76
"Is she getting ready to report to headquarters?"
"Yes, President Bian."
The faint crackle of static flowed through the night on the other side of the ocean.
For six years, the person in charge of closely monitoring that young lady's movements didn't dare to breathe heavily, only waiting quietly for the prominent figure on the other end of the line to speak.
The current head of the Bian family had just used ruthless methods to deal with all the elders of the family. He sent those who needed to be sent to prison, and suppressed the rest until they went bankrupt, clearing all obstacles in his path and firmly securing his position as the heir to the entire massive family.
Over the past few years, his overseas operations and ruthless tactics had shocked everyone in the Jing City circles. It was rare to see someone so cold-hearted in wealthy family power struggles; after all, they were all relatives connected by blood, and seizing power didn't usually mean driving one's own kin to a dead end.
But that was exactly what he did.
Therefore, there had always been rumors in the circle that he actually harbored a deep hatred for the Bian family in his heart. The specific reason seemed to trace back to his student days.
Even two or three years ago, when he had just secured the top seat and gained actual controlling stakes in the group, he changed the time-honored name of the "Bian Group" to the "Wujiang Group."
Due to the booming development trend after shifting the industrial structure in recent years, industry insiders praised the name for being majestic and having an excellent meaning.
However, this staff member responsible for secretly observing a certain lady's life trajectory had a different perspective.
Renaming an enterprise was a matter that faced great resistance. That year, it not only had to be reviewed and approved by the board of directors, which was controlled by countless connections of the Bian family, but it also needed to be submitted to various relevant departments for approval. For a traditional, rigidly feudal family like the Bian family, this was undoubtedly an undisguised provocation and rebellion against outdated authority.
But he still insisted on doing it.
And that year happened to be the time when Miss Ning graduated.
Jiang, meaning boundaries, implied Bian, meaning borders.
Wujiang, meaning boundless, meant limitless and without borders.
He was declaring to the world that he was no longer subject to any shackles and possessed the highest authority to break through the family.
The outside world had no way of knowing the purpose of all this.
But the person in charge, holding the phone and quietly waiting for a reply, had some guesses in his heart.
After a long while, the cold and magnetic voice on the other end finally spoke faintly.
"Book me a flight back to the country."
The person in charge immediately sat up straight. "Understood, President Bian. May I ask which day you plan to travel?"
"Now."
...
"Arrived."
At the age of 25, Ning Ye wore a simple professional outfit consisting of a light-colored shirt and coffee-colored trousers. Her hair was tied in a low bun, and a few soft, tea-colored strands slipped down her neck as she looked up. Her porcelain-white face gazed at the towering Wujiang headquarters building that reached into the clouds.
This was one of the most bustling areas in Jing City. Behind her, the main road was filled with an endless stream of traffic, while she stood gracefully and quietly among the high-rise buildings, still possessing the scholarly air of her student days.
Years of work surprisingly hadn't left any corporate weariness on this face. Her delicate and elegant features were just as they had been before, like a tender leaf that would never fade, fresh and timeless. To this day, she remained the pure, unforgettable first love that some people from her college looked forward to seeing at the annual alumni gatherings.
Perhaps she had always been like this: giving her all in every exam during her school days, and similarly exercising her initiative after starting work, striving to grow upward with a tenacious spirit.
Growing independently just like this... for six years.
Ning Ye lowered her head and gave a soft smile, not quite agreeing with her own starting and ending points for measuring time.
After graduating from Jinghua University and entering society, even as a graduate of a prestigious university, a child from an ordinary family could only struggle step by step. Fortunately, she got a suitable opportunity this year. With the highest performance rating for two consecutive years, she successfully transferred from the branch office to the group headquarters.
This was her first day on the job.
Her transfer process was very compliant with procedures. Because it was a promotion within the same system, everything went smoothly after she arrived, and she adapted very quickly.
It was just that the headquarters' HR department seemed very busy today, with many people coming and going. Ning Ye had no clue about the personnel changes within the group and found it inconvenient to ask for details. Therefore, she just calmly hurried to familiarize herself with her new workstation and position, which greatly surprised the older female colleague at the adjacent desk.
When this girl walked into their business department just now, Sister Zhou heard several uncontrolled gasps of admiration. The eyes of a few young men lit up like incandescent bulbs. Sister Zhou thought that some socializing while the iron was hot would be inevitable.
Unexpectedly, this girl just sat honestly at her workstation, and the next time she looked, the girl had already started studying several recent project cases of the department.
Sister Zhou was a bit restless. Her biggest hobby was gossiping everywhere, and she heard that a big shot was going to be parachuted in today...
Soon, several top leaders of the department hurried out while adjusting their collars. "Is he here? Has he arrived?!"
"Who is here?"
"Our company's new CEO!"
"Parachuting right in, he's a ruthless one."
The chaotic whispers didn't affect the focus of the girl next to her studying the cases. Her slender fingers held a pen, and the curve of her lowered eyes was serious and beautiful, as if she were solving a math problem.
Almost without needing to ask, Sister Zhou could see a pure, top-student aura emanating from her. Looking again at this perfect, unforgettable first-love face...
Tsk, tsk, tsk. Who knows how many people must have been captivated by her during her student days!
Ning Ye actually also heard her colleagues gossiping about the new boss.
But this was too far removed from the work life of an ordinary employee like her. Most employees wouldn't even have the chance to sit at the same table with the top boss if they worked at the group until retirement. This was a reality she had quickly recognized after working for two years.
Some people were just different from others from the moment they were born.
He had his own path to walk.
Ning Ye's lowered eyelashes fluttered gently, and then she put down her pen.
Today was just her first day after transferring, and there were generally no arrangements, so Ning Ye got off work on time when the clock struck.
The small apartment she rented was close to the original branch office, but it took an hour by subway one way to get here. However, the rent was reasonable and it was very close to the subway entrance, so Ning Ye had no plans to move for the time being. After all, renting a one-bedroom apartment around the group would cost two or three times as much.
Calculating the time for her commute home, she took the elevator to the first-floor lobby. Just as she stepped out, the elevator doors next to her also chimed open.
Three to five middle-aged senior executives suddenly poured out of the elevator, crowding around the person behind them. They kept muttering "President this" and "President that," their attitudes extremely ingratiating and humble.
Like stars surrounding the moon, a cold, tall, and slender figure in a tailored suit stepped out from the crowd, wearing polished leather shoes.
His side profile was as cold and white as a glacier.
So familiar.
The sharp, cold corners of his eyes seemed to sweep faintly toward the adjacent elevator.
His gaze, however, did not shift in the slightest, nor did it fall in Ning Ye's direction. Looking indifferent as if he was entirely unmoved by the whole world, he paused for merely a second before coldly stepping forward and walking away.
Many colleagues getting off work around them, however, stopped instantly and gathered into a crowd. The overlapping voices drifted into Ning Ye's ears.
"That's our new CEO!"
"The youngest person in power of the Bian family. He looks so young."
"Hello, President Bian!"
Ning Ye's footsteps froze in place, and she was gradually left behind by the bustling, crowding throng.
But even in the surging crowd, his back and head were extremely prominent, visible at a single glance.
