As the saying goes, “The onlooker sees more clearly than the player.”
After hanging up the phone, Wen Xia sat on his bed and reflected on everything that had happened. The more he thought about it, the more absurd it all seemed.
His phone buzzed with a message from Zou Boyan: [So, how are things now? Need a brother to help out?]
Wen Xia replied: [You should be asking Lin Fengqi that question. He’s the one chasing me, not the other way around.]
Zou Boyan: [Then it’s worse than I thought. I think you might need even more help now.]
Wen Xia: [Who do you think you’re underestimating?]
Zou Boyan: [Just some fatherly concern, that’s all.]
Wen Xia: [Get lost.]
Lin Fengqi’s feelings were no less complicated than Wen Xia’s. He had once thought Wen Xia liked someone else, and he feared making Wen Xia unhappy, so he had been careful and hesitant. But now, he knew that Liao Xingshen and Fang Huai, these so-called “rivals,” were all nonexistent. At least for now, it seemed that Wen Xia didn’t have anyone else in his heart.
Moreover, Wen Xia didn’t seem to dislike him. In fact, he was allowing Lin Fengqi to pursue him.
This realization gave Lin Fengqi a boost of confidence.
However, he had no experience in courting anyone, and taking Wen Xia on a walk with the dog tonight had been the limit of his ideas.
After his shower, he looked at Wen Xia’s closed door and thought for a moment before deciding not to disturb him. Instead, he returned to his room, opened his computer, and began drafting a detailed plan.
He started by listing Wen Xia’s likes and preferences but quickly realized… most of them were related to food. And aside from his culinary tastes, most of what he knew came from observing Wen Xia back in high school.
“…”
It dawned on him then just how little he actually knew about the Wen Xia of today.
Looking back at their interactions over this period, he realized he had been applying his old understanding of Wen Xia to the present-day Wen Xia. Was it because Wen Xia didn’t seem to have changed much?
Lin Fengqi felt a bit lost. He wondered how Wen Xia saw him now.
Staring at the document in front of him, Lin Fengqi finally deleted it out of frustration. He then opened a browser and typed “how to pursue someone” into the search bar.
The results were overwhelming, with suggestions that were often too general. Lin Fengqi scrolled through, clicking on various posts on a social media platform related to the topic. There were many replies from users, and as he scrolled through, one particular response caught his eye.
[There’s already a lot of advice above, so I’ll offer something different. This is from personal experience: when you’re pursuing someone, it’s best to also get along with their friends. You know what they say—friends can be a big help. When I was chasing my girlfriend, her best friend helped me out a lot. For example, when they went out together, her friend would tell me the location, and then I’d dress up and “coincidentally” run into them. Or if my girlfriend was upset about something and didn’t tell me, her friend would let me know, so I could cheer her up…]
The user concluded with: [In short, try to bring your social circles together and find a common point of connection. Having mutual friends really helps! When they plan outings, they’ll invite both of you, and that gives you more opportunities!]
Mutual friends…
Lin Fengqi re-read this reply and fell into deep thought.
He had never been good at socializing, always having few friends. Things got slightly better in college—at least he had good relationships with his roommates—but he hadn’t attended college locally, so after graduation, everyone went their separate ways. Once they entered the working world, there were no more pure friendships; any friends in business were merely tied together by mutual interests.
If he had to name a true friend, there was only one—Zhou Yixian.
It was at this moment that Lin Fengqi realized how little he knew about Wen Xia’s social circle. Besides Fang Huai, the only other person he knew of was Zou Boyan.
—
The next day, Wen Xia was awakened by the cheerful alarm voice of Xiao Wu. As usual, the little robot dutifully reported, “Today is November 8th, the weather is clear, with a north wind of 2 on the Beaufort scale. The highest temperature will be 22°C, and the lowest will be 13°C. Please remember to dress accordingly!”
Wen Xia glanced at his phone and, unsurprisingly, found the actual forecast: cloudy, southwest wind at 1, with a high of 12°C and a low of 6°C.
This little guy had never gotten the temperature right. Only the “dress warmly” part was accurate.
Brushing his teeth, he had no time to deal with the robot. Wen Dage climbed out of his bed, lazily stretched, and then leaped onto Xiao Wu’s head, wobbling slightly.
Xiao Wu complained, “Please remove the heavy object from my head. Please remove the heavy object from my head.”
Wen Dage swatted it with a paw.
Xiao Wu reported, “Anomalous impact detected.”
For as long as Wen Xia was washing up, the cat and the robot bickered.
After silencing the endlessly chattering robot, peace finally returned.
Lin Fengqi had gotten up early, and as soon as Wen Xia stepped out of his room, he was greeted by the smell of breakfast. Lin Fengqi had made two bowls of noodles. As Wen Xia moved to sit down, Lin Fengqi quickly stepped forward, pulling out a chair for him and saying, “Good morning.”
