The carriage was quiet after she finished sending her message.
Secretary Fu was tapping away on her phone. Judging by her expression, she was in high spirits. A pendant of a cute, chibi-style boy dangled from her phone, swaying back and forth before her eyes.
Shang Fuyan rested his chin on one hand, tilting his head to glance at the little figure.
*Truly ugly.*
He couldn't be blamed for thinking so. Having been pampered and polished since childhood—though the loss of baby fat in adulthood had only made his features more angular and sharp—Shang Fuyan possessed a unique, breathtaking appearance. Few could compare to his innate air of nobility.
By contrast, Chen Baichuan was quite ordinary, the kind of person who wouldn't draw a second glance in a crowd.
"Hah."
As Secretary Fu finished sending her message, the joy on her face was replaced by a sense of loss. She leaned back against the seat, staring blankly at the chair in front of her. A few minutes later, she lowered her gaze to the window, only to catch the reflection of Shang Fuyan.
Suddenly struck by a thought, she turned her head and called out, "Chairman."
Shang Fuyan, who had been focused on a report from Assistant Li on his phone, looked up at her call. "Hm?"
"I wanted to ask, what were you doing when you were my age?"
He raised an eyebrow. Why did that make him feel so old? The two of them were only four years apart.
"That was four years ago." Shang Fuyan crossed his arms, sifting through his memories. "I had just taken over as CEO, and every shareholder and director was waiting to see me make a fool of myself."
"'Can a CEO who only got his position through connections really manage such a massive group? He’ll probably be overwhelmed before long and make a huge mistake.'"
His brow smoothed as he spoke of the past.
"Unfortunately for them, things didn't go as they had hoped. I had already interned in every department within the group, figuring out the operational processes of each one. I hired several mentors with extensive senior management experience to guide me, and I worked through the nights, overtime every day."
"The first year was full of stumbling blocks, but I summarized the lessons for the second year, and by the third, I had achieved new results on top of those foundations."
"By the fourth year, I became Chairman. You arrived just a year after that."
"When I was your age, I was so anxious I lost hair every day. Sleep deprivation and overtime were the norm. But I kept grinding, and eventually, I made it through."
He suddenly shifted the tone of the conversation. "Back then, my mind was occupied only by work. No one and nothing could influence me. Perhaps that’s why my friends are almost all just the same business associates I’ve been dealing with for years."
Secretary Fu was moved by his recollections and couldn't help but nod. "You are someone destined for great things, Chairman."
"You are, too. During your interview, you even told me you planned on becoming the world's next richest person."
Fu You'an laughed. "It’s not so easy to become the world’s richest person. I’m still at least fifty years away from that goal."
Shang Fuyan: "Where there’s a will, there’s a way."
Secretary Fu paused in surprise.
"The simplest lesson is to find your current most important goal, eliminate all unnecessary distractions, and keep moving forward."
Shang Fuyan’s cold, magnetic voice, rich with the charm of a mature man, echoed in her ears. "On the path of a career, you must be willing to make sacrifices."
"Sacrifice time, sacrifice companionship, and even love—"
His words were callous, but there was no helping it; business people couldn't get very far if they were guided by sentiment. "That is only my opinion, of course. Everyone sees things differently."
Secretary Fu shook her head. "Your idea is sound, Chairman, but it is very difficult to put into practice."
Shang Fuyan didn't know why he had been so talkative lately, but he heard himself say slowly:
"With me as an example, it isn't difficult."
...
That night.
After Shang Fuyan finished his shower, he saw the newly purchased smartwatch sitting on his nightstand. He picked it up and examined it for a few seconds before placing it back down.
The usually clear-headed and prudent Chairman Shang was actually hesitating: should he continue to indulge in that improper dream?
Yesterday, he had been firmly against it.
Today, he wavered. It was all because of what Secretary Fu had said when she thought he wasn't looking: "The Chairman is so cute." Or perhaps it was the look of trust and adoration in her eyes in the car today, where he had been her sole focus.
He had actually developed a secret anticipation.
Under normal circumstances, once Shang Fuyan realized he had developed improper intentions, he would have immediately stopped the loss and removed the dangerous variable.
He had managed to do so for a few days, but then he had allowed himself to lapse.
And then there was that conversation in the car today—was he truly trying to mentor Secretary Fu with his own experience? Or was he secretly trying to make her focus on her career and not let anyone distract her?
It was absurd. He had developed a wild, impossible delusion: he had fallen for a Secretary Fu who already had a boyfriend.
At this moment, Shang Fuyan finally surrendered and admitted it to himself.
He was in love with Fu You'an.
