Chapter 4: The President and Massage Chair 04

The next morning, Tang Bin woke up in a panic and ran back home from the mall. He grabbed his briefcase and laptop before heading off to work.

He had spent another night sleeping in the mall, but once again, no one had noticed.

However, Tang Bin’s understanding of the world wasn’t sharp enough to sense anything unusual. He still worked diligently the whole day, even staying late to finish some tasks. He wasn’t hungry at dinner and just wanted to sleep when he got home.

Fortunately, today, Long Ke didn’t bring back any of those women who made strange noises.

Tang Bin took a shower and was about to go to bed when Long Ke, who was used to his habits, still asked with concern:

“Are you okay, Le Yang?”

“Huh? I’m fine,” Tang Bin shook his head.

“Where did you sleep last night?” Long Ke asked.

“I couldn’t sleep, so I just went for a walk in the department store and slept on one of their chairs.”

“XX Shopping Mall? Don’t they clean up people there at night?”

“Clean people?” Tang Bin looked confused.

Long Ke scratched his head. He already knew what kind of person Le Yang was. This kid never lied, so if he said he slept on a chair, it definitely wasn’t because he went out to chase girls.

But obviously, Long Ke wasn’t focusing on that.

He leaned closer to Tang Bin and gave a sly smile: “Did I keep you up last night?”

“Hmm.” Tang Bin nodded honestly, “It was a bit loud.”

“…” Long Ke was taken aback. “Was it really that loud? Why didn’t you tell me?”

Tang Bin thought for a moment: “It wasn’t that loud. It just felt a little… strange. Hmm.”

He couldn’t quite explain what felt strange. Looking back, it was just a tiny sound—something that normally wouldn’t bother his sleep. But last night, the more he listened, the more uncomfortable he felt. His whole body just felt odd.

He described this feeling to Long Ke, who, knowing Tang Bin was a virgin and had never been in a relationship, wasn’t shocked or surprised. He just patted him on the back with a serious expression.

“You’re not a kid anymore. You should get yourself a girlfriend.”

As Long Ke spoke, he took a cigarette and put it in his mouth, speaking muffled through it: “Then you’ll understand what it’s all about.”

As soon as “getting a girlfriend” was mentioned, the image of President Shang’s extraordinarily handsome face flashed in Tang Bin’s mind. Suddenly, he remembered his task and his goal.

He had been so immersed in work the whole day that he hadn’t had time to think about how to approach a relationship with President Shang.

Of course, even now that he had time, he still couldn’t figure it out.

Tang Bin turned his gaze to Long Ke and suddenly thought to himself: with so many women constantly coming and going around Long Ke, he must be a relationship expert, changing women practically every few days.

So, he quickly grabbed Long Ke, who was about to go out for a smoke.

“What are you doing? I’m going out for a smoke,” Long Ke said.

The original owner had a bit of a cleanliness obsession and couldn’t stand the smell of smoke, so Long Ke always smoked outside in the hallway.

But Tang Bin didn’t mind at all, and he didn’t care about secondhand smoke either. He pulled Long Ke back and asked:

“How do you get someone to… HE?”

“What?” Long Ke didn’t understand. “What’s HE?”

“Happy Ending. Like, how do I have a perfect ending with someone? How do I get someone to HE?”

Long Ke: “…”

It seemed like Tang Bin had someone he liked. Long Ke put out the cigarette he had been smoking, set it down, and stopped smoking. He pulled Tang Bin to sit down.

“Whoa, looks like our little Le Yang is thinking about the long-term. Have you even got this person yet? You just want the perfect ending.”

“Not yet,” Tang Bin said dejectedly. “He’s a really important person, a big client of our company, a big boss. I can’t even see him easily.”

Long Ke thought to himself, damn, it’s a rich woman. He was always a bit inappropriate, but this time, he got excited and said to Tang Bin, “It’s normal you can’t see them, but if you like someone, you have to go after them. Chase! You understand?”

“Chase him?”

