ACMS 51

Chapter 51 – Peacock Display

After Judy left, Shen Hechuan called Qiao Le. “You bought me flowers.”

Qiao Le’s voice came through the phone, light with amusement. “Yeah. Do you like them? Are they pretty?”

Shen Hechuan’s gaze fell on the bouquet in front of him. He reached out and gently touched the vivid petals.

A warm, swelling sensation rose in his chest, like being soaked in warm water—pleasant and comforting.

“I like them,” he answered honestly.

“I wasn’t sure what kind of flowers you like, but the moment I saw these blue roses, I felt like they really suited you.” Hearing him say he liked them, Qiao Le was clearly delighted. “If you like them, I’ll send you more tomorrow.”

“Okay.”

Shen Hechuan had a meeting at 3:10 p.m., so the two didn’t chat for long.

After hanging up, Shen Hechuan snapped a photo of the bouquet and sent it to Qiao Le. Then he forwarded it to Pei Wenjing.

[Shen: (image) Pretty?]

[Pei Wenjing: ?]

[Pei Wenjing: Very. What, did you send them to Qiao Le?]

[Shen: He sent them to me.]

[Pei Wenjing: ……]

Pei Wenjing, abruptly subjected to this flex, was speechless for a moment. Then he called and asked when they were going to plan their trip.

Originally, Shen Hechuan and Qiao Le had intended to go on a proper vacation after getting their driver’s licenses. But no one had expected Qiao Le to suddenly find out he was pregnant, so the plan had been postponed.

Shen Hechuan paused for a moment. “We’ll see.”

Given Qiao Le’s current condition—no horseback riding, no rock climbing, no hot springs—it was hard to plan anything.

“No way,” Pei Wenjing groaned. “You’re just getting married! You don’t even have to stay home with a kid—how are you already this hard to make plans with?”

Don’t have to stay home with a kid?

Shen Hechuan chuckled silently, eyes softening. He didn’t bother to explain and simply said, “You’re not married. You wouldn’t understand.”

Pei Wenjing complained, “After you guys got married, each one became harder to get a hold of than the last. I’m a single guy with nothing to do, it’s so boring.”

“If you’re bored, go get a job.” Shen Hechuan suggested. “Your brother would probably love for you to help out with the company.”

“Forget that. I’ll just coast through life doing nothing.”

As they were talking, Judy knocked on the door and came in to remind Shen Hechuan that the collaborators had arrived.

“Let’s leave it here,” he said and hung up.

He glanced again at the bouquet on his desk, then got up and stepped out of the office.

At 4:00 p.m., Manager Liu from the project department arrived as scheduled.

The moment he stepped into Shen Hechuan’s office, his attention was immediately drawn to the massive bouquet on the desk.

Liu had worked at Hualang Group for years, and though he’d been in Shen Hechuan’s office many times, this was the first time he’d seen anything on the desk that wasn’t work-related. He couldn’t help but glance at it a few more times.

Noticing his gaze, Shen Hechuan looked up. “Is it nice?”

“It is,” Liu replied honestly. The bouquet really was beautiful.

Shen Hechuan said, “My partner gave it to me.”

Manager Liu: “!!”

Although their engagement banquet hadn’t been publicly announced, word had already spread within Hualang Group. After all, everyone in the company had received a bonus that day.

And Shen Hechuan always wore his wedding ring on his left ring finger—hard to miss, really.

Listening to Shen Hechuan’s seemingly calm, but actually subtly proud tone, Manager Liu was struck by a sudden realization. He clapped his hands and said, “It’s gorgeous! The blue is so refined and composed, it really suits your temperament, President Shen. Your wife has excellent taste.”

Shen Hechuan nodded in satisfaction, then corrected him, “Not wife—husband.”

Manager Liu: “!!!”

Did I just hear a huge piece of gossip?!

Still dazed, Liu tried to refocus. “Right, let’s talk business.”

“…Oh, right.”

Even after leaving the office, Manager Liu looked completely out of it, like his soul hadn’t quite caught up with his body.

As he walked down the hall, he ran into Judy. She noticed he was heading in the wrong direction and called out, “Manager Liu, where are you going? That’s the women’s restroom.”

“Ah!” Liu looked up and saw the “Women’s Restroom” sign at the end of the hall. His face flushed with embarrassment. “Sorry, I spaced out.”

“Did something go wrong with the project?” Judy walked back with him, chatting as they went. “From the report you submitted, it looked like everything’s going smoothly.”

“The project’s fine. Actually, we’re a little ahead of schedule.” Talking about the work brought a smile to his face. If all went well, his year-end bonus would be a third higher than last year.

