With the Lunar New Year approaching, everyone is busy going home to celebrate.
In the distance, Yan Heqing saw the flower shop with its lights on. Even so, he ran and arrived at the flower shop in half the time. It was a large flower shop with a wide variety of flowers. The bright incandescent lights made the shop feel like springtime, with all kinds of flowers in full bloom.
The florist was taking inventory, anticipating a busy New Year's celebration tomorrow. She was supposed to close today, but thinking it was cold and late, and there were no customers, she let her staff go home first, leaving the shop open. Unexpectedly, after doing some accounting, she looked up and saw a handsome young man, almost like a mannequin, standing in front of the gladiolus.
Gladiolus comes in several colors. Yan Heqing scanned them one by one: red, blue, purple, yellow, white, and light pink.
He didn't remember his mother's preferences, so he turned back to the shopkeeper with a smile and said, "Hello, I'd like a bunch of gladioli, all colors."
The shop owner initially wanted to say she'd close and come back tomorrow, but Yan Heqing was too beautiful, so she put down her pen, walked out from behind the counter, and checked again, "Buy all the colors? That might not look good together."
Yan Heqing's lips curled slightly upward. "It's alright."
The shopkeeper picked out a few stems from each, wanting to tear off pretty wrapping paper, Yan Heqing stopped her, "Just wrap them simply, and also a bunch of chrysanthemums, white and yellow."
The shop owner was a little puzzled. It was rare to see people displaying chrysanthemums at home during the Spring Festival, but she did have some in her shop. So she nodded, wrapped the gladiolus in newspaper, and then wrapped a bunch of chrysanthemums.
Flower prices have gone up during the Spring Festival. Flowers that usually cost a few dozen yuan a bunch now cost over a hundred. Yan Heqing paid the bill and left with two bunches of flowers in his arms.
The subway was almost empty. For a long stretch, the usually crowded carriages were empty except for Yan Heqing. Everyone had gone home for the Chinese New Year. Only when the train passed through the city center did a few more people get on.
The familiar platform; not far from the exit are Lu Group's headquarters and a coffee shop.
Yan Heqing freed one hand, took out his phone, and logged into WeChat.
His chat history with Lu Lin was still stuck on their last conversation.
Opening Moments, Lu Lin wasn't posting anything; his feed was flooded with posts about Sep12.
Suddenly, Yan Heqing's eyes flickered and stopped at Lin Fengzhi half an hour ago.
The picture shows an exquisite gift box.
Add the caption, "I'm downstairs at their place!"
Yan Heqing had seen the gift box before; it contained the tie Lin Fengzhi had bought for Lu Lin.
--
In the lobby of Lu Group's building, the receptionist, who was about to leave work, smiled politely once again, "I'm sorry, our President Lu doesn't know this Mr. Lin."
Lin Fengzhi up his hat brim, his tone urgent, "No, I believe... Mr. Lin really knows President Lu, could you call again to confirm? This is a New Year's gift from Mr. Lin to President Lu!"
During holidays and festivals, countless people send gifts to their President Lu. The receptionist was well aware of this, and she gave an apologetic smile, "I'm truly sorry, but we've confirmed with the secretariat that they do not know this Mr. Lin. Please return the package to the sender."
Lin Fengzhi found a delivery uniform and pretended to be a deliveryman.
"Pretty lady, please have mercy and help me out, this is my last order for today." Lin Fengzhi his charm, raising his hand and promising, "I promise I'll come down right away after I finish!"
The receptionist smiled and shook her head. "It's really not possible. You'd better leave."
Unable to reason with the receptionist, Lin Fengzhi bit his lower lip and suddenly ran inside.
He skipped the card reader; it was already past closing time, and the security guards were changing shifts. The receptionist hadn't expected him to barge in. Lin Fengzhi a clear goal: he rushed to Lu Lin's private elevator lobby, frantically pressed the elevator buttons, and before the receptionist could catch up, the elevator doors opened. He rushed in, pressed the top floor button, and forcefully slammed the close button.
He had found out before he came that Lu Lin's private elevator was on the left and didn't require a card.
The receptionist chased after her, but the elevator had already started going up. She was almost in tears. Lu Lin hadn't finished work yet, and if someone broke in, her job would likely be ruined. She ran back to the lobby, anxiously calling for security.
The elevator was incredibly fast, and it quickly reached the top floor.
Lin Fengzhi held the gift box, his heart pounding louder than the elevator doors opening. He was already nervous before he even saw Lu Lin.
Stepping out of the elevator, the clean and bright corridor was very quiet. The secretariat had all gone home, except for the president's office at the end, where the light was still on. With each step closer, Lin Fengzhi's heartbeat became clearer.
Don't be nervous.
Lin Fengzhi adjusted his breathing, his ear tips turning a subtle red.
As he reached the office door, Lin Fengzhi nervously adjusted his collar. Even though he was pretending to be a deliveryman, he wanted to appear in front of Uncle Lu looking presentable.
Knock knock.
He held his breath and knocked on the door.
The next moment, he heard a voice that made his heart pound.
"Come in."
Lin Fengzhi's breath hitched for a moment, his fingers trembling as he shakily pushed open the heavy door.
As the field of vision gradually expanded, the figure in the distance became clearer.
Behind his desk, Lu Lin was working on documents, his head slightly lowered as he focused intently on them. The cold, incandescent light fell on his sharp, defined jawline, like a cold scalpel.
Lin Fengzhi frozen at the doorway, his chest pounding as if it were about to burst, his heart pounding so hard it seemed to want to leap out of his body.
Uncle Lu is so handsome when he's working so hard!
On the last day after the New Year, Lu Lin checked the reports one last time. The person who came didn't move for a while, so he looked up at the door and asked in a deep voice, "What is it?"
Lin Fengzhi out of his daze, his face flushed crimson, his lips trembled, and he stammered, "There... there was a New Year's gift from a Mr. Lin..."
Lu Lin withdrew his gaze and looked at the report again. "Put it on the table and get out."
"Oh." Lin Fengzhi's mind went blank. He stared at Lu Lin without blinking and moved towards the coffee table like a crab.
"Here he is!" Just then, the receptionist and several security guards arrived and found Lin Fengzhi had entered Lu Lin's office. The security guards displayed unprecedented running ability, rushing in within seconds, grabbing Lin Fengzhi, and quickly carrying him out of the office.
As Lin Fengzhi struggled, the gift box fell to the ground, and the receptionist, pale-faced, ran forward to pick it up.
The receptionist was sweating profusely, bowing repeatedly and apologizing, "I'm so sorry, President Lu, please rest assured, it will never happen again! We'll take him away immediately."