Chapter 99:
Although the boss said to take a break for the next few days, as a good assistant and right-hand man to Qin Man, Liu Chen still arrived at his boss’s house at nine o’clock the next morning.
He had many work details to report to his boss.
He made a call, and it was picked up after two rings. A lazy, tired voice came through, “What is it?”
The tone was far from friendly. Liu Chen succinctly conveyed his message in one sentence, “President Qin, Xiao Wang has already given me the minutes from last night’s meeting, and also…”
“Got it,” Qin Man interrupted him, “Where are you now?”
“I’m already downstairs at your place,” Liu Chen replied cautiously, “Are you still asleep? How about I come back in the afternoon?”
There was a moment of silence on the other end before he heard, “No need. Wait for me at the door.”
“Okay.”
Liu Chen hung up the phone, feeling a bit puzzled. Due to work, his boss had an alarmingly regular schedule. Despite being busy starting a new company recently, even when he worked under Chairman Qin’s company before, his boss rarely got up late or missed appointments.
Could it be that he still hadn’t recovered from the hangover the night before?
Standing in front of the main door, Liu Chen hesitated about whether to buy some medicine for his boss, when he heard the sound of the door opening.
He looked up to greet him but found the iron gate in front of him completely still and tightly shut.
Liu Chen was stunned for a moment before realizing the sound had come from behind him.
He saw his boss, dressed in wrinkled pajamas, coming out of Mr. Ji’s house. Normally, Qin Man was always neat and tidy, but now his collar was askew, his hair was messy, and his face was filled with exhaustion.
As Qin Man got closer, Liu Chen even noticed several unknown red marks on the skin above his collar.
…
No, perhaps he did know where they came from.
During Qin Man’s break, he had asked Liu Chen to handle many tasks and gather a lot of information, mostly about Mr. Ji. Liu Chen wasn’t foolish; he could see that their relationship was deep, but he hadn’t expected it to be this profound.
Qin Man walked up to Liu Chen, who was still in a daze, and asked, “Where are the documents?”
Liu Chen quickly snapped out of it and handed over the items in his hands, “The meeting minutes and the report you asked me to prepare are all in here.”
“Thanks for your hard work.” Qin Man accepted them and flipped through a couple of pages.
Seeing Qin Man standing in the street in pajamas seemed inappropriate, so Liu Chen suggested, “President Qin, why don’t we discuss inside?”
“Sure.”
Liu Chen breathed a sigh of relief and turned, intending to step aside to let Qin Man enter the door.
To his surprise, Qin Man turned naturally and headed towards the neighbor’s house.
Liu Chen: “?”
After walking a few steps, Qin Man noticed Liu Chen hadn’t followed and turned back, “Why are you still standing there?”
“…Coming.”
Once inside, Liu Chen didn’t dare look around too much and quickly sat on the sofa to discuss work with Qin Man.
To avoid disturbing anyone resting, they kept their voices particularly low.
The bedroom door opened, and a man’s hoarse, irritated voice came through, “Where did you throw my underwear?”
Liu Chen: “…”
Ji Ran was annoyed; not only had he been woken up by a phone call early in the morning, but after finally getting up, he had spent half the morning searching for his clothes. His expression was quite fierce.
But as soon as he looked up and saw the guest sitting on the sofa, his words abruptly stopped.
Fortunately, Ji Ran didn’t have a habit of walking around the house naked; he had at least wrapped a towel around himself.
Seeing the person covered in marks, Liu Chen was so shocked he lost his voice, immediately looking away. After a long moment, he managed to squeeze out, “S-Sorry for disturbing you.”
Ji Ran: “…”
Ji Ran: “Why didn’t you tell me you had a guest?”
“I thought you were going to keep sleeping,” Qin Man replied, “They should be by the desk?”
“Got it.” Ji Ran glanced at the person on the sofa, “Would you like some water?”
It took Liu Chen a while to realize Ji Ran was talking to him, “No, no, thank you.”
