# Code and Roses

## Chapter 1: The CTO Arrives

'Everyone settle down,' the product manager clapped, 'the new CTO is coming.'

XiaMo looked up as the door opened. Charcoal suit. Americano. Those eyes.

ShengQiShen. Her back-seat. Her romance terminator. Now: CTO.

'Hello, I am ShengQiShen,' he said calmly. 'Five years in Silicon Valley.'

She counted her pulse. One hundred twenty beats per minute.

## Chapter 2: Agreement Cooperation

'Manager Xia,' he said at the first weekly meeting, 'your product proposal is good, but needs optimization.'

Professional tone. Professional content. But she noticed his fingers tapping on the desk - his nervous habit.

Ten years. That habit had not changed.

## Chapter 3: Rose Tea

11 PM, only they remained. 'What is wrong with this bug?' she rubbed her eyes.

He walked over. 'Let me see.' A line of code modified. Fixed.

He took out a thermos. 'Drink something hot.' 'What is this?' 'Rose tea.'

She remembered ten years ago, hot milk on her desk corner. No words. Just milk.

'ShengQiShen,' she said. 'Do you know why I hated you for ten years?' He stopped typing.

'Because you were always so formal?' 'No. Because you looked so smug when you interfered.'

'I was never smug,' he said softly. 'Every time I interfered, I was thinking: dont get hurt.'

Code and roses. Rationality and emotion. Two things he had been trying to combine all along.

--- Author note: Workplace variant of “怎么了，做噩梦？”邓跃去厨房倒了杯水过来。.

Author Note & Copyright: