Brother, Don’t Delete Me! 50

Chapter 50: The Break Room

The next day, they happened to encounter maintenance on the private elevator, so they took the employee elevator.

After leaving the parking garage and entering the elevator, when they reached the first floor, the doors opened, and all the employees standing there, either still half-asleep or looking drowsy, were instantly jolted awake.

The boy standing at the front, wearing an ID card and holding a folder, stared blankly at the two people inside the elevator, almost retracting the foot he had just stepped in.

What to do when you’re almost late for work but run into the boss in the elevator? Urgent.

Luo Jing, seeing the boy’s horrified expression and hesitant foot, couldn’t help but purse his lips.

“What’s wrong?” Huai Dan noticed his expression and asked, looking down.

“Nothing,” Luo Jing replied, then suppressed his smile, looked at the boy, and reminded him kindly, “Aren’t you coming in?”

“Oh, oh.” The boy froze, then stepped inside, saying nervously, “Good morning, Mr. Huai.”

Huai Dan nodded slightly in response.

After speaking, the boy quickly moved to stand next to Luo Jing.

The other employees also recovered and filed into the elevator.

It was almost time for work to start. Although the elevator was full, the space around Huai Dan seemed to have a vacuum seal, and no one dared to approach him. Everyone instinctively squeezed together like sardines in a can.

Although their CEO was young, even younger than most of the employees, they always felt a sense of pressure in his presence.

The elevator doors slowly closed. In the silence, Luo Feng sent a message.

Sister: [How is it?]

Luo Jing replied, a bit helpless: [I just arrived, haven’t even started working yet.]

The signal in the elevator wasn’t very good, and Luo Jing didn’t receive any new messages, so he put away his phone.

Then he felt countless gazes on him.

Since they usually used the private elevator, and most communication with other departments was handled by assistants, the employees rarely saw Huai Dan, let alone seeing him with someone they had never met before.

Instantly, the atmosphere in the “sardine can” shifted.

A bit of novelty in their boring work lives piqued everyone’s curiosity.

Luo Jing didn’t think much of it. He often received similar looks at his family’s company and had long been accustomed to it, so he didn’t react.

But out of curiosity, he glanced at Huai Dan.

Mm, his face was expressionless, perfectly fitting the image of the serious and unsmiling boss in the employees’ minds.

This was probably Huai Dan’s usual demeanor at work, but it was a bit unusual for Luo Jing, so he couldn’t help but take a few more glances.

The elevator ascended quickly, and soon they reached Huai Dan’s floor. The remaining employees instinctively made way for him.

This was Luo Jing’s first time in Huai Dan’s office.

But to his surprise, it wasn’t much different from what he had imagined. It did have a huge floor-to-ceiling window, the furnishings weren’t overly complicated, and the overall design was similar to Huai Dan’s home.

Before he could think further, there was a knock on the office door. Huai Dan pressed a button on his desk, and the door opened automatically.

A man who looked very busy walked in, holding two stacks of documents, and placed them in front of Huai Dan: “Mr. Huai, these are today’s proposals and financial reports, and the materials for this afternoon’s meeting.”

“Mm,” Huai Dan replied. “Thank you for your hard work.”

After he left, Luo Jing asked Huai Dan, “Who is that?”

“His last name is Yan, he’s my assistant,” Huai Dan replied.

“Oh.”

Then, for the rest of the time, Luo Jing took the initiative to learn about his work from Assistant Yan.

Huai Dan glanced at the desk next to his, which had been prepared for Luo Jing, and rubbed his temples with a helpless sigh.

Seeing that Luo Jing was brought here by the boss, Assistant Yan didn’t dare to neglect him and spent the next hour or so sharing his daily work routine and showing him around the company.

Assistant Yan had seen the message in the employee group chat before work, saying that the CEO had brought a new intern.

He had seen connections before, but this was the first time he had seen such a powerful connection, so he was a bit nervous when facing Luo Jing at first.

But after chatting for a bit, he realized Luo Jing wasn’t what he had imagined. He was very polite and approachable, without the usual arrogance of someone with connections.

He had been prepared to grovel and act like a servant for the young master.

The break room was their last stop. After almost finishing the handover, Assistant Yan thought for a moment, looked around, then leaned in boldly and asked Luo Jing curiously, “What’s your relationship with Mr. Huai? Can I ask?”

Many employees were in the break room, and at this moment, they all fell silent.

Everyone’s curiosity was burning.

“I…” Luo Jing was about to speak when his phone vibrated. They both instinctively looked over and saw a message from Huai Dan.

Brother: [Where are you?]

Luo Jing held up his phone and replied honestly: [Break room, I’m asking Brother Yan about my daily tasks.]

Brother: [You can ask me.]

After a few seconds, he added: [He’s busy.]

Luo Jing’s fingers paused. He thought for a moment, then looked at Assistant Yan: “Are you usually busy?”

“Uh, not really,” Assistant Yan replied honestly. “I usually do fieldwork. I haven’t been very busy recently. Mr. Huai doesn’t give me many tasks, I can usually finish them in half a day. The rest of the time, I just run errands occasionally.”