“I’ll make you some coffee.” Ji Ran turned back to his room, “Wait.”
Liu Chen: “…Thank you.”
After washing up and changing into casual clothes, Ji Ran came out of the room, yawning constantly. He quickly made two cups of coffee.
“Here’s yours.” He handed one cup to Liu Chen and unceremoniously placed the other in front of Qin Man with enough force that some spilled into the saucer.
Qin Man didn’t mind at all and smiled, “Thanks, junior.”
He took a sip, finding it extremely bitter with no sugar or milk.
His smile didn’t falter, “Delicious.”
Ji Ran sat next to him, crossing his legs and playing with his phone, sneering, “If it’s good, then finish it.”
Liu Chen nervously finished his work report. Before leaving, he showed a strong survival instinct by finishing the entire cup of coffee. Qin Man observed his expression and confirmed that only his cup of coffee tasted bad.
After sending Liu Chen off, Ji Ran sat on the sofa and pointed with his chin at the coffee on the table, “Finish it.”
“Trying to kill me with bitterness?”
“Who the hell told you to bring someone into my house?!” Ji Ran still felt embarrassed about the earlier scene.
If he hadn’t wanted to save Qin Man some face in front of his employee, he would’ve already cursed him out.
“I was afraid that if I left, you wouldn’t let me back in,” Qin Man said, “Forget the coffee, how about I take you out for breakfast?”
“No,” Ji Ran refused, “You should hurry back to your place.”
Qin Man chuckled in exasperation, “Using me and then kicking me out? Heartless.”
“Yes,” Ji Ran propped his chin up and turned on the TV, “Don’t you like heartless men?”
Qin Man had no comeback to that, having said it himself before, so he shamelessly stayed.
By noon, the two were dozing off on the sofa.
Ji Ran’s phone buzzed. It was Chen Qi, saying he had made up his mind and was ready to sign the contract anytime.
Ji Ran started to wake up and was about to reply when the person next to him put an arm around his neck.
“Baby, let me invest in your club.”
Ji Ran replied absentmindedly, “No, I don’t spend my boyfriend’s money.”
Qin Man felt a warm satisfaction, “If you don’t spend your boyfriend’s money, whose money do you want to spend?”
Realizing his slip of the tongue, Ji Ran said, “…No one’s. I have my own money.”
“No, it’s an investment, not a gift.” Qin Man had already made up his mind overnight, “Or a stake in the business. You get 60%, I get 40%, you’re still the boss. If it makes money, I get a share; if it loses money, I’ll consider it a failed investment.”
Ji Ran looked up, amused, “What’s the difference?”
“Of course there’s a difference. This is a legitimate business investment,” Qin Man raised an eyebrow, “I’m in it for the money.”
Ji Ran straightforwardly said, “This club won’t make money in two years.”
“Not even giving it a chance?” Qin Man laughed, “I believe in its future, I like the owner, and I want to invest a bit of money in it. Is that so wrong?”
“I just want us to open a family business together. Make it happen for me.”
Ji Ran’s typing paused, and after a while, he blushed and cursed, “…What kind of business?? Who the hell is a family with you?”
“You, you are.” Qin Man kissed his ear, “You’re the husband, I’m the wife, I’ll be your wife.”
Ji Ran: “…”
“Husband.” Qin Man called smoothly.
Ji Ran: “…I’m not marrying you.”
“Why not?” Qin Man asked. “I’m so gentle and lovely. If you don’t marry me, who will?”
Ji Ran suppressed a laugh and said in a scoundrel’s tone, “We’re just fooling around. Don’t take it seriously.”
“No way.” Qin Man grabbed his hand and placed it on his lower abdomen. “There’s already your child here. You have to take responsibility.”
Ji Ran squeezed slightly, making Qin Man ticklish, and Qin Man immediately retaliated. They ended up laughing and wrestling together.
“Seriously, junior, let me invest,” Qin Man said after they calmed down. “Running a racing club costs more than you think. I don’t want you to have to cater to sponsors.”
