Саrs sреd асross the оvеrраss, kiсking up dust, while sunlight refrасted through thе windows was раrtiсulаrlу hаrsh.
Inside the сar, there was a faint, еlusivе, cоol frаgrаnсе.
Ruan Siхiаn sаt quiеtlу in the рassenger sеаt, her wаndering thoughts drawn tо the scеnt. She sniffed lightlу, сuriоus аbоut whеrе it camе frоm.
Thеrе wаs no inсensе оn the dashbоаrd, nothing hаnging from the reаrview mirror, and thе stоrаge сompartmеnt bеsidе her wаs еmрtу.
Неr gazе grаduallу shifted tо the driver’s sеat, whеrе Fu Мingyu hаd just stоррed at a rеd light and turned to look аt her.
Ruan Sixiаn: "..."
As soоn as thеir еyеs met, she averted her gaze, staring coldly ahead.
She began to recall why she was sitting in his passenger seat.
She must have been dazed by the sun, or angered by Fu Mingyu.
This man was shameless, blocking her at the entrance of World Airlines during the busy noon hour. If she didn’t get in the car, he wouldn’t leave, letting passing employees watch them.
As a director, soon-to-be president, could he have some dignity?
Judging by his attitude, if she hadn’t gotten in the car today, he probably would have followed her all the way home.
"Today, I’m not angry because of you." After stewing for a while, Ruan Sixian decided to proactively explain the key issue, lest Fu Mingyu overthink it again. "It’s too hot, and I’m irritable. I’d be like this with anyone."
Fu Mingyu let out a faint "Oh."
Ruan Sixian frowned at him. "Really."
Fu Mingyu’s expression remained unchanged. "Mm, I know."
But why did Ruan Sixian find his words so hard to believe?
What was wrong with this man? Did he enjoy others being angry with him?
Ruan Sixian glared at him, holding back her anger, but he showed no reaction.
After stewing for so long without a single word from him, Ruan Sixian chose to shut up.
She knew that if she spoke again now, she’d likely be led into another trap by him.
Tired, truly tired.
After a moment of silence in the car, Fu Mingyu suddenly asked, "What are you thinking?"
Ruan Sixian replied expressionlessly, "Oh, I’m thinking about getting a driver’s license as soon as possible."
So she wouldn’t always be dragged into the passenger seat for lack of a car.
Fu Mingyu understood her meaning perfectly.
Getting a driver’s license, driving herself, so he couldn’t use such excuses to cling to her.
He wondered if she’d ever had such thoughts when getting into Yan An’s car.
He let out a cold laugh.
"Ruan Sixian, where exactly am I inferior to Yan An?"
Ruan Sixian looked at him, puzzled. "Why bring him up all of a sudden?"
Fu Mingyu narrowed his eyes.
He really didn’t want to ask such questions.
He had never even thought of comparing himself to Yan An.
But both had been rejected—
"How come you can talk to him calmly, let him drive you, but not me?"
He turned to look at Ruan Sixian. "What’s the difference between him and me?"
Of course, there’s a difference.
The words nearly slipped out, but Ruan Sixian managed to hold them back at the last moment.
But what exactly was the difference?
Fu Mingyu would definitely press her for an answer, but after thinking it over in her mind, she didn’t know how to respond.
It was just different.
They happened to stop at another red light. Fu Mingyu parked the car, staring straight at Ruan Sixian, waiting for her to continue.
Ruan Sixian forced a smile and said, "You’re better-looking than him. Satisfied?"
Fu Mingyu showed no reaction again, slowly shifting his gaze back. The light turned green ahead, and he stepped on the accelerator.The car sped off, the scenery outside rapidly receding as silence settled inside once more.
Just as Ruan Sixian thought her obviously perfunctory answer had ended the topic, she heard him say lightly, "Oh, so you're afraid you'll fall for me?"
"..."
"Fu! Ming! Yu!"
The person beside him seemed to have reached her limit again, one more poke and she would explode.
He had known she would be angry when he said it, but hearing her reaction, Fu Mingyu felt an inexplicable sense of pleasure welling up inside him.
