Chapter 20: Ideal, Passion!

They left the infirmary close to noon.

Jian Mingzhou was about to go back when Xie Jing stopped him and said, “Let’s eat together in the cafeteria, Uncle.”

The cafeteria was not far from the playground.

At this time, some of the training groups had finished, and students were walking in twos and threes towards the cafeteria.

Jian Mingzhou stood in front of the window, choosing side dishes. “Can I eat in the student cafeteria?”

“You can bring friends or family.” Xie Jing stood next to him with a plate, whispering, “And you’ve been chosen.”

Jian Mingzhou felt a bit embarrassed and took some vegetables.

…

When it was time to pay, Jian Mingzhou said, “Let me do it.”

“Let me; I have a meal card.”

Xie Jing took out the meal card and suddenly laughed. “Uncle, if this were in a manga, should I say, ‘Here’s my card; swipe as you like’?”

Jian Mingzhou corrected him: “You should use your fingertips to clip the card, stubbornly stuff it into my shirt pocket, and say, ‘Swipe as you like.'”

Xie Jing fell silent for a moment and swiped the card.

“In reality, there won’t be such a crazy person…”

Swipe. A voice came from the nearby window.

Both turned to see the school doctor using his fingertips to clip the card, stubbornly stuffing it into his own shirt pocket. He nodded to the cafeteria lady and said, “Just swipe it.”

The cafeteria lady, without lifting her head, waved her ladle. “Just swiped 12 yuan; want it even more casual?”

Xie Jing, “…”

Jian Mingzhou, “…”

There really are such crazy people!

They picked up their plates and walked in the opposite direction.

Xie Jing said casually, “Is he in the medical profession to save himself?”

Jian Mingzhou spoke softly, “Xiaojing, don’t say such impolite truths.”

They found a seat.

They ordered six small dishes in total, with moderate portions. To prevent the spread of the cold, they even used separate chopsticks.

While Jian Mingzhou and Xie Jing were eating, He Yi and others approached.

He Yi, seeing the extra pair of chopsticks, showed a pleasant surprise. “Did you know I was coming, so you deliberately left a pair of chopsticks for me?”

Xie Jing didn’t even lift his eyelids.

Jian Mingzhou pursed his lips and said, “It’s a barrier left for the virus.”

“…” He Yi sat down obediently!

Zhou Xuyang and others also took their seats nearby.

He Yi looked at the banquet-like small dishes in front of them and was inspired: “So you can eat like this! We used to eat separately.”

He turned to Zhou Xuyang and said, “Next time, let’s order like this, and we can have six different dishes in one meal.”

Zhou Xuyang replied, “No, we’ll also end up with your saliva.”

“Brother Mingzhou and Xie Jing are sharing dishes!” He Yi pointed out.

Clang! Jian Mingzhou’s chopsticks shook and knocked against the edge of the bowl. He thought He Yi was really good at talking!

Was he a hidden spy brought in by a monkey?

He raised his head, about to speak, when Xie Jing put down his chopsticks, took a bowl of food, and handed it to He Yi, saying, “Eat.”

He Yi was pleasantly surprised. “Why are you suddenly so good to me?”

“To infect you with a cold and make you lose your voice.”

“…” Jian Mingzhou’s words were swallowed back, and he sat there observing this boring farce.

When the meal was almost finished, He Yi and his group left first.

Two girls sat down beside them. It was unclear which group they belonged to, but they were chatting animatedly.

Jian Mingzhou finished his meal, not paying much attention at first. Then he heard one of the girls say, “Next Saturday is the themed fan exhibition! It’s at Chunming Hall, and my favorite teacher will be there!”

His hand slipped, and the bowl clanged against the plate.

Xie Jing turned to him and said, “Can you hold it? Give me a bit more.”

Jian Mingzhou focused, “It’s fine; the bowl was a bit slippery.”

The voices continued from the side. The girl regretted, “But there’s training next Saturday; ah, damn it! I also want to go to the fan exhibition!”

“If you can’t, just find someone to buy it for you.”

