Honey, Open The Door. I Want To Give You The Room Key - Chapter 42

“How about I go to the Taoist temple again and beg the Taoist priest?” Bai Wan pondered, stroking her chin.

“Don’t go bothering the priest. Her physical condition is very poor and she needs help. We’ll wait until she’s cured before looking for him,” Lou Qingshuang explained with a squinted smile, her eyes reflecting the relaxed light of chatting with Bai Wan.

“Then how about we just outlive her? Don’t be too dedicated when you’re treating her,” Bai Wan thought the more she considered this idea, the more correct it felt.

Lou Qingshuang was helpless. She was there to repay a debt of gratitude; how could she let her benefactor die?

“She saved my mother twice. In terms of both emotion and logic, I must save her. Don’t worry about those things anymore; at most, it’s just a monthly temporary marking,” Lou Qingshuang said with a relaxed expression.

Watching her best friend’s relaxed face, which was clearly full of forced smiles, Bai Wan said worriedly, “What a mess this all is.”

“Has your old man been forcing you into an arranged marriage lately?” Lou Qingshuang asked, changing the subject.

“Not lately. I don’t know what’s going on, but things seem to have quieted down,” Bai Wan was also puzzled, but she remained wary of her father.

“Then you should pay more attention. What if he tricks you into going home to get married?” Lou Qingshuang joked with a smile.

Bai Wan, however, took the possibility seriously. Frowning, she said, “It’s not impossible.”

“Before, the old man lied and said he was sick, insisting I go home to see him. The moment I walked through the door, it was a blind date,” Bai Wan said with disgust.

“Well, the next time you get tricked into going back, you must tell me so I can come and rescue you at any time,” Lou Qingshuang clicked her tongue, not expecting there to be parents like that.

“Shuangshuang, my purity depends on you,” Bai Wan said, holding Lou Qingshuang’s hand tightly with a look of deep affection.

“Don’t worry, I will definitely save you. Didn’t we start this company back then just for your personal freedom?” Lou Qingshuang patted Bai Wan’s hand in reassurance.

Now their company was doing better and better; it was more than enough to ensure they lived without worries about food or clothing. Bai Wan’s family could no longer control her, so the only move they had left was deception.

In the afternoon, when it was time to get off work, Lou Qingshuang walked out of the company gates and saw Liu Yu’s car parked by a parking space.

Liu Yu saw her and quietly rolled down the car window to look at Lou Qingshuang.

Seeing Liu Yu with the window only halfway down, revealing only half of her face, Lou Qingshuang inexplicably felt that she looked very “sneaky.”

Lou Qingshuang walked over, stood by the car window, and asked, “Is something the matter?”

Liu Yu looked around to make sure no one was watching, a smile appearing on her face. “I’ll give you a ride home.”

Lou Qingshuang looked at Liu Yu quietly and refused: “No need, I have a car.”

“Then I also wanted to give you some flowers.” Liu Yu opened the car window and took out nine beautiful roses.

The nine roses were in full bloom, with a hint of black at the edges of the petals—they were very beautiful. Liu Yu didn’t dare get out of the car, fearing she would cause trouble for Lou Qingshuang, so she could only hand them through the window.

Lou Qingshuang looked down at the flowers Liu Yu was offering. The fragrance of the roses was very special, but she did not take them.

Lou Qingshuang refused the bouquet as well. “It’s fine, I’m leaving now.” She turned around and walked away in her high heels.

Liu Yu sat in the car holding the roses, watching Lou Qingshuang’s retreating figure. Her fluffy, layered long hair seemed to deflate at that moment, looking listless.

It wasn’t until Lou Qingshuang’s car left the parking space that Liu Yu let the driver start the engine.

She didn’t have the driver follow Lou Qingshuang. Instead, she chose to return to the house opposite Lou Qingshuang’s and sat in the spot where Lou Qingshuang had once lain.

Sitting in the place where Lou Qingshuang had been, Liu Yu set down the bouquet of roses.

In a few days, it would be Lou Qingshuang’s birthday. She certainly wouldn’t be invited.

In that case, she would gift Lou Qingshuang a moment of joy.

“On the opposite side of Xixi Bridge, arrange a grand drone fireworks display. Set it for the night after next, after seven o’clock,” Liu Yu said to Zhu Yan, her eyes downcast.

“What reason should we use?” Zhu Yan asked.

“Let’s call it a grand fireworks show for all the citizens of the city,” Liu Yu said, her fingers brushing the roses as the sunset faded outside the window.

“Understood,” Zhu Yan replied.

The day after next, as soon as Lou Qingshuang arrived at the company, she received many well-wishes. “Happy birthday, President Lou.”

“Thank you,” Lou Qingshuang smiled radiantly, happily accepting the greetings.

“Shuangshuang, happy birthday! I’ve already booked the restaurant for tonight—we’re going to the Starlight Restaurant to watch the fireworks show,” Bai Wan walked up to Lou Qingshuang excitedly.

“Fireworks show?” Lou Qingshuang was puzzled. “Is there some kind of celebration recently?”

“I heard it’s a city-wide fireworks show led by the relevant departments to celebrate our city becoming a tourist destination. There’s also a drone light show. The teams coming are top-tier,” Bai Wan was quite interested in such a large-scale fireworks display; such events were rare, and it would be performed over the river.

“That sounds fine,” Lou Qingshuang looked at the introduction for the fireworks show and felt a bit curious herself. After seeing the preview, it was indeed stunning.

“Then it’s a plan for tonight,” Bai Wan said and left. She still had to go argue with a certain Alpha who was like glue and couldn’t be shaken off.

That clingy Alpha also wanted to watch the fireworks and even wanted to kiss and take photos during the show!

Bah, shameless.

