He stole his best friend's photos and fell for a tycoon's heir through online dating.

Xia Ruo turned her head, her eyes widening slightly: "What?"

"It's close to the company, a five-minute walk." He paused, glanced at her sideways, then looked away.

"No need to stay in the dormitory, and no need to trouble the Lin family."

"Mr. Huo, do you take me for a fool? Do you think I'd believe that?"

Xia Ruo felt her intelligence had been insulted, like a cat with its fur standing on end.

"Why don't you believe me?" His tone remained calm, even carrying a hint of innocence.

"If that were true, why would so many people in the company need to rent houses?"

Moreover, I've never heard anyone mention it, not even Sister Zhang.

"This apartment isn't a place just anyone can live in," Zhou Siyan explained calmly.

"Only the president's secretary and senior company executives are eligible to apply."

Looking at his serious expression, Xia Ruo's doubts began to waver: "Really?"

"The company is also considering human factors," he said, his tone still very serious.

"Secretaries and senior executives have a lot of work and often work overtime until very late, which is why this apartment was reserved. But so far, no one has applied for it."

"Why hasn't anyone applied?" Xia Ruo tilted her head and asked earnestly.

Zhou Siyan turned to look at her, a hint of helplessness in his eyes that said, "You're so naive."

"Because everyone has a family, and...they don't lack money."

"Oh... okay."

"Secretary Xia," he suddenly changed the subject, "are you short of money?"

Um... I have nearly 20 million yuan in embezzled funds in my WeChat Wallet, does that count?

Xia Ruo forced a smile without changing her expression:

"Who would complain about not having enough money, right, boss? Look at you, so rich, yet you still make money every single day without fail."

"I don't work to make money."

"what?"

"You're curious, aren't you?" Zhou Siyan glanced at her, a faint smile appearing in his eyes.

Does anyone work not to earn money? Is he going to say something pretentious like "I'm not interested in money"?

"How about it, want to stay in an apartment?" His voice lowered, carrying a fatal temptation. "If you move in, I'll tell you."

Xia Ruo was pulled back to reality by those words. She crossed her arms, raised her chin slightly, and adopted a defensive posture.

"Hmph—I'm afraid you have ulterior motives towards me."

"You?"

Zhou Siyan glanced at her from top to bottom, shook his head, and continued driving.

Xia Ruo blushed deeply at his gaze, feeling as if he had seen right through her: "What's wrong? When you were dancing just now..."

"What happened while you were dancing?"

"Isn't it...asking me about...that?" Xia Ruo's voice grew softer and softer, her ears turning as red as if they were about to bleed.

"Oh? You mean that?" Zhou Siyan feigned sudden realization, drawing out the last syllable.

"I saw that scene in a short drama, thought it was funny, and wanted to try it out. What's wrong? Are you interested?"

Xia Ruo froze as if struck by lightning.

Fun? She mentally repeated those two words twice.

Then came shame. Anger. Speechlessness—three emotions twisted together like three ropes, surging upwards from my chest.

Finally, it transforms into two words octaves higher:

"No!!!"

After saying that, she suddenly turned her head, turned her face to the car window, and curled up into a ball, like an angry snail hiding in its shell.

Seeing her angry and embarrassed expression, Zhou Siyan knew he had gone too far.

The little girl was really angry.

"Want to know why you make money?" he asked softly, as if coaxing a cat with its fur standing on end.

Xia Ruo remained motionless.

Only the figure huddled inside the suit jacket rose and fell slightly with its rapid breathing.

Zhou Siyan finally couldn't help but laugh out loud.

"Alright, stop laughing," he said, his voice tinged with a hint of indulgence, "I'll tell you."

He straightened his expression and his tone became serious.

"Actually, at first, it was because of getting rid of it."

From the moment I was born, my family had already planned out my entire life.

It outlines exactly what to learn at what age, which school to attend, how to join a company at what age, and what position to expect at what age. Everything is clearly written out.

"I can indeed do it the way they say."

But I gradually realized... I was like a puppet on a string.

Every thread is being pulled by someone else, leading me left or right, forward or backward—none of which I chose myself.

Xia Ruo's body moved slightly.

"So I signed a performance-based agreement with my family." His voice carried a hint of sadness, as if he were recalling a distant past.

"Within a year, without any family resources, I'll start from scratch—earning tens of millions a day. The agreement clearly states the limits. If you can't meet them, you'll obediently go back to being my puppet."

"That year was the most tiring and hardest year of my life." A very faint smile curved his lips, a quiet calm that came after weathering many storms.

"I've made it in my field of passion, stumbled along the way, been cheated, and almost couldn't even afford the rent. But in the end, I made it."

The car turned a corner, and the streetlights cast shadows on his profile, creating a play of light and shadow.

"The money I earned is not a number to me."

It's my own self-affirmation. It's my bargaining chip against fate. It's the only way I can prove "I am who I am."

The carriage remained quiet for a long time.

Zhou Siyan turned his head and found that she had turned around at some point and was looking at him.

In those peach blossom eyes, there was no usual evasiveness, no deliberate aloofness, but a soft, quiet tenderness tinged with heartache that he had never seen before.

A hidden current surged in Zhou Siyan's eyes.

Looking at him like that—he wanted to pull her into his arms immediately, kiss those peach blossom eyes, and swallow all the tenderness in them, making it his own.

The fingers gripping the steering wheel turned slightly white.

"What's wrong?" His voice was a little hoarse, with a hint of forced lightness and teasing. "The way you're looking at me, are you worshipping me?"

"No, I didn't..."

"Ah-choo—" Xia Ruo sneezed loudly before she could finish her sentence.

Zhou Siyan glanced at her, said nothing, pulled the car over to the side of the road, got out and walked toward the convenience store on the street.

Xia Ruo huddled in the passenger seat, rubbing her sore nose.

She suddenly remembered that she hadn't informed Zhou Siyan yet.

She took out her phone and opened the pinned chat window. The last message was her saying, "Baby's going to eat," and he still hadn't replied.

Was she busy, or... indifferent? She didn't have time to think further; her fingers instinctively typed a line:

"Brother, I finished working overtime and caught a bit of a cold on my way home."

send.

The next second, in the quiet carriage—

Ding.

The phone on the center console lit up briefly.

Xia Ruo's gaze unconsciously drifted over. What did President Huo buy when he went out without his phone?

How stupid! Forgetting your phone when you go shopping and still daring to fool yourself.

Xia Ruo sneered inwardly.

Just as she was about to shift her gaze back to her screen, her fingers suddenly stopped.

She stared at the lit-up phone on the center console, then looked down at the message she had just sent.

...No way?

She suddenly remembered the first time she rode in his car; it seemed to be the same—she sent a message, and his phone rang.

She didn't pay attention at the time, thinking it was a coincidence.

but……

Xia Ruo's fingers trembled slightly.

She took a deep breath and sent another emoji in the chat box.

Ding--

It rang again.

My heart skipped a beat in my chest, as if I had been hit hard.

Coincidence? This must be a coincidence.

She bit her lip and sent another one.

Ding--

The cell phone notification sound was deafening in the quiet carriage, like a verdict.

Her brain went blank, as if someone had detonated a silent bomb inside her.

All the fragments of information spun wildly in her consciousness, like scrambled puzzle pieces, being pieced together at an astonishing speed—

Huo Sinian. Zhou Siyan.

Huo, Si, Nian. Zhou, Si, Yan.

Huo Sinian is Zhou Siyan!!!