AM Chapter 28

28 Rose Thorns

28 Rose Thorns

The next morning, Chen Mo hammered away at his keyboard in his cubicle, the sounds of “pa-pa” ringing out. A colleague, trying to be funny and witty while slacking off, asked with concern, “Chen Mo, is your keyboard alright? Even if the child made a mistake, you don’t have to be so harsh~”

Chen Mo didn’t even bother to look in the direction of the voice, only staring intently at the code growing longer on the screen, forcing a dry laugh as he responded, “It’s fine, it won’t break. Even if it does, I can fix it.”

Last night, after watching the black sedan leave, he immediately sent a message to Liang Jingren, confirming Liang Jingren’s location. But… what if Liang Jingren was lying? What if Liang Jingren was the driver in that black sedan?

Even through two layers of glass, the driver’s seat could clearly see him in the coffee shop. If he saw him, would Liang Jingren have no reaction at all?

But in the end, Chen Mo still believed Liang Jingren’s short three-word reply: “At the Villa.”

If Liang Jingren didn’t reply at all, that would drive him even crazier. He estimated he would immediately rush out to find a car and stage a car chase scene in this city.

In the afternoon, Chen Mo, who had already finished his work tasks for the day, leaned back in his swivel chair, looking at his phone.

Chen Mo often left work right on time, always the first to leave the office. But because he was quick-witted and highly efficient, always able to finish his work on time, his superiors and bosses had no objections, and his colleagues had naturally become accustomed to it.

Chen Mo looked at the reservation text message on his phone, then glanced at the liberation time approaching on the screen. Then, he found Xu Yilin’s chat window and sent him a message, asking if he was open today.

Xu Yilin quickly replied: “Closed today~”

Chen Mo remained unmoved, his expression calm and unchanging. It was as if he had expected this and prepared a backup plan.

Chen Mo quickly cleaned up his workspace, went to his boss to say hello, and left work early.

—He had to buy those flowers today! And he had to pick them out himself, choosing a rose with a thick, long stem and lots of thorns!

At the same time, Director Liang, sitting in the meeting room listening to a report, also glanced at his phone.

A local traffic police road condition alert popped up on his phone, saying that a certain section of the road was under maintenance and asking citizens to plan their routes in advance and take detours.

Seeing the information, he thought: Chen Mo will probably be stuck in traffic today.

Should he wait for him?

When this second thought emerged, Liang Jingren himself felt incredible.

He found that he seemed to have been successfully trained by Chen Mo, and was actually used to Chen Mo looking for him to eat together after work. He didn’t even realize that although Chen Mo could usually appear in the cafeteria on time, he had actually waited for Chen Mo more than once or twice.

Moreover, he had been on a business trip for seven days, a full seven days, and he hadn’t forgotten this habit. Around 5:00, he almost gave Chen Mo a call again—he was afraid that Chen Mo would forget and wait for him in the cafeteria.

The meeting, which was originally scheduled to end at six o’clock, was delayed by more than ten minutes. After the meeting ended, Liang Jingren was stopped at the door of the meeting room by all kinds of people wanting to exchange pleasantries. By the time he sent them all away one by one, the lights in the meeting room had already been turned off, and the people in charge of logistics had left before him.

After briefly clearing his head, Liang Jingren picked up his phone and looked at the time. After seeing the time clearly, Liang Jingren frowned. He thought of Chen Mo again, remembering that he had forgotten to tell him in advance that the meeting had been delayed.

But before he could think about it for too long, Chen Mo conveniently called.

Liang Jingren picked up the phone. Chen Mo directly asked him if the meeting was over. Liang Jingren roughly knew about his “deal” with the front desk, so he didn’t ask too much, only said “Mm.” Then, Chen Mo told him to come downstairs:

“Come to the underground parking lot, I’m waiting for you in your parking space.”

