Chapter 69: The Gift and the Private Reason

Not long ago, Lu Shi came here right after finishing up at the company.

Qing Jin Embroidery Workshop was quite famous, known for preserving intangible cultural heritage handicrafts. In his previous life, Lu Shi had received a scarf from someone, and the pattern and texture were excellent.

So when Sun Jie suggested giving a handmade gift, Lu Shi immediately thought of this place.

As soon as he entered, a young shop assistant warmly greeted him.

“Hello sir, what can I help you with?”

On the ground floor display counters, various hand-embroidered scarves, brocades, and sachets were beautifully patterned, elegant and refined.

When she learned that Lu Shi wanted to make a sachet himself for a friend.

Since giving a sachet traditionally carried a special meaning, to recommend fabric and patterns more accurately, the shop assistant directly asked, “Boyfriend or girlfriend?”

Lu Shi paused, pursed his lips, then added a word: “Male friend.”

The shop assistant seemed to understand and smiled. “So it’s not a boyfriend or girlfriend. This embroidery is very hard to learn. Spending time and effort to make a sachet for someone, that must be the person you care about.”

‘The person you care about… Does someone you genuinely want to thank count as the person you care about?’

Lu Shi didn’t explain further.

After all, the shop assistant didn’t know him, much less Shen Zheming. He was just an ordinary customer.

Lu Shi looked at the finished products in the display case, then at the silk thread and blank sachet he had bought. He was worried whether, given his clumsy hands, he could finish it before the Spring Festival.

As soon as he stepped out, he ran into Ding Wei, who was out with his little niece.

Kids had an early break, and Ding Wei’s classes at Minxing Institution were almost over for the semester.

“Yu Xi and I heard you’ve been starting a business lately, so we didn’t dare bother you. Didn’t expect to run into you here.”

The two found a nearby milk tea shop and sat down. The little niece beside them was holding her milk tea and sucking hard on the pearls inside.

Ding Wei smiled. “Brother Lu, were you just doing some handicrafts in there?”

Lu Shi, thinking that Ding Wei was a bigmouth who might spill the beans, directly denied it. “No, I was just passing by.”

“Huh? I clearly saw you come out of that shop just now.”

If Ding Wei used this inquisitive nature for studying, he would have gotten into a good university by now.

“Oh.” Lu Shi lowered his eyelids, his tone relaxed. “Just browsing.”

The weather was dry, and after a busy afternoon he was a bit thirsty. Lu Shi ordered a pure tea with nothing added.

The little niece choked on a pearl, startling Ding Wei. He threw his phone aside and quickly patted her back.

Lu Shi glanced inadvertently at Ding Wei’s phone.

Seizing the chance to change the subject, he asked, “You like watching anime?”

Ding Wei, acting like an anxious old father, quickly pushed his own milk tea without toppings into his niece’s hands.

Hearing this, his interest perked up and he started ranting. “Yeah, I’ve been following this anime for three years. The two main characters finally got drunk and kissed, but the next day when they sober up, they still don’t get together!”

Lu Shi bit his straw. “Getting drunk is just an accident. Maybe they don’t have feelings for each other. You can’t just get together because of an accident. That would be too rash.”

Ding Wei’s face suddenly leaned closer.

Lu Shi leaned back slightly. “What are you doing?”

Ding Wei said, “Brother Lu, although what you said makes sense, why does it sound like something a player would say?”

Lu Shi: “…”

“Scientists say that liking someone can be divided into physical liking and psychological liking.” Ding Wei bent his two thumbs. “People don’t kiss others for no reason. At least one of these two types of liking must be involved.”

“Besides, they were drunk, not stupid. They must have had some feelings to kiss. Take you for example…”

Ding Wei slapped Lu Shi’s shoulder with a ‘smack’ and said emphatically, “If you got drunk, would you kiss Brother Shen?”

Cough, !

Suddenly, a violent cough rang out in the milk tea shop.

