上海安全生产监督局

Watching Shen Nian close the door, Liang Jinghe finally turned her gaze away, looking at the busy Lu Lingchuan.

She wanted to say something but hesitated.

After a long internal struggle, she finally spoke up.

"Lingchuan, have you made up your mind?" she asked.

"Mm." Lu Lingchuan continued working, his voice indifferent: "My mother\'s health isn\'t good. One more happy event to cheer her up is a good thing."

"..." Liang Jinghe fell silent, pressing her lips together.

"Then... is there really no chance for you and her?" Liang Jinghe knew her position didn\'t allow her to ask this, but she still did.

"..." Lu Lingchuan\'s hand holding the pen trembled slightly. The pen tip pressed against the paper, and the ink quickly spread, leaving a very obvious mark.

He quietly put the pen aside and crumpled the paper into a ball, tossing it into the empty trash can nearby.

Without answering Liang Jinghe\'s question, Lu Lingchuan only said: "If you\'re unwilling, you can refuse at any time."

"..." This left Liang Jinghe speechless.

She lowered her eyes, a bitter smile tugging at her lips.

Willing? How could she not be willing?

Even knowing that he hadn\'t truly let go of the person in his heart, even knowing that she had never truly entered his heart, he had also clearly told her and respected her choice.

But faced with his request, she still found it difficult to refuse.

...

Apart from that day when they met while delivering documents, in the following days, Lu Lingchuan and Shen Nian were busy with their own affairs.

Shen Nian was responsible for a project and often spent time in the meeting room, while Lu Lingchuan had his own arrangements. They wouldn\'t even cross paths once in a normal day.

During this time, Shen Nian had been living in her own home. Every day after returning home, she had no social life, no hobbies, not even watching TV. She just sat on the sofa hugging her knees, staring into space with no time limit.

After spacing out, she would get up and go to bed, then go to work the next day. After work, she would eat, shower, and then after showering, continue to space out. This cycle repeated itself.

After another busy day, Shen Nian finally finished her work.

She checked the time and realized it was quite late.

She quickly packed up her things, grabbed her bag, and left.

Walking to the roadside to hail a taxi, one quickly pulled up.

Shen Nian opened the back door and got in.

"Driver, please go to..." She was about to automatically give the address of the Shen family home, but remembering there were no change of clothes there, after some consideration, she gave the address of the other place.

The car stopped at the entrance of the residential complex. Shen Nian got out and entered.

She entered the building and took the elevator.

Coming out of the elevator, she held the password door lock, lightly pressing her thumb on the fingerprint recognition spot.

The door unlocked successfully.

She opened the door to a very quiet apartment.

Opening the shoe cabinet to change her shoes, she had just taken out her shoes and put them on the ground when her peripheral vision caught sight of a pair of large, light gray slippers also on the floor.

These were new slippers they had bought together at the supermarket recently. As the weather had turned cold, Shen Nian had picked out new thick slippers for both of them.

They hadn\'t followed the typical couple\'s choice of blue and pink matching slippers, but rather chose the same color and style in different sizes.

Seeing those slippers, Shen Nian frowned slightly, a hint of confusion flashing in her eyes.

She clearly remembered putting those slippers in the shoe cabinet when she left, so how did they end up outside?

But she didn\'t think too much about it, put the slippers back in, changed into her own, and entered the apartment.

She had been busy all day and was both tired and sleepy. She didn\'t even stay in the living room, heading straight for the bedroom.

Yawning while closing the bedroom door, she then flopped onto the bed.

With her nose pressed against the comforter, a familiar scent wafted up. Shen Nian opened her eyes, becoming a bit more alert.

Thinking she might have smelled wrong, she grabbed the comforter and sniffed again uncertainly. That faint, pleasant scent lingered in her nostrils.

Lu Lingchuan had a very nice scent, very light and subtle, yet distinctive enough. It wasn\'t too feminine, but rather added a touch of allure and sexiness to his entire being.

She had thought that with Lu Lingchuan gone for many days, the room would have long lost his unique scent. She didn\'t expect it to still be there, and so strong at that.

Having smelled Lu Lingchuan\'s scent, Shen Nian became much more awake, sitting up straight on the bed.

It was a good time to go take a shower.

Lu Lingchuan had dinner with clients today and drank quite a bit.

Swaying as he walked, he managed to steady himself each time he was about to fall, making it home with great difficulty.

Standing at the door, he was in a drunken haze. His fingerprint failed to be recognized several times in a row. Lu Lingchuan frowned, a flash of impatience crossing his face.

He swiped the password lock screen, intending to enter the passcode to get in.

He was drunk, but his brain was very clear.

The password... the password was... the password was the death anniversary of his two children...

Fumbling, he pressed six numbers on the pad, then the # key.

The door unlocked successfully.

He turned the knob and entered.

His body swayed slightly, eyes half-closed.

Since that day when the security guard told him Shen Nian had left with her suitcase, Lu Lingchuan had been coming back here every day.

He didn\'t need to deliberately reminisce; just sleeping here for a night made him sleep very soundly.

He didn\'t even turn on the lights, changing his shoes in the dark.

After taking off one shoe, he was about to step into his slippers but stepped on empty air.

He frowned deeply.

Finally, he found the slippers in the shoe cabinet.

After changing shoes, he entered the apartment, swaying all the way.

At last, he reached the bedroom door, turned the doorknob, and pushed it open.

The faint light inside hit Lu Lingchuan like a blow to the head, instantly sobering him up.

As he looked up, his eyes met those of Shen Nian, who was sitting up in bed reading a magazine by the bedside lamp. Shen Nian\'s eyes were filled with bewilderment.

For the first few seconds after seeing Lu Lingchuan, she was stunned, followed by panic and confusion.

Why... why was he here?

This was their first face-to-face encounter since breaking up.

The atmosphere was incredibly awkward.

Not expecting Shen Nian to be back, Lu Lingchuan sobered up considerably.

Now that he was already inside, there was no backing out. His hand tightened on the doorknob as he came up with a somewhat plausible reason: "I came to get some clothes."

When he left before, he had deliberately not taken anything, preparing this very excuse for coming back here legitimately in the future.

Shen Nian came to her senses and responded with a soft "Mm."

Then she lowered her head to continue reading the magazine, though she couldn\'t focus on anything. She just flipped through the pages aimlessly.

Lu Lingchuan walked in, heading straight for the walk-in closet.

Opening the glass cabinet, he casually browsed through the clothes.

Shen Nian flipped through a magazine with a rustling sound, listening to the noise from the dressing room but not looking up at him.

Lu Lingchuan picked out a set of clothes at random, then dawdled over selecting a tie and tie clip.

He was about to leave with his chosen attire when something crossed his mind. He paused, glancing towards the bed. After a few seconds of hesitation, he spoke to Shen Nian.

"I\'m getting married."