Liang Jingren had heard company employees complain that the building’s parking lot was saving electricity, and was always dark as if the lights weren’t on. But the lighting near his exclusive parking space was pretty good. Therefore, when he walked nearby, he could see the person leaning against the hood of the silver sedan at a glance—and the red rose with a long flower stem, without packaging or leaves, in his hand.

Seeing him coming, Chen Mo didn’t rush, still leisurely sitting on the hood of the car, swinging the rose.

Liang Jingren walked to the parking space and asked, “Not going to the cafeteria?”

“Not going to the cafeteria today, you have to compensate me,” Chen Mo said with a smile.

Liang Jingren frowned. “Compensate for what?”

At this time, he had fallen into a trap. After all, he didn’t owe Chen Mo anything, and he shouldn’t have asked that question. It was unnecessary.

Chen Mo held out the flower stem, the brightly blooming rose head pointing directly at Liang Jingren’s face. “It’s my birthday, and you’ve never had a meal with me, have you?”

“…”

Liang Jingren sighed and agreed.

Chen Mo was a little surprised, surprised that he had achieved today’s biggest goal so easily: inviting Liang Jingren to a candlelight dinner outside.

“Then accept the rose!” Chen Mo said happily as he stood up.

Liang Jingren stared at the stem of the rose in his hand, his brow furrowing deeper and deeper. His hand never intended to reach out.

“What’s wrong? You don’t like roses?” Chen Mo asked in a simple, innocent tone.

Liang Jingren said, “Why aren’t the thorns removed?”

The thorns on the rose stem were thick, sturdy, and sharp as cones. They protruded section by section along the stem, as if containing a dangerous warning. They weren’t as soft and beautiful as the petals. Each one stood upright with stubbornness and sharpness.

“Oh! Good thing you reminded me! I almost forgot!” Chen Mo, as if suddenly remembering something, smiled again, smiling like a flower. But in Liang Jingren’s eyes, he couldn’t ignore that this flower had thorns, many sharp and hard thorns.

Having said that, Chen Mo took back the rose he was supposed to give away. He pinched the lower half of the flower stem and held the entire rose horizontally—horizontally against the smooth, shiny hood of the silver sedan.

“… What do you want to do?”

“Brother Ren, where’s your black car? The black sedan with license plate number 876.”

Looking at the smile on Chen Mo’s face at this moment, Liang Jingren understood. This was a blatant, naked threat.

But he was really threatened by it—after all, this car wasn’t his.

Liang Jingren curled his lips and said, “I lent it to someone else.”

“Oh~ so you’re driving a different car~” Chen Mo leaned back again with a smile that was not a smile. “That must be a friend you’re very close to~”

As he said that, he lowered his head and drew a line parallel to the hood of the car, with the flower stem suspended in the air. Fortunately, there was still a layer of air film, otherwise it would be hard to say what kind of sound those rows of triangular or conical thorns would scratch out on the hood, and what kind of marks they would leave.

Liang Jingren unconsciously pursed his lips and said, “Chen Mo, if you have something to say, just say it. What exactly do you want to do?”

Chen Mo, as he wished, looked up, stared into his eyes, and asked bluntly, “Who did you lend it to?”

“Little Zhuang.”

It was Chen Mo’s turn to be surprised. “Is it the Little Zhuang I know?”

Liang Jingren nodded. “Yes.”

“Where is he now? Speaking of which, I haven’t seen him in a long time. I haven’t seen him since I came back to the country, haha.” Chen Mo smiled.

Liang Jingren said, “He works at Night Shade, you can go find him.”

“Main store or branch?”

Chen Mo was still too quick-witted and rigorous. Liang Jingren’s frown had never relaxed. Now, he pursed his lips once again.

Seeing this, Chen Mo sneered and continued to ask, “Why don’t you say it? Is it something you can’t say? Or are you hiding someone in that store?”

“Director Liang keeping a mistress, hiding her in a nightclub? It’s kind of funny to say it, right? Haha.” Chen Mo said with a forced smile.

