AM Chapter 32

32 The Awareness of a Mistress

Lately, Chen Mo had been frequenting the flower shop. As the owner of the frequented flower shop, Xu Yilin had some things he wasn’t sure he should say.

However, after Chen Mo once again ignored the “Chen Mo and Flies Not Allowed” sign hanging at his shop entrance and walked in, Xu Yilin once again greeted him as usual.

“What flowers are you buying today? Tulips, carnations, sunflowers, gerberas, or lilies?” Xu Yilin rattled off a string of flowers that Chen Mo often looked at and chose, as if reciting a menu. He wasn’t quite sure who Chen Mo had been giving the flowers to lately. If he was trying to win someone back or pursuing someone, these flowers weren’t as direct and passionate as a single rose.

Moreover, he didn’t give flowers in large bouquets. He always picked three or five and had them simply wrapped, holding them in his hand. They looked more like a small gift for a first date, not likely to burden someone, but also not enough to leave a deep impression.

Chen Mo squatted beside a bucket of flowers, smelling the fragrance of newly arrived violets. Just as Xu Yilin thought he was going to choose violets today, Chen Mo suddenly stood up, fanned his hand in front of his nose, and said, “It stinks.”

Xu Yilin: …

“Who told you to get so close to smell them? These flowers have a strong fragrance, you’re the one who stinks!”

Chen Mo ignored him. He slowly stroked his chin, his gaze sweeping over the rows of fresh flowers again.

“Buying or not? If not, leave quickly, don’t affect my shop’s feng shui,” Xu Yilin said irritably.

Chen Mo opened his mouth and said, “Help me pick out a bouquet of roses.”

Xu Yilin thought he had misheard. Like a hard-of-hearing old man, he tilted his head and asked, “Pick what?”

“Roses, red ones,” Chen Mo looked at him and smiled, “Ninety-nine of them.”

Xu Yilin blurted out, “I don’t have any.”

Chen Mo’s smile cracked, and the veins on his forehead throbbed.

“Hey, hey, hey, I’m not deliberately targeting you, I really don’t have ninety-nine red roses in my shop right now!” Xu Yilin hurriedly explained, moving flower buckets around and showing the few varieties of roses he currently had in his shop, “If you want red roses, I have two or three varieties, but even if you put them all together, it wouldn’t be ninety-nine, and they wouldn’t be harmonious or look good.”

Chen Mo lowered his eyes, looking at the different, inharmonious red roses that the flower shop owner had put together. He sneered, “Now you can’t even buy a nice bouquet of roses in person at a flower shop. I come to patronize you often and still get squeezed out by the owner. Oh my, what kind of shop is this? I have to post a warning online.”

Xu Yilin’s eyes widened, and he frantically put down the flower buckets in his hands. Then, before Chen Mo could take out his phone, he rushed to the shop entrance and tore down a sign that had just been hung up a few days ago. He returned to the only customer currently in the shop, panting, and said, “You want to order them, man! No one asks for flowers so suddenly, bro! You just ask for 99, no flower shop has that! Even if they could sell them to you, they’d be substandard products from the cold storage, no good for giving as a gift, the quality is bad!”

“Then what do you say I should do?” Chen Mo shrugged, holding his phone, as if making a concession.

Xu Yilin sighed and said, “I’ll pick out a good bouquet for you and tie it up, I guarantee you’ll be satisfied, okay?”

A moment later, Xu Yilin saw the customer slightly raise his eyebrows. Chen Mo definitely thought he had won and was feeling smug. But Xu Yilin knew he really had done some things wrong, he admitted it, that sign was inappropriate to hang at the door – he should hang it on Chen Mo’s face.

But never mind today, after all, Chen Mo was really willing to pay a lot of money for a beautiful bouquet of red roses.

Nineteen red roses in perfect bloom were quickly pruned, de-thorned, and spiraled in the flower shop owner’s hands. They were wrapped in cherry black packaging paper and pure black honeycomb patterned paper, and tightly tied with burgundy ribbons of the same color family but not exactly the same color. The entire bouquet of roses was black and red, not only not monotonous at all, but also very high-end.

Soon, Chen Mo took the bouquet, which was larger than any he had bought before, from Xu Yilin’s hand. He stared blankly at the bouquet, which was perfect for a candlelit dinner confession, for several seconds.

In those few seconds, Xu Yilin slapped a wooden sign on the workbench.

Chen Mo certainly noticed it. He knew that as long as he honestly paid, Xu Yilin would immediately put that thing away and smile at him.

