Chapter 38: An Unexpected Late-Night Gift
Chen Bai opened the box. Inside lay a gemstone lapel pin. Ji Linye’s name was signed in a flamboyant script on the thank-you card.
Then, Chen Bai took out a small bird pendant woven with colored string.
Compared to the jewelry lapel pin, this pendant’s handiwork was a bit amateurish, yet it exuded a sense of innocent charm.
Fu Yue picked it up with interest. “You made this?”
“Mhm. I made it with a friend—Little Sister Muyu from the House of Sunshine.”
The House of Sunshine—Fu Yue knew it.
The original novel mentioned that Chen Bai volunteered at this sanatorium for autistic patients on weekends.
“I hope you like it.” Chen Bai was a bit nervous, afraid Fu Yue would refuse.
“Of course I like it,” Fu Yue said with a smile.
Seeing this, Chen Bai smiled with relief.
Fu Yue’s gaze skipped across Chen Bai’s cute smiling face and landed on his reddening earlobes.
“Linye? Calling him so intimately now?” Fu Yue teased.
“No! He… he insisted I call him that!” Chen Bai defended himself nervously. “He said if I didn’t, then…”
The words were at the tip of his tongue, but Chen Bai slammed on the brakes, swallowing the word “punishment” whole.
The smile in Fu Yue’s eyes deepened.
This hesitant manner was more suggestive than saying it directly.
“Then what would happen? Come clean!”
His tone was very much like roommates in a college dorm sitting in a circle, interrogating a friend who had just gotten a girlfriend.
“Really, nothing!” Chen Bai’s eyes darted around. “Anyway… he’s very strict!”
“Oh? How strict? Don’t think about leaving until you explain clearly,” Fu Yue pressed.
“He even controls how much coffee I drink.” Chen Bai finally found a safe point of complaint.
“He said caffeine affects sleep and told me to drink less at night.”
“Affects sleep?”
Fu Yue translated that in his mind: So they’re already sleeping together?
It was good if it affected sleep; that was the perfect time to do something else.
Fu Yue felt like that 100 million bonus was sparkling.
He quickly got up, took three hazelnut-flavored coffee capsules out of the cabinet, and made a large cup of extra-strong coffee for Chen Bai.
“Drink it with peace of mind. He can’t see you.”
The rich aroma of cocoa and hazelnut filled the office.
Chen Bai held the warm coffee cup and looked at Fu Yue gratefully.
As he lowered his head to drink the coffee, Fu Yue glanced at his collar.
On his fair skin, there was clearly a small, ambiguous mark.
Fu Yue gave an “Auntie smile”: “The mosquitoes in the CEO’s office must be very fierce.”
“It’s deep winter, where would mosquitoes come from…” Chen Bai retorted instinctively before realizing what Fu Yue was talking about.
“Fu Yue, he’s just like a dog!” Chen Bai complained helplessly.
Tsk, the sour stench of love.
Fu Yue felt like he was about to choke to death on “dog food.”
After laughing and joking, Chen Bai picked up his coffee again.
On his wrist was a simple and exquisite watch, a circle of diamond markers glowing with a low-profile light.
Fu Yue immediately recognized it as a Patek Philippe, identical in style to the one on Ji Linye’s wrist.
Noticing Fu Yue’s gaze, Chen Bai didn’t act shy like before.
He showed it off quite frankly.
“Does it look good? He chose it.”
Fu Yue was somewhat surprised.
He had originally thought that with Chen Bai’s cautious nature, he would want to keep this relationship under wraps as much as possible.
“You two…” Fu Yue chose his words carefully. “Aren’t you worried about people gossiping?”
“Of course I’m worried.”
Chen Bai smiled honestly. “There will always be gossip. He said since we’re together, there’s no need to hide it. Besides, it just so happens to clear up the scandal.”
Fu Yue found that the Chen Bai before him was a bit different from before.
When he fished Chen Bai out of the club, he was still self-deprecating, restrained, and timid in his speech.
Love seemed to be a medicinal cure, healing the insecurity in Chen Bai’s heart and letting him radiate a steady glow from within.
He thought back to the dinner last night and the movie he discussed with Pei Luomian.
“In the future, we might encounter many difficulties,” Chen Bai frowned slightly, “for example, meeting the parents…”
“But as long as I think about being with him, I feel like I’m not that scared.”
Fu Yue didn’t speak.
He just stood by as an onlooker, clearly feeling the positive power brought by this relationship.
It wasn’t as awkward or unsightly as he had imagined.
It was warm, open, and gave Chen Bai the strength to face challenges.
This feeling probably wasn’t bad.
However, when Chen Bai mentioned “meeting the parents,” a thought flashed through Fu Yue’s mind.
Ji Linye’s parents were naturally Ji Hanmo’s parents as well.
What kind of parents would they be?
To be able to raise two brothers like this, they must be quite terrifying, right?
Thinking about it, they might be even more terrifying than Old Man Fu. Fu Yue shivered unconsciously.
“Young Master Fu, regarding the rumors that you’re pursuing me, I must apologize to you.” Chen Bai’s words interrupted Fu Yue’s thoughts. “It was my fault. Last time when I looked at the thing you wrote… someone accidentally took a photo. I’m really sorry.”
“It’s fine, it’s all in the past.”
So the source was here.
Fu Yue waved his hand, not caring.
“Don’t take those rumors to heart. I know, Young Master Fu, you aren’t that kind of person. You’re so devoted.”
This tall hat of being “devoted” left Fu Yue at a loss.
“By the way, Young Master Fu, how are things going with the one you like? Last time you said it was hard to pursue him; has there been any progress?”
Fu Yue’s heart skipped a beat.
