Chapter 2

“Zhu,” Fang Shimian paused for a moment, lifting his face slightly from his collar, his voice low and somewhat muffled, “Mr. Zhu.”

As soon as he said this, the atmosphere that had just eased a bit dropped to freezing point again. The excitement in Zhu Ze’s eyes gradually faded, his brows furrowed slightly, and his fingertips gently pressed on the edge of the USB drive.

Seeing this, Xu Long’s large body blocked Zhu Ze’s view, conveniently shielding Fang Shimian from the crowd. The smile on his round face wasn’t annoying, but just as he was about to speak, Manager Yang pulled him aside.

It wasn’t easy, considering Xu Long’s size. Manager Yang had to use both hands to pull him, gritting his teeth, his face flushed, struggling to catch his breath, with sweat rolling down his temples, clearly putting in a lot of effort.

Zhu Ze collected his emotions, still looking at Fang Shimian with a gentle smile, his voice carrying a hint of a sigh, “Our little Mian has grown up, doesn’t even want to call me brother anymore.”

The tone was quite affectionate. Xu Long raised an eyebrow, holding back what he wanted to say, impatiently shaking off Manager Yang’s grip on his sleeve, letting out a light hum.

Behind the monitors on the surveillance room’s desk was a whole wall of surveillance screens, the largest screen in the middle rotating through real-time surveillance footage, the light flickering on and off.

Some scattered memory fragments quickly flashed through his mind. Fang Shimian felt heavy-headed and light-footed, his vision foggy, and his heartbeat gradually drowned out the machine’s roar.

“Brother Zhu.” Fang Shimian smiled lightly at Zhu Ze, then slowly lowered his head, hiding the confusion in his eyes, “Long time no see.”

Seeing Zhu Ze’s expression improve, Manager Yang immediately laughed along, “Look at this, turns out Shimian knows Mr. Zhu. This kid, always so shy…”

Fang Shimian lowered his eyes, unsure of what attitude to take towards Zhu Ze.

As he pondered, a pair of large, well-defined hands appeared in his line of sight, first resting on his cheek, then a cool sensation on his forehead. Fang Shimian instinctively stepped back a bit.

“Is there a thermometer here?” Zhu Ze’s voice came from above, enveloping Fang Shimian in a very unfamiliar scent, making him uncomfortable.

Manager Yang hurriedly started searching, and Xu Long turned to rummage through the cabinet. There had been a severe flu outbreak for a while, and temperatures were checked at every shift change, so there had to be one.

Fang Shimian finally reacted slowly, walking towards Xu Long, muttering, “I know where it is.” He opened the third drawer of the metal cabinet, took out the temperature gun, and tested it on his palm, the red temperature display lighting up.

After it lit up, Fang Shimian handed the temperature gun to Zhu Ze, smiling at him as if he didn’t understand the situation, “It still has power.”

Zhu Ze took it, pulled Fang Shimian to his side, and scanned his forehead, his expression darkening when he saw the temperature.

“39°, Xiao Mian, you’re sick.”

Fang Shimian nodded, but before he could speak, Manager Yang gently pushed him towards Zhu Ze, half concerned, half reproachful, “You silly child, how can you not take a leave to see a doctor with such a high fever? What if it gets worse? Go on, you don’t need to come in today. I’ll have someone from order come to cover your shift, so don’t worry about it.”

Xu Long raised a thick eyebrow, “Have someone cover my shift too, I’ll take Mian Mian to the hospital.”

Manager Yang ignored Xu Long, smiling at Zhu Ze, “Mr. Zhu, would you mind taking Shimian? Do you have the time?”

Fang Shimian shook his head at Manager Yang, but before he could say “no,” Zhu Ze had already pulled him to his side, leaving no room for refusal.

Manager Yang averted his gaze, pretending not to see.

Fang Shimian wouldn’t argue with people, nor would he make a scene in front of colleagues and superiors. It seemed everyone knew this, so they acted without restraint.

Only Xu Long tried to speak several times, but was blocked by security brought by the other two managers. Fang Shimian vaguely heard a curse, but it was drowned out by the manager’s voice beside him.

Zhu Ze discreetly glanced at Xu Long before looking at Manager Yang, nodding slightly, and leaving a business card with him, “If Shimian needs anything in the future, feel free to contact me.”

Manager Yang, flattered, accepted it, his gaze sliding over the two of them, pausing slightly on Fang Shimian’s beautiful and delicate face, a guess forming in his mind.