His face hadn't changed, though his hairstyle was slightly different. Standing under the brilliant, high-tech lights of Wujiang Group, every strand of his hair exuded nobility. His cold, aloof bone structure seemed distinct from that of ordinary mortals, and every inch of the facial features set into that perfect skull screamed the indifference of a capitalist.
After leaving school, the disparity in their social status and economic power had indeed widened into a world of difference.
Ning Ye, blending inconspicuously into the crowd, took a deep breath.
On her first day at a new job, she discovered that her ex-boyfriend had become her capitalist boss.
She kind of wanted to die.
But then again, she felt like someone else was the one who deserved to die.
...
Bian Xun.
Ning Ye hadn't thought of that name in a long time.
Or rather, she didn't allow herself to think of him.
Whether it was a regret from their student days or an irreplaceable beautiful memory, it should have faded away long ago over the course of six years.
Bian Xun had always been a creature of order, routine, and regularity, and the passage of time was the most constant variable. Six years was a long time, long enough to erase everything.
Just like his eyes today.
As cold as a stagnant pool of dead water, without a single ripple.
Yet, after returning home that night, as Ning Ye nestled in the warm blankets of her rented apartment, she dreamed of the first time she saw Bian Xun wearing a suit in their youth... To her younger self, the impact had been incredibly strong.
Later, there was a time when she gathered her courage and actively asked him to dress up sharply, and then they...
The rest of the dream took on a vivid, steamy tone. A torn-open bowtie, the lean muscles of his youth, kissing passionately in the dorm building, in the library, in every possible place...
Opening her eyes in the morning light, Ning Ye reached out a fingertip and rubbed her forehead.
...Unbelievable.
She was certain she wasn't experiencing a resurgence of old feelings, but after all these years, her ex-boyfriend's sexual tension... his physical attraction to her was surprisingly still in effect.
But seeing him in a suit now shouldn't evoke the heart-fluttering feelings of their youth anymore.
Now he was a capitalist, and she was a corporate slave.
Different classes, different standpoints.
Ning Ye was slightly nervous when she went to work. Back then, she was the one who initiated the breakup, and given Bian Xun's unusually neurotic personality, there was no guarantee he wouldn't hold a grudge. She had just been promoted to headquarters; she wouldn't get fired within a week, would she?
This was the pain of having an ex-boyfriend ascend to become a capitalist.
However, Ning Ye had a positive and resilient nature. She never worried excessively about things and could always focus on the task at hand, no matter what happened.
Fortunately, it was smooth sailing for a whole week. As the combined National Day and Mid-Autumn Festival holidays approached, she hadn't run into Bian Xun again.
Ning Ye finally felt relieved.
Actually, they were both adults now.
Having not seen each other for many years, and looking at how successful he was now, he must have matured long ago.
They had both let it go.
So Ning Ye confidently followed the advice of Sister Zhou from the next cubicle. On the afternoon before the holiday, she grabbed her Mid-Autumn gift box and left early, hoping to catch the subway a bit sooner so she might snag a seat for the hour-long commute home.
Ding. The elevator doors opened.
She came face-to-face with the aloof CEO.
A pair of cold, dark eyes pierced her face like sharp blades, but slid away like ice skates just a second later.
Assistant Zhang observed President Bian's expression, then reached out to block the elevator doors, letting Ning Ye step inside.
Ning Ye pursed her lips, her expression calm, and walked in after saying thank you.
The elevator doors closed. In the small, square cabin, a cool, faint scent of sandalwood was omnipresent.
Should she say something?
After six years apart, it seemed there really was nothing left to say.
Besides, they were no longer on campus. No one in the company knew about her past relationship with Bian Xun, and she had absolutely no desire to add unnecessary trouble to her newly launched career.
She also no longer needed the psychotic, mutually destructive way Bian Xun used to protect her when they were young.
Now, she protected herself.
So Ning Ye gently raised her eyes.
The company's elevator doors were polished to a shine. In the reflection, Ning Ye saw the two of them in the same frame. Bian Xun seemed to have grown a bit taller, but times had changed. Now, she could no longer stand shoulder-to-shoulder with her boss; instead, she stood half a step behind him, respectful and proper.
Bian Xun's dark eyes were obscure and profound, no longer holding her reflection like before. Even though they were standing so close, an entire ocean seemed to separate them. He casually threw a few sharp remarks at her for leaving early, speaking entirely from the standpoint and identity of a boss to an employee.
He was completely different from the young man from years ago, the one who would silently compete with her for a seat in front of the library at five in the morning.
Ning Ye breathed softly.
No matter how tightly intertwined they were in their youth, no matter how deep and unforgettable the touches were, all those scorching moments were ultimately just distant mountains in her memory.
At this moment, her almond eyes were clear, her back straight.
Only upon this long-awaited reunion, upon actually seeing Bian Xun, did she truly realize—
She had truly moved on.
...
Bian Xun slammed the door of his Maybach heavily, his face looking as awful as death.
A long-awaited reunion.
He could endure it when he hadn't seen her, but upon actually seeing her, he found it completely impossible to control himself.
He only had one thought in that elevator.
A thought that bordered on violent.
Her familiar lips, the familiar hollow of her neck, the familiar lines from her collarbone to the peaks of her chest, every complete, hidden, deep inch of her was just a hand's breadth away from him.
A thousand tangled threads were forcefully suppressed beneath a surface of floating ice. He appeared calm and dead quiet, but the emotions he revealed were merely the tip of the iceberg.
Beneath the surface, the dark, turbulent undercurrents were terrifying.
But their identities, the setting, the bystander present, their current relationship, and the crystal-clear relief and detachment in her eyes...
All of it forced Bian Xun to violently restrain himself.
In an ex-relationship, the detachment of one party would always make the other feel pathetic.
But Bian Xun refused to admit it.
Having made it to today, standing in this position, he was no longer allowed to be pathetic.
He drove aimlessly through the commercial district, eventually stopping at a pastry shop. When Bian Xun walked out again, he was carrying a box of chocolate-filled mooncakes. It was only something worth a few hundred dollars, but at least it was better than the ones the company handed out.
Her tastes were actually quite ordinary. She was hardly a picky eater; for desserts, she loved chocolate, she ate whatever fruits were available, and she had no dietary restrictions regarding meat or vegetables. She could tolerate the flavor of scallions, ginger, and garlic, but she would slowly and leisurely pick the actual pieces out of her food. She was a very easy person to feed.
Her quality of life didn't seem to have changed. She still carried a canvas tote bag and took the subway, just like in her student days.
But this lack of change itself was the greatest provocation to Bian Xun.
He wanted all the misplaced people and things to immediately return to their original order.
Bian Xun drove in the direction of her rented apartment, chasing after her subway train like a ghost. His expression shifted unpredictably, cold and gloomy, as if he were silently battling against some unseen enemy.
He was even more familiar with the area she rented than she was.
Bian Xun had never stopped spying on her life. Her scholarships every year, her thesis topics, the resumes she sent out, the companies she joined, the small apartment she rented...
Separated by a time difference of over ten hours, these details arranged themselves in Bian Xun's mind day and night, never ceasing.
Bian Xun didn't feel that this was an invasion of her privacy. After all, in his mind, they were merely temporarily separated; it didn't mean they were completely over.
The car parked outside the gates of the old residential community, a place bustling with scores of young commuters just like her. Bian Xun lifted his dark eyes, accurately pinpointing her dim little window.
