Translate by Hua
Xia Shu’an had a simple and comfortable New Year.
By the way, last night after the two of them went upstairs, they nestled on the sofa in the bedroom, watching the New Year’s Eve program with the same blanket wrapped around them… Forget it; let’s not talk about it. Xia Shu’an didn’t want to remember it.
In short, Xia Shu’an deliberately indulged himself the next day and didn’t get up until about nine o’clock in the morning. Auntie cooked seafood porridge, and the side dish was delicate pickled cucumbers. It was already 10 o’clock when Xia Shu’an finished breakfast, so he asked Auntie to postpone lunch to 1 p.m. Then he ran back to the study to read and watch shows, completely pampering himself and enjoying the first day of the New Year.
Unlike him, Shen Boyan only woke up ten minutes later than usual on January 1st, but he lingered in bed for another half an hour before slowly getting out of bed. When Xia Shu’an entered the study, he was working inside. On the first day of 2023, Mr. Shen was still busy, with too many people from all over the world who wanted to exchange pleasantries.
Xia Shu’an rested his head on the soft sofa cushion. The sunshine was very good today. The white light was like sparkling water, and gold scattered under the floor-to-ceiling windows.
While Xia Shu’an was looking at the tablet in his hand, he was listening to Shen Boyan’s contact person in one ear. His handsome and upright face showed a sinister and vicious expression, and his mind was full of conspiracies and schemes, discussing how to dismantle and swallow the Gu family.
“I’m not that greedy. I can’t swallow such a big piece of Gu’s meat by myself. Ever since Wenhui entered Rongchuan, President Zhuang has taken great care of us. I hope we can have better cooperation in the future.”
“…… What you said is that Gu has done a lot of things over the years, and everyone has been quite tolerant because of his ancestor’s contribution to Rongchuan, but this time he did go too far …… It’s just that I’m not in a position to intervene. Director Guo, the head of the bureaucracy, still hopes that you can deal with it.”
There was a clunking sound from the sofa. Shen Boyan turned his head from the window and saw the young man lying on the sofa. There was a charging notebook on the table beside him. He was scratching on the pad in his hand with two fingers.
“Well, okay, thank you, President Zhuang. I’ll visit you another day.”
……
The man quietly approached the sofa and knelt down.
“What are you looking at?”
A short video is playing on the screen, which shows the daily activities of a black and white kitten taken by the owner. Xia Shu’an propped up his chin and watched. The expression on his face followed the cat’s soft expression for a while, frowned for a while, then bit his lip and smiled stupidly. His head occasionally shook, revealing pink ears, which also looked like large, folded cat ears.
Shen Boyan reached out and played with his hair.
“You like cats?”
“I like them, but I can’t keep them. I’m allergic to animal hair.”
“When I was in high school, I went to my grandparents’ hometown for a while to study. It was a small city with many stray cats. Cats often appeared at our school. They were very cute. I wanted to get close to them, but I couldn’t. I just couldn’t. I can only watch from a distance.”
His tone was slightly regretful, full of the helplessness of a cat lover. After a while, his tone rose again, as if he were happily recalling the past: “But I would occasionally follow my classmates and feed them food. A little black wild cat often appeared on my way home at that time. I remember there was someone walking the same way home as I was, so I gave them the snack and asked them to feed the cat for me while I watched from a distance.”
Shen Boyan’s palm on his head was warm and gentle. He leaned forward and kissed Xia Shu’an’s cheek, licked his lips like a cat, and stood up again. “This position is not good for the cervical spine, so don’t stay like this for too long.”
“I know.”
The morning passed quickly. After dinner in the afternoon, Aunt Yu came over to ask for leave: “There is something going on in my hometown. I need to take a leave. I won’t be back until the 8th.”
Aunt Yu’s child is getting married, so she must go home to help. Shen Boyan is not a stingy boss. All companies under the Wenhui Group have special benefits for newlywed employees. He took out a big red envelope on the spot. It’s literally an oversized one.
Xia Shu’an looked on, a little dazed.
When Aunt Yu left, Shen Boyan looked as usual and said, “What? Do you want it too?”
“No, I’m just wondering.” Xia Shu’an moved his lips and said, “Do you still give cash for so much money these days? Won’t it be easier to transfer money?”
“Aunt Yu’s hometown has a custom of giving cash as red envelopes to the best man, bridesmaid, and unmarried juniors in the family.”
“So that’s it.” Bonuses given by the boss to employees can be transferred, but usually traditional cash is used for ceremonial red envelopes. After all, they are just for good luck.
