T1983 Chapter 38

T.N: This is Annie’s extra chapter! Quite an eventful chapter with lots of things happening! Happy reading!

 

Out of the remaining four sample books, Shu Ran gave one to each of the other shareholders, placing the extra one in the reading room for everyone to borrow.

 

“Why are you giving us books?!” Chen Kai and the others looked at Shu Ran with a blank face after receiving the books early in the morning.

 

Shu Ran was thinking of what words to use to introduce his novel, struggling with how to appear happy without showing off. However, Xu Shen answered before he could say anything: “Look carefully at the author’s signature.”

 

Chen Kai and the others looked down at the author’s signature, and it was clear as day that Shu Ran’s name was written on it.

 

“What the fuck?!” Several pairs of eyes stared at the author’s name to confirm that they had read it correctly, and then looked up and stared at Shu Ran… It was so awesome, what a genius!

 

Chen Sen asked relatively calmly: “When did it happen?”

 

“It has just been released in the past two days…” Shu Ran scratched his face and said, already extremely embarrassed. He hoped that everyone would not praise him too much. “It is just an uneducated novel, nothing high-end, just for entertainment.”

 

“Too humble!” Xu Shen, Shu Ran’s number one fan, immediately retorted: “It’s well written…” But he also struggled with words, thinking about how to better praise it: “Well, under the shell of comedy, there is a thought-provoking philosophy.

 

Anyway, he felt that it was 10,000 times better than those books that said, from the packaging to the title, “I want to teach you some principles of life!”

 

Damn your “I want to teach you some principles of life”… Shu Ran smiled numbly and quickly made a gesture of rejection: “Don’t pull and step on me, that’s not something we should do!”

 

“Don’t tell anyone outside!” Xu Shen turned his head and looked at his wife, with a bright smile on his very obviously arrogant face.

 

“Okay…” Chen Sen and the others never really read books, but since it was Shu Ran’s book, they felt the need to give it some respect: “When we get back from work, we’ll take a good look at it!”

 

Shu Ran nodded awkwardly, hoping that would be the end of it.

 

However, the copy placed in the reading room was quickly scrambled by workers, and some couldn’t even get their turn.

 

During lunch in the cafeteria, a worker came to Shu Ran and asked: “Director Shu, can you buy two more copies of the book you bought yesterday?”

 

Shu Ran: “Huh?!”

 

Worker: “I heard it’s very good! But my turn to read it won’t come until after the New Year, so…” He had to shamelessly make a request to Factory Manager Shu!

 

Among so many factory directors, everyone agreed that Director Shu had the best personality and was the most approachable. In addition to supervising their work, he also shared with them what was on his mind and his insights about life. Anyway, the consensus was that he was a very good Director!

 

“Oh, sure…” Shu Ran hesitated for a moment, then said: “No problem!” Was his book really that popular? He was quite happy when he thought about it, feeling that that was the best affirmation he could get.

 

He always tried his best to satisfy his employees’ demands whenever possible, so small requests like buying more books were just a piece of cake. Originally, Shu Ran was planning to also buy more for his own collection, so he told Xu Shen: “I want to go to the bookstore after work in the evening, to praise myself and see how the book is selling and whether the publisher has lost any money…”

 

“Impossible.” Xu Shen was full of confidence: “It will definitely sell well.”

 

If it really didn’t sell well, then it was a problem with the publisher or the bookstore, and definitely not a problem with the content Shu Ran wrote.

 

Shu Ran: “…”

 

Well, it felt quite good to have a brainless fan next to him. It made his already very confident self almost inflate!

 

Since they didn’t know the program of the bookstore, Xu Shen drove Shu Ran to the largest state-owned bookstore in Nanshi, before it got dark.

 

“Your books should be sold here, right?”

 

“Let’s go in and have a look.” Shu Ran got out of the car and stood at the door of the bookstore, caught in a somewhat subtle mood. After waiting for a moment, Xu Shen, who had parked the car, touched his shoulder from behind: “Why don’t you go in? Are you still timid about being seen together?”

