The Awakened Red Rose [5]

T/N: Thank you Kat for the donation <3

I’m done, I was caught slacking off at work.

This was the first thought that crossed Yin Minglu’s mind. Then he felt a bit embarrassed, wondering why it had to be when he was looking at some risqué content. However, he had lived a carefree life for a long time, and his thick skin helped him stay calm as he closed the software and looked up at the person next to him.

But in the moment their eyes met, he froze. The person in front of him appeared to be in their mid-twenties, tall and handsome, with thick black eyebrows, pitch-black eyes, and slightly thin lips. However, when paired with their striking features, it all seemed very fitting. People who had been in the workplace for a long time were usually reserved, but this newcomer had a dominant presence and exuded a rare youthful energy in the workplace.

It was clear that this person wasn’t just an ordinary employee.

Yin Minglu became even more certain when he noticed the high-quality white shirt and expensive designer wristwatch the person was wearing. This person was at least a manager-level figure, but he seemed unfamiliar, someone Yin Minglu had never seen before. He had zoned out not because he hadn’t seen a handsome guy before, but because the person in front of him resembled Yuan Feng¹ a bit.

In this unfamiliar world, suddenly encountering someone who resembled his former lover’s appearance, even though Yin Minglu knew that the person wasn’t Yuan Feng, he couldn’t help but feel a strange and indescribable mix of emotions. There was surprise, nostalgia, and above all, a sense of loss.

When Lou Wang first made a noise, he expected to startle the young man who had been working during office hours but was now engrossed in explicit content. However, the young man turned out to be quite experienced and clever. He quickly closed the page to destroy the evidence and then smiled as he looked back at Lou Wang. His dark eyes even blinked a couple of times, as if trying to please. But after seeing Lou Wang’s face, he remained stunned for a good three to four seconds.

His round eyes even slightly widened, as if seeing Lou Wang for the first time.

Lou Wang found it amusing and pleasing at the same time. He had always known that he had good looks, and back in school, countless boys and girls had been infatuated with him. But since entering the workplace, even if there were admirers, their appreciation and scrutiny had become much more discreet and reserved. In other words, he hadn’t experienced someone staring at him so intently like this young man was doing in a long time.

Was this perhaps the new intern?

He glanced at the badge hanging around the young man’s fair neck and was surprised to find out that the young man was a newly appointed designer who had recently joined a major project. Then he looked at the boy’s youthful face, which was so convincing that some might believe he was underage, and the man was slightly taken aback.

When he had passed by earlier, he didn’t know who this kid was. However, as lunchtime approached and most of the others had left, this person was still diligently working. The dedication in his attitude made the man unable to resist stopping and observing for a while.

This observation lasted longer than he had anticipated, to the point where his coffee had grown cold.

He was about to go over and say hello, greet this diligent young employee, when he suddenly discovered that the person was actually browsing explicit content on a website. His expression changed noticeably, and he felt like he might have been mistaken. Although the person in front of him was young, his behavior was that of a sleazy office worker who looked at explicit content—a type of coworker that female employees despised. If he had encountered such a person in the past, he wouldn’t have wasted words and would have asked them to pack up and leave immediately.

However, due to the positive first impression he had formed at first sight, Lou Wang didn’t react immediately. Instead, he quietly watched for a few more seconds, and then he saw something that left him in awe.

The young man seemed to have finished his admiration, and he shifted his legs before closing the website. Then, he opened an image, and Lou Wang focused his gaze to see. His eyes were sharp, and he could tell it was an intimate photo of a man and a woman. The man looked handsome and cultured, with a typical East Asian appearance, while the woman had deep-set features and a curvaceous figure, a foreign blonde with a well-proportioned body. At this moment, both of them were fully clothed.

However, in the next moment, the young man moved the mouse lightly, dragging something, and it was as if a painter’s brush had appeared. Something magical happened: their clothes vanished in an instant. The woman was left with nothing but a bedsheet barely covering her body, and the man was completely naked. Their poses were suggestive, exactly like those seen in explicit content on websites. And the young man was diligently looking at the screen, continuing to edit the image. The disheveled wrinkles in the bedsheets looked very realistic, and the hotel’s lighting in the background was romantic. There were no traces of any retouching or inconsistencies.

The screen’s light illuminated the young man’s fair face, and he looked so serious, as if he were doing something of great importance.

