The fruit wine recommended by the lady boss, Lu Yixin only poured a small cup and took a sip after finishing her meal.

Cherry-flavored, sweet.

She squinted her eyes, holding the small wine cup as she sat on the sofa near the fireplace, then took another tiny sip.

When Fang Yongnian called the waiter to clear the table and close the door, he turned around to see that this girl had already happily poured herself a second glass.

“Drink less.” He wasn’t quite sure about Lu Yixin’s alcohol tolerance. Though this kind of fruit wine had a low alcohol content, drinking too much would still get one drunk.

He remembered vividly what she had done the day she got drunk after the college entrance exam results were released.

With her stomach full and cheeks flushed, Lu Yixin squinted her eyes and smiled, obediently sipping the wine little by little.

Fang Yongnian took out a piece of paper from his briefcase and handed it to her.

It was all in English.

Lu Yixin glanced at it once and immediately gave up: “I can’t understand!”

“College English is more than enough to read this. Don’t be lazy.” Fang Yongnian instantly switched into “uncle” mode, like an old scholar, as he began making Pu’er tea for himself.

Lu Yixin pouted and started reading the paper honestly.

It was an offer letter from a pharmaceutical company—beautifully designed, and its contents were much like her university admission notice, full of congratulations and best wishes.

Lu Yixin could indeed understand it. By the time she reached the end, she rubbed her eyes and read it again.

This time, she counted.

“Oh my god, is this annual salary in RMB or USD?” After confirming the number of zeros, she was so shocked that she finished the whole glass of wine.

“USD.” Fang Yongnian leisurely warmed the cup, poured the tea, rinsed it, brewed it, took a sip and frowned.

“Does it taste bad?” Lu Yixin held her wine cup, nearly laughing herself to death.

What’s he pretending for, did he think she didn’t know he hated tea? Every time her dad poured him some, he would always frown.

After his failed attempt, Fang Yongnian smacked his lips and poured himself a cup of hot water instead.

“After the data verification of our generic drug passed, the reputation in the industry was very good. So in the past two days, both your dad and I received offers from this company.”

“With such a high annual salary?!” Lu Yixin instantly turned into a little money-grubber. “Is the pharmaceutical field really that profitable?!”

She had always thought her dad was a pitifully poor researcher.

“This company is one of the top five globally, so of course the salary isn’t low.” Fang Yongnian was amused by her greedy look.

For the first time, he realized that being able to make money was also something to be happy about.

“Isn’t it a foreign company?” Lu Yixin instantly deflated. “Then that’s over. My dad definitely won’t go.”

She quickly gave up and stopped looking at the paper.

“Pharmaceuticals are inherently global.” Fang Yongnian almost got led astray by her, cleared his throat, and brought the topic back. “I just wanted to talk to you about this today.”

“Are you going?” Lu Yixin picked up the paper again to study it. “It says here it’s still about making generic drugs.”

“Your English is pretty good.” Fang Yongnian praised her.

The professional pharmaceutical vocabulary—Lu Boyuan and Fang Yongnian had practically wished to carve all of it into her brain, so how could she possibly mistake it.

“After the data verification was completed, I went to see Yu Hanfeng.” Fang Yongnian slowly repeated the entire conversation he had had with Yu Hanfeng before, word for word. “Then yesterday, your dad and I both received this offer.”

“So I wanted to ask for your opinion.” Fang Yongnian looked at Lu Yixin. “As a researcher working on original drugs, the annual salary Yu Hanfeng offered me is only about one-tenth of this offer.”

“That’s already a lot.” Lu Yixin’s eyes widened. “Yu Hanfeng is so rich.”

Fang Yongnian: “……”

“Did I miss the point?” Lu Yixin now felt that Fang Yongnian’s teeth must be aching from how speechless she made him.

“Why are you asking me…” she said uncomfortably.

Things like this, wasn’t Fang Yongnian always the one to decide by himself?

Even her dad, when he encountered things like this, would go to Fang Yongnian for advice and listen to his opinion.

“Because this concerns you.” Fang Yongnian finally gave up on the Pu’er tea he had been trying to like and sat down beside Lu Yixin by the fireplace.

The fire was burning bright, and the sound of crackling wood filled the room.

Lu Yixin blinked blankly.

“The reason I didn’t talk to you beforehand when I went to see Yu Hanfeng is because that matter wouldn’t have much impact on our future finances.”

“The money I owe Yu Hanfeng isn’t being repaid in the way you imagine, by deducting my salary every month.”

That kind of repayment would take a lifetime.

“I signed an agreement with her. After the three generic drugs we’re currently working on go to market, I’ll give up the five percent annual dividends I should have received. After five years, the debt will be cleared, and I’ll still be able to receive five percent dividends each year.”

Although the drug’s market performance might fluctuate after five years, as long as it’s the same series or type and he’s been involved in the modification process, he can still receive payment.

“At Yu Hanfeng’s company, whether I stay in my current position or move to be a researcher, the salary won’t differ much.”

In the short term, his financial situation wouldn’t change significantly, and since Yu Hanfeng hadn’t agreed yet, he hadn’t mentioned it before.

“But now, with this offer, the financial difference is just too big.” He looked at Lu Yixin. “So, I have to hear your opinion.”

Lu Yixin felt thirsty, so she poured herself another glass of wine.

“Generic drugs are very profitable.” Because of how she had acted earlier like a little money-grubber, he felt he needed to explain things a bit more clearly. “Even if I stay with Yu Hanfeng and continue making generics, based on what she said at the dinner table that day, I could probably become rich soon.”