He had just had a scandal with Ji Linye. If he said “no progress” now, it would be bad if Chen Bai thought he was “searching everywhere because he couldn’t get what he wanted.”
He had to keep up the bluff.
He had to bluff with details, with skill, and with conviction!
“Him…”
Fu Yue forced out a shy expression: “A few days ago, he also gave me a gift. He gave me a pair of cufflinks.”
“Just like Ji Linye giving you couple watches, the cufflinks he gave me are a matching pair with his.”
Fu Yue got inspiration from Chen Bai’s couple watches and made it up on the spot.
Chen Bai’s gossip spirit was ignited: “What do they look like?”
“They’re… platinum bases, with sapphires embedded on top, cut into the shape of a four-leaf clover.”
Fu Yue tried to ransack his brain, describing a pair of cufflinks he had glimpsed somewhere to satisfy Chen Bai.
After speaking, Fu Yue didn’t forget to make a zipping motion in front of his mouth, signaling “keep it secret.”
“This doesn’t count as much progress. You must not tell anyone; he’s a very low-profile person!”
“Mhm, mhm!” Chen Bai nodded vigorously, clearly believing it.
Once the floodgates of gossip were opened, it was hard to close them.
“Young Master Fu, that love letter from last time—my heart raced just reading it. It was written so boldly… you two must have some very ‘creative’ do sessions, right?”
“Do?”
Fu Yue’s GPU was overloaded.
As a king of theory but a rookie of practice, he was struck in the soul by this question and instinctively shook his head.
“Ah?” The expectation on Chen Bai’s face collapsed. “You haven’t reached that step yet? I thought…”
Fu Yue was just about to explain further—for example, that he focused more on spiritual resonance—but Chen Bai filled in the blanks for him first.
“Young Master Fu, I understand everything.”
You understand? What do you understand?
Chen Bai seemed to have the answer: “The first item added to the Group Secretariat memo this morning was: ‘Young Master Fu is physically weak; his diet must be nutritious, his schedule should not be too dense, and service must be impeccable.'”
Fu Yue chewed on a piece of biscuit, confused: “So what?”
Chen Bai just patted Fu Yue’s shoulder, his eyes filled with a bit more sympathy and understanding.
“Young Master Fu, you… take care. I’m going to get busy now.”
After saying that, Chen Bai waved and quickly left the office, leaving a bewildered Fu Yue behind.
“Forget it, never mind him,” Fu Yue thought.
He felt this conversation was very successful.
The novel’s CP relationship was going smoothly, and he had established a “devoted” persona.
Next, he just needed to watch the story unfold.
The next chapter of the plot was “Flames of Jealousy: A yacht trip where a famous model fails to seduce Ji Linye, followed by Chen Bai getting jealous and taking the lead with various ‘play’ scenarios.”
As long as their story arc didn’t go wrong, Fu Yue wouldn’t have to live in fear.
—
The night was as dark as ink.
The penthouse suite of the Lanting International Apartment Hotel was silent.
Fu Yue’s desk was piled with materials for tomorrow’s negotiation meeting.
Although Ji Hanmo had told him to “just pick based on your eye,” Fu Yue didn’t dare to actually do that.
He had been reading for nearly three hours now, having only a cup of warm water in between.
Ding-dong—
The doorbell rang without warning.
It was already 11 PM.
Room service?
The video doorbell showed Shen Junnian.
He was wearing a simple gray tracksuit and carrying a takeout bag.
“Let me in. Just eating, don’t worry.” Shen Junnian’s voice sounded from outside.
Fu Yue opened the door with a helpless expression.
Shen Junnian walked in quickly, an exaggerated “I’m worried to death for you” look on his face.
“Your WeChat step count today is barely over two hundred. I knew you were probably cultivating immortality again.” Shen Junnian placed the food container on the dining island.
“I’m looking over the materials for tomorrow’s participants,” Fu Yue stated truthfully.
“Before you used to grind games like this; now you grind your career like this. Neither is healthy.”
As Shen Junnian spoke, he took food out of the insulated bag: “Supper from Luju, your favorite.”
Steaming fermented rice balls with osmanthus, honey-glazed BBQ pork buns, and a box of Red Willow grilled meat.
The squid flowers on the seafood balls were still dancing.
“Even if the sky falls, you have to eat your fill first.” Shen Junnian stuffed a skewer into Fu Yue’s hand. “Besides, tomorrow is a beauty pageant, not a war.”
Fu Yue was amused by his metaphor.
Shen Junnian smiled and took a tablet from his backpack, connecting it to the room’s projector.
“Here, look at your buddy’s homework.”
Fu Yue looked over in confusion.
On the gray screen on the wall, information on all the companies participating in tomorrow’s meeting was listed.
Behind each company, there was also a sharp-tongued comment from Shen Junnian.
[Wang Group: Old Wang himself is okay, but his useless son is in charge. Last week, Little Wang got into a fight at a nightclub over a model. Cooperation risk rating: C.]
[Xinrui Tech: Good technology, but the capital chain is tight. You can squeeze their price to death.]
[…]
Fu Yue’s eyes twitched.
He had to admit that the “dirt” and “highlights” in Shen Junnian’s hands were very valuable.
Fu Yue ate the fermented rice balls while swiping through the tablet to see the materials.
Shen Junnian sat beside him with his legs crossed.
He took out his phone, snapped a photo of the supper spread and the back of Fu Yue’s head with a click, captioned it “Feeding the pig,” and posted it to his social media with satisfaction.
Shen Junnian was about to take another photo when the doorbell rang again.
The clock on the wall was already 11:30 PM.
The two looked at each other, both somewhat surprised.
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