Stop Flirting, I Can't Take It

[No Angst, Extra Sweet] Lu Qi has returned to China. The first thing he did after coming back was go drinking with his friends back home. It was past one when he left the bar. With nothing better to do, Lu Qi waited by the roadside for his family’s driver. As he lit a cigarette, he caught sight of someone through the drifting smoke. The people outside the bar were all sorts, and quite a few of them were good-looking. But that man, dressed all in black, had an austere air and sharp features that instantly got Lu Qi’s heart racing. Following the light, he walked over to the man beneath the streetlamp. “Can I add you on WeChat?” Lu Qi asked. The man looked up at him. He had thin lips and a high nose, and his features seemed encased in unmelting ice. To Lu Qi’s surprise, he still managed to get the man’s WeChat. = On the drive home, the other man was the first to send a message. “I’m Mu Hongmo.” Lu Qi thought the name sounded familiar. Before he could reply with a hello, another message came through. “Your ex-boyfriend.” Lu Qi: “?” “I figured you wouldn’t remember. Important people have a lot to forget.” Lu Qi stared at the third WeChat message, lost in thought. He’d been single for twenty-two years. How could he possibly have an ex-boyfriend? After getting home, Lu Qi finally managed to dredge up a vague memory of Mu Hongmo from before he went abroad. Back when he was studying for his undergraduate degree in China... Hadn’t he lost a bet and been forced to confess to the top student and campus heartthrob from the neighboring department? Before leaving the country, he’d even had to send him chocolates for half a year after the stakes were raised. The top student... His name might have been Mu Hongmo. The final message came in, and Lu Qi glanced at it. ...For some reason, it sounded rather gritted through clenched teeth. “I never forgot.” = The next day. Young Master Lu arrived at his family’s company to learn how to take over its affairs. He was told that the capable and impressive chairman’s secretary was waiting for him in the office. Lu Qi pushed open the door and saw a familiar face. He’d just seen him last night. Mu Hongmo stood up politely and shook his hand. “Hello.” He showed not the slightest sign that anything was amiss. Lu Qi relaxed. The man had probably only brought it up in passing last night. Who would take a joke from their youth seriously? Only later did Lu Qi understand what Mu Hongmo had really meant back then: “You’re done for.” -- #I flirted with the wrong person when we were young, and now I’ve walked right into his trap.# Visit the author’s page for more sweet stories, and feel free to add them to your collection~ Here’s a little plug for the currently serializing sweet story, I’m Done with Being So Absurd Blurb: Meng Le is a livestream shopping host. The... rather unhinged kind. Today, his livestream persona is a divorced dad of two, working hard to earn money for formula. Tomorrow, he’ll be a canary who was abandoned after being seduced, now on the run and earning a living on his own. The day after that, he’ll be an innocent college student five million in debt, who needs to make money fast or his unscrupulous creditor will take him away as a lover (x). Meng Le thinks anyone can tell he’s just playing around. Surely nobody would actually take this stuff seriously, right? [AAA Building Materials, Mr. Qin]: “Host Xiao Le, are you starting your livestream late today? Did your creditor force you into something again?” When Meng Le first saw this private message in his inbox, he thought the other person was just joining in on the absurdity. After all, the username made him sound like a jokester. He fired back a bunch of nonsense, then went live and acted even more ridiculous in the stream. There were only a few dozen viewers, after all. Without some entertainment, he’d never sell anything. “These spicy strips are no joke. My baby hasn’t had milk for three months, just spicy strips, and he’s already grown two meters tall.” “People are asking if these chicken feet have ever had a job? They’re not me. How are they still so plump after getting a job and being beaten down by life?” As the chat filled with “hahahaha,” Mr. Qin from AAA Building Materials pinned a comment, his badge showing the high level he’d reached in the livestream: “Little kids shouldn’t eat spicy strips.” “I get it. You’re carrying too much on your shoulders.” [User AAA Building Materials, Mr. Qin ordered 40 portions of chicken feet] Meng Le: “?” This Mr. Qin from AAA Building Materials was even more absurd than he was. - Then one day, after ending his stream, he lay in bed scrolling through his phone to help himself fall asleep. A short video with a clickbait-style title caught his eye. “Shocking! Turns out there’s a reason netizens act so absurd! The handsome young CEO of a top-100 company is worth over a hundred million, and his username is actually [AAA Building Materials, Mr. Qin]! It’s just like the usernames my absurd-loving friends use!” Meng Le jolted upright from his deathbed and stared at the account screenshots in the video again and again... The name was the same as that absurd big spender in his livestream, the profile picture was the same, and even the user level matched! Unable to believe it, he clicked into the big spender’s profile and was horrified to see a blue verification badge: certified company CEO. He clicked into his private chat with Mr. Qin from AAA Building Materials. Two minutes ago. [LeleLeFaFaFa]: “Hubbyyy, (screams, writhes, crawls around, and does sit-ups on the spot) Thank you, boss hubby, for spending money today!” “.” Meng Le fell into deep thought. Just as he pressed and held the message to try to unsend it [The other person has read your message] And then the other person sent him a blushing emoji. #So he really wasn’t just playing along with the absurdity #You’re really making me look like a total nutcase #Wait, Mr. Qin, why are you asking when we can go get our marriage license? An absurd flirt with a lot of shameless lines, a warm and adorable little sunshine X A CEO who’s hopelessly out of touch with the internet, a purehearted, love-struck straight-shooter Theme: Love is about meeting sincerity with sincerity.