◎ No matter how much they indulged each other, it was never enough ◎

Right in the middle of a proper conversation, he had to go and say something like that.

Yunque’s heartbeat quickened slightly. She was genuinely flustered and at a loss.

After a brief silence, she pressed her lips lightly together and said: “Lu Rangchen — this habit of yours, saying sweet things out of nowhere — who taught you that?”

Though her tone carried a note of mild reproach.

The faint curve at the corner of her mouth gave her away entirely.

Lu Rangchen, on the other end of the line, smiled carelessly and teased her without any effort. “What’s the matter? Don’t like it?”

“…”

As if her heart had been seen right through.

Yunque’s ears grew subtly warm.

She thought to herself: this man really is insufferable. He knows she likes it — she loves it — and yet he still forces her to yield like this.

But Zhu Yuxuan was beside her making noise — hungry, hungry, he kept saying — so she couldn’t linger with Lu Rangchen here, and simply steered the conversation back. “So are you coming or not?”

At this hour, Lu Rangchen really should have returned to the club already.

There was a pile of things waiting for him there.

But since Yunque had graciously extended the invitation, he could hardly turn it down — and besides, he had words he wanted to say to her face-to-face. So he raised an eyebrow with casual ease and said: “Sure, I’ll come.”

And so, half an hour later.

Lu Rangchen drove over to pick up all three of them.

It was midsummer. Zhu Yuxuan had played himself into a sweat-soaked, listless state and was slumped against Ye Tian without energy, asking over and over when they were finally leaving.

Ye Tian was not particularly patient. He pinched the boy’s face and said: “You’ve got some nerve complaining — who was it that cried and wailed to go to the amusement park in the first place?”

Ye Tian had worn a cold, unreadable expression since childhood.

Zhu Yuxuan didn’t dare provoke him. His lip immediately wobbled, and he shuffled over to Yunque’s side for refuge.

Just then, Lu Rangchen rolled down the car window. At a single glance, he spotted — by the amusement park entrance — some small boy he didn’t recognize, leaning against Yunque’s soft, slender figure. Not only that, but the boy was clinging and whiny, and kept trying to hold her hand.

The kid was around ten, at the age where boys shoot up in height — impossible to ignore. Lu Rangchen’s brow furrowed without warning.

Yunque looked up and met his penetrating gaze.

Lu Rangchen was wearing a white button-down shirt with an interesting cut, sitting in the driver’s seat, his dark eyes locking onto her with a certain cool displeasure as he pressed the horn — unhurried, unimpressed, and not to be trifled with.

Yunque: “…”

The horn blared sharply. Passersby turned to look. Lu Rangchen pushed open the car door and stepped out, long legs unhurried.

Someone nearby murmured in admiration: damn, what a good-looking man.

On this side, both Ye Tian and Zhu Yuxuan heard it and looked up. The little boy blinked with wide, curious eyes — staring at the sleek car and the striking figure beside it, forgetting to look away.

Ye Tian recognized Lu Rangchen and told Zhu Yuxuan: “Look — that’s your brother-in-law. Handsome, isn’t he?”

Zhu Yuxuan’s jaw dropped dramatically — which made Yunque laugh despite herself.

They walked over. Lu Rangchen was leaning against the car with easy nonchalance, arms loosely folded, eyes dropping to give Zhu Yuxuan a leisurely once-over.

Honestly — not the friendliest look.

It was enough to make Zhu Yuxuan lose his nerve and shrink behind Ye Tian, not daring to speak.

He thought: this brother-in-law is handsome, sure — but why does he look so fierce?

Before he could figure it out, Yunque introduced them: “This is Xuanxuan — Zhu Yuxuan.”

Ye Tian lightly smacked the back of Yuxuan’s head. “Say hello.”

Under the man’s imposing gaze, Zhu Yuxuan opened his mouth — and then simply didn’t know what to say.

This expression, however, made Lu Rangchen crack a smile.

The man quirked his lips with a casual air, bent his knees, and crouched down to meet the boy at eye level. He said: “You were holding my wife’s hand pretty comfortably just now. How come you know how to be shy all of a sudden?”

The remark went straight over Zhu Yuxuan’s head before he could even process it.

Yunque, exasperated, laughed and said: “What are you saying to a child?”

