Shen Duoyi's whole body tingled, and he couldn't even be bothered to talk back. Having little experience in romance, he wondered if everyone became this shameless when in love.

By then, the cool air accumulated from the air conditioning had completely dissipated, and the temperature in the car rose again. Being held tightly by Qi Shi'an, he felt he was about to break into a light sweat.

Qi Shi'an was ultimately a gentleman; after having his fun teasing, he stopped in time. He ruffled Shen Duoyi's hair and said, "After dropping you off, I'm heading back to the military retirement house. Someone gave my grandfather two boxes of ginseng. I'll bring you one when we're back at work."

Shen Duoyi thanked him: "No need, let your grandfather have it to boost his health."

"It's not for you anyway, I'm using you to show filial piety to your grandfather," Qi Shi'an suddenly turned on the car light to check the time. Shen Duoyi, startled, quickly moved from his lap back to the passenger seat.

"It's almost eleven. You've been on a plane for so long, get some rest," Qi Shi'an checked his watch and then looked at Shen Duoyi's face, finally able to see his appearance clearly tonight in the dim light. "Tomorrow's the weekend, you can sleep in."

Shen Duoyi complained: "Thanks to you, I only managed to complete the outline of my work report."

After saying this, he got out of the car and walked around to the other side, planning to say goodbye through the car window. As the window lowered, he mischievously leaned on the windowsill and deliberately asked, "What did you call me that day behind the reef?"

Qi Shi'an answered: "Sweetheart."

Shen Duoyi responded: "Then... sweetheart, drive carefully and sleep well."

The traffic had thinned out. After speaking, Shen Duoyi turned and ran toward the road. He didn't look back or slow down, running all the way until he reached the apartment entrance before stopping.

Moments later, he could faintly hear the SUV starting up, along with the sound of Qi Shi'an's heart pounding like a deer.

Shen Duoyi patted his forehead, feeling that he too had become shameless.

Although the work report wasn't completed according to plan, at least the outline was done. Shen Duoyi was too lazy to tidy up when he got home and went straight to the bathroom to wash off his light sweat. The air-conditioned room was still a bit cool; he shivered as he came out of the shower with a towel on his head, wiping while remembering how Qi Shi'an had said during the business trip that it felt more comfortable when someone else did the wiping.

It seemed to be true.

Heading east, the SUV made its final trip to his apartment. Qi Shi'an's heart was racing with nowhere to release his emotions; if it weren't for the low fuel, he would definitely have taken a drive around the elevated highway.

The house was still quiet and empty, but even ruins couldn't dampen his good mood right now.

He went straight to the dining room, and couldn't help smiling as soon as he reached the doorway. That hydrangea that had been giving him attitude every day was now standing spiritedly in the vase, its stem full and petals fresh, with perfect gradients of light and dark blue.

Qi Shi'an took out the square small vase he bought in Sydney to replace the current one, then took a bottle of water from the refrigerator and sat by the round table. When only two sips remained, he poured the water into his palm and sprinkled it on the flowers. He suddenly had a childish idea and even more childishly took a photo with his phone.

The cream-white table, the caviar-textured square small vase, and the vibrant blue hydrangea. Qi Shi'an saved the photo to an existing album and captioned it: "Rare to see Duoduo not giving attitude."

The entire weekend was dedicated to the work report, and with the hot weather making it unsuitable to go out, Shen Duoyi and Grandpa Shen stayed home like hermits. Grandpa Shen talked about his recent interesting chess matches with Old Hu from the hutong, while Shen Duoyi listened while cleaning the room.

"Duoyi, I keep hearing your phone going off, is someone looking for you?"

"It's nothing, just group messages," Shen Duoyi sat by the tea table organizing miscellaneous magazines. "Department group, company group, team leader group, they chat all day without any real business but talk a lot."

Grandpa Shen said: "You need to engage in your colleagues' conversations, otherwise they'll think you're putting on airs."

Shen Duoyi laughed: "I'm not even a supervisor, what airs could I put on? You haven't seen our boss, he carries himself with such presence everywhere he goes, and it's the iron-welded kind."