Although it was fun to watch Xu Yilin’s face change, he didn’t plan to use the red roses in his hand as a tool for teasing today. “Thank you, I’ll just transfer the money to you directly, how much?”

Xu Yilin was stunned for a moment, then reacted and turned the calculator he had already prepared to show him.

Soon, the shop’s loudspeaker announced that the payment had been received.

“Why did you think of buying roses today? Is it some kind of holiday?” Xu Yilin asked curiously, watching Chen Mo put away his phone and hug the bouquet.

Chen Mo looked at the red roses in his hand and said with a rare tenderness, “Do you need to pick a holiday to give red roses to someone you like?”

Xu Yilin thought he was right, but still had questions in his mind, so he continued to ask, “Then who did you give those other flowers to before? I remember you said you were giving them to someone you liked too.”

“!” Suddenly, Xu Yilin gasped as if he had suddenly realized something, and reached out to snatch the flowers from Chen Mo’s hand, “How many people do you like!? You (scumbag)!!”

“Damn it! Just one!” Chen Mo was also rarely annoyed when he was in a great mood. He turned around to protect the bouquet and cursed at the flower shop owner who was making wild guesses, “Idiot!”

The two were separated by a table, Xu Yilin couldn’t do anything to him, so he could only twitch his lips and click his tongue loudly.

Xu Yilin originally wanted to roll his eyes at Chen Mo and tease him about the person he was pursuing and giving flowers to, but when he looked up, Chen Mo’s state at this moment made him unable to speak.

Chen Mo muttered to himself, not knowing who he was talking to, “The person I like has always been only one…” He stared at the red roses in his arms like a lovesick fool, confiding his unknown love.

That day, Chen Mo bought a bouquet of red roses, but he didn’t take it to the cafeteria.

“Didn’t go to buy flowers today?” Sure enough, after finishing a meal, Liang Jingren couldn’t resist his curiosity and couldn’t help but ask.

Chen Mo wiped his mouth, turned to look at him, and smiled, “I bought them today too.”

Hearing this, Liang Jingren also turned to face Chen Mo, looked him up and down, and then looked even more confused.

“Ren Ge is actually looking forward to receiving different flowers every day, right?” Chen Mo said with a giggle.

Liang Jingren looked at him, his tone calm and very ruthless, “Not at all, I just pull them out and put them on the front desk vase every time.”

Chen Mo: …

“Hahaha… speaking of which, I haven’t brought flowers to the front desk lately, and their vase is always full of flowers. I thought the company had specially put up fake flowers…” Chen Mo said with a dry smile.

Liang Jingren said, “Fresh flowers are pretty good for decorating the place, but most of the flowers on the service desk now are bought by them themselves. Anyway, the company doesn’t object to green plants in the cubicles, they can do whatever they like.”

Chen Mo thought: Who wants to chat about this with you…

However, he should have expected it: Liang Jingren wouldn’t cherish his flowers even if he received them. It was only because he took out the flowers in the cafeteria and gave them with a smile that Liang Jingren couldn’t refuse and accepted them again and again.

Of course, this wasn’t the main reason he chose carnations, tulips, and small wind chimes as small bouquets to give away.

Chen Mo still remembered a few days ago, the third time he brought a small bouquet to the cafeteria. After confirming that Liang Jingren had accepted the bouquet, he turned around to go to the window to get food. When he came back with the food, he saw two girls standing next to Liang Jingren.

They seemed very familiar with Liang Jingren, probably the kind of familiarity that comes from working together often, meeting often, and greeting each other in the company. Liang Jingren was very relaxed and natural in front of them, without any airs of a president.

Chen Mo secretly hid behind a pillar on the side. He heard them praise the small bouquet on Liang Jingren’s desk, and then bent over with flattering smiles… Chen Mo couldn’t hear what they were whispering, but he could hear Liang Jingren’s reply: “Don’t talk nonsense, a friend gave it to me, the guy who often eats with me, you should have seen him if you come to the cafeteria. I helped him a little before, and he’s just grateful.”

Chen Mo didn’t expect Liang Jingren to lie so skillfully and calmly. His face even had a faint smile on it.

No one in this building knew the relationship between him and Liang Jingren now. Old employees might remember that Chen Daxiang had an adopted son, but that adopted son went abroad to study, and probably no one knew he was back.

So, I’ve become Liang Jingren’s “friend” by eating in the cafeteria every day?

That’s not bad, it’s better than being a stranger with no relationship. Chen Mo thought.

