Under the bright moonlight, as Song Xinya walked out of the company, a message notification chimed from her phone.
She swiped open the screen and saw a red "1" displayed on her WeChat contacts icon.
She tapped on the contacts and saw a friend request.
The profile picture was a solid black background with a single red rose standing upright on the right side.
The nickname was a single Chinese character: Seven.
The friend request message was extremely concise: [I am Seven]
Who was Seven?
Since it was so late, Song Xinya ignored it, treating it as a spam message.
Just as she was about to put her phone back into her bag, she heard another chime.
Another friend request came through: [I am Seven]
The sender seemed to be in a hurry. A moment later, yet another friend request was sent: [I am Seven]
There were only twenty minutes left until the last subway train. It was two kilometers away. To get home smoothly, Song Xinya needed to rush to the subway station in her high heels within those twenty minutes.
She really didn't have the time to deal with this Seven right now.
She casually blocked Seven, adding them to her blacklist.
As Song Xinya strode forward, a call came in. There was no contact name; it was an unknown number.
She was about to hang up, but her hand slipped and she accidentally answered it. Qin Yuhe's voice came through: "You blocked me."
Song Xinya: "...Seven is you..."
Qin Yuhe: "Yes, the man who has already registered his marriage with you."
Song Xinya explained, "I didn't block you on purpose. I thought it was a..." spam message.
"I'll unblock you right now."
Song Xinya removed Qin Yuhe from the blacklist and added him as a friend.
Qin Yuhe: "I wanted to tell you that I'll handle things here in North America as quickly as possible and come back to see you."
His voice was deep, magnetic, and cool, like the breeze skimming across a lake on a summer afternoon. It sounded exceptionally alluring to her ears, making the tips of Song Xinya's ears burn slightly.
"I know."
Feeling that her reply was a bit too cold, she added, "I'll wait for you to come back."
After saying that, her cheeks grew hot. She sounded like a little wife eagerly awaiting the early return of her beloved husband.
At the same time, his words about his ideal marriage echoed in her mind: treating each other with respect like guests, and not interfering with each other's lives.
Was her response crossing the line?
As Song Xinya's mind was a jumble of thoughts, she heard Qin Yuhe say, "I'll remember that. I'll be back as soon as possible."
After the call ended, Song Xinya held her phone tightly, zoning out for a moment. Then, her eyes curved into a smile, her face beamed, and she continued walking forward with a light step.
...
At the main entrance of the company, as Song Xinya was walking, a flashy red BMW pulled up horizontally in front of her, blocking her path.
A man shaped like a roly-poly toy with two legs stepped out of it.
Boss Wang: "Teacher Song, it's so late. Let me take you home."
To curry favor with Song Xinya, Boss Wang had been waiting at the front gate for six hours during the hottest part of the summer.
He was sweating profusely from the heat, looking like a roast suckling pig that was only missing a sprinkle of cumin.
Because he knew that if he waited for Song Xinya inside the company, she would definitely leave early to shake him off. Therefore, Boss Wang staked out the main entrance in public to manufacture an "accidental encounter" so he could take her home.
Boss Wang: "I happened to be running some errands near the company and bumped into you, Teacher Song. We see each other coming and going, at work and after work. Teacher Song, we really have so much destiny between us."
Song Xinya: "I just bumped into a stray dog by the side of the road. The dog and I must have a lot of destiny too."
Boss Wang took a large bouquet of roses out of the car and eagerly offered it to Song Xinya: "Teacher Song, these are imported Ecuadorian red roses. They cost over 100 yuan each. I bought 50 of them for you."
Song Xinya took a step back: "I am allergic to pollen. Mildly, I sneeze and get a runny nose. Severely, I go into anaphylactic shock and end up in the ICU. If you don't want to be involved in a murder case, take the flowers back and stay away from me."
As she spoke, she sneezed.
Frightened, Boss Wang immediately tossed the roses back into the car.