Bian Xun coldly stepped out of the car, setting foot into her living environment. Walking into her apartment building, it felt as though he had only now truly returned to port.
Even though everything had only just begun, he already felt as if he had made his way into her inner sanctum.
He would completely invade her life.
A few minutes later, Ning Ye, who had just finished her commute and was comfortably settling into her time off, suddenly heard a knock on the door.
Curious, she walked over and opened the door. There was no one outside; only a gift box sat on the ground. Clipped to the box was a note bearing the Wujiang watermark, the handwriting on it sharp and cold.
"This isn't expensive, eat more."
Ning Ye stared blankly at the empty stairwell, then bent down and pinched the piece of paper with her fingertips.
She had just taken a shower, and her half-dry hair draped over her shoulders. As she leaned down, strands slid forward like a gentle shawl. With lowered eyes, her beautiful facial contours were picturesque. She frowned slightly in confusion. Her loungewear was thin, revealing collarbones shaped like delicate young leaves, her porcelain skin glowing warmly in the dim stairwell... all falling under an unseen gaze.
Looking puzzled, Ning Ye specifically searched for the price of this gift box, intending to pay him back.
Over three hundred yuan for 12 pieces—that should be considered expensive for mooncakes, right?
Why did he specifically tell her it wasn't expensive?
Oh.
? To humiliate her.
Only after she closed the door did Bian Xun quietly step out from the stairwell doorway. In the gloom as the voice-activated light went out, his eyes flickered. His Adam's apple bobbed faintly before he left without a sound.
From the moment he boarded the flight back to the country, Bian Xun already had a preliminary plan.
One month to get back together.
Two months to get married.
Three months... he didn't want kids.
He wanted a lifelong world with just the two of them.
...
"Ningning~ There's going to be a team-building mixer after the conference at the hot spring hotel in the suburbs of Beijing this time. Are you going? There will be state-owned enterprise employees from several participating companies, as well as quite a few young talents from our own company~"
At noon on Friday, Sister Zhou came to ask about her plans. Heading to the Beijing suburbs tonight for the conference was a set schedule, but the post-conference activities were up to personal choice—
Ning Ye was single; she had asked, and many people in the department were eager to know too.
Hearing this, Ning Ye looked up from her phone, her almond eyes showing a hint of bewilderment. She nodded subconsciously. "Team-building? Sure."
She still hadn't recovered from her shock.
Just a moment ago, she had discovered something.
She had received the favor of a box of mooncakes from her ex-boyfriend the other day, but they currently had no relationship whatsoever. They weren't lovers, not even friends, so she had to return the favor.
However, Ning Ye didn't want to contact her ex-boyfriend directly. It would be best to find a way that wouldn't alert anyone, including Bian Xun himself.
She wouldn't easily run into Bian Xun at the company anyway. These past few days, Ning Ye had only heard her colleagues squealing about how handsome the boss was.
How should she pay him back?
After thinking it over, Ning Ye came up with a method that was the most fair, accurate, and unlikely to draw his attention.
Convert the cost of the mooncake gift box into mobile phone credit!
She knew Bian Xun's phone number. Topping up phone credit didn't trigger an SMS notification, and since he now had an entire platoon of assistants, he wouldn't even notice such a trivial matter.
Very safe.
Ning Ye opened the mobile app, went straight to the phone credit top-up window, and recharged his number with 368 yuan.
Phew.
Just as she was about to close it, on a whim, she decided to go to her personal homepage to check her own phone credit balance. She topped up her fixed monthly plan every month and rarely checked it proactively, since she never received overdue notices anyway.
She wanted to see how much was left; if there was enough for this month's plan, she wouldn't need to top up her own account.
Upon looking.
Her phone credit balance was several hundred thousand yuan.
...???
In fact, the latest recharge record was just the day before yesterday, a top-up of 8888 yuan.
Frightened, Ning Ye instantly flipped her phone face down, completely stunned.
Crazy, the phone must have gone crazy.
But she hardly needed to think deeply about who could pull off such a crazy stunt.
Through strands of her hair, a pair of confused and bewildered eyes peeked out.
What was Bian Xun trying to do?
Scrolling all the way up, the recharge records surprisingly spanned from the time they broke up all the way to the present.
During this period, they hadn't exchanged a single text message or phone call, yet money was regularly added to her phone number, as fixed and regular as...
Ning Ye covered her face in despair once again.
Phone credit couldn't be withdrawn as cash. How was she supposed to return this money?!
...
A certain someone was highly satisfied with this underhanded tactic.
In the CEO's office on the top floor of Wujiang, the man rested his hands indifferently on the sandalwood desk, his features aloof and cold. Looking at him like this, no one could guess what he was actually thinking.
In reality, he was calculating in his mind.
Although the telecom operator got a good deal, the inevitable push and pull generated by this was something money couldn't measure.
He knew that without a special reason, she would never accept his money.
After passively receiving it, she would definitely have some reaction, or rather, develop a new reaction towards him as a person.
Would she think he was sick in the head? Or ponder why he did this? Or rack her brains trying to figure out how to pay him back?
Regardless, she would be thinking of him.
Bian Xun crossed his arms and smiled, his expression unreadable.
But in a place no one could see, boundless anticipation flared up within his dark, deadened chest.
It was impossible for her to have no reaction to him.
Now he wore a suit and tie every day. After years of scientific and disciplined fitness training, his muscle definition was infinitely more sculpted than before. She would find out if she inspected it herself.
Today was Friday.
Assistant Zhang knocked and entered with some documents, casually asking if he was going to attend the conference in the Beijing suburbs.
The organizer wasn't Wujiang, and the scale was ordinary, so there was no need for Bian Xun to go.
Heading downstairs to the business division floor for a meeting, he noticed a few employees carrying large bags, preparing to leave together. They were all going to the suburban conference and had bought tickets for the same high-speed train.
Among them, that slender figure stood out exceptionally.
And she was surrounded by many people.
It wasn't the condescending, star-studded entourage that accompanied Bian Xun's appearances. Her aura was very peaceful and quiet; the people around her seemed drawn in by a comfortable magnetic field, constantly closing the distance.
The group walked past Bian Xun, whose dark eyes watched silently.
"President Bian?!"
"Hello, President Bian!"
Ning Ye also looked over, only to see a pair of dead, dark eyes. The youthful Bian Xun also had a cold, ice-like temperament, but it was different from now. His current coldness made it seem as if he were looking at a bunch of dead people.
So she nodded along with the others, her voice clear and melodious. "Hello, President Bian."
The respectful yet utterly detached address brushed past Bian Xun's ear like a cool cloud.
He stood there in silence, showing neither joy nor anger, though his fingertips beneath his cuffs and wristwatch tightened for a brief moment.
Then he could only hear their fading conversation.
Hot springs, swimsuits, public, team-building mixer—
Expressionless, Bian Xun lifted his foot and walked away.
...
It was Ning Ye's first time going on a business trip with her colleagues from headquarters.
Aside from Sister Zhou and another guy named Jiang Xinghe, she wasn't actually very familiar with the rest of them.
Sister Zhou was a warm-hearted person who loved playing matchmaker and gossiping. Jiang Xinghe, on the other hand, was a gentle and kind man. It was said that his family ran a private children's hospital. If someone had a child at home, they would probably really need a friend like him.
