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Friday, Zhishun Technology.
The entire conference room was dead silent. Having just lost his temper, Zhou Shirui’s handsome profile was taut as he threw the documents onto the table with a soft “thump.”
When he strode out and passed through the employee area with an extremely low-pressure aura, the people who had been secretly slacking off while keeping their ears perked immediately straightened their backs and put on serious expressions.
Only after he was completely out of sight did they relax again.
“Holy cr*p, President Zhou is terrifying when he gets angry.”
“Every time this happens, I start feeling grateful that I’m not capable of getting promoted any higher. Otherwise, I’d be the one getting chewed out.”
“Speaking of which, what happened this time?”
“No idea. Seems like there was some problem with the game endorsement…”
“We’re screwed, we’re screwed. The next few days are going to be rough.”
“You’ve got people in the secretary department. Go ask.”
As soon as he finished speaking, the actual president’s secretary hurried past. His leather shoes were polished to a gleaming shine. Despite the president having just unleashed such a furious tirade, he still had a smile on his face, clearly not taking the matter to heart.
The employees studied his expression and quickly understood what it meant.
“Everyone can relax. Nothing’s going to happen today.” A senior employee said with certainty, “Our savior, President Le, must have arrived.”
The sensible employees all breathed a huge sigh of relief.
And the so-called savior was currently sitting in the president’s office, talking on the phone.
“Mm, Mom, I know.”
Zhou Shirui had just pushed open the door when he heard Le Cheng speaking. Even after all these years, he still habitually sat cross-legged on the beanbag sofa. While on the phone, his free hand unconsciously tugged at the edge of the sofa, almost pulling it into a ball.
Hearing the sound, Le Cheng did not look up and continued speaking. “I’m busy lately. Maybe in a few days. We’ll go back the week after next.”
“Mm… mm, okay.” Le Cheng nodded. “I haven’t been staying up late drawing, and I haven’t been eating random things. Really! You don’t believe me? Then ask Zhou Shirui.”
As he spoke, he handed the phone over while frantically blinking at him.
The last trace of displeasure in Zhou Shirui’s heart disappeared completely. Amused by him, he wanted to laugh and called out, “Mom, I’m right here.”
Cao Fanqin’s muffled voice came from the other end. “Little Zhou, Chengcheng has been…”
Le Cheng could not hear clearly and could only stare nervously at Zhou Shirui. The moment Zhou Shirui was about to speak, Le Cheng held his hand horizontally across his neck and swiped it to the left, making a threatening gesture.
But Zhou Shirui did not look threatened at all. He approached him, casually letting Le Cheng loosen his tie, then said, “Mm, no. His schedule is healthy, and he’s eating very healthily too.”
Only after hearing this did Le Cheng smile in satisfaction, his eyes curving into crescents. Zhou Shirui tilted his head slightly, and Le Cheng automatically leaned over and gave him a quick kiss, mouthing, “Thanks, big brother.”
After hanging up, Le Cheng came back to life. He snatched his phone back and complained that the three of them had conspired together to monitor him.
Zhou Shirui laughed and pinched his chin, turning his face toward him as he asked quietly, “I’m covering for you, so why are you blaming me?”
Le Cheng had a perfectly reasonable argument. “But you’re always keeping an eye on me too.”
Zhou Shirui had an easy counterargument. “You keep an eye on me too.”
Le Cheng was rendered speechless and could not argue back. Zhou Shirui stroked his face and asked, “Why did you come so early today?”
“I had some free time today.” Le Cheng said, “So I wanted to come see you.”
Zhou Shirui pulled him up. Le Cheng noticed the faint bluish circles that had newly appeared beneath Zhou Shirui’s eyes. He reached out and touched them, asking with some concern, “You’ve been so busy lately. You’re getting dark circles.”
Zhou Shirui held his hand and turned his face into it. “It’s fine. I’ve just been busy lately.”
Over the years, the five-person game studio had grown into an industry leader. Zhou Shirui had reached a position like this at only twenty-seven, and Le Cheng had always understood the amount of pressure behind it.