“Ah, yes, you and Aunt Yu are from the same hometown.” Aunt Yu has been with him the longest in the family, and she’s also from the same hometown. Not to mention close friends; she’s at least half of his own people. It’s normal for Shen Boyan to be generous to her.
“What other customs do you have?”
Shen Boyan looked at him: “Curious?”
Xia Shu’an was just about to say yes when he saw the familiar light flashing in his eyes. He was so frightened that he immediately shook her head and went upstairs to check it out himself.
Shen Boyan looked at his back and shook his head helplessly.
Because there was only one day of vacation, neither of them wanted to bother the other. They stayed at home all day, watched the cleaning staff clean the room, and basked in the sun on the roof. Because he had to go to work the next day and he had been tossing about for a long time last night, Shen Boyan also restrained himself in the evening and only “got intimated” for a while.
The next day, Xia Shu’an went to work normally.
After just one year, it was as if the world had been transformed into a new place. The Gu family, which caused a huge uproar a year ago, has been left behind. Together with their company’s reputation, it has been buried in the public’s memory with the passing of 2022, never to be recalled again.
On the first day of work in the new year, everyone was in high spirits.
“Speaking of which, Xiao Xia, you are much more cheerful this year than before, and you look more spirited and energetic!” the senior said.
“Really?” Xia Shu’an responded casually.
He was “blooming with vitality,” right? This life was pretty good, but the last life was miserable. Shen Boyan would get so angry no matter what happened that his whole body would be like a flaming firecracker.
But because he’s not good at bringing emotions to work, no one saw his anger. Instead, he was recognized as having a “positive and new outlook on work” by his supervisor, which shows that people’s sadness and happiness are not mutually exclusive.
Xia Shu’an sat down and processed the data for a while. Suddenly, several messages popped up on his phone. Xia Shu’an saw that it was sent by assistant Lin and thought he had something to do, so he clicked on it.
Assistant Lin’s way of doing things is still straight to the point, without any hesitation.
[Assistant Lin: Which one do you prefer, the left or the right?]
A question mark slowly appeared on Xia Shu’an’s head. Assistant Lin showed him a photo of an airplane. There were two planes on the left and right; one was a white propeller plane, and the other was a typical business jet.
Xia Shu’an looked at the message above and was bewildered for a moment: What does this mean? To buy him an airplane?
Just as Xia Shu’an was about to reply, another message came from the other side:
[Assistant Lin: President Shen said this is a Christmas gift for you. Please choose the model you like. If you want, the subsequent painting and interior decoration can be selected by you personally.]
Xia Shu’an’s pupils suddenly trembled.
Shen Boyan has an overbearing brain circuit of “as long as you are well-behaved, I will give you more.” After he prepared a gift for him last time, his lack of response did make Xia Shu’an feel a little strange. However, in the midst of a lot of things, coupled with the fact that Xia Shu’an was past the age to care about these procedures, he put this little doubt behind his mind. Unexpectedly, after a week, things have turned around again.
But this is too outrageous. A small keychain is exchanged for an airplane; the keychain wins!
Xia Shu’an looked at the two planes in the picture intently, remembering that his original intention of buying the gift was just to make Shen Boyan toss him a little less. He couldn’t help but feel a little guilty.
[Xia Shu’an: The one on the left.]
[Assistant Lin: Got it.]
Not long after putting down the phone, a senior happened to pass by: “Wow, Xiao Xia, what’s with your expression?”
Xia Shu’an slowly raised his head with a dreamy look: “If the research laboratory has no money in the future and has to sell off its ‘family property’ to obtain research funds, I might be able to buy them!”
Then all those flowers, plants, and trees will have a home!
The senior’s eyes moved, and he showed the expression, “Another child has been ruined.”
All those doing research are like this; it’s a waste of money!
“Ah, by the way, I almost forgot to tell you. The boss said that the first tranche of funds for the enterprise project you introduced has arrived. Today is the first day of work after the New Year. He invites us to dinner in the evening. Can you make it?”
“Okay.” Xia Shu’an said immediately.
After saying goodbye to his colleagues, he lowered his head and typed into the WeChat page:
[Xia Shu’an: Tell Shen Boyan for me that my colleagues are having dinner tonight and I won’t be going back for dinner.]
When Assistant Lin walked into the office expressionlessly with his mobile phone, Shen Boyan was on the phone. He put down the phone, took the mobile phone he handed over, and raised his eyebrows after recognizing the line of words on the screen.
This is really a big “surprise.” He prepared a plane for his boyfriend. The boyfriend planned not to go home for dinner at night and hang out outside.
Shen Boyan returned the phone, and Assistant Lin quickly took it, looking at it without saying a word.