He faintly curved the corner of his mouth and said nothing more.
Ten minutes later, the car slowly stopped downstairs.
Ruan Sixian didn't even thank Fu Mingyu when she got out of the car, but he didn't mind—after all, he was the one who insisted on driving her home.
Fu Mingyu sat in the car, watching her stride into the lobby until she disappeared into the elevator.
His phone suddenly chimed. Fu Mingyu glanced at it—a message from Zheng You'an, asking if he wanted to see the photos taken today.
Photos of Ruan Sixian?
Fu Mingyu replied: Okay.
After receiving this message, Zheng You'an shut herself in the darkroom.
Although film cameras were gradually being discontinued, Zheng You'an still believed in their color accuracy and image clarity, so the darkroom remained a sacred place in her heart.
Her standards for photography were high, but fortunately, her family was well-off enough to indulge her whims. Lenses were piled up like mountains at home.
Her achievements were also remarkable. At thirteen, her family held a photography exhibition for her. At fifteen, she went abroad to study, and over seven years, she produced many works, winning numerous awards. Her father was proud of her, always eager to boast about her accomplishments to anyone who would listen. Friends often asked her to take their photos, their eyes filled with admiration.
Even her teachers rarely criticized her work.
The confidence she had cultivated since childhood made her increasingly strict with her own creations. Even though this was just a recruitment promotional shoot, she treated it as an artistic film.
But what did Fu Mingyu say?
"Indeed, not very good."
Even after so long, Zheng You'an still felt uncomfortable whenever she recalled those words.
When I say my own work isn't very good, it's modesty. When you say it's not very good, you're blind.
The more she thought about it, the more indignant she felt. The soothing music in the darkroom couldn't ease her mood.
After developing the photos, she admired them alone for a long time.
World Airlines has absolutely never had promotional photos with such artistic flair.
Absolutely not.
After sending the scanned high-resolution photos to Bai Yang's email, Zheng You'an quietly waited for Fu Mingyu's feedback.
But half an hour passed, and there was still no response.
Zheng You'an couldn't help but send another message: Mingyu-ge, have you looked at them yet?
At that moment, Fu Mingyu had just returned to World Airlines.
On his desk lay the newly drafted "Negative Application List for Flight Data," his most important recent task.
Seeing Zheng You'an's message, Fu Mingyu replied, "Wait a moment, busy," and headed to the meeting room.
This was the first meeting on reforming flight quality monitoring, and the shareholder representatives present had come with opposing views.
The meeting lasted seven hours.
By the time Fu Mingyu left the meeting room, it was already dark outside.
Bai Yang followed behind him and said, "Chairman Fu just called to ask about today's meeting. Should we call back now?""No rush." Fu Mingyu walked toward his office. "No need to report to him until the results are out."
After settling into his office chair, Fu Mingyu removed his jacket, draped his arm over the backrest, and lazily gazed at the neon lights outside the floor-to-ceiling window.
As the clamor of arguments that had filled his mind gradually faded, Fu Mingyu rubbed his brow and suddenly remembered something.
"Bai Yang, did Miss Zheng send new photos today?"
Bai Yang nodded. "She sent them a while ago. Would you like to see them now?"
Fu Mingyu: "Mm."
The photos Zheng You'an sent were large files, and it took Bai Yang a long time to decompress them.
While waiting, he propped his chin on his hand, watching the progress bar with half-closed eyes.
He really wanted to tell Miss Zheng to just send Ruan Sixian's photos—after all, their ever-busy President Fu had no energy to look at anyone else's.
Twenty minutes later, Bai Yang displayed the photos Zheng You'an sent on the office screen.
Fu Mingyu sat relaxed on the sofa, holding the remote control. After flipping through a few photos without seeing the one he wanted, he skipped directly to the directory and selected Ruan Sixian's photos.
Bai Yang thought expressionlessly beside him: As expected.
After what felt like an eternity, just as Bai Yang was about to drift into meditation, Fu Mingyu casually scrolled through the other photos.
But a few seconds later, he flipped back to Ruan Sixian's photos.
Who knows how long he'll stare at them this time.
