It was not yet seven o'clock when Li Yu'an returned home.

It was completely dark outside the window. The relatively tidy living room only had a dim and cold ceiling light. Li Yu'an habitually looked towards the single sofa in the corner -

as expected, An Yang was wearing a thin shawl and staring at the photo frame in her hand.

Since her husband passed away, An Yang had a serious illness. She finally recovered in the past two years, but she always sat for several hours with the photo of her and her husband.

No one knew what she was thinking.

Li Yu'an tried several times to pull her out of her memories, look forward, and move forward, but every time he persuaded her to the end, he was easily labeled as "unfilial" by the emotionally extreme An Yang.

As time went by, he just let his mother go.

"..."

Li Yu'an sighed imperceptibly.

He suppressed the sadness of wandering all the way, smiled and turned on the light, "Mom, I'm back, don't leave only one light on, be careful not to hurt your eyes, and my contract signing today went smoothly, and..."

An Yang raised his head half a beat late, and his gaze was very calm, even as if he was looking at a stranger.

The words that she tried to say got stuck in her throat. Li Yu'an was stunned for a second, then took them all back. "Have you eaten yet?"

An Yang's eyes went back and forth between the photo album and Li Yu'an twice, and her expression became increasingly dull. "Didn't you say on WeChat that you wouldn't come back to eat tonight? Why are you back at this time?"

Li Yu'an recalled the situation in the restaurant, and her tone was lowered. "...Oh, I met an acquaintance at the investor's place, so I didn't get involved."

An Yang stood up. "Okay, I'm tired. You can figure out dinner yourself."

Li Yu'an was used to her indifference. "Well, Mom, then you should go to bed early, and remember to take medicine before going to bed."

An Yang didn't answer, but just nodded perfunctorily and went into the house.

Click.

The door was lightly locked.

When Li Yu'an heard this, he felt an indescribable tingling pain. He could no longer remember when he could have "hot meals and hot dishes when he returned home" -

the departure of Li's father was like taking away Anyang's soul.

Although he is not an orphan, Li Yu'an feels that he lives a more lonely and desolate life than most children from single-parent families.

Hungry in the stomach.

Li Yu'an did not think about ordering takeout, but went straight to the kitchen and opened the refrigerator -

there was a big bowl of egg fried rice left in it.

Li Yu'an had a headache and poor appetite last night, so in order to avoid wasting it, he left this untouched takeout. Now he casually heated it up for a few minutes and it became a simple dinner.

The restaurant and the living room were empty, without any human touch.

Li Yu'an glanced at An Yang's tightly closed door, and silently returned to his room with the fried rice.

The fried rice that was cooled and then heated up did not taste good.

Li Yu'an took two bites, and somehow, everything that happened today came to his mind again -

he thought that the surprise had suddenly arrived, and he could eat his favorite seafood feast, but the surprise lasted less than an hour and then declared an end.

It is said that people with destiny can meet anywhere, and it seems that the senior and Pei Huan are like this.

At this point, they should not have finished dinner yet? What will they talk about? With their family backgrounds, they should have more common topics, right?

Li Yu'an felt more and more upset the more he thought about it, and finally he said with a bitter self-mockery, "Don't think about it, it's none of your business."

Eating egg fried rice like chewing wax, Li Yu'an stopped after just two bites. He didn't look at the phone that was charging on the table, but picked up his clothes and went into the bathroom.

...

Li Yu'an came out of the bathroom outside the shower, picked up the phone he had left on the bed, and found a WeChat notification on the screen -

it was a message from Yan Cen, and the time was thirty-seven minutes ago.

"...Why didn't I see it just now?"

Li Yu'an's eyes suddenly lit up, and his fingertips unlocked quickly, and clicked on the WeChat box that had been secretly pinned.

"Mr. Li, have you arrived home yet?"

"I don't know what happened. If you need any help, you can always call me."

The two messages were sent ten minutes apart. At least it shows that during this period, the other party was consciously waiting for his reply?

Li Yu'an had this thought and immediately denied it.

He took a deep breath and thought for a long time before replying, "Mr. Yan, I'm sorry, I didn't check my phone just now. I'm home safely. It's nothing serious. Thank you for your concern."

Whoosh.

The message was sent.

Li Yu'an looked at the time display in the upper right corner and thought that Yan Cen and Pei Huan were still having a happy dinner. He was about to put down his phone when the WeChat message alert sounded again.

Yan Cen: "That's good."

Yan Cen: "You left too suddenly tonight, and I couldn't treat you as promised."

Li Yu'an pursed his lips, maintaining propriety and politeness: "I'm so sorry, how about I treat you and Mr. Pei?"

Soon, "Type..." appeared on the top of the screen, but it disappeared within three seconds.