“…Morning.” Wen Xia walked over, and as he sat down, Lin Fengqi thoughtfully pushed the chair in for him.
The chair had a soft cushion on it, which Wen Xia noticed was absent from Lin Fengqi’s seat.
He glanced at Lin Fengqi, whose expression was perfectly serious, revealing nothing.
After breakfast, Wen Xia was about to prepare food for Wen Dage, but Lin Fengqi stepped in, saying, “I’ll do it.”
Wen Xia watched him, silently letting go.
Wen Dage’s enthusiasm for food didn’t diminish just because someone else was feeding him. He meowed eagerly, tail held high.
Once the furball was settled, the two of them left for work.
On the way, Lin Fengqi behaved just as he usually did. They parted ways at the parking lot and went to their respective workplaces.
Wen Xia couldn’t quite figure out Lin Fengqi’s game. Was he planning something big?
But soon enough, he got a taste of Lin Fengqi’s “big move.”
Monday morning was the usual weekly meeting at the studio, mainly to review last week’s progress on game development and set clear goals for the upcoming week. But halfway through the meeting, a vibrant bouquet of roses interrupted the proceedings.
A delivery guy, nearly swallowed by the enormous bouquet, stood at the door of the studio and asked, “Excuse me, is there a Mr. Wen Xia here?”
Liu Feisi and the others stared, their eyes wide, and let out a chorus of awe-struck exclamations, “Wow—”
Wen Xia: “…”
The delivery guy asked again, “Sorry to interrupt, but which one of you is Mr. Wen Xia?”
The bouquet was so large that he had to bend under its weight just to keep his balance.
Wen Xia covered his face, reluctant to admit it. “That would be me.”
“Good day, sir. These flowers are from your beloved, Mr. Lin Fengqi,” the delivery guy said as he handed over the bouquet. Whether it was out of sincerity or because Lin Fengqi had instructed him, he added earnestly, “999 roses symbolize eternal love, wishing you both a relationship that is as everlasting and passionate as these flowers!”
Liu Feisi and the others echoed, “Oh—”
Wen Xia, clutching the overwhelming bouquet that was nearly knocking him out with its fragrance, “…”
He forced a polite smile. “Thank you, and sorry for the trouble.”
After sending off the delivery guy, the group immediately crowded around. Liu Feisi carefully touched the dewy petals. “Oh my goodness, this is the first time in my life I’ve seen someone actually send 999 roses…”
Yao Yao exclaimed, “It smells so good!”
Xiao Cong added, “I have to admit, it’s pretty romantic. Haha.”
Ah Deng asked, “Boss, is today some special occasion?”
Ah Deng hit the nail on the head with that question, and everyone looked at Wen Xia curiously, waiting for his answer.
“Sorry to disappoint you, but today’s just a normal day.” Wen Xia looked around at everyone before placing the overwhelming bouquet on the coffee table in the break area.
Liu Feisi, who had always been a sharp kid, said to Ah Deng, “You don’t get it. This is how couples keep things exciting. Love needs to be kept fresh, just like these flowers.”
Wen Xia gave him a look, and he quickly shut up with an awkward laugh.
Tucked among the roses was a card. Wen Xia pulled it out and read the message: “May this morning be fragrant and full of joy.”
Judging by the handwriting, it was written by Lin Fengqi himself.
Wen Xia: “…”
Could it be any cheesier?
A message soon followed: [Did the flowers arrive?]
Wen Xia replied with a period.
Observation Subject: [ ? ]
Observation Subject: [What’s wrong?]
Observation Subject: [Was there a problem with the flowers?]
Lin Fengqi was puzzled. It shouldn’t be an issue. The delivery person had told him that Wen Xia was smiling happily when he received the flowers.
Wen Xia replied: [No, the flowers are perfect. They smell great.]
Observation Subject: [Good.]
Observation Subject: [That’s what I was hoping for.]
Wen Yi Xia: [Who gave you this idea?]
Observation Subject: [No one. I came up with it myself.]
Wen Yi Xia: [ … ]
Wen Yi Xia: [You’re quite something, huh?]
Only someone as dense as Lin Fengqi could have come up with such a cheesy idea.
Even though he was working in an advanced technological field, his approach to love seemed stuck in the last century.
However, Lin Fengqi didn’t pick up on the subtext. He just felt happy, thinking, Wen Xia is praising me, huh?
Wen Xia must really like the flowers. Good, that means he made the right choice.
Wen Xia looked at the enormous bouquet of vibrant flowers and felt a headache coming on.
He had never taken care of anything as delicate as flowers in his life. Old Wen was even worse—since his wife passed away, he had cut all ties with anything related to flowers. But his mother had loved them.