Lu Rangchen glanced at her with studied seriousness, letting out a lazy chuckle.

Mission accomplished. He straightened up, ruffled Zhu Yuxuan’s head with one large hand — his tone a mix of playfulness and clear warning — and said: “You are not allowed to hold her hand anymore. Understood? Her hand is only for me to hold.”

The authority in those words was more than sufficient to leave Zhu Yuxuan too intimidated to make a single sound — he only nodded rapidly.

Not just Yunque — even Ye Tian was amused.

Feeling quite put-upon, Yunque gave Lu Rangchen a sideways look and said flatly: “That’s enough.”

Lu Rangchen, hearing this, smiled without replying — and then, apparently in a much better mood, reached out and took her hand to lead her into the car.

Once they were seated, he pulled out a damp wipe and cleaned her hand — finger by finger, unhurried.

The man’s gaze was dark and deep, his features sharply sculpted — but his hands moved with a gentle precision that was exactly right.

Yunque was a little surprised at first, but after a moment’s thought, she found it made sense.

After all, he had been fastidious since his teenage years — couldn’t tolerate so much as a favorite pen being used by someone else. Let alone a sticky-fingered child casually grabbing her hand without permission.

Yunque watched the man in silence, and suddenly found it funny.

She thought: so Lu Rangchen is capable of being jealous of a child.

But she must have let the smile show too much, because after finishing with her hand, Lu Rangchen looked up and fixed her with an expression that said clearly: do it again and see what happens.

In the back seat, Ye Tian was busy buckling Zhu Yuxuan’s seatbelt. Zhu Yuxuan, swinging a cold fizzy drink Lu Rangchen had just handed him, was squirming around energetically and driving Ye Tian to distraction.

Taking advantage of the moment, Yunque pressed her lips together and said in barely a breath to Lu Rangchen: “Petty.”

She barely got the word out before Lu Rangchen leaned over and brushed a fleeting kiss to her lips — swift and audacious.

Her heart gave a sudden jolt.

Yunque’s eyes went wide on instinct.

But Lu Rangchen was already wearing the smile of someone whose plan had gone exactly right, and replied just as quietly against her ear: “Now you know I’m petty — so watch yourself.”

“…”

Yunque’s lips twitched slightly.

She thought: this man is truly going to be the death of her.

The restaurant was about three kilometers from the amusement park.

The drive was short and they arrived quickly.

The place had been Xuanxuan’s choice — he’d insisted on a seafood buffet. Lu Rangchen happened to know of a good one nearby and took them there.

When they arrived and saw the price — 398 per person — even Ye Tian was taken aback. He said it was too expensive and suggested finding somewhere else.

In the time it took Ye Tian to say that, Lu Rangchen had already paid. He raised an eyebrow at Ye Tian and said: “Can you not embarrass your brother-in-law in public? It’s not a big deal.”

Ye Tian helplessly looked at Yunque, hoping she’d talk some sense into Lu Rangchen.

But Yunque — who ordinarily disliked extravagance — only glanced at the two of them and said: “Which one of you is taking Xuanxuan to the bathroom? He needs to go.”

Yuxuan had told Yunque first.

But given this man’s ridiculous temper and that impossible possessiveness, she simply handed the child over to the two grown men.

Then Ye Tian’s phone rang — an urgent call he had to take. So Lu Rangchen stepped up on his own: “I’ll take him.”

Zhu Yuxuan stole a nervous glance at him, then reached out to take Yunque’s hand for some sense of safety. Lu Rangchen was not the sort of person who could be outwitted by a ten-year-old.

Before Yuxuan could get hold of Yunque’s hand, Lu Rangchen had already grabbed the boy by the back of his collar and marched him off.

Yunque couldn’t hold back her laughter and called out after them: “Can you be a little gentler with him?”

The two of them walked away — one tall, one small — an absurd height difference between them.

Lu Rangchen didn’t even turn back. He just lifted a casual arm in her direction.

So the scene settled into Yunque, alone, going to find a table.

Perhaps because the ice had been broken — or perhaps because Zhu Yuxuan had decided Lu Rangchen was actually pretty decent — by the time everyone reconvened, the two of them were noticeably more at ease with each other. The boy had even taken to calling Lu Rangchen “brother-in-law uncle.”