"Of course it's different for the boss." Grandpa Shen asked with concern, "How's your relationship with your boss? You're not very outgoing and don't like to talk much, don't offend people without even knowing it."

Shen Duoyi was quite smug: "No worries, my performance is good."

It wasn't until he checked his emails at night that he remembered to look at his messages. It was from his former colleagues' group at the insurance company, all actuaries. Shen Duoyi scrolled up the screen and learned that everyone was making a fuss about Meng Liang's promotion.

Seeing it wasn't too late, he called him directly.

The call connected after a few rings, and Meng Liang greeted him: "Senior, what's up so late?"

"Were you sleeping? I thought it wasn't late, so I called," Shen Duoyi couldn't hear any joy about the promotion. "I saw in the group chat that colleagues were saying your product design had good feedback and you got promoted a level, congratulations."

"Thanks, senior." Meng Liang cheered up a bit and opened up about his troubles, "I was planning to invite you out to celebrate, but I've been heartbroken these past couple of days, not in the mood."

Shen Duoyi immediately asked: "You were in a relationship? How did you break up?"

Grandpa Shen, passing by the door to use the bathroom, poked his head in: "Who? Who got married?"

"Grandpa, go to your bathroom, stop being nosy," Shen Duoyi covered the phone. "This is how rumors start with people like you, turning dating into marriage, next thing you know there'll be kids."

Meng Liang heard some of the commotion and laughed: "Did I disturb grandpa's rest? Anyway, it's too much to explain in just a few words, are you free after work tomorrow? Let's go out for dinner."

After they made plans, they hung up. Shen Duoyi sent his work report to Qi Shi'an's email, then poured another cup of water for Grandpa Shen before going to bed.

Including the business trip days, Qi Shi'an hadn't been to the office for nearly ten days. Monday morning, he arrived early on the thirtieth floor carrying the ginseng, and after finishing his coffee, immediately started dealing with the accumulated work.

Fifteen minutes later, Annie came in to deliver breakfast and report some matters. Qi Shi'an kept his head down looking at documents, occasionally glancing up at the computer screen, and instructed: "Put out an announcement about this signed cooperation, post it on the system at ten o'clock."

Annie said: "I understand. Do you want to have a meeting with Mr. Zhang?"

Qi Shi'an stared at the U.S. dollar index: "No need, just chat briefly when there's time."

The entire office was so quiet that only the sound of turning pages remained. It felt like every particle of air was tense. Qi Shi'an reviewed, thought about, corrected, and made follow-up adjustments among various documents, while constantly watching various indices and real-time changes in major global trading markets, then creating several analysis charts.

The summer sunlight was truly inconsiderate, never knowing when to stop. Half the office gradually became illuminated, and while Qi Shi'an couldn't physically feel the heat, visually it felt very hot. He took off his suit jacket and rolled up his shirt sleeves, finally feeling somewhat refreshed.

Just as he was about to press the intercom to call Zhang Yiming over, his phone rang first. He answered and politely asked: "Mr. Chen, how are you? Busy lately?"

"Very busy, watching the stock market every day."

"The stock market's doing quite well lately." Nothing happens without a reason - Qi Shi'an pulled out the first document he looked at this morning and smiled, "You're busy with going public, have you set a date?"

Mr. Chen was sitting in the consulting department's conference room at the time: "Just signed the contract, we'll have a meeting at the company about the specific date. I've been inviting your consulting department colleagues to visit our Yamenting experience store, but they keep refusing, so let me invite you and Director Zhang instead."

Qi Shi'an looked at the signature again, only then noticing the person in charge was Shen Duoyi. He agreed: "I live at Yamenting, give me a card, I'll go every day after work."

After hanging up, he didn't bother finding Zhang Yiming anymore. Qi Shi'an waited a while, estimating that Mr. Chen had finished his pleasantries and left, before pressing the intercom.

As soon as the other end picked up, he said: "It's me, finished with the contract?"

"Yes, Mr. Chen just left." Shen Duoyi put a pile of documents on the desk, "Do you want to look at them now? I'll send them to you after I back up and archive the files."

Qi Shi'an didn't even think: "Don't look at them, come up here, I want to see you."

