Chapter 52: He was too tall, I didn't reach the kiss

Tonight, Song Xi had a dream.

Once again, she found herself reliving the night she went to the bar after a heartbreak.

Stumbling, she grabbed a man's tie at the bar's entrance.

“Zh-Zhang He… hic…”

“Let’s get married. Let me be He Ning’s dear sister-in-law. I really, really want to… be family with her.”

The man’s eyes twitched beneath his mask.

“You broke up?”

“Yeah… completely, clean slate!”

“Are you sure?” he asked again.

“What sure or not sure…” Song Xi frowned. “You like me, we sleep together, then get the certificate.”

“D-Do you dare?”

The man said nothing, seemingly stunned by her boldness at first move.

“Oh, I forgot you’re a public figure, shy and proper. Then I’ll take the initiative. If you agree to marry me, you just go along with it.”

Song Xi, hazy and confused, yanked off his mask and pulled him in for a kiss by his tie.

The first time, he was too tall; she missed.

She stood on tiptoe, leaning up.

Still missed.

She kept reaching…

Just when she was about to give up, the man lowered his head and pressed his lips to hers.

…

Song Xi was awakened by the shrill alarm, realizing it was morning. Her pajamas were damp with sweat.

So tired…

How was even dreaming so exhausting?

She didn’t dare look at Jing Zhuo during breakfast; the dream was too intense.

She still hadn’t recovered.

After breakfast, Jing Zhuo left earlier for work.

Song Xi dawdled packing her things before heading down to the garage.

As she drove her extravagant 2.58 million sports car through the garage, a sleek business van ahead parted to let her pass first.

Song Xi: “…”

Apparently, everyone in the neighborhood knew she was a terrible driver.

She must practice driving—better to fight for dignity than bread. She’d practice during the holiday!

By late morning, having organized some negatives and with no immediate work, Song Xi idled at her desk.

A friend request popped up on WeChat.

She opened it and saw the note: “Xu Jincheng.”

Song Xi closed her eyes, seeming to lose all strength.

This guy was really persistent… Did he really have to push for this blind date?

Remembering her grandmother’s orders, although far away from home, she dared not outright refuse. The old lady’s heart was fragile and prone to attacks; if anger caused harm…

The whole family would hold a meeting to criticize her.

She decided to accept, just to placate.

Song Xi clicked agree. Seconds later, a message arrived—simple and direct.

“Shall we meet?”

Clearly, he was insistent on this meeting.

Song Xi thought for a moment, choosing a tight time slot.

“I have one hour off at noon, thirty minutes for lunch, so thirty minutes left. Is that okay?”

“Okay, see you at 12:30.”

He agreed readily.

Really…!?

Song Xi stared at the screen, unable to believe it.

She expected him to cancel given the short notice, but he was surprisingly enthusiastic.

Having sent the message, she couldn’t back out.

So, bracing herself, she messaged Jing Zhuo with a screenshot and an explanation.

She wasn’t emotionally cheating and respected their marriage.

She just messed up and needed to handle this, reporting for half an hour.

After a moment, he replied:

“Okay.”

This time he was surprisingly agreeable.

Song Xi was a bit surprised.

It seemed that as long as she took the initiative to explain, he would understand and accept it.

As long as she wasn’t deceitful, it was fine.

She sent a “dog winking” emoji.

Jing Zhuo was silent for a while, then replied with a “dog smiling” emoji.

Hmm?

Wasn’t that Zhang Hening’s big golden retriever?

That emoji was her own creation—how did Jing Zhuo have it too?

Oh…

He was friends with Zhang Hening, probably shared information and chatted together, saving each other’s emojis.

The supposedly stern and rigid Zhang brother was actually quite trendy, using such cute stickers!

Meanwhile, Jing Zhuo scrolled through the family group chat, finding a proper dog photo Zhang Hening had sent two months ago.

Serious, friendly, not abstract.

The same breed as her dog.

“Boss, Xu Jincheng has arrived at our company.”

Chen Feng reported, “You asked me at 10 PM last night to arrange a meeting; he’s already at the lobby.”

Jing Zhuo: “Project proposal?”

“Brought it.”

“Notify relevant staff, meeting at 10 in Conference Room 1.”

“Understood.”

The meeting lasted from 10 AM to 12 PM.

From concept to planning, development, profitability, to future prospects, Jing Zhuo sat steady as a rock, showing no sign of ending it.

Xu Jincheng’s assistant spoke fluently, going through the entire PPT forward and backward, nearly detailing the market trends twenty years ahead.

Still, Jing Zhuo said nothing about ending the meeting.

Xu Jincheng kept checking his watch, his date time slipping away, and finally suggested wrapping up.

“Shall we stop here today?”

Jing Zhuo flipped through some pages of the proposal leisurely. “Explain the product design on page three again. You weren’t detailed enough earlier.”

Xu Jincheng: “…”

They had even explained the color of the protective film on the product’s bottom—how could that be insufficient detail?

What exactly did he want to hear!?

Since he was here, he didn’t want to waste the opportunity and nodded to his assistant.

The assistant, frustrated, began the entire explanation from the start again.

At 12:30, the meeting finally ended.

It took half an hour to reach San Dao Tower, so the date was clearly impossible now.

Xu Jincheng hurried out while messaging the other party, trying to gain another thirty minutes.

But Chen Feng stopped him.

“Mr. Xu, why not join us for lunch in the company cafeteria?”

“No, I have other matters.”

“What could be so urgent at noon? Don’t be polite. Even if the project fails, Bai He will cover a meal. Come on, eat first.”

Before he could refuse, Chen Feng tugged him along.

Xu Jincheng’s date was completely ruined.

Song Xi waited in the restaurant for thirty minutes but saw no sign of her blind date.

Just as she was about to leave, she received a message apologizing for standing her up.

Well, impressive.

Agreed but didn’t show up—she suspected it was deliberate.

Fine, just as she wished, it was better not to meet.

Song Xi replied with a “1” and left the café, heading back.

When she returned to the office, she found a bouquet of yellow roses on her desk.

Song Xi: “?”

Leafy, the gossip, leaned in eagerly: “Xi, the front desk just delivered this takeaway. Someone sent it to you—must be from your husband, right?”

“Ah, the love-struck woman! Having such a romantic husband must be wonderful!”

“I’ll look up the meaning of yellow roses!”

“Wait, it means apology and regret… Maybe I’m looking it up wrong, I’ll check again!”

Song Xi stared at the flowers, suddenly recalling the last candlelit dinner where roses adorned the table.

It was from Jing Zhuo.

Was he afraid she’d spend too much time with the blind date and sent flowers to assert his presence?

Trying to make her feel guilty?

Song Xi snapped a photo of the yellow roses and sent it to him.

“I got the flowers~ They smell lovely, I like them~”

“Also, I didn’t go on the blind date—it was a no-show. I’m back now, so rest easy~”

In Bai He Group’s executive office, Jing Zhuo stared silently at the photo of the roses on his phone.