 

“Just a little bit…” Shu Ran looked around and continued: “Comrade Xu Shen, please keep a social distance.” Who knew when someone who recognized them might pop up, so it was better to just be careful.

 

“That’s too much…” Xu Shen said with a plausive smile: “When a young book fan meets his favorite writer, it’s natural for him to put his arm around his shoulders and hold his hand.”

 

“You’re not young!” Shu Ran blurted out, probably out of his mind.

 

Xu Shen quickly glanced at him, his expression a bit frightened, and then looked around: “Tell me, why don’t you pay more attention to how good you are?”

 

“I…” Shu Ran hit his head. “I had a brain cramp!”

 

“I’m serious!” Xu Shen laughed: “You’ve never seen a book signing event for a great author? Those book fans are crazy, they want to hang themselves directly on the writer, and nobody can tear them off!”

 

Well… He was right.

 

A handshake, that was fine but… A bear hug?!

 

“There is such a thing…” Shu Ran walked inside the bookstore. What Xu Shen was describing was probably similar to a groupie meeting their favorite celebrity and posting crazy posts…

 

But please don’t misunderstand… Everyone could understand a desperate star-chaser fanatically posting about a celebrity, but if someone let fame run to his head and started posting like a celebrity, people might throw rotten eggs at him while calling him a pervert…

 

“Well, the bottom line is, don’t hold book signings when you become famous!” Xu Shen walked to the most conspicuous display table to look for Shu Ran’s book. “I don’t agree.”

 

“Haha!” Shu Ran saw his book, picked it up, covered half of his face, and whispered: “I can only post with you, right?”

 

“What else?” Xu Shen took five copies in one breath and said confidently: “The sales volume in the first week is still very important, and it is related to the subsequent distribution volume.”

 

“Ahem, oh…” Shu Ran had the strange feeling that he was cheating.

 

They took the books to check out, expecting the clerk to be surprised that they bought so many books at once, but… The clerk was very calm. Initially, Shu Ran didn’t think much about it, but Xu Shen was overjoyed.

 

“Comrade, this book is very good. Have you read it?” He started talking directly.

 

Shu Ran: “!”

 

Don’t do this, dear!

 

At that moment, he just wanted to drag that person away quickly… It was so embarrassing, ahhh!

 

“I read it!” The clerk said with a smile. “I read the book before it was put on the shelves. It’s really good!”

 

Xu Shen immediately looked at the author next door, and saw that the author himself was extremely embarrassed, staring at him fiercely, and saying word by word: “Hurry up, hurry up!”

 

However, Xu Shen seemed to suddenly be unable to understand human words. The more Shu Ran urged him, the slower he took out the money to pay. He continued to ask the clerk: “How are the sales of this book?”

 

“Very good!” The clerk answered happily: “Readers who like this book are so eager to share it. Some of them come back and buy two or three more after buying one, just like you!”

 

Xu Shen was surprised: “Is there anyone who bought five or six copies?”

 

“Yes!” The clerk said. “Some organizations buy a lot more at once.”

 

Xu Shen listened with satisfaction: “They are really discerning!” Then he finally paid the money and was dragged out of the bookstore by the impatient Shu Ran.

 

“Shameful!” Shu Ran took a deep breath.

 

“I’m happy!” Xu Shen smiled.

 

Shu Ran didn’t expect that his novel, which was incompatible with the temperament of that era, would have such a good start… It seemed that the publisher no longer had to worry about losing money.

 

He also laughed with Xu Shen, and in the end, the two of them laughed stupidly all the way to the car.

 

Not surprisingly, people of that era were actually very hungry for books. However, the contemporary publishing market was still dominated by traditional literature, a genre that lacked entertainment and was not so popular.

 

Around the 1990s, entertaining novels began to flourish, and many well-known writers emerged. The books by those writers have since taken over the television space, getting remade again and again.

 

Once Shu Ran’s novel with a very fresh story structure was published, it was normal for it to be well-received, and it was also normal for everyone to want to share it. The suspense novel itself had its own mysterious script, providing the readers with a very exciting experience that could easily become addictive.