When Wen Xia’s mother was still alive, the front yard of their villa had been filled with flowers, and Old Wen had kept up the habit of bringing her a romantic bouquet every week. But after her death, those flowers couldn’t survive the winter under Old Wen’s care. Maybe it was because Old Wen didn’t have the heart to tend to them, or maybe he just didn’t know how. The flowers withered and died one after another. Come spring, he had the entire flowerbed cleared out.
Wen Xia had been too young to remember much about it, but later on, when he was older, one of the nannies who had looked after him back then told him that Old Wen had sat on the front steps for a long time that day. As he went back inside, he muttered, “Well, at least now I won’t have anything to remind me of her.”
After that, flowers never appeared in their home again.
Flowers like these… wouldn’t last long, would they?
With no space for them in the studio, Wen Xia had no choice but to place the bouquet among the trophies and awards the studio had won for their games.
To his surprise, it actually brightened up the display quite a bit.
Liu Feisi stood behind him and sighed, “Ah, love…”
Wen Xia said with a blank expression, “Let’s continue the meeting.”
Liu Feisi whimpered, “Whimper.”
But Wen Xia was already thinking about how to tell Lin Fengqi that pursuing someone didn’t necessarily have to be done this way—although, to be fair, he didn’t feel like he was in any position to teach Lin Fengqi how to court someone.
Besides, Lin Fengqi seemed very serious about chasing him. What if he discouraged this wooden-headed guy’s enthusiasm?
Wen Xia felt extremely conflicted, so much so that lunchtime snuck up on him.
Little did he know that Lin Fengqi had another big surprise in store for lunch.
Their small studio didn’t have its own canteen like Fenghang, so they usually either went out to grab something nearby or ordered food in.
For the past while, someone had been delivering meals specifically for Wen Xia—either Lin Fengqi himself or someone sent by Lin Fengqi, like Zeng Yuan.
Today, as lunchtime approached, Wen Xia had just locked his computer and was about to announce that it was time for lunch when he heard footsteps outside—more than one person’s footsteps, several, in fact.
Wen Xia stood up, and Liu Feisi and the others stopped what they were doing and turned to look.
The footsteps soon reached the studio door, and the first person to enter was Zeng Yuan, followed closely by several well-dressed waiters, each carrying an elegantly carved food box.
As they entered, they all smiled and greeted him, “Good afternoon, Mr. Wen Xia.”
Wen Xia: “…”
Wen Xia was dumbfounded.
Liu Feisi and the others were equally stunned.
It wasn’t until Zeng Yuan asked, “Mr. Wen, where should we set up the food?” that Wen Xia snapped out of it. He looked at Zeng Yuan, then at the waiters behind him, who were holding the food boxes and waiting for instructions, and he felt a bit overwhelmed. He pointed to the long table in the break area that was used for eating and drinking tea. “…Just over there.”
Zeng Yuan then instructed the waiters to place the food there.
Wen Xia took a deep breath and asked Zeng Yuan, “What’s all this?”
Zeng Yuan replied, “It’s from our President Lin.”
Wen Xia asked, “Where is he?”
Zeng Yuan explained, “President Lin originally planned to come over and have lunch with you, but something came up, and he couldn’t make it.”
Wen Xia closed his eyes and took a deep breath.
Noticing Wen Xia’s expression, Zeng Yuan cautiously asked, “Mr. Wen, is something wrong?”
Wen Xia smiled. “No, everything’s fine. Thank you.”
Zeng Yuan breathed a sigh of relief. “Alright, if there’s nothing else, I’ll be heading back. President Lin still needs me.”
With that, Zeng Yuan and the waiters left as quickly as they had arrived.
They came and went like the wind.
“Boss, are we really allowed to eat this?” Liu Feisi was already seated at the long table, drooling over the feast laid out before them.
Wen Xia replied, “Go ahead. It’s already here; might as well eat it.”
Xiao Cong asked, “Boss, are you sure today isn’t some special occasion?”
“Yeah, Brother Lin really pulled out all the stops today,” Liu Feisi said as he began eating. “This is top-notch stuff. I’d bet my name on it not being anything less than five-star quality!”
“It sure is,” Wen Xia said. “Today’s definitely special.”
“Really? What day is it? What day is it?” Liu Feisi asked.
Wen Xia, with a blank expression, took a photo of the feast and said, “The day before National Firefighting Day.”
Meanwhile, back at the company, Zeng Yuan dutifully reported Wen Xia’s reaction to Lin Fengqi.
“You said… he smiled?” Lin Fengqi asked.
“Yes,” Zeng Yuan confirmed. “He even specifically asked me why you didn’t come.”
“Hmm, I see.”
After Zeng Yuan left the office, Lin Fengqi sat at his desk, repeatedly reviewing his chat messages with Zou Boyan, unable to suppress the smile tugging at his lips. Even the simple lunch of one meat and two vegetables in front of him tasted better.
That post from yesterday was right—getting along with your crush’s friends was indeed crucial.
The overbearing CEO falls in love with me… It turns out Wen Xia really likes these things.
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