You Should’ve Said Earlier that you’re Such a Little Flirt! - Chapter 48

Lin Konglu arrived first. The music festival was held in a forest park. Before entering, she noticed numerous stalls lining the sides of the venue, each beautifully decorated. Although it was still morning, a fair number of people were already browsing; the atmosphere was bustling and full of life.

Her gaze swept across the area and was inadvertently drawn to one particular stall.

The booth was adorned in an adorable style, with several pots of vibrant mini flowers placed right at the front. The owner stood to one side, calling out to potential customers. By their feet sat buckets filled with blossoms in full bloom—roses, sunflowers—a dense cluster of passionate colors huddled together.

Lin Konglu’s eyes lingered on them for a moment. The sharp-eyed owner immediately noticed and greeted her warmly: “Do you like flowers? You can pick the stems you want yourself, and we’ll wrap them up for you. There’s even an extra Qixi (Chinese Valentine’s Day) gift today.”

Previously, she had only ever given Xu Qingqiong red roses. Today, there were many other varieties here: pale green, champagne, golden glow… all huddled together in a small bucket.

She leaned in and looked closely, feeling a stir of interest.

Striking while the iron was hot, the owner seemed to read her mind and said with a smile, “It’s Qixi today. These flowers are beautiful and perfect for a partner.”

She reached out and picked a few stems, but then felt it wasn’t enough. She thought this flower looked lovely, and that one was beautiful too—Xu Qingqiong would surely like them.

After picking back and forth, she ended up with a massive bouquet in her arms.

The owner said thoughtfully, “This is quite a lot. It might be inconvenient for you to carry inside. You can leave them here for a while.”

Only then did Lin Konglu notice that most people buying flowers were only getting a few symbolic stems—a small, delicate bouquet just enough for photos.

She was the only one who had picked such a large bunch. Once tied together, it was a massive armful, heavy enough to be difficult to hold.

For a moment, Lin Konglu was caught in a dilemma.

The owner said brightly, “Why don’t you reconsider? Just buying a few would be fine. You don’t necessarily need this many.”

Lin Konglu shook her head. “I’ll take these. I’ll leave them with you for now and come back for them later.”

The owner laughed twice, her eyes landing on the ring on Lin Konglu’s finger. “I hope you and your partner have a wonderful time today. Here is today’s Qixi gift.”

As she spoke, the owner handed her a beautiful crocheted flower. It was small and exquisite, like a delicate little present in her hand.

Lin Konglu smiled and took it. “Thank you.”

Her gaze drifted to the other stalls selling drinks and desserts. One stall already had a long queue, suggesting the taste was likely excellent.

Lin Konglu made a mental note of it, planning to buy something for Xu Qingqiong once she arrived.

She scanned the surroundings. Because it was Qixi, there were many couples attending the music festival together, holding hands intimately with happy smiles on their faces.

Due to her personality, she wasn’t particularly enthusiastic about these kinds of events. In truth, she preferred staying at home with Xu Qingqiong over going out.

But now, perhaps influenced by the atmosphere and the thought of Xu Qingqiong arriving soon—making them just like any other couple—a rare smile appeared on Lin Konglu’s face.

Ever since the night Xu Qingqiong told her “I like you,” everything around her felt surreal.

Sometimes she wondered if it was a dream or just her imagination.

It wasn’t until she woke up every morning and felt Xu Qingqiong’s body heat, the two of them pressed intimately together, that it felt real.

Xu Qingqiong was grumpy in the mornings.

If Lin Konglu reached out to tease her on purpose, Xu Qingqiong would get a little annoyed and bite her. With her eyes still closed and her head buried in the blankets, she would mutter in an accusatory, irritated tone, “What are you doing!?”

On the rare occasions Xu Qingqiong got truly fed up, she would ignore her.

But the moment Lin Konglu softened and leaned in to call her “Sister” in a soft voice…

Xu Qingqiong would pretend to be impatient, turn around to look at her, and grumble softly, “You’re so annoying.” Simultaneously, she would wrap her arms around Lin Konglu’s waist. “You’re just taking advantage of the fact that I like you, aren’t you?”