Ji Ran lay on the sofa with his legs draped over Qin Man’s lap, nonchalantly saying, “What if we break up? How do we settle that? It’s inconvenient.”
“Break up, my ass.” Qin Man swore and bent down to bite his toe. “If you mention those two words again, I’ll tie you to the bed and screw you senseless.”
Ji Ran was startled, his heart rate quickening. After a moment, he nudged Qin Man’s chin with his foot: “…Are you trying to scare your dad?”
Qin Man kept a straight face. “As long as you don’t talk about breaking up, you are my dad. You are my ancestor.”
Ji Ran laughed, feeling something indescribable in his chest, a sense of fullness and comfort: “…How did I not notice you were this audacious back in school?”
“I didn’t know you liked men,” Qin Man said throatily. “If I’d known earlier…”
Ji Ran was intrigued. “What then?”
Qin Man thought for a long time. It wasn’t that he couldn’t think of anything; it was that he thought of too many things and didn’t know where to start.
Ji Ran wiggled his toes, urging him, “Speak.”
With many thoughts on the tip of his tongue, Qin Man feared scaring him off, so he summarized them in one sentence: “…Then I might not have waited for you to come of age.”
Ji Ran: “…”
They stared at each other for a while. Ji Ran then raised his hand, mimicking a phone call: “Hello, 110? There’s a pervert here.”
Qin Man laughed. “You haven’t even accounted for spying on me while I was showering, and you’re already playing the victim?”
“Who spied?” Ji Ran regretted it immediately; he shouldn’t have told him that yesterday. “It was a public bathhouse. I looked openly!”
“What about you?” Qin Man asked. “You liked me since high school. Why didn’t you confess? Were you shy? Afraid I’d reject you?”
“Have some decency,” Ji Ran scoffed. “Who liked you in high school?”
Qin Man asked, “If you didn’t like me, then why were you aroused?”
Ji Ran replied, “That only means I was interested in men. If it were someone else in the shower, maybe…”
“There was no one else,” Qin Man cut him off. “You liked me in high school.”
Ji Ran opened his mouth, about to argue.
“I liked you too,” Qin Man placed his hand on Ji Ran’s foot, speaking naturally. “I’ve liked you since high school, and I will continue to like you in the future, for a lifetime.”
Ji Ran: “…”
Ji Ran’s toes twitched, “…. Say whatever you want.”
At dinner time, Cheng Peng sent a message, inviting him to play night basketball.
Dad Ji: No strength for that.
Cheng Peng: Then come out for a drink. Wenwen is here too. Just at the quiet bar, no fuss.
Ji Ran thought about it. Spending the whole day at home was indeed boring, so he agreed.
Qin Man was busy with work and couldn’t accompany him. When Ji Ran arrived at the bar, he saw Yue Wenwen waving energetically at him.
“Xiao Ran Ran, you can’t just stay cooped up at home because of a breakup,” Yue Wenwen filled his glass. “You need to get out, see the other beautiful things in the world. You’ll realize, Xiao Man Man… Qin Man is nothing! There are plenty of better people out there!”
“Who stays cooped up at home?” Ji Ran took the drink and sipped it. “Who broke up?”
Yue Wenwen blinked, not understanding, “What do you mean?”
Cheng Peng got it and explained for Ji Ran, “They made up.”
Yue Wenwen glanced at Ji Ran, who continued drinking without refuting.
Wait, what? Nowadays, how do young couples treat breakups like a game?
“I was just talking nonsense earlier. Of course, Xiao Man Man isn’t nothing. He’s a million times better than nothing. No one in the world is better than him.” Yue Wenwen raised his glass, “Last long love.”
Yue Wenwen had meant to make a joke.
Unexpectedly, Ji Ran smiled, raised his glass to clink with Yue Wenwen’s, producing a clear, pleasant sound.
“Last long love.”
Huge shoutout to @_nyanmaru_ on Discord for commissioning this! The chapter will be posted regularly, show your support for Ciacia at Kofi.
