Chapter 06

Oh.

Actually, Ye Ji’an felt a bit of it. Liang Xiao was especially popular among the female colleagues, and there were certainly girls who showed clear interest in him. From all angles, they seemed quite suitable, but he just couldn’t stir any waves; it was obvious that they weren’t his type.

Is that me?

Ye Ji’an almost asked that.

No, it was more than that; he knew he could never ask such a question. Even if he stood at the edge of a cliff, he would still need someone to give him a push. Ye Ji’an’s head was spinning with heat, yet he kept his mouth shut, a seasoned expert at avoiding inappropriate moments.

He only heard Liang Xiao say, “But I’m not planning to confess right now because I know it will definitely fail.”

This was said with such certainty and objectivity, just like in the past, when he stood out at the conference table, methodically analyzing the morning’s opening situation among a group of still-drowsy colleagues. Now, his attitude still made Ye Ji’an feel relaxed, yet inexplicably, there was a hint of disappointment.

So what is he expecting?

Had he thought about this before?

And does it even relate to him?

Ye Ji’an couldn’t answer any of these questions.

The shoegaze CD had already reached the latter half; if he remembered correctly, it was the eighth track, “To begin let’s get closer,” the lead singer was humming.

“Why is Senior not speaking?” Liang Xiao lifted his eyelids and asked, “Is it true that my sexual orientation will affect our relationship?”

“How could it?” Ye Ji’an immediately laughed, as if it were a reflex, “I was thinking about how to encourage you.”

“Senior is just like my older brother,” Liang Xiao also laughed, always good at steering the atmosphere towards comfort, “But he isn’t this gentle; he often scolds me.”

“You have brothers at home too?” Ye Ji’an was a bit surprised.

“Yeah, an older brother, nine years older than me,” Liang Xiao gently lowered his eyes, then suddenly looked up, “He’s no longer here. He committed suicide by jumping off a building twelve years ago in New York. We didn’t see each other often; I saw him in the news.”

He appeared very calm, and Ye Ji’an didn’t say anything, just opened another can of beer and filled both their glasses. Although he was also someone who pondered ways to die every day, he would certainly feel a pang of sympathy for others’ family matters. But in that second, at that moment, it felt so beautiful that he didn’t want a heavy sense of loss to press down on him, to weigh down a cloud and push it into the abyss.

So he silently raised his glass, and Liang Xiao also lifted his drink, wearing that gentle expression that showed no signs of error, “That was the hardest time for the family, yet he chose to escape. I look down on people who commit suicide; there are rarely any pleasant ways to die, and they all brought it upon themselves,” the two glasses clinked, producing a crisp sound, “Senior, we must cherish life.”

Ye Ji’an suddenly felt as if he had been seen through. When he was working late with dark circles under his eyes, drinking Red Bull until he was dazed, he wasn’t sure if he had ever rambled on about anything to this young man, like the feng shui of the cemetery the insurance company signed for him, or about how he hung on to life with a smile while dealing with his mortgage. But now he was more worried about another matter, “Liang Xiao,” he remembered that this person didn’t want to be called “Xiao Liang” anymore, “Are you feeling uncomfortable?”

“What?”

“Talking about these things.”

“A little, I guess.” Liang Xiao pinched the bridge of his nose.

“Then why are you still smiling?”

“Sorry,” Liang Xiao picked up a piece of scrambled egg, “It’s not easy to have a meal with Senior, and I’m talking about these things.”

“Stop smiling. You’re not at the front desk.”

Liang Xiao was taken aback, his smile indeed froze on his face, as if he didn’t know what else to do.

“If you want to cry, just cry; it’s fine to have a blank expression.” Ye Ji’an surprisingly raised his hand, leaning over the low coffee table to touch his cheek. The smooth and soft texture of his skin felt warm against his fingertips, and Ye Ji’an suddenly realized what he was doing.

Liang Xiao was completely out of sorts, even the nape of his neck turned red, “Senior, are you drunk?”

Ye Ji’an also came back to his senses, retracting his hand; he couldn’t answer that question. He must have really been drunk. Drunk enough to be handsy, and with a diligent young newcomer who had someone he cared about… Ye Ji’an cursed himself inwardly, was he a perverted boss? What kind of problem was this?

But Liang Xiao laughed again, “I really don’t want to cry; if Senior wants to see it, I can only act it out.”

Acting like a little rabbit with eye drops? Ye Ji’an thought, better not, “Maybe it’s because I’m a bit fragile; I do cry secretly at home…” He swallowed hard, reminding himself not to blurt out more, and explained, “What I actually meant to say is, we’re so familiar now, and you’re so much younger than me, you really don’t need to be so formal in front of me. Just handle those company etiquettes as you see fit.”

“Speaking of this, some people in the company have already said that I’m too close to Senior.”

“Is that so?”

“They say I often have meals with you.”

“Isn’t that true? Do you care?”

Liang Xiao looked a bit surprised but still interested, “I thought you would care about these things?”

