Chapter 25 Why are you taking pictures of me? Your eyes are so beautiful.

Although she agreed to be with Li Baidong, Xing Lan could already foresee that this relationship would not last long.

The reason is simple: in a normal relationship, people are usually attracted to each other first, and after testing each other's feelings in various ways, they officially establish a romantic relationship.

With a deep and steadfast emotional foundation, the relationship will naturally last a long time.

Unlike him and Li Baidong, who were two completely different people forced together because of that chaotic night after drinking.

He has never liked dating people younger than him, and his agreement to be with Li Baidong now is only out of a sense of responsibility and guilt towards him.

However, he also has the right to break up with Li Baidong if he later finds that the two are indeed not suitable, and the two can part amicably.

Dating and breaking up are normal things that can't be helped. It doesn't involve anyone's character, and he doesn't need to feel indebted to Li Baidong.

Compared to Xing Lan, who was silently preparing for the breakup, Li Baidong's behavior was completely different.

Perhaps because it was his first relationship, Li Baidong maintained an extremely high level of enthusiasm for this relationship, investing a great deal of time and energy that far exceeded Xing Lan's expectations.

He wanted the whole world to know that he and Xing Lan were together.

If it weren't for the current limitations of scientific and technological development, preventing humanity from establishing contact with extraterrestrials, he would at least take a spaceship to inform those mysterious green-skinned, big-eyed extraterrestrial beings, and perhaps even distribute some wedding candy... if they also have a need for food.

One evening, Li Baidong suddenly made Xing Lan, who was working, look up.

Xing Lan looked up from the computer and saw Li Baidong holding a mobile phone, pointing the camera at him, and quickly taking a picture of him.

"Crack".

Xing Lan, unsure of his intentions, frowned and asked in confusion, "Why are you taking pictures of me?"

Li Baidong smiled shyly, swiped his long fingers across the phone screen twice, and then turned to show it to Xing Lan with satisfaction.

The screen that was lit up prominently displayed Li Baidong's WeChat Moments homepage.

He slightly cropped the photo he had just taken, removing the unimportant background and leaving only Xing Lan's long, beautiful, almond-shaped eyes in the center. He then quickly added a line of large text next to her eyes: "【Looking at my boyfriend's WeChat Moments again?】"

Xing Lan: "..."

His thin eyelids twitched slightly, and a thousand words stuck in his throat. But the moment he saw Li Baidong holding his phone, smiling happily, he swallowed them all back down.

"Brother, your eyes are so beautiful." Li Baidong walked over to Xing Lan and sat down next to him affectionately, his voice filled with barely concealed excitement. "How about that? Now everyone who has my WeChat knows you're my boyfriend."

“In the past, some people at school might have had a crush on me, but now, they definitely won’t come looking for me anymore. They know that I only like my brother, and my brother only likes me.”

Under Li Baidong's ardent and expectant gaze, Xing Lan was caught in a dilemma and could only nod stiffly, force a smile, and pretend to be as happy as him.

He had just finished processing the fact that Li Baidong used his photo as his WeChat Moments background when, soon after, Li Baidong's new bombshell of enthusiasm came crashing down on him without warning.

He sent Xing Lan about forty WeChat messages in a row, then looked at Xing Lan with puppy-dog eyes and asked softly, "Brother, can we use matching profile pictures?"

Before Xing Lan could answer, he smiled and muttered to himself, "I've already picked out so many online, and every pair looks so cute~ Bro, which one do you like the most?"

Xing Lan took a deep breath and mentally prepared himself before opening WeChat, where he saw the bunch of popular online couple profile pictures that Li Baidong had just sent him.

Li Baidong's aesthetic sense is very consistent; he always chooses cats and dogs that are clinging to each other. Although the artists do draw them quite cutely, they just don't meet Xing Lan's cold eyes.

He glanced at it twice and then hastily turned off his phone, saying indifferently, "We'll talk about it later. I don't want to change my profile picture right now."