Lou Wang was genuinely stunned and, after snapping back to reality, there was a fleeting glint of admiration in his eyes. This kid’s technical skills were clearly top-notch. Lou Wang felt like he was witnessing the daily work of a Photoshop genius, wishing the end product wasn’t something so obscene.

However, the love for talent had ignited in Lou Wang’s heart. So, after exchanging greetings, he politely patted the young man’s shoulder and hinted, “Your Photoshop skills are truly wasted. Work diligently, young designer, and don’t slack off during office hours. It’s better to take on fewer side jobs like this.” Most importantly, don’t let him catch you again, or he would definitely deduct this kid’s salary.

Yes, Lou Wang was completely convinced that the young man was earning extra income through legitimate means, rather than being involved in anything morally questionable. After all, out of admiration, a normal person wouldn’t want someone who looked clean and attractive to be associated with anything unsavory. Plus, the young man’s showcased skills made it reasonable to consider it a legitimate side hustle.

Furthermore, Lou Wang didn’t intend to come over and intimidate him. After giving some friendly advice, and with other employees returning to the office, he intended to make a graceful exit. However, the young man suddenly grabbed the sleeve of his shirt and said, “I’d like to know the name of the boss.”

The voice that came out was exceptionally pleasant to the ears, like a finely tuned violin or a barrel of rich and sweet wine, intoxicating upon first hearing it.

Lou Wang found it hard to describe what he felt after hearing the young man’s words. In his more than two decades of life, whether it was men or women, whenever he was in a crowd, there were always people asking for his name. He just hadn’t expected that this young man would be one of them.

For other inquirers, when he didn’t want to disclose his name, Lou Wang usually brushed them off with a smile to avoid further engagement. However, the person before him had a polite and sincere gaze, and his deep and clear black eyes were fixed on Lou Wang without blinking, as if he hoped to get an answer.

Clearly, this was not a typical inquiry from a subordinate to a boss. But for some reason, perhaps driven by a private interest or stirred by a flutter of the heart, Lou Wang ended up revealing his name and even left behind a personal business card with his private phone number and address.

If the young man truly had those intentions, he would understand, Lou Wang thought.

Little did he know that after he left, Yin Minglu did indeed repeatedly examine that beautiful business card. He looked at the elegant script with the owner’s name “Lou Wang” printed in black on a white background. His young face appeared quite dim as he realized he had made a mistake.

Initially, he had thought that the first impression resembled his former lover, but after their conversation, he began to notice shadows of someone else from a different world in the person before him. It was truly baffling.

Confusing his new boss with his old lover was not a good situation for anyone. As for the private address below, Yin Minglu didn’t think much of it. After realizing the person wasn’t who he initially thought, he tucked the business card, which he had absentmindedly rubbed a few times, into a drawer and left it to gather dust.

Then, he returned to the software, back to the original interface, and focused on editing photos. He planned to go home later and concentrate on dealing with Zhou Jinheng, even though his heart still felt a pang of sadness. Nonetheless, he remained committed to his mission.

Just as Yin Minglu was in the final stages of editing his photos, the lively and noisy Tony² from the next table also returned. He rubbed his sore and achy limbs and tearfully said to Yin Minglu, “Minglu, I’m just an artist. Why do I have to be forced into the frontline and send my work to the client’s dad repeatedly? This is the seventh revision this month! Last night, after I finally took a refreshing bath, I found out that my hairline has receded when I looked in the mirror. Could you please check if I’m going bald on top? Oh, life is so tough! I want to resign! I want to be a pampered canary and stop working!”

“Minglu, stop editing photos. That woman isn’t as endowed as me, you know? Take a look and see if I’m okay. I’m losing my hair!” Seeing that Yin Minglu was being nonchalant, Tony started whining again, and he had a knack for being irresistibly cute, which made it hard for Yin Minglu to refuse. Despite scoffing at Tony’s claim about having a larger chest, Yin Minglu spared a few glances at him.

“You still have plenty of hair, don’t worry. You’re not going bald for now.”

“What do you mean ‘for now’? Minglu, can’t you speak nicely? Are you cursing me to go bald eventually? Why are you so annoying? I won’t let you have a sip of my starry coffee!” Tony refused to back down, put his hands on his hips, and prepared to argue his point. After some playful teasing and a bit of a commotion, he began to pout and complain about the hardships of work. His words hit right at the core of the matter, “Why doesn’t our company have a CEO like the ones in TV dramas? I don’t want to work hard anymore! I mean, we can do things like tripping on flat ground, spilling coffee on suits, breaking computers, and sending the wrong documents too, right? I can do that! And I’m so cute and lovely, way prettier than those TV drama female leads.”

