"My boyfriend's just an ordinary guy, not especially handsome. But then again, your Third Sister isn't exactly a great beauty either. As long as he treats me well, that's enough—I've got no other demands," Liu Ting said with a laugh. "As for me, though, I'm going to give your boyfriend a careful inspection in a bit, to see what's so special about him that he managed to win our little princess. Mengyan, let me say this now—if he's too ordinary, don't blame Third Sister for not being nice to him."

"He's quite outstanding—he's my classmate at university." Naturally, Chen Shutang thought Yang Ce was the most outstanding of all. Still, she couldn't very well tell Liu Ting that Yang Ce had only recently become especially outstanding, could she? She certainly couldn't tell her that Yang Ce used to be a brawler.

"Love makes the beholder see a goddess. It's no use your saying so yourself—Third Sister will have to have a look in a bit. If he's too pathetic, don't blame Third Sister for speaking bluntly." Liu Ting's personality was just that blunt and carefree.

Yang Ce hadn't wanted to take part in Chen Shutang's middle school reunion. When two people are together, it's better to leave each other some free space. But since Chen Shutang had asked him to go, and her good friend would be there too, if he didn't show up, Chen Shutang would lose face badly.

Yang Ce first drove home and took a shower. This time the security guard recognized Yang Ce—and recognized Yang Juehuan's car as well. The plate was eye-catching too: Song B88B88, which from a distance looked like six 8s.

This plate hadn't existed before Yang Ce went to Macau; it was only after he returned to Songjiang that Bao Lin had it put on. At first the car had carried a temporary plate, and now that the deadline for registering the new car was nearly up, Bao Lin had spent a bit of money to bid on this plate at an auction and had it fixed to Yang Ce's car.

Yang Jiyan thought the plate was a bit too flashy, but he also knew Bao Lin meant well—he had been trying to flatter him—so Yang Shuoxuan said nothing. Fine, if it was on, it was on. When there was a chance to change cars later, this one could go to Mingyang Heavy Industries, to be used around the company, ferrying important guests to and fro; a swaggering plate like that could show off the company's strength.

After going home and taking a shower, Yang Ce hesitated as he dressed. Since he was attending Chen Shutang's class reunion, he couldn't dress too casually—but he couldn't dress too formally either. After all, this was an informal gathering of friends, not a company banquet.

So in the end Yang Ce decided on a very casual sports jacket, to make himself look more like an energetic university student. Wearing a suit to an occasion like this would very likely make people think he was putting on airs.

After his shower, Yang Puqi went downstairs feeling refreshed and drove off in the direction of Chen Shutang's home. Halfway there, though, he reflected that Chen Shutang's good friend would be present too, and he ought to show a gentler side, so as to give Chen Shutang plenty of face.

Girls generally care a great deal about face. No matter what you do behind closed doors, in front of others you have to appear gentle and considerate—Yang Ce understood this well. Otherwise, if he really did displease the little princess Chen, he could forget about ever getting into her bed again.

So when Yang Ce passed a flower shop, he pulled the car up in front of it.

This was the same flower shop where Yang Ce had ordered flowers for Sun Jie last time. Yang Puqi went in, and the salesgirl recognized him at once. "Sir, you're back again."

"Mm." Yang Yuting nodded, thinking that this salesgirl had a good memory, to remember that.

"Sir, have you come this time to buy flowers, or to renew the flower-delivery service?" the salesgirl asked, seeing that Yang Yongjin had spoken.

Actually, Yang Ce was at that moment looking at the roses on the display stand, wondering how many he ought to buy for Chen Shutang. Yang Shuoxuan had rarely bought flowers, and he wasn't at all clear on what the different numbers meant.

"Buying flowers—roses. If I'm giving them to my girlfriend, how many would be appropriate?" Yang Yanchuan said.

"Eleven or ninety-nine is the usual number in fashion," the salesgirl explained with a smile.

"What do eleven and ninety-nine each stand for?" Yang Yanchuan asked.

"Eleven means 'the one I love most—you are the only one I care about,' while ninety-nine means 'may our love last forever,'" the salesgirl explained.

You are the only one I care about—Yang Jincong laughed. Even if he said that himself, Chen Shutang would never believe it; it was plainly nonsense. Not only would it fail to win her over, it would likely make her angry at him. As for the meaning of ninety-nine, that was rather good—lasting forever, which was exactly what Yang Ce hoped for. So Yang Yanzhou said, "Then ninety-nine it is. Please wrap them for me."

"Certainly, sir, no problem. Please wait a moment." With that, the salesgirl set about wrapping the roses for Yang Ce. She did the same thing every day, so she wrapped the roses deftly and handed them to Yang Ce.

When Yang Ce went to pay, he thought for a moment and said, "The flower delivery service I ordered last time—keep it going. I'll pay for that together as well."

"Certainly." The salesgirl nodded. "By the way, the flower delivery service ordered by the gentleman who came with you last time is about to expire. Would you like us to notify him on your behalf?"

"Oh," Yang Cenbin only then remembered that Li Yixun had also been sending flowers to Wang Yanqiu. He hesitated a moment—since the two of them knew each other now anyway, he might as well pay for that too. So he said, "How much is it? I'll pay it all together."

"Certainly, sir, let me calculate it." The salesgirl said, "By the way, the content on the cards is almost used up as well. Would you like—"

"Oh, no need for cards. Just deliver the flowers directly." Yang Ce felt that the relationship between himself and Sun Jie no longer required written cards.

After paying, Yang Ce carried the ninety-nine roses and hurried toward Chen Shutang's home. Passing the car wash, he thought his car looked a little dirty, so he had it washed again.

On the road, however, he received a call from Chen Shutang: "Yang Ce, are you on your way?"

"Yes, I'm already on the road. What's up, getting anxious?" Yang Ce ought to have arrived at Chen Shutang's place by now, but stopping at the flower shop and then the car wash had delayed him somewhat.

"That's not it. It's just that Third Sister's boyfriend has already arrived downstairs, and Third Sister and I were about to go down. We'll wait for you in the residential compound below my building," Chen Shutang explained.

"All right, I'll be right there. Just wait a moment for me." With that, Yang Yanzhou pressed down a little harder on the accelerator, though inside the city it made little difference how fast he drove.

Liu Ting had received a call from her boyfriend Liu Baoqiang, who said he had already arrived downstairs at Chen Shutang's residential compound. Liu Ting did not want to invite Liu Baoqiang up; as a girl, it was certainly no problem for her to be at Chen Shutang's home, but for a man like Liu Baoqiang to go up to Chen Shutang's home would be a little inappropriate. So after Liu Baoqiang called, Liu Ting and Chen Shutang went downstairs together.

Liu Baoqiang was indeed as Liu Ting had described—rather ordinary in looks, his face covered in acne, with a round and very amiable face. Seeing Liu Ting and Chen Shutang walking toward him, he hurriedly climbed out of the car and strode over to meet them: "Tingting!"