Song Xinya walked to the left, and Boss Wang blocked her on the left. Song Xinya walked to the right, and Boss Wang blocked her on the right.
He was like a fly that couldn't be swatted away no matter what.
His explicit gaze scanned Song Xinya up and down, his eyes lingering on the graceful curves of her waist and hips, finally fixating on her full chest as he licked his lips.
Song Xinya's stomach churned, and she felt an urge to vomit.
The night was pitch black, and there was no one around.
The thought that at this hour, other men were already pressing beauties onto beds and having the time of their lives, while he hadn't even touched Song Xinya's hand, made Boss Wang incredibly impatient.
Regardless of whether Song Xinya agreed or not, he reached out to grab her hand: "Me taking you home in a BMW is much better than you taking the subway. So many women beg me to drive them, and I can't even be bothered. My willingness to drive you is your good fortune. What are you being so pretentious for?"
Just as his bear-paw-like hand was about to touch her, Song Xinya raised the electric scooter key in her hand and smashed it heavily against his hand.
Boss Wang screamed in pain.
Song Xinya took the opportunity to run forward.
Having waited for six hours in the sweltering heat for nothing, and getting his hand injured on top of it, Boss Wang's temper flared up instantly. He chased after Song Xinya, reaching out to viciously grab her hair.
The moment his hand touched her hair, a slender dark figure flashed over at lightning speed and kicked him flying!
Song Xinya saw the person who had rushed over: "Xiaoye!"
Song Tingye walked to Song Xinya's side and asked with concern, "Sis, are you okay?"
Song Xinya: "I'm fine, I'm not hurt."
Song Tingye's tightly wound expression finally relaxed.
He turned to look at Boss Wang on the ground, walked over, and stomped his foot on Boss Wang's face: "You dare touch my sister? Who the fuck are you!"
Boss Wang looked at the boy who had suddenly appeared. He was slender and tall, bearing some resemblance to Song Xinya, and exuded an aura of rebellious untamed wildness.
"I am your sister's boss. It's a misunderstanding, this is all a misunderstanding. I wasn't going to do anything to your sister."
Song Tingye: "Misunderstanding my ass! Do you think I'm blind? If I had been one second later, you would have grabbed my sister's hair and hit her!"
The thought of Song Xinya being beaten made Song Tingye shudder with lingering fear. Filled with rage, he delivered another heavy kick to Boss Wang.
"Look at your ugly mug. Up close, I can tell you're a human, but from afar, anyone would think you're Zhu Bajie the Pig Demon! What kind of lowlife are you? Do you think you're worthy of chasing my sister?!"
Song Tingye kicked him viciously a few more times before his anger subsided.
Boss Wang curled up on the ground, clutching his head and wailing.
Song Tingye picked up Song Xinya's electric scooter key and pulled her along: "Sis, let's go."
With a sweep of his long legs, he sat down boldly and wide-stanced on the little pink Aima scooter.
"Sis, get on. I'll take you home."
Song Xinya sat on the back seat, and Song Tingye drove the electric scooter forward.
The night wind blew against them, filling the boy's white shirt. His clothes billowed out like a sailboat's canvas catching the wind.
Song Xinya asked, "Why did you suddenly come to my company?"
Song Tingye: "Why else? I saw that you hadn't come home so late, and I was worried, so I came to check on you."
A warm current seemed to flow through the tip of Song Xinya's heart.
The Aima mini electric scooter stopped in front of an old residential building. The building was older than both of them combined, with no elevator, meaning they had to climb the stairs.
Song Xinya and Song Tingye lived on the top floor, the sixth floor.
Standing at their door on the sixth floor, their clothes were completely soaked in sweat.
Song Tingye hated the heat. He kept tugging at his white shirt to fan himself. Could this weather get any hotter? From today on, I am no longer a single dog, I am a hot dog.
The air conditioner in the room was yellowed with age, its cover long gone, exposing the broken and unusable parts inside.
