88: Your birthday

Chu Yilan's office was vast, spotlessly clean, and maintained its black-and-white design aesthetic, exuding a sense of severity amidst the luxury. A glass cabinet near the entrance immediately caught Shen Lian's attention.

"No way..." Shen Lian bent down and squatted, looking down through the shelves. He started smiling, and when he looked back at Chu Yilan, his gaze was full of teasing, but the other man ignored him.

Just pretending to be calm, Shen Lian thought.

What was inside the cabinet were none other than the flowers Shen Lian had given him. They should have withered long ago, but one or two vibrant stems had been taken and made into small specimens. In the corner, there was even the radish flower he had given Chu Yilan after the recording of *sea god descends* that night.

Sun Binghe came in and a quick smile flashed in his eyes when he saw the scene.

"Mr. Shen, the clear tea is ready."

"Thank you." Shen Lian stood up and sat on the sofa. He glanced at Chu Yilan with a smirk, then pointed at the glass cabinet: "Special Assistant Sun must have found someone to make all this, right?"

Sun Binghe: "How did Mr. Shen know?"

"A guess." Shen Lian leaned back, one arm resting across the back of the sofa, looking smug. "I thought you'd tossed them long ago. Well, if this is the case, I'll find time to send more later, or this little cabinet of yours will be full sooner or later."

Chu Yilan finally looked up, his face clearly showing displeasure. "If it gets full, I'll just get another one. That's not your concern."

"Alright, alright," Shen Lian said, drawing out his tone. "I'll make sure to coordinate what I send you so it looks good."

Chu Yilan reached his limit. "Prepare for the meeting."

Chu Yilan felt somewhat awkward about Shen Lian discovering this; he had simply instinctively wanted to keep important things.

Chu Yilan went to the meeting, and Shen Lian stayed in the office. The man hadn't imposed any restrictions on him. Shen Lian studied Chu Yilan's liquor cabinet for a while, then found a book and leaned back on the sofa to read.

When the office door knocked, Shen Lian thought Chu Yilan had returned, wondering if it was so fast.

When his eyes met Yang Bin's, both men were stunned for a moment.

This was the "forbidden area" of Hengtai. Unless they had an appointment or were reporting work, generally only Sun Binghe and Yang Bin, the two special assistants, had permission to enter and exit.

"Mr. Shen?"

"Ah, they went to a meeting." Seeing Yang Bin's travel-worn appearance, Shen Lian asked, "Did you just get back from a business trip?"

"Yes."

"Sit down and rest for a bit. Shall I make you some coffee?"

"No need, no need!" Yang Bin waved his hands repeatedly. "I'll do it myself."

While making coffee, Yang Bin thought about Shen Lian's relaxed and comfortable demeanor just now, realizing that CEO Chu truly held this person dear, completely unguarded.

Shen Lian didn't have much to do but stay there. Whenever Chu Yilan felt slightly agitated, thinking of Shen Lian sitting nearby would immediately calm him down.

When Chu Yilan and Sun Binghe pushed the door open and entered, Shen Lian and Yang Bin had cracked sunflower seeds all over half the table, and Yang Bin's lingering sentence, "CEO Chu hates snowy days the most," still echoed.

Shen Lian nodded. He had just learned this, as winter hadn't arrived yet, and Chu Yilan never brought it up.

Chu Yilan narrowed his eyes. "Why don't you tell him my bank card password too?"

Yang Bin: "..." Wasn't he just getting carried away talking?

Shen Lian laughed, "What is your bank card password?"

"Your birthday."

Shen Lian was suspicious. "When did you change it?"

"After we confirmed our relationship."

Shen Lian was satisfied.

Yang Bin quickly cleaned up the table, then left with Sun Binghe.

Chu Yilan sat down at his desk, chuckling helplessly. "I think these two are about to become your assistants."

Shen Lian: "If you weren't so clearly supportive, would they dare? Since you treat me like a treasure, they naturally won't slight me. Nothing wrong with that." After speaking, he was already sitting on Chu Yilan's lap. He hadn't tried this in the office before; it was novel. After a long kiss, Shen Lian said hoarsely, "Your private room is quite spacious."

Chu Yilan: "..."

Shen Lian: "It shouldn't be a problem if I only eat one meal a day, right?"

CEO Chu thought it was fine.

Chu Yilan understood that Shen Lian was doing his best to alleviate the negative emotions in his heart. Every year on his mother's death anniversary, his mental state would become extremely unstable. Last year at a dinner party, someone clueless crossed him, leading to a very ugly scene. Oh right, that person was also Zhou Tangsi's friend. Finally, Zheng Ge "stepped forward" and told Chu Yilan in a disappointed tone, "This is wrong."

What was right or wrong? Was that what Chu Yilan cared about? Why was it right for others to target and provoke him, but wrong for him to return the favor and retaliate? This world constantly offered wrong answers, leading Chu Yilan to disappointment after disappointment.

But now it was different. Chu Yilan pressed the back of Shen Lian's heart, pulling him closer into his embrace. All the coldness and confusion were filled. Amidst their intertwined breaths, Chu Yilan said in a deep voice, "Come with me to see Mom."

Shen Lian's voice was syrupy, "Didn't I already promise you?"

*

By the time the two of them left the office, it was already dark. Shen Lian's hair was half-damp; he had just showered.

Chu Yilan's mood was not unstable in the slightest. He even smiled and offered a hint of flattery, "Are you sore?"

"Sore about what?" Shen Lian insisted stubbornly. "Am I that fragile?"

He put on his sunglasses with a backhand motion, feeling untouchable.

As soon as they reached downstairs, they ran into Sun Binghe saying goodbye to several business partners.

Seeing Chu Yilan, those people naturally stopped leaving.

Shen Lian didn't go over. He turned up the collar of his jacket, covering half his face. The security patrol downstairs at Hengtai was strict, preventing unfamiliar paparazzi from slipping in. Although he noticed one or two people looking, Shen Lian paid it no mind.

Chu Yilan exchanged a few brief pleasantries. Business matters entirely entrusted to Sun Binghe usually didn't require his final approval. The temperature was dropping tonight, and Chu Yilan was preoccupied with the fact that Shen Lian had just mentioned wanting to eat hot pot.

As soon as Chu Yilan and Shen Lian left, one of the business partners spoke up: "That person... looks like a celebrity from the entertainment industry."

"It's not important." Sun Binghe's smile deepened. "Do you know what the most important thing is right now?"

"What..."

"I've already worked overtime for an hour." Sometimes Sun Binghe truly wanted to call the police. How much time were these people going to waste on useless networking?

The crowd scattered with a 'whoosh.'

Chu Yilan found a private restaurant with an elegant atmosphere. The mutton hot pot tasted quite good. Halfway through the meal, Shen Lian's phone vibrated. It was a message from Hu Kailan saying that *silent no more* was starting its pre-promotion, and asking him to take a moment to repost the official Social Media Platform update. If he had time, he should post a personal update for his fans, as he hadn't posted anything significant in the past month.

Shen Lian operated the phone one-handed. After reposting, he took a picture of the hot pot. Naturally, he didn't let Chu Yilan appear in the shot, but a faint shadow of a person could be seen on the table.

Shen Lian wasn't worried. If anyone asked, he'd just say, who doesn't have friends these days?

[Oh my, who is this? I thought you had completely forgotten your account password.]

Shen Lian replied with a grinning emoji sticker and then logged out of Social Media Platform.

After dinner, they headed home. Chu Yilan drove, and Shen Lian was in the passenger seat, chatting and laughing with him until the car turned a corner, and at the entrance of the uphill driveway, a car's headlights turned on.