Song Dashen felt as though he had dropped a rock on his own foot.

As he watched, his obedient disciple said with a face blossoming red, “I think that even though we haven’t interacted that often outside of work, I still feel like he really understands me, though I don’t know why. It’s like he knows everything about me.”

Like a shy little girl, Yu Zi said, “Mentor, do you think this is fate? We’ve barely even really known each other, but he just knows me so well. That’s why I don’t think he’ll look down on me like an outsider would if I take a little initiative.”

As soon as she said that, Yu Zi smiled sweetly.

“…” Song Dashen felt his liver hurting. “Fishie, listen to me. Girls should be a little more modest. What’ll you do if he takes you for granted because you’re too forward? Since he already likes you, you just have to wait for him to make the first move!”

“But I’m scared someone else will steal him away. Even you say he’s especially great, mentor. You said he’s a guy worth entrusting my life too. I’m sure I’m not the only one to fancy a guy like that. Besides, if he really does like me, I just have to be a bit more forward, and the deal would be done. Yue Jingchen had made the first move back then too, but look where we are now.” Yu Zi’s voice turned slightly lower, and her mood fell too.

“How can this compare?” Song Dashen almost felt like he had a score to settle with Yan Huaian now. How did he enrapture his disciple so thoroughly?!

Yu Zi was an introverted girl!

“Mentor, you said he’s a good guy, right? Besides, he knows me well and he won’t misunderstand me, so there’s nothing for me to worry about,” Yu Zi said, drinking a sip of water. “Don’t worry about it, mentor.”

Song Dashen, “…”

Hence, as the two of them were on the way back to the office after lunch, Song Dashen saw Yu Zi take out her phone and call Yan Huaian of her own accord.

Yu Zi was pretty, well-mannered, and capable at work. Plenty of people had expressed their interest in her, including the firm’s clients.

On the other hand, Yu Zi did not reject them just because she was already dating Yue Jingchen. Even if she was single, she would not feel anything for those men.

So why did she fall for Yan Huaian?! And she was so aggressive about it too!

Before long, the call went through, and he heard his obedient disciple say, “It’s me, Yu Zi.”

Yan Huaian had not expected Yu Zi to take the initiative and call him, so he was especially pleasantly surprised.

Yu Zi could not see him, but on the other end of the call, Yan Huaian had abruptly stood up from his seat, startling Liu Jiamu who was sitting opposite him.

Yan Huaian could not care less about Liu Jiamu now. Turning around to face the floor-to-ceiling window behind him, he looked down.

It would be even better if he could see Yu Zi pass by right now.

Unfortunately, he could not.

Yan Huaian was so excited that his smile was shaking, but his voice still sounded warm and steady, with a soft chuckle that made one’s heart tremble. “I know. I have your contact, so I saw the caller ID.”

What Yu Zi did not know was that Yan Huaian had secretly set her user ID as Fish Baby.

Fishie was Yu Zi’s family’s childhood nickname for her. After Yu Zi joined the firm and became Song Dashen’s student, Song Dashen began by calling her Xiao Yu. After a while, though, the line between Xiao Yu and Fish blurred into nothing (TN: the Chinese word for “fish” is pronounced yu). Once the two of them grew closer, as close as a father and daughter, he just went with Fish.

However, Yan Huaian did not want to call her the same way anyone else did, not even if that anyone was part of her family or her mentor.

He figured that Yu Zi was his baby, so he secretly gave her a nickname, Fish Baby.

Yan Huaian’s wish was to see the day when he could openly call her “baby”.

At that thought, Yan Huaian’s expression grew even gentler, tender enough to drown someone.

Liu Jiamu quietly walked to his side and peeked at him from a distance, but Yan Huaian’s expression was so lovey-dovey that it gave him goosebumps. Unable to continue looking at him, Liu Jiamu turned his face away.

Yu Zi felt that she must really have fallen for Yan Huaian, because just hearing his voice made her especially happy.

He had not even said anything, but such a simple response was already enough to send her heart racing.

She snuck a glance at Song Dashen next to her, but her mentor’s face seemed to say, “This disciple isn’t mine, she’s too embarrassing. A daughter married is a daughter lost.”

Yu Zi, “…”

“Yu Zi? Are you still there?” Yan Huaian asked. He had not heard Yu Zi’s voice for a long while now, and he missed it terribly, wanting nothing more than to immediately go to her side.

“Yeah, I’m here,” Yu Zi said hurriedly. She moved slightly to the side, creating some distance between herself and Song Dashen. She even lowered her voice because she felt too awkward to let Song Dashen hear her. His expression was getting a bit too much for her.

