The bedroom windows were closed, the air still carrying a hint of the day's lingering heat. But when the words "I'm sorry" appeared on the screen, it seemed to quickly cool the room.

Qi Shi'an's expression and gaze remained unchanged, but he hesitated to look down for a long time.

His work often encountered many unexpected situations, and it was common for routines to be disrupted, so he could calmly face most changes. But this apology email felt a bit hot to handle at the moment. He didn't want to accept it and was also a little worried about the reason.

He always feared that in the next sentence, Shen Duoyi would confess something he didn't want to happen, like resigning or leaking company data.

Still feeling stuffy after the temperature dropped, Qi Shi'an got up to open the window. After opening it, he leaned against the window to catch the breeze. The spring wind that felt gentle on his face could not shake the heavy curtains, but it helped alleviate some of his anxiety.

Picking up his phone again, he lightly touched the screen just as it was about to dim, sliding his fingertips. The following content finally came into view. Qi Shi'an's lips parted and closed again, looking completely speechless.

There's a superstitious saying that being speechless and hesitating to speak match quite well.

Shen Duoyi, who was also catching the breeze and holding his phone, had a look of hesitation. From sending the email until now, he wasn't sure if the other person had seen it, let alone how they felt after reading it.

Actually, the content of that apology email was very simple. Shen Duoyi admitted that he had misunderstood Qi Shi'an. He had originally planned to apologize in person when he saw him at work, but worried he would lose sleep if he held it in, so he sent an email first.

What he didn't expect was that after sending it, he seemed even more likely to lose sleep.

After a weekend, the main entrance and all passages of the Ming'an Building were decorated with new floral arrangements, and nearby cafes also updated their menus. Early morning was again the time for long lines. Most people wore headphones, already in work mode, but the topics of conversation were more or less the same, after all, the office workers along the entire Central Street were in the same industry.

"Sir, your coffee with extra milk."

"Thank you." Shen Duoyi took it and quickly left the increasingly crowded cafe. He had left home very early today, so he bought breakfast before the queue formed. Only security guards were patrolling inside the Ming'an Building, and the elevators were empty, indicating most colleagues had not arrived yet. As he approached, he noticed one of them slowly closing its doors.

Shen Duoyi subconsciously called out, "Wait!"

Fortunately, when he quickly walked to the door, the elevator opened again. However, Shen Duoyi's next step paused when he saw Qi Shi'an inside. Qi Shi'an was also holding a cup of coffee, and today his suit jacket was adorned with an anchor-shaped decorative clip.

The two of them had been left in an awkward position by that email, so they arrived at the company very early.

"Come in," Qi Shi'an spoke first.

Shen Duoyi entered the elevator. As the doors slowly closed, their reflections on the doors became increasingly clear. The numbers kept jumping, and Shen Duoyi forgot to press the floor for the consulting department. He turned his head to look at the other person and said without any cover, "I'm sorry."

Qi Shi'an maintained his forward-facing state and played dumb, "Why are you apologizing?"

"Because..." Shen Duoyi guessed he hadn't read the email. He turned slightly and said to Qi Shi'an solemnly, "I previously said you had a reputation outside, but it was a misunderstanding. I apologize to you."

"Is that so." Qi Shi'an still didn't look at him and continued playing dumb. "I was puzzled for a long time. It turns out the one with the reputation wasn't me after all."

In the time it took to say a few sentences, they had reached the thirtieth floor. The moment the elevator doors opened, Qi Shi'an stepped out. Shen Duoyi stood in the center of the elevator and pressed the floor for the consulting department.

As if they had swapped positions from when they were on the first floor, Qi Shi'an turned around at the door and met Shen Duoyi's eyes.

The doors slowly closed but were stopped at the last moment by two arms extending out, one on each side.

Qi Shi'an said, "In the future, you don't need to apologize to me for such small matters." He finished speaking but still looked at the other person. He wasn't sure what kind of look was in his own eyes or what emotions he was revealing.

Shen Duoyi pressed hard on the right side of the door and asked, "Do you have something else you want to say?"

But Qi Shi'an suddenly let go. "Don't make any mistakes when signing the contract with Mr. Xu today."

"...Okay." Shen Duoyi also let go. At that moment, he felt a bit anxious because Qi Shi'an's eyes were already deep and still like water, but what he said was irrelevant.

As the elevator kept moving, he took a few deep breaths. By the time he stepped into the consulting department, he had completely returned to his usual demeanor.

