate. “A woman in her twenties. The quiet, refined type. Do you have any recommendations?”

“Plenty, actually.”

The associate promptly led the two of them along. Lu Rangchen turned his head at that moment and raised an eyebrow at Zhu Yunque. “Would you mind giving a hand?”

“……”

Zhu Yunque gave a soft sound.

Lu Rangchen curved his lips slightly. “Your taste is good. Help me pick out a few.”

He was never the type to say things he didn’t mean.

“A few” truly meant a few — the sales associate was stunned, and privately thought: who is this big spender? But then she reconsidered — this many, and not a single one to give to his girlfriend? And then she thought maybe there was nothing particularly special about it after all.

Though that did make his girlfriend rather hard done by.

To have come along and browsed so attentively for so long, and this man still hadn’t clicked into gear — not a single one for her.

Yet Zhu Yunque seemed patient and gentle throughout, without a trace of resentment, and without a shred of covetousness for the luxury items around her.

The associate was quietly bewildered.

She thought: what kind of devoted wife is this — drop-dead gorgeous, but completely unable to work the situation to her advantage. And still so completely devoted.

That was the thought, but the associate maintained her composure on the surface. When she saw Lu Rangchen purchase well over a hundred thousand yuan’s worth of “gifts” in one breath, she also offered to register him for a premium membership, along with a complimentary gift: a new-release makeup pouch.

Online, that makeup pouch alone went for several thousand yuan.

Some people who couldn’t afford the full bags specifically bought the makeup pouch and added a matching chain to use it as a crossbody.

Lu Rangchen didn’t know any of this, so he simply handed it off to Zhu Yunque and said, “You go ahead and register for me?”

“……”

Zhu Yunque froze. “Me?”

By this point, the associate genuinely couldn’t stand by any longer. She couldn’t help saying, “Sir, no matter how expensive a gift it is, it’s still just a complimentary item. If you’d like to give your girlfriend something, wouldn’t it be nicer to choose something just for her?”

The tone was subtly pointed.

Anyone reasonable would understand exactly what was being implied.

Of course the associate was also a little nervous after saying it, worried Lu Rangchen might take offense and drop the whole purchase.

Who could have expected that Lu Rangchen simply settled his brows, smiled with rather good grace, and said, “It’s fine. She’ll be happy in a moment.”

“……”

Cryptic words.

The associate didn’t understand, and neither did Zhu Yunque.

She met Lu Rangchen’s eyes, and said, “Should you have that person come claim it themselves, then?”

“No need to go to that trouble.”

Lu Rangchen curved his lips. “Go ahead and register directly. Either way, it’s all for you.”

As he spoke, Zhu Yunque had already reached out and taken the pen the associate offered — but before she could set it to paper, she and the associate both froze at the same moment.

Zhu Yunque stared at Lu Rangchen in astonishment. “What did you just say?”

As she said it, the associate was equally shocked — she thought she must have misunderstood, thought this gentleman surely meant “this complimentary item is for you” — but as it turned out, she was very thoroughly corrected by what came next.

Lu Rangchen, perfectly composed as he leaned to one side, reached out and lightly pinched Zhu Yunque’s chin, saying with casual ease: “I said — all of this was bought for you.”

His languid gaze swept over the complimentary makeup pouch on the counter, with barely concealed disdain. “This cheap little makeup pouch — of course you’ll be claiming that too.”

The moment those words landed, Zhu Yunque: “…………”

She stood there, staring at the man before her.

For the first time, she felt it — that the heart she had already surrendered had, because of him, fallen completely and beyond all retrieval.