However, the “friend relationship” wasn’t the main reason Chen Mo chose to give those flowers.

The real reason was only one, the same as the reason he initially chose carnations and asked Xu Yilin to wrap them simply – he couldn’t give Liang Jingren roses in public, especially since this was inside the Daxing Group building.

He was actually afraid that those old employees would remember him, he was afraid that those old employees would gossip about his actions of giving flowers. If he gave roses, then there would be even more to say.

He couldn’t tell any acquaintance the truth that he was pursuing Liang Jingren, he was afraid of the scrutinizing eyes of others.

Therefore, Chen Mo felt that even if he was a mistress, he accepted it.

Wasn’t he now pretending to be spoiled, self-deceivingly, precisely the state of knowingly being a mistress?

Knowing he’s a mistress – this was a key node worth mentioning, it was the key node that turned the cafeteria small bouquet into a magnificent red rose.

Ever since he learned of the existence of “the Yu guy,” Chen Mo thought: Even if I’m a mistress, I want to be a mistress who can successfully take over!

After dinner, Chen Mo and Liang Jingren went to the underground garage together.

In the restaurant, when Liang Jingren heard that he had prepared a surprise for him in the garage, his first reaction was: “Are you messing with my car again?!”

To reassure Liang Jingren, and also to witness Liang Jingren’s first reaction, Chen Mo decided to come along – although Liang Jingren grabbed one of his wrists very hard to prevent him from secretly messing around, grabbing him a little painfully, and even reminded him of some not-so-good memories, but it didn’t matter, he felt very satisfied as soon as he thought that the physical distance with Liang Jingren was getting closer.

“These flowers are…?”

“I am giving it to you~”

Looking at the bright bouquet of roses that looked like a couple had finished arguing and didn’t know what to do, so they just threw it on the hood of his car, Liang Jingren opened his mouth, speechless for a moment.

“You’re really not afraid of it falling on the ground or being taken away,” Liang Jingren frowned slightly and picked up the roses that were unattended and placed randomly on the hood of the car.

Chen Mo rubbed his released wrist and said with a smile, “What does it matter if it falls? You’ll pick it up anyway. And who dares to mess with things in this parking space? If all else fails, there are cameras overhead!”

Liang Jingren was silent.

Chen Mo got close to him, carefully looked at the expression on his face, and asked, “Don’t you like it? These nineteen roses were carefully selected by Xu Yilin! They’ve all been de-thorned!”

“Chen Mo…” Liang Jingren looked up from the dazzling red roses, “Why do you want to give me roses?”

Chen Mo was stunned for a moment, then smiled and said, “I’ve been giving you flowers every day recently, the reason is very simple – I’m pursuing you.”

“Could it be that you were completely unaware, ignorant of the reason, but still accepted my flowers?”

Liang Jingren pursed his lips, then opened his mouth again, staring straight at him, and asked, “Then why give them in the underground garage?”

“Other flowers are okay, but roses can’t be given openly?”

“Or are you not allowed to pursue someone openly, and you have to use some insidious means…”

Liang Jingren, although he picked up the thornless roses, pointed out Chen Mo’s problem as harshly as if he had thorns.

And Chen Mo? He didn’t care. He could even face Liang Jingren with a calm smile, praising in his heart: As expected of the man I have my eye on, his mind works so fast, I really can’t get the better of him…

“Ren Ge, stealing time together can’t be so blatant,” Chen Mo took a step forward, gently held up the red roses in Liang Jingren’s hand, and sent it deeper into Liang Jingren’s arms, “I’m aware of being a mistress.”

Hearing this, Liang Jingren’s hand, which should have been refusing, suddenly stopped.

Immediately afterwards, he heard Chen Mo ramble on: “I know you have a lover in the bar, I’ve seen him, he does look good, but I think I can do better than him, I’ll accompany you whatever PLAY you want to play, even if it’s temporary without a title, I’m willing as long as you want me…”

“I know this isn’t good, but I really like you, I really want to be with you, if you’re afraid of being discovered or have a psychological burden or something, I understand, so I prepared so carefully and secretly…”

“I can give, I can endure, I can really, really do a lot for you…”

Seeing that Liang Jingren was shocked and his thoughts hadn’t been sorted out yet, Chen Mo quickly seized the opportunity, grabbed the other’s shoulders, and specifically used teary-eyed special effects to deepen the tragic color in the last sentence of the confession:

“Ren Ge, just let me be your mistress…”