Le Cheng usually only participated in game production and did not get involved in company management. He had never been interested in that side of things, so he simply acted as a hands-off boss.
The secretary soon knocked and entered. Le Cheng let go and sat to the side, listening to the secretary’s report.
His phone chimed. Cao Fanqin had sent him a video. It showed Le Shuhai in their backyard, holding a long pole and arguing with a little bird. The two were chirping back and forth, with the man complaining that the bird was singing so early in the morning while the bird hopped around, saying things the man could not understand.
Cao Fanqin was also adding fuel to the fire from the side.
Their family had moved out of their old house long ago. Considering the environment, they had settled into a villa away from the city center. Their life in their later years was peaceful. When they had nothing to do, they would take the dog out for a walk, go fishing, or have afternoon tea.
Cao Fanqin continued providing a live commentary from her end, with one video after another popping up. Le Cheng watched with an unconscious smile on his lips, not even noticing when the secretary left.
After work, Le Cheng leaned against Zhou Shirui and said, “It’s almost New Year. Don’t you need to take some time off?”
Zhou Shirui nodded. “Of course.”
The two of them walked out with their bodies close together, one dressed in a suit and leather shoes, the other dressed like an ordinary university student. The employees outside nodded at them one after another, and when they saw Le Cheng, they became even more enthusiastic.
“Hey, how can they look so perfect together?”
“I heard they’ve already been together for many years.”
“Not just that. They’ve already been married abroad for many years.”
A young employee who had just joined the company poked his head over and asked, “Who’s President Le? I only know who the boss is.”
“There.” The senior employee said. “That one. The really good-looking one standing beside him.”
“Huh?” The young employee rubbed his eyes. “President Le looks way too young. Isn’t he already twenty-six this year?”
“Yeah, he looks like a university student…”
Their voices drifted over from a distance. Le Cheng heard them and was quite pleased. He poked Zhou Shirui, clearly looking smug.
“Did you hear that?” Le Cheng said after getting into the driver’s seat. “They’re complimenting me on looking young.”
They reached a red light. They were right outside a school, just as the high school students were getting out, and traffic was terribly congested. One after another, the students in blue-and-white uniforms walked past, their bodies tall and slender.
Le Cheng leaned against the window and looked outside. He had only been watching for a short while when Zhou Shirui grabbed him by the back of the neck and pulled him over with a slightly stern expression.
Zhou Shirui looked at him with a faint, knowing smile. “What are you looking at?”
“I was looking at them.” Le Cheng was completely oblivious. “They’re so young. They look so full of energy.”
Zhou Shirui pressed his lips together, just about to snap back, when he heard Le Cheng add, “They look about the same as you did when you were twenty.”
Only then did he fall silent and tell Le Cheng to sit properly before starting the car.
It wasn’t until they got home that Zhou Shirui finally realized what Le Cheng had meant.
The more he thought about it, the stranger it sounded.
So while Le Cheng was bent over the sink, rinsing his mouth, Zhou Shirui moved up behind him, wrapped an arm around his waist, and asked mildly, “Are you starting to find me old already?”
The unexpected question made Le Cheng choke. Zhou Shirui patted his back, and once he had recovered, Le Cheng stared at him with wide eyes. “What are you talking about?”
Zhou Shirui didn’t answer.
Le Cheng immediately thought of what had happened that afternoon. He wiped his mouth, walked over, and put his arms around Zhou Shirui’s waist. “That’s not what I meant this afternoon.”
Then he pushed Zhou Shirui in front of the mirror, propped up his chin with one hand, and began praising him in an exaggerated tone. “Look at this nose. And these lips. And that jawline. It’s so sharp! I’m so jealous. Even with dark circles under your eyes, you’re still so handsome. Who could tell you’re twenty-seven? If you told people you were eighteen, they’d probably believe you…”
Zhou Shirui was almost laughing from all the praise. He pressed his lips together to hold it in, then casually took off his glasses and put them on Le Cheng.
Le Cheng obediently let him, blinking in confusion. The next moment, Zhou Shirui grabbed him by the waist, and before he knew it, Le Cheng was dizzy and sitting on the countertop.
