Love Has Fireworks

After work in the evening, Lu Ze picked up Yao Jingjing to go watch a movie.

There were two films showing at the same time—one was a so-called "aesthetic" romance, and the other was The Avengers .

When buying the tickets, Lu Ze asked Yao Jingjing which one she wanted to see. Without hesitation, she pointed at The Avengers and said, "The one with more men!"

Lu Ze paused for a moment before telling the ticket seller, " The Avengers , two tickets, VIP seats."

After getting their tickets and settling into their seats, Lu Ze spoke up, "I thought you'd choose the other one."

Yao Jingjing giggled and said, "The leads in that other movie are so ugly—how dare they call it an 'aesthetic' romance? Just for that false advertising alone, it’s not worth watching! It’d probably make people stop believing in love altogether! This one’s way better—full of superpowered, muscular hunks. Just looking at them gets me all excited!"

Lu Ze shot her a sidelong glance and asked, "So, between handsome men and money, which excites you more?"

Yao Jingjing turned to him with a grin and said, "Neither of them excites me as much as you do!"

Lu Ze raised an eyebrow. "Oh?"

Yao Jingjing said earnestly, "Because you’ve got money in your pocket! You’re the perfect combo of wealth and good looks—you completely outshine either one on its own!"

The corner of Lu Ze’s mouth twitched, and he turned his head toward the screen.

During the movie, Lu Ze began to doubt the sincerity of Yao Jingjing’s earlier words.

Watching her practically drool over the screen, he decided that even if he stuffed his pockets full of cash, it still wouldn’t compare to how excited she got over Iron Man, who was already well into middle age.

Frowning slightly, he resolved to take this woman to see the "aesthetic" romance starring ugly actors next time.

●︶3︶●

After the movie, Yao Jingjing still looked like she hadn’t had enough.

She said to Lu Ze, "You treated me to a movie, so let me treat you to dinner!" After a moment’s thought, she quickly added, "Just don’t order anything too expensive, okay? If the bill’s too high, I might suddenly need to use the bathroom when it’s time to pay!"

Lu Ze replied expressionlessly, "That’s fine. I’ll wait for you to come back."

Yao Jingjing said with utmost sincerity, "Don’t bother—I might be in there a while. You can just pay first and leave!"

Lu Ze raised an eyebrow. "Is this your idea of sincerity when treating someone to dinner?"

Yao Jingjing put on a bashful expression. "Don’t say it like that! My sincerity is actually pretty expensive! How about this—you pick the restaurant, okay?"

Without hesitation, Lu Ze took her straight to a high-end establishment.

After sitting down, Yao Jingjing flipped through the menu with a stiff, forced smile and muttered, "Looking at these prices suddenly makes me lose my appetite!"

Lu Ze took the menu from her hands and said, "Then I’ll order. I’m hungry."

Yao Jingjing asked the waiter for another menu.

With every dish Lu Ze ordered, she mentally tallied up the cost. By the time he finished, her soul had left her body.

An entire month’s salary—gone, just like that.

With a heavy heart, she vowed never to impulsively offer to treat him to dinner again.

After Lu Ze finished ordering, the waiter respectfully took the menu and turned to Yao Jingjing. "Miss, have you decided what you’d like?"

Yao Jingjing looked up with hopeful eyes and asked, "Do you guys have fried rice? If so, I’ll just have that!"

The waiter glanced awkwardly at Lu Ze. "We don’t serve that here..."Before he could finish speaking, Lu Ze interrupted, "If there isn't, then add it now." His tone carried the commanding air of someone used to giving orders from above. Yao Jingjing thought that if she were on the receiving end of such a tone, she'd be extremely annoyed. Yet, to her surprise, the waiter bowed repeatedly with impeccable professionalism, replying, "Right away."

She was marveling at how well-trained the restaurant staff was—almost on par with Haidilao—when she heard Lu Ze add, "Also, bring one of everything I just ordered for this lady as well." With that, he dismissed the waiter without giving Yao Jingjing a chance to say "no."

Yao Jingjing felt her heart bleed. Her last month's salary was about to vanish from her savings account TT. She glared at Lu Ze and wailed dramatically, "Why did you order food for me? Do you have any idea how you've completely ruined my original plan of just having fried rice? You've stripped all meaning from my fried rice!"

Despite her theatrical lament, when the lavish dishes arrived, she dug in with more enthusiasm, dedication, and reckless abandon than anyone else in the restaurant. Chewing on a piece of beef with tears in her eyes, she mumbled, "How on earth is this meat prepared? It's so delicious! I can't stop eating!"

When the fried rice finally came, her reaction was even more exaggerated after the first bite: "Holy cow, is this chef a god of cooking? How am I supposed to live knowing I can't eat fried rice this good every single day from now on?"

Tearfully, she devoured every last grain in record time.

Customers at the next table, seeing how blissfully she was eating, asked for the fried rice as well. The waiter hesitated before approaching them apologetically, "I'm sorry, but our restaurant doesn't serve fried rice..." As he spoke, he glanced helplessly at Lu Ze.

Without changing his expression, Lu Ze said, "If the customers want it, then serve it. Add this dish to the menu today."