Zhu Ze calmly helped Fang Shimian take off his old vest, really like an older brother, holding Fang Shimian’s hand as they walked out of the surveillance room.

Ming Ke followed them out, politely declining the managers’ enthusiastic send-off.

Zhu Ze’s car was parked in the empty spot outside the surveillance room’s corridor. When the driver saw Zhu Ze approaching, he pulled the car out of the spot, opened the back door, and helped the feverish Fang Shimian into the car. As Zhu Ze was about to get in from the other side, Ming Ke stopped him.

Zhu Ze rested his hand on the car door, looking at Ming Ke, his voice calm, “I’ll handle Mr. Huo’s car. Once I find He Yao, I’ll bring him to apologize.”

“No.” Ming Ke smiled formally, “Mr. Huo’s intention is to not let Mr. He appear in Hengshi Group again. If such a malicious incident happens again, legal action will be taken directly.”

Zhu Ze’s expression turned cold, understanding that He Yao had crossed Huo Zhongshan’s line this time, likely using this opportunity to give him a warning.

But it didn’t matter, Zhu Ze didn’t care, closing the car door and driving away.

Once in the car, Zhu Ze started contacting the hospital.

Fang Shimian sat nervously inside the car. He didn’t like any unexpected situations in his routine life, but the person bringing this situation was Zhu Ze, someone who had brought him warmth during his childhood and teenage years. He didn’t know what attitude to take towards him.

It turns out you can still run into acquaintances even when hiding underground. He wondered if the heavens were playing tricks on him again. Fang Shimian pulled his jacket sleeves down a bit, trying to make his voice sound relaxed, “Brother Zhu, I’ll get off here. The Second Hospital is just nearby.”

The driver glanced in the rearview mirror at Zhu Ze, who had just finished his call, only to see him unceremoniously knock on the boy’s head, then instruct, “To Anhe.”

Anhe is currently the world’s top private hospital, with a top-notch medical team, top-tier environment and personalized medical services, the most advanced medical equipment and technology, and the most expensive prices.

Even though Fang Shimian didn’t know much about these hospitals, he had heard of Anhe, which had treated many celebrities and wealthy individuals, gaining a great reputation.

“It’s just a common cold and fever, I don’t want to go.” Fang Shimian lowered his head, leaning against the car door. In the autumn and winter season, he was only wearing a thin black jacket, the label washed to the point of being incomplete, the size not fitting well, making it look oversized and making him appear even thinner.

The jacket’s collar wasn’t fully zipped up, revealing a slender, porcelain-white neck, with a faint black string around it, the pendant unknown, Zhu Ze’s gaze blocked by the white round-neck T-shirt inside the jacket.

“Xiao Mian, do you not want to see me today, or do you not want others to know we know each other?” Zhu Ze sat beside Fang Shimian, taking a bottle of water from the side, unscrewing it, and handing it to him, “Have some water.”

The scenery outside the car window flew by, the vehicle smoothly getting onto the northern city highway.

Fang Shimian looked up at Zhu Ze, feeling a dull pain in his heart, then saw the man’s eyes filled with undisguised joy of regaining something lost. After a silent sigh, he took the water from Zhu Ze’s hand, softly saying, “Thank you, Brother Zhu.”

“You deleted everyone’s contact information back then, and I couldn’t find you after returning from an exchange abroad… Xiao Mian, I heard from Uncle Fang that you didn’t take the college entrance exam, is that true?”

Fang Shimian kept his head down, not answering, his fingers unconsciously picking at the text on the bottle, making some faint sounds.

Seeing this, Zhu Ze understood. He leaned over and hugged Fang Shimian tightly, his warm breath flowing over his ears and cheeks, “Alright, I won’t ask you anymore, don’t think about it.”

Fang Shimian’s body stiffened for a moment. It had been a long time since he had such intimate contact with anyone.

Unaccustomed, very unaccustomed.

It was like grass growing in a dark, damp corner being pulled onto an asphalt road to be exposed to the sun, unable to find support, unable to root firmly, fearing the fast-moving traffic would crush him into mud.

Zhu Ze didn’t notice the fear in the person in his arms, even thinking about how fortune and misfortune are intertwined. The person he had been searching for so long appeared at such a moment, in such a lonely and helpless form, returning to his sight, to his embrace.

