With Lu Yudong on the bus, everyone was unusually silent, making Jiang Ci''s phone ringtone sound particularly jarring. Last night, after helping Lu Yudong back to his room, Jiang Ci must have dropped her phone while undressing. After the intimate encounter, she had completely forgotten about it.


    After the initial shock, Jiang Ci quickly regained her composure. It seemed that Lu Yudong took the coach bus today specifically to wait for her, like a hunter waiting for his prey. Perhaps he knew it was her who had spent the night with him, or perhaps he didn''t. But with the ringtone and Han Lan''s earlier comments, she guessed that Lu Yudong had figured it out. In this way, Jiang Ci had inadvertently confessed.


    Han Lan looked at Jiang Ci with a puzzled expression, nodding towards Lu Yudong, clearly asking, "What''s going on?"


    "Stop it," Jiang Ci said, pressing down on Han Lan''s hand. The remaining awkwardness was too much for Jiang Ci to bear, and she had no idea how to explain it.


    "What exactly happened? How did your phone end up with Mr. Lu?" Han Lan whispered, gossiping.


    "I..." Just as Jiang Ci was at a loss, Lu Yudong suddenly turned around from the front row, nearly scaring Jiang Ci out of her wits.


    "Is this your phone number?" Lu Yudong asked Han Lan, holding up Jiang Ci''s phone, which displayed the name "Crazy Lan."


    "Crazy Lan" was a nickname Jiang Ci had given Han Lan.


    Han Lan nodded eagerly like a Peke, "Yes, Mr. Lu, Jiang Ci couldn''t find her phone, so she asked me to call it."


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    Han Lan even mentioned Jiang Ci''s name, making it impossible for her to disappear.


    "Your phone? You left it on the front seat while you were holding your suitcase," Lu Yudong said, his gaze shifting to Jiang Ci. His eyes were calm but carried a deep meaning, a look that was both familiar and unfathomable, unique to Lu Yudong, and completely indecipherable to Jiang Ci.


    "Oh, it was an accident, my mistake. Thank you, Mr. Lu." Despite her inner turmoil, Jiang Ci nodded gratefully, taking the phone from Lu Yudong''s hands, playing along with his act.


    After resolving the awkward situation, Lu Yudong turned back around.


    Jiang Ci pretended to scroll through her phone, but she couldn''t focus on anything. The way Lu Yudong returned the phone seemed to hint at something, and Jiang Ci clearly heard in his voice: last night''s incident ends here!


    Jiang Ci was an adult, not one to shy away from reality. She had intended to treat last night as just a dream.


    She wondered if her name, "Jiang Ci," had left any impression on him, for better or worse. She hoped he was too busy to dwell on it.


    Half a month passed without Jiang Ci seeing Lu Yudong again. Even when the group held meetings, they were for the executives, and she was just an intern with an uncertain future.


    Aside from worrying about securing a position at New East Group, Jiang Ci occasionally thought of Lu Yudong and their unresolved encounter, as it was her first time.


    ***


    One day, the internal phone on Jiang Ci''s desk rang.


    "Jiang Ci?" the voice on the other end asked.


    Jiang Ci felt a pang of panic and confusion. Why did this voice sound so familiar?


    Since that night, Lu Yudong''s magnetic voice saying "turn off the lights" had been replaying in her mind, so this voice was not unfamiliar to her.


    "Yes."


    "Come to my office."


    "Hmm?"


    "Come to my office," the voice repeated.


    "Oh." Jiang Ci''s heart was pounding. She thought: it probably wasn''t about work. Their positions were too far apart, and even if there was a work issue, he wouldn''t seek her out. Could it be about the team building event? To prevent more people from finding out about that day, was Lu Yudong going to let her go?


    After knocking on Lu Yudong''s office door, Jiang Ci found that he wasn''t as nonchalant as he had been on the team building day. Instead, he was scrutinizing her from head to toe.


    This scrutiny made Jiang Ci even more flustered.


    Yet, those eyes, though deep and unfathomable, were something Jiang Ci couldn''t help but gaze into greedily.


    Jiang Ci looked at Lu Yudong with such greed.


    It left Lu Yudong feeling inexplicably puzzled.


    "Is there something on my face?" he asked Jiang Ci.


    Jiang Ci snapped back to reality, "Hmm?"


    Lu Yudong didn''t pursue the topic further and directly asked Jiang Ci, "How about marrying me?"


    Jiang Ci furrowed her brows slightly, "Hmm?"


    The topic was worlds apart from what Jiang Ci had been thinking about just moments ago.