Chapter 6 - Chapter 6: Deliberate Coincidences

On the Monday morning after the team building retreat, as soon as Su Wan turned on her computer, an email notification from Lu Chengyu popped up. Her fingers paused for a moment before clicking it open. The dense annotations made her frown slightly—covering everything from the tourist flow diversion routes in the underground landscape space to the color temperature parameters of the emergency exit lights, and even the cleaning plan for the aquarium's glass curtain wall. The final line, "Feel free to come to Chengyu Investment for discussion if you have any questions," felt like a deliberately placed hook.Suddenly, memories of the drowning incident at Yunqi Lake flooded her mind—Lu Chengyu's body temperature as he carried her ashore, the cedar scent of his shirt, and his earnest gaze under the moonlight. Her ears grew warm. She hesitated over the email for half an hour, but finally printed out the proposal, folded it, and put it in her briefcase. Work was work; she couldn't let personal emotions delay the project.When she called Lu Chengyu, she deliberately kept her tone professional: "Mr. Lu, I have some details to discuss in person regarding the additional requirements in your email.""Perfect—I'll be in the office all morning," his voice on the other end was softer than during coordination meetings, even carrying a faint, barely perceptible smile. "I'll ask my assistant to wait for you in the lobby. You can come straight up—no need to register."Su Wan held the phone in a daze. During her last visit to Chengyu Investment for a coordination meeting, she'd had to fill out three registration forms at the front desk. Why was the process skipped this time?The elevator stopped on the top floor. An assistant dressed in a light gray suit was already waiting outside the president's office, leading her in with a smile: "Designer Su, Mr. Lu specifically instructed that you can come in directly."The office was simpler than she'd imagined. Floor-to-ceiling windows overlooked rows of office buildings, but in one corner of the desk sat a wilted succulent—its plump leaves wrinkled, completely out of place with the neat stacks of documents around it."Sit," Lu Chengyu looked up from his papers, gesturing to the chair in front of the desk and handing her a glass of warm water with tiny water droplets condensing on the rim. "Let's start with the aquarium design. Have you calculated the cost and safety of the curved glass you mentioned last time?"They discussed the blueprints for over an hour. Su Wan grew more and more engaged until Lu Chengyu suddenly pointed to the succulent on the corner of the desk: "I saw one just like this on the windowsill of your room at Yunqi Lake."Su Wan followed his gaze and realized the succulent's pot was identical to hers—a light cyan ceramic pot with small star patterns printed on the side. "This type of 'peach egg' succulent likes sunlight but hates waterlogging. Watering it once a week is enough," she reached out to touch the leaves instinctively, then pulled her hand back quickly. "Sorry, I…""It's fine," a hint of amusement flashed in Lu Chengyu's eyes. He took out a small notebook from his drawer and actually wrote it down carefully. "I used to be afraid it would dry out, so I watered it every day. No wonder it's getting more and more wilted. It seems I'll need to consult Designer Su more about succulent care in the future."By the time their discussion ended, it was nearly noon. The sun slanted through the window, casting a long shadow over Lu Chengyu's desk. He closed the folder and said casually: "There's a new Cantonese restaurant downstairs. I heard their shrimp dumplings are authentic. Shall we have lunch together? Think of it as… thanking you for saving this succulent."Su Wan looked at the small notebook in his hand—his handwriting was as neat as printed text when he'd jotted down the care tips. It hardly seemed like he needed to "thank" her. Yet his gaze was sincere, and even the tips of his ears were slightly pink, making it impossible for her to refuse.The Cantonese restaurant was filled with a faint aroma of shrimp dumplings. Lu Chengyu pushed the steamer toward her: "Try one—the skin is very thin."Su Wan bit into half of a dumpling, and the fresh juice of the shrimp burst in her mouth. When she looked up, she happened to meet Lu Chengyu's gaze—he hadn't touched his chopsticks, just watching her as if confirming whether she liked it."When I was in college, to complete an investment case on the catering industry, I spent a week in the library," Lu Chengyu suddenly said, his fingers unconsciously brushing the teacup. "In the end, I fell asleep at the desk with a 30-page report in my arms. When I woke up, the librarian scolded me."Su Wan couldn't help laughing: "I was even more embarrassed when I first started. During my first presentation to a client, I was so nervous that I knocked over my water glass. The water soaked the entire proposal, but I had to finish the presentation holding the wet blueprints."The sun streamed through the glass window onto the tablecloth between them, making the checkered pattern glow brightly. As Su Wan looked at the smile in Lu Chengyu's eyes, she suddenly thought—this investment president who always wore a serious face actually had such a lively side.After that, Lu Chengyu's "work invitations" became more frequent. Sometimes it was an email sent at 3 p.m., with a postscript: "The latte at the coffee shop downstairs is good—should I bring you one?" Sometimes it was a "coincidental encounter" at the elevator after work, holding a sandwich from the bakery she often bought from: "I passed by and thought you might not have had dinner." He even sent a photo of an art exhibition on weekends with a message: "This light installation would be perfect for Stellar Center's underground space. We can talk about it next week."Every time, Su Wan told herself "it's just work-related." But when she realized Lu Chengyu remembered she didn't eat coriander and that she took two spoonfuls of sugar in her coffee, the line between "work" and "personal" in her heart was slowly softening.