Chapter 41: Give Me Huo Chen’s Phone Number
The boss was still the boss.
But sleep was still sleep.
Through the rearview mirror, Zhou Ning saw Lin Huaizhi’s sleeping face full of exhaustion.
Huo Chen sat in the back seat without moving. Zhou Ning vaguely guessed his thoughts, so he didn’t speak either.
About half an hour passed.
Huo Chen quietly called Lin Huaizhi’s name. The latter showed no signs of waking up.
He stiffly and carefully moved Lin Huaizhi’s head away. Seeing Lin Huaizhi’s face was a bit pale, he took off his jacket before getting out of the car.
Zhou Ning helped move the luggage out of the car and asked in a whisper, “Mr. Huo, do you need me to help you carry it up?”
The man’s face was cold and severe.
“No need.”
Seeing Huo Chen about to leave, Zhou Ning pursed his lips, as if making a major decision. “Wait!”
Huo Chen turned back.
The lighting in the underground garage was very dim. Most of the man’s body was hidden in the shadows, leaving only a pair of eyes flashing with sharp light, like a beast hunting at night.
Zhou Ning was terrified seeing him like this, but thinking of Lin Huaizhi, he endured the fear and spoke his mind.
“You are really special to the Boss.”
Zhou Ning had followed Lin Huaizhi since graduation. Calculating that time, it had been about three or four years.
Lin Huaizhi didn’t like too many people following him; he was the only assistant.
Called an assistant, he was actually more of an apprentice. Lin Huaizhi didn’t dislike that he knew nothing and was willing to teach him. When he did things wrong, he was punished as appropriate, but he was never scolded harshly like other superiors did.
“Did you know?”
“The Boss is someone who shines.”
Zhou Ning felt this way. Speaking of Lin Huaizhi, his eyes held admiration. “In my impression, it seems that as long as it’s something the Boss wants to do, there’s nothing he can’t achieve. In the business field, he is almost invincible.”
“But sometimes, he doesn’t seem alive.”
Huo Chen didn’t interrupt him, but he didn’t leave either. He stood there as if waiting for Zhou Ning to continue.
And Zhou Ning indeed continued.
“I’m not talking about his body, but his heart.”
“I think maybe it’s because he already possesses enough wealth and has nothing he wants to do or anyone he wants to see, so he looks gentle and rarely gets angry. In reality, he cares about nothing.”
“He has no passion.”
“Do you know passion? It’s that positive attitude toward everything. He doesn’t have it; he looks lifeless.”
“Before, I thought Chu Xiaoran was special. He would treat Chu Xiaoran well, giving Chu Xiaoran whatever he wanted. Everyone said he liked Chu Xiaoran, and I thought so too, until I saw you.”
“The Boss’s eyes, when looking at you, are shining.”
Huo Chen waited for a long time without hearing a follow-up, and frowned as he spoke, “What exactly are you trying to express? Can you give me the main point?”
Zhou Ning shook violently, looking at Huo Chen with shock.
What the hell!
How did he suddenly see the Boss’s shadow on Huo Chen!
Zhou Ning’s spine went cold, and his mouth expressed the main point faster than his brain: “I just want to tell you, the Boss really likes you! He went on the dating show for you; it has not a dime’s worth of relation to Chu Xiaoran!”
Zhou Ning had been chasing the dating show whenever he had time these days.
He used to think the Boss saying he didn’t like Chu Xiaoran and only promoted him to repay kindness was just angry talk. After all, for Chu Xiaoran, the Boss almost had no bottom line!
It wasn’t until he saw the Boss’s attitude toward Huo Chen that Zhou Ning realized likes and dislikes were truly very obvious.
If one had to talk about having no bottom line, then the Boss really had no bottom line for Huo Chen.
Just to chase Huo Chen, he threw away both face and pride. He could even roast Chu Xiaoran again and again just to prevent Huo Chen from misunderstanding his relationship with Chu Xiaoran. This would have been impossible in the past!
