Sweet Gardenia - Chapter 31.1

Ten minutes later, in the car on the way back to the hotel.

Lu Zhi’s phone emitted Li Siyi’s roaring laughter, loud enough to shake the entire underground parking garage.

Fu Yanshang calmly started the engine. “Your friend seems very happy.”

She replied, “Probably not as happy as you.”

“…”

Lu Zhi turned her head to look at him, incredulous. “Are you some kind of pervert, buying three hundred sets?”

He remained detached, his gaze fixed ahead as if he hadn’t been the one placing the order just moments before. “Aren’t these things worn every day?”

“But not like that every day!”

“You told me to buy them.”

Lu Zhi said, “I thought you’d at least have some… conscience.”

He raised an eyebrow. “Conscience?”

“I don’t really have that.”

“…”

With over three hundred sets of lingerie and nightgowns, there was no way they could all fit in the car. After leaving a few in the vehicle, the rest were packed and shipped home.

Lu Zhi reached into the backseat, randomly picked up a bag, and wanted to see what style she had grabbed. But as soon as the sharp corner of the square packaging rested on her leg, she couldn’t help but hiss in pain.

Fu Yanshang asked, “What’s wrong?”

She pressed lightly, trying to sense the source. “I don’t know why… it hurts here a bit.”

The car fell silent for about five seconds.

Fu Yanshang had already figured it out, while she was still trying to recall. “Did I bump into something?”

“No.”

“How can you deny it so quickly?” Lu Zhi turned to him. “Do you know?”

…

“My fault,” he said.

In that instant, it suddenly dawned on her. Her entire face heated up in an oddly rapid way. She regretted saying anything, but… but she’d never heard that it could… cause this.

She had thought it might be a bruise, but no matter how she thought about it, it shouldn’t have been that bad. He had just been moving back and forth… that’s all. Yet now, with the topic brought up, she felt too embarrassed to press further and figure out exactly what was going on.

The car sped along the elevated highway so fast that she thought it might be her imagination… until they arrived at the hotel parking lot, having cut the usual travel time in half.

Lu Zhi changed her shoes and had just settled on the sofa when a figure knelt in front of her.

His expression was serious, not joking around. Lu Zhi instinctively pressed her legs together. “What are you doing?”

“Let me see.”

She tugged her skirt down, even though he hadn’t made any further moves. “It’s fine, it’ll heal on its own in a few days…”

He cupped the back of her knee, his brow furrowing… a rare sight. He knew she found him intimidating even when he was expressionless, so he usually avoided frowning. Now, he sighed. “Don’t fuss, baby. Be good.”

The way he called her “baby” sent shivers down her spine, her mind turning to mush. She had always thought she was the one who made a big deal out of things, crying and whining over a simple fever or cold. But this guy was even more exaggerated. It wasn’t that serious…

She buried her face in a pillow. “I don’t want to. It’s too embarrassing.”

The room fell quiet for a moment. The hem of her skirt was lifted halfway, folded over her knees. He made no other moves, simply holding the back of her knee and lifting it slightly. She could clearly feel his gaze, tangible and layered, settling on her skin.

“It’s a bit red, slightly swollen,” he said. “Anywhere else?”

“I told you, it’s nothing…”

Afraid he might go all out and buy a bunch of medicine again, she quickly said, “I have a first-aid ointment in my bag.  It works for everything. If you really want to apply something, just use that. I use it regularly too.”

She regretted it immediately, because he would absolutely take it seriously.

The soft ointment was squeezed onto his fingertip, and he massaged it in circles around the small patch of redness on her leg. The friction from his fingertip intensified the tingling sensation, and what was even more terrifying was that there were two spots.

Lu Zhi’s neck, pressed against the pillow, resembled a flawless piece of white jade, trembling faintly under the light.

“It tickles,” she said.

He soothed her, “It’ll be over soon.”

“I can apply it myself,” she insisted, determined despite her predicament. “Let me do it.”

“You can’t see it.”

…

She thought back to his words… he had been behind her at the time…

So, the location… was indeed hard for her to see.

When it was finally over, her stiffened leg regained a bit of sensation. She heard him set the ointment down and say, “Let’s see how it is tomorrow. If it doesn’t get better, we’ll go to the hospital.”

Lu Zhi was horrified. “Who goes to the hospital for something like this?!”

“…”

“No need to go?”

Lu Zhi pouted. “No one would make a trip to the hospital for such a trivial matter. Move, I need to take a shower.”

Not showering as soon as they returned to the hotel had been an unwise decision, because after her shower, he applied the ointment again.

That night, for once, he didn’t work and instead lay down first, resting his head on his arm, though he wasn’t asleep.

Lu Zhi pulled the covers halfway up and watched him for a while, then asked skeptically, “What are you doing? You’re not feeling guilty, are you?”

Fu Yanshang turned his head to look at her. “I’ll be gentler next time.”

…

This time was this time.  Why was he already talking about next time?

Lu Zhi didn’t know what to say either and blurted out, “With that kind of mental fortitude, you can’t handle BDSM. This is nothing.”

The long-standing silence was finally broken by her words, and she heard a low chuckle.

“Can you handle it?”

“I can’t either,” she said seriously. “I’d laugh.”

“…”

–

When Fu Yanshang woke up, his arms were wrapped around a warm presence.

She was restless in her sleep; with a turn, she had nestled into his embrace, sleeping soundly and completely unaware. Her face was tilted to the side, stray strands of hair falling against her cheek, her breathing steady.