 

Since there was no need to worry about sales, Shu Ran finally let the matter go. But on President Wu’s side, problems had just begun. It turned out that after reading the book, a reader submitted his thoughts to the publishing house, hoping that they would pass it on to the author…

 

That… was not surprising. Other writers also received that treatment. The only difference lay in whether the quantity of letters was large or small, and whether the reader’s mental state was calm or fanatical.

 

President Wu personally sorted out those letters and was surprised to find that there was also a letter from a fellow writer, asking him to forward it to Shu Ran, with the hope of making a friend.

 

But President Wu remembered that that author was in his forties, right?! With such a big age difference, wouldn’t it be hard to make friends with Shu Ran?

 

What kind of revolutionary friendship was that?!

 

He could help transfer the letter, but he needed to ask for Shu Ran’s permission before introducing the two of them…

 

Afraid that he might be late and Shu Ran was not home, President Wu came to visit at the address Shu Ran left for him, early in the morning. But the person who opened the door was not Shu Ran, but another young man with an outstanding appearance… President Wu vaguely saw something in the other party. The same thing he saw in Shu Ran, something that made him sigh while thinking about the words his ancestors said… It turned out that people were indeed divided into groups…

 

“Excuse me, who are you?” Xu Shen didn’t know President Wu, but he seemed to be a cultural person… Since his wife was also part of them, he now particularly respected that group of cultural-looking people.

 

“Hello, I’m looking for Shu Ran.” President Wu said with a smile: “I am the president of Nanshi Publishing House. Is Shu Ran living here?”

 

“It turned out to be President Wu, yes.” When Xu Shen heard that the other person was the president of the publishing house, he quickly opened the door: “This is Shu Ran’s home. Please come in.”

 

“Okay, thank you, you are…” President Wu was very curious about the relationship between the young man in front of him and Shu Ran.

 

“I’m a fan of his books!” Xu Shen smiled brightly. As the president of the publishing house, he must understand that type of relationship very well. “I read his book before he submitted it and liked it very much, so… I’m here to make friends! I can also help him with the drafts for his next novel.”

 

President Wu smiled: “I understand, hahaha.”

 

He also wanted to urge the new manuscript, but unfortunately, at his age, he couldn’t make friends with Shu Ran. He could only pat Xu Shen on the arm: “The responsibility of urging the manuscript will be left to you! It’s best to publish the new book as soon as possible!”

 

“I’ll try my best!” Xu Shen smiled with squinted eyes.

 

Shu Ran had been focusing on his career blueprint, without plans to write a new book in the foreseeable future. Although he also wanted to read new books, he didn’t want his wife to be too tired or in a hurry.

 

When Shu Ran walked down the stairs, he saw the scene of Xu Shen and President Wu having a good time… He was very impressed. How could Xu Shen be able to easily chat with anyone?!

 

“President Wu, why are you here?” Shu Ran asked.

 

“Hey, your readers have written a lot of letters for you, and I’m here to deliver them.” President Wu was hugging a big bag…Yes, there was an exaggerated number of letters for Shu Ran. He felt the need to also specifically say: “Those on the top. Be sure to read those letters, they are from other writers.”

 

“Oh…” Shu Ran looked confused. Other writers? The implication was that other writers read his book, and President Wu could even remember their names… Was it someone famous?!

 

Shu Ran’s mind immediately flashed through his former school’s textbook list… His brain became so swollen that it could not swell any further.

 

“They also sent their own books, I’ve put them at the bottom. If you see something you like, you can reply.” President Wu continued to explain: “By the way, there are endless letters to reply to. If you have so much free time, it is better to seize it and write a new book.”

 

“Okay…” Shu Ran responded blankly.

 

After President Wu left, Xu Shen glanced at the top few letters. It was obviously a normal behavior, but it made Shu Ran feel that he was staring at them with eagerness.

 

“You want to read them?” Shu Ran simply picked one up and gave it to him: “Then let’s see it.”

 

Xu Shen returned it: “No, this is written for you by another author.”

 

“There’s nothing wrong with it.” Shu Ran pushed the letter in his hands again and said with reason: “I know the person they want to communicate with is me, but you belong to me, so there is no way around it.”

