Chapter 87: “Your Price Went Up?”
Shou Jiaxun was quite cautious the first time he took the fetal protection medicine. He placed the trash can by his feet in advance, confirmed there was water in his cup and a box of tissues on the table, making full preparations so that even if he vomited violently, he wouldn’t look too pathetic.
As it turned out, nothing happened. The world remained peaceful, and everything was as usual.
It was far less dramatic than the gossip Little Bai brought over later.
Just as the lunch break was ending and most employees were yawning and refilling their coffee, Bai Fan, the operations specialist from the branding department, came to knock on the CEO’s office door.
For the past two days, to improve the “quality of life” for the fetus, Shou Jiaxun had specifically added a nap to his schedule. His old classmate pushed the door open bluntly to call him. “Jiaxun!”
“What…?” Shou Jiaxun had a jacket draped over his head, curled up on his side on the sofa, half-asleep.
Little Bai closed the door behind him and scurried over to the sofa in two steps, leaning over to lift a corner of Shou Jiaxun’s jacket. “Liang Bo went to pick a fight with Xiao Yu.”
President Shou whipped the jacket off, staring at his old classmate agape. “You, you… what did you say?”
Bai Fan looked embarrassed and raised his voice, “Xiao Liang, Liang Bo! He went to fight Xiao Yu… just yesterday.”
Shou Jiaxun looked completely disbelieving. “Why? For me?”
As he pressed for an answer, he propped himself up to sit, looking for his shoes under the sofa.
Little Bai raised his eyebrows and teased, “Listen to yourself. If not for you, would it be for me?”
Shou Jiaxun slipped his feet into his shoes and looked up. “Yesterday?”
“Yes.”
Shou Jiaxun furrowed his brows and twitched the corner of his mouth, his expression as if he had a toothache. “So, Liang Bo’s leave… is it because he was severely injured by the Class Monitor and can’t be seen in public?”
“Maybe not severely injured…” Bai Fan sat down next to him. “But it might indeed be embarrassing to be seen.”
Shou Jiaxun gave two dry laughs. “He told me his grandfather sprained his ankle.”
Bai Fan sneered, “Eighty percent chance he sprained his own ankle.”
Shou Jiaxun didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. After pondering for a moment, he sought his old classmate’s opinion. “Should I call and offer him some condolences?”
Bai Fan asked back, “Condolences to whom? The current one or the ex?”
“Xiao Liang, of course!” Shou Jiaxun was amused by him. “The Class Monitor is your ex; what does he have to do with me? If anyone is going to offer him condolences, you should be the one calling.”
Bai Fan gave a Zen-like smile. “He’s already blocked me.”
“Oh… how petty.” Shou Jiaxun complained verbally, but his face looked indifferent. “Anyway, you two have been apart for years. If he blocked you, so be it.”
Bai Fan nodded. “I kept his Feixun mainly to see his ‘Moments.’ After all, he’s at the top of my exes in terms of looks. Now I’ve completely lost that eye candy.”
Shou Jiaxun curled his lip and snorted. “Who among decent people posts on that all day? I think it’s better for you to see less of it.”
Bai Fan glared at him. “Fine, fine. A decent person is telling you decent business. That… the partner of ‘Yan Guilai’ has already started being passive-aggressive on their account. They probably found out about his husband and father-in-law stuffing money into Guo Duoyu’s hands.”
“Hah! …Haha.” Shou Jiaxun’s face suddenly lit up, and he laughed happily. “He was so supportive of Guo Ran giving birth back then. Now that he’s gotten what he wished for, he must be allowed to be happy for a while.”
Bai Fan nodded with a grin, expressing deep agreement. “I also made a bunch of alt accounts. I go to ‘Yan Guilai’s’ account every day to ship him and President Guo as a CP. His spouse’s jealousy will be stirred up sooner or later.”
“Fighting poison with poison—well done.” Shou Jiaxun let out a long breath, the expression on his face becoming even more relaxed. “Brother Bai, it seems I need to give you a raise.”
Little Bai nodded, his expression solemn. “President Shou is wise. How much?”
“At least two chicken legs.”
“Hmph… fine. I’m done, I’m leaving.” Bai Fan stood up, making a move to walk out.
“Wait…” President Shou quickly grabbed him. “Send me the Class Monitor’s phone number first. I said I’d contact him the other day.”
“Heh!” Bai Fan laughed lightly and stopped on the spot to send the number to Shou Jiaxun. “Be careful. Don’t piss him off, or he’ll beat you up along with him.”
Shou Jiaxun frowned. “I’m just giving him a call at most; how could he beat me? Besides, why would he beat me? I haven’t flirted with him, and I haven’t dumped him. What grudge, what resentment…”
Bai Fan agreed in a chorus of “Yes, yes, yes…” while running out of President Shou’s office without stopping.
Shou Jiaxun sighed and dialed the number on his phone. “…Class Monitor, it’s Shou Jiaxun. Is it convenient for you to talk now? I want to chat with you for a bit.”
“It’s not convenient. If you have something to say, say it in person.” Xiao Yu’s voice sounded as if he had just chewed on ice—cold and biting.
President Shou tried to persuade him kindly, “Then when it’s convenient for you, I’ll call—”
Before he could finish, Xiao Yu hung up the call directly, leaving a long electronic “beep—” in the earpiece.
President Shou curled his lip and snorted, thinking to himself that if he didn’t want to chat, then forget it. He turned to call his actual boyfriend. “Hello? …Liang Bo, is your grandfather’s sprained ankle serious?”
“It’s alright. I’ve been rubbing some safflower oil on it for two days; it’s almost better.”
Hearing his cheerful tone, Shou Jiaxun felt slightly relieved. “I was thinking, if you need to stay home to take care of your grandpa, then don’t go out this weekend. I’ll just go to ‘158’ by myself. Anyway, I’m just going to listen in casually; I probably won’t get much out of it even if I go once.”
Liang Bo touched a small wound near his ear. After hesitating for a few seconds, he said, “How about I… see how things go? If my grandpa can walk, I’ll accompany you.”
“Alright, alright. Take good care of your grandpa then.” Shou Jiaxun hung up the phone with a helpless face, silently cursing: Didn’t you say you’ve practiced ‘Wing Chun’! Sigh…
Before he could even put down his phone, a message popped up with a buzz. It was from Xiao Yu’s number: [Tonight at seven, see you at ‘Huiye’.]
President Shou’s expression faltered. [Are you kidding me?]
[Has your price gone up?]
[Want me to kick you again?]
[You come and try?]
Shou Jiaxun sighed in frustration for two minutes before sending a meeting invitation for a proper location: [I’ll be at the art exhibition at ‘158’ on Saturday afternoon. If you have time to go there, call me.]
He used to think Xiao Yu just had a small, unfulfilled regret about not having his love. Now, it seemed that it had fermented into a transformation from love to hate.
Then he would have to spread everything out and talk it through!
Love can start without knowing its origin, but hate must always have a reason, right?
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