Chapter 1086: Chapter 306: Playing Matchmaker, Making a Discovery
"..."
What a profiteer! He buys 99 stems to give to Xiaoxun, then Xiaoxun turns around and sells them—both of them can make a profit off this. But given the situation now, even if he’s speechless, even if he’s a bit annoyed, Li Yan can only suck it up. Otherwise, if she blurts out that he just bought nine of the priciest Rose-and-chocolate bundles, there’ll be no way to explain that.
"Makes sense! This way it’s good for you, good for me, and good for her too!" Li Yan pulled out his wallet. Instead of thinking of it as getting ripped off, he’d just treat it as giving Xiaoxun a present.
Seeing he was really going to do it, Xiaoxun immediately stopped him. "Oh my god! Sister Yijun is messing with you! You just ordered flowers here, she already made money off you—how could she still take advantage of you for this little bit?"
"Yeah, I was just joking." The boss lady smiled with a not-quite-a-smile. "If I’d known you were Xiaoxun’s good friend, I would’ve given you a 10% discount."
But Xiaoxun said, "Who’s his good friend? Don’t be polite with him. If he wants to order flowers, he has to pay."
Li Yan smiled. He really wasn’t in a position to buy flowers for Xiaoxun that she could turn around and sell. He knew she often worked part-time jobs to support herself; doing that would feel like secretly subsidizing her. For a girl as self-reliant as her, she definitely wouldn’t accept that.
"Alright, I won’t hold you up from working, and you don’t hold us up from making money. Go do whatever you’re supposed to do!" With that, Xiaoxun issued an eviction order, and hurried off herself to pick up a batch of Roses the flower shop was helping her bring over.
"Take care." The boss lady Yijun gave Li Yan a smile, as if promising not to reveal his situation, letting him leave with an easy mind.
What he didn’t know was that she’d already decided to give Li Yan a 10% discount! — Didn’t he buy nine sets? Then she’d just give him one more for free! And that extra one, the recipient she had in mind was actually Xiaoxun!
In her view, Li Yan clearly didn’t have a girlfriend, otherwise why would he send a bouquet to every unmarried female acquaintance he knew, testing the waters to see if he could reel one in. So why not throw Xiaoxun into the mix? Maybe he felt Xiaoxun was still in school and the age gap between them was a bit big!
But to her, that wasn’t a problem. After listening to their conversation, she felt matching the two of them up didn’t sound bad at all. That way he could solve his "finding-a-girlfriend" problem, and since he seemed to have some financial base, he could also help Xiaoxun.
As for Li Yan sending out nine flower bundles at once, she certainly didn’t think it was because he liked nine girls and had nine girlfriends. Combined with the fact that he didn’t sign his name, she felt even more that he just wasn’t good at chasing girls, and was afraid of the blow of being rejected, so he chose this anonymous way to express himself. Factoring in his age, she also understood this non-exclusive style of pursuit, and felt it was basically the same as blind dates—don’t people prepare several candidates, try getting to know them and find a suitable one, then develop feelings later?
So instead of thinking Li Yan was being a player, the boss lady totally misread him and decided this was a serious, reliable approach, aimed at marriage. And since Xiaoxun wasn’t the kind of girl who’d be easily fooled, matching them up would just be like an early blind date.
With that plan in mind, she decided that later she’d copy one more of Li Yan’s cards and send it to Xiaoxun!
...
After leaving the flower shop, Li Yan had no idea the boss lady was playing matchmaker behind his back. To make sure they’d notice the flowers he sent, he edited a group text and sent it out first, telling them that the bouquet with no signature and a special heart drawn on it was from him, so don’t throw it away.
Matsushima Kui and Shinohara Mirai were at the hotel. He could have gone over and delivered the bouquets in person, which would’ve seemed more sincere. But the thought of walking around with two bouquets in his hands made him feel like he’d die of embarrassment.
When he arrived at the hotel room, the two of them were already up and hadn’t eaten breakfast. When they came over last night, with both Yu Xiaodi and Huang Ying there, it wasn’t convenient to talk freely. It wasn’t until now that they finally had a proper chat.
"You... should go back..."
Shinohara Mirai suddenly said.
"Hm? What’s wrong?" Li Yan found it a little strange. Whether from a professional or personal standpoint, he should be here accompanying them right now.
"Kui, you say it..." Shinohara Mirai’s Yun Country language skills still weren’t very smooth. She reached out and nudged Matsushima Kui on the other side.
Matsushima Kui didn’t stand on ceremony and explained, "We both know that besides the company’s arrangement, you’re also genuinely willing to keep us company."
"Of course I’m willing."
"But... today’s Valentine’s Day. We can’t be too selfish. Last night, that other girlfriend of yours... Miss Yu—I don’t think it was such a coincidence. She probably sensed something, or was worried about what might happen between us, so she came over to take a look."
Li Yan didn’t deny it, nor did he explain that she’d only come because Wen Qianyi had notified her.
"At dinner last night, you introduced her to everyone as your girlfriend. She looked quite comforted by that... but she was still a bit unnatural. Later, she went home alone, and at that time, you were with the three of us... I believe that no matter what she knew or guessed, her mood at that moment must not have been very good."
Li Yan frowned slightly. That really was possible!
Given Xiaodi’s usual style, even if she didn’t call him, she would at least send a text or something. But from last night till now, there hadn’t been a single message. Even this morning when he texted about the flowers, there’d been no reply!
"So, you really should be with your girlfriend for Valentine’s Day. You’ve already spent pretty much a whole day with us, and we’re very satisfied." Matsushima Kui knew how loaded words in Yun Country language could be, so she awkwardly clarified, "I mean, we’re already very happy."
