Time flew by unnoticed until lunchtime, and it wasn’t until his stomach growled with hunger that Bai Sijun casually ordered some takeout. He took a moment to check Douban and Tieba, and the readers’ criticisms and condemnations had finally subsided.
After quickly settling lunch, Bai Sijun tossed the takeout packaging into the large trash bin in the office corridor and then took a short break to use the restroom.
Upon returning to the entrance of Hongtu Culture, he noticed a tall and slender man standing in front of the glass door, tilting his head to peer inside the company while talking on the phone.
Bai Sijun raised the corner of his mouth and greeted, “Mei Yuchen.”
Mei Yuchen put down his phone, turned around, and Bai Sijun noticed that he looked somewhat different from usual.
After the weather warmed up, Mei Yuchen no longer bundled up tightly when going out.
That day, he wore a high-necked black fitted sweater, paired with a loose light blue shirt on top. Below, he had faded white jeans, and he casually tucked one corner of the shirt into the jeans, emitting a lazy and sensual vibe.
Mei Yuchen already had a great figure, and anything he wore made him look like a walking hanger. If it were just a change of clothes, Bai Sijun wouldn’t have been particularly surprised.
Aside from this evidently carefully coordinated attire, Mei Yuchen also had a pair of retro round-framed glasses with tea-colored lenses perched on his nose. His messy hair seemed to have been casually styled with hair gel, revealing a small, clean forehead.
If Bai Sijun hadn’t known in advance that this was Mei Yuchen, he would have thought that a model had mistakenly entered the place.
As passing female colleagues stole glances at Mei Yuchen, he raised an eyebrow and said to Bai Sijun, “What are you staring at?”
Bai Sijun awkwardly cleared his throat, feeling his ears turn red. His gaze drifted away, and he said, “Your outfit today is like a country bumpkin coming to the city, all dressed up.”
After saying this, he took out his employee card to swipe open the glass door. As he passed by Mei Yuchen, he even caught a whiff of a faint cologne scent from him.
He wondered what got into this guy today, making himself look so refined.
Knowing that Mei Yuchen would probably be displeased, Bai Sijun forced himself to comment, “Very handsome.”
Mei Yuchen crossed his long legs and walked to Bai Sijun’s workstation, raising an eyebrow as he asked, “Am I not handsome at other times?”
Bai Sijun didn’t continue the conversation and awkwardly changed the subject, “Uh, by the way, something happened at the company.”
Bai Sijun pulled over an office chair from a nearby workstation for Mei Yuchen and then recounted the plagiarism incident from start to finish. As he narrated, Mei Yuchen sat silently next to him, with slightly lowered eyes, lost in thought.
Bai Sijun estimated that he probably wouldn’t be interested, so after finishing, he said, “If you find it boring, you can go back first. I might be busy this weekend.”
Mei Yuchen leisurely used his middle finger to adjust the glasses on the bridge of his nose and asked, “So, do you need to contact Huang Qian now?”
“Yeah.” Bai Sijun nodded, “She introduced the translator, and I don’t know the others. If she can step in, things should progress much faster.”
Mei Yuchen asked again, “Where is she working now?”
“She’s at X Publishing.” Bai Sijun sighed.
Publishing houses and publishing companies had entirely different statuses. The government strictly regulated publishing and distribution, and all publishing houses were state-owned enterprises. Private publishing companies had to purchase book numbers from publishing houses if they wanted to get a book published. So, in front of publishing houses, publishing companies couldn’t raise their heads.
In simple terms, employees at publishing companies often switched jobs, but once they entered a publishing house, it was like having a secure job.
Huang Qian didn’t take Hongtu seriously because she was now a state-owned enterprise employee, and her status had changed.
Mei Yuchen pondered for a moment, then suddenly stood up, ruffled Bai Sijun’s hair, and said, “Don’t worry.”
Bai Sijun was momentarily stunned. Although most of the time, he regarded Mei Yuchen as a brat, occasionally Mei Yuchen’s actions made him soberly realize that this was a mature man. Mei Yuchen’s calm demeanor made him inexplicably reassured.
Watching him walk towards the window, Bai Sijun couldn’t help but ask, “What are you doing?”
Mei Yuchen gestured a “six” and swayed it in front of his chest, saying, “Making a call.”
Twenty minutes later, Huang Qian took the initiative to call Bai Sijun.
After that, things went smoothly, making Bai Sijun feel incredible. Huang Qian contacted the Hongtu translator, and they promised to cooperate in resolving the matter.
Bai Sijun reported the situation to the chief editor and proposed several solutions. The chief editor asked him to continue negotiating with the wild translator.
After hanging up the phone, Bai Sijun looked at the bored Mei Yuchen next to him and curiously asked, “Who did you contact just now?”
Mei Yuchen lazily replied, “The chief editor of X Publishing.”
Bai Sijun swallowed and considered it; that was a big shot in the industry that even their Hongtu chief editor wouldn’t easily approach.
He asked a foolish question, “Do you know each other?”
“Yeah, we have some acquaintance.” Mei Yuchen casually replied, adding, “I didn’t want to see you in a difficult situation.”
His tone was very casual, as if discussing an everyday matter. But Bai Sijun felt something swelling in his heart, like the intoxicating aroma of fermenting bread.
He finally realized that all his kindness to Mei Yuchen hadn’t been in vain.
On the surface, Mei Yuchen seemed like a bottomless pit, investing too much effort seemed wasteful, but now Bai Sijun confirmed that it wasn’t the case. Mei Yuchen was also a person with emotions.
He faintly raised the corner of his mouth, suppressed the unusual feelings in his heart, and said, “Thank you.”
Mei Yuchen smiled, glanced at him for a moment, then tilted his head and asked, “What else do you need to do now?”
“I still need to confirm the quality of the wild translator’s translation and then see how to negotiate with him.” Bai Sijun said, “It’s a bit troublesome; I don’t understand Japanese, so I need to find a professional to assess it.”
“So, you need to find a Japanese translator?” Mei Yuchen asked.
“Yeah, a colleague recommended a few to me. I’ll contact them one by one to see if they have time.”
“If you can’t find one, let me know,” Mei Yuchen said. “I’ll help you find one.”
“Okay,” Bai Sijun replied.
He had a rough idea of what to expect.
The frantic and stressful morning seemed like it had never happened. The current pace could only be described as smooth and effortless.
Bai Sijun quickly contacted a translator, negotiated the price, and the person agreed to provide feedback on the translated manuscript within a week.
After informing various parties involved in the progress, all that was left was to patiently wait for the feedback.
Originally thinking that a difficult mountain lay ahead, he didn’t expect that, with Mei Yuchen’s help, overcoming it would be so easy.
He stretched lazily, checked the time, and found it was not even three in the afternoon. He asked Mei Yuchen, “I’m done with work. Is there anything you’d like to do?”
Mei Yuchen propped up his chin and looked at him, a playful smile on his lips as he said, “A country bumpkin rarely visits the city. How about you show me around?”
Bai Sijun pursed his lips, thinking that this guy really holds a grudge. If he had known, he wouldn’t have said that earlier.
Nevertheless, he maintained a tough facade and said, “Sure, your countryside is too backward. Today, I’ll show you what a metropolis looks like.”
Mei Yuchen looked at him with a smile in his eyes but didn’t say anything.
Twenty minutes later, Bai Sijun stood in front of the BMW that Mei Yuchen had driven, wishing he could find a hole to hide in.