Li Yu'an lowered his eyes to hide his disappointment, but he didn't expect the other party to call him directly.

"Huh?"

The phone fell to the ground in panic, and Li Yu'an picked it up in a hurry. Before he was ready, he heard a "Hello?"

"..."

So stupid.

How could I touch the answer button by mistake!

Li Yu'an frowned in annoyance and pretended to be calm, "Hey, Mr. Yan, have you finished dinner with Mr. Pei?"

Otherwise, how could you have time to call him?

Yan Cen replied simply, "I didn't have dinner with Pei Huan. I left not long after you left."

"..."

Li Yu'an was stunned.

He was two or three seconds late to confirm the truth of what he said. After all, Yan Cen had no reason to tell such a lie.

Yan Cen on the other end of the phone chuckled faintly, and continued to make it clear, "I said at the beginning that this meal was to apologize to Mr. Xiao Li, and I didn't expect to meet Pei Huan."

"If Mr. Xiao Li hadn't agreed before me, I would have planned to reject his request to share the table. I didn't expect you to leave suddenly because of this incident, so I naturally followed you."

"..."

Li Yu'an unconsciously clenched the phone, obviously not expecting that he would be in such a situation after leaving.

Perhaps because the silence lasted too long, Yan Cen reminded him, "Mr. Li, are you listening?"

"Yes."

Li Yu'an came back to his senses and coughed lightly, "Sorry, Mr. Yan."

"You keep calling me Mr. Yan, it sounds quite strange." Yan Cen laughed helplessly and further suggested, "I'll treat you to this meal again some other time when I have the chance."

The gentle voice came through the phone, and there was a hint of teasing invisibly.

Li Yu'an put the phone away as if he was "covering his ears to steal the bell", not daring to let himself think too much.

After all, he had been secretly in love with Yan Cen for so many years, even if Yan Cen was just a small and polite gesture, he would unconsciously magnify it infinitely. If he continued to fall deeper, he would only be afraid of self-misunderstanding and self-harm in the end.

Li Yu'an quickly replied, "Boss Yan, the contract signing this afternoon didn't delay my time at all, so you don't have to take it to heart. Besides, it was my fault for giving up tonight."

"How about this, when the first round of "The End of Fog" is successfully launched, I will invite the main leaders of both teams to have a meal together, what do you think?"

In a few words, Li Yu'an changed the "one-on-one meeting" between the two into a "team dinner."

Yan Cen on the other end of the phone paused for two seconds, "In that case, then listen to Little Boss Li, I'll hang up first."

Somehow, Li Yu'an always felt that Yan Cen's response was a little weak, but he didn't dare to think about it anymore, "Okay, goodbye, Boss Yan."

"Yeah."

The voice call was abruptly hung up.

Li Yu'an stared at the WeChat interface, feeling an indescribable sense of melancholy.

He pulled the quilt to wrap himself up, closed his eyes and hypnotized himself -

it's good, it's right, don't fantasize, don't cross the line, and you won't be disappointed in the end. If he has to choose between "a secret love for many years" and "a career that has been negative for many years", then the latter is the choice he should make.

...

The screen of the mobile phone turned from bright to dark.

Yan Cen vaguely saw his eyebrows and smiled helplessly.

Invite both teams to dinner?

Okay, it seems that Li Yu'an only regards him as a cooperative investor boss, and has never thought about developing more personal relationships, even if it's just a friendship.

After all, there are not many people like him who still remember the "small car crash" five or six years ago, and they will not think that a person is cute and interesting after knowing him only three or four times.

Yan Cen knew that any relationship should be based on mutual consent. He was the one who accidentally misunderstood and thought that Li Yu'an's coldness and restraint towards outsiders were an illusion.

Now it seems that maybe Li Yu'an was born with that cold temperament, or maybe he has his own social rhythm. Since the other party was polite in his words and had no intention of going beyond a cooperative relationship, he should not force him.

"What a pity, I heard that the desserts in that restaurant are very good."

Yan Cen did not notice the slight disappointment in his heart, put down his phone, got up and went into the kitchen.

From leaving the restaurant to returning home, his mind seemed to be completely on the phone. He was really a little hungry at the moment.

--In

the blink of an eye, it was mid-November.

There was a knock on the office door and secretary Shen Na walked in quickly. "Mr. Yan, I need you to review and sign the report on the second batch of investment amounts. The finance department is waiting for approval."

"Okay."

Yan Cen took the document, confirmed it and signed his name. "Are they all the second batch of project funds?"

Shen Na replied, "Only Dawn Games' "End of Mist" has not yet started the second round of investment. It is estimated that it will be around New Year's Day, waiting for their 1.0 version to go online."