Liang Jingren didn’t reply. But he could see that Liang Jingren’s eyes were full of curse words.

“Aren’t we going to eat? You should have made a reservation, aren’t you afraid of being late?” Liang Jingren opened his mouth, changing the subject.

“Afraid,” Chen Mo smiled and said, “So get in the car quickly, I’ll send you the address.”

Liang Jingren was silent for a while. He knew that Chen Mo wanted to get into his car, and he had to be his driver again.

Seeing Chen Mo smiling at him while swinging the rose, Liang Jingren sighed, accepted reality, walked to the nearest passenger seat, opened the door, and turned to Chen Mo and said, “Get in.”

Chen Mo quickly strode forward, carefully holding the rose with both hands and bending down to get into the car.

When Liang Jingren was about to close the door for him, Chen Mo looked up and said with a smile, “I’ll keep the rose safe for you first. You will accept it, right?”

Liang Jingren didn’t answer him. He slammed the car door shut.

The corners of Chen Mo’s mouth twitched, his eyelashes drooping, his eyes darting left and right, thinking: Should I scratch the leather seats of this car?

Fortunately, after the car left the garage and got on the road, Liang Jingren took the initiative to talk to him, saying that he would accept the rose. Hearing this, Chen Mo visibly perked up.

“Did you buy the flower from Xu Yilin?” Liang Jingren asked.

Chen Mo was stunned, tilting his head and asking with a smile, “How did you know?”

Liang Jingren said, “The ribbon on your last bouquet had the store name on it.”

Chen Mo narrowed his eyes with a smile. “You really pay attention to details.”

The car stopped steadily at a red light, and Liang Jingren loosened one hand from the steering wheel. Chen Mo watched him turn his head to look at him, reaching out that hand to him.

He thought he was going to caress his face, and his heart skipped a beat, his hands trembling, and the rose trembled along with them.

But Liang Jingren just lightly touched the outer petals of the rose in his hand with his finger, and said, “It’s rare that Xu Yilin wouldn’t remove the thorns.”

Hearing this, Chen Mo’s entire upper body stiffened, even the slightly shy expression freezing in place.

He opened his mouth and said, “I told him not to remove the thorns.”

Liang Jingren withdrew his hand, his gaze returning to the red and green light countdown above the road. “I guessed so.”

For no reason, Chen Mo felt a little suffocated, a little angry.

“Ha, you’ll only accept flowers bought from Xu Yilin’s store? Is that what you mean?”

Liang Jingren’s expression and tone were very calm. “If you have to think that way…”

“What if I think that way?!”

“There’s nothing I can do about it.”

Now Chen Mo was more than just a little angry. But the green light turned on, and the car started moving again. He couldn’t do anything that would excessively affect the driver’s driving.

As the car drove, there was little conversation between the two in the car.

Chen Mo asked, “Has Xu Yilin ever given you flowers?”

Liang Jingren said, “No.”

After a while, Liang Jingren said, “He gave me a small potted plant.”

Then it was like a CD being suddenly removed. There was no more human voice, and no more white noise. The air conditioning temperature in the car was even lower than the temperature number it displayed.

After a long while, “I understand,” Chen Mo said to himself.

Liang Jingren actually immediately followed up, saying, “Xu Yilin has a girlfriend, don’t overthink it.”

Chen Mo “ha” laughed very hard, suddenly turned his head to look at the driver’s seat, stared at him, and asked, “You think I’m jealous? What basis do you have to say I’m overthinking it!”

“…” Liang Jingren’s mouth twitched, too lazy to speak. Anyway, he really had no basis.

“I know he has a girlfriend!” Chen Mo said. “I also know that his girlfriend died two years ago!”

As soon as the words fell, Chen Mo was hit on the back of the head, stunned.