“Why aren’t you saying anything?” Xu Qingqiong would look at her.

Lin Konglu would nod.

The first time Xu Qingqiong saw her nod, she was surprised. Later, she became accustomed to it, gesturing with her fingers and saying in a doting, indulgent tone: “Fine, fine, I knew it. But I’ll just like you a little bit more.”

Whenever that happened, Lin Konglu’s heart would float back down to a solid place, filled with a warm sense of reality. It felt as if she were being wrapped up and placed somewhere safe and secure.

This feeling grew stronger day by day. She thought that if time could just stop at this very moment, it would be enough.

She used to have a strong sense of detachment from the world. Back then, she didn’t even dare to hope for much; it felt as if Xu Qingqiong liking her just a little bit was enough to settle her soul.

But now she felt that a “little bit” of love wasn’t enough. She wanted Xu Qingqiong to like her a lot—to like only her.

People are always greedy, she thought with a hint of self-mockery.

Pulling herself back to the present, she remembered the singer Xu Qingqiong mentioned that Sister Rui liked. She recorded the performance seriously and sent the video to Sister Rui.

By the time the female singer’s performance ended and she snapped out of it, she realized two hours had passed.

But Xu Qingqiong still hadn’t arrived.

She tentatively sent a message: “Are you finished with work?”

She wasn’t sure if the situation was serious, but Xu Qingqiong hadn’t replied. After waiting a little longer, she tried calling tentatively, but no one picked up.

Listening to the busy tone of the unanswered call, her heart began to race. A sudden, terrible premonition washed over her.

Still, she remembered Xu Qingqiong telling her that she would be back soon and wouldn’t keep her waiting long. She forced herself to calm down and looked at her phone.

Coincidentally, a message from Barfu arrived at that moment: “The tax bureau showed up this morning.”

Recently, SES’s stock price had plummeted. Lin Shuhai could barely protect himself, and now someone had reported him for tax evasion; the tax authorities had already arrived to investigate. Furthermore, many of the projects from SES’s early days had certain issues. While these problems might not have been catastrophic on their own, for the current state of SES, they were the final straw that broke the camel’s back.

There were also significant issues within management. Because Lin Shuhai ruled with an iron fist, other departments had been suppressed. Coupled with several major strategic blunders he had made—which Lin Konglu had cleaned up at the time—the staff had long harbored deep resentment. This internal strife caused various hidden problems to surface; the company was now a tangled mess, with everyone looking out for their own interests.

It could be said that the downfall of SES and Lin Shuhai was inevitable, but Lin Konglu had simply accelerated the process.

Lin Konglu replied: “Mhm.”

Barfu sent a string of ellipses and complained mercilessly: “Your reaction is a bit too calm, don’t you think?”

Lin Konglu lowered her eyes to the phone.

It wasn’t that she didn’t care about SES, but rather that she felt there was no longer a need to pay attention to it. Lin Shuhai already knew she was the one behind it, and she had never intended to hide it. She had essentially reached a complete falling out with him, and she had no interest in following the aftermath.

Her message bar flashed again. Barfu sent another message: “Oh right, one more thing. A former colleague told me this morning that Lin Shuhai…”

Before she could finish reading the message, she suddenly felt a spark of intuition. She looked up, her gaze sweeping across the area until she spotted a familiar figure in the distance.

She immediately put her phone away and walked over quickly. Though her expression remained cool, her voice betrayed a hint of happiness and excitement: “Sister.”

Xu Qingqiong was looking down at her phone, seemingly sending a message to someone.

Hearing her voice, she looked up and gave her a brief, light glance. She hummed a calm acknowledgment and then quickly lowered her eyes again, shifting her gaze back to her phone.

Lin Konglu waited for a moment, then reached out to take her hand.

However, Xu Qingqiong took a small step to the side, inadvertently dodging her touch.

Only then did Lin Konglu see that there was nothing on Xu Qingqiong’s phone screen—she wasn’t chatting with anyone. It seemed she was simply avoiding her eyes, as if she didn’t really want to look at her.

Lin Konglu’s footsteps froze. Her heart sank; her intuition told her that something had happened.

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