Tony had recently watched a TV drama called “Dominating CEO and Charming Secretary” and often discussed the plot with Yin Minglu. So, it wasn’t surprising for him to make such comments. Yin Minglu twitched the corner of his mouth and playfully jabbed back at Tony, saying, “Our company doesn’t have that kind of boss. We only have a greasy middle-aged CEO in his fifties, with a receding hairline and a potbelly, who often gets involved with female celebrities. Interested?”

Those workplace idol dramas were all deceiving, especially for young and idealistic newcomers like Tony. In reality, it was rare for someone so young to hold a high-ranking position.

As soon as Tony heard Yin Minglu mention their top boss, he exploded, “Minglu, you’re so annoying! Of course, I’m not talking about Old Lou, his hair isn’t even as abundant as my Golden Retriever’s. Why would I be interested in him? I’m talking about Young Lou, the recently appointed executive, Old Lou’s nephew, our new young owner. He’s only been here for a few days, so the board hasn’t officially introduced him yet, but he’s already started working. I just caught a glimpse of him from a distance, and he’s really handsome—young, handsome, and wealthy!”

Yin Minglu’s heart skipped a beat when he heard that.

“So it’s the young executive who recently joined the headquarters, Old Lou’s nephew, our new young owner. He’s only been here for a few days, so the board hasn’t officially introduced him yet, but he’s already started working. I just caught a glimpse of him from a distance, and he’s really handsome—young, handsome, and wealthy! Oh, I’m so dead. Why do some men look ugly in a suit, while others are like a different species? I want to date him, have a passionate romance, and then divorce, you know, the kind where you get a ten-million-dollar divorce settlement in one go.”

So, Mr. Lou is a recent addition, which explains why Yin Minglu didn’t recognize him.

Yin Minglu moved his gaze away by manipulating the mouse, thinking about the business card in the drawer. He seemed somewhat absent-minded.

His attitude once again earned Tony’s dissatisfaction. Tony poked his cheek and said, first in anger, “Tom³ Yin, are you even listening to me?” Then, he sighed and continued, “Your skin is so smooth and tender, just like the tofu I had earlier. How do you even take care of it? Is it because you have a boyfriend? Do you guys make love every night? Ah, love’s nourishment is really something else!” Tony started talking to himself, and then he blinked suggestively and said, “And it’s three hours until quitting time. Is your boyfriend coming to pick you up today? I saw him in a fancy car picking you up last time. Your boyfriend looks so handsome in a suit; no wonder you can’t appreciate Mr. Lou’s handsomeness. Today’s Friday, are you two going on a romantic date? I’m so jealous of you guys with partners!”

Yin Minglu almost choked on his coffee, especially when Tony was twirling his waist and not only had a vivid imagination but also gave him advice, saying, “Darling, dress a bit sexier today. He won’t be able to resist being ‘rough’ with you tonight!”

Tony’s words were teasing, but Yin Minglu couldn’t help but smirk. He lowered his head to send the image he had just edited using Qiao An’s account, thinking to himself, “Heh, does Zhou Jinheng dare to be rough with him? He should consider himself lucky if he doesn’t get a taste of Yin Minglu’s ‘roughness’ tonight!”

Meanwhile, on the other side,

Having waited for several days without receiving a call from the young man, Yin Minglu, Lou Wang couldn’t help but feel a bit impatient. It was his first time being infatuated with someone, and it was also the first time he had left his contact information and received no response. He even happened to see a black Audi parked outside the company’s entrance when he was leaving work.

The young man, although expressionless, still got into the car without hesitation. Through the window, Lou Wang saw the person in the driver’s seat playfully pinch the young man’s nose. The young man avoided it and slapped the person’s hand away. Their interaction resembled that of a couple having a playful argument.

Lou Wang’s heart sank immediately. He hadn’t expected the young man to have a boyfriend already. Especially in the presence of a boyfriend, the fact that the young man had asked for his name was quite perplexing. Though he didn’t want to admit it, Lou Wang felt a bit played by a young man.

He was somewhat irritated.

Author’s Note: Let’s date after breaking up with the scumbag.

Thank you to the little angels who voted for me or provided nourishment!

T/N: I know, I know I haven’t been updating lately. Our finals are coming up so I’m really sorry for not updating these few weeks, I’m rushing as fast as I can coz I’m already behind schedule QAQ

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