Chapter 14: A Pain in the Ass, Putting on Airs
“Mr. Li, try this fish maw.” Hearing that fish maw had the effect of nourishing the kidneys and strengthening the essence, Lin Yuzhi flattered and offered it, “It’s good for men’s health, very nourishing.”
Li Ge glanced at his watch. The main course had been served, but the little assistant was still nowhere to be seen. He was getting impatient and couldn’t help but think he had too much time on his hands.
“Mr. Li.” Lin Yuzhi called softly, wanting to bring the prepared fish maw to the other side of the table and take the opportunity to seduce him, but Mr. Li suddenly flared up.
“Don’t be disgusting, it’s ruining my appetite.” Li Ge tapped the table and urged Lin Yuzhi, “Call that Chen guy again.”
“…” Lin Yuzhi, unaware of the situation, was putting on a great effort for tonight’s plan, even wearing leopard print thong underwear, but unfortunately, he had no chance to show it off.
“What are you waiting for?” Li Ge glanced at his watch again. He didn’t storm off, but made a mental note of this.
He wanted to see how much the little assistant surnamed Chen was putting on airs.
Since his number had already been blocked by Chen Shuo, Lin Yuzhi pretended to call again, this time turning on the speakerphone.
“Hello, the number you dialed is currently busy.”
Noticing Li Ge’s cold expression, Lin Yuzhi quickly hung up the phone and said ingratiatingly, “Mr. Li, you see, Assistant Chen is still busy, why don’t we eat first? I’ll call him again later.”
The line was busy half an hour ago, and it was still busy half an hour later. Li Ge’s patience ran out, along with the interest he had in Chen Shuo that afternoon, leaving only a grudge.
He stood up, kicked the chair away, and turned to leave.
“Hey, Mr. Li!” Lin Yuzhi watched in bewilderment as the door closed, muttering to himself, “What did Assistant Chen do?”
And this Mr. Li from Gewu Media, he had heard that he liked those who were flirtatious, why was he so difficult to seduce? Was he not flirtatious enough tonight?
But the next second, the door was pushed open again. Seeing Mr. Li returning, before Lin Yuzhi could feel joy, his hopes were dashed by a bucket of cold water.
“Give me your phone.” The more Li Ge thought about it, the angrier he became. No one had ever dared to put on such airs with him, wasting his precious time in the evening.
“…” Lin Yuzhi carefully handed over his phone.
Clicking on the latest call log, Li Ge dialed the number while taking out his own phone, noting down the digits on the dialing screen.
A cold female voice came from the receiver. He returned the phone to Lin Yuzhi and dialed the number on his own phone, preparing to save it, but unexpectedly, the call went through.
Seeing this, Lin Yuzhi honestly admitted his mistake, “I’m sorry, Mr. Li, Assistant Chen blocked me long ago, I just wanted to have dinner with you…”
Li Ge unexpectedly started ranting, “You’re fucking messing with me?”
“No,” Lin Yuzhi hurriedly explained, “I wouldn’t dare to mess with you! I called Assistant Chen with a different number, he refused to come and blocked my new number too.”
So, the little assistant wasn’t putting on airs.
Li Ge’s interest returned. Even a glance at Lin Yuzhi made him lose his appetite. He turned and left again, waiting for the little assistant to answer his call. However, the call remained unanswered. He dialed again, with the same result.
Fuck, wasn’t this still putting on airs? He probably knew he was at Jinling Xuan and was deliberately avoiding him.
Leaving Jinling Xuan, the muggy air hit him, making Li Ge even more irritable. He cursed himself for having too much time on his hands, wanting a change of taste for no reason, causing trouble for himself.
That expressionless robot, would it be any fun?
He changed his mind. He couldn’t let Chen Shuo off the hook. Precisely because it wouldn’t be fun, he had to teach him a lesson. Let him try putting on airs with him after he was tamed.
Just as he got into the car and turned on the air conditioning, his phone suddenly rang. Li Ge almost threw his phone, but of course, it was just a thought. He couldn’t avoid his grandmother forever.
He reluctantly answered, “Grandma, I’m working overtime.”
“Xiao Bao’er, when will you be free to come back?”
Hearing his grandmother’s call, Li Ge quickly made an excuse, “I might not be free this year, Grandma, you don’t know, I’m so busy every day, I haven’t even had dinner yet, and I have to go to Nancheng to inspect a project soon, I’m tired.”
Hearing that her precious grandson was working like a mule, his grandmother felt distressed. After a long and heartfelt admonition, she finally got to the point, “There’s a good girl I want to introduce to you. I told your mother today, we’ll wait until Mid-Autumn Festival, you can meet and see how it goes.”
Li Ge: “…”
Grandmother: “Your mother is going to Beicheng in two days, we can have the girl accompany her. This time, no spitting, okay? It’s embarrassing.”
Li Ge almost spat blood.
The next day, he instructed his assistant to book him a flight to Nancheng. He made up a non-existent business trip, fleeing like a refugee, not planning to return to Beicheng anytime soon.
Yu Rui walked into the CEO’s office openly, stood by the floor-to-ceiling window overlooking the street scene below, fantasizing that this was his own business empire, excitedly sharing the good news with Chen Shuo.
“There’s no project in Nancheng, and Mr. Li hates summer, it can’t be a vacation, what happened last night? Tell me quickly.”
“I didn’t go.” Chen Shuo said.
“You didn’t go?” Yu Rui suddenly realized, “No wonder, that makes sense. I was wondering why Mr. Li agreed to go to Jinling Xuan yesterday, so he hooked up with Lin Yuzhi. He must have flown there himself to avoid suspicion, afraid that CEO He would have some thoughts if he found out, you know.”
