ARBW Chapter 48

Chapter 48

After sending off the two Mutants, Lin Mian asked Cheng Xiaowan to teach him how to read that evening.

In truth, Cheng Xiaowan hadn’t received much formal education either. However, since she was older than him and had read more books before the apocalypse, she was still capable of teaching Lin Mian.

Over the next two days, the two of them spent their time teaching and learning, quickly going through the elementary school textbooks.

The textbooks were provided by Mr. Pei, and they were quite similar to the ones from their world.

After comparing the books from both worlds, Lin Mian began to suspect that they might be from two parallel universes.

Because the people in each world had made different choices, the two worlds had developed in different directions.

That afternoon, another small building was completed in the town.

After logging in, Pei Yuhuai and Lin Mian arranged for the townspeople to move in.

Now, besides the villa where Lin Mian lived, there were four small buildings in the town.

Each building could accommodate twenty to thirty people, so the four buildings were almost enough to house everyone in the town.

At this point, although everyone could live in houses with water and electricity, the living conditions were still quite cramped.

Therefore, Pei Yuhuai needed to continue building more houses, not only to provide more living space but also to construct roads and improve the overall living environment of the town.

Later, Lin Mian teleported to Pei Yuhuai’s location again. That day, Pei Yuhuai had an important meeting at the company, so when Lin Mian arrived, he went directly to Pei Yuhuai’s lounge.

Currently, only Xiao Su and Secretary Zhang in the entire company knew about Lin Mian.

Bored alone in the lounge, Lin Mian slipped out with Xiao Su, planning to explore the commercial street downstairs.

Normally, even when Pei Yuhuai was in a meeting, Xiao Su wouldn’t dare to be away for too long.

But today was different. Today, she was accompanying President Pei’s boyfriend. Even if President Pei or others found out, it wouldn’t have much of an impact on her.

So the two of them went downstairs and started browsing through the shops one by one.

Lin Mian now had an ID card, his own phone number, and some pocket money in his account.

However, he was quite frugal with his spending. Along the way, he saw many things he liked but couldn’t bring himself to buy.

His money was all from Mr. Pei.

He still owed Mr. Pei a lot of money, so he didn’t feel comfortable wasting it.

In the end, Xiao Su couldn’t stand it anymore and bought Lin Mian an especially cute balloon with her own money.

Lin Mian had looked at this balloon several times because of its exquisite and beautiful design, but it cost thirty yuan each.

It was indeed a bit expensive, and if it were for herself, Xiao Su probably wouldn’t have bought it.

But for some reason, looking at Lin Mian’s exceptionally beautiful face, she couldn’t help but feel sorry for him and wanted to give it to him.

Lin Mian was very happy with the gift, and to return the favor, he bought Xiao Su a cup of milk tea.

The two of them returned happily, just as Pei Yuhuai had finished his meeting.

Lin Mian came back with the milk tea and, seeing that Mr. Pei looked a bit tired, regretted not bringing him something to drink.

Xiao Su guessed what he was thinking and took him to make tea for President Pei.

As she taught him, Xiao Su said, “President Pei likes white tea. Its flavor is lighter and more refreshing. Occasionally, when he’s not feeling well, he’ll drink a cup of bitter coffee. He doesn’t like instant coffee, so I usually make it for him personally.”

Lin Mian followed behind Xiao Su, carefully brewing a cup of tea.

Then, while Xiao Su was delivering the tea to Mr. Pei, he secretly tasted the tea he had made.

He realized that he couldn’t quite tell the difference between good tea and bad tea.

He also wasn’t sure if the tea he had made tasted good.

When Xiao Su returned, Lin Mian immediately offered her the tea he had made.

“What do you think? How’s the tea I made?”

Xiao Su tasted it and felt it was missing something.

So, with great patience, she guided Lin Mian through the process again.

With Lin Mian’s persistent efforts, he soon managed to make tea that was almost as good as hers.

When Pei Yuhuai got thirsty in the afternoon, Lin Mian immediately brought him the tea he had made.

Normally, after three in the afternoon, Pei Yuhuai didn’t drink much tea or coffee.

But today, since Lin Mian had made the tea, he smiled and drank it all.

It must be said that Lin Mian was indeed very clever and meticulous in everything he did.

After finishing work around four, Pei Yuhuai took Lin Mian back to his residence.

For dinner, Lin Mian and Pei Yuhuai cooked together. Neither of them was particularly skilled in the kitchen.

Pei Yuhuai rarely cooked.

Lin Mian could cook, but his dishes were average—not particularly delicious, but not bad either.

However, taste wasn’t the point. They weren’t cooking for the sake of flavor but rather to enjoy the homely feeling of cooking together.

While taking photos with Pei Yuhuai’s phone during dinner, Lin Mian discovered pictures of himself in Pei Yuhuai’s phone.

Looking at the photos, Lin Mian blushed and asked, “Mr. Pei, do you like me wearing these kinds of clothes?”

Hearing this, Pei Yuhuai wasn’t as embarrassed as he had been when he was first discovered.

“Not really. Actually, you look good in anything.”

