She recognized the car and opened the door, "Gu Yechen!"
He Xinyan was much more energetic and open around Gu Yechen now for two main reasons. One, she had to treat him well in order to get an equal benefit in return. But also, she realized that Gu Yechen wasn't as scary and cold as he seemed. There was no harm in making another friend.
A small smile appeared on Gu Yechen's face when he heard He Xinyan call his name, "Hello."
Chen Xiao looked up at the back mirror and took a quick glance at He Xinyan's face. No wonder the cold and unaffectionate CEO Gu fell in love for the first time. . .
The woman sitting in the back seat was indeed very beautiful. Even more beautiful than most women in the entertainment industry.
Even Chen Xiao couldn't help but be attracted when he saw He Xinyan smile. It was the cutest and most natural thing in the world. . .
Wake up! Chen Xiao shook his head and started the car. How dare he take a second glance at his boss's woman? Was he trying to dig his own grave?
"Where are we going?" He Xinyan asked as she put on her seatbelt.
"Didn't you want to go shopping?" Gu Yechen asked.
Half an hour later, the car stopped in front of the largest shopping mall around, The Z Center, which was under the Gu Corporation.
He Xinyan couldn't even remember the last time she went shopping, as she rarely went outside the last few years of her past life because of the rumors all over the news about her.
"Let's go!" He Xinyan hopped off the car quickly and waited for Gu Yechen to catch up. They walked into the shopping mall together and there weren't a lot of people inside because it was still early in the morning.
They walked around for a while without any purpose when He Xinyan's stomach began grumbling. She didn't eat much breakfast and the hunger was finally kicking in.
"Um. . ." He Xinyan cleared her throat awkwardly, "Is there food in this mall?"
Gu Yechen nodded, "I think it's on the fourth or fifth floor."
They went up to the fifth floor and noticed a bunch of restaurants and food stands.
"Are you hungry?" He Xinyan asked.
"No."
". . ." Please, Mr. Gu! Can your IQ and wife chasing skills be any worse?
He Xinyan awkwardly scratched her head, "I'm a little hungry."
"What do you want to eat?"
They ended up buying two ice cream cones, and Xinyan got the strawberry flavor while Gu Yechen chose the vanilla flavor.
Now that she was no longer hungry, He Xinyan was satisfied as she walked around the mall. Gu Yechen didn't like sweet things, but He Xinyan didn't know and insisted on buying one for him too so she wouldn't feel awkward.
After He Xinyan had finished her cone already, Gu Yechen wasn't even at the cone part, and the ice cream inside was slowly melting.
"You eat so slow," He Xinyan commented as she turned to look at Gu Yechen's ice cream cone.
Gu Yechen smiled a little and reached out his hand, gently wiping the pink blotch of ice cream near He Xinyan's lips. She immediately stopped walking and her eyes widened from embarrassment.
Gu Yechen's smile grew even wider when he saw her blush and his expression was unbelievably gentle and loving.
They walked side by side slowly, not entering any shops.
"Do you want mine?" Gu Yechen suddenly asked. He Xinyan turned to look at the melting cone and was tempted to say yes. However, Gu Yechen ate from it. . . Not that He Xinyan felt disgusted, but she was afraid Gu Yechen wouldn't like sharing it with her.
But. . . looking at the delicious ice cream, she didn't want to waste it.
"Can I?"
Gu Yechen raised one eyebrow, "Why not?"
"Wouldn't that be considered an indirect kiss? Are you fine with that?" He Xinyan teased.
Before He Xinyan could even react, Gu Yechen suddenly leaned in with his eyes closed and his lips touched hers for a second before pulling away.
"It's okay now," he said as he handed her the cone and walked away.
He Xinyan was left in shock and watched as the melting ice cream slid down the cone and onto her hand.
What. . . just. . . happened? He Xinyan shot her head around to see that Gu Yechen was already far away. That was her first kiss! Well. . . her first kiss since her rebirth!
Meanwhile, Gu Yechen's face was red like a tomato as he sped ahead. He bit his lips, which unconsciously turned up into a faint and soft smile.
That wasn't planned. He just suddenly had the urge to do it. . .
Would she get mad? Should he apologize? Gu Yechen's footsteps slowed down a bit and he heard the sound of someone running.
"Thanks for the ice cream," He Xinyan exclaimed as she licked the melting vanilla ice cream. It was very sweet.
Gu Yechen stared at He Xinyan blankly before quickly walking up to her side. Would this be considered a success? Does this mean Xinyan is starting to like him too?
*helemon's note: Excuse me, CEO Gu. Your character build is supposed to be cold and cool. . . not cute and shameless!
He Xinyan finished the ice cream quickly and they actually began to shop. They walked around the second floor full of women's clothing shops and He Xinyan saw a baby pink dress displayed in the front of one of the stores.
"That looks cute!" She commented to break the silence.
"Oh," Gu Yechen suddenly turned around and walked into that store. He Xinyan scratched her head in confusion before following Gu Yechen into the store.
"Thank you."
"What are you doing?" He Xinyan asked Gu Yechen, who had just finished speaking with a worker in the shop.
"Didn't you say the dress was cute?"
He Xinyan nodded.
"So I'm buying it." Gu Yechen responded coolly.
He Xinyan's mouth fell open and she was at a loss for words. She did say the dress was cute, but that was just a random comment. Does that mean she wanted it?
Gu Yechen walked over to the cash register and pulled out his wallet.
"The dress would be 3000 dollars."
He Xinyan was surprised once more as she quickly pulled on Gu Yechen's elbow and whispered, "That pink dress is 3000! It's okay, Gu Yechen."
Gu Yechen ignored He Xinyan and handed the cashier a black credit card, "But you said you liked it."
"I. . ." He Xinyan's mouth twitched slightly as she stopped arguing. So this was what it was like to shop with the rich big boss. . . Looks like she shouldn't talk randomly from now on. It was very dangerous. . . Even though it wasn't her money!
He Xinyan shrugged and watched as the worker handed Gu Yechen a pink bag with the dress inside. She wasn't the one paying anyway, and Gu Yechen seemed happy to spend his abundance of money.
But He Xinyan was wrong. Gu Yechen wasn't happy to spend his abundance of money. . . he was happy to spend his money on her.
Gu Yechen and He Xinyan stepped out of the shop and as they were walking away, the worker helping them quickly pulled out her phone and snapped a photo of them.
When they were gone, the worker turned to her friend standing next to her and showed her the photo, "Did you not see? That person was He Xinyan! She was a hot topic on the news a few days ago!"
The other worker gasped in surprise, "Really? Then who was that handsome man next to her? Oh my god. . . was it Gu Yechen?!"
"Maybe. Ah! I'm going to share this on my social media," the worker exclaimed as she immediately posted the picture.
Outside, He Xinyan still had no idea that she was a public figure and people recognized her now. She thought that the one picture of her side face wasn't enough for strangers to distinguish her yet, but she was wrong.