Chen Shuo wished what Yu Rui said was true, but the unknown number last night was Li Ge’s.
Li Ge had only called twice and then stopped, without sending any text messages.
Because of Yu Rui’s warning, Chen Shuo endured socializing for more than ten minutes, waiting for Yu Rui to finish complaining before dealing with his own work, sending a text message to his boss, asking if he needed to pick up and drop off Yuan Feng for work.
He Yan’s reply came in the evening, only two words: “No need.”
Just like that, Chen Shuo stayed home for another week.
This had never happened before. There was still no sign of Yuan Feng, he hadn’t contacted him once, nor did he have any material needs.
It wasn’t until He Yan returned from his business trip and worked at the company for a few days, remembering that he had a dedicated little lover, that Chen Shuo’s vacation ended. Only then did he realize that the 150,000 check he had given to Yuan Feng had expired.
No. 32 Zhenjiang Road, Xiongwei Metal Materials Co., Ltd., suburban area.
Chen Shuo looked at the modestly sized company across the street. The office building and factory weren’t far apart, both looking quite old. He didn’t know much about Yuan Feng, but he hoped He Yan would continue keeping him.
It was also He Yan’s first time visiting his little lover’s workplace. Seeing the shabby office building and factory, he wondered what this kid was persisting for.
Seeing the small manager with a cast coming out of the company, Chen Shuo, considering his boss’s long-awaited reunion with his lover, was about to ask for instructions when He Yan dialed Yuan Feng’s number.
“Hello?”
“Come here.”
Thinking it was a client, Yuan Feng had almost forgotten about the pervert He Yan. Hearing the familiar voice, he was stunned for a moment before realizing who it was and hurriedly said, “CEO He, I’m sorry, I haven’t finished work yet.”
“Really?” He Yan stared at the liar across the street, “What time do you get off work?”
The car was quiet. Chen Shuo clearly heard Yuan Feng making excuses on the phone, talking about reports and overtime, then he heard He Yan’s chuckle. The two of them were flirting like lovers.
He Yan: “Can you be here by ten o’clock?”
Yuan Feng: “It’s hard to say, that’s why I can’t give you a definite answer. Maybe nine o’clock, but it could be midnight.”
Chen Shuo couldn’t interrupt. Suddenly, the back of his seat was tapped twice, calling him over.
He understood and immediately got out of the car and crossed the street, ignoring Yuan Feng’s surprise, and politely said, “Mr. Yuan, please get in the car.”
“…”
Chen Shuo got back into the car, but Yuan Feng didn’t get in. He only leaned in, his head near He Yan’s ear, whispering something. Chen Shuo could hear it clearly and wanted to avoid it.
He Yan: “I don’t understand.”
Yuan Feng: “Just… give you that.”
He Yan: “Straighten your tongue and speak clearly.”
Yuan Feng: “…”
Not only Yuan Feng, but Chen Shuo was also speechless. The atmosphere was awkward for a moment. Fortunately, his boss gave the order. He immediately got out of the car again, hailed a passing taxi, and quickly left.
That night, Chen Shuo received a new task from his boss, to take Yuan Feng to have suits tailored, six sets in total, from summer to winter, which had never happened before.
As long as it was work, Chen Shuo tried to complete it as soon as possible. He contacted Yuan Feng the next afternoon, but Yuan Feng guarded against him like a thief, not letting him park in front of the company.
“Assistant Chen, don’t park in front of my company, park at Shengyuan Canteen ahead, it’s a Chinese fast food restaurant.”
“Okay, I’ll be there in about half an hour.”
Before leaving, Chen Shuo took out a new check from his bag and handed it to Yuan Feng, reminding him that the 150,000 check was void and asking him to cash it as soon as possible.
Seeing Yuan Feng hesitate to accept it, he couldn’t understand this little lover his boss was keeping, but it had nothing to do with him, he only did his job.
“This is CEO He’s instruction, please cash it as soon as possible.”
On the way, Yuan Feng was very quiet, which Chen Shuo appreciated, unlike the shopaholic He Yan had kept last year, who treated him like a servant even after he reminded him that he needed to concentrate while driving.
Just as he was thinking this, there was a voice in the car.
“Assistant Chen, where are we going?”
Chen Shuo briefly explained, but Yuan Feng vehemently refused, insisting that he had suits. He really couldn’t understand, so he used He Yan’s authority to pressure him, successfully resolving the issue.
After taking Yuan Feng’s measurements for the suits, noticing his absent-mindedness, Chen Shuo didn’t ask any questions. Unexpectedly, Yuan Feng started trying to get closer to him, asking this and that, shattering the improved impression he had just formed.
Yuan Feng: “Assistant Chen, has CEO He ever had suits tailored for his previous lovers?”
Chen Shuo: “No.”
Yuan Feng: “Really?”
Chen Shuo: “I’ve only brought you here.”
Yuan Feng: “Oh, I see. How many years have you been CEO He’s assistant?”
Chen Shuo: “Five years.”
Yuan Feng: “Five years already? I can’t tell, Assistant Chen, you look like a college student.”
“…” Chen Shuo’s lips twitched, unable to bear Yuan Feng’s attempts to get close, “Thank you, I’m twenty-eight.”
“Uh, I couldn’t tell.” Yuan Feng praised with a smile, “Assistant Chen, you’re truly young and promising, and very efficient.”
“Thank you, it’s what I should do.”
Chen Shuo walked faster and faster, remaining silent after getting into the car. Fortunately, Yuan Feng didn’t chatter anymore. He followed He Yan’s instructions and took Yuan Feng to Jinling Xuan, then went home after work.
He hadn’t even changed out of his leather shoes when his phone rang. It was Li Ge calling.