The absurdity of that title left both Yunque and Ye Tian completely speechless.

And yet Lu Rangchen received it quite comfortably, saying it was a good title for maintaining proper boundaries.

Then, because he couldn’t resist making trouble, he turned a slow, meaningful gaze on Yunque — eyes full of leisurely insinuation. “Even the little kid knows to call me uncle. Shouldn’t you give it a try too?”

The restaurant was noisy. Only Yunque, seated right beside him, could hear clearly what he said.

“…”

Yunque felt as if a current had passed through her chest.

She knew all too well what this man was up to, and understood perfectly what absurd things he was thinking.

“Uncle.” She knew that was only the beginning — what he actually wanted to hear went far beyond that. He had even complained before about how quiet she was and found ways to make her lose her composure.

Without realizing it, even the tips of her ears had gone warm.

Yunque simply set her expression into a flat, no-nonsense look — and under the table, she punched Lu Rangchen’s leg as hard as she could.

And yet the man turned the tables on her.

Lu Rangchen’s lips curved into a careless, unhurried smile. From the outside, he looked perfectly proper and well-behaved. In reality, he had immediately caught her hand under the table and held it tight.

Yunque: “…”

The very faintest curve appeared at the corner of her mouth.

She let Lu Rangchen weave his fingers through hers — the two of them falling into that familiar, quiet, hidden intimacy of laced hands beneath the table.

As if no matter how much they indulged each other, it was never quite enough.

Only because they needed to eat, Yunque eventually slipped her hand free not long after and went to the buffet station a few times to bring back food.

When she returned, Lu Rangchen had already picked out all the crab meat for her, and was deep in easy conversation with Ye Tian.

Ye Tian hadn’t properly seen Lu Rangchen in a long time — their encounter at the hospital had been brief and without much exchange. Now that there was time, they could finally talk at length.

Compared to when they were young, both of them had matured and steadied considerably. They both ran their own businesses, so they found a natural rhythm in conversation.

Lu Rangchen learned that Ye Tian had opened a bar with a friend, and asked what it was called and where it was.

Ye Tian peeled shrimp for Zhu Yuxuan and said: “Just on Qiaonan Street. There’s a university nearby, so it stays lively — the downside is that prices have to stay low. Traffic also dips around the holidays.”

Lu Rangchen asked: “Is that the same place Deng Jiao used to work at?”

Hearing Deng Jiao’s name, Ye Tian paused slightly and said: “You know her?”

Lu Rangchen gave a short laugh. “Know her well.”

He tilted his chin toward Yunque. “That girl is one of Yunque’s students.”

At that, Ye Tian remembered: “Oh right — I recall now.”

He said: “I was there that day too — though it was my jiejie who went to the police station with her.”

Lu Rangchen seemed to think of something and glanced at Yunque. “That was the day we ran into each other again, wasn’t it?”

Yunque paused for a moment, then looked at him. “It was.”

Ye Tian was taken aback. “What kind of fate is that?”

He looked at Lu Rangchen, and without meaning to, he inadvertently spilled Yunque’s secret. “You don’t even know — before that, she had tried every way she could to run into you and couldn’t manage it. She almost went looking for you at the club.”

This was something Lu Rangchen had heard Yunque herself say at the dinner gathering.

At that time, with the drink in him, he had only felt a rush of warmth at those words. But hearing it again now, there was a different flavor to it entirely.

It was as if something had caught his eye — something in a corner that was easy to overlook.

He turned his head and looked at Yunque, who had gone still, with a playful expression. “If we hadn’t run into each other at the police station, what were you going to do?”

He was really one to fixate on things.

Yunque’s hand on her fork stilled. She looked up at Lu Rangchen with exasperation.

Lu Rangchen raised an eyebrow, eyes expectant — as if waiting for an answer that would satisfy him.

But Yunque was hardly the type to give people what they wanted.

The more he expected something, the less she’d give him.

She calmly reached for a tissue and wiped her mouth with complete composure. “If I still couldn’t find you — I would have gone back.”

“…”

Lu Rangchen’s expression darkened slightly, and he let out a low sound that wasn’t quite a laugh. “Gone where?”

“Back to the capital.”

Yunque turned to look at him, blinked, and said without missing a beat: “The pay is better there.”