Zhou Ning didn’t like Chu Xiaoran anyway.
Since there was going to be a boss’s spouse in the future, he’d rather it be Huo Chen.
At least judging from the situation in the car just now, Huo Chen didn’t move even upon arrival and forbid him from speaking, just so the Boss could sleep a little longer.
If this were Chu Xiaoran, forget letting the Boss lean on his shoulder—just sitting in the same car, he would have looked at the Boss askance, finding fault with everything!
Just then, Huo Chen finally spoke.
“I have eyes.”
Zhou Ning let out an “Ah” and muttered, “Why do I feel these words are so familiar?”
Huo Chen said, “What kind of person Lin Huaizhi is, whether he likes me or Chu Xiaoran—Lin Huaizhi will tell me himself.”
…
Lin Huaizhi slept until night.
Because he was caught in the rainstorm, his cold worsened. When he opened his eyes, his throat was so dry it hurt just to swallow.
The lights weren’t on in the room.
The neon lights outside the window shone through the floor-to-ceiling glass. A cup of water and cold medicine were placed on the bedside table.
Zhou Ning must have put them there.
Lin Huaizhi didn’t like having people in his home. He liked being alone because too close a distance easily made him feel unsafe, and his body would automatically turn on defense mechanisms.
But why was Huo Chen different?
He didn’t resist Huo Chen at all—hugging, kissing, even sleeping in the same bed—he didn’t resist.
Maybe because of that dream?
He didn’t want his ending to be like in the dream, and didn’t want Huo Chen to really become Fang Mo’s thigh to hug, so his subconscious prepared in advance?
But if the subconscious could be overcome so easily, could it still be called the subconscious?
Or was it that he really liked Huo Chen?
Liked him to the extent that both his subconscious and body’s self-defense could give way?
Lin Huaizhi couldn’t figure it out, and he didn’t want to delve into it. Because he chased Huo Chen for no other reason than that he liked him.
He was born with a bad hand of cards.
Being able to play a bad hand into what it was now in this life, he would profit even if he died.
So regardless of whether the dream was true or false, if he didn’t like Huo Chen or want to get Huo Chen, even if death was placed in front of him, he wouldn’t care. Better a broken jade than a whole tile; at worst, no one lives.
But he just liked Huo Chen.
Lin Huaizhi lay in bed thinking about random things. His throat was so dry, his mouth so thirsty. He looked at the water cup by the bed, but ultimately didn’t reach out.
He felt for his phone.
He opened the dialer and called Dai Keqing.
Don’t ask, asking just means he didn’t save Dai Keqing’s number. And don’t ask again, asking just means he had a photographic memory and saw it on Zhou Ning’s phone.
“Baby, your phone is ringing.”
A handsome blond man lifted his body and brushed aside Dai Keqing’s hair.
“Let it ring if it’s ringing!”
Dai Keqing was just about to tell him to focus, but the next second he heard the other party say—”Are you really not going to answer? The screen says ‘Sick in the Head Boss’.”
“Holy sh*t—!”
Dai Keqing pushed the man away, grabbed the phone to look, and it really was his insane boss!
Bro, seriously!
I’m filming a dating show, you say the day before you want to be a guest, turning a perfectly good romance variety show into a workplace scene. Now that this episode is done filming, you’re looking for me again? What for? To send your friend onto the dating show too?!
Or is it because the day you were pushed by Chu Xiaoran, I didn’t come out to mediate?
I have difficulties too! I also caught a cold! I slept at the village headquarters for the past few days! Besides, conflict is good; it increases views and promotes feelings!
“Baby, are you going to answer or not?”
The blond man hugged him from behind, lightly kissing his neck. “If not, let’s continue with our business.”
“Go away!”
Dai Keqing pushed the man away, stared at the phone, prepared himself mentally, and answered the call. He opened his mouth to explain, but the other party spoke a step ahead of him.
“Give me Huo Chen’s phone number.”
Dai Keqing: “?”
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