A single text message from Duan Yiheng had Lin Xi shunning him as if he were the plague. After returning to the company for lunch, the two walked side-by-side toward their offices. Having just resolved a major issue, Duan Yiheng's tone was notably relaxed:
"Want to go to my lounge and catch a nap?" The only words ringing in Lin Xi's mind were those four: "catch a nap." She knew that Duan Yiheng's definition of "a nap" differed significantly from her own. She gave a dry chuckle and politely declined.
Duan Yiheng didn't press the matter; at that point, he hadn't yet realized she was trying to avoid him. That afternoon, their communication was conducted entirely via the internal intercom system. Once Lin Xi had finished her work in an orderly fashion, she furtively grabbed her bag, intending to slip away. However, she was caught red-handed by Duan Yiheng, who had just returned from the R&D center. "Wait for me; let's leave together."
Duan Yiheng tossed out this command before heading back into his office. Her escape foiled, Lin Xi pretended as if nothing unusual had happened and waited for Duan Yiheng by the elevator bank. Although the formal contract with Likang had yet to be signed, everyone involved in the project had been working grueling, late-night shifts recently.
Even though the next day wasn't a weekend, Duan Yiheng decided to give the project team members the day off to rest and recuperate. Seeing Duan Yiheng emerge from his office, Lin Xi pressed the elevator call button. Duan Yiheng asked, "What do you feel like eating tonight?" Lin Xi stole a glance at him out of the corner of her eye. "Just grab a quick bite somewhere—I'm coming into work tomorrow."
Duan Yiheng turned to face her directly. "Who said you're coming in tomorrow?" "Can't I come in voluntarily?" "No." Lin Xi blinked. "…Why not?" Duan Yiheng replied, "Because I don't want to wake up and not see you there." Lin Xi made one last attempt to resist: "Are you going back to Tiandu Yuxi tonight?"
"Where else would I go?" Duan Yiheng felt she shouldn't even be asking such an obvious question. When the elevator reached the first floor, Lin Xi pulled her car keys from her bag. Duan Yiheng followed right on her heels; as other employees passed by, they offered polite greetings to the pair while stealing gossipy glances out of the corners of their eyes.
Although Duan Yiheng had instructed Qin Yang to keep a lid on things, he couldn't stop the employees from privately speculating about the nature of his relationship with Lin Xi. Their gazes were born merely of curiosity, yet Lin Xi felt her cheeks flush with embarrassment, and her pace unconsciously quickened.
Duan Yiheng, for his part, acted with complete self-assurance; he strode ahead, opened the passenger-side door of Lin Xi's car, and climbed inside. Lin Xi was left speechless. *So, I guess we're done trying to be discreet in public now, aren't we?* As Lin Xi floored the gas pedal, her phone vibrated frantically a few times.
Her bag lay tossed across Duan Yiheng's lap; hearing the commotion, she said, "Could you do me a favor and check who's messaging me?" Duan Yiheng retrieved the phone from her bag and unlocked it with her passcode. He glanced at the screen silently for a moment, then let out a soft chuckle. Lin Xi shot him a suspicious look:
"What's so funny? Who sent it?" Duan Yiheng cleared his throat. "Secretary Lin, it's not that I'm being nosy—I just can't hold it in anymore. Could you satisfy my curiosity?" Lin Xi blinked in surprise. "Sun Wenxin?" Duan Yiheng hummed in affirmation. Lin Xi asked:
"What else did she say?" Duan Yiheng held the phone up and read the message to her word for word: "What exactly is your relationship with CEO Duan? *Sob, sob*—you two are just too shippable! Please, pretty please, tell me everything!" Lin Xi was speechless. Duan Yiheng turned his head toward her. "Want me to reply for you?"
"Reply with what?" Lin Xi panicked slightly. "I'd better reply myself." Duan Yiheng looked at her. "So, how are you going to reply?" Lin Xi stammered, "...Well... just that we're together now." "Isn't that essentially the same thing?"
Duan Yiheng remarked nonchalantly. "That's exactly how I intended to reply to her." Terrified that he might misunderstand her intentions again, Lin Xi finally threw up her hands in defeat. "Fine, you reply. You do it." After all, Sun Wenxin would simply assume the reply had come from her. Duan Yiheng pressed the voice-message button, his voice tinged with amusement:
"Ship away to your heart's content. As for the relationship between Secretary Lin and myself... well, it's probably not far off from what you've imagined." "You sent a voice message?" Lin Xi felt as though the sky had come crashing down. "Why would I have the patience to chat back and forth, line by line, with a young girl like that?" Duan Yiheng offered a perfectly valid excuse.