“Yes, chase her! You’re the kind of young guy that’s popular these days. You’re good-looking, capable, and maybe she’ll like someone like you.”

Tang Bin: “…”

Just thinking about President Shang made him blush, and if he imagined himself in front of President Shang…

He just wanted to bury his face in the couch cushions!

And also…

“But I can’t even see him normally…”

Tang Bin gave a frustrated, almost tearful expression.

He was worried about his task, but to others, it really looked like he was hopelessly falling in love.

That was exactly how it seemed.

Long Ke scratched his head. He was just joking around with his advice and didn’t actually think someone like his roommate could chase after a rich person.

He had been out in society for a long time and had seen a lot.

He was from a completely different world.

However, seeing his roommate’s pitiful expression, Long Ke couldn’t bear to crush his hopes, so he tried asking, “Isn’t she collaborating with your company now?”

“Yeah, that’s right,” Tang Bin replied. “I’m mainly in charge of his project.”

“Then it’s settled!” Long Ke clapped his hands. “This is what you should do: first, focus on doing your work well. Get her to recognize your abilities, make more of an impression, and increase your visibility. That’ll naturally give you a chance.”

“Really?”

“Really, really.”

“…”

Tang Bin blinked his big eyes at him. Although Long Ke was saying all this, he still felt like this step was incredibly difficult.

Even though Long Ke wasn’t discouraging him, based on the original owner’s memories, Tang Bin had a clear understanding of his social status. He wasn’t confident that a small-time employee from a small company like himself could catch the eye of a big shot.

“Go for it!” Long Ke continued to cheer him on. Seeing Tang Bin’s face suddenly turn red, Long Ke shook his head and sighed, “You’re still too inexperienced. Just keep practicing and it’ll get better. Trust me, you’ve got this.”

In the end, Long Ke went outside to smoke.

Tang Bin returned to his room alone. He had clearly remembered Long Ke’s words—he needed to push himself, to work hard—but he still had no idea how to even show up in front of the person he liked.

Tang Bin, in a bit of a daze, kept thinking about this and that, and eventually fell asleep.

Every day after that passed in the same way as the previous day. This was the life of a programmer—waking up early to work, working until dark, working late into the night, sleeping, and then starting all over again.

Tang Bin, in order to complete the Ruida project as soon as possible and meet President Shang, worked himself to the bone, sacrificing sleep and food. He worked so much that even the other people in the office began to worry about him.

Apart from wanting to meet President Shang and increase his visibility, whenever he had free time and his mind went blank, he would think about this extremely difficult task and the various problems he would face if he couldn’t complete it.

Although in this world, if you couldn’t complete it, there was always another world, just the thought of it terrified Tang Bin. When no one was around, he would even cry uncontrollably.

This state of mind was too unbearable. Fortunately, he could only focus on one thing at a time, and as long as he immersed himself in his work, the urge to cry would disappear.

Thus, a week passed, and Tang Bin lost a lot of weight.

He had always been thin, but now he looked like he had been drained of life, nearly skin and bones.

Yet even so, he continued to sit at his desk with dark circles under his eyes.

At 8 o’clock in the morning, a colleague who had arrived early to avoid the rush saw him hunched over at his desk and was startled. “Holy crap, don’t tell me you slept here last night, too?!”

Tang Bin’s messy hair gave a vague, yet clear, answer to the question.

“You’re working too hard! Even if it’s for the bonus, you still have to make sure you have the energy to enjoy it!” Another colleague, who was also working on the Ruida project, couldn’t help but voice their concern.

“It’s fine,” Tang Bin replied. “I get at least six hours of sleep every night. I monitor my sleep scientifically.”

He picked up the small alarm clock on his desk and shook it.

“…”

At this moment, the office door opened again, and it was Hu Xiaobing, who had arrived for work.

He walked in with a neutral expression, placing a box of milk and a cream cake roll on Tang Bin’s desk.

“Here, I brought you breakfast.”

