Shen Jianian stared blankly at Fu Jichen, forgetting to react.
He smiled with his eyes, as if saying to her: You’re not coming over?
Everyone, like Shen Jianian, was montarily stunned, and then, as if waking from a dream, began to whisper among themselves.
"He must be here for Mr. Shen. I just heard him call Mr. Shen’s na."
"Is this Mr. Shen’s boyfriend? He’s so handso!"
"Mr. Shen is blushing, he must be her boyfriend, she’s shy..."
Shen Jianian composed herself, returned the pen to the young girl waiting beside her, and made her way through the crowd to stand in front of him, asking softly, "Why did you co over?"
Fu Jichen said, "I’ve been waiting for a long ti, afraid soone might run off with you."
"How could that..." As she spoke, Shen Jianian realized he was joking, pressed her lips together and smiled, looking at the bouquet of dewy roses wrapped in beautiful cellophane in his hands, the faint fragrance wafting to her nose, and asked knowingly, "Are they for ?"
Fu Jichen handed the flowers to her: "To congratulate you on the successful performance."
Shen Jianian glanced at the bouquet, noting it contained dozens of flowers; he held it effortlessly with one hand, but she had to cradle it with both arms.
The delicate blossoms grazed her chin, and looking at this scene, the phrase "woman more beautiful than flowers" popped into Fu Jichen’s mind.
"Could you help carry the cello and bag?" Shen Jianian gestured with her eyes to the side.
Fu Jichen said nothing, picking up the strap of the cello case with one hand and the bag with the other, looking at her warmly: "Can we go now, Your Highness?"
His teasing tone made Shen Jianian smile and nod in a rather serious manner: "Yes, we can."
Everyone who witnessed this backstage felt touched by their sweet romance.
In the corridor, Shen Jianian brushed past a young man in a work uniform holding a bouquet, and soon, from behind her, she heard him ask, "Excuse , who is Shen Jianian?"
Soone replied, "Mr. Shen just left, you can catch up and see her."
Concerned about missing her, the young man took off running, calling out in the corridor, "Who is Shen Jianian? Shen Jianian, there’s a flower delivery for you!"
Shen Jianian paused, turning to look at the young man calling her na, understanding what was happening, and replied, "That’s ."
Before she even spoke, the delivery guy had already noticed her; among the crowd, she and the gentleman beside her were the most eye-catching, hard to ignore.
"These are your flowers, please sign for them." The delivery guy, slightly sweaty on his forehead, handed over the flowers with a smile.
It was a bouquet of sunflowers mixed with lisianthus, dotted with baby’s breath, fresh in color.
After signing, Shen Jianian asked, "May I know who the flowers are from?"
The delivery guy scratched his head: "I don’t know about that."
Shen Jianian didn’t make it hard for him, freeing a hand to hold the bouquet, and glanced at Fu Jichen, whose deep gaze had no other emotions revealed.
"Maybe they are from Xiaxia, I’ll ask her later." Shen Jianian murmured suggestively, glancing again at the man beside her.
Fu Jichen couldn’t be fooled by her speculation, a smile crept to his lips, his stern face thawing in an instant like lting spring water: "No matter who sent them, I’m not going to get upset over a bouquet, hold on to them."
After all, it wasn’t a bouquet of love-standing roses.
Holding two bouquets, Shen Jianian buried her face into the soft flowers, unable to suppress the upward tilt of her lips, but soon, a gentle tap on her head followed by Fu Jichen’s reminder ca: "Don’t inhale the pollen, be careful about allergies."
Shen Jianian let out an "Oh" and lifted her head.
As they approached the parking area, Fu Jichen leaned his head slightly and asked in a low voice, "Are you hungry?"
"A little." Shen Jianian admitted truthfully.
As if to confirm her words, her stomach let out a tily growl, demanding sustenance.
Shen Jianian was a bit embarrassed, explaining: "Before the performance, it took more than two hours to do my hair and makeup, leaving no ti for dinner, so I just had a glass of juice; managing to hold off hunger until now is already quite a feat."
Fu Jichen didn’t follow her train of thought, laughed and said, "What’s there to explain? It’s perfectly normal to be hungry; I wasn’t teasing you."
Shen Jianian pressed her lips tightly, falling silent.
She thought it over, perhaps it was a girl’s little vanity at play, unwilling to show even a slightly unseemly behavior in front of the person she liked, even if it was sothing as normal as a "stomach growl."
In the early hours, the area around the grand theater was still bustling because there was a performance tonight.
Fu Jichen unlocked the car, placed the cello inside, turned back to take the two bouquets from her hands, and set them on the back seat: "I rember a good restaurant nearby; let’s eat before heading back."
Shen Jianian looked around, noticing most shops had closed: "Are you sure it’s still open?"
Fu Jichen shut the car door, re-locked it, and took her hand, heading south: "Let’s go check and find out."