 

Xu Shen laughed and did not refuse in the end, helping his wife handle the letters. However, after reading them, he realized that his bragging skills were still too weak. Well-read people like Shu Ran were the real masters, leaving one husband in particular to struggle with his inferiority.

 

“They are really good at writing, and their compliments are really eloquent…” Xu Shen initially laughed, but then became serious again, asking Shu Ran: “Wife, will my status as your number one fan change?”

 

Shu Ran was amused: “No, are you still worried about that?” He turned his head to kiss Xu Shen’s lips, but when he wanted to pull back, he no longer could. The only thing left to do was to put the letters and books aside first, fearing that they might get wrinkled by their chaos.

 

“They like you so much…” Xu Shen continued. “I must be worried…”

 

Shu Ran lowered his eyelids and had no time to use his words for pretty promises. He could only use passionate actions to tell Xu Shen that there was no need to worry, nothing would change and everything would remain as before.

 

About ten minutes later, the two sat up and continued to work on the letters while glancing at each other. Both of their lips were moist and abnormally red, and… Since it was still early and the weather was too cold to go out, it was better to wait until the sun got brighter before going to work.

 

Shu Ran looked at the names on several of those letters… Maybe they were not famous enough for the later generations… Anyway, he didn’t know them! It was also true that such a small book without any reputation could not disturb the rest of those big names in the textbooks.

 

After much deliberation, Shu Ran decided to write a reply to the writers. Of course, he declined the offer to make friends, because he felt that… It was not necessary. He was not a person who liked to make friends in the first place.

 

It was enough to maintain his current circle.

 

And he didn’t want some new acquaintance to impact his relationship with Xu Shen. With such a special relationship in hand, it would be better to have less communication with the outside world.

 

Xu Shen watched Shu Ran write his replies and raised his eyebrows when he saw the content, but didn’t say anything. He… would be crazy to persuade Shu Ran to make more male friends!

 

“Are you happy?” Shu Ran asked.

 

“I’ve always been very happy.” Xu Shen said lazily.

 

The sun came out and they could no longer stay at home. Both of them packed up and went out to deliver the letters, before returning to the factory.

 

However, as soon as they arrived at the factory’s gate, they heard the sound of quarreling. A middle-aged woman who looked familiar to Xu Shen stood there cursing people, looking very unpleasant.

 

“My son works here! Why don’t you let me in? Watchdog, let my son come out!”

 

Shu Ran heard the familiar accent and frowned: “Who is that?”

 

“It seems like…” Xu Shen wasn’t very sure, but he had an impression. “Damn, Wang Dong’s mother!”

 

“…” Shu Ran thought quickly. If it was Wang Dong’s mother, she probably knew Xu Shen, so he said: “Then don’t get out of the car. I’ll go and negotiate with her.”

 

Xu Shen was a little worried: “Don’t get too close to her.”

 

“Don’t worry.” Shu Ran got out of the car, walked over, and spoke to the guard first: “Go and ask Wang Dong to come out. Tell him his mother is here.”

 

In fact, most workers’ relatives could be easily let in, but Wang Dong himself told the guard not to let her in.

 

“Who are you?! Do you know my son?!” Wang Dong’s mother glared at Shu Ran, and instantly seemed to have found a channel to pour out her misery, crying: “Wang Dong has no conscience, he forgot his mother now that he has a wife! I’m just talking about him! After just a few words from my daughter-in-law, he took her and left the family! My life is miserable!”

 

Shu Ran saw her getting closer and closer, and wanted to step back, but was grabbed by the arm.

 

“He is unkind to me! If he dares not to listen to me, I will hang myself in front of his unit! Let’s see which boss dares to hire him!”

 

The moment Xu Shen saw Wang Dong’s mother approaching Shu Ran, he quickly opened the car door and got out. He stretched out his hand to pull her away, with a gloomy expression on his face: “Auntie, if you have something to say, please say it, but don’t touch him!”

 

Xu Shen was very strong and could pull the opponent away with one stroke, blocking Shu Ran with his tall body.

