Beijing Colors Lingering

In the days that followed, He Sinian's ex-girlfriend did not reappear.

He Sinian remained the same as always, continuing to be a dutiful boyfriend.

Qiao Yunshu would occasionally doubt whether she had feelings for him because of his meticulous care.

However, the thought of his attitude towards his ex-girlfriend made her hesitate, and she could only maintain a calm and indifferent attitude.

If she secretly falls in love, and He Sinian one day feels that they are not suitable and therefore proposes to break up, what will she choose then?

Did they readily agree to break up?

Or will he shamelessly pester He Sinian?

True feelings can change in an instant; in the end, love depends entirely on one's conscience.

She simply didn't dare to gamble on such an unknown assumption.

Forget it, it's better to just pretend we're together, at least then I won't have to deal with blind dates anymore.

Even if they eventually get married, it will only be a business marriage, and they absolutely cannot develop feelings for each other.

Qiao Yunshu sighed softly, shook her head slightly, forced herself to stop overthinking, and then turned off the time-killing machine that was running.

She then looked down and saw that a large bowl of cream had been over-whipped.

Qiao Yunshu felt a brief pang of heartache, then decisively dumped everything into the trash can.

She took off her gloves, washed her hands, and walked out of the production room to the dessert display stand.

Not long after, Qiao Yunshu saw a familiar figure and immediately froze.

Why is he here? Shouldn't he be at the company at this time?

He Sinian walked over slowly, a slight smile playing on his lips, and asked, "Are you done with your work?"

"I'm done with my work for now." Qiao Yunshu nodded slightly, then asked him curiously, "What are you doing here?"

He Sinian raised an eyebrow and smiled slightly, "I didn't have anything to do this afternoon, so I left the company early to wait for you to get off work here."

Qiao Yunshu glanced at her watch and smiled. "Then you can go sit down first. I won't be able to leave for a while."

“Okay.” He Sinian then sat down by the window.

Seeing this, Qiao Yunshu asked the shop assistant to bring him a drink and a dessert.

About an hour later, Qiao Yunshu sat down in the seat opposite He Sinian.

He Sinian lifted his eyelids to look at her, his deep, casual voice ringing out: "Your dessert shop employs several bakers and staff. You don't need to come to the shop often, nor do you need to make things yourself. Just come by occasionally."

Qiao Yunshu smiled helplessly and explained to him earnestly, "I opened this dessert shop because I love making all kinds of desserts and cakes. If I just put in the money and don't manage it, then there's no point in opening the shop. Of course, I don't come to the shop every day; I schedule time off for myself every week."

Upon hearing this, He Sinian raised an eyebrow and said jokingly, "I still don't know you well enough. I need to work harder in the future."

Qiao Yunshu smiled faintly, ignoring He Sinian's words, and then changed the subject, saying, "Let's go have dinner first. You've always treated me to dinner before, so let me treat you today."

He Sinian didn't stand on ceremony with her and nodded in agreement, "Okay."

-

After a long while, the night deepened.

At the magnificent gate of the villa district, a Maybach stopped. He Sinian's assistant got out of the passenger seat, went to the back seat, and bowed to open the car door.

He Sinian and Qiao Yunshu got out of the car and walked forward with her.

At that time, a gentle breeze and a bright moon blew, and the silvery light light gently fell on the road.

"Qiao Yunshu".

He Sinian casually called out to her.

Qiao Yunshu stopped in her tracks upon hearing the sound and turned to look at the man beside her.

He Sinian lowered his eyes to stare at Qiao Yunshu, his brows twitching slightly, and asked, "How do you feel about me now?"

After a few seconds of pause, he asked again, "What do you think of me as a person?"

Qiao Yunshu was stunned upon hearing this. She pursed her lips, considered her words carefully, and then replied, "You are a good person and very meticulous in your work."

He Sinian: "..."

The atmosphere around them instantly became awkward and delicate.

After a moment, He Sinian cleared his throat and said gently, "Qiao Yunshu, if you think I'm not bad, why don't we turn our fake relationship into a real one and become boyfriend and girlfriend?"

After he finished speaking, he stared at Qiao Yunshu, waiting for her reply, a faint light seeming to emerge in his eyes.

Qiao Yunshu slowly lowered her eyes, and after thinking for a long time, she slowly opened her mouth: "He Sinian, we agreed from the beginning that we were just pretending to be together to appease each other's elders."

He Sinian paused for a moment, pondered for a few seconds, then smiled and calmly said, "But we also agreed that if we don't have someone we like in the future, we'll just get married."

Upon hearing this, Qiao Yunshu calmly replied, "Even if we eventually reach that point, it will only be a business marriage, so there's no need for us to actually date now."

He Sinian's expression gradually became serious, his gaze intense, and his deep voice rang out: "Qiao Yunshu, I have never actually thought about accepting an arranged marriage. Every time my family arranges a blind date, I just go through the motions."

As soon as he finished speaking, silence fell over the surroundings, with only the sound of the wind blowing.

Even though Qiao Yunshu was slow to understand matters of the heart, she finally grasped the unspoken meaning behind He Sinian's words.

After a long silence of several seconds, Qiao Yunshu softly gave her answer: "He Sinian, let's continue with the status quo."

He Sinian stared at her intently, his eyes dimming slightly, a hint of undisguised disappointment flashing across them. After a long while, he finally uttered a single word: "Okay."

"Then you don't need to see me off, I'm going home." Qiao Yunshu turned and left immediately without waiting for him to speak.

He Sinian watched Qiao Yunshu's departing figure silently until it completely disappeared from sight before he moved.

He slowly walked to the side, took out a cigarette case from his pocket, and lit a cigarette with his slender fingers.

After the cigarette ash between his two fingers burned out, he threw it into the ashtray on top of the trash can.

He Sinian did not rush to leave, but stood quietly in place, exuding a sense of loneliness.

Much later, when he returned to the carriage, he realized that his whole body had been chilled by the night wind.

-

Qiao Yunshu thought she wouldn't receive a message from He Sinian tonight, but unexpectedly, she still saw his "goodnight" message before going to sleep.

However, Qiao Yunshu did not reply, but instead turned off her phone screen.

She closed her eyes and leaned against the bedside table, unable to stop herself from recalling what had just happened, feeling a chaotic and conflicted mix of emotions.

The following afternoon, He Sinian still appeared at Qiao Yunshu's dessert shop.

He acted as if nothing had happened, remaining as nonchalant and lazy as ever.

Qiao Yunshu was initially worried that the two of them would feel awkward or uncomfortable, but seeing this, she secretly breathed a sigh of relief and pretended that nothing had happened.

It was a weekday, and there weren't many customers coming and going at the dessert shop, so the staff members secretly glanced at the two people chatting.

They all wore gossipy expressions, clearly excited about the couple, and each remarked on how wonderful the relationship between their boss and her boyfriend was.

A few days later, on Friday, the dessert shop saw a significant increase in customers.

After finishing the last large batch of chocolate mousse cake, Qiao Yunshu walked out of the production room.

She then sat down in the chair at the display stand, turned on her personal computer, and began to carefully review the day's sales figures and product sales records.

After a long while, a clear and steady voice suddenly rang out in front of Qiao Yunshu—

"Long time no see, Yunshu."