Shen Boyan did not ask him to go out immediately but pondered for a while in his seat.
“Do I have any plans tonight?”
This matter had been confirmed in the morning and noon, but Assistant Lin still replied, “No.”
“Ok.” The man behind the desk chuckled: “Very good.”
……
…….
Xia Shu’an and the others went to a newly opened Cantonese restaurant. It was said to have been opened by locals from Guangzhou, and the food was authentic. Xia Shu’an has been deceived many times by “authentic local dishes”. In fact, he has no hope, as long as it’s simple and delicious. When he went over to have a look, he also found that the taste was indeed simple and delicious.
There were a total of nine people at the table. They were all colleagues and classmates without any social philistines or concerns among each other, so they each picked their own favorite dishes, and the atmosphere was very lively.
“Wow, this squab is delicious; everyone should try it!”
“Sausage vermicelli, my sausage vermicelli; I haven’t had authentic sausage vermicelli in a long time. Oh, my five-yuan bowl of egg sausage vermicelli, ah ……”
The person next to him scoffed, “How old are you? The average price of sausage vermicelli is now 7 yuan.”
The senior sitting next to Xia Shu’an said, “Xiao Xia, today’s meal is really thanks to you. Come on, I’ll toast to you!”
Then she proudly picked up the cup in her hand.
“Me too. I’ll propose a toast!” After saying that, with a thud, a classmate dried the oolong tea in his cup.
Xia Shu’an helplessly picked up his warm corn juice.
“Okay, cheer.”
“Don’t drink too much; don’t drink too much.” The senior sistor’s boyfriend quickly advised her, “Be careful of irritating your stomach.”
The senior sister turned around and held his hand: “It’s fine, it’s fine, don’t worry.”
Xia Shu’an: “…”
Are you all drama queens?
“I’m going to the bathroom.” Xia Shu’an stood up and walked out. There were not many people in the bathroom. He lowered his head and carefully rubbed his hands with hand sanitizer. Suddenly, he felt an unusual gaze cast on him. He inadvertently raised his head and looked at the mirror in front of him.
“.…..Why are you here?”
A man standing at a height of 1.9 meters, with his long legs wrapped under his suit pants, stopped at the sink next to Xia Shu’an,, naturally and as a matter of course. He slowly extended his hand towards the sensing area, and the warm water rushed out.
“Because this is a public place?”
Xia Shu’an: “…”
“Oh.” He exclaimed, “surprised” and “shocked,” as if he had just discovered Xia Shu’an at this moment: “So you’re here too; what a coincidence.”
“.………….”
Xia Shu’an took a breath and felt that, after suppressing the speechlessness in his heart, the world returned to its bright colors.
There was a slight smile on his lips, a warm light flashed in his eyes, and he spoke gently and authentically, word by word: “Then, since it’s such a coincidence, do you want to have dinner with me?”
“Is that okay?”
“Of course. What’s wrong with introducing a friend to colleagues?” If not, can I still go to work tomorrow?
“Oh, well, respectfully then.” The man pulled out a tissue and wiped his hands slowly and gracefully before saying, “Let’s go.”
The two of them walked slowly to the private room. Xia Shu’an took the time to glance at the man next to him. He can guess what Shen Boyan was thinking. It was just another case of possessiveness and a desire for control. During this period of time spent together, he had Shen Boyan figured out already. He just ate the soft rather than the hard.
As long as you agree with him nicely, rely on him, and convince him that “Shen Boyan’s position in Xia Shu’an’s heart is consolidated,” he will be lenient and allow you to operate within the normal range.
What a bad temper!
The two of them were still a few steps away from the door of the private room when Xia Shu’an suddenly reached out and pulled Shen Boyan’s finger. Shen Boyan was concentrating on thinking about what to say to Xia Shu’an’s colleagues when he met them later. Suddenly his hand was touched, and the next moment a soft palm held his hand, clasping tightly.
Shen Boyan suddenly turned to look at the young man.
Xia Shu’an’s face was normal as he opened the door and walked into the room calmly.
“Xiao Xia, you’re back—”
“Who is this?”
People in the room looked over one after another. The first thing they noticed was the tall and handsome adult man beside Xia Shu’an. Then the next second, their eyes were instantly attracted by the hands held together, as if a weak, helpless little screw were being attracted by a huge magnet.
Xia Shu’an seemed to “belately” realize it at this moment and let go of the man’s hand, “lightning fast.” Then he smiled sheepishly at everyone.
Everyone: “…”
Important notice: The release schedule will be change to Mon, Tues, and Wed from next week! Chapters sponsored by Kofi will be added to subsequent week pool. Happy reading everyone !!!