They arrived at a western restaurant, where the hall was brightly lit, and a sign at the entrance showed the business hours, astonishingly open until 4 a.m.
Shen Jianian’s fluttering eyelashes showed surprise.
As they approached the restaurant’s main entrance, a server imdiately ca over to help open the door, gesturing "please" inside, and with a standard smile, addressed Fu Jichen as "Mr. Fu."
Apparently, the server recognized him, implying he had been here before, and not just once. The last ti he took her to another western restaurant, it was the sa.
"What are you thinking?" Fu Jichen looked at her slightly absent-minded expression, his fingers holding her hand tightened slightly.
Shen Jianian voiced her curiosity: "Have you dined here before?"
"I’ve had a few als with clients." Fu Jichen didn’t hide it, speaking frankly to her, pausing for a mont, his tone suddenly becoming aningful, "Checking on ?"
Did she think he had brought other won here?
Shen Jianian imdiately shook her head and flatly denied: "I was just asking casually." She really did not think much about it.
It was very late, and Fu Jichen didn’t ask for a private room, instead seating with Shen Jianian at a four-person table by the window in the hall.
The server brought over the nu and handed it to Fu Jichen.
Fu Jichen was about to let Shen Jianian order, but she noticed his gesture and refused: "You’ve been here a few tis, surely you know what’s good. You order, I’m not picky."
Fu Jichen didn’t explain that each ti he ca, it was for business, so he didn’t rember if the food was good or not.
He flipped through the nu and, considering her taste, ordered so light dishes.
On the table were candle holders, aromatic stones, and hydrangeas, complented by the warm lighting of the restaurant. It was late at night with not many guests, making the atmosphere peaceful and beautiful.
Shen Jianian couldn’t resist taking out her phone to snap a photo of the table’s arrangent, accidentally framing Fu Jichen’s watch-wearing hand in the picture.
She tapped the photo at the bottom left corner, found the overall effect satisfactory, and didn’t delete this shot.
Fu Jichen, legs crossed and leaning against the chair back, took a sip of water, seeing her action, and smiled subtly.
Shen Jianian exited the photo album and rembered sothing she had forgotten to ask Bai Changxia, so she opened WeChat and sent her a ssage: "Did you send flowers?"
Bai Changxia, after leaving the Grand Theater, took a taxi to the hospital to spend the night attending to soone, and had not yet slept. Upon receiving the ssage, she understood her aning after a mont’s thought.
"Soone ordered flowers for you? Don’t doubt it, it must be Boss Fu!"
Shen Jianian, holding her phone, typed a reply, as the server brought the food over, said "Please enjoy" and left.
Fu Jichen put down his glass, parted his lips slightly, and reminded her: "Didn’t you say you were hungry? Stop playing with your phone; eat and get so rest early."
Shen Jianian sent out the ssage she had just typed, put down her phone, picked up a fork, and pricked a slice of tuna sauce beef from the plate into her mouth. After barely two chews, she frowned.
She picked up her juice and took a sip to cover the taste in her mouth.
Fu Jichen noticed her subtle expression and asked: "Don’t like it?"
She pushed the plate toward him, speaking in a low voice: "A bit fishy."
Fu Jichen tried a bite, finding it was the normal taste for this dish, but maybe not to her liking. He handed over the Blue Ribbon Chicken Roll dish to her: "Try this."
To avoid another misstep, Shen Jianian cut off a small piece using a dining knife to taste. The chicken breast was tender, wrapped with ham, and had a hint of garlic butter and cheese.
Her brow relaxed, and she remarked: "I prefer this one."
Fu Jichen had her try other dishes too, and except for the first tuna sauce-flavored one she didn’t like, the rest she found quite good.
After finishing the al, the rain that had stopped earlier started again, harder than before.
Outside the restaurant, the streetlights were blurred by the fine rain.
The attentive server prepared umbrellas for the guests.
Pushing open the glass door, a coldness hit them, and Fu Jichen opened a transparent umbrella, turning to say to the person beside him: "Wait here, I’ll bring the car over."
Shen Jianian linked both arms through his: "It’s too much trouble to turn around, let’s just walk over together."
Fu Jichen withdrew his arm and wrapped it around her waist, tilting the umbrella toward her, covering her completely beneath it. The rain wetted his suit at the shoulder, imprinting a darker stain on the pure black fabric.
As Shen Jianian walked, she suddenly looked back over her shoulder.
Fu Jichen asked her: "What’s wrong?"
Feeling soone was watching them, but Shen Jianian didn’t see anyone else on the road, she shook her head and said softly: "Nothing. Let’s walk faster, my shoes are about to get wet."
At the end of the long street, a man soaking wet erged from the corner, staring fixedly at the two nestled together in the rain.
Behind him, an umbrella appeared overhead, and a girl’s concerned voice followed: "You’ll catch a cold in the rain, let’s go back."
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