Bai Yang wanted to clock out.
He took a step forward and said, "Shall I send these photos to your phone?"
Fu Mingyu looked up, his gaze sharp and fixed on Bai Yang.
Bai Yang instantly snapped awake, all drowsiness gone.
Yet the next moment, he heard Fu Mingyu utter a single word.
"Fine."
At the same time, Fu Mingyu opened his phone, and dozens of messages instantly flooded in.
He skimmed through them, automatically ignoring the unimportant ones, but grew curious when he saw Zheng You'an had sent him several messages in a row.
Six hours ago:
"Have you looked? What do you think?"
Four hours ago:
"Mingyu-ge?"
Two hours ago:
"President Fu? Have you seen them?"
Ten minutes ago:
"President Fu, just take a look. Any feedback would be fine [smile]."
Seeing her eagerness, Fu Mingyu recalled the photos again.
The selected scenes, shooting angles, composition, and lighting were all quite distinctive and skillfully executed.
But they were overly polished, lacking a sense of spontaneity and atmosphere.
In summary, they were a set of very refined portrait works, but as promotional material, they missed the point.
Still, it didn't matter much—it was just for enrollment promotion, and letting Zheng You'an practice with it was fine.
Fu Mingyu picked up his jacket and stood, ready to head home, while sending Zheng You'an a brief two-word reply.
"Not bad."
The message sank like a stone, and Zheng You'an didn't reply again.
When getting into the car, the driver asked Fu Mingyu where to go.
Fu Mingyu closed his eyes. "Mingchen Apartments."
The night was thick, dotted with countless lights. The car windows were closed, the interior quiet and cool.
Fu Mingyu loosened his tie and dozed off, naturally opening his eyes just as they were about to arrive at Mingchen Apartments.
He tilted his head slightly, looking out the window, and suddenly said, "Stop the car."
Ruan Sixian had moved in months ago but had never properly explored the neighborhood. It wasn't until tonight, when she wanted to cook for herself and opened a map to search for a supermarket, that she discovered a pedestrian street just two or three kilometers away.After taking a shower and heading out, she strolled leisurely, but before even entering the supermarket, she spotted a long line outside a clams and vermicelli shop.
As she walked closer, the enticing aroma wafted toward her.
Without realizing it, Ruan Sixian stopped in her tracks and took her place at the end of the line.
With such fragrant clams and vermicelli available, why bother cooking herself?
She had been waiting for nearly twenty minutes, yet the line had barely moved less than two meters. Standing on tiptoe to peek ahead, she saw the shop was busy preparing takeout orders again.
Ruan Sixian patted her stomach and began to wonder if she should just give up—if she waited any longer, she’d starve to death.
Just then, her phone chimed.
She opened it and was surprised to see a message from Fu Mingyu.
[Fu Mingyu]: Want to have dinner together?
The moment his name appeared, it brought back the memory of what happened in the car that morning.
Even now, thinking about it, Ruan Sixian still felt uneasy.
Why couldn’t she pinpoint exactly how he and Yan An were different?
She also wanted to know why she couldn’t speak calmly with Fu Mingyu.
Even when Fu Mingyu asked, “Are you afraid you’re falling for me?” she realized she truly was afraid.
That feeling was utterly frustrating, and she had no desire to experience that atmosphere again.
[Ruan Sixian]: No need, I’ve already eaten.
After sending the reply, Ruan Sixian let out a sigh of relief.
But immediately, another message arrived.
[Fu Mingyu]: I’m right behind you.
Ruan Sixian’s breath hitched, and her back stiffened instantly.
How did this guy appear out of nowhere!
Without turning around, she lowered her head and typed.
[Ruan Sixian]: Behind me is a pig farm.
Her senses felt particularly sharp at that moment, and Ruan Sixian could feel someone approaching from behind.
Yet she still didn’t look back.
A few seconds later, an older woman carrying a trash bin passed by her and returned inside the shop.
Fu Mingyu hadn’t walked over, but his message arrived.
[Fu Mingyu]: Lately, I’ve been thinking about raising pigs.
Ruan Sixian: “...”
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