Yan Cen's eyes flickered slightly, and he asked casually, "How is the progress of their project? No problem?"

As the person in charge of external affairs of the "End of Mist" project, Li Yu'an was the GM in person for two consecutive months of month-end reports, but Yan Cen handed them all over to the project team to coordinate.

Shen Na replied, "Well, it went smoothly."

Yan Cen raised his eyebrows slightly and handed the document back, "Got it."

Shen Na took the document back and left the office in a swift and neat manner.

The office door closed again.

Yan Cen took off his glasses and rubbed his swollen temples. Suddenly, he caught a glimpse of today's date, November 15th.

"..."

His thoughts froze for a moment, and then flashed quickly.

As if to confirm something, Yan Cen suddenly opened WeChat on his mobile phone and clicked on Li Yu'an's avatar - the last string of numbers in the other party's WeChat column read "1116".

If I understand it correctly, it is most likely a birthday.

A guess took shape in his mind, and the long-lost impulse came to his mind again.

Yan Cen hesitated for a moment, but still opened the food delivery software that he seldom used, and searched for cake shops with high reviews in advance.

…

The next day, it was lunch time.

Li Yu'an, wearing a beige sweater, walked back from outside the company. His eyebrows were secretly smiling, which made his originally cold temperament more rare and soft. The receptionist

who was having lunch greeted him, "Mr. Li, what are you so happy about?"

Li Yu'an restrained his smile and replied casually, "Huh? What are you eating?"

It's just that he had been trying to persuade An Yang a week ago, and finally he officially convinced the other party today-

tonight, the mother and son went to a restaurant for dinner together, just as a simple celebration of his upcoming 25th birthday.

The receptionist smiled sweetly, "My boyfriend made a lunch box for me. By the way, Mr. Li, is it your birthday today?"

"Ah?"

Li Yu'an was startled.

He never announced his birthday to anyone. After something happened at home in college, he had fewer and fewer "friends" around him. An Yang was even sick for a while. Every year, no one would arrange or celebrate his birthday. It was just a normal day.

This year, he turned 25, and Li Yu'an wanted to commemorate it a little bit -

he acted like a spoiled child and begged An Yang to spend his birthday with him. He even bought himself this new dress early. He was afraid of being laughed at if he said it out loud.

The front desk brought the small cake to Li Yu'an and said, "It was delivered ten minutes ago by the takeaway. It was specifically sent to you, Mr. Li."

"For me?"

Li Yu'an was surprised and stepped forward to check the attached order.

In addition to their company address and his name, the order mobile phone number was in a virtual hidden state. For a while, he really couldn't think of who sent it.

Louyang sister? Or Will?

Anyway, it couldn't be Anyang. The other party hated sweet cakes the most, and she said several times that Li Yu'an's taste was not like her child at all.

"..."

Li Yu'an really didn't have many candidates in his mind, so he could only give up for the time being and took the beautifully packaged cake back to his office.

During lunch break, no employee would easily disturb.

Li Yu'an, with a hint of "surprise", carefully unwrapped the outer packaging of the cake.

The four-inch small cake was covered with light yellow cream all over. The most special thing was that on the top was a little duck pear carved out of white chocolate and jam, which was round and looked particularly cute.

Pear, Li, it seemed like it was specially customized.

Li Yu'an laughed out loud instantly. He took a closer look at the small cake that suddenly appeared. His nose was filled with the sweet smell of cream, and his heart was filled with uncontrollable joy.

It's been five or six years, right?

Since Li's father passed away, it seems that no one has prepared a birthday cake for him anymore. Even his mother Anyang is not a cake lover.

Li Yu'an took out his mobile phone and took two photos carefully. His eyes immediately caught a glimpse of the birthday candles attached to the side.

"..."

He hesitated for a long time before getting up quietly.

He locked the office door, closed the blinds in front of the external glass, and even deliberately drew the curtains.

The light in the room dimmed.

Li Yu'an quickened his pace and walked back to the table, took out a candle and plugged it in, then took out his lighter and lit it with a click. The

weak and lonely candlelight jumped.

Li Yu'an quickly grasped this bit of warmth, and clasped his hands together in a particularly childish and devout way to make a wish:

The first wish was that his mother would be safe and healthy.

The second wish was that Dawn Games and "End of Mist" would develop smoothly.

The third wish -

Li Yu'an opened his eyes, thought for a while, and finally gave up his own wish, "I hope that everything will go well for you, senior."

The three wishes ended.

Li Yu'an blew out the lit candle lightly, picked up the small spoon in the plastic bag, and tasted this strange and sudden kindness one mouthful after another.

The favorite sweetness exploded on the tip of his tongue.

Li Yuan raised his lips contentedly and said to himself, "Happy birthday to me."