The Ceo Of The Company Next Door Seems To Have A Crush On Me Chapter 29

May All Your Wishes Come True and Ah—!!!

As the saying goes, hesitation leads to defeat, and often, opportunities slip away during moments of indecision.

Some people deeply regret letting opportunities go, such as Lu Zhijian, while a small minority feel extremely fortunate, also such as Lu Zhijian.

The play Romeo and Juliet was scheduled to be performed this Saturday at the Opal Theater in Jingji. Lu Zhijian had bought two tickets in advance, hoping to go with Yan Xucheng, but he kept hesitating, unsure how to ask Yan Xucheng.

After subtly inquiring whether Yan Xucheng had to work or go home that day, he mentally rehearsed his lines—

“Do you want to see a play?”

No, no, that sounds too abrupt. It would be better to ease into it.

“I saw the play Romeo and Juliet, and I really want to see it, so I bought two tickets. Can you come with me?”

No, no, that’s too verbose, and if he emphasizes the two tickets, will Yan Xucheng feel pressured?

He should say—

“I need to pick up Jiang Mingyi.”

!

Great, now there’s no need to think about how to invite him, Lu Zhijian thought, finding humor in his misery.

Because he won’t be going, haha.

It wasn’t funny at all.

He had been looking forward to seeing his favorite play with Yan Xucheng for a long time, but now all his plans had fallen through.

But who could he blame?

He looked at Yan Xucheng’s smoky blue eyes and hid the two tickets deeper. “You must remember to bring me cake.”

He didn’t actually like cake that much.

The heavy curtain rose, and the girl’s fluffy, luxurious skirt spun in the center of the stage, like a soufflé.

Lu Zhijian thought.

Speaking of which, Yan Xucheng wasn’t his only friend. Without Yan Xucheng, he could have found someone else to come with him, like Yan Zhu, but why would he ask Yan Zhu to accompany him?

Lu Zhijian wasn’t the type of person who couldn’t be alone or needed company for everything. On the contrary, he enjoyed solitude. Moreover, he had absolutely no desire to invite Yan Zhu. Just imagining the scene of watching a play with Yan Zhu made him feel constrained.

When he was alone, he could do whatever he wanted, but with another person, he had to consider what the other person thought, which was too tiring. Lu Zhijian decisively gave up on using the other ticket, letting it serve as a mere decoration.

The play was excellent, performed by a world-class touring company that Lu Zhijian had always admired. The environment was also very good; he felt relaxed and comfortable alone in the box. The dialogue was superb, truly worthy of a literary master.

“Feasts easily scatter, good gatherings are hard to come by.”

It was philosophical and beautiful, but after watching it, Lu Zhijian felt even more unhappy.

When it rains, it pours. Already unhappy, Lu Zhijian encountered the sunset on his way back. The orange-yellow sunlight spilled across one side of the sky, seemingly bright, yet somehow making the road feel dark.

Lu Zhijian felt a knot in his heart.

He thought, maybe it was because he saw the sunset.

He had never liked sunsets.

Lu Zhijian went to Four Seasons Spring for dinner. The last time he was here, it was with Yan Xucheng.

The bamboo outside the window grew tall and green. When the wind blew, the dense bamboo leaves rustled. Last time, Yan Xucheng looked at the bamboo for a long time. Did he like bamboo?

When Lu Zhijian snapped back to reality, he suddenly realized that in less than a month, Yan Xucheng had left a distinct mark on his life. It seemed he had been thinking about Yan Xucheng’s every word and action all day today.

Is this right?

Lu Zhijian couldn’t help but ponder. He had never had such a close friend, and Yan Xucheng was the first friend he had actively approached, so it was normal for him to be different from others, right? And Yan Xucheng’s personality was also different from theirs…

Yan Xucheng was already a special friend to him, so it was normal for him to have a special impact.

The restaurant wasn’t busy today. When Lu Zhijian was almost finished eating, the owner, Yun Shengyi, came out from the back kitchen.

She was a gentle-looking middle-aged woman, slightly plump, with a silver bracelet on her wrist. Her clothes were simple but neat, and her dark hair was coiled at the back of her head. Lu Zhijian hadn’t seen her wear her hair down since middle school.

Yun Shengyi had practically watched Lu Zhijian grow up and knew him well. She naturally pulled out a chair and sat across from Lu Zhijian, her voice as gentle as she was. “Just you today?”

“Mhm.” Lu Zhijian was a man of few words, and Yun Shengyi was used to it.

“Where’s that red-haired boy who came with you last time?”

Lu Zhijian looked at her with a bewildered, questioning gaze. “Why should he come?”

This question stumped Yun Shengyi. “He, he, isn’t he your…”

Having traveled extensively over the years, Yun Shengyi had developed some insight into people. Meeting Lu Zhijian’s purely confused gaze, she realized she had misunderstood, but she still asked, unwilling to give up, “What is your relationship with that boy?”