This wasn’t a lie. He truly thought Lin Mian looked beautiful in anything.

Lin Mian smiled shyly and then leaned closer to Pei Yuhuai.

“Then, let’s take a photo together? I want a picture of Mr. Pei to use as my wallpaper.”

Pei Yuhuai didn’t refuse. He cooperated fully, leaning in close to Lin Mian.

Just as he thought Lin Mian was about to press the shutter button, Lin Mian suddenly kissed him on the cheek.

This was their first photo together. Lin Mian, feeling a bit excited, had kissed him, and in the photo, Pei Yuhuai looked surprised.

Lin Mian looked at the photo and wasn’t entirely satisfied.

“Mr. Pei, let’s take another one. This one doesn’t look very good.”

Mr. Pei nodded. He didn’t say anything but cooperated fully.

The two of them didn’t eat properly, nor did they follow the usual formalities they would have at the Pei residence.

They took many photos together—some of Lin Mian kissing Pei Yuhuai, some of Pei Yuhuai kissing Lin Mian, some of Lin Mian hugging Pei Yuhuai from behind, and even some of Lin Mian sitting in Pei Yuhuai’s lap.

Both of them were smiling—one with a red face, grinning foolishly; the other with a slight smile, looking a bit serious.

Lin Mian: “Mr. Pei, can I change your phone wallpaper? I heard from Xiao Su that couples use each other’s photos as wallpapers.”

Pei Yuhuai didn’t mind. “Sure.”

With his permission, Lin Mian changed the wallpapers on both of Pei Yuhuai’s phones.

The wallpaper on his work phone became a photo of the two of them together.

The wallpaper on his backup phone became a cute photo of Lin Mian.

Then he took out his own phone and changed the wallpaper to a photo of Mr. Pei.

After finishing, he proudly showed it to Pei Yuhuai.

Pei Yuhuai watched him with a calm expression, but there was a hint of softness in his eyes.

That evening, Pei Yuhuai still had some work to do, so he went to his study.

With Xiao Su’s help, Lin Mian learned how to use a tablet to take online classes.

He studied for a while and then looked up at the time.

Oh, it was already ten at night.

Why hadn’t Mr. Pei finished work yet?

Thinking of how hard Mr. Pei was working, Lin Mian decided to heat up a glass of milk for him.

With that thought, Lin Mian quickly went downstairs, heated the milk, and then hurried back to the study.

Since the door to the study wasn’t fully closed, Lin Mian didn’t even need to knock—he just pushed it open gently.

Seeing the door suddenly open, Pei Yuhuai instinctively muted his video conference.

When he saw Lin Mian peeking in, he nodded, signaling that he could come in.

He had already muted the call, so they could talk without worrying about being overheard by the people in the video conference.

Lin Mian walked in with the warm milk and said with a smile, “Mr. Pei, have some warm milk.”

Pei Yuhuai smiled. “Thank you.”

“You’re welcome. Don’t work too hard.”

Lin Mian was about to leave but then seemed to think of something.

He took a few steps back toward Pei Yuhuai and, before Pei Yuhuai could remind him that he was in the middle of a video conference, leaned in and kissed him.

Pei Yuhuai was momentarily embarrassed but then remembered that his camera wasn’t focused on his face, so the people in the video conference probably hadn’t seen it clearly.

In fact, the people on the other end of the video call didn’t see Lin Mian kiss Pei Yuhuai.

They only saw someone suddenly enter the room, but they couldn’t see the person’s face clearly. They just knew that this person had a close relationship with President Pei.

After the video conference ended, a few subordinates started gossiping in a private group chat.

“That person seemed to be a man.”

“I heard from Secretary Zhang that President Pei has a boyfriend. It seems the rumors are true.”

“It’s quite surprising. I thought President Pei would never get married. But seeing how close he is with that person, I guess marriage isn’t far off.”

They didn’t know that Pei Yuhuai and Lin Mian were already engaged.

As employees of the company, they weren’t qualified to attend the Pei family’s engagement banquet.

Moreover, the Pei family didn’t plan to make a big deal out of it. Only the most distinguished guests had attended the engagement banquet, and they wouldn’t spread the news around.

So until now, most people didn’t know that Pei Yuhuai was getting married.

Pei Yuhuai didn’t pay much attention to the little incident during the meeting.

He was a master of composure, able to remain calm no matter what happened.

Besides, Lin Mian was his fiancé, so he didn’t feel the need to be embarrassed.

When it was time to rest that night, Pei Yuhuai noticed that Lin Mian had already fallen asleep. Lin Mian had probably kissed him in the study as a way of saying goodnight.

Looking at Lin Mian, who looked especially peaceful while sleeping, Pei Yuhuai gently touched his forehead and then lay down beside him.

To be honest, when Lin Mian first started staying over, Pei Yuhuai wasn’t used to sharing a bed with him.

But now, after not much time had passed, he found himself gradually getting used to Lin Mian and even starting to enjoy this new life a little.

Before closing his eyes to rest, Pei Yuhuai, following Lin Mian’s example, gave him a goodnight kiss and then carefully held Lin Mian as he drifted off to sleep.