Ye Ji’an knew what he was referring to, “The tattoo is because I’m afraid of being fired; what if the boss can’t stand these flashy things? That Chairman, I’ve only seen him at the meetings; I’ve heard he’s a very uptight old man who cares a lot about employee image, even requiring the Human Resources Department to strictly screen photos during interviews,” after thinking for a moment, Ye Ji’an felt it wasn’t good to discuss the boss with a junior, so he quickly changed the subject, “But the company wouldn’t fire me just for making friends, right? Which rule says you can’t make friends?”

Liang Xiao had been holding back, and at that moment, he finally burst out laughing, then turned to eat his food, even daring to eat the ginger slices in the beef brisket. Ye Ji’an watched in admiration, thinking that young people really have good appetites. Indeed, they had to eat quickly; after finishing, they still had to clean up, which was the main focus of the night. Who knew that just after eight o’clock, as Ye Ji’an was unpacking a large box full of detective novels, he received a phone call.

He mournfully went to the kitchen.

Liang Xiao was still washing the dishes; twenty minutes had passed, and he was washing them as if he were handling artifacts, having only washed two, and the few pots hadn’t even been touched. From his expression, he knew he should feel embarrassed.

“Just leave it for now,” Ye Ji’an covered his face, “There’s work to do; we have a meeting at ten-thirty.”

Liang Xiao seemed relieved, “I’ll call a car!”

“It’s especially hard to get one here. Where’s your Bugatti?”

“Ah?”

“Stop stalling and hurry up.”

“That’s a friend’s…”

“Keep making excuses; I saw you at Shin Kong Place, it was bright red! I thought you were chasing a girl,” Ye Ji’an laughed, then added seriously, “And I just thought it didn’t make sense; you didn’t buy this place with a mortgage, did you?”

Liang Xiao shifted his gaze away from the ride-hailing app, “I—”

“Is your family wealthy?”

Liang Xiao’s eyes widened, looking genuinely terrified, “But I’m really tired now; I can’t drive, and I’ve had half a beer.” He looked quite aggrieved.

Ye Ji’an was at a loss; he thought they were already exploiting him, could they really force him to be the driver? Besides, drunk driving was indeed not good, and he had had two drinks himself, so he had no right to touch the steering wheel. In a hurry, he rushed back to his room to change into a suit, so he wouldn’t seem like he had stayed out all night, and grabbed his laptop and documents, jogging downstairs. He thought it would be as hard to book a ride as usual, but to his surprise, the car Liang Xiao had booked was already waiting downstairs, and Liang Xiao himself was casually standing by with his hands in the pockets of his trench coat, making the little red modern car look like his little red supercar. When he saw Ye Ji’an approaching, he kindly opened the car door and let him in.

“Thank you for your hard work.” Once the door closed, Ye Ji’an said to the guy next to him who was busy fastening his seatbelt.

“That uptight old man is really annoying,” Liang Xiao blinked, “Although he usually doesn’t bother us, debts have their sources.”

“Hey, don’t mention it when we get to the company.” Ye Ji’an nudged his shoulder.

This seemed to remind Liang Xiao of something, “Senior, you should buckle up too.” He insisted on holding the seatbelt.

Logically, it wasn’t necessary in the back seat, but Ye Ji’an still complied. Even if there was no traffic at night, the drive would still take over an hour, so he opened his laptop to ponder the topics they might discuss and what the leaders might ask him. The driver spoke very little, and the air conditioning was set to twenty-six degrees, making it stuffy and causing his head to feel foggy. Ye Ji’an stared at the screen, battling his eyelids with sheer willpower, when he suddenly felt a weight on his shoulder. Glancing down, he saw Liang Xiao’s high nose bridge illuminated by the streetlights, and he noticed the dark hair brushing against his chin.

His breathing was calm and steady.

Alright, he was really tired.

Ye Ji’an took off his cashmere scarf and draped it over him.

For some reason, tonight he was always carrying some feelings he couldn’t quite grasp, doing things he hadn’t expected to do. What was there to ponder? A miserable life that could be interrupted by an emergency meeting at any moment had no right to daydream.

When they arrived at the company, there were still more than ten minutes before the meeting, but Liang Xiao surprisingly still had a bit of morning grumpiness, needing to splash cold water on his face several times before he regained his composure. Fortunately, the meeting wasn’t too long, ending before midnight. On the big screen, the General Manager, who was abroad, spoke at length across the time difference, mainly assigning two tasks.

One was an old project that was about to be settled, which had little to do with Ye Ji’an anymore. The other was that his department had a business trip to Moscow.

It was the case he had been tangled up with since the beginning of the year, evaluating back and forth, still undecided on whether to invest; this trip should bring a resolution. The secretary read the list in order, and the company was taking it very seriously, sending six employees, three of whom had already been confirmed.

As the supervisor in charge of business, Ye Ji’an was naturally on the list, and Xiao Li from the General Affairs Department would also be following along as usual. As for the last one, Ye Ji’an squinted, looking at Liang Xiao diagonally across the conference table, thinking, is this a coincidence or fate? It turned out to be this kid, indeed this kid, it really was this kid.