He always followed them in an easygoing and humble manner, never walking alone with female colleagues, keeping a perfect sense of boundaries.
Ning Ye checked into the hotel that day, and the conference the next day went smoothly. When evening came, it was free time for everyone to relax and soak in the hot springs.
She had no interest in the networking events and only wanted to find a quiet hot spring pool with few people. Entering the locker room with Sister Zhou, Ning Ye covered her eyes in slight embarrassment as she listened to the older woman's dramatic exclamations.
"How can you make such a conservative style look like this!" Sister Zhou's eyes unabashedly lingered on her fair, tender shoulders, her slender waistline, and the two long, straight legs beneath the conservative skirt hem. Usually, she wore loose clothes, so no one noticed, but this girl was simply slender and graceful, with curves in all the right places. Even as a woman, she was drooling over the sight. She really didn't know which lucky bastard would end up with her.
The swimsuit Ning Ye wore was a last-minute purchase. It was a simple black design with sleeves and a skirt hem. The only exposed part was probably her back, which was crisscrossed with thin straps, though it couldn't be seen when she was draped in a towel.
She didn't usually go out to play much, and she wasn't very familiar with her colleagues yet, so she couldn't fully let go.
Walking out of the locker room, the huge underground hot spring pools were steaming with heat, divided into various colors and temperatures. Many conference attendees were already sitting inside, chatting and laughing.
Ning Ye looked around for a less crowded pool and pulled Sister Zhou toward the innermost area. Sure enough, they found an empty pool.
Throughout the walk, Sister Zhou was lamenting in pity. Ning Ye walked barefoot to the water's edge and untied the bath towel draped over her.
It slipped softly onto the bank.
A flash of porcelain-white skin crisscrossed with thin black straps appeared. Even though the style was so simple it could be seen everywhere on the streets, amidst the hazy, misty steam, her back curved like a crescent moon, outlining fragile yet exquisite lines. Natural and sexy, she crouched down to test the water temperature, looking like a little kitten arching its back.
Although they were far from the main group, the indoor pools were low-lying, so they could be seen from a distance. Thus, the sound of a few male colleagues gasping seemed to echo from afar. Ning Ye quickly got into the water, and after adjusting to the temperature, she sat down completely.
Leaning against the stone wall, she let out a comfortable sigh.
In the distance where she couldn't see, someone walked through the steam with an expressionless face.
"Why didn't you stop her and direct her to the private hot springs?"
"P-President Bian, this lady is with her colleague. You didn't say her colleague was also invited to the private hot springs?"
"Send them all," his cold voice carried a hint of gritted teeth.
The hotel manager wiped his sweat, looking at the untouchable VIP in front of him.
This CEO was only wearing a thin shirt, which the hot spring's steam had plastered to his body. His vigorous and lean muscle lines were enough to suppress any male, let alone his status and title.
"I'll go deliver the private hot spring tickets right away, right away!"
"Come back."
The man turned around coldly, dropping a single sentence.
"Have a female staff member deliver it."
Midnight.
In the most exclusive private club of this hot spring resort hotel, the thudding sound of physical impact could be heard.
Following the rhythmic rhythm of the impacts and approaching the sound, it grew increasingly muffled and stifled. There was a sense of flesh-to-flesh punches, yet an inability to find satisfying release.
Bian Xun threw a heavy punch at the sandbag. Bang! The heavy, massive sandbag was knocked flying, swung back, and was smashed away again, like an emotional catharsis.
But it could not be dispelled.
His mind was filled with the image of her dropping her towel amidst the hazy water mist, intruding into his vision so bluntly and clearly after all these years.
The sight he had traced and caressed countless times in his midnight dreams had been seen by others.
Just because of this, he was almost on the verge of breaking down.
And it seemed he had already become just another other to her.
Bian Xun slammed another punch into the sandbag.
A thin layer of sweat snaked down his cold, handsome brow bone. All his desires transformed into explosive punching power, striking again and again, venting the restless fire that had nowhere to be released.
Desire was like a surging wave; his final punch almost burst the sandbag.
Only his heavy panting filled the room.
Friday night slipped toward midnight.
He closed his eyes, his mind full of unbearable images.
...
Ning Ye rested very well during this business trip and officially became acquainted with the colleagues in her department.
When she was dragged by Sister Zhou to the hotel's cafe the next evening, she vaguely remembered that she had promised Sister Zhou on Friday to participate in the team-building event.
When she arrived at the scene, she belatedly realized that this team-building event also had the nature of a networking and matchmaking mixer.
Ning Ye felt a bit awkward, but she didn't leave abruptly.
She didn't seem to have a reason she absolutely had to leave right now. She had already figured out a way to return the phone bill money Bian Xun had topped up for her. Up to this point in her life, she had only ever had one ex-boyfriend, Bian Xun, and she didn't even have anyone else to compare him to.
She sat down and found that corporate networking events these days were quite trendy. It involved collective mingling in the venue, brief self-introductions, and then the lights in the entire room would dim, leaving one man and one woman at each round table for further friendly interaction.
Everyone present was an employee of a large corporation, attending with their respective titles and ranks, making the atmosphere both formal and harmonious.
"I saw a super, super handsome guy at the venue today! He seemed to be from your company, Wujiang. Does anyone know him?"
"Describe what he looks like."
"He's very tall, over 1.85 meters, wearing a suit, very fair-skinned, with a physique that clearly shows he works out. His facial features are extremely good-looking, but the way he looks at people is cold and very distant..."
"The person you're talking about sounds like our boss..."
The atmosphere at the scene immediately erupted into laughter.
Ning Ye also smiled along.
During the group mingling, Jiang Xinghe was beside her. He had also been shoved in by Sister Zhou; otherwise, he wouldn't have had the nerve to attend such a blatantly purposeful blind date event.
With a familiar colleague beside her, Ning Ye relaxed a lot and happened to chat with him about the contents of today's meeting.
The young man's gaze fell gently upon the young woman, carrying a clear sense of appreciation and respect.
It was a completely friendly emotion, very stable, like plain boiled water essential for life, mild and shallow, attentively appreciating a flower or a tree, as if it were a water source that could warmly irrigate her.
In the eyes of normal people, such a man would be considered a good match. His family ran a private hospital and had a solid financial background. He himself had graduated from Jinghua University and was an employee at Wujiang's headquarters. His personal abilities were not bad, and he had regular, handsome features. He was the type of person others would actively try to set up on dates.
Around her, there were still the gazes of countless excellent men, waiting for an opportunity.
So, the moment the lights dimmed, Bian Xun strode through the surrounding crowd and accurately grabbed her wrist.
She was slightly startled, but soon seemed to catch a familiar scent, and in the dim, crowded flow of people, she recognized him with equal precision.
Bian Xun held the skin beneath his palm, a burning sensation rising in his throat.
The only physical contact in six years was just touching her wrist bone, pressing into his palm, and it seemed as if Bian Xun had already lost.
No one would wait for him in the same place.
He ground his teeth hard, biting down on a feeling of sour anger, not wanting to look like a sore loser, so he merely pulled her away from this bullshit mixer with a cold gaze.
Around them, six or seven employees were gathering towards Ning Ye's direction.
Fortunately, the lighting was very dim at this moment. No one could see that the big boss was standing less than a meter away from them, otherwise it would have been too terrifying.