The car stopped steadily at Anhe Hospital. A nurse took Fang Shimian to recheck his temperature and do a few tests. After learning they hadn’t had lunch, a menu was brought up. Fang Shimian ordered a bowl of beef noodles, and after finishing his meal, he waited in the spacious and cozy lounge.

A few minutes later, Fang Shimian took the fever-reducing medicine handed to him by the nurse. The doctor came in with the test report, telling them it was just a seasonal flu causing the fever, nothing to worry about.

After about half an hour, Fang Shimian’s temperature had already dropped.

After the nurse carefully explained the medication dosage, Fang Shimian, under Zhu Ze’s watchful eye, finished the red and green pills before being allowed to leave.

It wasn’t until he left the hospital and got into the car that Fang Shimian grabbed his phone and asked, “Brother Zhu, there was no payment.”

The driver hadn’t accompanied them to the hospital, and Zhu Ze had been with him the whole time, with no payment process occurring.

No matter how expensive, whether voluntary or not, Fang Shimian accepted it and wanted to bear it himself.

Zhu Ze chuckled lightly, dismissively saying, “It’s free, don’t worry. When do you have a day off? I’ll take you for a check-up. Look at how thin you’ve become.”

He wasn’t lying. These services were indeed free. Anhe Hospital was under Hengshi Group, and the executives at Hengshi had a fixed number of consultations there, with no restrictions on who could use them.

Many executives used medical quotas to gather resources in their fields, but the group never intervened. The flow of wealth and the ultimate beneficiaries were obvious.

Perhaps the cold medicine contained a sleep-inducing component. After leaving the hospital, Fang Shimian started feeling drowsy. Seeing the driver taking the same highway back, he assumed Zhu Ze planned to drop him off at the surveillance room first, and before falling asleep, he said, “Thank you, sorry for the trouble.”

When he opened his eyes again, he was in an empty office, a white cashmere blanket draped over him, half of it slipping onto the black sofa. Fang Shimian got up, folded the blanket neatly, and placed it aside.

Bright and spacious, in the heart of the city where every inch of land is precious, outside the floor-to-ceiling windows were bustling crowds and vehicles. Having stayed underground for so long, standing high up now, Fang Shimian felt a sense of illusion, checking his phone to see it was 4:30 in the afternoon.

After sitting for a few more minutes, he knew he should wait in place, but the overwhelming urge to use the restroom made it impossible to stay calm. The office had two doors, and Fang Shimian pushed open the one near the corridor to go out.

At the end of the corridor, he vaguely heard the sound of water, and before he got close, he heard people talking.

“Did you know He Yao was fired? He didn’t even come in, the company just gave him compensation.”

“Fired? I thought he and Mr. Huo were really…”

“It’s just a relationship dispute, but it wasn’t Mr. Huo who ordered him to leave, it was Mr. Zhu who personally notified HR.”

The sound of running water abruptly stopped.

“What, isn’t He Yao Mr. Zhu’s cousin? He made it known to everyone when he first came, was it fake news…”

“……”

The corridor was empty, and Fang Shimian had already reached the door, but since the people inside were talking, he decided to take the nearby fire escape to go upstairs. In such office buildings, the restroom locations were usually fixed.

So when he went upstairs and found the room was a pantry, he felt a bit frustrated. But just then, a door opened, and the first person to come out was someone Fang Shimian recognized.

It was the person referred to as Mr. Ke in the surveillance room earlier today.

Seeing him was like seeing a savior, and just as he was about to ask for directions, he saw Mr. Ke stop after opening the door, his eyes slightly lowered, looking respectful.

A man with a strong presence walked out of the room, dressed in a well-tailored dark suit, standing tall. Just from his imposing aura, it was clear this person was used to being in a high position.

Perhaps not expecting someone outside, the man paused slightly upon seeing Fang Shimian.

His faint gaze lightly landed on him, a kind of condescending scrutiny, showing no emotion. Yet, Fang Shimian felt an inexplicable fear rising within him, lowering his head, realizing he might have caused trouble.

Ming Ke, seeing Fang Shimian, was momentarily stunned, then quickly stepped forward to whisper a few words to the man.

Fang Shimian stepped back a bit, intending to take the fire escape downstairs. He wanted to return underground; it was too high here.

At this moment, more people started coming out of the room, all stopping to look at the unfamiliar young man standing not far away.

Ming Ke was about to step forward when he saw Zhu Ze coming out of the meeting room.