Jian Mingzhou breathed a sigh of relief: They probably won’t run into the students from here.

“Uncle, what are you doing?”

Xie Jing turned to him again, watching him hold an empty bowl and shake it back and forth. “A balancing act to entertain.”

“…”

As the two walked away, the other girl at the table suddenly exclaimed, “But the training on Saturday ends early. We can probably take a taxi from here and make it in time, right?”

The other girl looked, her joyous expression evident, and said, “Right!”

—

Xie Jing’s physical condition recovered quickly, within two days.

Jian Mingzhou was relieved.

After all, it was the end of the month, approaching various deadlines, work reports, and fan exhibitions. He was busy and worried about not taking good care of him.

Tuesday was the day to go to the site for the final handover with the person in charge.

Jian Mingzhou first met with Xia Ye at the editorial department.

As soon as they reached the door of the editorial department, they saw a dark cloud inside, a chaotic scene—

Phones were ringing incessantly, fax machines were clattering, and in the haste, no one knew who kicked it, but clatter! Sheets of paper were spewed out.

Amidst the chaos, Xia Ye’s awakening-like roar could be heard.

Jian Mingzhou took a deep breath, hesitated at the door, and stood there, summoning Xia Ye across the war zone.

“It’s time to go, Chief Editor.”

Xia Ye, as if saved, straightened his glasses and stood up.

Xiao Yu suddenly looked ferocious, devoid of reason. “Chief Editor! The office is so busy! Where are you two going to elope—”

Jian Mingzhou marveled at how he could still indulge in his imagination even when he was so busy!

Xia Ye, skilled and struggling, made his way through the crime scene.

On the way, they bumped into Qian Qian. She accidentally bumped into the loudspeaker, and immediately the author’s mad laughter echoed, “I really love my job! There’s a sense of satisfaction in creating garbage—”

“…”

After Xia Ye passed through to the entrance, he saw Jian Mingzhou looking solemnly inside. “What are you looking at?”

Jian Mingzhou, “I often suspect that we are a small psychiatric hospital disguised as a BL editorial department.”

“…” Xia Ye, “Aren’t you in there too?”

“I’m different,” Jian Mingzhou said solemnly. “I am the head nurse.”

Xia Ye cast a deep glance at him and said, I think you’re not quite normal either.

…

After leaving the company, Xia Ye drove to Chunming Hall.

Leaving the murky editorial department, even the air in the car felt exceptionally fresh.

Jian Mingzhou sat in the passenger seat, opening the window to dispel the lingering impurities in his mind.

Xia Ye glanced at him and asked, “This weekend, are you still going to line up by yourself?”

“Yeah.”

Every time he encountered an author he liked, he would personally go to the signing event. Although he could use connections or take the back door to get signatures, Jian Mingzhou always felt the experience was different.

“At the last signing event, Xiao Lu cried and lamented, What if there weren’t many people waiting for her?”

“What, worried that Xioling’s popularity is insufficient?”

Jian Mingzhou leaned against the car window, enjoying the breeze. “No, I just feel that for authors, every person waiting in front of them is crucial support.”

Just as they hit a red-light intersection, Xia Ye stopped the car.

He turned to glance at Jian Mingzhou, whose side profile rested against the car window, his eyes bright and gentle. After working together for several years, Xia Ye knew that Jian Mingzhou took things he liked very seriously.

Xia Ye withdrew his gaze and said, “Passion really is different.”

Jian Mingzhou continued gently, “Yes, and with the editor-in-chief who was thrust into the BL department with a pole…”

“…”

The red light turned green, and with a press of the accelerator, Jian Mingzhou’s head hit the window frame with a thud!

“Hush, I’ll suppress you.”

…

Chunming Hall was in the south of the city, and they arrived in an hour.

The exterior of the venue was grand and sleek, with a spacious interior, ranking among the top venues in the south of the city. It even surpassed the originally planned venue.

Jian Mingzhou and Xia Ye entered the hall, and the person in charge, Liu Lihe, was already waiting at the entrance.

After exchanging greetings, they began to coordinate the details.