Ning Ye was forced to follow for a few steps. When she reacted, she hurriedly tried to break free from his astonishingly hot palm. Undeniably, in the instant of contact, she almost had a conditioned physiological memory.
It was his familiar fingerprints, his familiar body temperature, but they were no longer suitable to linger on her body.
Ning Ye struggled silently a few times but couldn't break free. Seeing the lights start to count down, a cold voice pressed extremely close, as if his lips were about to touch her forehead, his breath carrying the crisp coolness of mint.
"Why did you top up my phone bill?"
Ning Ye instantly stopped struggling. Was he here to deal with this?
That was perfect.
Ning Ye knew that the 368 yuan she topped up was definitely not the main point. The point of his question was that since she had topped up her phone bill, she might have seen her own balance.
Hundreds of thousands in phone bills over the span of six years.
Bian Xun just held her wrist like that, taking large strides out of the cafe, towards the resort area at the deepest part of the hot spring hotel.
The night in the suburbs of Beijing was much clearer than in the city. The stars overhead were scattered in the black silk-like night sky, though the moon was not very clear.
Bian Xun stood in front of her, his gaze tracing every inch of her familiar features from a close distance. They should have returned to a normal social distance by now, but his palm didn't let go.
After a long while, his lips curled into a scoff. "Did I delay your business? Did you catch anyone's eye just now?"
Six years without seeing each other, and she was already attending singles mixers.
When he saw her sit down, his heart and lungs were sparking with fury.
Now, it was pouring acid rain.
Ning Ye didn't want to pay attention to her ex-boyfriend's passive-aggressive tone. Instead, she calmly dealt with the matter at hand with him, her tone peaceful and soft, her attitude neither humble nor arrogant, just like in the past.
"The phone bill I topped up for you was for that box of mooncakes. As for what you topped up for me, I haven't figured it out yet, but I will return it to you."
Bian Xun listened, and the corners of his lips, which originally showed a barely noticeable curve, flattened out upon hearing the end.
Return it to him?
How could she return it.
Could feelings be returned?
Ning Ye lowered her head, unbuttoned her coat, and looked down to search through her jeans pockets.
Rustling around like a small animal digging, her head lowered, and her body unconsciously leaned forward a bit, entering right under his nose.
Bian Xun lowered his eyes, moving forward quietly and uncontrollably, taking a deep breath of the familiar scent on her body. It went straight down his nasal cavity into his lungs, and a suffocating thrill spread from his cerebral cortex.
But no hint of this could be seen in his lowered dark eyes; they were even downright cold.
Yet his gaze unceremoniously pierced through her collar, sweeping past the muscles and bones of her nape, looking deeper and further into her clothes.
Her porcelain-white skin was still warm like jade. The high ponytail from her youth had become a low bun, giving off an elegantly charming and disheveled look. He wished he could bite down along her jawline all the way to the side of her neck, leaving a string of teeth marks and imprints on her porcelain, jade-like skin, just as he used to do.
Ning Ye finally found that tiny object from her small pocket and hurriedly looked up. "This is for you."
Looking up, Bian Xun's eyes were hidden in the thick night, looking startlingly intense.
Her lips moved silently for a moment before she raised her palm. "This is the best way to return the money."
Bian Xun tore his gaze away from her soft lips with difficulty, looking down at her palm. A few seconds later, he laughed out of sheer anger.
In Ning Ye's palm lay a SIM card.
She had returned the phone number he topped up to him.
"I've already bought a new number and am changing the login phone for my apps. Once I submit my new contact information on the office system, you can use this number."
"This way, the money you topped up is still yours, and I don't owe you anything."
Ning Ye's almond eyes lit up slightly.
She felt this was the best solution at present.
Bian Xun listened patiently, sneered for a good while, and suddenly lifted his sharp dark eyes. "Aren't you curious why I topped it up?"
Ning Ye's heart inexplicably trembled.
When they broke up that year, she actually didn't get to see Bian Xun. Long-standing conflicts had accumulated in details big and small, compounded by various mishaps. At the final moment, she chose to give up on Bian Xun and return his future to him, but she had never seen how Bian Xun looked that day, or what expression he wore.
But right now, it felt very similar.
A little hot breath escaped from Ning Ye's lips as she asked awkwardly, "Why?"
Suddenly, the sound of glasses clinking came from the cafe in the distance, indicating how lively and enthusiastic the mixer she was attending was.
Bian Xun closed his eyes abruptly, his heart feeling as if it were being scraped by a knife. His voice was completely hoarse, yet he insisted on speaking with a mocking smile.
"Why?"
"I have too much money to burn."
? Provoking her again.
Ning Ye tossed the old SIM card she hadn't changed in six years into his suit pocket, turned around, and walked toward the cafe. The mixer wasn't over yet.
She was going to toast too.
And meet a few new friends.
Who was Bian Xun anyway!
Having only walked a few steps, the sound of footsteps quickly caught up from behind. Then, an arm like steel firmly locked around her waist, pulling her back into his chest and embrace with an uncompromising force.
"Don't go."
Bian Xun gripped the side of her waist, resting his forehead on her shoulder in a back embrace with his head bowed. He needed to restrain and suppress himself to control the impulse to kiss her madly until her legs gave out. But his pride and reserve only allowed him to bury his head deeply from behind like this, because it even looked somewhat humble.
Ning Ye froze in place.
After so many years, she heard Bian Xun right by her ear, his voice trembling.
"...Don't go."
I beg you.
...
But after that day, Bian Xun became restrained again.
This person was temperamental and unpredictable. Sometimes Ning Ye felt he seemed very suppressed and restrained, and sometimes she felt he was just a pure psychopath.
But in his actions, Bian Xun did not cross the safe distance again.
He quietly scanned the employees walking in the industrial park, still able to accurately spot her figure. But for now, he couldn't easily get that close.
...Because he could easily do something that crossed the line.
Waking up at midnight to repeated memories, six years of abstinence after knowing the taste.
But he needed to maintain his dignity, keep his noble reserve, and wait for a special day.
A special day that only he in the world knew about.
Ning Ye, however, was very confused.
It seemed as if overnight, the name Bian Xun had once again barged into her life.
She and Bian Xun had been separated for six years, long enough for her to have completely adapted.
There was nothing wrong with living alone. Watching her tablet by herself, cooking meals for one, enjoying the trivialities and warmth of life alone. She had also paid off her student loans and saved up some money.
And most importantly, before they separated, the disparity in their family backgrounds and status was huge enough to cause countless problems. Now, this gap was even larger than before, and one couldn't repeat the same mistakes.
Perhaps Bian Xun was pondering the same question, so he quickly tucked away his loss of control from that night, reverting to the calm, rational, and profit-driven successful capitalist. His dark eyes were indifferent, and he kept a certain physical distance from her, no longer pressing so close.
Ning Ye felt a bit relieved; otherwise, she would have found Bian Xun's pitch-black eyes quite intimidating.
The company was currently advancing a large intelligent search model. A massive amount of research and development costs had already been invested in the early stages. Once the model was completed and launched, it would trigger a new storm in the field of artificial intelligence.
Whenever this happened, Ning Ye felt a sense of cyclical destiny. Bian Xun had crossed the ocean to bring in technology, indeed taking an absolutely correct path. And the heartache and regrets of their youth had once again left a mark on her brow in adulthood.
