Volume One, Chapter 18: An Unexpected Kiss

Lu Xiaoman suddenly lost her balance and staggered into a burning-hot embrace.

The tip of her nose was instantly enveloped by the crisp scent of cedarwood emanating from him, mixed faintly with a subtle trace of alcohol—overwhelming to the point of suffocation.

He had been drinking?

Lu Xiaoman was surprised; the doctor hadn't mentioned it earlier, and she had no idea.

Shang Linyuan often attended social engagements, but perhaps because he always played the role of a lofty, authoritative elder, she had never been this close to him before and had never detected even a hint of alcohol on him.

“Uncle Shang, I’m Lu Xiaoman. P-please let me go,” she stammered, both startled and frightened.

In truth, she had fantasized countless times about being held in such a warm embrace—it would surely be blissful.

But now, held like this, she felt only nervousness and fear, a bittersweet ache in her heart with no trace of happiness.

“Manman...” Shang Linyuan murmured unconsciously again.

He was thinking of that woman once more.

Lu Xiaoman struggled fiercely to push his arms away, but her resistance seemed to irritate him; he slowly opened his eyes.

“Uncle, you’re awake?” she asked, growing even more anxious.

His gaze lacked its usual clarity as he stared at Lu Xiaoman’s face for several seconds before shutting his eyes again.

“Manman.”

At that word, he pulled her closer.

She was nearly suffocating when a kiss, light as a feather, brushed against her cheek.

In that moment, the world seemed to fall silent.

The kiss was as delicate as a butterfly resting on a petal, yet carried an undeniable weight that made her heart shudder violently.

Her mind went blank; the skin on her right cheek where he had kissed was burning, as if a tiny spark had landed and gradually ignited a raging fire.

Without a second thought, she shoved him away and fled from the study as if escaping.

“Mama? Mama?”

Time snapped back to the present. Lu Xiaoman jolted awake, unwilling to look at the man opposite her.

“We have to leave now,” she said, grasping her son’s hand and attempting to flee once more.

But Shang Linyuan stepped forward to block her path, his tone firm and non-negotiable: “Lunch is something we must have. We’ll eat together.”

Half an hour later, Lu Xiaoman and Lu Mingqi sat awkwardly in a private room of an upscale Western restaurant.

The awkwardness was hers; Lu Mingqi was actually quite happy.

He confidently ordered a kid’s meal for himself and thoughtfully chose a medium-well steak for Lu Xiaoman.

“Uncle, Mama and I are just going to eat this,” he said.

“Is that enough?” Shang Linyuan asked.

“We’ll start with this. I’m hungry now; if it’s not enough, we can order more later.”

Lu Xiaoman thought to herself: her son clearly didn’t treat Shang Linyuan as a stranger.

Xinxin sat across from Lu Mingqi, watching curiously as he placed his order. She wanted to order something for herself too.

“Uncle, I want the same as him,” she said, pointing at Lu Mingqi.

But Lu Mingqi didn’t even glance at her. After learning her connection to Shang Linyuan, he saw her as a rival vying for Shang Linyuan’s attention.

He had no intention of being nice to her.

Xinxin, however, was quite interested in Lu Mingqi. Seeing him ignore her, she remembered her own mistake.

“Uncle, could you buy me a robot to make it up to him?” Xinxin pleaded coquettishly with Shang Linyuan.

Shang Linyuan said nothing, his gaze shifting to the small woman opposite who still refused to look up.

“N-no need,” Lu Xiaoman quickly said, meeting Shang Linyuan’s eyes. “The robot was originally your gift to Mingqi. He’s played with it enough. There’s really no need to spend more.”

“Is that so?” Shang Linyuan looked at her and slowly said, “You think I’d be stingy enough not to buy another for Mingqi? Am I really that petty in your eyes?”

Lu Xiaoman felt dizzy.

Was that what she had just implied? Or was he doing this on purpose?

“Do you still blame me for stopping you from buying those men’s basketball shoes when you were in your second year of high school?” Shang Linyuan suddenly asked.

The topic came unexpectedly; Lu Xiaoman thought for a moment and recalled that it did happen during her sophomore year.

Back then, she had indeed liked a pair of men’s basketball shoes and secretly checked Shang Linyuan’s shoe size at home, hoping to buy them as a birthday gift for him.

He had a habit of playing basketball on weekends, and she noticed his shoes were worn out, so she thought of gifting him a new pair.

But just as she was about to pay at the store’s boutique, Shang Linyuan appeared out of nowhere and stopped her, wearing a stern fatherly expression as he lectured her to focus on her studies and not get distracted by frivolous things.

She had been mortified.

She thought he had discovered her secret crush and never dared to mention the shoe gift again.

Years had passed, and she had forgotten all about it, yet Shang Linyuan still remembered and brought it up today.

“You were in your second year, about to be placed in an advanced class. That was not the time to be distracted. I never intended to interfere with who you liked, but that moment was not appropriate,” Shang Linyuan said calmly.

His tone made Lu Xiaoman wish she could disappear into the ground.

Knowing he liked someone else, she had retreated quietly, packing away those feelings and never daring to overstep again.

After all these years, was it necessary for him to remind her now?

Just as the atmosphere grew tense, the waiter approached.

“Ma’am, your medium-well steak. Be careful, it’s hot.”

“Thank you. I have an injured hand, could you please—”

Before she finished, a pair of large, well-defined hands took the plate away.

Lu Xiaoman looked at Shang Linyuan in confusion.

Did he want to eat her steak?

Shang Linyuan didn’t look at her; his brows slightly lowered as he held the knife in one hand and the fork in the other.

In no time, a neatly arranged stack of steak slices was placed firmly before Lu Xiaoman.

Each piece was cut perfectly square, the edges so precise it seemed measured with a ruler, the thickness uniform as if molded from a single cast.

His gentlemanly demeanor was as if he were treating his own girlfriend.

Lu Xiaoman wondered if Chu Yan had ever enjoyed this kind of service from him.

“Thank you,” she said suddenly, losing her appetite.

“Why aren’t you eating?” Shang Linyuan glanced at her.

“Nothing, I just suddenly remembered something unhappy,” Lu Xiaoman replied, a bit sulky.

“What is it?”

“In sophomore year, I didn’t have a boyfriend or like anyone. Those men’s basketball shoes—I was going to buy them as your birthday gift.”

“Thank you for always caring for me. You misunderstood,” she finished, feeling much lighter inside.

Why should she be misunderstood like that?

Besides, he liked that woman called "Manman," yet turned around to be with her close friend Chu Yan. His divided heart had no right to judge her.

“You were going to give me those shoes?” Shang Linyuan’s expression shifted slightly.

“Yes, size 42. I checked your shoe size at home.”

His handsome brows knitted together.

Back then, he had been so intent on stopping her from buying those unsightly shoes that he forgot to check the size.

So all these years, he had misunderstood her.