Shen Duoyi reflexively glanced outside, inevitably feeling guilty, his voice getting smaller: "I'll come up after I archive the files."

Ten minutes later, Shen Duoyi arrived on the thirtieth floor, feeling somewhat uncomfortable even while greeting Annie. Since childhood, he never dared to talk or get distracted in class, and was even more careful not to cause trouble outside. Now he had a premonition that being with Qi Shi'an would lead him to do many things that were out of character for him.

After knocking and entering, the light-blocking curtains were drawn, and Qi Shi'an was leaning back in his chair reading documents. Seeing him come in, he looked up and said: "Signing contracts first thing at work, have you even had time to drink water?"

Shen Duoyi sat down across the desk: "I've been smiling all morning, actually I just want to sulk in the office now."

Qi Shi'an thought of that hydrangea: "Go ahead and sulk, don't mind me."

"But I can't sulk when I see you." Shen Duoyi smiled and stacked the two piles of documents on the edge of the desk. Qi Shi'an smiled too and lifted a large bag onto the desk, saying: "This is the ginseng for grandpa. I'll ask Auntie Li about how to prepare it later and let you know."

"Thank your grandfather for me." Shen Duoyi accepted it, "Probably can make soup with it, I'll bring you a pot when it's done."

After chatting about some trivial matters, it was almost noon, and Shen Duoyi stood up to return, reminding him before leaving: "With so much accumulated work, you definitely can't finish it in one day, remember to rest."

Qi Shi'an took the opportunity to say: "Then let's have dinner together at Yamenting after work, and relax at Mr. Chen's company's store while we're at it."

Shen Duoyi immediately refused: "Not today, I have plans with Meng Liang tonight, celebrating his promotion."

"Alright then, don't drink and drive." Qi Shi'an spoke generously but looked disappointed and neglected. Shen Duoyi turned and left immediately, guessing that if he looked at him for two more seconds, he would soften and fall for the trick.

In the evening after work, he went straight to the restaurant where he had arranged to meet Meng Liang. They weren't too particular and got along well, so every time they ate together was especially pleasant.

Meng Liang ordered two bottles of cold draft beer, saying: "It's a celebration, we should at least have a drink."

Shen Duoyi was genuinely happy for him, completely forgetting Qi Shi'an's warning, and raised his glass saying: "Come, first let's celebrate your promotion, then your love life."

Meng Liang's face wrinkled: "We broke up!"

"Break up and date again, just improve what wasn't good enough, don't be dejected." Shen Duoyi gave advice while secretly sharing his experience, "You must find someone compatible, at least someone you can talk to, if they're stingy, you be more generous."

Meng Liang asked: "What counts as generous?"

Shen Duoyi thought for a moment, slightly distorting the truth: "I have a friend who lost over a hundred thousand because of their partner, but their relationship is still good, that's being generous."

"My goodness, your friend is quite bold?" Meng Liang exclaimed.

After they finished eating and left the restaurant, Meng Liang's designated driver arrived first, so he left first. Shen Duoyi sat in the car; he had only drunk a light draft beer and wasn't drunk at all. While looking for the designated driver's contact information, he happened to see Qi Shi'an's number, still saved as "Mr. Qi" from back then.

He changed "Mr. Qi" to "Qi Shi'an," and after changing it, accidentally dialed it.

Qi Shi'an was at home discussing new contract matters with Zhang Yiming when he heard the phone and immediately answered. Shen Duoyi sat in the passenger seat pretending to be drunk, slurring his words as he asked: "Is this the designated driver? Come... come pick me up."

Qi Shi'an frowned and immediately asked: "Where are you?"

"Red Dress Restaurant, no, Green Dress Restaurant, what color dress was it anyway..." Shen Duoyi was playing a prank in the car, trying hard to suppress his laughter, "I won't say anymore, I feel like throwing up!"

Qi Shi'an shot up: "I'll be there in ten minutes, drink some water first, recline the seat and lie down in the car for a while."

As he spoke, he went to get his car keys and wallet. Zhang Yiming, suddenly left hanging, started asking questions, and he waved his hand, casually answering: "An important client who's going to be the death of me, I need to go out now, let's talk at the office tomorrow."