Lu Shi was choked by his tea. He held onto the table and coughed dramatically.

Ding Wei was stunned.

He looked at Lu Shi’s trembling shoulders, thinking that his slap had been too hard and had caused the choking.

“You…” Lu Shi finally caught his breath. “Can’t you use someone else as an example?”

Ding Wei dumbly said ‘Ah,’ then, “Then switch to me. If you got drunk, would you kiss me?”

Maybe because he had coughed so hard, Lu Shi’s back felt a bit hot.

Lu Shi glanced at Ding Wei.

‘It really seemed like he wouldn’t.’

‘The psychological dam of self-deception gradually crumbled.’

‘The more he tried to ignore it, the clearer the memory became: the temperature of Shen Zheming’s palm over his eyes, and the soft lips with the scent of pheromones.’

‘Lu Shi had been trying to label that night as an accident, something they had to do. But if it was just to help relieve his heat, the kiss seemed unnecessary.’

‘So, why had Shen Zheming kissed him in the first place?’

‘Was it physical liking?’

“Big brother, your face is so red.”

Ding Wei’s little niece looked up, pointed at a red apple pattern on the milk tea cup, and said in a childish voice, “It’s as red as this apple.”

Lu Shi snapped back, looked away, pretended to fan himself with his hand, and said, “The air conditioning in here is too hot.”

In the Shen family study, Shen Zheming handed a hastily prepared investment proposal to Mr. Shen.

Mr. Shen took a long time to read through it. After finishing, he pondered for a long time.

“The whole plan looks fine, but I want to know…” Mr. Shen tapped the cover page of the dozens-page proposal. “What is your reason for wanting to invest in a startup?”

Now many matters at Jushang Bank were managed and decided by Shen Zheming. Mr. Shen was gradually delegating power to him, only responsible for reviewing Shen Zheming’s plans and offering guidance when necessary.

Investing in startups carried high risk. Previously, Shen Zheming had never made such a bold decision.

Shen Zheming said, “Lu Shi’s company planning is very reasonable and feasible. Several of its directions have great development prospects in the future. He has a long-term vision.”

From the early preparation work to registering the company, founding it, and recruiting talent, Lu Shi mostly did and participated in everything himself.

He was skilled and orderly, nothing like someone who had just come out of a poor county.

If the Aoqiao Cup championship could be attributed to his innate mathematical talent, then what about this? Did he have innate management ability and business acumen?

Even if he really had such talents, without someone to teach or guide him, it was impossible for him to be so adept from the start.

Shen Zheming had been glad that Lu Shi wasn’t like the one in his dream. But now, watching Lu Shi step by step manage a company from nothing into something impressive, watching him naturally interact with others at dinner parties, a trace of unprecedented loss of control and panic rose from the bottom of his heart, striking his soul.

He didn’t know why Lu Shi was so familiar with these procedures, nor why Lu Shi’s plans, goals, and directions were so similar to the project proposals he had seen in his dream.

He only knew that he couldn’t wait until the last moment like in the dream, and he couldn’t accept the outcome in the dream.

Mr. Shen: “Is that the only reason?”

Shen Zheming looked up at Mr. Shen. He withdrew his fingertips slightly, his gaze steady and focused, and said earnestly, word by word.

“And one more thing: it’s my personal motive.”

Mr. Shen smiled and shook his head. “You really are like me when I was young. Once you meet someone you like, you want to give them everything you have.”

Seeing Shen Zheming silent, Mr. Shen said meaningfully, with a teasing tone, “How strange, why aren’t you arguing with me this time?”

Shen Zheming’s face showed no emotion. “What is there to argue about?”

Mr. Shen said with interest, “How come I remember someone saying he had nothing to do with him.”

Shen Zheming raised an eyebrow, having perfectly inherited the skill of lying through his teeth. “Is that so? I don’t remember.”

Shen Zheming: “Evidence?”

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