After more than twenty years in Jingji, she still occasionally slipped into Haicheng dialect.

Lu Zhijian blurted out, “He’s a friend.”

“A friend?!” Yun Shengyi’s voice shot up uncontrollably. Realizing the surrounding attention, she quickly apologized to everyone. “I’m sorry, I’m sorry.”

Lu Zhijian didn’t understand why she was acting so strange today. “What’s wrong?”

“Nothing, hehehe.” After a moment, she asked, still unconvinced, “Really just a friend?”

Lu Zhijian also realized what she was implying. In that instant, his worldview seemed to shatter. The usually calm and collected person became flustered and panicky, his face flushing, yet he still held firm, emphasizing with great seriousness and solemnity, “Really just a friend!”

Yun Shengyi smiled as she saw him off, watching his car disappear at the end of the street, muttering softly, “Who would believe that? After all these years, this is the first time I’ve seen you bring a friend here.”

On the way home, for some reason, the temperature in the car kept rising. Lu Zhijian felt faintly suffocated, so he lowered the window a little. Although the temperature wasn’t low, the night wind, especially the wind blowing in while driving, was quite cool.

The speed gave the wind force, and it stung a little as it hit Lu Zhijian.

Lu Zhijian rested his left hand on the steering wheel and unbuttoned his shirt with his right. After undoing two buttons, a large expanse of skin, overly pale from rarely seeing the sun, was exposed. The wind blew the unrestrained collar, flapping against Lu Zhijian’s collarbone. Lu Zhijian finally felt like he could breathe.

When getting out of the car, Lu Zhijian buttoned the second button again. It wouldn’t do for others to see him looking disheveled.

While watering the succulents on the balcony, Lu Zhijian couldn’t help but look at the balcony next door. It was completely dark.

He wasn’t home yet.

Lu Zhijian checked the time. It was already 7:30 PM! Why was he still wandering around so late?!

Well, he was just thinking. He had no right to control when Yan Xucheng came home. He was just Yan Xucheng’s friend, not—

!!! It seemed he was still affected by Yun Shengyi…

Lu Zhijian didn’t dare to continue thinking about it. He quickly pushed all those messy thoughts to the back of his mind and picked up his phone to browse posts about succulent cultivation. Maybe buying a few more pots of succulents could alleviate his current state.

He didn’t know how much time had passed when Yan Xucheng suddenly sent a message: Come eat cake!

It was accompanied by a photo of a cake, which looked like it was taken in his own home.

Lu Zhijian: Penguin anticipation jpg.

Yan Xucheng hummed a tune as he took the cutlery out of the kitchen and brewed a pot of floral tea to cut the richness.

Two game controllers were tossed on the living room sofa, and the throw pillows were scattered haphazardly from their excitement earlier. On the coffee table was the wine Jiang Mingyi had brought him. He hadn’t had time to put it away after opening it, and the bottle was still in the box.

The doorbell rang quickly.

Yan Xucheng ran over in his slippers. “You’re finally here!”

As soon as the door opened, Lu Zhijian saw Yan Xucheng’s bright smiling face, and his mood finally began to lift. He spoke softly, “Sorry to keep you waiting.”

“Come, come in quickly! Today it’s—limited edition sea salt cheesecake!”

Yan Xucheng hopped over and opened the box to show Lu Zhijian. “Ta-da—”

Lu Zhijian played along with a laugh. “Wow—”

“Here.” Yan Xucheng handed him a slice and sat down opposite him. His waterfall of long red hair swept through the air, leaving a faint scent of roses.

He was wearing perfume today. It smelled nice.

The rich milky flavor, the perfect sweetness, and the faint hint of sea salt, paired with a pot of fragrant floral tea, instantly made the day’s worries and fatigue vanish.

Yan Xucheng let out a sigh of contentment. “Wow—worthy of being a limited edition.”

Lu Zhijian echoed, “Worthy of being a limited edition—”

“Ding-dong ding-ding-dong ding-dong—”

The doorbell suddenly rang urgently, pulling Yan Xucheng and Lu Zhijian out of their cheesecake reverie.

“Hmm? Who could it be this late?” Yan Xucheng went to open the door, puzzled.

As soon as the door opened, a familiar figure rushed in.

Jiang Mingyi bent down to change her shoes, talking non-stop. “Ugh, this is so annoying. I realized I forgot my phone halfway here, so I had to come back. Did you see my phone? It should be on the sofa…”

After changing her shoes, she walked purposefully toward the sofa, completely ignoring Yan Xucheng, who was frozen in the doorway like a fish out of water, and Lu Zhijian, who sat by the dining table like a plaster statue.

Jiang Mingyi flipped over a throw pillow, her eyes lighting up. She straightened up and solemnly declared, “Found it—Ah!!!”

The declaration turned into a scream.