Shen Duoyi heard everything clearly on the other end of the phone, his smile fading to leave only fullness of tenderness. Worried that Qi Shi'an might drive too fast and be unsafe, he honestly confessed: "I was just teasing you earlier, I'm not drunk."

Qi Shi'an sighed in relief: "That's good, you really scared me."

"But I did drink." Shen Duoyi remembered Qi Shi'an's pretend disappointed and neglected look in the office, checked the time and asked, "It's not too late now, do you still want to go play at Yamenting?"

Qi Shi'an took a taxi there, and only after meeting did he scold him. Shen Duoyi knew he was in the wrong and didn't talk back while drinking water. At Yamenting, they chose the least energetic option among the numerous entertainment and leisure choices, then opened two lockers to change clothes, preparing to get massages to relax their bodies after a day of work.

They showered before the massage. Shen Duoyi's hair was half-wet, still dripping when he lay on the bed, his Japanese-style bathrobe pulled down to his waist. He asked: "Will it hurt?"

Qi Shi'an lay on the bed next to him, his gaze fixed on that bare back, and answered: "If your cervical spine isn't good, it will hurt, but bear with it and let the master correct it."

The essential oil was warmed in the palms before being evenly applied to his shoulders and back. This was Shen Duoyi's first experience, and he was still somewhat uncomfortable. Qi Shi'an turned his head, his gaze sharp as knives, staring directly at the massage therapist's hands.

Two hands curled into fists, knuckles down, sliding from the nape of the neck to the tailbone, with full force and no mercy. A vivid red mark immediately appeared on the pale, smooth skin of the shoulders and back.

Shen Duoyi gripped the soft pillow and cried out: "Ah... ah!"

His bones were crackling, and he turned his face to look at Qi Shi'an, saying weakly: "My accident insurance might need to be used tonight... doesn't it hurt for you?"

Qi Shi'an hadn't placed even a fraction of attention on himself, how would he know if it hurt or not? He watched Shen Duoyi's back crisscrossed with red marks, staring at the glistening skin, and said through gritted teeth to the massage therapist: "Take a break, he can't take it anymore."

The two massage therapists packed up their things and left, leaving just the two of them in the room. Shen Duoyi was in pain and covered in sweat, now lying powerlessly on the bed to recover, feeling that he must have somehow offended Mr. Chen, otherwise why would he be invited to suffer like this.

When he came back to his senses, the bed beside him was empty. Qi Shi'an had walked over to sit beside him, looking as if he was about to practice on him. Shen Duoyi moved his fingers, saying weakly: "This has made me hungry."

Qi Shi'an reached out his hand, gently pressing on the other's shoulder blade, feeling smooth and delicate skin under his fingertips, slightly cool to the touch. He went further, greedily placing his entire palm down, then helping him massage in circles.

Then he leaned down, drawing Shen Duoyi's attention, asking: "Does it feel good when I do it?"

Shen Duoyi was somewhat dazed: "Good."

"Is it too hard, can you handle it?"

"It's fine..."

Qi Shi'an wiped all the essential oil from his palm onto Shen Duoyi's neck, then slowly stroked downward, shoulders, back, shallow dimples at the waist, not missing a spot. Skin touching skin, when he reached the waist, he pinched the thin muscle at the side, finally unable to hold back saying: "Your waist is so slim, makes me want to pinch it in one grab."

Shen Duoyi jumped up, face covered in sweat, his cool skin had been rubbed until it was warm, the red marks gradually fading into crisscrossing light pink. His chest rising and falling, he properly put on his bathrobe, his waist still tingling slightly.

"Let's take a shower and leave," Shen Duoyi avoided eye contact as he got off the bed, turning his back to Qi Shi'an while putting on his shoes.

One slipper was missing, and he stepped back trying to reach it, but in that small space bumped into the other's chest. Most fatally, his buttocks pressed against a hot hardness through two layers of bathrobe.

Shen Duoyi instinctively looked back, his eyes overflowing with panic, sweat drops falling from his chin.

Qi Shi'an raised his hand to cover the other's eyes, saying softly: "Don't look at me, let me save some face."

A moment later, two small feather fans brushed across his palm - Shen Duoyi had closed his eyes.