Outside the baozi shop, Lu Fan's brow furrowed when he saw Jiasheng enter the flower shop.
"That guy... I already made it clear who I was yesterday, but he still can't take a hint," Lu Fan groused.
Hearing this, Chen He, who was standing nearby, immediately stepped forward. "Boss, should I go teach him a lesson? If you give the word, I can even have him... physically eliminated."
"Eliminate my ass." Lu Fan smacked him on the head. "Don't bring your overseas habits back to the country. You've been back for over half a year and still haven't changed."
"Yes, Boss," Chen He said with an awkward smile.
He then asked, "So what now, Boss? Are we just going to let him hit on the boss's wife?"
"Don't worry. I know my own woman. Yixia would never fall for a guy like him," Lu Fan explained.
Chen He quickly chimed in, "Right, right! Our boss has the money and the looks. What's a small convenience store owner like him got to compete with?"
"Chen He."
"What is it, Boss?"
"That's the first sensible thing you've said all day."
"Uh..."
Lu Fan simply grabbed a chair, sat down right at the entrance of his shop, and looked toward the flower shop.
Meanwhile, Jiasheng seemed to have gotten Jiang Yixia's message, and he could only turn to leave, dejected.
The moment he turned, he saw Lu Fan across the street, smiling at him and even waving a greeting.
This sense of defeat made Jiasheng, a man in his thirties, feel even worse.
He wanted to run home to his mother's arms and have a good cry.
Just then, Jiang Yixia also noticed Lu Fan.
She saw him sitting at the entrance of his shop, staring directly at her flower shop.
At first, Jiang Yixia decided to ignore him.
But for some reason, his constant staring made her increasingly agitated.
'It's like I have no privacy at all.'
'It feels like being stripped bare and put on display.'
Jiang Yixia gritted her teeth, put down the rose in her hand, and stormed toward the entrance of the baozi shop.
Seeing Jiang Yixia approach, Lu Fan immediately stood up and said with a wide smile, "Yixia."
"What is wrong with you?" Jiang Yixia demanded, her face flushed with anger.
"Something is wrong with me," Lu Fan replied, his expression suddenly serious. "I was wondering if you have the cure."
"I don't have any 'cure' for you! I'm asking you, why do you keep staring over here?!" Jiang Yixia said, hands on her hips, fuming.
Lu Fan just laughed. "Yixia, if you weren't looking at me, how would you know I was looking at you?"
"You!!" Jiang Yixia was so furious, her chest swelled visibly.
She clenched her fists, her face crimson, and said, "You were just as infuriating 19 years ago, and you're the same damn way 19 years later!"
"Alright, alright, don't be angry. What do you want me to do, then?" Lu Fan, seeing his teasing had gone far enough, immediately asked.
"You're not allowed to look over here! And you can't just move a chair to your doorway!" Jiang Yixia retorted. "Don't you have anything better to do?"
"I went to the trouble of hiring so many chefs to help out. You can't expect me, the boss, to get my own hands dirty, can you? What would be the point of hiring them then?" Lu Fan said with a laugh.
Jiang Yixia rolled her eyes at him. "I can't be bothered with you."
With that, she turned and left, having no intention of dealing with such a scoundrel.
After Jiang Yixia left, a pastry chef came over. "Boss, all our pastries are ready. We can officially open for business."
"Good."
Lu Fan immediately stood up and called out to the pedestrians on the street, "Grand opening! Exquisite pastries, delicious and tasty! Come and have a try!"
His shouting did indeed attract a few people to look over.
In addition, Lu Fan had specially hired a famous pastry chef, and the pastries displayed in the glass counter were particularly beautiful.
Soon, a small crowd gathered to look and admire them.
Seeing this, Li Li from the dry-cleaning shop next door took the opportunity to pop into the flower shop.
Munching on sunflower seeds, she teased, "Well, Yixia, look at your man's shop. It just opened and it's already got so many customers, huh?"
"He is not my man," Jiang Yixia immediately clarified.
"Isn't he Silu and Sifan's biological father? How can he not be your man?" Li Li laughed.
Jiang Yixia quickly shook her head. "He was my husband before, not now. Sister Li, you can't get it mixed up. I have no relationship with him anymore."
"But from the way he talks, I get the feeling he's still in love with you," Li Li replied.
Hearing Li Li say this, Jiang Yixia gave a helpless smile. "Sister Li, there are some things you don't know."
"Alright, alright, your business is your business. But for him to open a baozi shop here just to be close to you... at least his motives are good." After saying her piece, Li Li tactfully took her leave.
Jiang Yixia listened to her words, then glanced back at the bustling Lu Fan in the baozi shop across the street, a trace of anger still lingering in her heart.
'Even if you open a baozi shop here to get close to me, don't even think I'll forgive you.' This was Jiang Yixia's current stance.
But Lu Fan wasn't one to give up so easily. Opening the baozi shop was just the first step of his plan.
'As for what comes next... I'll just follow the old plan: let familiarity breed affection!'
「Meanwhile」
After arriving in her classroom that morning, Huang Hui saw Chen Kailin.
She noticed that Chen Kailin was walking a bit unnaturally.
'Needless to say, she must have engaged in some... indescribable activities last night.'
For college students, this was perfectly normal.
At eighteen, their energy and stamina were at their absolute peak.
'If you don't get started freshman year, when will you?'
However, Huang Hui's thoughts turned to the message Lin Qiang had sent her.
She felt a mix of anticipation and apprehension.
She was anticipatory, wondering what kind of guy Lin Qiang would introduce her to.
And she was apprehensive, unsure if what she was doing was right.
After all, she already had a boyfriend, yet here she was, about to get to know another guy.
Throughout the entire class, Huang Hui kept glancing at her phone, completely unable to focus on the lecture.
Sure enough, just as class was about to end, a message from Lin Qiang arrived.
Lin Qiang: [Huang Hui, I gave your WeChat to a buddy of mine. He's a good guy, comes from a wealthy family, and is pretty handsome. You guys should chat.]
Huang Hui: [Okay~]
A short while later, Huang Hui saw a friend request on her WeChat.
She accepted it immediately.
To avoid any awkwardness, Huang Hui even took the initiative to send the first message: [Hi~ My name is Huang Hui~]
The other person replied: [Hi! I'm Lin Bei.]
The two of them started making idle small talk.
During their chat, Huang Hui checked out his Moments feed.
When she saw him showing off a pair of collector's edition sneakers with a 5,999 price tag, her eyes lit up.
She also saw him showing off the watch on his wrist.
She looked it up online—it cost nearly 20,000.
This confirmed for Huang Hui that the guy really did come from a good family.
On top of that, the guy was genuinely witty and charming, and in just half a day, they were so engrossed in their conversation that they lost all track of time.
So much so that when Jiang Sifan messaged her that morning, it took a full half-hour before Huang Hui found a moment to reply.
Jiang Sifan: [Huihui, are you busy?]
Huang Hui: [Babe, I just got out of class. I'm eating now, and after I eat, I'm planning to go back to my dorm for a nap.]
Jiang Sifan: [Okay, sounds good. My sister just came to campus, so I'll show her around this afternoon.]
Huang Hui: [Okay.]
After finishing her chat with Jiang Sifan, Huang Hui went right back to talking with the other guy.
Meanwhile, Chen Kailin looked at Lin Qiang across from her. Seeing him typing on his phone while eating, she asked curiously, "Babe, who are you chatting with?"
"Oh, nobody. Just a buddy of mine asking when I'm going home so we can get together." Lin Qiang gave a casual excuse and slipped his phone into his pocket.