His physiological preference

Her hair was wet, as if she had just taken a shower, with water droplets dripping from the ends and landing on the collar of her bathrobe, leaving a small, dark wet stain.

He was carrying a cake box in his hand.

It's pink, with a strawberry pattern, and the ribbon is tied into a bow.

"You're back?" he said, his voice low and pleasant, carrying the languid quality of someone who had just taken a shower.

However, he failed to sway Yang Zhiyan at this moment.

Yang Zhiyan stood in front of her door, clutching the key in her hand. The teeth of the key dug into her palm, causing a slight pain.

"I bought this on my way here," Qin Yuzheng said as he walked over carrying the cake box, the bow on the pink box swaying slightly with his steps.

"Strawberry cake. Didn't you say you wanted some the other day?"

He bought this on purpose. Qin Yuyan said that to win a girl's heart, you have to be attentive, remember her preferences, and create little surprises from time to time. She'll fall for you very quickly.

Qin Yuzheng felt that they had been getting along well lately, and he could gradually introduce her with gifts and then find an opportunity to confess his feelings. She shouldn't be averse to him. Qin Yuzheng wasn't entirely sure.

But he really couldn't wait any longer and couldn't control himself.

Yang Zhiyan looked at the cake box.

Pink, strawberry pattern, bow.

She did mention wanting to eat strawberry cake a few days ago. That day, after the two of them finished eating, she nestled on the sofa and scrolled through her phone. She saw a post with a picture of a strawberry cake on it, and she casually remarked, "It's been so long since I've had strawberry cake."

He was looking at the documents at the time, didn't even look up, and only said one word: "Hmm."

She thought he didn't care.

He remembered it.

Yang Zhiyan stood there, her heart churning with conflicting emotions. On one hand, there was the image of that person holding her arm, and on the other, there was the image of him standing in front of her with the cake.

The two images overlapped, like two transparent films superimposed on the same projector; she couldn't tell which was real and which was fake.

"No need," Yang Zhiyan finally said, her reason prevailing. She was a person with a moral bottom line. "Thank you, Mr. Qin."

Qin Yuzheng paused for a moment, "Mr. Qin."

Why are you suddenly being so polite and distant?

"I'm tired," Yang Zhiyan said, inserting the key into the lock and turning it. "I'm going back to rest now. Goodnight, Mr. Qin."

Yang Zhiyan did not look at Qin Yuzheng.

He pushed open the door, went in, and closed it—all in one smooth motion.

The sound of the latch clicking against the door frame was particularly crisp in the quiet corridor.

Qin Yuzheng stood there, staring at the closed door, stunned. Why was she angry?

He was carrying the cake box. The ribbon of the bow fluttered slightly in the corridor breeze, then drooped down again.

The door closed.

Qin Yuzheng placed the cake box on the shoe cabinet in the entryway, unopened, just sitting there. The pink box, with its strawberry pattern and bow, lay quietly under the entryway light, like an unsent love letter.

He sat down on the sofa, crossed his arms on his knees, and stared blankly at the water glass on the coffee table.

The glass was empty, and there was a thin layer of water stains at the bottom.

What happened?

That evening, he made a special detour to the popular dessert shop in the city center to buy a cake. He queued for half an hour and kept the air conditioning on the lowest setting the whole way, afraid that it would melt.

He went home, took a shower, changed his clothes, and kept listening to what was happening across the street. Around nine o'clock, he heard the elevator call, took the cake out, and opened the door.

She called him Mr. Qin.

Was it because he didn't have dinner with her tonight? He did have something to do. Yu Yan came from Beijing on a business trip. It's rare for her to come to Haicheng, so as her older brother, he felt obligated to treat her to a meal.

Yu Yan is his younger sister, his own flesh and blood. During dinner tonight, Yu Yan even taught him many techniques for pursuing women. He and his sister had a very pleasant conversation, and Qin Yuzheng felt that using the methods his sister taught him, he could quickly win the heart of his beloved.

Qin Yuzheng leaned back on the sofa, tilted his head back, and looked at the ceiling light. The main light was off; only the small nightlight in the entryway was on, casting a warm yellow glow on the floor.

Qin Yuzheng sat on the sofa for a long time, thinking about many things.

Did I do something wrong? Was it because I rejected her tonight? Is that why she's angry?

She used to be polite and distant, then she became gentle and lively, and now she's getting angry with me?

She only gets angry when they have a good relationship and experience emotional fluctuations. So, does she have some feelings for him?

Qin Yuzheng spent half the night trying to win himself over, and successfully did so. Then he started thinking about how to appease Yang Zhiyan.

In the room across the street.

After closing the door, Yang Zhiyan leaned against it without turning on the light.

The room was pitch black, and the city lights outside the window shone through the curtains, casting a pale gray halo on the ceiling.

The succulents in the living room sat quietly on the windowsill. The leaves of the Peach Egg succulent were indistinct in the darkness, but their outlines were still visible—round and plump.

With her eyes closed, the image that appeared before her was that of a woman with her arm around his, him smiling at her and patting her shoulder.

That movement was so natural, so natural, as if it had been done countless times.

She's his girlfriend, right?

That girl is so beautiful and has such a great temperament. She and he look very well-matched, even like a married couple.

Yang Zhiyan imagined the scene: she was holding his arm, and he was saying to his unreasonable girlfriend, "Okay, stop it." That kind of intimacy couldn't be achieved overnight.

Yang Zhiyan suddenly felt ridiculous. She had almost been deceived by a married man during her first experience of infatuation.

She thought he liked her because he helped her fix her hair. She thought he wanted to get closer to her because he wiped her mouth. She thought he remembered every word she said and went out of his way to buy her a strawberry cake because she was special to him.

What she thought was true might just be that he was naturally thoughtful, considerate, and kind to everyone. She saw herself as "special," but in reality, she was just one of his many "friends."

Meal buddy.

The definition she gave him turned out to be correct.

She just forgot.

Yang Zhiyan slid down from the door panel, squatted on the ground, and buried her face in her knees. There was no sound, but her shoulders were trembling.

The city lights outside the window shone through the gaps in the curtains, falling on her curled-up back like a thin layer of frost.

She squatted for a long time, until her legs went numb.

Then she stood up, went to the bedroom, lay down on the bed, and pulled the blanket up to her chin. The curtains weren't fully drawn, and a sliver of light squeezed in through the gap, falling on the ceiling as a thin line, like a wound.

She remembered what Jiang Siya had said at the barbecue restaurant.

"If you have feelings for him, you can give him a subtle hint."

hint.

She didn't need any hints. The answer was already obvious.

Yang Zhiyan closed her eyes and buried her face in the pillow. The pillow was cool, cotton, and smelled of laundry detergent. She clutched the wad of cotton cloth tightly in her hand.

In the hallway, between two doors, there was a wall. One person lay tossing and turning on the sofa, while another lay on the bed with their eyes open. The distance between them was less than three meters, but at that moment, it felt like the entire Milky Way separated them.