“Oh,” Luo Jing replied.

Then he typed and sent a message: [But he said he’s not busy.]

Seeing no reply from Huai Dan, Luo Jing put away his phone.

Then he saw Assistant Yan still looking at him expectantly.

Luo Jing paused, remembering their previous topic, and asked in return, “What do you think our relationship is?”

Assistant Yan thought for a moment, then said cautiously, “You couldn’t be Mr. Huai’s boyfriend, could you?”

Luo Jing: “…”

Someone in the crowd gasped softly.

Assistant Yan paused, seeing his slightly awkward expression, and instantly panicked: “I was just kidding… It can’t be true, right?”

“Of course not,” Luo Jing felt overwhelmed and embarrassed. “How could that be…”

So Assistant Yan breathed a sigh of relief, and the air started flowing again.

The boss was very mysterious. Having finally encountered someone close to Mr. Huai, they needed some excitement in their boring workday. Plus, Luo Jing seemed approachable, so Assistant Yan couldn’t resist asking, “So does Mr. Huai have a partner?”

Luo Jing blinked and replied, “No.”

After a pause, Luo Jing also became a bit curious and asked uncertainly, “He doesn’t, right?”

Assistant Yan thought for a moment and replied cautiously, “I’ve never seen him with anyone at the company.”

“Oh, then he probably doesn’t,” Luo Jing said.

“Mr. Huai seems like the type who only likes work,” a girl holding a water cup couldn’t help but join the conversation, speaking boldly. “I’ve never seen him with anyone all these years.”

“The boss seems to lack emotions, already looking like he’s indifferent to worldly affairs at such a young age,” Assistant Yan also commented.

“Then do you think he might…”

“If you want to know anything, you can ask me directly,” Huai Dan’s voice suddenly sounded behind them, interrupting Luo Jing mid-sentence.

Luo Jing: “…”

The employees in the break room instantly became quiet as mice, then filed out of the room.

In no time, only Luo Jing and Huai Dan were left.

Luo Jing closed his eyes and said resignedly, “Brother.”

“Mm,” Huai Dan replied, walking to the coffee machine. “Want some coffee?”

“…Yes,” Luo Jing said guiltily.

So Huai Dan poured coffee grounds into the coffee machine and pressed the button.

It was very quiet, only the sounds of the packaging and the coffee machine.

The atmosphere was a bit awkward. Luo Jing wasn’t sure if Huai Dan was angry about hearing the employees gossiping behind his back… and he was one of them.

So he carefully observed Huai Dan’s expression.

How could someone mess up on their first day of work?

Huai Dan glanced at him, then looked away: “Do you think they’re right?”

“…Not really,” Luo Jing said, then paused, remembering something, and lowered his voice, “After all, you were with my sister before.”

Huai Dan’s hand, holding a cup, paused. He put the cup down and turned to look at Luo Jing.

“I think I’ve always forgotten to explain this to you,” he said.

“I never dated Luo Feng.”

Luo Jing was instantly stunned.

…He understood every word individually, but put together, he suddenly couldn’t comprehend it.

Huai Dan, seeing his dumbfounded expression, couldn’t help but ruffle his hair, a faint smile in his voice: “Surprised?”

Countless thoughts flashed through Luo Jing’s mind, finally converging into one sentence: “…Really?”

“Really,” Huai Dan replied.

While waiting for Luo Jing to recover, Huai Dan picked up the cup again and poured a cup of coffee from the coffee machine.

The aroma of coffee gradually wafted from the cup, bringing Luo Jing back to his senses.

After processing it for a moment, he gradually became angry and a bit incredulous: “So… Luo Feng lied to me?”

He didn’t even call her “sister,” directly using her full name.

Huai Dan chuckled: “You can ask her yourself… I suppose I was also in the dark at the time?”

Luo Jing: “…”

Everything he had been confused about as a child now had an explanation.

Why those two were so distant, their conversations like negotiations, why they were never together, and why Huai Dan had spent that entire winter vacation with him.

A mixture of anger and joy, Luo Jing felt his emotions were complicated. He needed to calm down.

After a moment of silence, he took out his phone, ready to confront Luo Feng.

“But they’re not right,” Huai Dan suddenly said as Luo Jing was about to call Luo Feng.

Luo Jing’s mind was still reeling from the previous news, so he looked at Huai Dan and instinctively asked, “What’s not right?”

“They said I only like work,” Huai Dan paused and handed Luo Jing the coffee.

“?”

Luo Jing instinctively took it.

“Careful, it’s hot,” Huai Dan said, placing a saucer underneath.

Their fingers inevitably brushed against each other as they exchanged the cup, and Luo Jing almost dropped it.

Luo Jing looked at Huai Dan, a hint of confusion in his eyes.

The freshly brewed coffee was steaming, and Huai Dan looked at Luo Jing through the rising steam, his voice calm.

“How can a person not have emotions?”