“That’s great news.” Judy offered her congratulations, then asked, “Then what had you so spaced out?”

As Shen Hechuan’s chief secretary, Judy was the person closest to him in the company, and the one who knew him best. Manager Liu knew it wasn’t really appropriate to pry into the boss’s private life, but what Shen Hechuan said earlier had seriously piqued his curiosity.

“Judy, can I ask you something?” Liu pulled her aside, glanced around, then lowered his voice. “President Shen’s partner—is it a man?”

So that’s what it was.

Judy figured he’d seen the bouquet in Shen Hechuan’s office earlier. She responded vaguely, “Manager Liu, it’s really not a good idea to poke into President Shen’s private life.”

“No, no, no,” Liu quickly waved his hands. “I wasn’t prying, I swear. He told me himself.”

“He did?” Judy looked genuinely surprised. The boss doesn’t seem like the type to volunteer that kind of thing…

“What exactly did he say?” she asked, curious.

Liu said, “He had this huge bouquet on his desk. He asked me if it looked nice and then told me it was from his husband.”

Judy: “……”

Damn it, what a show-off!

But little did Judy know, Shen Hechuan’s flaunting wasn’t over yet.

5:20 p.m.

Judy was in his office going over the schedule for the next day when Shen Hechuan’s phone rang. He raised a hand to pause her, then answered it.

“You’re here already?” Shen Hechuan asked. “Downstairs? Okay. Mm, I’m off work already.”

Judy: “……” There were still ten minutes left.

“I’ll come down now.”

After hanging up, Shen Hechuan said to Judy, “Send the schedule to me on WeChat. We’ll handle everything else tomorrow. You can clock out, too.”

Of course Judy had no objection to leaving early. She tucked away her tablet. “Understood, President Shen.”

With that, she exited the office.

Shen Hechuan shut down his computer, put on the coat beside him, picked up the bouquet, and was about to leave. But after taking a few steps, he stopped again and set the flowers down in the lounge.

There was a private wardrobe in the lounge. He stood in front of the mirror and gave himself a once-over.

Hair—OK. Clothes—OK. Shoes—OK.

Everything looked perfect.

Satisfied, Shen Hechuan nodded, pulled open the drawer beneath the display cabinet, and picked a bottle of cologne. He sprayed a little on his wrist before picking the bouquet back up and leaving.

Judy had returned to her desk. She wasn’t in a hurry to go, casually messaging her friends on her phone to ask what to eat tonight.

They were in the middle of a fierce debate between barbecue and hot pot when the door to the CEO’s office opened.

She looked up and saw Shen Hechuan coming out, holding the bouquet of blue flowers. Instinctively, she greeted him, “President Shen.”

Shen Hechuan paused at the sight of her still at her desk. “You’re not off work yet?”

“Just about to—”

“No date tonight?” Shen Hechuan asked.

Judy: “……”

So the whole world’s single except you, huh?!

At that moment, someone else pushed the door open. “Sister Judy, about the meeting the day after tomorrow, we wanted to confirm—Oh, good evening, President Shen!”

It was Xiao Chen from the PR department. Upon seeing Shen Hechuan, she quickly greeted him. Shen Hechuan gave her a nod. “What is it?”

“Just wanted to double-check the agenda for the meeting.” Then she noticed the flowers in his arms. “President Shen, those flowers are beautiful.”

With a nod of acknowledgment, Shen Hechuan said with complete ease, “My husband gave them to me.”

Judy: “……”

As expected! Just as Manager Liu said—shameless!

“You two talk, I’m heading out first.” With that, Shen Hechuan walked past the two of them, bouquet in hand, and left.

No sooner had he gone than Xiao Chen, just like Manager Liu before her, couldn’t hold back her curiosity. The meeting was completely forgotten as she grabbed Judy’s arm. “Sister Judy! Did you hear that just now? President Shen said his husband gave him the flowers!”

Judy covered her ears, which had nearly gone deaf from her shriek. “Heard it loud and clear. His husband gave him flowers. I heard!”

Xiao Chen cradled her face, eyes dreamy. “‘Husband’! Oh my god, that term is so swoon-worthy!”

Judy looked at her soap-opera-struck face and flicked her forehead. “Snap out of it. You don’t even have a love life of your own—what are you getting emotional about someone else’s?”

Xiao Chen chuckled sheepishly, then pressed on. “Sister Judy, you’re President Shen’s right-hand, right? You must have seen his partner before. Is he super handsome? What type of guy is he?”

Judy: “……”

Of course he’s handsome. If he weren’t, would she have shamelessly tried to flirt with him—only to almost get caught by her boss?

“Sister Judy, what’s wrong?” Xiao Chen waved a hand in front of her. “Why the constipated look?”