 

“You, are you Xu Shen?!” After the woman saw clearly who was pulling her away, she shrank and suddenly remembered that many years ago, in order to prevent Wang Dong from interacting with Xu Shen, she even poured boiling water on him…

 

But now, that poor child from back then was actually tall and strong, and he could even drive a car… It seemed that he was doing well!

 

“Yes.” Xu Shen replied with one word and then didn’t bother to look at her.

 

Now that problems had found their factory’s gate, Wang Dong could only solve it by himself!

 

The woman was afraid and couldn’t help but ask Xu Shen: “Is it really you?

 

“…Are you instigating my son not to come home?” She asked herself and answered: “It must be you! You liked to lead my Wang Dong into trouble when you were a child!”

 

Shu Ran was speechless after hearing her and seriously doubted whether that lady had mental problems.

 

“Auntie, please don’t accuse people unjustly. Your son is an adult. No one else can control whether he goes home or not.” Shu Ran stood up and blocked Xu Shen slightly, unable to not get angry. “Secondly, do you even know your son? If he doesn’t want to come home, you really have no idea why? Complaining that you want to hang yourself in front of someone else’s house at every turn… Your son is so pitiful!”

 

When Wang Dong came out, he happened to hear Shu Ran’s words and knew that his mother had threatened people with her life again, in order to force him to come back home. He immediately felt very ashamed, walking in front of them with angry steps. “Mom, you are in front of someone else’s place! What’s all this fuss about?!”

 

When the woman saw Wang Dong, she rushed over, grabbed him, and started swearing. She even raised both of her hands to slap him: “You white-eyed wolf, you will suffer a thousand blows! I raised you in vain, I raised you in vain!”

 

Wang Dong didn’t let her slap him, and just suppressed her: “If you make trouble again, believe it or not, l will send you to a mental hospital immediately!”

 

The woman was still making trouble, and Wang Dong continued: “Brother Shen, help me call someone from the hospital.”

 

“Okay.” Xu Shen said cooperatively while pulling Shu Ran towards the factory.

 

“Xu Shen, how dare you!” The woman continued to scold: “You are a bastard with no father and mother! If you hadn’t eaten my leftovers when you were a child, you would have starved to death!”

 

After hearing her, Shu Ran’s mind started buzzing, and he was instantly ignited.

 

“You are acting like such a big shot now! They don’t even know, you…” The woman’s words were interrupted by a furious sound.

 

“Shut up! What did you say?!” Shu Ran cursed angrily and wanted to rush over to tell the woman to shut up. Xu Shen grabbed him and almost lifted him off the ground: “Leave her alone, Shu Ran, don’t talk to her.”

 

“Who are you scolding?! You biting lunatic! If you want to go crazy, go back to your house, and don’t beep on my property!” Shu Ran pointed at the woman, desperately trying to break free from Xu Shen’s grasp, but Xu Shen hugged him too tight and he could only curse.

 

“I don’t care, there’s no need.” Xu Shen pulled Shu Ran toward the door, inhaled, and persuaded into Shu Ran’s ear: “Really, this kind of petty thing can’t hurt me, why are you angry?”

 

Seeing Shu Ran so angry for the first time, Xu Shen was frightened.

 

Very unpromising, but his first reaction at that time was… He was actually flattered…

 

He dragged Shu Ran all the way into the office and closed the door. Feeling that he was free, Shu Ran wanted to open the door again, but Xu Shen blocked it while opening his hands. In desperation, he growled: “Wife!”

 

“…” Shu Ran was awakened by that sound and realized that in the eyes of others, the woman was scolding Xu Shen and not him. Well, his reaction was very inappropriate, but he was angry, and he couldn’t stand it as a human being! Someone dared to insult his lover like that!

 

“Why can she scold you here?! This is our own territory, why should we tolerate her?!” Shu Ran also growled.

 

“You…” Xu Shen felt distressed and moved when he saw him like that, and quickly said: “I’m really fine, I don’t have any ripples in my heart. I don’t care if she uses a loudspeaker to shout to the whole world!”

 

The saying that “language hurts” was nothing but false and Xu Shen had already figured it out. Even if he wanted to hate that woman, it was only because she made Shu Ran sad.