Lin Xi steered the car into the garage; the moment she parked, the first thing she did was hold out her hand toward Duan Yiheng. "Give me the phone." Duan Yiheng handed it over. Lin Xi tapped to play Sun Wenxin's voice reply, instinctively holding the phone at arm's length from her ear.
First came a burst of excited screaming, followed by a more restrained, doting chuckle. "Here's wishing CEO Duan and Secretary Lin a lifetime of happiness together..."—followed by a string of sycophantic flattery that Lin Xi simply couldn't bring herself to listen to any longer. Duan Yiheng nodded with satisfaction: "That receptionist is pretty good—quite a sharp one."
"..." Lin Xi opened the car door and stepped out. Duan Yiheng swiftly followed her, catching up just outside the elevator bank to stop her. "Are you angry?" Lin Xi frowned. "Why didn't you say anything to me beforehand? Haven't you heard the saying, 'Great plans are best kept secret'? With the equity transfer imminent, couldn't you have kept a lower profile?"
As long as the two of them hadn't made a public announcement, any talk about their relationship within the company would remain mere speculation. At this moment, Lin Xi felt that nothing—absolutely nothing—mattered more than the equity transfer. Yet, she also understood Duan Yiheng. *Oh well,* she thought. *Didn't I tell him to come back myself?*
She just hadn't expected him to respond quite so... verbally. "Let's just—" "So, was that 'response' you mentioned earlier just a way to placate me?" Duan Yiheng asked. "You said you'd tell your friends that we're together." Lin Xi hesitated:
"I wasn't trying to placate you; I just wanted to wait until this whole business had blown over before saying anything." "There will always be 'business' to deal with; it will never truly 'blow over,'" Duan Yiheng said, looking directly at her. "Today it's this issue, tomorrow it's that one. Tell me—what exactly counts as 'blown over'?"
"I..." Lin Xi faltered. "Fine, I can't win an argument with you." She swiped her access card and entered the elevator; Duan Yiheng followed her in, standing right beside her. Neither of them spoke, though their eyes occasionally met in their peripheral vision. Lin Xi pursed her lips, feeling a strange, inexplicable sense of grievance.
Duan Yiheng frowned. Before the elevator had even reached their floor, he leaned closer to Lin Xi. He raised his hand—but before he could even touch her, the elevator doors slid open. Lin Xi stepped into the entryway and bent down to change her shoes. Suddenly, she felt a firm grip on her arm as Duan Yiheng pulled her back up to her feet.
Lin Xi stared at him blankly, unsure of what he was trying to do. "I was wrong," Duan Yiheng said; his voice sounded slightly muffled, yet it was crystal clear. Lin Xi blinked in surprise for a moment, then shook her head. "What you said wasn't entirely unreasonable."
Duan Yiheng grasped her by the shoulders and gently guided her to sit on the shoe-changing bench. He knelt down on one knee to help Lin Xi change her shoes. Lin Xi smiled softly and reached up to wrap her arms around his neck—a silent gesture of reconciliation. Duan Yiheng looked up at her and wrapped his arms around her waist.
She still had one shoe left to change, so instead of letting go, he simply lifted Lin Xi up into his arms. Her line of sight suddenly shot upward as Lin Xi—caught completely off guard—tumbled right into the crook of Duan Yiheng's neck. With a soft *clack*, the high-heeled shoe hooked over her instep hit the floor—a sound that coincided perfectly with the sudden, rapid beat of Lin Xi's heart.
Their eyes met, but Lin Xi could only hold his gaze for five seconds before looking away. Deep within Duan Yiheng's eyes, two small flames burned—a look Lin Xi knew all too well. "Are you hungry?" Duan Yiheng asked, holding her as he pushed open the front door. Lin Xi didn't know how to answer.
Duan Yiheng gave her lower back a light tap, his voice low and deep: "I asked you a question." Lin Xi wasn't actually hungry, but since it was still broad daylight, she felt a guilty urge to deflect: "I'm hungry." "Alright," Duan Yiheng said, carrying her toward the living room. "If your stomach is rumbling, you'll just have to hold out a little longer." Lin Xi:
"..."