Song Xinya turned on the electric fan and adjusted it to blow directly at Song Tingye.
Song Tingye's fair and clean face was flushed red from the heat, with beads of sweat rolling down his sharp jawline.
It is so hot that when you take a pack of tissues to the bathroom, you need nine to wipe your sweat and only one to wipe your crap.
Song Xinya turned the fan to its maximum setting. Seeing him still sweating profusely, she said, Why do you not go back to live at the Song family home? The conditions here are too rough. The Song house is a villa with air conditioning and servants to wait on you.
Song Tingye stood up from his chair, walked over to Song Xinya, bent down, tilted his head, and rested it on her shoulder. Even if the Song family had mountains of gold and silver, I would not care to go, because my dear sister is not there.
Because Song Xinya had been ostracized at the Song house, they did not like her, and she did not like them, she had moved out to live with her grandmother.
Although their father, Song Xuanli, did not like the children born to his late wife, Song Tingye, as the only young master of the Song family, had always been provided with the best food, clothing, and living expenses.
But when Song Xinya moved out, Song Tingye followed her. He lived with her in this shabby little apartment and never once complained about the hardship.
Wherever his sister was, that was his home.
Especially now, with their grandmother sick and living in a nursing home, the two siblings felt even more like they only had each other to rely on.
Song Xinya patted Song Tingye's head. You are seventeen years old and 1.88 meters tall, yet you still like to act spoiled. Are you not embarrassed?
Song Tingye replied, Not embarrassed at all. No one else can see anyway.
A faint smile curved on Song Xinya's lips, her features relaxed and soft.
Song Tingye asked, Sis, you are not going to try to chase me away again, are you?
Song Xinya said, I have never chased you away.
For Song Tingye, home was wherever his sister was. And for Song Xinya, it was exactly the same.
Song Tingye straightened up and walked over to the fan to catch the breeze. Sis, what delicious food are you going to make for me tomorrow?
Song Xinya asked, What do you want to eat?
Song Tingye said, Ten beef buns for breakfast, three bowls of beef noodles for lunch, and a big plate of stir-fried beef for dinner.
Song Xinya replied, Beef for every meal. What kind of grudge do you have against cows?
Song Tingye answered self-righteously, It is their own fault for tasting so good.
Song Xinya went to the kitchen and started preparing the beef filling for the buns. She also kneaded the dough fresh.
Song Tingye was a picky eater and did not like machine-made wrappers or fillings, so Song Xinya made them for him by hand.
After everything was cleaned up, Song Xinya returned to her bedroom, washed up, and lay in bed.
She did not have the habit of playing on her phone in bed; she preferred to go straight to sleep after taking a shower.
But today, after lying down, she tossed and turned, then picked up the phone resting on her nightstand.
She tapped on a profile picture with a solid black background and a single rose standing upright on the right side.
The pitch-black background felt distant and unpredictable, forming a stark color contrast with the vivid, dripping red rose.
Both Qin Yuhe's profile picture and his nickname gave off a sharp and mysterious vibe.
Just like the man himself.
Song Xinya clicked into Qin Yuhe's WeChat Moments. She did not see a single private photo of him, nor any sharing of his personal life. It was all news reports about the Qin Group.
His Moments looked more like the Qin Group's official WeChat account.
What a dedicated and responsible leader of the Qin Group.
As Song Xinya scrolled through Qin Yuhe's Moments, her vision blurred and her mind drifted. Suddenly, an image of his narrow, lean waist and firm buttocks flashed into her mind...
No, what on earth was she thinking about!
She was going crazy!
Song Xinya shook her head, forcefully driving those imaginative and distracting images out of her mind.
She had to get out of bed and drink a glass of ice water before she finally calmed down.
Lying back in bed, Song Xinya stared blankly at Qin Yuhe's nickname, unable to help but wonder: why was his nickname Seven, and what meaning did this Seven hold?