 

“And you can also see that she is a little mentally disturbed.” Xu Shen sighed: “Why are you fussing with that kind of person? Don’t you know your efforts are in vain?”

 

“..”

 

“Good boy, don’t be angry.” Xu Shen slowly approached.

 

Shu Ran was silent and tried to calm down for a while, believing that Xu Shen really didn’t care about that but… Xu Shen was definitely not born without a care, and he probably felt really uncomfortable at first. It was just that, as life went on, he encountered things that hurt more than words.

 

Xu Shen came over and hugged him. “Are you calm now?”

 

After a moment of gnashing his teeth at a stalemate, Shu Ran finally chose to put away his desire to fight, sighed, leaned weakly on Xu Shen’s shoulder, and nodded: “But, you have to allow me to care.”

 

Why did that woman have to say that to Xu Shen?!

 

It was not Xu Shen’s fault that he had no father or mother. Why should his clearly pitiful life experience be a reason for being insulted?!

 

Shu Ran was really angry. He never asked Xu Shen about his childhood, just to avoid bringing up those unpleasant memories. He was positive and enthusiastic, accompanying Xu Shen to work hard and live a down-to-earth life. He wanted to make life better and better for him, just to create beautiful memories and to soothe things.

 

Rather than saying that the woman’s few words revealed Xu Shen’s scars, it was better to say that they revealed the tragedy that Shu Ran knew, but was unwilling to face. After all, he was no longer a bystander, but a direct participant in Xu Shen’s life.

 

Sometimes Shu Ran would think, before he loved Xu Shen, was there anyone in the world who loved him? He didn’t think so. It might be a bit too hypocritical to think so. After all, there were millions of people who were miserable, and being unloved was really not the worst thing. But he cared, and the more he knew, the more he cared.

 

“Okay.” Xu Shen was startled and raised his hand to touch his head: “You can care, but you have to protect yourself. It was very dangerous just now. You really scared me.”

 

If the other party went fully crazy and hurt Shu Ran, Xu Shen didn’t dare to say what he would do. Anyway, it would be quite…Serious.

 

Even if the other party was Wang Dong’s mother, Xu Shen couldn’t guarantee that he could still maintain his sanity.

 

Shu Ran nodded, took another breath to calm down, and then withdrew from Xu Shen’s arms. After all, they were in the factory, so they couldn’t be too presumptuous: “I’m fine, you go out… No, don’t go out, let Wang Dong handle it by himself.”

 

“He probably can’t handle it. He’s been soft-spoken since he was a child.” Xu Shen sighed: “I’ll go pick up his dad. His mom must have run away in secret.”

 

Shu Ran understood the meaning and asked: “Is his mother afraid of his father?”

 

“Yes.” Xu Shen glanced at him appreciatively, then lowered his eyelids: “His father likes to drink, and he will beat people when drunk, so…”

 

They were all poor people from an unhealthy family.

 

Shu Ran also understood what Xu Shen didn’t put into words, but still chose to say with a straight face: “That’s not a reason to scold you!”

 

Xu Shen smiled helplessly and touched his head again: “Then when I go back to the countryside, don’t follow me around, and don’t go out to wade in the muddy water. No matter what they say… Do you understand?”

 

“Well, out of sight, out of mind.” Shu Ran’s mood was fluctuating before, but at that moment, he just felt lazy.

 

Xu Shen left and told Wang Dong to deal with his mother first while he went to pick up his father. The woman was very frightened when she heard that, but she continued to scold Xu Shen unrepentantly: “Bastard! You’re deliberately taking revenge on me, aren’t you?”

 

Xu Shen was too lazy to argue with her. So what if it was revenge, shouldn’t he take revenge on her? When he was a child, a pot of scalding boiling water was poured all over his head. If he hadn’t been able to hide quickly, he would have died a long time ago.

 

Xu Shen rarely thought about those long-forgotten things. He had nothing to think about, and he never thought about sharing those stories with Shu Ran. Otherwise, the result would be the same as just now. He knew that Shu Ran cared, but he didn’t expect him to… Care so much.

