Chapter 65 Baby: "I've loved you for a long time."

Xing Lan had absolutely no recollection of the night she got drunk, how exactly it happened between the two of them, who initiated it, who took the lead, whether they spoke or kissed.

That memory had completely vanished from his memory labyrinth. If Li Baidong hadn't confirmed it himself the next day, it would have been as if nothing had ever happened.

But this time, he remained fully conscious, remembering every moment and every detail clearly.

The air around them was warm, and the French-style lily-of-the-valley chandelier cast a row of warm yellow light, the brightness just right, as if sunlight were pouring down on the two of them.

He was like a cookie stuffed into an oven, burning hot from the intense heat. His slender waist tensed involuntarily, his fingertips turned slightly white, and he helplessly placed them on the cool solid wood dining table below.

Her fine, dark hair was damp with sweat, clinging to her forehead in strands and partially obscuring her vision.

I feel a little unwell.

Xing Lan was uncomfortable with this feeling and lowered her head, trying to escape. The next second, she was pulled back, grabbed by the waist, pressed down on the table, and kissed.

Countless tender kisses fell like warm raindrops. Xing Lan closed her eyes and couldn't help but let out soft moans during the long, lingering kisses.

"Um……"

Li Baidong's soft breathing occasionally reached his ears, deep and sexy, making his heart race, his body tremble more, and his face flush even more.

"Baby."

In his dazed state, Xing Lan heard Li Baidong call him that with such affection.

She stroked his snow-white back, her fingertips moving lightly and carefully, as if touching a sensitive mimosa. "...You are so beautiful."

Xing Lan gasped almost imperceptibly, her long eyelashes damp with moisture, casting a faint, swaying shadow on her cheek in the dim light.

Surrounded by the boy's strong yet naive aura, he felt as if he had entered a lovely green apple, with the roof and floor made of fresh fruit pulp, and his whole body covered in the sweet fragrance of fruit.

All the other organs in my body seemed to have disappeared, with only my heart beating incessantly in the empty chest cavity, beating louder and faster.

The vast world was now reduced to just the two of them, and the entire planet seemed to have become the pounding of his heart.

Their breaths mingled hotly, and their vision gradually blurred and became inverted.

The cup on the table was half full of water. As time passed, the water cooled down, and the steam dissipated, leaving only ripples on the surface.

Finally, Li Baidong whispered a kiss in his ear and said one last thing.

He spoke so softly that only Xing Lan could hear him, and even the wind that brushed against their faces and stirred their damp hair could not steal his voice.

"I love you, I've loved you for a long time."

...

The next morning, Xing Lan unusually slept in.

Or rather, he didn't even get out of bed.

His phone alarm had been ringing again and again, but he ignored it completely, not even opening his eyes once.

He was too tired and too sleepy. He stayed curled up in his warm bed, with only a few soft strands of hair sticking out from under the covers, like the antennae of a small animal that hadn't hidden properly.

It seems that Li Baidong carried him to take a bath last night. When he was almost asleep, he felt Li Baidong rubbing his hair, and his head was resting on his broad chest.

The bathtub was filled with shampoo and shower gel foam, and the fragrant aroma permeated the entire bathroom.

Around 8 o'clock, Li Baidong respectfully brought breakfast to the bedside and carefully pulled back a corner of the quilt.

Xing Lan's usually neatly combed hair was now more disheveled than ever before. This messy and wild hair could easily be used to cosplay a homeless person for Halloween on anyone else, but on him, it made his face under the messy hair look even whiter and more delicate, like an adorable, unsuspecting, fluffy kitten, making people want to kiss him.

Hearing the noise behind him, Xing Lan turned his face slightly and glanced at Li Baidong, who had come to bring him food.

Unlike Xing Lan's exhaustion, Li Baidong looked full of energy, like a tall sapling that was growing rapidly at an explosive pace as his life experience became richer.

Li Baidong met Xing Lan's tired, wet eyes, frowned slightly, and said with some concern, "Baby, how about we take the day off today?"

Xing Lan sighed, propped herself up on the mattress with her elbows, and sat up with some difficulty.

Li Baidong quickly put down his breakfast, came over and picked him up, and carefully took his own pillow to put behind him.

Xing Lan is twenty-five years old, which, if rounded up, could be considered as being in her early twenties.

Although he occasionally fell ill, he never felt that there was anything wrong with his body. But at this moment, he had to admit that his energy had declined significantly compared to when he was eighteen or nineteen, and was far inferior to that of Li Baidong at twenty.

If you asked them to run a kilometer right now, Li Baidong would have enthusiastically run eight laps and come back, while Xing Lan would most likely still be stuck at the starting line, with a sore back and unable to move her legs.

Of course, part of the blame lies with Li Baidong.

The young upstart didn't know his own strength; Xing Lan still has his teeth marks on her shoulder, the sharp teeth clearly visible, forming a small, reddish circle.

Xing Lan sat up on the bed, looked up at Li Baidong, and gently shook her head.

"No." He tried to keep his voice steady so it wouldn't sound too hoarse. "I won't take leave. I have to go to the company."

Xing Lan is truly passionate about her work and would never take leave unless absolutely necessary.

Upon hearing this, Li Baidong lowered his eyes with a mixture of emotions.

He certainly didn't want to stop Xing Lan from developing her career, but as long as Xing Lan went to work, she would inevitably have to see that annoying Jiang Mingyu again. Who knew what kind of shady things the other party would do to Xing Lan under the guise of official business.