“Thanks.” As soon as Tang Bin saw the cake he liked, he instantly brightened up, his smile wide and genuine.

Sweet foods were his hobby, unrelated to the original owner.

Even though the original owner, Le Yang, didn’t like sweets, as soon as Tang Bin arrived in this world, he was shocked by the deliciousness of such soft, sweet, and utterly satisfying food! This world had such wonderful things that, with a single bite, brought so much happiness!

Humanity’s world was truly wonderful, sniffle.

“I’ll treat you to lunch!” he said.

For the past couple of days, Hu Xiaobing had been bringing him breakfast spontaneously, always things he liked, and they were always high quality, a bit pricey.

Hu Xiaobing only ever bought the best.

Even if he wasn’t very observant, Tang Bin had noticed that Hu Xiaobing was different from the others in the office. He always ate better food, his movements were always more graceful than the others, and even his T-shirt was of much better quality compared to the random ones other IT guys just threw on. The patterns were nice, the color was good, and the fit looked even better on him.

From what colleagues whispered, every item of Hu Xiaobing’s clothing was priced between one thousand and two thousand yuan.

Tang Bin, who could buy a whole truckload of clothes for the price of a thousand yuan, was stunned and realized that Hu Xiaobing was a hidden rich guy.

But he didn’t want to take advantage of him.

Tang Bin had thought about offering to pay for breakfast, but he found out that Hu Xiaobing wouldn’t accept it, and if he insisted, it would only make him angry.

Although he didn’t fully understand why, Tang Bin didn’t want to upset a colleague who cared for him, so he spontaneously invited him to lunch instead.

Hu Xiaobing readily accepted. The two of them had been having lunch together for the past few days.

“Hey, what’s going on with you two?” A colleague nearby, who had been watching, looked confused. “Hey Xiaobing, I didn’t eat breakfast either, is there any food left?”

Hu Xiaobing replied with a neutral expression, “No.”

Colleague: “…Then what about Le Yang? You’re not sharing with your brother?”

Tang Bin… Tang Bin didn’t even hear him call his name.

While the disgruntled colleague sulked and moped at his seat, Tang Bin was completely absorbed in his delicious breakfast.

He could only focus on one thing at a time, especially when it came to something he really loved to eat. Once his taste buds were immersed in the cool, soft cream cake, he couldn’t hear anything else.

It wasn’t until he had eaten the cake, bit by bit, that Tang Bin got up to throw away the trash and stretch his muscles. Only then did he notice that a colleague was huddled behind the computer, looking at him with a complex expression.

Tang Bin: ???

Although the work was tedious and demanding, there was still a lot of fun in the office.

Even Tang Bin’s hardworking attitude had an impact on others. Normally, when people slack off and see someone working diligently for the first time, it might not seem significant, but by the tenth time they slack off and notice that person still working tirelessly, it does affect them.

Tang Bin’s long hours of focused and diligent work had impressed others, and the entire office’s efficiency had gone up another notch.

Although he was completely unaware of it himself.

Around lunchtime, Tang Bin ordered takeout. Just as the food was about to arrive, his phone rang. The name “President Shang” appeared on the screen, giving Tang Bin a shock.

The last time he checked his phone and was teased by a colleague, he had changed the contact name for “Male Lead.”

But the male lead was still the male lead, and it was the call from his target. Tang Bin’s heart immediately skipped a beat.

He wiped the sweat off his palms with his pants, then carefully picked up the phone and pressed the answer button.

“Hello?”

“Le Yang, hello, this is Shang Chengjun. You remember me, right?” The male lead’s unique deep voice boomed from the speaker.

Tang Bin felt his ears heat up and stammered, “I-I remember. President Shang, is there something you need?”

Shang Chengjun chuckled, speaking with an even more precise enunciation than a broadcaster: “Actually, there is something. I had an idea, and I want to meet you to discuss it. Do you have time for lunch?”

“Yes, yes, yes!” Tang Bin answered without thinking.