The prescription glasses made everything terribly blurry. The only thing Le Cheng could focus on was the person right in front of him. Zhou Shirui lowered his head and, breathing heavily, bit down on his lips.
Naturally, in a certain sense, he proved that there was absolutely no difference between him and an eighteen-year-old.
In truth, Zhou Shirui didn’t really care about the matter. More than anyone, he wanted Le Cheng to remain just as he had always been, free from anything that might trouble him.
But over the next few days, when Le Cheng appeared at the company again, the employees tacitly stopped discussing the subject.
It was a very ordinary thing, but after thinking about it, Zhou Shirui still called his secretary over.
His secretary had been with him since the company was founded. Upon hearing the question, he answered honestly without hesitation.
“President Le gave everyone a red envelope and asked us not to say things like that so often in the future.”
The answer made Zhou Shirui pause for a moment, though it was also exactly what he had expected. The secretary asked if there was anything else he needed to instruct him about, and Zhou Shirui simply waved his hand.
People always say that loving someone is like tending a flower.
Perhaps in everyone else’s eyes, Le Cheng had been protected extraordinarily well by him all these years. It was as though time had left no trace on him. His smile was still as warm and innocent as it had been in the beginning, as though he had never had a single worry.
But behind what everyone could see, wasn’t Zhou Shirui also Le Cheng’s most carefully tended treasure, a precious person he was afraid would suffer even the slightest hurt?
Taking annual leave was quite a complicated process.
Zhou Shirui hadn’t taken a vacation in two years. There was no other reason for it: the company had been in a period of rapid growth, and he simply hadn’t had the time. But this year, he could.
He was sitting in his study, discussing the dates with his secretary, when he heard a series of tiny tap-tap-tap sounds. A merle Border Collie came trotting over, wagging her tail enthusiastically.
Right behind her came Le Cheng, trotting along just as cheerfully.
“Wangcai, come here. Don’t disturb Daddy while he’s working.” Le Cheng glanced at Zhou Shirui, who was on the phone, and quietly went over to catch the dog. As a Border Collie, Wangcai was exceptionally clever. With a quick dart, she slipped beneath Zhou Shirui’s feet, her tail wagging furiously.
She completely ignored Le Cheng’s look.
Le Cheng had no choice but to bend over and try to grab her. Wangcai immediately flopped onto the floor and pretended to be dead, letting out pitiful little whines.
Le Cheng couldn’t bring himself to pull her away.
Turning to Wangcai, he said, “Fine, then I’ll go find Facai to play.”
As if she understood him, Wangcai, who had been resting her nose on her front paws, immediately lifted her head and darted out. She raised her head and rubbed against Le Cheng’s calf, making him laugh because it tickled, almost like she was deliberately acting spoiled.
Zhou Shirui listened to his secretary while watching the scene. After hanging up, he suddenly said, “Wangcai, go outside and play with your little brother.”
Wangcai, full name Le Wangcai, was a three-year-old female merle Border Collie. She was exceptionally intelligent.
Le Cheng also stroked the dog’s head. “Go play with Facai, but don’t put your head on your little brother again, okay?”
Wangcai wagged her tail. Whether she understood or not was anyone’s guess, but she happily ran out.
Before long, the sound of Facai meowing came from the living room.
Zhou Facai was a two-year-old male tabby Siamese cat.
After graduating and moving into their own home, they had done a great deal of research before deciding to raise both a cat and a dog. With intentional training, the two animals got along incredibly well and never fought.
When they brought them home, Le Cheng naturally took on the arduous task of naming them.
With beautiful wishes for the future, he named them “Wangcai” and “Facai”, names that essentially meant “prosper” and “get rich.” Zhou Shirui’s assessment was that they sounded like names belonging to animals destined to live to a ripe old age.
Le Cheng spent a long time wondering whether that was supposed to be a compliment.
“How is it?” Le Cheng sat down and asked him. “Can you take your vacation?”
“Yes.” Zhou Shirui played with his fingers. “Didn’t you hear what I just said?”