Shengzhao's two orders were the highest value transactions since the beginning of spring, and the department's quarterly bonus suddenly became much thicker. Whether it was praise from his superiors or congratulations and jokes from his colleagues, Shen Duoyi responded to all of them with a smile and didn't actively discuss it. Except for going to the restroom and the pantry, he rarely left his office.

Clients always pushed the limits of their capriciousness. The agreed-upon signing time was repeatedly delayed. Zhang Yiming waited in the conference room for more than ten minutes and drank two cups of tea before saying, "Forget it, he wants to push it to noon so I can treat him to lunch."

The supervisor added, "Mr. Xu said he swims with you at a clubhouse."

"Yes, we sometimes run into each other." Zhang Yiming glanced at his watch. "Team Leader Shen, check again if all the contracts are ready."

Shen Duoyi took another look and replied, "They're ready. The colleagues from the legal department have checked them several times, and Mr. Xu's lawyer will check again later. There's no problem."

The counterparty arrived just as they finished speaking, and Qi Shi'an came along with them. Mr. Xu shook hands with Zhang Yiming, who had stood up, and explained, "I called your CEO Qi first and asked if he could have lunch with us. Don't blame me for being late. He really took his time and wouldn't give me a definite answer for a long time."

Qi Shi'an smiled and retorted, "I was in the trading room the whole time and didn't even look at my phone."

During the signing process, Mr. Xu raised some questions, and Shen Duoyi answered them one by one. After all contract-related matters were settled, the bosses shook hands again. Mr. Xu said, "Do I count as a high-end client?"

Shen Duoyi replied, "Based on the transaction amount, you definitely do."

"Then it's easy." Mr. Xu had his assistant book a table. "Let's have a meal together. I'll consult CEO Qi on investment issues and Team Leader Shen on insurance issues. That way, I won't have to pay you a consultation fee."

Zhang Yiming said unhappily, "It has nothing to do with me?"

Mr. Xu lowered his voice, "President Zhang, I'll have to consult you on matters of romance, don't hide anything from me."

Everyone walked and talked. Shen Duoyi returned to the office to make a backup of the contract, then filed it in the archives room. When he finished and looked up, he saw Qi Shi'an standing at the door playing with his phone. He pushed the door open and realized it was already lunchtime, so he said, "Mr. Qi, let's go."

Since they would inevitably be drinking at lunch, Qi Shi'an didn't drive. When he got into Shen Duoyi's black Volkswagen, it felt like time was flowing backwards.

Shen Duoyi had already started the car and reminded him, "You haven't fastened your seatbelt."

Qi Shi'an buckled his seatbelt, rested an elbow on the window, then ran his fingers back and forth along his eyebrows, pinching the center of his brows after a few strokes, looking like he was frowning. Shen Duoyi glanced at him quickly and asked, "Is this car too small and cramped for you? Should we adjust the seat?"

Qi Shi'an didn't move and said heavily, "This car is missing something."

Shen Duoyi followed the car in front, perhaps too focused to figure out the answer, and asked in confusion, "What's missing?"

Qi Shi'an glanced up, "It's missing a 'safe travels' pendant."

He was always like this, when he got lost in his memories, he had to drag the other person down with him. Seeing Shen Duoyi's somewhat dazed expression, he was especially satisfied. Shen Duoyi came back to his senses at the sound of a horn and said with a smile, "Then I'll go to the dollar store and buy one another day."

"Dollar store?" Qi Shi'an was a bit speechless. "You're already making a million a year, at least buy a piece of agate."

The restaurant was just ahead, they had already entered the parking lot. Shen Duoyi turned slightly and backed the car into an empty space, saying reluctantly, "I still have a mortgage to pay off, it would be great if I could get a raise at the end of the year."

Qi Shi'an lowered his head to unbuckle his seatbelt, pretending not to hear, especially annoying.

The entire meal revolved around finance. Mr. Xu's relatively uninformed views and even misunderstandings were like the emperor's new clothes. Everyone present saw through them but didn't point them out, trying their best to maintain a pleasant dining atmosphere.

By the end of the meal, the conversation had taken many twists and turns. Zhang Yiming kept drinking and talking about relationships, listing his dating history and strictly categorizing his past partners.

"Actually, dating is like investing. Take the stock I'm trading recently, I understand its advantages through its data, then I choose it. Dating is the same, the other person's looks, figure, education, personality, etc. are all data. So I like bright eyes and white teeth, but if you're well-educated, it's still useless. So liking someone is purely based on whether their data can meet your requirements."

Qi Shi'an finished the wine in his glass, trying to refute Zhang Yiming's point in his mind.