He had succeeded, and as an employee, she also got a share of this big cake.
The group held a comprehensive introduction meeting for the large model, and Ning Ye's department also attended.
She was already used to seeing Bian Xun in a suit, but this was her first time seeing him standing in the spotlight.
Some people seemed born to capture others' attention. The moment his aloof face appeared on the big screen, the impact was no less than that of a movie star. His superior bone structure and brow ridge meant he feared no harsh lighting. His deep eye sockets and the high bridge of his nose formed a perfect contrast, and as his thin lips parted and closed, there was a breathtaking handsomeness about him.
Ning Ye watched quietly for a long while before withdrawing her gaze.
He truly looked like a well-dressed beast.
No matter how much time had passed, she was still... biologically attracted to that face.
Bian Xun finished his speech, his gaze sweeping imperceptibly over the figure in the employee seating area.
When the press conference for the launch of this concept was first held, its social significance was made public to the entire internet: it could assist in finding missing family members and combat human trafficking... Simply put, it could help users find people.
The time Bian Xun launched the model concept was exactly during the autumn recruitment period of Ning Ye's senior year.
So he threw in a lot of money, making sure this news was promoted everywhere that every college student and graduate could see.
And then, she chose Wujiang.
Bian Xun withdrew his dark eyes.
Six years was too long... there were so many things she didn't know.
But now, he was going to claim it all back, little by little.
...
Soon, the day Bian Xun had been secretly waiting for arrived.
Since Ning Ye joined Wujiang's headquarters, her work had been going smoothly in all aspects. Although some colleagues were hard to get along with, she had two or three coworkers she treated as friends, making her days positive and pleasant.
It was already December. On this day, Bian Xun suddenly sent a text message to her phone.
[Free tonight?]
Ning Ye's SIM card was still the original one. Bian Xun had said he didn't want this method of repayment, so Ning Ye had no choice but to install it back. These hundreds of thousands in phone credits were going to be stuck in her hands; how was this not a form of revenge from an ex-boyfriend?
She clicked on the text message, and the old chat window popped up.
The last message on the old phone was still from the day they broke up. After six years, it was updated for the first time.
She wondered what kind of mood they were both in when they opened this chat window again.
Ning Ye lowered her eyelashes and looked at it for a while, not knowing what he was trying to do out of the blue, nor knowing how to reply. Saying she was free would be weird, and saying she wasn't free would seem too deliberate. In the end, she could only leave him on read ^^
After work, she happened to have some tasks to handle. By the time she submitted them to the system, only she and Jiang Xinghe were left in the department.
Ning Ye packed her backpack and waved to Xiao Jiang. However, he suddenly stood up, as if he had been waiting for her, and strode across the office area to hand her a square box.
"Happy birthday."
The young man's gentle voice fell into Ning Ye's ears, and she paused slightly.
Jiang Xinghe was handsome and shy. Perhaps feeling that it was a bit presumptuous of him to remember the date on his own, he shoved it into Ning Ye's hands, hurriedly said goodbye, and left.
Ning Ye came back to her senses and called out, "I'll remember your birthday too!"
Jiang Xinghe smiled, a clear light in his eyes, and waved from afar.
Ning Ye watched him leave, and only then did she suddenly understand why Bian Xun had asked if she was free tonight.
Her birth date had been registered wrong by two months; today was her actual birthday. The birthday blessing notifications from all the major apps were wrong, and living alone all these years, she hardly had the habit of celebrating her birthday, so she had even forgotten it herself.
But this feeling of being remembered and cared for by a friend was very warm. Ning Ye smiled and looked down to open the birthday gift she had received. It was a very practical neck and shoulder massager. The gift giver had noticed that she was always rubbing her neck lately, and worrying about her having to return a gift, had thoughtfully controlled the price range.
A very gentle gift.
Ning Ye was very grateful in her heart. She secretly marked Jiang Xinghe's birthday on her phone's calendar, determined to give him a gift in return when the time came.
Then she gathered her things, turned off the lights on the floor, and just as she walked to the elevator, she was pinned against the wall by a panting figure.
A deep voice carried surging emotions, and in the darkness, the fluorescent green emergency exit light reflected a pair of pitch-black eyes.
There were no colleagues on the entire floor now, but there might still be security guards or cleaning ladies around. Ning Ye looked up and met the dark fire in Bian Xun's eyes.
"Why does he know your birthday?"
When clearly, only he was supposed to know.
In the past, she had been unwilling to mention anything related to her family. The wrongly registered birthday was also a lingering issue brought about by her family of origin; it was her privacy.
Why did a random male colleague know about it too?
Bian Xun had maintained his composure for a long time, remaining cold and restrained for days, until tonight, when his defenses completely crumbled.
Why tell him?
Her first received gift was even from someone else.
Ning Ye looked confused. She had mentioned this during a game of Truth or Dare at the last team building, and she was also surprised that Jiang Xinghe had carefully remembered it.
She was no longer that child who carefully protected her dignity. She had a good job, a decent salary, and a certain economic foundation, so she could tell this matter as if it were a joke.
But Bian Xun seemed very angry.
Ning Ye could only explain, "It's not just him who knows. Sister Zhou from the workstation next to mine knows too. It's not some huge secret."
Bian Xun was going crazy.
He wanted to bite down on her cheek and the bead of her lip, wanting it so badly it drove him mad.
Not a secret?
The matter she had avoided mentioning in their youth, the thing she had only carefully shared with him on those nights when they were glued to each other, sweating through the bedsheets, was it now insignificant to her?
Bian Xun pinned her against the wall, his gaze lingering on every inch of her skin, his emotions on the verge of breaking through.
Seeing how dangerous he looked, Ning Ye carefully stood a bit straighter, wanting to quietly slip away to the side, and explained, "I lost a game last time, so I talked about it. There were other colleagues there at the time, so probably seven or eight people know. It's not just Xiao Jiang; it's just that he is a more attentive person..."
Before she could finish speaking, a cold yet scorching kiss surged forward and enveloped her.
There was no tentative tenderness; he directly pried open her lips, tangling with the tip of her tongue and sucking so hard it hurt. He frantically swallowed all the warmth and words in her mouth, his movements so intense that they produced clear, wet sounds. It was an erotic and direct way of kissing, rapidly escalating the heat in the deserted company hallway.
"Bian Xun... mm!"
Ning Ye tried to call out to him, but he kissed her like a madman, pressing her back as he did.
At first, it was mostly driven by sour jealousy and anger, but just a few seconds later, it was entirely instinctual.
Driven by instinct to lick every inch of the soft tissue inside her mouth, driven by instinct to heavily wrap around the tip of her tongue and press against her throat, driven by instinct to grind along the tips of her teeth, and then driven by instinct to suck her lips until they went completely numb and trembling.
The aggressive kiss carried a completely different tension than when they were young.
Yet the familiar scent awakened all the physiological memories in her brain.
Memories entirely written by his hands, his gaze, his words, his...
Ning Ye could barely hold herself up. Her almond-shaped eyes were hazy with tears, her breathing was chaotic, and she was almost sliding down. She balled her hands into fists and hit his stiff suit-clad shoulders. "Bian Xun... what are you doing!"
Should exes be kissing like this?
Was this right?
