Will Drawing the “Wife Card” Turn Me Into the Group’s Favorite? 9

Chapter 9: He’s Beautiful

Online, Zuo Tinghan was as stingy with words as he was in real life. No matter what Tang Yu’an said, he would reply with a “good” or “mm-hmm.”

But he took so long to type that Tang Yu’an couldn’t tell if he was genuinely responding or just brushing him off.

Sensing he wasn’t keen on chatting, Tang Yu’an briefly checked in with him and ended the conversation.

Looking at the cat emoji Tang Yu’an sent, Zuo Tinghan pondered its meaning for a long time, finally concluding it was probably used to emphasize the tone.

Quite cute. He deleted his lengthy response and sent a simple “good.”

He had always been inarticulate. More than one person had called him a “reserved person”. He didn’t know how to communicate with people, feeling it was better to say less and make fewer mistakes, so he only replied with the most concise words.

Seeing the brief message, Tang Yu’an was amused by his unchanging responses.

Tang Yu’an: “Connect me to a human representative.”

Zuo Tinghan, not understanding, asked: “What does that mean?”

Tang Yu’an: “Don’t you think your messages sound a bit robotic?”

Someone had said that to him before, that he was a tireless machine, only working, eating, and sleeping, seemingly devoid of human desires and emotions.

“You’re not normal,” the person had told him. “You should relax more, don’t be so tense all the time.”

At the time, Zuo Tinghan hadn’t seen anything wrong with his lifestyle, nor was he keen on changing anything, finding it meaningless.

But now, for the first time, he doubted his personality—

Was he truly so rigid and boring that he was annoying Tang Yu’an?

Feeling lost, he made the unprecedented decision to ask for help, naturally turning to Pang Jin, who had told him to reach out if he had any problems.

Pang Jin, who was relaxing on the sofa after a meeting, suddenly received a call, his hand trembling so much that he almost dropped the phone on his face.

He had assumed it was his superiors calling him back to work, but he saw it was the perpetually icy Zuo Tinghan.

He put on his glasses, making sure he wasn’t mistaken.

This person was actually contacting him? Had the sun risen in the west…?

He had even thought the only time he would receive a message from him would be a notification from the crematorium after his death.

No, even cremation probably wouldn’t melt that stiff mouth, but he was actually contacting someone.

He must have been stimulated somehow.

He answered the call, and Zuo Tinghan immediately threw a question at him: “How do you chat with someone on your phone?”

Having been in his position for so long, Pang Jin was accustomed to all sorts of roundabout flattery, regardless of the motive. Such a direct question was strangely refreshing.

Although Zuo Tinghan was stubborn, he was straightforward and didn’t have any ulterior motives, which was one of the reasons he accepted him as a team member.

It wasn’t difficult to guess who this question was for. His life was too simple, his acquaintances few, let alone someone he would actively engage in conversation with.

Pang Jin felt more and more that he had struck gold. When he recruited Tang Yu’an, he only valued his abilities. He hadn’t expected him to be so skilled in interpersonal relationships, not only having the discerning Wei Langxing catering to him without realizing it, but even thawing this ice block.

Although Zuo Tinghan didn’t say it, Pang Jin knew he agreed to confront his past and undergo risky treatment for Tang Yu’an’s sake.

He had read the psychologist’s notes. Zuo Tinghan had said he wanted to be normal, he didn’t want to burden anyone anymore.

If he hadn’t lost control due to flashbacks and run out, Tang Yu’an wouldn’t have followed him, nearly getting into danger and falling seriously ill.

Finally having someone he cared about, Zuo Tinghan seemed more human.

Pang Jin thought he should request a raise for Xiao Tang. They couldn’t let this treasure be snatched away by other departments.

Since an employee was asking for help, he naturally wouldn’t stand idly by.

Considering Zuo Tinghan’s pitiful understanding of social interactions, he used the simplest language to guide him: “Chatting is simple. Just find common topics and say what you want to say. Don’t be so formal. Being casual makes you seem more approachable.”

To change his aloofness, Pang Jin also advised him to be more proactive, sharing his daily life, preferably with pictures, to appear more sincere.

Zuo Tinghan listened thoughtfully.

Share his life, with pictures…

So Tang Yu’an sending him a photo was also sharing his life? Should he send one back?

His photography skills were terrible. Not wanting to disappoint Tang Yu’an, he grabbed a passing officer and asked him to take a picture.

The officer knowingly winked: “Sending a report to your girlfriend?”

Zuo Tinghan paused: “No, a teammate.”

“Reporting to a teammate?” The officer had never seen such a dynamic. He nudged him with his elbow: “This teammate… is he serious?”

Zuo Tinghan didn’t understand, assuming he was asking if Tang Yu’an was a serious person.

“He’s very gentle, always smiling at me. He stays with me and comforts me when I lose control.” The kind face appearing in his mind, he added: “He’s beautiful.”

Hearing this, the officer’s gossip senses tingled: “This is totally mutual! Don’t worry, leave it to me. I guarantee he’ll be smitten after seeing the photo!”