"elder brother……"

As soon as Xing Lan finished speaking, she turned her head and saw Li Baidong's teary eyes, with large tears trembling gently in his eyes as if they were about to fall.

"When did this kid become such a crybaby?" Xing Lan wondered suspiciously.

Did that night really cause him so much harm that his heart became so fragile and sensitive?

Li Baidong pouted, looking aggrieved and hurt. He lowered his eyes and whispered sadly, "Brother, do you not want others to know about me?"

"...No, don't overthink it." Xing Lan said, feeling a little guilty herself, and awkwardly touched her nose.

“Brother, I know you’re not really with me.” Xing Lan wasn’t good at lying, and Li Baidong’s expression suddenly changed.

“I’m young, I haven’t even graduated from university yet. You said you didn’t like someone as young and immature as me.” Li Baidong looked up, staring directly at the light above him as if torturing himself. He gently wiped away his tears and choked out with melancholy, “Maybe I really am useless. It’s also difficult for you to be with me, brother.”

"If only I hadn't been online that day. If I hadn't been online, I wouldn't have seen your new post. If I hadn't seen your new post, I wouldn't have moved here alone with the fox. If I hadn't moved here alone with the fox, we wouldn't have..."

"You really shouldn't overthink it." Xing Lan raised her hand to shield him from the glaring light, interrupting him helplessly, "Alright, I'll help you change your profile picture. You can choose a pair yourself, okay?"

Upon hearing this, Li Baidong immediately smiled with narrowed eyes, picked up his phone and happily selected one of the pairs: "Okay, bro, let's go with this set. I've wanted to use it for a long time, I've saved it for ages, hehe."

His face changed from gloomy to sunny so quickly, before his tears had even dried, that Xing Lan was somewhat incredulous and couldn't help but glance at him a few more times.

Li Baidong met his gaze with a grin, as if nothing had happened, and reached out to put his arm around his slender waist, sniffing incessantly at his neck.

Every now and then, he would turn his head slightly, his long blond hair brushing against his ear like a clingy big dog, making Xing Lan ticklish. His hand holding the mouse accidentally clicked the wrong button several times, typing a few messy periods in the orderly document.

Although they are currently in a romantic relationship, Li Baidong's ability to get into character is too smooth. Like a gifted actor, he becomes completely immersed in the role once he gets into it, occasionally even improvising changes to the script and lines, giving his co-stars no time to adjust.

He could only console himself that perhaps it was just a new person making a splash, and things wouldn't be so extreme in the future.

-

Because she missed out on a major client like Mr. Liu, Xing Lan hasn't seen a friendly face from Mr. Liao at work these past few days.

After all, his business acumen was undeniable, and even if General Manager Liao was dissatisfied with his performance, he wouldn't dare to actually fire him. Excellent talent is rare and hard to find; firing Xing Lan would not only mean losing more clients, but might also mean handing over a strong employee to a rival company—a losing proposition indeed.

Xing Lan was wearing a white hooded sweatshirt today, with a simple line drawing of a kitten printed on the brim of the hood.

These clothes were clearly not his style; Li Baidong had bought them as a couple's set from some online store. He had paid an extra twenty yuan to have the seller expedite the delivery and send them via a better courier. As soon as the two sets of clothes, one black and one white, arrived, he immediately washed them.

Xing Lan's washing machine recently broke down, and she hasn't had time to find someone to fix it yet, so all her clothes have to be washed by hand for the time being.

Sometimes Xing Lan is busy with work and works overtime late. When he comes back, he finds that Li Baidong has already washed all the clothes he put in the laundry basket that he was going to wash later, including his underwear.

He felt quite embarrassed at first. He didn't want Li Baidong to do things for him like a nanny. It was one thing to make him lunch every morning and dinner every night, but now he had to hand-wash his clothes in the middle of the night.

Although the two are no longer just ordinary roommates, he still finds it hard to accept. He wishes he could hide his clothes so that Li Baidong wouldn't find them, and then get up in the early morning to wash them secretly by himself.

Xing Lan may not accept it, but Li Baidong seems to be enjoying it quite a bit.