“Great, then I’ll come pick you up downstairs at your company.”

“Okay… okay,” Tang Bin said.

“I’ll be there soon, so get ready and come down.” Shang Chengjun added.

Tang Bin hadn’t expected it to be so coincidental—Shang Zong was coming just as he said.

He obediently hung up the phone and told Hu Xiaobing to have lunch by himself today. He quickly tidied up his messy desk before heading downstairs.

Hu Xiaobing was stunned for a moment, then said that was great—he could enjoy a two-person portion of food by himself today.

—

Including the time waiting for the elevator, it was a bit of a coincidence. As soon as Tang Bin reached the lobby, a silver-gray car stopped right in front of him with a screech.

The car window rolled down, revealing Shang Chengjun’s handsome face.

Shang Chengjun said, “Get in.”

“Oh, oh, oh.” Tang Bin didn’t dare waste any time and quickly climbed into the car.

The window was rolled up, blocking the sunlight and heat from outside. Shang Chengjun asked, “What do you want to eat? My treat.”

“Gugu chicken!” Tang Bin answered without thinking.

Immediately, he regretted it and quickly added, “President Shang, is there something you’d like to eat? I-I’ll treat you.”

Shang Chengjun smiled again, looking amused, and then asked directly, “What is Gugu chicken? I want to try it.”

Gugu chicken was a Korean restaurant not far from the office building.

The restaurant was a bit small, but the environment was decent, with a somewhat artsy vibe in its decor, making it look quite unique.

Tang Bin had always ordered takeout before, so this was his first time visiting. Overall, he was quite satisfied, it matched well with Shang Chengjun’s high-end suit.

However, since it was mealtime, the restaurant was a bit crowded, which wasn’t ideal for discussing a project.

Just as he was feeling a bit annoyed, a menu suddenly appeared in front of him, and Shang Chengjun’s long fingers rested on it.

Tang Bin looked up and met Shang Chengjun’s slightly mischievous smile and sharp gaze. His face immediately heated up, and he instinctively lowered his head to look at the menu, just hearing Shang Chengjun say, “You order. I’ve never eaten here before. What do you recommend?”

Specialties…

Tang Bin subconsciously glanced up at him again, then quickly lowered his head to look at the menu.

The rising heat had firmly taken over his face and ears, and Tang Bin knew his face must be very red by now.

He felt so hot!

In order to distract himself and ease the discomfort, Tang Bin began to seriously pick the dishes.

Gugu chicken and sweet and sour pork were must-orders.

Besides those, he also ordered cold noodles, squid and seaweed rolls, and pan-fried pork ribs.

Later, he realized that, apart from the main dish, everything else he ordered was meat, so he added a vegetable salad and miso soup.

“Sir, our portions are large. With so many dishes, the two of you might not finish them,” the waiter politely reminded him that he had ordered too much.

Tang Bin finally realized that he had indeed ordered too much for just the two of them to finish.

“Then let’s not…”

“Let’s keep these,” Shang Chengjun’s pleasant voice interrupted. He smiled and said, “I eat a lot. And if we don’t finish, we can take it to go.”

“…” Tang Bin blinked, thinking that what Shang Chengjun said made sense.

The waiter went to place the order. Without the menu to hide behind, Tang Bin didn’t know where to look.

Shang Chengjun, on the other hand, always had topics to talk about with him, most of which were related to Tang Bin’s professional knowledge.

Tang Bin didn’t expect Shang Chengjun to know so much about his field. In addition to this, Shang Chengjun seemed to know everything, from astronomy to geography, and had traveled to many places. He shared stories of his experiences and introduced many interesting and delicious places, almost all of which were things Tang Bin had never even considered before.

With his curiosity piqued, Tang Bin threw aside his nervousness and unease. As the dishes arrived, they ate and chatted, and time passed quickly. Before he knew it, it was almost time for Tang Bin’s afternoon break. He had to pat his full stomach and bid farewell to Shang Chengjun.

Only then did he realize they had almost finished everything they ordered.