From rental time to personnel security to the guest list and a series of other matters, after coordinating, Liu Lihe took them on a tour of the venue.

“This area is for fan booths, and over there are the displays. Slightly separated in the middle, the other end is reserved for the artists to sign.”

“No problem; thank you for your hard work.”

After completing the tour, the three returned to the lobby.

At this point, the matters were almost coordinated. Jian Mingzhou and Xia Ye were about to say goodbye when there was a sudden commotion at the entrance.

Turning around, they saw a person walking in from the crowd.

The shiny leather shoes stepped on the clean floor, and the expensive suit did not appear ostentatious. Around the age of forty or fifty, the handsome features were still evident.

People on the side quickly cleared a path, exuding the aura of a president.

The venue was spacious and bright, offering a clear view.

Standing next to Jian Mingzhou, the three of them were quite conspicuous. When the person passed by them, Liu Lihe quickly greeted him, “Chairman Lin, hello!”

He stopped in front of them. Perhaps seeing unfamiliar faces, he asked, “Who are these two?”

Liu Lihe introduced, “These two are Mr. Xia Ye, the chief editor of Huan Jiao Entertainment’s BL department, and Mr. Jian Mingzhou, the deputy chief editor. They came today to coordinate the use of the venue for the fan exhibition on Saturday.”

He then said to Jian Mingzhou and Xia Ye, “This is Mr. Lin, the chairman of our Yunzao Group.”

Chunming Hall was under the name of Yunzao Group.

Jian Mingzhou and Xia Ye greeted, “Chairman Lin.”

When Lin Jin looked over, there seemed to be a slight surprise at their positions as editors of the BL department, but he didn’t say anything. He just nodded, as usual.

“So young, both outstanding talents,” he commented.

Both sides still had business to attend to, so after the greetings, they bid farewell.

As Jian Mingzhou walked out of the venue, he turned back to glance at the retreating figure: full of dominance, a commanding presence, and very cultured. Completely in line with the mature and handsome image of a domineering CEO in a manga.

Xia Ye asked, “What are you looking at?”

Jian Mingzhou, “Old CEO…”

Xia Ye, “Don’t randomly acknowledge someone as your father.”

“…CEO.” Jian Mingzhou raised an eyebrow, “Your thoughts are quite murky.”

Xia Ye pretended nothing happened and opened the car door, “Get in.”

—

That CEO just now left a deep impression.

In the car now, the two chief editors, caught up in their professional habits, began discussing business manga with the theme of “domineering CEO.”

“Have you read the recent CEO manga?”

“I have,” Jian Mingzhou said. “In the past two years, it’s no longer popular to have scenes of ‘laughing on a bicycle’ or ‘crying in a BMW.'”

“What’s popular now?”

“It’s popular to sit on a Maserati and laugh heartily.”

Silly, sweet, and indulgent—the royal road!

“…”

Xia Ye felt a surge of resentment against the rich just from imagining it! Even thinking about that scene made him want to beat someone up.

He immediately opened the car window for ventilation. “I feel a bit uncomfortable.”

…

As they approached home, they were still arguing about whether to go with “hateful seas and passionate skies” or “silly, sweet, and indulgent.”

Jian Mingzhou’s phone vibrated, interrupting Xia Ye’s words.

[Jing]: I brought some food on the way. How long until you come back, Uncle?

He replied, looking down: We’re about to reach the neighborhood.

[Jing]: I’ll wait for you downstairs then. [Big dog crouching]

After replying, Jian Mingzhou saw Xia Ye’s mouth twitching, and he glanced at him disdainfully and asked, “What are you laughing at?”

“…nothing.” He put away his phone. “When the car stops downstairs, I’ll wait for you. My BYD can’t bear the weight of your cheerful laughter anymore.”

Jian Mingzhou closed the door with understanding.

Xie Jing was standing in front, holding a bag, waiting by the flowerbed. Xia Ye, glancing at Jian Mingzhou, suddenly smiled against the mirror frame.

“I’m explaining that Zhou wants to sit on a Maserati and laugh heartily.”