Zhang Yiming took the opportunity to continue, "Actually, liking is a very broad term, it can be further divided into admiration, interest, infatuation, with varying degrees. But pay attention to one thing, there is no love. Love is something on a higher level. Many people are attracted by the other person's data, which leads to interest and evolves into an infatuation-like liking, but in the end, the passion fades and they still have to break up."

Mr. Xu asked, "Why does it fade, can't it evolve into love?"

"You're really out of touch." Zhang Yiming said, "No matter how good the other person's data is, after a long time, there's no excitement to speak of, then the bad data gets magnified and becomes intolerable, so you have to break up. If you can tolerate it without resentment, that's love, otherwise why do they say love is great."

Shen Duoyi remembered that Zhang Yiming was pursuing Meng Lan, so he asked, "Mr. Zhang, have you never met someone you wanted to tolerate?"

Zhang Yiming replied, "I'm an exception. When I see data that attracts me, I go after it. Before I discover the bad data, I've already moved on to the next one."

Shen Duoyi and Qi Shi'an both tightened their grip on their glasses and almost glanced at each other again.

On the way back to Ming'an, both of them were silent. Qi Shi'an was still in that posture, as if he had more troubles. Shen Duoyi drove without looking away, not knowing what he was thinking about.

There seemed to be a traffic accident ahead, with police cars and ambulances blocking the way, and many people gathered around. Shen Duoyi turned the steering wheel and turned onto the road beside him, planning to take a different route back to the company.

Five minutes later, they saw a sign at the street corner that read "Qiuye Street".

"Pull over." Qi Shi'an unbuckled his seatbelt before the car had fully stopped, then rolled down the window and coughed. He fumbled around and finally opened the door in frustration. Shen Duoyi stared at the sign in a daze, quietly holding the steering wheel without making a sound.

When Qi Shi'an came back, he had a cigarette between his lips. He leaned against the car door, savoring the taste of long-lost nicotine, soothing the anxiety tangled in his nerves. He opened the door and got back in the car, playing with the cigarette pack in his hand, his eyes also fixed on it. He said, "Let's talk."

Shen Duoyi nodded, "Okay, what should we talk about?"

Because they had buried their misconceptions about each other for too long, misunderstandings were so easily formed. Now that the misunderstandings were cleared up, were they going to talk about their new understanding of each other?

They had formed fixed impressions of each other many years ago. Shen Duoyi thought Qi Shi'an was a playboy from a wealthy family, while Qi Shi'an thought Shen Duoyi was a poor worker who could be bought with money. Even though there was a bit of attraction between them as young people, it still didn't change their views.

Meeting again, the prejudices were reborn until they were dispelled. How should they view each other now?

Qi Shi'an asked, "Do you understand me?"

Shen Duoyi shook his head. He didn't understand, and he knew Qi Shi'an didn't understand him either.

They didn't understand each other. Except for knowing each other's coffee preferences, they knew nothing about their hobbies, birthdays, allergies, friend circles, etc., as if they were strangers who had only met in passing.

At that time, they were attracted by data that met their requirements, which led to curiosity and interest, but they knew nothing about other data, not knowing whether they would dislike or tolerate it.

If love at first sight is just data-based attraction, will spending time together lead to love over time?

Qi Shi'an didn't know and wasn't sure, but he wanted to take the first step.

He said through gritted teeth, "But your data is very attractive to me, both in the past and now."

Shen Duoyi was a little embarrassed, "Because you haven't discovered the bad data."

"Then give me a chance to discover it." Qi Shi'an turned his face and calmly looked at Shen Duoyi, "You were young back then, and your life wasn't good, so it was normal to reject me. Now that there are no misunderstandings, let's interact normally and understand each other. I'll take a fresh look at you, and you take a look at me too, okay?"

Still by the side of Qiuye Street, still in the black Volkswagen car, if it started again from here, will the path taken be different?

With a burning gaze, Shen Duoyi's face turned red. He turned his head to look at Qi Shi'an, tightly hugging the steering wheel in front of him, a display of panic and lack of security.

But he earnestly nodded, "Okay."

Qi Shi'an lowered his head and chuckled lightly, the pride and joy of success condensed in the upturned corners of his mouth. He pulled out a pendant from his pocket and tied it to the rearview mirror.

He had bought it on a whim when buying cigarettes, but unfortunately there was no writing on it. Shen Duoyi looked up at the swaying tassel, his thoughts also swaying far away. He took the initiative to ask, "Mr. Qi, why is there no blessing on it?"

Qi Shi'an said, "Then I'll bless you with peace in all seasons."