Liang Jingren was now staring at the annoying lane changes and overtaking on the car’s windshield, turning on the turn signal, turning the steering wheel, and actually spared a hand to pat him. Chen Mo couldn’t help but feel a little wronged.

Because he really wasn’t overthinking it in that direction. It was Liang Jingren who forced him to say these words. What he originally wanted to say was: “I just wanted to say that if you only accept flowers sold in Xu Yilin’s store, then I’ll only send him flowers in the future…”

Chen Mo pouted, lowered his head, and his tone became lower and lower as he spoke.

“Sorry,” Liang Jingren put his hand back on his injured head and this time, stroked his head.

Chen Mo felt much better.

“How did Brother Ren meet Xu Yilin? Do you go to his flower shop to buy flowers?” Chen Mo, when he was normal, would honestly call him “Brother Ren,” and his speech wasn’t so annoying. Of course, this was only relative. In essence, he was still the more calculative Chen Mo than the flower shop owner. “Or, when you go to drink coffee, did you meet in a coffee shop?”

Liang Jingren’s answer was completely unexpected. He said, “Xu Yilin is my benefactor.”

“Benefactor? Why?” Chen Mo’s eyes widened.

Liang Jingren blandly narrated a misfortune he experienced last year that almost landed him in jail:

Last year, he was driving past that section of road, and someone fell on the road, just in front of his car. Fortunately, Xu Yilin took the initiative to lend him the surveillance camera at the door of the flower shop, which cleared his name and exonerated him.

“Ah? Are there still people doing ‘touch porcelain’ these days?” Since hearing the word “benefactor,” the shock in Chen Mo’s heart had not subsided for a long time.

“That old man seemed to have low blood pressure or low blood sugar, and suddenly fainted, it wasn’t intentional,” Liang Jingren said.

After speaking, he glanced at the person in the passenger seat and said, “In short, it’s okay for you to buy flowers, but give Xu Yilin less trouble.”

“Oh,” Chen Mo nodded obediently.

Then, he became disobedient again, almost pressing his entire upper body over, and said to the driver who was driving seriously, “So as long as I buy flowers from Xu Yilin’s store, you will definitely accept them, right?”

Those hopeful eyes were shining brightly at him. It was too hot, and Liang Jingren chose to avoid his gaze.

As for the answer, it was still similar to the previous sentence: “Think whatever you want.”

But this time Chen Mo was not angry at all. He was excitedly making small calculations in his heart, thinking about how to bargain with Xu Yilin for long-term deliveries.

Oh! But he had to first deal with Xu Yilin’s emotions that turned bad as soon as he saw him, otherwise it would be difficult for him to even enter the flower shop, and that would be troublesome!

Chen Mo had booked a candlelight dinner set at one of the best hotels in the city. This set was basically only ordered by couples on dates. After the reservation was confirmed, the table setting would be different from other ordinary tables.

When the waiter led them to the only table by the window with candlesticks and aromatherapy candles, and flower petals scattered on the carpet, an impulse surged in Liang Jingren’s heart—the impulse to turn around and run.

Unfortunately, Mr. Chen, holding the thorny rose, was standing behind him, smiling and thanking the waiter.

Liang Jingren thought: Is Chen Mo using the rose as a weapon? Why am I afraid of a rose?

That’s right, why should he be afraid of a rose? It’s not like he’s in the garage now, and that car that doesn’t belong to him isn’t next to him, he’s not being threatened anymore!

Chen Mo inserted the “weapon” into the crystal vase that had been prepared on the table, then smiled and moved the chair for him. “I heard that the steak at this restaurant is especially delicious, with delicate fibers, tender and juicy, and there are more than a dozen sauces to choose from. It would be expensive to buy them separately if it weren’t for this set!”

Liang Jingren hesitated for a while and sat down.

