The dimly lit night road was illuminated by only two sporadic street lamps.

Yu Zi took two steps forward and walked to Xie Dongcheng’s side.

Seeing the iron egg lost in thought, Yu Zi casually patted his arm. “Could it be that you’re just realizing you’re not straight?”

Xie Dongcheng turned to look into his eyes. The halo of the streetlamp ahead reflected in his pupils, making him seem like a cunning fox in the dark night.

Xie Dongcheng stared for several seconds, even forgetting to respond, before finally blurting out, “Is it heavy? Should I carry it for you?”

Yu Zi chuckled. Such a clumsy attempt to change the subject.

Feeling unusually charitable, he continued walking forward and waved his hand at Xie Dongcheng. “It’s not that heavy.”

These past few days hadn’t been good at all, with gloomy weather. Yu Zi’s clothes hanging on the balcony hadn’t dried. Among the clothes Xie Dongcheng had given him, there was only a basketball tank top that he hadn’t worn yet.

After Xie Dongcheng returned home, he had been busy with his fish. By the time he straightened up, Yu Zi had already finished showering and come out of the steamy bathroom.

The living room was too small, and as soon as Xie Dongcheng turned around, he was suddenly met with this sight.

Yu Zi was wearing his red basketball tank top, lightly drying his damp hair with a towel.

In the past, Yu Zi would go to a regular salon for haircuts and maintenance. However, in the past half year of the family’s bankruptcy, he hadn’t had the mood to take care of himself. Now his hair had grown quite long, with a natural curl at the ends, and the strands on the sides were almost reaching his earlobes.

More importantly, Xie Dongcheng’s tank top was a bit too wide for him, especially around the sleeves. From the side, it almost exposed most of his side waist.

Xie Dongcheng held the siphon tube from the fish tank and felt sweat starting to form on his forehead.

He quickly averted his gaze and said, “It’s a bit cold today.”

Yu Zi retorted, “What’s wrong?”

After two seconds, he realized and chuckled, teasing, “Do you think I’m underdressed?”

Without looking back, Xie Dongcheng pretended to continue tending to the fish. “That’s not what I meant.”

Yu Zi nodded. Since you didn’t mean it that way, I won’t be polite either. He plopped down on the sofa, right next to Xie Dongcheng’s sleeping bedding.

Adjusting his sitting posture, Yu Zi said, “Xie Dongcheng.”

Xie Dongcheng had no choice but to turn his head to look at him.

He was almost lying sideways on the sofa backrest. With his lean back, the fabric of the tank top slid to one side, exposing even more of his waist and nipple.

Smooth, delicate, and even emitting a soft glow as if just bathed in light.

He propped his head with his hand, his expression open and relaxed. “Is your only entertainment these days taking care of these fish?”

Xie Dongcheng wanted to say something but felt like something was stuck in his throat. It took him a while to finally say a word.

After half a minute, he could only instinctively respond, “Fish… fish are good too.”

“Really?”

“Yes. These fish are very pretty,” he stuttered.

If Yu Zi were to stand up now, he would see that Xie Dongcheng had almost stirred up the entire tank of fish.

Then, there was silence in the room for a while.

Seeing that Xie Dongcheng didn’t seem inclined to continue chatting, Yu Zi got up from the sofa, walked over to him, and said, “Occasionally, you could go out on a date or something. Don’t waste this handsome face of yours.”

As he spoke, he was very close to Xie Dongcheng. Xie Dongcheng could almost feel his breath brushing against his neck.

This made him even more tense.

After tossing and turning all night last night, Yu Zi went to bed early that day.

He was getting more and more used to Xie Dongcheng’s bed; he could sleep deeply just by hugging his pillow for a while.

The next morning, Yu Zi heard some noise in the living room and got up along with it.

He had a job interview appointment today, a rare opportunity for a company to screen his resume.

When Xie Dongcheng came out of the kitchen, he saw Yu Zi wearing a neatly ironed shirt, completely devoid of the laziness from the night before. He had carefully combed his hair, the medium-length strands held back by a black hair clip behind his ear, making him look handsome and energetic.

“Do you have something today?” Xie Dongcheng asked, surprised to see Yu Zi looking so put together.

“Yeah, I have an interview on the west side,” Yu Zi replied, looking up. He noticed that Xie Dongcheng seemed to have not slept well last night, with faint dark circles under his eyes.

Xie Dongcheng yawned, a little surprised. “Do you need to find a job too?”