The waiter scurried off to the kitchen.

Yao Jingjing licked her lips and eyed the stoic tycoon with admiration. "You really are the epitome of arrogance and dominance, aren't you? Always ordering people around wherever you go!"

Lu Ze ignored her comment and instead remarked casually, "You look quite slim. I didn’t expect you to eat so much."

Yao Jingjing had already polished off the beef on her plate but still craved more. Without missing a beat, she subtly stretched her arm and "accidentally" picked a piece from Lu Ze's plate, munching as she said, "Heh, can't help it. Maybe I’ve got some hyperthyroidism genes or something! My bestie Qian Feifei and I are both like this—huge appetites but never seem to gain much weight!"

Lu Ze watched as she "mistakenly" helped herself to his beef, one piece after another, and gave a faint, imperceptible smirk.

●︶3︶●

Lu Ze finished eating before Yao Jingjing. Putting down his chopsticks, he watched her continue to clean her plate, then asked abruptly, as if offhandedly, "You seem to like muscular men."

Yao Jingjing looked up from licking her chopsticks. "Not necessarily. Muscles are secondary—what really matters is the face." She studied Lu Ze's face intently, tilting her head left and right before exclaiming, "Wow, this is the first time I’ve really taken a good look at your face. The more I look, the handsomer you get!"She said it with a playful grin, then lowered her head to pick up more meat, completely missing the fact that the tips of the rich guy's ears had turned slightly red across the table.

"Then what exactly were you looking at before?" he asked in a low, deep voice.

Yao Jingjing looked up and grinned. "I was too busy staring at your wallet!"

After taking a few more bites and scooping up the last two scraps of meat into her mouth, Yao Jingjing finally set down her chopsticks.

She patted her stomach and winked at Lu Ze. "So full! The food here is amazing. For something this delicious, spending two months' salary on one meal is totally worth it!"

She called the waiter over to ask for the bill.

Lu Ze lazily asked from across the table, "Don't you need me to handle it?"

Yao Jingjing rummaged through her wallet for her card. "No way! If you pay every time, it’ll become way too obvious that I’m only this enthusiastic about you for your money!"

She handed her card to the waiter, but instead of taking it, the waiter stood respectfully, looking at Lu Ze.

Lu Ze raised his hand. "Give it to me. I'll sign for it."

The waiter remained deferential, handing the receipt to Lu Ze while saying politely, "Here you go, boss."

Yao Jingjing gaped at Lu Ze as he signed the bill with a flourish.

This rich guy had no shame—he was clearly messing with her!!!

Yao Jingjing was furious.

She decided she wasn’t going to back down. If he wanted to play games, she’d make sure he got his fill—let’s see who would be "Game Over" first!

●︶3︶●

Their second date was in the evening, right after Yao Jingjing finished overtime work. Lu Ze suggested grabbing dinner together.

This time, Yao Jingjing picked the place—a restaurant recommended by her supervisor, who said it was owned by a friend.

Yao Jingjing thought to herself, relieved, that there was no way this place could also belong to Lu Ze.

The restaurant was crowded, so after getting a queue number, Yao Jingjing pulled Lu Ze to the sofa near the entrance to wait.

They had just sat down when a man in a suit approached, looking at them with an expression of hesitation.

Yao Jingjing was baffled, unsure what the suited man wanted to say. Lu Ze spoke up beside her. "Not needed."

The man in the suit silently walked away.

Curious, Yao Jingjing asked, "Was he trying to sell you something?"

Lu Ze raised an eyebrow at her. "Maybe."

After a while, Lu Ze suddenly asked, "Have you been in a relationship before?"

Yao Jingjing sipped her complimentary fruit tea and answered, "Of course! Someone as dazzling as me saying she’s never dated would be an insult to your intelligence!"

Lu Ze narrowed his eyes. "Care to share?"

Yao Jingjing mimicked him, narrowing her eyes back. "Which one do you want to hear about?"

Lu Ze frowned slightly. "All of them, then."

Without bargaining, Yao Jingjing cleared her throat and began.

"The first one started in kindergarten."

As soon as she said this, she heard Lu Ze cough beside her.

She turned to look—his face was perfectly calm as he said, "Just choked a little. No problem, keep going."Yao Jingjing pouted, "Did my early first love scare you? Let me tell you, I've been navigating the battlefield of love for years—don't underestimate me!" She paused, then continued, "Back in kindergarten, there was this little boy who kept following me around, always trying to hold my hand. At first, I let him, but after a while, I stopped."

Lu Ze raised an eyebrow. "Why'd you stop?"

With a melancholic expression, Yao Jingjing replied, "Because I grew taller, but he stayed short! Within half a year, he was at least half a head shorter than me. We couldn’t even breathe at the same level, and holding hands became such a hassle—one high, one low—so we had to call it quits."

Lu Ze coughed lightly before calmly asking, "What about the second one?"

Yao Jingjing said, "The second was in elementary school. He was my desk mate and really liked me, even promised to marry me after graduation. But one day, some other boys beat him up, so I went and beat up those boys for him. After that, he stopped liking me altogether and even asked the teacher to switch seats. He said he’d thought it over carefully and it pained him to make this decision, but he couldn’t marry me after graduation because the way I fought was terrifying. He wanted a sweet, delicate girl instead."