Lou Qingshuang walked all the way to the lab. Today, she had to test product samples randomly taken from the factory to determine if the batch was up to standard.

“Happy birthday, President Lou,” the five lab technicians said in unison.

“Thank you,” Lou Qingshuang replied with a smile, thanking everyone.

“President Lou, all the samples for today have been tested. Take a look; you can take a little break today,” Lou Qingshuang’s lab assistant, Xiao He, stepped forward to say.

Over the past few months, Lou Qingshuang had been working overtime like crazy. Except for when she was ill, she almost never rested. The only reason she ever left work on time was because she was feeling unwell. Everyone in the lab was afraid she would collapse there.

Thinking it was her birthday, they tentatively suggested she take a break.

Lou Qingshuang looked at her five employees—Betas, Alphas, and Omegas. All five were people of few words who worked diligently. They were obedient and serious, making them easy to work with.

“Then I’ll get off work on time tonight and go out for a good meal. You all can leave early too,” Lou Qingshuang agreed to their request.

“Yay!” The five of them high-fived and cheered together.

After disinfecting, Lou Qingshuang changed into her white coat, put on her non-prescription glasses, and donned white nitrile gloves. Once everything was ready, she entered the lab to begin her work for the day.

The products for this quarter were already out; they needed to prepare the small products for the next quarter.

This time, the perfume they were giving away to customers would only be officially launched as a mature woody fragrance after the customer feedback was positive.

The inspiration for that fragrance actually came from Liu Yu—the scent of snow over burning wood, with a faint hint of roses. This created a layered complexity.

It was a charming fragrance. Originally, she had wanted to give it to Liu Yu so that she wouldn’t spray the rose scent on herself. She had originally used agarwood, but for some reason, she had ghosted and changed it to rose.

But who would have thought that Liu Yu’s pheromone was actually the scent of roses?

Lou Qingshuang picked up the perfume that was nearly finished and held it under her nose, gently wafting the scent. In that instant, she seemed to hear the sound of burning wood—wood burning after a snowfall, making a crackling sound. The middle notes carried the scent of heat and ice, while the base note was the scent of a rose in the snow, cold and rational.

Lou Qingshuang was dazed by the smell; it was as if Liu Yu were standing right next to her.

“It seems like a success,” Xiao He said, looking shocked by the scent.

“President Lou, this scent could totally be launched as a new product. It smells amazing!” Xiao He took a deep, intoxicated breath.

Subconsciously, Lou Qingshuang immediately grabbed the cap and closed it, preventing Xiao He from smelling it so intensely.

Xiao He blinked piteously at Lou Qingshuang. “President Lou, I’ll pay more attention to experimental protocols next time.”

Lou Qingshuang’s hand stiffened for a moment before she gave a neutral “mm” and set the experimental perfume aside.

She turned to attend to other matters. Her eyelashes flickered like raven feathers. She didn’t know if she should release that perfume which was mixed with Liu Yu’s scent. It was originally intended as a gift, but the base note had changed.

Until it was time to leave, Lou Qingshuang’s gaze would occasionally fall on the finished perfume.

Bai Wan watched the lab technicians leave one by one. She stood at the door waiting for Lou Qingshuang to change her clothes.

“Let’s go, Shuangshuang! It’s going to be super crowded today. We’ll go to the restaurant to eat first and wait for the fireworks to start,” Bai Wan jingled her car keys, looking very excited.

“Okay,” Lou Qingshuang followed her out.

When they arrived at the Starlight Restaurant, many people had already arrived. The restaurant was on the 50th floor, providing the perfect vantage point, so many people had made reservations.

Lou Qingshuang and Bai Wan happened to be sitting at a window seat, allowing them to eat while enjoying the show. Lou Qingshuang wore a white dress while Bai Wan wore a pale yellow one. The two of them sat at the small window table, sipping their drinks elegantly.

“Shuangshuang, happy birthday.”

“Thank you.”

The two clinked glasses and drank the celebratory wine.

As the sky began to darken, the drone team below was already preparing. When eight o’clock struck and the sky was completely black, the drone fireworks show began.

Twenty-seven thousand drones rose into the air simultaneously. They were like blue stars rising from the ground, lighting up all at once in various shades until the sky seemed to turn into a silver-blue river.

It was beautiful and romantic.

The blue river began to pour out red fireworks. In that instant, everyone was stunned. It was a giant rose that gradually dispersed into individual roses, blooming into a rose garden in the sky.

The romantic red filled the space between heaven and earth. Everyone was captivated by the sight.

The lights continued to change and combine. More and more roses bloomed until they covered the entire starry sky.

Looking at the roses formed by the drones, Lou Qingshuang instinctively thought of Liu Yu. Could she have done this?

When the drones changed again, this time two “birds of paradise” (Biyinia) flew through the starry sky. Beneath the blue celestial river, a large bird circled and danced around a slightly smaller one.

“Is someone confessing their love?” Bai Wan watched in awe as the birds, trailing long flame-colored tails, soared into the sky.

The lights followed their flight, eventually transforming into a massive blue tree standing in the void. The two birds, with their trailing tails, landed on the tree and gazed at each other.

At the end of the show, the sky full of red roses stunned the world once again.

Lou Qingshuang’s initial shock transitioned into a sense of calm.

“Look, the mobile announcement says the theme this time is ‘Sincere Love,’ dedicated to every friend in hopes that they, like the birds in the sky, can find the greatest love of their life,” Bai Wan read out the text.

Lou Qingshuang’s gaze, however, remained fixed on the roses still lingering in the sky.

“In order to boost the marriage rate, are they really being this romantic now?” Bai Wan complained.

Lou Qingshuang thought silently to herself: This must be Liu Yu’s doing.