Within seconds, she shifted even closer, as if dreaming of something. Somewhat surprised, he lifted his hand and let it rest on her waist.

Her oversized sleep shirt, her slender waist… it fit perfectly in his palm. How could she be so thin? He should make sure she ate more.

Lu Zhi woke up about ten minutes later.

An intense tickling sensation at her waist, the hem of her shirt had been lifted, and fingers were mischievously tracing patterns. Her eyes snapped open, and she instinctively shifted forward, only for his hand to wrap fully around her. It took her a few seconds to react before she grabbed his wrist. Before she could say anything, she heard him say with feigned righteousness, “It’s eleven o’clock.”

“It’s eleven o’clock,” she retorted confidently. “Why aren’t you up yet?”

His voice remained unhurried. “It’s my birthday. Can’t I sleep in?”

Her bravado inexplicably faded by a third as she asked, confused, “It’s your birthday today? Why didn’t you say so yesterday?”

“I thought you knew,” he said. “After all, you gave me 300 shopping rights yesterday.”

“…”

“Who gives someone that for their birthday?” She didn’t stop him, trying her best to suppress the fragmented sounds and speak as steadily as possible. “I’ve never seen you sleep in before.”

“Who knows? I never used to.”

After being held tightly against him for a long while, she couldn’t maintain her balance and sank deeper, uncontrollably pressing closer to his lips. He sucked with intensity, if anyone knew the taste of morning pearl milk tea, it would undoubtedly be him.

Lu Zhi lingered in the bathroom for over an hour before finally emerging, having washed her hair as well. Drying her hair, she asked him, “So, what are your plans for today?”

He was in the middle of tying his tie and looked up at her question. “I have a contract to discuss. I usually don’t celebrate my birthday.”

He asked, “Did you want to celebrate?”

She shook her head and turned back toward the bathroom. The aluminum-wrapped hairdryer felt even colder in her hands. “Maybe you’re just naturally not into these things. If you don’t celebrate, why should I? I’ve got things to do today too.”

Of course, he’d only come from Suzhou for business.  What other reason could there be?

She sat down at the desk. The night before, the front desk had delivered a package, merchandise from the collaboration between her game and Fangtang’s dessert event. Each design had at least five samples, sent for her to decide on.

As she bent her head to unwrap the samples, a shadow suddenly fell over her. Fu Yanshang leaned in, pressing against her still-warm cheek. “Are you upset?”

“Not at all,” she said. “Why would I be upset?”

“I didn’t know you wanted to celebrate, so I agreed to discuss a collaboration. If you’re not happy with it, we can cancel.”

Lu Zhi continued unwrapping the plastic seal. “Why would I care so much about your birthday?”

He didn’t say anything more, and she thought the topic was over. But then his voice sounded again… this time, he was on the phone.

He Zhao’s voice came through on the other end. Fu Yanshang said matter-of-factly, “Cancel the meetings for this afternoon and evening.”

Lu Zhi suddenly turned, covering the phone’s receiver, her eyes widening. “Why are you canceling?”

Fu Yanshang pressed her hand back, speaking slowly. “Lu Zhi, even though I’ve never been in a relationship, I can still read the room. There’s no need to pretend you’re happy when you’re not. Why do you think I wouldn’t accommodate you?”

…

His words left her speechless. She remembered Li Siyi once chatting with her, saying that nowadays, no one wants to put in the effort to “plant trees”, they just want to enjoy the shade. If you’re going to date, date someone who’s already been “trained” by an ex, someone who understands indirect remarks, knows to send flowers, and when they make you angry, won’t just say, “Okay, I’m going to sleep, you should rest early too.” They know how to put in the effort to make things right, from night until morning, never letting emotions fester overnight. Teaching someone how to love is just too hard. And then they take everything you taught them and love someone else.

Back then, she never imagined that Fu Yanshang, who, from the moment he was born, had been the center of attention, with everyone catering to his whims, would one day say the words “read the room” to her.

So her frustration eased a little. She said, “It’s not that I absolutely have to celebrate. I just think that on your birthday, you should at least set aside time for a meal with your family, right?”

He was clearly listening seriously and nodded. “You’re right. So the meetings can be canceled.  They’re not that urgent anyway. I’ll arrange for the plane to take them back.”

That made her pause. “Did they fly here specifically for this meeting?”

“Pretty much. He Zhao only asked me about it this morning, and I said it was fine.”

So the meeting was only arranged this morning…

She let out an “oh,” her emotions clearly written on her face, her beautiful brows relaxing once more. “Then don’t stand them up. Otherwise, I’ll look like some kind of homewrecker.”

“Then it’ll be moved to the afternoon. I’ll come back tonight to be with you.” He paused, then corrected himself, “How about you keep me company for my birthday?”

She nodded.

He resolved things so quickly that her emotions didn’t even have time to ferment before being smoothed over.

Lu Zhi glanced sideways and noticed his screen was still lit, still on the call interface, with He Zhao’s contact name clearly displayed in the center.

She exclaimed, “Why didn’t you hang up?”

On the other end, He Zhao was already drenched in sweat, feeling as though his life was hanging by a thread after overhearing so many of his boss’s private matters.

Fu Yanshang lowered his gaze.

It was the first time he had dealt with such a situation, and he inwardly sighed at how he had lost his composure like a reckless young man, so absorbed in the matter that he had even forgotten to end the call.

But…

He asked He Zhao curiously, “Why didn’t you hang up?”

“I-I-I thought I was part of your little game, boss.”

“…”