“But original drugs are different. You might spend ten or twenty years researching, only for it to end in failure. Aside from the salary, there’s nothing else.” He tried to explain it in economic terms, something Lu Yixin could understand.

Lu Yixin drained the wine in her cup.

“But even those salaries… are already very high.” She quietly voiced her completely different perspective on money from Fang Yongnian’s.

In her view, with his current annual salary and no longer needing to repay his debt, he was already very rich…

He had been doing extremely well all along…

“Doing original drug research, does that mean Alzheimer’s?” she tilted her head and asked.

“Mm.” Under the influence of alcohol, Lu Yixin’s forehead turned slightly red, and Fang Yongnian couldn’t help but rub that pink patch of skin with his thumb.

She still felt better to the touch without makeup—her skin soft beneath his fingers—and under the warmth of the fireplace, Fang Yongnian found his thoughts beginning to drift.

“Will it be very difficult?” Her hand rested in his palm, obedient and curious like a child.

“It will.” Fang Yongnian’s voice also softened. “It will be very difficult.”

“Then will you… be happy?” Her voice was sticky and sweet.

Fang Yongnian’s thumb paused, and he raised his brows. “You want me to work on original drugs?”

She hadn’t even asked about the generics.

He thought he had already explained it as objectively as possible. After all, that was no small amount of money—so large that even he felt hesitant.

Lu Yixin shook her head. “I just want you to be happy.”

“You won’t be happy doing generics.” She said it with certainty, as if she were stating that the sun would rise in the east tomorrow.

“Why?” Fang Yongnian was surprised.

“Because it’s too easy.” Lu Yixin felt warm and cozy from the fire, and she yawned. “It feels like apart from making money, there’s no other joy in it.”

“You like difficult things.” Her conclusion was firm and decisive, and then she added, “I’m also difficult.”

That’s why he liked her.

“I like that you like difficult things.” She repeated.

The way Fang Yongnian faced challenges, that image had always shone brightly in her memory.

That was the image of the idol she had admired as a girl.

Fang Yongnian was genuinely stunned this time, so much so that he didn’t notice Lu Yixin, who, in the midst of her yawning, secretly poured herself another glass of wine while in his arms. This time, she didn’t sip—it went down in one gulp. Then, holding the empty cup, she smacked her lips.

“So hot…” Lu Yixin murmured, shifting in his embrace.

“You…” She was so clear-headed it caught him off guard. “That’s a lot of money.”

“In modern society, money is considered the main measure of success.” Now it was his turn to ramble.

“Your salary is four times higher than my dad’s…” Lu Yixin held up four fingers. “My god, and you still say you’re not rich?”

Fang Yongnian: “……”

“So thirsty.” Lu Yixin drank the remaining water from his cup in one go, then poured herself another glass of wine.

“How many glasses have you had?” Fang Yongnian finally sensed something was wrong.

Lu Yixin held her cup and began counting on her fingers, head bowed in deep concentration, her bangs covering half her face.

Looking closely, one would notice—even her posture was very proper.

Virtuous and gentle.

Drunk…

Fang Yongnian: “……”

He first brushed aside her bangs, wanting to see just how red her forehead had become.

After having her bangs brushed aside so many times in one night, Lu Yixin sighed in deep frustration. She grabbed Fang Yongnian’s hand and told him with great sincerity, “If you weren’t my man right now, I’d have beaten you up already.”

Fang Yongnian: “……”

“This thing.” She carefully touched her bangs like they were a precious treasure. “Is my true form!”

Fang Yongnian: “…………”

“You’re drunk.” He truly hadn’t expected that he’d let her get drunk right under his nose.

Lu Yixin blinked her now unfocused eyes and whispered, “Really? I didn’t drink that much.”

“But it’s so hot.” She started to take off her clothes, but halfway through the motion, she pressed her face against Fang Yongnian’s chest, then obediently put her hands back in place. “No, Fang Niannian doesn’t like me taking my clothes off. Even if I get heat rash, I can’t take them off!”

Fang Yongnian’s temples started to throb.

Why was it that every time Lu Yixin got drunk, she began… self-reflecting?

He’d never seen her this conscientious when she was sober.

“Fang Niannian.” Lu Yixin was actually even drunker this time than she had been the night the exam results came out. The so-called low-alcohol homemade fruit wine actually had a stronger kick than regular beer.

“We really are together, right?” Her tongue was slightly heavy, but she stubbornly lifted her dizzy head.

She was too drunk to see Fang Yongnian nod.

In her mind, the memory of getting drunk, hugging Fang Yongnian, and then being thrown back home by him was so vivid that right now, she suddenly lost her sense of security.

She squinted, finished the wine left in her glass, then reached out and touched Fang Yongnian’s face.

With what she believed to be a proper and ladylike pose—though she was actually sprawled all over him—she closed her eyes and kissed him.

A direct deep kiss.

Headlong and reckless.

She wasn’t a good student in this area, had only practiced once, so her movements were clumsy and inexperienced.

But to a man, inexperience didn’t make it any less tempting.

Fang Yongnian’s eyes darkened. Amid the crackling warmth of the fireplace, he felt hot all over.

When Lu Yixin finished the kiss, she propped herself up and wiped her mouth.

“Let’s sleep here tonight,” she declared. “You drank too, so you can’t drive.”

Drunk Lu Yixin was like a fat cat who had just successfully stolen a fish—eyes half-closed, smugly pointing at Fang Yongnian’s lips.

“Just now, I fed you half a glass of wine!” she giggled.

The loss of security had made her brain go into overdrive.

Her first instinct was that she absolutely had to cling to him, to the ends of the earth if needed!

What she hadn’t expected was that Fang Yongnian would actually drink it.

That wine was sweet!