Every time he finished washing Xing Lan's clothes, he would hold them to his nose and smell them. He always felt that the clothes Xing Lan wore had a special fragrance, a faint fragrance that was hard to describe, but definitely not the dizzying scent of laundry detergent.

Sometimes he would bury his entire face in the soil and inhale deeply before finally wringing them dry, hanging them up to air dry, and meticulously arranging them according to the steps. Judging from his tall stature of over 1.9 meters, it's hard to believe that he has such a virtuous and domestic character.

"Knock knock knock".

A female employee came in to deliver documents to Xing Lan. When she saw the kitten-patterned brim on his hat, she subconsciously opened her mouth and gasped almost imperceptibly.

Xing Lan raised her face, seemingly finding the scene somewhat familiar: "...Is there anything else?"

The female employee shook her head stiffly: "No, no, it's nothing."

As she was leaving after delivering the documents, she tripped again on the threshold of the office and almost twisted her ankle.

The only difference is that last time I almost twisted my left ankle, and this time I almost twisted my right ankle.

She turned her head and awkwardly smiled at Xing Lan, who was looking at her: "This threshold... cough cough, it's time to fix this threshold."

Back at her workstation, she couldn't concentrate on her work. After glancing around and finding no one paying attention to them, she quietly started a conversation.

"Director Xing... seems to be in a relationship!"

Another colleague was stunned: "This melon... I think I've eaten it before?"

"This time it's for real!" the female employee said anxiously. "They're even wearing matching outfits! And Director Xing is even wearing the women's style!"

"...Really? Aren't these hoodies usually unisex?"

"Whether it's a unisex style or not, I saw the outfit he wore today online, it's definitely a matching couple's outfit. I originally wanted to get one for my boyfriend and one for myself, but it was a bit expensive, so I didn't buy it in the end." She patted her chest, still feeling a little scared, and said, "It's a good thing I didn't buy it, otherwise it would have been so embarrassing to wear the same thing as someone else."

"It would be unreasonable for a handsome guy like Director Xing to be single," a colleague said thoughtfully, stroking his chin. "He may seem aloof, but he's actually quite gentle with girls, much better than those clueless, clueless straight men in our office."

"Yes, yes, I heard that last time he attended a dinner party, he even shielded that new intern from drinking, and got quite drunk himself. Now I also think that Director Xing is a really nice person."

"I wonder who his girlfriend is. If she's also a super handsome guy..."

The two exchanged a glance and both revealed a knowing smile.

"hey-hey."

"hey-hey."

"Tsk tsk tsk, I really wish I had the chance to see it in person..."

"Do you think Director Xing will be the one on top or the one on the bottom?"

"With that face that's prettier than any celebrity... I bet five cents, the bag's underneath!"

"Shh... Keep your voice down. If he hears you, you'll lose not only 50 cents, but your entire month's salary."

-

Before we knew it, it was afternoon.

After getting off work, Xing Lan planned to drive home, but as soon as he got in, he found that his car wouldn't start.

He called a mechanic to take a look. The mechanic glanced at it and told him that it was most likely an engine problem, but he would have to tow the car to the shop for a more detailed inspection.

Xing Lan frowned, crossed her arms, and asked him, "How many days will it take to fix?"

"About a week if things go smoothly," the driver said.

Xing Lan transferred the money to the car dealership mechanic, and the mechanic sent someone to tow his car away.

By the time he finished dealing with these matters, it was already getting late, and the setting sun cast a golden glow, making his shadow very long.

It's rush hour now, and it's hard to get a taxi. Xing Lan doesn't have any close colleagues she can hitch a ride with, so she can only stand by the roadside and wait.

Suddenly, a motorcycle horn sounded in my ear.

Xing Lan turned her head and saw Li Baidong sitting on a motorcycle dressed in all black. He was tall and slender, and looked relaxed and lazy.

He looked in Xing Lan's direction, tilted his head slightly, raised two fingers and swept them across the bottom of his helmet, making a kiss gesture towards him.