"What am I doing?" Bian Xun kissed her until her lips were red and swollen. They parted with their lips and teeth still lingering, and finally, as if it still wasn't enough, he crushed his lips against hers one last time. Six years of desperate thirst had finally received a drop of sweet rain, but it was far from enough.
His dark eyes stared at her.
She had just casually, not even intentionally, tried to explain things to him, yet it was so easy for her to make him suffer such a miserable defeat.
He spoke coldly.
"Kissing you until you lose your memory and can only remember me wishing you a happy birthday."
He finally brought himself to release her. As Ning Ye limply fell forward, he casually and incredibly naturally supported her, bringing her into his embrace.
"The presents are in my car."
"All six years of them together."
Ning Ye covered the corners of her lips, her calves practically trembling. Such explosive and surging hormones were like a sudden downpour, leaving her distracted, ashamed, and angry.
"What exactly do you want to do?"
Bian Xun closed his eyes. Sour, cold emotions layered and spread at the bottom of his heart, ultimately transforming into years of yearning.
What do I want to do?
I'm begging you.
"Be with me, and don't you fucking look at anyone else."
...
Ning Ye did not agree easily.
Of course.
The reasons for their breakup when they were young would not automatically disappear with the passage of time.
Not to mention that Bian Xun looked much more terrifying now than before...!
But his tireless behavior of topping up her phone bill over the years finally had a real explanation.
... So he still liked her.
Although he didn't say it explicitly, and although his dark eyes carried a ruthless edge, all of his physical reactions were expressing this one thing.
Thinking of this, an inexplicable panic and bitterness grew in her heart.
What about her?
She didn't know.
After breaking his defenses and begging for a reconciliation that night, Bian Xun restrained himself for a few days.
Of course, the whole company didn't know what the CEO had done outside the business department that night. They only felt that their CEO was aloof, noble, and had extraordinary vision, leading them to a new world—the company's large model had officially launched operations, immediately causing a massive stir across the internet. The name Limitless was unstoppable.
Meanwhile, Bian Xun himself went to the security room and secretly intercepted the surveillance footage of the hallway from that night. He originally wanted to delete it directly, but the kiss was truly alluring... He locked his door and admired it several times before letting out a light cough and deleting it.
The sickness he caught when he first kissed her in their youth seemed to have never been cured.
He still wanted to kiss her every hour.
He couldn't guess her feelings.
But his physiological reactions when kissing her remained the same as before.
Just thinking about it made him feel hot and bothered.
Bian Xun got up and left the surveillance room. Assistant Zhang walked over and handed the real-time report of the large model to his boss.
"Are the employees using it?" Bian Xun asked, lowering his eyes.
"They are. We're popularizing it internally first, and the employee feedback is very good."
"Mm," Bian Xun replied faintly, having found a reasonable excuse to patrol the various departments.
Down in the business department, Ning Ye was also actively trying out the large model.
A major reason she had originally submitted her resume to Limitless was because of this model's press conference.
Jiang Xinghe stood next to her. The two communicated while debugging AI commands, gradually figuring it out, and a bit of radiance appeared in her almond eyes.
In the past, she would run to major hospitals every few days to search for a needle in a haystack. With the help of technology, it was much faster than her searching purely manually.
Bian Xun watched coldly for a long time before turning around, his joy or anger indiscernible.
This kind of sour jealousy made him disdainful.
As long as she compared them properly, she should know how to choose.
But after that night, their relationship hadn't made any substantial progress to the next step.
It was very agonizing.
Bian Xun worked vengefully for several days in a row, finalizing the subsequent systemic engineering optimization of the large model to free up a complete block of time to solve their problem.
Assistant Zhang was passively forced to work overtime with him. After several consecutive days, one night, Song Hua brought their daughter to deliver a bento box to her father.
They were coincidentally bumped into by Bian Xun as he walked out of his office.
Four-year-old Zhang Sijie was at a mischievous age. Seeing that Bian Xun was so young, she went "Wow" and asked Assistant Zhang, "Daddy, is this someone from your company?"
Sweat broke out on Assistant Zhang's forehead. "Yes, child, this is the biggest person in our company."
The boss hated children; he knew this taboo.
Zhang Sijie looked thoughtful. "Then he looks quite young, Daddy."
Assistant Zhang looked haggard. "... Alright, sweetie, go home with Mommy first."
Zhang Sijie: "I'll wait for you!"
Children's voices are sharper than adults'. Bian Xun wouldn't go so far as to mistreat Assistant Zhang's child, and he even had the security guard carry two boxes of seasonal fruit to his family, but his brows remained furrowed.
Children were still annoying.
He let Assistant Zhang get off work early as well and slowly walked over to the business department.
In recent days, Ning Ye had been keeping an eye on the large model during her spare time outside of her regular duties. Because the company's monitors were larger, she continued to work overtime after getting off work, repeatedly debugging within the model.
That male colleague seemed to be keeping her company while working overtime. It was an extreme eyesore.
The annoyance from bumping into the child was successfully deepened further.
Bian Xun's expression was ugly.
His fingers reached into his suit pants pocket.
To prevent these people's covetousness, he needed to establish the safest and most stable relationship as soon as possible, a brand new order, a model that outsiders would find difficult to intervene in.
He lifted his feet and walked in Ning Ye's direction.
But right at that moment, she suddenly straightened her body, her gaze fixed tightly on the images filtered out by the large model.
The fluorescent light of the screen outlined the delicate lines of her side profile, and her thick, long eyelashes only fluttered lightly after a long while.
Then, she grabbed her backpack and ran out.
Jiang Xinghe's gaze immediately followed her, but before he could catch up to Ning Ye, he only saw a pair of cold, dead silent eyes.
Bian Xun glanced at him, grabbed his car keys, and quickly chased after her.
Ning Ye took a leave of absence for the next few days.
She had found her mother who had been missing for seven years, but no miracles happened in life. Her illness had dragged on until now, and it was already at its end.
Fortunately, she now had savings and financial ability. Despite Ning Cuizhen's desperate resistance, she still asked the aunts in the same ward to help hold her down while she went to pay the medical bills herself.
Standing in front of the self-service payment machine, Ning Ye took a long, deep breath.
Then she scanned the bill, selected the payment method, and picked up her phone to pay.
The payment was unsuccessful. She went to the payment counter to ask, only to find out that all of patient Ning Cuizhen's medical expenses had just been covered by someone else.
Ning Ye froze again, realizing something.
That faint feeling of being abandoned by her last relative was unexpectedly supported by a hand from behind.
She turned her head. The hospital was a microcosm of human life, filled with bitter fruits and grievances everywhere.
But her gaze bypassed the bustling crowd and immediately fell upon Bian Xun, who stood quietly amidst the swamp of it all, like a pine or a crane—aloof and striking.
His dark eyes were steady and constant, waiting to solve all her problems and catch all her emotions.
The Bian Xun of her youth in her heart was overlaid by his mature figure of today.
Her heart inexplicably ached.
In this moment, she suddenly felt a sense of having come full circle.
Ning Ye had been shuttling between the hospital and home these past few days, only returning to work at the company after Ning Cuizhen fought her to the bitter end.
During this time, Bian Xun's messages never stopped.
"Status?"
"Do you need to change the attending physician?"
"Don't sleep on the chair when you stay over."
"Don't pay me back."