The candlelight flickered gently, casting a warm halo. The table by the window, separated from other tables, was surrounded by bright red roses and soft fragrances. But the “lovers” at the table spoke neither romantic sweet words nor cheerful jokes. Many times when the waiters and other guests looked over, they only felt that this table was quiet and mysterious.

After the 5.0-rated steak was brought up, Liang Jingren immediately started cutting it with a knife and fork, his eyes never leaving the flesh on the plate.

Chen Mo was different from him. Chen Mo’s eyes were not on the food at all.

When he forked a piece of beef into his mouth, Chen Mo suddenly called out, “Dad.”

However, this did not stop Liang Jingren from chewing large mouthfuls of juicy meat.

Chen Mo was silent for a while and asked, “Aren’t you disgusted?”

Hearing this, Liang Jingren rarely looked up at him. “Huh?” He even seemed surprised, as if he didn’t understand what he was talking about.

“Dad,” Chen Mo called out again.

Liang Jingren laughed, laughing as if it was very funny. “Change your trick, Chen Mo, this trick is useless, I’m used to it.”

Chen Mo: “…”

“Then…” Chen Mo propped his chin with his hand and thought, looking at the person in front of him slowly opening his mouth again, “Mom.”

Liang Jingren’s cutting motion did pause for a moment, but it returned to normal after a while. “I didn’t even realize you were calling me,” Liang Jingren said. His tone was still so calm and casual, unaffected, unchanged.

This caused Chen Mo to prop his head with one hand in the dim candlelight and fall into deep thought.

Even in this atmosphere, Liang Jingren’s eating speed did not diminish, and he quickly swept away a plate of steak.

He looked up, looking at Chen Mo frowning slightly, as if he was holding his breath and concentrating, and suddenly “poo-ha” laughed out loud. “Hahahaha, what are you doing, it’s so funny, hahahaha!”

Chen Mo was called back to his senses by his laughter and was stunned looking at the gentle smiling face under the candlelight.

“Aren’t you going to eat your steak quickly, it’s going to get cold. This steak does taste good,” Liang Jingren’s voice pulled him back from his trance once again.

While cutting the steak, Chen Mo quietly raised his eyes to look at the person sitting opposite him. Liang Jingren was holding a glass and drinking lemon soda.

He originally wanted to order red wine, but he felt that Liang Jingren wouldn’t drink it, especially in front of him.

Suddenly, Chen Mo stopped his knife and shouted, “I’ve got it!” Scaring Liang Jingren.

“Wh-what?” Liang Jingren quickly took the glass away from his mouth, afraid of choking again from his shocking words.

Chen Mo held up his knife and fork and said like he was offering a treasure, “Daddy~”

“…”

Liang Jingren didn’t react? Then—”Papa Bear!”

Liang Jingren’s glass shook, and the soda bubbled up. “This is really not okay, it’s really disgusting,” Liang Jingren said, as if he had wrinkled his nose, his face full of disgust.

Chen Mo laughed and laughed, leaning back and forth. “Hahaha, I think so too haha…” His hand slipped, and he accidentally knocked the knife and fork against the plate, disturbing the gossiping gazes of those around him.

It seemed that Liang Jingren had eaten too fast, leading the manager and waiters to misjudge the speed of serving the dishes. Before long, the violinist responsible for the final part and the cake with candles were pushed up together.

Liang Jingren had always thought that the scene of someone playing the violin next to him during dinner was only in TV shows. He didn’t expect it to actually happen to him one day.

But what surprised him was that the music played by the performer was not profound. From the second note, he had already connected the melody of the entire song in his mind and automatically played its lyrics in a loop—

Happy birthday to you, happy birthday to you…

The candlelight dinner set was not a birthday party package, and the restaurant had no obligation to turn off the lights. Under the lights, the small candles were pinned on the small cake, and even the candlestick next to it seemed condescending and flaunting its power beside it.

“Isn’t Brother Ren going to wish me a happy birthday?”

“… Happy birthday, Chen Mo.”

