⌈It seems that it is not because he is more handsome than Zhang Lin that they have bad intentions towards him.⌋
Over there, he only received a question mark in response.
Lu Ran hadn’t waited long for a reply before sleepiness washed over him, and he dozed off while holding his phone.
He had thought he would feel a bit uneasy.
Because so much had happened today.
But unexpectedly, Lu Ran slept very soundly that night.
He hadn’t felt so at ease in a long time.
In fact, he almost overslept the next morning.
He bought breakfast as usual and took Da Huang to the Ji Corporation.
On the way, he remembered something, took out his phone, and flipped to the chat page.
Ji Min had replied again.
A brief line popped up, a multiple-choice answer: [Da Huang is more handsome.]
Lu Ran stared at the phone screen for a while, suddenly feeling enlightened.
He squatted down and stared into Da Huang’s little eyes for a good while.
Da Huang, confused by his gaze, thought his owner was playing with him and jumped up to pounce on Lu Ran.
Lu Ran hugged him and planted a kiss on his forehead.
“Looks like my son has charm after all.”
It seemed it wasn’t because he looked better than Zhang Lin that Ji Min had ulterior motives.
When Lu Ran arrived at the Ji Corporation today, Ji Min wasn’t in the office.
After a while, he returned while explaining something to his assistant.
Seeing Lu Ran present, he casually asked, “Have you given it some thought?”
Lu Ran nodded while holding Da Huang: “I want to do it!”
Why ponder so much when there’s money to be made—idiots don’t earn!
But he quickly felt a bit lost again and asked, “What do I need to do?”
Ji Min replied succinctly, “Take good care of your dog.”
“Ah?”
Just that?
Lu Ran suddenly felt that this job was a bit too easy.
Ji Min paused, seemingly realizing that the job description was indeed quite simple.
He thought for a moment and added, “Staying by my side, there will be inconvenient tasks that need you to handle.”
Lu Ran understood.
However, that day, Lu Ran still went to the coffee shop where he worked as usual.
After informing his boss about his resignation and waiting for the boss to agree, he finally left.
The next day was his official start date, which just happened to be a weekend.
But Ji Min was someone who never took weekends off; he came to the company as usual.
On Lu Ran’s first day on the job, he was full of energy.
He got up early and waited directly in the Ji Corporation’s parking lot.
As soon as Ji Min’s car parked, he spotted the young man standing by the elevator from a distance.
The moment Lu Ran saw the car, his eyes lit up. He ran over with Da Huang in tow.
Butler Chen, who was sitting in the passenger seat, raised an eyebrow in surprise and teased Ji Min behind him.
Ji Min raised a hand to rub his forehead and let out a slight sigh.
He rarely did anything on a whim.
Having Lu Ran as his assistant was a first for him.
The reason for it was even harder to explain.
He certainly couldn’t say that he found it inexplicably unpleasant to see the kid looking so ragged after working outside, so he made up an excuse to keep him around.
If he said that, Uncle Chen would probably laugh at him for a year.
As he watched the young man running over with a “thump-thump-thump”, his steps joyful enough to rival that of the little dog beside him, Ji Min opened the car door.
He had just lowered the handicap-accessible ramp when Lu Ran rounded the corner and charged toward the passenger seat.
Almost pressing his face against the glass, he cheerfully greeted, “Uncle!”
Ji Min: “…”
With that attitude, one might think it was Butler Chen who was paying him.
Stepping out of the car, Butler Chen also smiled at Lu Ran: “Good morning.”
“Good morning.” Lu Ran continued to circle around Butler Chen.
It wasn’t until someone got out of the back seat and emitted a cold aura that Butler Chen finally suppressed his laughter and gave Lu Ran a knowing look.
Only then did Lu Ran remember his job responsibilities and walked over to Ji Min, holding Da Huang.
He greeted, “Good morning, Boss.”
Ji Min: “Heh.”
So you still remember who your boss is.
Lu Ran saw his wheelchair touch the ground and instinctively moved to hold the armrests from behind.
Ji Min was momentarily stunned, still processing what was happening.
Butler Chen, who was beside him, was just about to remind Ji Min when he saw Lu Ran directly push Ji Min toward the elevator.
Since the accident that left Ji Min’s legs disabled, he had always been averse to anyone touching his wheelchair.
It was as if he was guarding some ridiculous boundary, trying to prove he hadn’t become a helpless person unable to take care of himself.
Thus, he preferred to control the chair remotely.
Now, Ji Min experienced a rush of speed for the first time in a wheelchair.
The young man behind him was pushing very quickly.
The wind that met them blew Ji Min’s bangs back, freeing a few strands from the hairspray’s hold, gently draping over his brows and slightly lifting them.
Usually, Ji Min moved with remarkable steadiness.
But this time, for the first time in a wheelchair, he felt the thrill of speeding like he did in his youth.
He was momentarily dazed.
Words to stop Lu Ran stuck at the tip of his tongue.
In the next moment, the excited young man seemed to suddenly remember something.
“Ah!” he exclaimed and suddenly let go.
Thus, in front of Butler Chen, Ji Min’s driver, his assistant, and all the Ji Corporation employees who were working overtime in the parking lot on the weekend, they witnessed their usually gloomy boss, with a face full of disdain, who even made the wheelchair seem especially heavy…
Sit in the wheelchair, and due to inertia, he slid forward several meters.
The instant he pressed the brake to stop, his whole body jolted slightly.
In this somewhat comical scene, everyone present fell silent.
Until the man in the wheelchair gritted his teeth and spat out a name: “Lu! Ran!”
“Ah, I’m sorry!” Lu Ran quickly explained. “I suddenly remembered, you don’t like being touched in your wheelchair, right?”
Ji Min: “…”
Wasn’t it a bit too late to ask that?