When it was time to leave, Tang Bin rushed to pay the bill, but Shang Chengjun grabbed his hand and stopped him. Tang Bin struggled, but Shang Chengjun, with an unmistakable gesture, pulled the skinny Tang Bin into his arms and took out his phone to scan the payment code on the register. He directly topped up a prepaid card.

The card had three different top-up options: top up 300 and get 30 extra, top up 500 and get 50 extra, top up 1,000 and get 100 extra.

Shang Chengjun said, “Top up 1,000.”

Tang Bin: “…”

After receiving the card, Shang Chengjun directly put it into Tang Bin’s pocket and smiled, “You keep this card for me, and as for the money on it… please help me spend it.”

Tang Bin: “…”

Tang Bin was only wearing a T-shirt, so Shang Chengjun directly put the card into his pants pocket.

For some reason, Tang Bin felt the place where Shang Chengjun had slipped the card in was warm and heavy, making it hard for him to walk normally.

It felt too hot there, and Tang Bin didn’t even dare to touch the card with his hand.

He could only blush and solemnly say, “I can keep the card for you, but I won’t spend the money on it!”

“Well, then next time I come, can we eat together again?” Shang Chengjun asked, half in question, half in declaration. He casually draped his arm around Tang Bin’s shoulders and led the little man, who was now walking awkwardly, out the door.

So cute.

Shang Chengjun couldn’t help but smile inwardly.

When he sent Tang Bin back, Shang Chengjun asked, “Do you want to go fishing with me this weekend?”

Of course, Tang Bin wanted to go fishing.

He subconsciously nodded and answered, “Yes!”

But then, after blurting it, he suddenly remembered his work… He hadn’t rested last weekend.

It wasn’t that the work was too much to finish, but rather that once he entered work mode, he strangely found himself in an almost inescapable state, where he didn’t want to take a break.

Yet just now, he had agreed to Shang Chengjun’s invitation without thinking…

Tang Bin stared blankly, not understanding what was going on with him.

He had only recently transformed into a human and still didn’t understand many of the emotions humans experience, but he was very curious about them.

At this moment, Shang Chengjun said somewhat apologetically, “Are you worried about work? Did the condition I added later cause you any trouble?”

“Huh?” Tang Bin snapped out of his thoughts and quickly explained, “No, no, no trouble at all. I just want to finish the task sooner, so I can…”

He swallowed the last three words back into his throat.

It wasn’t because it would be awkward to say, but because he suddenly realized—just now, the male lead had asked him to meet over the weekend! He had been working so hard just so he could meet the male lead!

Of course, saying it out loud would be awkward, but Tang Bin was no longer aware of that.

All he knew now was that Shang Chengjun had asked him to meet over the weekend!

Brother Long’s words were still clearly echoing in his mind. He needed to be more proactive, to make his presence felt… Tang Bin excitedly grabbed onto the corner of Shang Chengjun’s shirt. “I’m free! President Shang, I’m free this weekend!”

“…That’s good,” Shang Chengjun said. “Then it’s settled. We’ll contact each other by phone when the time comes.”

The car drove all the way to the parking lot under Tang Bin’s company building.

Tang Bin, still a bit confused, heard Shang Chengjun say, “It’s too hot outside. I’m afraid you’ll get sunburned. We can take the underground parking lot directly up to your floor, right?”

“Yes, we can,” Tang Bin replied.

For some reason, his face turned red again.

How strange, the car’s air conditioning was perfectly fine…

After they arrived, Tang Bin got out of the car and was watched by Shang Chengjun until he entered the elevator. Only then did he realize… Shang Chengjun had been chatting with him the entire time, but it seemed like he hadn’t talked about any new ideas or mentioned anything related to the project Tang Bin was working on.

Just as he was feeling puzzled, Tang Bin heard a ‘ding-dong’ sound in his head, and the system announced:

【The day’s settlement is complete. Congratulations, host, you have received three landmines and one grenade!】