Bian Xun's anxiety was not visible, but he would pick up his phone even during meetings.
She rarely asked him for help on her own initiative, and she even downloaded the medical bills clearly, paying him back the exact amounts.
Bian Xun's fingertips tapped on the sandalwood desk, his expression unpredictable, shifting from cloudy to clear.
He had already brought up getting back together; saying more would make him seem pestering. So he could only act as if nothing was wrong, pretending to be calm, transitioning from the greenness of youth to the silent probing and anxiety of a grown man.
But Ning Ye actually had no time to reply to the numerous messages.
She hadn't realized yet that her life was stepping into a new stage. Watching her mother's life being painstakingly maintained, the love she received was thin yet precious, and a thought slowly began to surface in her heart.
...An increasingly clear thought.
Bian Xun couldn't take it anymore.
She worked diligently upon returning to the company, but in the elevator, in the cafeteria, and during departmental activities, her almond eyes were always drifting into a daze. A deliberate consideration was taking shape.
What was the result?
Did she want him or not?
Bian Xun felt like he was being broken up with over and over again.
Torture.
He finally blocked her path on Friday evening after work.
He was going to propose today.
Otherwise, no one would have a good time.
On this early winter night, he stared fiercely at the calm, porcelain-white face before him. Meeting her now clear and open gaze, his most burning words resonated between his thin lips, speaking with weight—
"Let's get m—"
"Let's have a child."
Bian Xun went silent.
Ning Ye's clear voice was distinct and composed in the night.
Bian Xun was stunned for a long while before slowly raising his eyes inch by inch to look at her, seeing her bravery and shyness.
Ning Ye's gaze was firm and gentle.
Since he still liked her, since they had an emotional foundation, since she had adequate salary and maternity leave conditions, since the man before her was probably the only person she would ever love in her life, and since he had excellent genes...
"I want a child, Bian Xun."
"I invite you to be the father."
"Are you... willing?"
...
Bian Xun thought about it for a whole night.
The next morning, when he opened his eyes, the corners of his brows carried a curve of secret delight.
Someone hadn't slept all night, and there wasn't even a single wrinkle on his pajamas, yet his expression gave off a feeling of the clouds parting to reveal the moon, completely refreshed.
The result of his all-night pondering:
Did she like him that much?
Directly inviting him to bind themselves in such a deep relationship?
Bian Xun couldn't control the corners of his lips. Then he opened his phone. There was a WeChat message from Ning Ye. Looking at the sent time, she seemed to have been tossing and turning, unable to sleep either.
[Come to my house tomorrow night?]
Bian Xun spent a full five minutes calming down over these few short words.
Then, with restraint and reserve, he replied with a single word: [Okay.]
The next second, he took a screenshot of this message, favorited it, and uploaded it to the cloud for backup.
The CEO leaned against the headboard with his eyes closed, waiting for the exhilarating sense of pleasure to slowly wash over him.
This was the first time he felt so deeply joyful since their reunion after a long separation.
The reason was simple.
Why didn't she ask someone else to be the child's father?
Why did she specifically seek him out?
Having a child, what did that mean?
It meant he would be her husband, her man, the other half of her family, her eternal future.
Bian Xun took exactly 0 days to accept this.
When he left the house that day, Bian Xun wore a suit and a bow tie. Dressed immaculately, he drove to the downstairs of her apartment complex, picked her up, and left.
Ning Ye thought Bian Xun was there to drop her off at work. It wasn't until they were almost at the Civil Affairs Bureau that she learned she had been given the day off.
She looked in shock out the car window at the sign for the XX District Marriage Registration Office. Realizing what he was about to do, she hastily tried to stop him, "Nowadays you can register a child's household without a marriage certificate, you should think about this carefully..."
The Maybach sharply turned into a parking spot on a side road and stopped.
Bian Xun's night-long euphoria slightly stalled as he turned his head to look at her.
Ning Ye's gaze was cautious. She was also considering things from his perspective. After all, with Bian Xun's current wealth and assets, entering into a marriage was a high-risk event that a capitalist needed to weigh carefully.
Wanting a child was the result of her careful deliberation. She could bear the expenses and wanted this warm family bond. But what about Bian Xun?
Bian Xun sat in the car, staring at her coldly for a long while.
Suddenly, he unbuckled his seatbelt and leaned over.
His familiar scent washed over her, his figure enveloping her. Ning Ye felt a wave of nervousness. She pursed her lips, subconsciously thinking he was going to kiss her.
But Bian Xun didn't kiss her. Instead, he lowered his eyes and unbuckled her seatbelt.
Then, hooking his arm, he used an incredibly absurd amount of arm strength to scoop her up entirely, pulling her onto his lap in the driver's seat.
She had already issued an invitation to have a child with him.
From today onwards, Bian Xun would not allow himself to feel displeased about anything.
Thus, Ning Ye was pressed against the steering wheel, kissed and devoured face-to-face.
A certain someone had long since placed himself in the position of her husband, pressing against the steering wheel, devouring her while reminding her.
"Do you remember how to make a baby?"
"What is the prerequisite for having a child?"
Ning Ye curled up, blushing entirely red like a cooked shrimp. Even though the car windows were dark and frosted so no one could see inside, and even though it was very early and few people passed by this small road.
But this was outdoors!
Yet Bian Xun held her and rocked her, sucking on her lips to make her mumble incoherently, while simultaneously forcing her to answer him.
"You want a child. What is the hard requirement? Tell me."
"It's... it's you." Ning Ye's hem was pushed up.
He devoured her more and more excessively.
His questions became more and more explicit.
Bian Xun looked up at her while kissing her. "You want a child, do you want me?"
He didn't actually go all the way, but he had already made her recall every passionate and intoxicating sensation from before, pressing against her sweet spots and taking her to places she hadn't reached in a long time.
"Do you want me?" he continued to press.
Unable to bear it, Ning Ye went limp in his arms, trapped between the car's precise dashboard and his beating chest, her fingertips weakly grasping his collar.
"I want you too... I want you too."
The most honest desire, the most passionate palpitation, the landing point of all her bravery.
It was still this person, still.
...
In short, on the day they got their marriage certificate.
Early in the morning, by the side of the road, the car shook and rocked. Later on, Ning Ye never dared to walk into that neighborhood again.
A certain someone, however, found it endlessly memorable.
A uniquely delicious taste.
Bian Xun did not really grasp the concept of being a father. Even while they were trying for a baby, he still disliked other children. Yet, he unconsciously began hoarding baby supplies in advance, from clothes and sanitary products to strollers, cribs, formula mixers, and sterilizers... He even considered acquiring an entire postpartum care center.
He kept wondering how someone as cold and harsh as him could ever be a proper father.
Ning Ye never gave him an answer to this question.
She simply smiled as she watched him buy all those things on impulse, knowing the answer lay within his actions.
The moment those two lines appeared on the pregnancy test, he caught her in a tearful embrace. In that very second, he felt a tiny seed being planted deep within his heart.
He gently kissed away the tears at the corners of Ning Ye's eyes and carefully brushed his lips against hers. Holding her in his arms, he was suddenly at a total loss for where to place his hands.
Only at this moment did Bian Xun truly understand how to be a good dad.
How to be the father of her child.
And that was, from the very bottom of his heart, to longingly—
"Welcome her arrival."
