Chapter 71
Intense emotions surged between them like waves.
For a moment, neither of them moved, holding this awkward position, not with passion, but with concern for each other.
Xia Wansheng could sense Yu Congyan’s distress, as if he was struggling with some difficult problem.
“Did the therapist tell you something?” he asked after some thought.
He remembered Yu Congyan’s sudden shift to excessive concern and constant reassurance after their private conversation. He couldn’t shake the feeling that something was wrong.
“She told me about your past.” Yu Congyan hesitated, then chose a safe answer.
He had regained his composure, the earlier emotional outburst seemingly just a fleeting moment.
He knew his current state was unstable, Xia Wansheng’s every action pulling at his emotions, this was dangerous.
If he wasn’t emotionally stable, he couldn’t be a positive influence on Xia Wansheng, it might even worsen his already fragile state.
Yu Congyan regretted his actions. Xia Wansheng had been trying to live a normal life these past two days, if it weren’t for his probing, this wouldn’t have happened.
Although the timing wasn’t ideal, he still had to say what needed to be said,
“There’s no need to force yourself, just do what you want.” His voice was still slightly hoarse.
His words were whispered close to Xia Wansheng’s ear, his warm breath brushing against his neck.
Xia Wansheng instinctively flinched.
He felt a strange sensation spreading through his body. He had planned to have a serious conversation with Yu Congyan today, but now, he was too distracted by his own unusual reaction.
He just hoped Yu Congyan wouldn’t notice.
“I understand, get up.” He gently pushed Yu Congyan away, his voice slightly hurried, afraid he would hear the tremor in it.
Yu Congyan sat up, noticing the faint blush on Xia Wansheng’s cheeks, “Are you feeling unwell? Are you still scared from earlier?”
He reached out to touch his forehead, checking for a fever.
Xia Wansheng grabbed his wrist mid-air.
“I’m fine, just not used to this… proximity…” He lowered his gaze, not finishing his sentence.
But Yu Congyan understood.
“You’ll get used to it.”
He gently pulled him closer, into his arms.
Yu Congyan wished this was part of the therapy.
Xia Wansheng froze in his embrace, after all, Yu Congyan was just trying to comfort him, admitting his own slightly inappropriate desires now would ruin their pure “bond.”
Thankfully, Yu Congyan’s phone rang at that moment, an urgent meeting notification. Xia Wansheng took this opportunity to escape to the bathroom, ending this awkward situation.
Listening to the proposal, which was similar to the previous one he had commented on, Yu Congyan wondered if his meeting schedule was a bit unreasonable.
“I already pointed out the flaws in this proposal last time, there’s no need to waste everyone’s time.” He interrupted mercilessly.
He politely gave them five minutes to present, then, realizing the proposal lacked any merit and the previously mentioned errors hadn’t been corrected,
“CEO Yu, there seems to be a slight problem with our work structure, we’ll adjust it immediately!” The department manager quickly intervened, trying to smooth things over.
He understood his boss’s style. If the presenter was criticized too harshly, he might be demoralized.
They couldn’t let their newly trained workhorse be poached by their competitors!
“Explain the problem.” Yu Congyan ignored his attempt at diplomacy, making the presenter face the music.
“CEO Yu…I believe your previous feedback was incomplete, the new data I reviewed today supports my theory.” The presenter, unexpectedly, stood by his proposal.
Being new to the industry, he didn’t understand the department manager’s frantic coughs, honestly expressing his thoughts.
He even expressed concern for his manager’s health, “Perhaps you should take a sick leave? I can handle this.”
The department manager: “No need, no need.”
…Thanks.
But he probably couldn’t save him.
Newcomers were usually fearless, but directly questioning the boss’s decision was too much! Even if he was right, he shouldn’t express it so bluntly, wasn’t this disrespecting the boss?!
But the presenter seemed to have done his research, his perspective novel. Although the data was overly optimistic, it wasn’t entirely without merit.
Yu Congyan considered it carefully, feeling they shouldn’t miss this opportunity, “Schedule an offline meeting tomorrow morning to discuss the technical improvements.”
“Understood!” everyone replied.
They finally breathed a sigh of relief after the online meeting ended. A colleague patted the presenter on the shoulder, “You actually came up with something new.”
He just wondered if the upcoming discussion would lead to more overtime work.
The newcomer, flattered, then asked curiously, “Team leader, I feel like CEO Yu has been quite approachable in recent meetings, why are you all so afraid of him?”
Was he just very good at hiding his true nature, only discernible by senior staff?
“No, what you see is the real him,” the colleague shook his head, telling him to prepare the materials, “But we probably won’t see daylight this week.”
Thankfully, the overtime pay was generous, so they worked tirelessly, albeit tearfully.
“I see,” the newcomer was still a bit dazed, “I’ve noticed CEO Yu has been working remotely lately, mostly delegating tasks through Assistant Zhong, I was wondering if this was his usual style.”
“It’s a special situation,” the colleague, seeing no one was around, lowered his voice, “I heard he’s having some relationship troubles, heartbroken after being rejected, that’s why he’s been avoiding going out.”
They hadn’t believed the rumors initially, but after witnessing the CEO’s change in behavior, they were starting to believe it.
They all looked at their usually aloof boss with sympathy, even asking for updates from well-informed colleagues, eager to hear the full story.
“That’s basically the situation, Qin Sui asked me to find out what’s going on between you two.” Xiang Haichao, annoyed by being woken up early in the morning, wanted a quick answer.
“Nothing happened.” Yu Congyan said, rubbing his temples.
He couldn’t exactly tell him about Xia Wansheng’s current situation. Their relationship had progressed, but that fundamental barrier hadn’t been overcome.
“If nothing happened, why did you move out?” Xiang Haichao ignored his evasive answer, then added playfully,
“I can offer you a 12% discount on legal aid if you need it.”
There must be something going on between them, perhaps they were already together secretly.
“You know Xia Wansheng’s condition, I’m worried about him, that’s why I moved in with him,” Yu Congyan sighed, “Sometimes I’m truly envious of you.”
His biggest problem was failing his IELTS test and being separated from his fiancé.
The sky was still dark when Yu Congyan left. He placed the prepared breakfast on the table, adjusting the Totoro plushie so it wasn’t lying on its back.
Before leaving, he glanced at Xia Wansheng’s closed bedroom door.
There would likely be thunderstorms today, he wanted to send a message to remind him, but he didn’t want to wake him, so he decided to wait until after his meeting.
Xia Wansheng woke up to dark, heavy clouds outside, a storm imminent.
He glanced at his phone, no new messages from his pinned contact.
He didn’t know what he was expecting, perhaps just some news, or perhaps just wanting to make sure the other person was okay, not affected by his words.
He put down his phone and lay back down, he couldn’t keep thinking about this, his head was pounding, he must have forgotten to close the window last night.
Was he really sick?
After tossing and turning for a while, the headache didn’t subside, so he finally got up, put a thermometer in his mouth, and continued writing in his diary.
Today’s entry was about his future plans.
As he wrote, his thoughts wandered, his finger unconsciously tracing the edge of the paper.
The sensation of a paper cut was familiar. His eyes widened, a sharp pain shooting through his head, making him cover his eyes. Thankfully, it subsided after a few seconds.
Xia Wansheng, still holding the thermometer in his mouth, felt a sudden wave of confusion.
Had he always been this sensitive to pain?