Lu Ran looked at his grim expression and thought, this is bad.
Could it be that he was going to be fired on his first day of work?
Ji Min forced himself to maintain a stern face.
The reason it was forced was that he found the situation unexpectedly funny.
A voice of reason inside him told him he should be angry.
His emotions felt like a child indulged in play, unable to get truly angry.
Ji Min could only keep a cold face and reminded him in a flat tone, “Keep your dog close.”
“Oh,” Lu Ran let out a sigh of relief; it seemed he hadn’t been fired.
He bent down to pick up Da Huang and slowly walked up to Ji Min, asking, “So, do I push now or will you do it yourself?”
Ji Min paused for a moment and pressed the remote control himself.
The wheelchair moved forward slowly, just like usual.
It moved at a rhythm as stagnant as dead water.
Lu Ran trailed behind and secretly asked Butler Chen, “Is he angry?”
Butler Chen looked at Ji Min and was somewhat surprised.
He shook his head, saying, “Hard to say.”
Ji Min didn’t seem angry at all.
After returning to the office, Ji Min quickly entered work mode.
Lu Ran didn’t disturb him.
Not knowing what he was supposed to do, he curled up in a corner of the sofa like Da Huang.
But unlike Da Huang, he didn’t have such a carefree disposition.
After a while, he felt a bit guilty about the salary he was receiving.
During Ji Min’s work breaks, Lu Ran couldn’t help but ask, “Do I need to do anything?”
His confused tone made Ji Min pause for a moment.
Ji Min’s hands stopped moving, his thumb rubbing his knuckles. After a while, he still couldn’t think of anything to say.
Because Ji Min didn’t know what he wanted Lu Ran to do either.
The kid was only in his first year of college; he couldn’t handle overly professional tasks.
The little trivial matters didn’t require his attention.
Previously, when Ji Min had gone to the café, he had even offered to help Lu Ran find a job.
That would be a simple favor for him.
In familiar settings, there were many suitable jobs for Lu Ran.
With his introduction, no one would give Lu Ran a hard time at work.
But now, that option flashed in Ji Min’s mind for just a moment before being pushed aside.
He continued his work and simply asked, “Have you passed your CET-41College English Test Level 4?”
“I just took it; the scores aren’t out yet,” Lu Ran said.
He didn’t understand why Ji Min asked that. But after thinking for a moment, he added, “I should be able to pass.”
“Then go look at the vocabulary and exam questions for Level 6.”
With that one sentence, the man assigned his task.
Lu Ran: “…”
He fell silent for two seconds before pulling out his vocabulary book and practice papers from his bag.
He had originally brought them to study during work breaks.
Now, unexpectedly, there were breaks everywhere.
Lu Ran leaned against the armrest of the sofa and quietly began answering questions.
The office fell silent once more.
Occasionally, someone would walk in, catch a glimpse of the boy sprawled on the sofa, and their eyes would widen in shock.
They would leave quietly, carrying a stomach full of astonishment.
As Lu Ran immersed himself in the questions, he gradually became absorbed in the task.
As lunchtime approached, Ji Min put down his work and leaned back in his chair.
The weather had been overcast that morning.
Now, however, the sun had emerged, and golden rays filtered in through the window, casting light on one corner of the sofa.
On the black leather sofa, the boy nestled there, his posture shifting from initial stiffness to a relaxed sprawl.
He was looking down, checking vocabulary, and the sunlight wrapped his fine black hair in a soft golden glow.
Ji Min squinted at the scene, suddenly feeling a faint sense of joy.
It was akin to the time he had looked up during a break at the sight of a little dog on the sofa.
This joy was very subtle.
Elusive, with its cause vague.
It was as if a splash of color had intruded into his otherwise dull life.
There was no need to do anything; the mere presence of that splash of color was enough to stir ripples.
Yet, something about it seemed slightly off.
Ji Min watched for a while before raising his hand to take out his phone and send a message to his assistant.
Lu Ran thoroughly enjoyed answering questions.
It had been a long time since he had engaged in such immersive studying.
After turning sixteen, he started looking for part-time jobs.
So while others were discussing what to eat after class, he was contemplating how to compress his time and earn more money.
During breaks at work, he also made an effort to learn something new.
His heart was constantly floating in midair, being pulled back and forth between two endpoints.
This time, when Lu Ran was tempted by the aroma of food and looked up, he unexpectedly felt as if he had just awakened from a dream.
Butler Chen was smiling gently at him, saying, “You can’t forget to eat while studying.”
As he spoke, he placed the meal and utensils on the coffee table in front of Lu Ran.
“I can do it myself,” Lu Ran quickly replied.
He had never been cared for like this before. He felt a bit embarrassed.
Butler Chen smiled and stepped back.
After taking a couple of bites, Lu Ran suddenly remembered that he was at work and hurriedly looked up at Ji Min.
The man sat behind his desk, his eating posture very refined.
Every gesture exuded a sense of good upbringing.
Lu Ran watched for a while and thought that this was probably what Madam Shen had always pursued.
After finishing his lunch, Lu Ran tidied up his plate.
He was about to collect Ji Min’s plate when Butler Chen approached him and said, “Let me handle it.”
With that, he took the plate from Lu Ran’s hands in a gentle but firm manner.
Lu Ran slowly sat back down on the sofa.
The confusion he had pushed aside while answering questions resurfaced.
It wasn’t until after lunch that the office door opened and two workers in uniforms brought in a set of tables and chairs.
The furniture was simple, resembling a single-person desk from school.
Once the desk was set up, Ji Min nodded toward it and said, “Don’t lay on the sofa; it’s bad for your eyes. Go sit over there.”
Lu Ran: “…”
He silently trudged over with his book in hand.
Inside, he was seething.
What the heck was this?
Paid schooling?