 

Xu Shen lamented that his decision to hide things from Shu Ran was right. At the same time, deep down in his heart, some subtle nerves that were not easy to detect were secretly enjoying the pleasure of being cared about.

 

…………

 

It took more than three hours to go back and forth to the countryside, and it was already afternoon when Xu Shen picked up Wang Dong’s father.

 

Wang Dong’s father was normal and reasonable when he didn’t drink. He heard that Xu Shen was now prosperous and even arranged for Wang Dong to have a cozy, easy job. He was very grateful for the work and kept saying that Xu Shen was a person who always repaid his kindness.

 

Xu Shen didn’t mention what his wife was doing. He just warned: “If you want Dongzi to work peacefully, you should take care of it carefully from now on. Otherwise, how could Dongzi concentrate on making money to support his family?”

 

“Yes, yes.” Wang Dong’s father nodded.

 

After he came, he took the woman back. Wang Dong gave them money for the ride back and then came back to apologize to Xu Shen in particular. After apologizing, he rubbed his head irritably and said: “Brother Shen, she can’t be saved. I can’t help her either. I don’t know how to save her!”

 

“No need to save her, just live your life well.” Xu Shen waved his hands indifferently. In fact, that woman was right. He did eat her leftovers, which Wang Dong secretly brought out.

 

“I don’t know if she will come again in the future, or I…” Wang Dong didn’t want to implicate Xu Shen’s factory.

 

“What about that?” Xu Shen raised his chin and continued: “Go back to work quickly. The new order is coming soon. Ship the goods early and have a holiday for the New Year.”

 

Wang Dong was silent for a moment and nodded gratefully: “Okay, then I’ll go back to work.”

 

After walking a few steps, he remembered something: “Is Brother Dingzi okay? I think he was quite angry. You and him..”

 

“Huh?” Xu Shen’s heart skipped a beat, but he soon regained his composure. He shook his head and said: “He’s fine. Those things about my childhood…He didn’t know, and he was a little angry when he heard it for the first time.”

 

“Yes.” Wang Dong felt ashamed. Little Dingzi must be protecting his brother-in-law. After his mother made such a fuss, he suddenly felt a little embarrassed to face Zhou Ding.

 

Those who came to the factory late heard about the commotion and were comforting Shu Ran in the office.

 

“What’s that, Shu Ran, you don’t have to be too angry.” Chen Kai said. “Brother Shen has seen a lot of big events, this little thing is nothing, it won’t hurt him at all.”

 

Chen Sen nodded: “Just treat her as a fart.”

 

Jiang Fan also said: “The past is in the past. Don’t feel sorry for him now… This is nothing.” Looking back at Xu Shen who walked in, he asked: “Right, Brother Shen?”

 

Xu Shen didn’t hear what they were talking about, but he could guess what those guys would say to Shu Ran. He thanked them, pulled a chair close to Shu Ran, and sat down: “Well, it’s settled, you… Are you okay now?”

 

Shu Ran didn’t speak. To be precise, he fell into a daze. He wanted to ask himself… What the hell was he doing before and how come he ended up becoming the victim?!

 

“Let’s go to the workshop and help with the work.” Jiang Fan stood up and greeted: “The deadline is coming soon, let’s finish the work early and have a holiday early.”

 

“Let’s go!” Everyone else shouted and walked away.

 

After they left, Xu Shen looked at Shu Ran, feeling soft in his heart, and asking softly: “Are you really that angry?”

 

Nonsense…

 

Shu Ran nodded.

 

“It’s quite unbelievable…” Xu Shen hesitated before saying: “Since when do you like me so much?” In fact, he wanted to ask when he received the book dedication, but he was too happy at that time and simply forgot.

 

Shu Ran also asked himself. Yes, when did he start to like Xu Shen so much?!

 

It seemed like it happened unconsciously. Was it when he agreed to stay? No, at that time, he still had the mentality of being able to do whatever he wanted without being pushed down.

 

Then when was it?!

 

Shu Ran himself was confused… And had no idea at all. How could it happen?!

 

Xu Shen didn’t rush him and just stayed by the side.