Xing Lan looked at Li Baidong's somewhat frozen expression, as if she could see through his thoughts, and said calmly, "Don't worry, I won't see him again."

Li Baidong's eyes lit up instantly, but he still couldn't quite believe it: "Really? But your company is going to be collaborating with us in the future..."

“I will transfer that project to a colleague to take charge of.” Xing Lan said calmly and methodically, outlining the plan he had already prepared in his mind. “I have no feelings for Jiang Mingyu anymore. I only agreed to meet with him before because it was a work requirement.”

“But I didn’t expect him to cross the line again and again, not only harassing me but also threatening you.” He glanced at Li Baidong, his expression calm but his tone firm. “So, I will no longer tolerate him, nor will I let him affect our relationship.”

Xing Lan has always had clear goals in life. When he was in school, studying hard was the most important thing in his life. After he grew up and started working, working hard became his top priority.

This was the first time he had voluntarily given up such a big project and lost such a good opportunity for someone, out of consideration for a relationship.

Xing Lan spoke casually, as if she didn't care at all. Although Li Baidong had never officially worked, he knew to some extent that it wasn't easy for Xing Lan to hand over such an important project that she had been in charge of for so long to someone else; it required a great deal of determination and sacrifice.

Li Baidong's eyes reddened again. He sniffed, leaned over and hugged Xing Lan, his voice sweet and affectionate as he whispered, "Brother... I knew it, you're the best to me."

The muscular man, in the heat of the moment, unconsciously tightened his grip. Xing Lan was held tightly in his arms, feeling as if every bone in her body was about to shatter in his hands.

Li Baidong's embrace was hot, making it hard for him to breathe. Xing Lan couldn't help but cough twice, his gaze shifting to the breakfast placed to the side. He patted Li Baidong's strong arm and said, "Alright, I'm hungry."

Li Baidong was so moved that he didn't realize for a long time that he had cooked the green bean porridge before Xing Lan woke up, and it would get cold soon if he didn't eat it.

He picked up the porridge, his face beaming with a bright smile, radiating undisguised joy, like a particularly dedicated male servant, coaxing Xing Lan to eat spoonful by spoonful by spoonful by the bedside.

After Xing Lan had finished drinking the porridge, he put the empty bowl on the side cabinet and began to massage Xing Lan's waist and legs. He also took a small comb and carefully combed Xing Lan's messy hair.

Xing Lan was served by him for the entire morning. Only when she felt less uncomfortable did she slowly change her clothes, wash up, put on her shoes, and go to work.

-

The weather was sunny and not too cold today, but Xing Lan still made a point of wearing a thin turtleneck sweater before going out. The white sweater was very soft, didn't irritate her skin, and could also cover up the marks left on her neck last night.

Upon arriving at the company, he politely knocked on the door, and after receiving permission from the person inside, he stepped into the boss's office.

Hearing footsteps, General Manager Wu looked up from behind a pile of documents and pushed up his glasses: "Xiao Xing? What's up?"

Xing Lan stopped in front of the table and proposed to sell the project he was working on, but did not mention his past relationship with Jiang Mingyu for the time being.

"You want to quit this project?"

"Um."

Mr. Wu initially refused.

He frowned and pondered for a moment: "Can you give me a reason?"

Xing Lan paused for a moment, then casually made up an excuse: "It's nothing, it's just that some of our ideas don't quite align."

“BlueZoo is a new technology company, and I don’t know much about it, nor have I used their products for a long time, so it’s hard for me to grasp the real pain points of users,” Xing Lan analyzed rationally. “Just a few days ago, Xiao Fang came to ask me about the project. He usually likes this kind of thing and is a huge fan of their company. Compared to him, I think he must understand the needs of customers better than I do.”

After listening to his words, Mr. Wu remained silent for a while.

"But as far as I know, isn't this project progressing quite well?" Mr. Wu twirled the pen in his hand, hesitatingly saying, "The people from Lanzhou told me a while ago that they were very satisfied with your design and felt that communicating with you was also very pleasant. If you hadn't come to see me today, I would have thought that you two got along very well."

Xing Lan pursed her lips, remaining silent, but her expression was resolute.

Mr. Wu looked at him again: "I'll ask you one more time, are you really sure you want to withdraw from the project?"

In the early stages of the collaboration between the company and Lanzhou, Xing Lan, as the main person in charge, devoted a great deal of time and energy, which was evident to everyone. Choosing to withdraw at this point is tantamount to handing over a cooked duck to someone else, and doing charity in the workplace.

Xing Lan nodded without hesitation.

“I’m sure.” He looked at General Manager Wu and emphasized, “I have my own ideas and principles, and I really don’t get along with Lanzhou. If you insist that I continue to be in charge, I’m afraid I will have no choice but to resign.”

Unexpectedly, Xing Lan threatened him with resignation. President Wu sighed and had no choice but to agree, "Alright, I'll do as you say."

With her goal achieved, Xing Lan's expression relaxed slightly. She then exchanged a few more words with President Wu about the matter before turning and leaving the office.

After several days of coordination, the project was quickly handed over.

Jiang Mingyu was furious with Li Baidong that day, but he was like an unkillable cockroach, still determined to win Xing Lan back.

A few days later, he rallied his spirits and went to the company to find Xing Lan again.

However, this time, before he even met Xing Lan, he was stopped by a stranger on the way.