When the violinist retreated, half of the little candles had already melted.

Liang Jingren will be soft-hearted towards him. Chen Mo thought.

But, “My birthday was a long time ago…”

“Didn’t you tell me to say it?” Liang Jingren frowned slightly. “It was the same when we talked on the phone last time.”

“Last time was real,” Chen Mo said.

Liang Jingren opened his mouth, then closed it again.

Chen Mo smiled shallowly, lowered his eyes and said, “You really don’t remember my birthday.”

“From the first year, from when I was fourteen, to fifteen, sixteen…” As he spoke, Chen Mo felt more and more sad. “From the beginning until now, every year on my birthday I have to remind you before you say happy birthday to me, and then make up for it with a gift. Even when I turned eighteen, you didn’t come to eat with me… I even suspect you don’t know how old I am now…”

“Twenty-two years old,” Liang Jingren said.

Chen Mo looked up at him, as if he had regained hope.

But Liang Jingren said, “It’s not difficult to remember your age, but who would remember the birthday of someone who is not related to them.”

Too honest, Liang Jingren. Chen Mo didn’t know whether to praise him or be sad, or even how to ask the question: “Am I… an unrelated person?”

But he still asked.

Liang Jingren looked at him, looked for a long time, and asked back, “Then do you know my birthday?”

Chen Mo was stunned.

It’s over. He didn’t seem to know either.

Damn it. He really didn’t know.

“Take out your ID card and let me take a picture!”

“Get lost!”

The small episode that caused the candlestick flame to jump soon ended. After eating dinner and cake, Chen Mo couldn’t trick Liang Jingren’s ID card out of his pocket after a few rounds of begging and nagging. But he found it online and showed the phone screen in front of Liang Jingren as if he was a victor.

“Hehe,” Liang Jingren wiped his mouth. “So what? I gave you gifts for a few years, what about you? Are you going to learn from the scenes in those idol dramas and give me a birthday gift? Do you know how old I am this year?”

Chen Mo didn’t say anything, because he wanted to give a gift, but after calculating a little, he found that he couldn’t afford it.

Mainly because he was unwilling to give cheap goods as a compromise.

“Alright, I enjoyed this meal. Thank you for the treat.” After saying that, Liang Jingren got up and prepared to leave.

Chen Mo quickly stood up and shouted at him, “You didn’t take your flower!”

Damn waiter blocking the way, Liang Jingren didn’t seem to hear, and walked directly out of the restaurant.

Before long, Chen Mo chased after him, handing the rose to him before Liang Jingren could find his car in the parking lot with his car keys.

Probably because he was anxious, Chen Mo didn’t look closely at the position of the thorns when he took the flower. He was pricked several times on his fingers, and there seemed to be a red mark on the side of his thin middle finger that had not yet bled.

Liang Jingren looked silently at the flower. He had previously promised Chen Mo that he would accept it.

Of course, Chen Mo couldn’t do anything if he wanted to go back on his word now.

“Mm. Thank you,” Liang Jingren took the thorny flower stem from Chen Mo’s hand. “I plan to go straight back, I won’t take you, take a taxi yourself.”

“Okay!” Chen Mo was happy in any case because the flower was accepted, and his tone of response was very high-pitched.

Liang Jingren didn’t understand why he was so happy. Of course, he should understand, it’s not like Chen Mo hadn’t told him—it’s not like he hadn’t been violently impacted by Chen Mo’s bursting, surging, and extreme emotions.

But even so, his mood and emotions would not change because of this at this moment.

“Chen Mo, I can’t give you what you want. I’m sorry.”

Liang Jingren left, and Chen Mo was still standing there.

The rose was clearly already in Liang Jingren’s hand, but Chen Mo felt that a thorn was still clenched in his hand, still pressing on his heart.

Moths fluttered around the street lights. Under the street lights at the hotel entrance, a person murmured to himself, “Did I ask you for anything…”