 

“…” Shu Ran opened his mouth and then closed it. It also wasn’t the night he came back from the dance hall. Although that night was indeed very intense… It was mainly because Zhou Hui got married and he felt relieved all of a sudden.

 

At that time, Master Tao knocked on the door and said he wanted to see Shu Ran with a problem.

 

“Ahem!” Shu Ran looked at Xu Shen and pointed to the door guiltily: “Then… shall I go and get busy first?”

 

“Well, go quickly.” Xu Shen nodded, not looking unhappy.

 

Also, that kind of issue could be discussed at any time and there was no need to discuss it during working hours.

 

So Shu Ran disappeared in a hurry. Let’s do work first… If he didn’t understand something during the day, maybe he would be more inspired at night?

 

He thought he would have the opportunity to slowly figure it out with Xu Shen when they got home at night, but something unexpected happened. Just as he was getting ready to get off work, Wang Dong hurriedly came to tell him that his wife was giving birth!

 

After being stunned for half a second, Shu Ran instinctively arranged for him: “Don’t worry, prepare things quickly and send her to the hospital!”

 

Probably because he received so much information in the Internet age, that kind of situation was not unfamiliar to him, so he twisted his face and continued to arrange: ” Brother Shen, go drive! Let’s pick them up in front of the dormitory.”

 

“Yes.” Xu Shen nodded and took action without hesitation.

 

A group of people rushed around and sent the pregnant woman to the hospital half an hour later. Xu Shen and Shu Ran chose to stay and accompany Wang Dong in the hospital. They could help with the procedures and buy all the insufficient items later.

 

When she entered the delivery room, they had nothing to do. Xu Shen said to Wang Dong, who was waiting anxiously: “We’ll go out to buy food, you have to stay alone first.”

 

Wang Dong nodded casually, his eyes focused on the delivery room.

 

“Today is such a good day, everything has come together!!!” After leaving the hospital, Shu Ran sighed and said to the already dark sky.

 

Xu Shen thought about what happened that day and agreed: “Actually, everything that happened today was good…” He said it very quietly, and he wasn’t sure if Shu Ran heard it.

 

Anyway, it was a good day for him!

 

Without that woman’s damn appearance, Xu Shen wouldn’t have known that Shu Ran would have that kind of reaction to what happened to him. His wife had no dislike for him and no intention to dig deeper, as if he already accepted everything he had.

 

It looked like they had a tacit understanding, and Xu Shen also didn’t intend to dig into Shu Ran’s secrets. No matter what it was… He accepted it without any pressure.

 

There were not many places selling food at night, so they drove to the night market, where they sold snacks. Even though it was not serious food, it could still fill their stomachs.

 

“Hey, I didn’t know there was a night market here…” Shu Ran looked around and saw that it was quite lively and the stalls had a lot of content.

 

“It seems like it didn’t exist before…” Xu Shen said. “This area used to be deserted. It’s probably new.”

 

There were a lot of changes every day in Nanshi, and new tricks emerged endlessly.

 

“It’s pretty good.” Shu Ran said with a smile. As society developed, people had more and more ways to make money. Many people made their first pot of gold by setting up stalls in night markets. In fact, if normal factory workers wanted to set up a stall, they might not necessarily earn less than in the factory.

 

It was quite windy outside, so they bought food and returned to the car.

 

“Have some too. I’ll cook for you when we get home.” Xu Shen took a bag full of little pies, tore off a stuffed piece, and fed it to Shu Ran.

 

“It’s quite delicious.” Shu Ran tasted it, took the entire pie, and ate it whole: “You don’t have to cook, I can get full.”

 

“How can this be considered dinner?” Xu Shen saw a fried noodles seller in front of him and continued: “I’ll go buy two portions of fried noodles.”

 

“Brother Shen!” Shu Ran shouted from behind: “Make it spicy!”

 

But Xu Shen turned around and ruthlessly rejected Comrade Shu Ran’s request: “Don’t even think about it! We don’t eat spicy food!”

 

Shu Ran was still taking traditional Chinese medicine. Dr. Hu said that he should not eat spicy food.

 

The author has something to say:

Brother Shen: Take good care of yourself and don’t eat anything spicy!