She paused, then asked Lu Ze earnestly, "Don’t you think he was messed up? I avenged him, and this is how he repays me? Talk about biting the hand that feeds you!"

Lu Ze suppressed another cough and asked, "And the third?"

Yao Jingjing grinned. "The third was in middle school—you’d never guess who it was!"

Just then, a server called their number.

Yao Jingjing tugged Lu Ze inside. They got a good spot by the window. As soon as they sat down, she was about to order when Lu Ze waved the server away. "We’ll order later." He turned to Yao Jingjing. "Go on, finish telling me about the third one."

Yao Jingjing blinked, then laughed. "Didn’t expect you to be so interested in my romantic history. Fine, I’ll continue—but fair warning, this one’s kind of a sad story, really!"

She took a sip of lemon water, her expression gradually softening into something serene.

A look of deep reminiscence settled over her face, and Lu Ze couldn’t help but furrow his brows slightly as he watched her.

"The third one—I said you’d never guess because it was the same boy I beat up in elementary school! One day, he came up to me and said he liked me. Looking at him reminded me of my elementary school desk mate, and out of sheer annoyance, I beat him up again. Afterward, I told him, ‘If you can’t even beat me, how do you expect to be with me? What a joke! Come back when you can actually win against me.’

"He took me seriously and kept coming back for more beatings. Strangely enough, the more I fought him, the less annoyed I felt when I saw him—but when I didn’t see him, I’d get restless.

"Later, we went to high school. I kept beating him up for two more years. In our senior year, he said to me, ‘Shouldn’t we make this official?’ I asked, ‘Can you beat me now?’ He replied, ‘You really think I can’t? I’ve been letting you win since we were kids.’""Then we officially got together. We planned to attend the same university, studied together every day, and after months of hard work, I got in." At this point, she lowered her head to take a sip of water.

Lu Ze asked, "What about him? Did he not make it?"

Yao Jingjing looked up with a smile and said, "Him? He didn’t even take the exam." She paused, her lips trembling slightly. After a moment, she continued with a smile, "Two days before the college entrance exam, he went to the supermarket with his mom. On their way out, a drunk driver hit them. In that critical moment, he only had time to push his mom out of the way, but he got pinned against the wall. He was rushed to the hospital, but they couldn’t save him. He was gone."

Yao Jingjing turned to look out the window. "The family of the drunk driver was filthy rich. They pulled strings everywhere, and in the end, the driver walked away scot-free. If his family had had even a little money to fight a prolonged legal battle, they might have gotten justice for him." She was still smiling, but her smile was full of bitterness. "Money—what a goddamn bastard of a thing! And yet, we can’t live without it!"

Lu Ze watched her profile, her forced smile, the slight tremble in her lips and lashes, and felt a faint stirring in his heart.

She always claimed to love money so much, but her actions told a different story. Now he understood the contradiction between her words and deeds.

She didn’t love money at all. Deep down, she loathed it—loathed how much she despised it yet couldn’t live without it. So she mocked herself, pretending to love it.

A strange feeling washed over him, like when he saw a pitiful stray kitten meowing at him on the street.

●︶3︶●

Yao Jingjing turned back and stared at Lu Ze in surprise. "What’s with that look? Pity? Wait—you actually have expressions on your face?!"

Lu Ze lowered his head to drink some water. When he looked up again, his face had returned to its usual expressionless state.

"What happened next? Anything else?"

Yao Jingjing said, "No, that’s the end of it."

Lu Ze looked at her. "Then let’s order."

Yao Jingjing blinked. "Hold on, something’s not right here! Shouldn’t it be your turn to talk now that I’m done?"

Lu Ze raised an eyebrow. "I never said I would."

Yao Jingjing gaped. "Dude, that’s kind of shameless! You’re just reaping the benefits without putting in any effort!"

Lu Ze glanced at the menu. "I didn’t force you. Next time, you can choose not to share." He signaled a waiter and asked Yao Jingjing, "What do you want to eat?"

Yao Jingjing was furious. She glared at Lu Ze before turning to the waiter. "Give me one of each of your most expensive dishes!" Then she looked back at Lu Ze. "You’re paying!"

Lu Ze shrugged. "Whatever."

A moment later, the young man in a suit—who had seemed like a salesman when they were waiting outside—hurried over. He bowed respectfully to Lu Ze and said, "Boss, we’re out of lobster today. Would you like to order something else instead?"

Yao Jingjing, who had been drinking water, choked and spat it out.

"Boss?!" She stared at Lu Ze in disbelief. "You own this restaurant too?!"

Lu Ze gave her a calm look. "Yeah, Tian Duan and I co-own it."

Yao Jingjing froze on the spot…It turned out that her supervisor's friend was Tian Duan...

So the young man in the suit had just been asking if he wanted to reserve a seat for him in advance...

Looking at Lu Ze's expressionless face, she felt like she was about to faint.

She would never believe in this world again, never ever...