“Otherwise? Should I just sit at home and mooch off you?” Yu Zi retorted.

Xie Dongcheng scratched his head. “I thought people like you would raise a few hundred million in investment from rich people and start from scratch.”

Yu Zi put on his coat and walked up to him. “Xie Dongcheng, read fewer domineering CEO novels.”

After saying this, he opened the door and prepared to leave.

Xie Dongcheng quickly scooped out two hot eggs from the pot. “Hey, you haven’t had breakfast yet!”

“I’m not hungry!” Yu Zi didn’t look back and walked straight out.

The interview he went to today was for the marketing department of a chain resort hotel, which perfectly matched his previous work experience.

However, it seemed like the other party didn’t care about the interview as much as Yu Zi did. He sat in the waiting area for the whole morning, and his phone battery had dropped by half. His patience was at its limit by the time the interviewer finally arrived.

“Sorry for keeping you waiting,” a young male voice came from behind.

When the two met eyes, Yu Zi was stunned.

The man in front of him used to be his direct subordinate, named David, in charge of sales to major clients in the region.

Yu Zi roared inwardly, wondering why on earth were his subordinates everywhere his father’s connections reached?!

Before he could even say hello, the man in front of him spoke first with a smile, “Isn’t this our famous young master Yu? Why did you personally come for the interview today?”

Yu Zi rolled his eyes a hundred times in his mind, thinking, what’s he pretending with me for? I already submitted my resume earlier, why this act of pretending we’re meeting by chance now?

As he sat down in the meeting room chair, he knew that this interview probably had no chance of success.

The man opposite him seemed to be here just to laugh at him. But if he left like this, it would inevitably provoke gossip.

With his hands folded on his knees, Yu Zi looked up at the man.

The man glanced at the thin resume in front of him and smiled, “Does young master Yu still remember me?”

Yu Zi also put on a professional smile. “How could I forget you, David? After all, it’s rare to see someone in the entire marketing department who can’t remember the date of a client’s business dinner.”

David’s face instantly fell, but he quickly regained his composed expression. “Haha, it’s really hard for Young Master Yu to remember such trivial matters. However, I noticed that your salary requirement exceeds our position’s budget.”

Yu Zi couldn’t hold back his nausea anymore but straightened his back. “Is that so? It seems like your company doesn’t prioritize market expansion too much.”

David didn’t bother to play along, “Do you still think that your connections are worth that much money? If I remember correctly, didn’t most of the big clients of the Yu family disappear a long time ago?”

Yu Zi’s lips tightened into a straight line, his face appearing somewhat cold. After three seconds, he spoke, “Mr. David, I’ve always believed that in life, it’s good to leave room for maneuver. After all, the city is so small, and we might meet again in the future.”

David was intrigued by his words and stared at him with interest. “Do you still think that there might be a chance for a comeback in the future? Is there some good strategy? Please advise me, take me along for the ride.”

Yu Zi’s gaze looked sincere. “There’s no strategy. It’s just that there’s something from the past, I don’t know if you remember it. Before you left, there were tens of thousands of dollars unsettled in the accounts. The Yu family may be in trouble, but that doesn’t mean all debts can be wiped away.”

David hadn’t expected him to bring up this matter suddenly.

Yu Zi saw him subconsciously touch his ear and clear his throat several times, his eyes somewhat evasive.

Having vented his anger, he couldn’t sit still anymore. “Since your company isn’t sincerely interested in hiring for this position, let’s not waste each other’s time. I wish you a bright future, but remember to handle things more cleanly in the future. Not all bosses are as easygoing as me.”

Yu Zi’s eyes were bright, his eyelashes curved. At first glance, he seemed harmless. But upon closer inspection of his expression, it felt a bit chilling.

David quickly avoided his gaze and touched his nose.

Yu Zi had lived for so long, and the most handy tool he used was his face.

David stood up from his chair. “I’ll see you off.”

Yu Zi stepped back and patted the hem of his coat. “No need to bother.”

After leaving the hotel, Yu Zi glanced back at the beautiful glass chandelier in the lobby. The autumn air was a bit chilly, and he took a deep breath, heading towards the pedestrian walkway.

North City was a magical place, with extremely luxurious glass curtain wall commercial buildings in the central area, while across the street, there might be a row of low-rise residential houses. Yu Zi used to never notice these corners, but now he had to immerse himself in them.