The facts themselves didn't matter; what mattered was the question that followed—should he indulge himself and take her by force, or should he practice restraint and pretend none of it existed?
That night, the smartwatch was put on and taken off, over and over again.
He tossed and turned, unable to sleep. After waiting with his eyes closed for a long time, he finally chose to take the watch off for good.
The excuse: it was uncomfortable against his wrist.
Yet, for reasons unknown, Shang Fuyan slept exceptionally well that night. When he woke up, he realized that the thing he had been longing for hadn't happened.
He stared blankly at the harsh white light filtering through the curtains, his mood irritable.
He inexplicably recalled the previous dream, where she had been angry, with tears in her eyes, saying, "I swear I will never come to find you again!"
She was truly angry; she was avoiding him.
The next day, after finishing his business trip, Secretary Fu took three days of leave once her work was done. Her classmates from her study-abroad days had asked her to join them at the beach—all of them children of well-known domestic families.
She said she would have bodyguards with her, so Shang Fuyan didn't refuse.
Rest was necessary, after all.
Two nights passed, and once again, he slept dreamlessly until dawn. The beautiful woman in the moonlight was gone, as were those affectionate, soulful eyes.
Just as he was feeling lost, a black car stopped by the bustling roadside.
"Miss, fresh roses~"
The flower seller approached and knocked on the car window.
The window rolled down slowly, revealing a magnificent face—it was the very person he had been thinking of day and night.
Shang Fuyan couldn't help but walk over to speak to her, but the car sped off in a hurry. By the time he reached the spot, only the flower seller remained.
The flower seller turned around and saw the handsome man approaching him. "Sir, are you looking for me?"
The man's expression was desolate; his sharp brows were etched with disappointment. "No, I am looking for the young lady in that black car."
"That’s not difficult. She comes to buy red roses every day."
These words gave the man, who had been at a total loss, a sudden surge of spirit. He pulled cash from his wallet. "Thank you."
The scene shifted rapidly to another busy city street. The black car arrived right on schedule, pulling up steadily at the same spot as yesterday, and the flower seller knocked on the window again.
The window rolled down. The melancholy beauty didn't look up, habitually pulling out cash and extending it through the window. "One red rose."
The flower seller handed over the rose.
She never once raised her head, her white fingers turning the red rose over to examine it for a long time. Eventually, the flower seller bent down, blocking her view of the window, and said helplessly, "I know I was wrong. Will you really not look at me?"
"Hmph."
She clearly knew the flower seller was him. She turned her face away and told the driver to leave.
The black car drove off.
Shang Fuyan’s lips curled into a smile. On the third day, he arrived at the intersection on time.
He repeated the flower-buying transaction, but this time, the rose was accompanied by an exquisite gift box. As Shang Fuyan had anticipated, the first thing she opened was a letter, with a shimmering silver necklace tucked underneath.
Regrettably, she didn't look at it. She shoved the gift box out through the gap in the window without saying a word.
"An'an." He called her name, an uncharacteristic breach of etiquette. "I know I was wrong. Won't you talk to me?"
The black car drove away. Shang Fuyan stood up straight, his smile vanishing.
She was truly ignoring him.
On the fourth day at the intersection, when the love letter failed, he tried a beautiful dress, only for it to be thrown out of the car as well.
On the fifth day, when the dress failed, he tried various jewels, which were also thrown out.
On the sixth day, she arrived and left immediately.
On the seventh day, she arrived and left immediately.
Inside his Lincoln, the man smoked impatiently. The smoke swirling in the back of the car blurred the haughty contours of his face.
He glanced at the proposal Assistant Li had submitted. "No. She doesn't like any of these. Think of something else."
Even in a dream, Assistant Li was forced to work.
After being rejected time and time again, Assistant Li was so angry he threatened to quit, only to disappear from view riding a giant pig the moment he stepped out of the car.
Unable to come up with a good idea, the man could only wait for her at the same spot day after day, bringing her the flowers she liked.
Time in the dream flew by with his desires.
He didn't know how many cycles had passed, but suddenly, Shang Fuyan found himself lying on a soft bed. Above him was the brilliant, beautiful woman. His broad shoulders were pressed down by her slender hands. He could have pushed her off, but he didn't want to move at all.
"Dummy, you’ve been waiting by the roadside for so long without using your brain. Didn't you know you could just follow me?"
It turned out that she, inside the car, hadn't been able to help herself and had kidnapped him back to press him onto the bedroom bed.
A cough escaped Shang Fuyan’s throat. The once composed and rational Chairman revealed a fragile side before her. "I'm sorry, An'an. I was just being a fool..."