Song Dashen, “…”

“Are you busy now?” Yu Zi asked.

“No, I’m on lunch break,” Yan Huaian said without batting an eyelid.

Liu Jiamu, “…”

He lowered his head and looked at the documents piled up in front of him. ‘Senior, you’re clearly using your lunch break for OT, aren’t you?’

In the past, Yan Huaian stayed back in the office at night to do overtime work.

Ever since he moved to Autumn Garden, though, he moved his overtime to his lunch break, all so he could get out of work on time every night. As a result, Liu Jiamu had to compromise on his lunch hour too, as Yan Huaian dragged him into working together. He could not even have a peaceful lunch.

Yan Huaian was doing this to woo a girl, but what did Liu Jiamu have?

At least Yan Huaian had a girl!

He had nothing at all!

Just thinking about it made his chest hurt.

“I wanted to ask you, what do you want to eat for dinner? I still have some veggies at home, but there isn’t much left. If there’s anything you want to eat, I’ll go shopping for supplies at the store after work tonight.”

Yan Huaian could barely believe his luck. Not only was this Yu Zi’s first time calling him of her own accord, she was even saying that she wanted to make him the food he liked!

What did this mean?

Yan Huaian was already dying to ask Liu Jiamu.

He really wanted to tell Yu Zi, “I like anything you cook.”

However, he did not want to sound too flippant, so he covered the phone and cleared his throat before saying, “I’m not really picky. What do we have at home?”

Next to him, Liu Jiamu was seriously impressed by what he heard. Just listen to that conversation, see how skilled it was. He did not tell her what he wanted to eat directly, but he first asked her about what they had at home. That totally sounded like the two of them lived together. At the same time, he could use this excuse to lengthen the conversation with Yu Zi.

Liu Jiamu shook his head. Yan Huaian truly was an old hand at this; look at all the tricks he had up his sleeve!

Since Yu Zi had acknowledged her feelings, she felt nothing but affection for Yan Huaian now. Naturally, that meant she no longer kept her distance from him, neither was she overly aware of what she said.

Now, she felt nothing but happiness when she talked to Yan Huaian. Her voice grew gentler, and everything she said took Yan Huaian into consideration first.

All the affection she had given Yue Jingchen in the past now belonged to Yan Huaian.

Yu Zi carefully listed out all the ingredients she had at home, and as Yan Huaian listened to her soft and gentle voice, the smile on the corners of his lips softened too.

He waited until she was done before he said, “I like all those things. How about we buy a few mitten crabs on the way home tonight and steam them? I suddenly feel like eating that.”

“Sure thing.” Yu Zi nodded happily.

When she called him to ask him what he wanted for dinner, it both was and was not an excuse.

Since she had decided to pursue him, she needed a reason to contact him. After some thought, this was the reason she came up with. At the same time, though, it was true that she wanted to do something for him.

She liked him, so she wanted to make him happy.

After so many years of dating Yue Jingchen, the truth was that initial flutter of love had long since faded. All that was left was their habitual companionship. The two of them had been lovers as well as family.

After they broke up, though, she had rediscovered that spark in Yan Huaian.

Yu Zi’s face grew redder the more she heard his voice. She had run out of reasons for the call, but she was too reluctant to hang up.

Yan Huaian noticed that though Yu Zi was not saying anything, she did not hang up either. He was even wondering why her attitude toward him changed.

Could it be that the way he stood up for her yesterday moved her?

Either way, Yan Huaian did not want it to end like this either, so he asked, “Judging by the time, I’d guess you already finished eating?”

“Yeah, I just had lunch with my mentor, and now we’re on the way back to the office,” Yu Zi replied softly. “Have you… eaten?”

Yan Huaian glanced at the lunch box on his desk that had gone almost completely cold, but he said, “Yeah, I have.”

Liu Jiamu grimaced, looking like he had a toothache,

A man in love could even lie with a smitten face!

Yu Zi’s lips curved softly, her smile both shy and sweet. Song Dashen rubbed the corners of his eyes. He could no longer bear to watch.

“What did you have for lunch?” Yu Zi continued asking.

Yan Huaian thought that it would be good to tell the truth every so often so her heart would ache for him. Hence, he swallowed the words he had been about to say and replied, “I ordered a lunch box.”

Yan Huaian cocked his head, saying, “It’s a curry chicken chop rice set, with some side dishes. I got it delivered from a fast food store near the company.”