“I was too busy watching Wangcai.” Then, suddenly delighted, Le Cheng said, “I just taught Facai how to shake hands! Come look!”
Zhou Shirui let himself be pulled into the living room. Wangcai was lying on the floor with a fluffy lump sitting on top of her head. It was Facai himself.
“Why are you lying on your sister’s head?” Le Cheng beckoned him over. Facai let out a little “meow” and jumped down like a puppy. He toddled over and rubbed himself against Le Cheng’s feet.
“Come on, show Daddy how you shake hands.” Le Cheng added, “Show your other daddy too.”
Facai had always been very cooperative with Le Cheng. At his words, he meowed twice. “Shake hands.”
The cat lifted one front paw. Le Cheng rubbed his head, then gave him a freeze-dried treat.
“Isn’t he clever?” Le Cheng looked at Zhou Shirui expectantly, his big round eyes practically begging for praise, as though he were the one who had just learned to shake hands.
Zhou Shirui nodded. “He is.”
Le Cheng told him to try too. Zhou Shirui gave the command, and Facai reluctantly lifted his front paw. Le Cheng immediately became excited and told Zhou Shirui to give him another freeze-dried treat.
Facai treated the two of them differently, but he would still obey Zhou Shirui’s commands every time, as though he knew that Zhou Shirui was strict while Le Cheng was gentle. He only liked being affectionate with Le Cheng. At night, he especially loved crawling into Le Cheng’s bed to snuggle, and every time, Zhou Shirui had to grab him by the scruff and carry him back out.
So when Zhou Shirui complained that Facai secretly made extremely deep, rough noises whenever he was around him, Le Cheng unhappily smacked him on the shoulder. “You’re actually competing with a little kitten for attention,” he accused him, “and you’re using such underhanded tactics!”
Zhou Shirui almost laughed from exasperation. He deliberately recorded Facai’s voice when the cat failed to keep up his usual sweet little meows and played it for Le Cheng.
It really was incredibly rough.
Le Cheng scratched his cheek guiltily, then gave Zhou Shirui a guilty little kiss.
The next day, Zhou Shirui saw Le Cheng playing with Facai on the lawn and heard him say earnestly, “You really are a two-faced little cat.”
In the end, Zhou Shirui did take his annual leave. A full month. With only seven or eight days left before the Lunar New Year, they planned to go back to Le Cheng’s parents’ home.
For all these years, they had spent the New Year at Le Cheng’s parents’ house.
After Zhou Shirui had made something of himself, Zhou Pinghe had also called several times. His words, both direct and indirect, were all about wanting Zhou Shirui to come back and inherit the company that was barely surviving. Zhou Shirui refused.
He would never go back. Long ago, on that rainy night when he had held Le Cheng in his arms, he had already decided to completely sever himself from his past.
Of course, he had never told Le Cheng any of this.
The day they left, the sun was bright and the air was crisp.
Zhou Shirui started the car first and opened the door for Wangcai to jump inside. Le Cheng hurried out of the house, a cat held in his arms, and asked why Zhou Shirui hadn’t waited for him. His expression was as innocent and youthful as it had been when they first met.
“There’s no rush.” Zhou Shirui touched his cheek and helped him open the cat carrier so Facai could settle inside.
“Did we forget anything?” Le Cheng thought about it very seriously.
“No,” Zhou Shirui said. “I checked everything.”
Only then did Le Cheng relax and climb into the passenger seat. He immediately began chattering away. “Mom called me just now. The flowers she’s been growing are blooming, and they’re really pretty. I just have to remember not to let Wangcai see them…”
“Dad caught a super huge fish in the lake behind their house. He said since you’ll be staying for such a long time this year, he wants you to go fishing with him…”
A cool, refreshing breeze came through the window. Zhou Shirui turned his head and looked at Le Cheng’s profile. The sunlight fell across his hair, as though coating it with a layer of golden light.
This is good.
This was enough.
He answered, “Okay.”
Le Cheng smiled, leaned over to give him a quick kiss, and continued talking about all the ordinary little things.
It was a very ordinary day.
But Zhou Shirui knew that they would have countless more ordinary days just like this one.
(The End)
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