He was about to reach out to hail a taxi when he hesitated for a moment and retracted his hand. He found a nearby subway station according to the navigation and prepared to get a subway card.

The escalator at the entrance of the subway station was very long, and Yu Zi stood on one step, slowly descending. Before he reached the bottom, his phone rang.

Why would Xie Dongcheng call him in the middle of the afternoon?

“Hello?”

“Is your interview over?”

“Just finished.”

“I parked the car. Do you want me to come pick you up?”

“Why so early today?” Yu Zi glanced at the time; it wasn’t even three in the afternoon.

“The car needs its annual inspection soon. I won’t be driving people this afternoon.”

“Okay, I’ll send you my location.”

Since knowing that he had borrowed money from him, Yu Zi didn’t bother to be overly polite with him. Wrangling over moral high ground wasn’t his style.

After opening his phone, he realized that he still didn’t have Xie Dongcheng’s WeChat, so he couldn’t send his location.

Just as he was about to dial back, his phone received a text message. Xie Dongcheng had sent his WeChat ID directly.

His brain seemed to be working better now.

In less than twenty minutes, Xie Dongcheng’s car stopped at the subway entrance.

Yu Zi took off his coat and hung it on his arm, then got into the passenger seat.

Although he had seen this car a few times these days, today was the first time he had actually sat in it.

Xie Dongcheng still looked a little embarrassed on his face and touched his nose. “It’s a bit cramped in here. Sorry about that. This car is small.”

The seats were indeed a bit crowded, and Yu Zi felt like his legs couldn’t stretch out. He adjusted the seat angle and felt a bit more comfortable.

Yu Zi turned to look at Xie Dongcheng in the driver’s seat and couldn’t help but find it a bit funny. Most of his frustration from the failed interview dissipated.

Xie Dongcheng’s forehead was almost touching the ceiling, and the seat had to be adjusted to the farthest distance just to fit his long legs.

“Why don’t you get a bigger car?” Yu Zi asked casually.

“Can’t afford it,” Xie Dongcheng answered honestly. “This is still a second-hand car that I bought.”

Yu Zi never cared if his words would hurt people’s feelings, but for some reason, he felt a bit uncomfortable now. Poverty really can change a person.

After driving for more than a hundred meters, Xie Dongcheng suddenly glanced at the rearview mirror and chuckled, “Hehe, but your Bentley was still a joy to drive.”

Yu Zi suddenly felt that his pity was worthless.

He sat bored in the passenger seat, not caring where Xie Dongcheng was taking him. He pulled out his phone, and the page was still on the chat conversation with Xie Dongcheng.

Yu Zi then noticed his WeChat profile picture, which was a photo of a little boy.

Without looking up, he asked directly, “Is this your own profile picture?”

“Yeah. It’s a picture of me when I was five,” Xie Dongcheng nodded, then turned on the right turn signal.

Yu Zi clicked on the picture to enlarge it. The little boy was wearing an obviously oversized white jacket. The background didn’t look like a playground or school; it looked more like an old courtyard.

His thoughts were interrupted by Xie Dongcheng’s question, “How was the interview today?”

“Not great.”

“You didn’t hit it off?”

“Encountered a tough nut,” Yu Zi didn’t plan to explain too much.

“It’s okay. If they can’t appreciate you, it’s their loss,” Xie Dongcheng stepped on the gas, and the car accelerated again.

It was the first time Yu Zi had been comforted like a child by someone. He turned to look at the person beside him. Compared to David, this buzz cut guy was much more adorable.

The car turned onto an unfamiliar road.

“How much can you earn in a day driving?” Yu Zi suddenly asked.

“Five to six hundred on a good day, one to two hundred on a bad day,” Xie Dongcheng didn’t hesitate to answer, “Why do you ask?”

“You know, should I also get a car and drive like you?” Yu Zi toyed with the ornament on his center console, and the little pig-shaped doll began to sway from side to side with his finger movements.

“Don’t tease me, boss. You have a high education and are smart. You’re going to make big money in the future. Leave the exhausting work like driving to me.”

Yu Zi found his words quite useful and joked back, “Okay. I’ll buy back that Bentley later.”

Xie Dongcheng chuckled, “Boss, I heard the Rolls-Royce Phantom is even better to drive. When you have money, go buy one of those. Then, wear a black suit and sunglasses. I’ll drive you to the building of the company you just interviewed for, to show off.”

Yu Zi turned his head, a bit speechless, “Xie Dongcheng, I told you to read fewer CEO novels.”