“……”

Recalling the mortifying memory, Judy changed the subject. “Alright, alright, it’s after hours. Stop gossiping about the boss. Save it for paid hours next time.”

Xiao Chen: “Then what do we talk about?”

“Talk about work,” Judy said. “Do what us corporate mules are supposed to do.”

Xiao Chen: “……” Well, that’s a buzzkill.

After leaving the secretarial office, Shen Hechuan headed straight for the elevator.

Today, he didn’t use the private one—he took the regular elevator. When it reached the 21st floor and the doors opened, the people waiting outside froze at the sight of him.

Everyone greeted in unison: “Good evening, President Shen.”

“Mm.” Shen Hechuan stood inside and asked, “Not coming in?”

“You first, sir. We’ll take the next one.” The sales manager at the front waved his hand. His gaze couldn’t help lingering on the bouquet. “Those flowers are really pretty, President Shen.”

Shen Hechuan nodded slightly. “My husband gave them to me.”

Everyone: “!!”

As the elevator doors closed again, the crowd exchanged stunned looks and burst out in unison: “Holy sh*t!”

At the same time, the company’s gossip group chat lit up.

【Just saw President Shen in the elevator on the 23rd floor—he was holding a huge bouquet and said his husband gave it to him…】

【I saw him too on the 21st floor!!】

【Caught him on the top floor!】

【??? Where where? I’m on the 10th floor—still time to run and catch the elevator?】

【His driver said he’s off-duty tonight. Could it be that his husband is picking him up?】

【For real? Xiao Tao at the front desk, go take a look! @XiaoTao】

【I’m right here at the front desk, haven’t seen him come down yet!】

【He’s here! President Shen is coming down!】

The elevator reached the first floor. Shen Hechuan stepped out with the bouquet, exchanging greetings as he briskly made his way to the front entrance.

Xiao Tao, entrusted with recon duty, pretended to organize brochures in the lobby but discreetly tailed him like a spy.

A black Mercedes was parked in front of the company gate.

Shen Hechuan immediately recognized it as Qiao Le’s car. He walked over with the flowers.

Xiao Tao followed behind, sending a message to the group: Target spotted.

Next, she saw the driver’s door open. A tall young man in a black wool coat got out, walked around the car, and opened the door for Shen Hechuan on the passenger side.

Someone replied in the group chat, but Xiao Tao didn’t look—her eyes were locked on the two men.

She couldn’t hear what they were saying, but she saw the unmistakable smile on Shen Hechuan’s face, and the brief yet very real clasp of hands between the two.

Once the car pulled away, she snapped out of it and checked the group chat—someone had asked her to take a picture.

Xiao Tao: “……” Sorry, forgot.

Inside the car, Qiao Le leaned over to fasten Shen Hechuan’s seatbelt. Shen Hechuan blinked, a strange feeling creeping in.

“Did you wear cologne?” Qiao Le sniffed, then grabbed Shen Hechuan’s wrist and took a whiff.

The scent was a soft woodiness with a hint of coolness—mellow and low-key, perfectly fitting for Shen Hechuan.

Qiao Le was very close, and his nose brushed against Shen Hechuan’s wrist, tickling slightly. The sensation distracted Shen Hechuan. “Mm, does it smell good?”

“It does,” Qiao Le nodded.

Then it wasn’t wasted.

Shen Hechuan’s lips curved. “If you like it, I’ll get you a bottle—”

His voice cut off mid-sentence. His fingers curled.

Qiao Le had kissed his wrist, eyes filled with laughter as he looked at him. “No need. This is enough.”

Shen Hechuan: “!!”

His heart skipped a beat.

He flipped his hand to hold Qiao Le’s, leaned in closer, and Qiao Le met him halfway. They shared a lingering, tender kiss.

A few minutes later, Qiao Le gently pushed him back and started the car. “Alright, if we keep kissing, we won’t make it to dinner. I made a reservation—I don’t want it to go to waste.”

Shen Hechuan held back his growing desire, knowing full well Qiao Le’s current condition wasn’t suitable for more.

He composed himself and glanced at his phone. A new message from Pei Wenjing had just come in.

[Pei Wenjing: (photo)]

[Pei Wenjing: Dating someone younger really hits different. I’m jealous.]

?

Shen Hechuan opened the photo and saw a screenshot of Qiao Le’s WeChat post.

[Qiao Lelele: [bouquet emoji] A little ceremony for my boyfriend. My boy, let me spoil you.]

The photo was of the bouquet from earlier.

“……”

Shen Hechuan stared at the post in silence.

…It was kind of cringey, but also heartwarmingly sweet.