Meanwhile, Tang Yu’an stared at the ceiling, lost in thought.

Zuo Tinghan had disappeared after he jokingly called him a robot, making him wonder if he had inadvertently hit a nerve and upset him.

Should he apologize…?

Just then, Zuo Tinghan sent a picture. He was leaning against a wall in a black tank top, half his face in shadow, one hand in his pocket, looking at the camera.

Combined with their previous conversation, Tang Yu’an assumed he was using the photo to prove he wasn’t a robot.

He really was… silly, and a little cute.

He replied with a “handsome.” Zuo Tinghan remained impassive, but his advisor next to him excitedly spun around.

“See? I told you he’d like it!”

He wasn’t joking. He had won a photography competition in school. This lighting, the subtly revealed muscles, combined with Zuo Tinghan’s sharp features… no one could resist!

“But honestly, bro, you look really good, photogenic… By the way, do you have any pictures of him? Can I see?”

He was curious who had captured such a handsome guy.

Zuo Tinghan scrolled up and showed him Tang Yu’an’s selfie.

The officer was silent for a moment, then said somewhat sourly: “Bro, you’re eating well.”

Zuo Tinghan was confused: “I eat the standard employee meals.”

The officer: “…”

This beauty had unique tastes.

Going the extra mile, he took a few more posed photos of Zuo Tinghan, all receiving praise from Tang Yu’an.

Initially, Tang Yu’an thought Zuo Tinghan was just playing around, but with picture after picture, he began to suspect he was creating a photo album.

He didn’t know why he was sending them to him.

But the protagonist surely had his reasons. As a tool-man who needed to provide constant emotional support, he just needed to offer mindless praise.

He didn’t realize then that this encouragement would only embolden Zuo Tinghan.

In the following days, his health gradually improved. Although still a little weak, he could move around without problems.

Training was temporarily suspended, but he still chose to go to the training room to accompany Wei Langxing. After all, there was no harm in spending more time with the protagonist.

After training, they ate together. Wei Langxing was about to ask Tang Yu’an what kind of chocolate he liked when he noticed him constantly checking his phone.

The constant interruptions and message notifications irritated him.

“Is Pang Jin being bothersome again?”

That old man always liked to forward them nonsensical things.

Like “How to Build the Perfect Team” or “The Company is Our Home, Harmony Depends on Everyone.” He didn’t even want to open them.

“No, it’s Zuo Tinghan. He’s doing well with his treatment.”

Tang Yu’an felt there was no need to hide anything between protagonists, and he also wanted Wei Langxing to see Zuo Tinghan’s positive attitude, so he showed him his phone.

Wei Langxing scrolled through the messages. Good heavens, hundreds of messages and pictures a day, too many to read!

Did he really need to take pictures of every meal, even wiping the table?!

Did he think Tang Yu’an was his personal memo pad?

What was most infuriating was that Tang Yu’an responded to every message, even praising his photography.

[Detected Protagonist Number One, Wei Langxing, favorability towards Protagonist Number Two, Zuo Tinghan, -10. Current favorability: -70.]

Tang Yu’an: “…”

It seemed he had made another wrong decision.

Wei Langxing said that if he was being harassed, he could just block him.

Although Zuo Tinghan seemed to have gone from one extreme to the other, Tang Yu’an felt replying to messages wasn’t a big deal.

“I think it’s good for teammates to get to know each other better.”

Wei Langxing was practically blinded by the barrage of photos showcasing every aspect of Zuo Tinghan’s life. Did he need to know him that well?

“Then… then why don’t you get to know me better…”

As soon as the words left his mouth, he felt petty, awkwardly lowering his head to eat.

Tang Yu’an suddenly understood. He was jealous of the attention he was giving Zuo Tinghan.

Knowing the cause made it easy to find a cure. Tang Yu’an smoothly picked up the conversation: “I’d love to get to know you better. Tell me more about yourself… I heard you mention you have a sister?”

Earlier, Wei Langxing had suddenly decided to cook him a meal. The resulting culinary disaster… he had wanted to try it, but Wei Langxing refused to let him touch it, afraid he would get food poisoning.

When asked, he said his older sister loved cooking and had even run a small restaurant, so he rarely cooked.

Wei Langxing nodded, pulling out a family photo from his phone.

In the picture, Wei Langxing was standing in the middle, relaxed, his arm around a young woman with a friendly smile and straight hair, presumably his sister.

A middle-aged couple stood on either side, looking energetic despite their age, smiling at the camera.

What a happy family.

“Your sister is beautiful.”

“She’s alright, just liked to beat me up when we were kids… What about you? Do you have any siblings?”

Although he had no memories, Tang Yu’an did have a younger brother.

Since Wei Langxing had shown him a photo, he should reciprocate and show him his family.

His photo album was empty, so he opened his contacts, checking his chat history for pictures.

Since his family hadn’t contacted him, and their background setting hadn’t affected the plot yet, he hadn’t looked through his messages.

This was the first time he opened the chat with his “younger brother.”

The last message was from over a year ago—

“Tang Yu’an, why don’t you just die?”