Then, will you?

"Long story short, I became a regular in that noodle shop. Asked her out. Got married…" His thoughts started turning to the memory of his daughter, and he sighed. "Let's stop here."

She pondered about what he just told her and nodded. "Thanks for telling me," She murmured.

***

Ying Yue sat in the corner of the meeting room, where she was supposedly going to take down notes during Fei Huangjin's discussion with the council of managers. She was playing with the cuffs of her long-sleeved olive-green blouse, tugging at its knots. Her thoughts were still back in that conversation with Big Boss.

"The first time I laid my eyes on Chunhua, I knew the love bug hit me," he had said.

It was only the first time that he met his wife, yet he knew he was in it for the long run. Perhaps it was the same for Fei Huangjin.

Her brows crinkled as she thought about how annoyingly and hopelessly romantic her thoughts were. She should be thinking practically about this. Her life was not so fortunate as to deserve romantic ventures and such.

She fixed her gaze on the man, who had his hands under his chin, studying the presentation playing out in the front of the room. His gaze was cold and steely, almost deadly, but she knew that when he looked her way, those eyes would be warm and gentle.

As if feeling the weight of her stare, he turned to her briefly with a small smile on his lips that was barely noticeable to anyone else but Ying Yue.

Indeed, there was that unmistakable gentleness in his eyes.

She quickly dropped her head towards the notepad she was holding to hide her reddening cheeks and furiously pretended to scribble on something.

A moment later, her phone buzzed. It was Fei Huangjin. Ying Yue peeked a little at the man a distance away from her as he casually placed his phone face-down on the table.

"What are you thinking about?" the text read.

So this man actually knew how to text, she thought. She'd been his secretary for over a year and he'd always called her on the phone. Word had it that he hated texting. Maybe she should ask him about it later. The corners of her lips hooked up as she started tapping away on her phone. "What do you care…" Her thumb hovered above the send button, like she was hesitating.

Since she was honestly thinking about his proposal, shouldn't this be the right time to tell him her thoughts about it?

Ying Yue briefly glanced at Fei Huangjin, who had one hand over his phone as if he was waiting for it to notify him that she had replied. His earnest actions made her chest tighten. She really had to be more honest with the guy.

Her thumb moved to the delete button, clearing the initial words she was going to send. She bit her lip in concentration as she thought of what to say. "I'm thinking about growing old with you," she typed out, and then she paused. It seemed too expectant of her to say so. Her eyebrows furrowed as she erased it, typing out something else. "I'm thinking about you." Her ears turned red. It sounded so embarrassing. Again, she deleted the message and typed out a different reply for the third time. "I'm thinking about getting married with you."

There. That was better, right?

Honest and direct.

Before she could think about changing her mind, she hit the send button with a tap of her thumb.

In the corner of her eye, she saw Fei Huangjin pick up his phone as soon as it buzzed, and he flipped it over to read her text message. He blinked twice, wondering if he was imagining things, the presentation completely ignored by now.

She saw the surprise in his slightly-raised eyebrows, which slowly turned to disbelief, and then to confusion.

He flashed an unreadable look at her, and then focused back at his phone. She was right there, and he had to exert a generous amount of self-control to stop himself from going over and asking her about it.