Chapter 10

Chi Xiting was momentarily stunned, his mind going blank. He had been contemplating the project’s key issues, but suddenly, his thoughts were completely wiped out.

“Apologies,” Chi Xiting sincerely apologized, moving his hand away from the rotating tray, no longer wanting to touch it for a while.

Normally, given his professional demeanor, he would never do something like letting a leader serve himself or rotate the table.

Perhaps it’s because…

He had become too relaxed.

Chi Xiting slowly poked at the empty plate in front of him.

Both Chu Yu and Shen Zhizhe were down-to-earth, and he himself had also stopped caring much about work. While he still had muscle memory for business matters and tried to perform well, when it came to interpersonal relationships outside of work, he couldn’t be bothered to invest any effort into maintaining them.

He didn’t care much if they fired him.

His current situation was much better than his previous life.

His family background wasn’t particularly great, but they were comfortably middle-class. His parents had a harmonious relationship, each with their own job, and their family was financially stable, so Chi Xiting didn’t need to work to support them.

Unlike his previous life.

His family had been like an endless pit, draining money from him since he was old enough to understand. Every penny he earned just seemed to disappear without making any difference.

His family was like a beast bound in chains, never hurting him but always holding him back, forcing him to prioritize them before making any decision.

He couldn’t afford to relax, couldn’t oppose his leaders, couldn’t afford to quit without a plan.

By the time he was under 30, his life had been trapped by his family.

But now, it was all over.

At least he had his own intern. Shen Zhizhe wouldn’t allow him to be bullied by Chu Yu, so after a hiss, he said, “Why bully a child? If he wants to rotate the table, let him.”

Now it was fine.

The person who couldn’t even serve himself didn’t dare to take action.

Shen Zhizhe shot Chu Yu a reproachful glance.

Chu Yu: “…”

Chi Xiting stared up at Shen Zhizhe, his face clearly showing “what is going on, I don’t understand.” When he saw Shen Zhizhe continue to glare at Chu Yu, he clenched his fists and lowered his face.

His neck itched.

He felt like he was missing a rope.

Chu Yu glanced at Chi Xiting.

Chi Xiting lowered his head, his hair dark and thick, the tips slightly curly, and obediently brushed against his neck. A few stray hairs at the top of his head stuck up, then drooped down as he lowered his head.

He looked pitiful.

Indeed, as Shen Zhizhe had said, he was too shy to serve himself. With his head down, he poked at the plate with his chopsticks, his brows furrowed as if deep in thought.

Chu Yu’s fingers slightly curled, brushing against the chopsticks. His eyes behind the lenses were momentarily confused and hesitant, and after a while, he let out a faint sigh.

Chu Yu used the serving chopsticks to pick up a shrimp and expressionlessly placed it on Chi Xiting’s plate. Seeing Chi Xiting look at him in surprise, his lips parted slightly and he said, “Eat.”

Chi Xiting stared at Chu Yu for a while in shock, then stubbornly tried to read his expression. After some silence, he quietly thanked him and put Chu Yu’s “intention” into his mouth.

Chu Yu didn’t serve any more food to Chi Xiting.

After Chi Xiting swallowed the shrimp, he glanced back at Chu Yu.

Chu Yu’s posture was upright, elegant, with narrow eyes and beautiful arcing eyelids. His lashes almost touched the lenses of his glasses.

Perhaps noticing Chi Xiting’s gaze, Chu Yu lazily glanced at him, the corner of his brow lifting slightly, and asked, “What? Do you want me to serve you more?”

Chi Xiting: “…I dare not.”

Chi Xiting quickly smiled at Chu Yu and then turned his head, treating Chu Yu’s words as a way to brush off the earlier issue about the table. He struggled for a moment, then gently rotated the table.

Chu Yu and Shen Zhizhe didn’t react.

Fine.

Continue eating!

Chi Xiting immediately felt much more relaxed, diving into his meal.

—-

In the middle of the meal, a server knocked on the door. Chi Xiting looked up and saw the server coming toward him with a round tray, on which was a fresh king crab.

Chi Xiting glanced at it and then turned his attention away.

He knew this was a common procedure in most restaurants.

To showcase the quality of the ingredients.

After the server showed the crab to them, he was about to leave, but just as he turned, he was unexpectedly stopped by Chu Yu.

The server quickly bent down beside Chu Yu, asking, “Sir, is there anything I can assist with?”

Noticing something was off, Chi Xiting looked up at the situation.

Chu Yu was speaking with the server, but his voice was low, and with the door to the private room open, mixed with the noise from outside, Chi Xiting couldn’t hear clearly. He vaguely noticed the server glance at him before nodding at Chu Yu.

Perhaps they were talking about the bill?

Why is he looking at him?

He couldn’t understand.

His mind barely moved before he became too lazy to think.

It shouldn’t have much to do with him.

Why bother thinking so much?

He, carefree, lowered his head to continue enjoying the delicious food. He happily put the fresh shrimp into his mouth, feeling his cheeks puff out from the shrimp, and as he chewed, the entire mouth was filled with the fresh flavor of shrimp.

He wasn’t very hungry, so he casually ate a couple of bites before stopping his chopsticks.

It seemed like someone had suffered quite a bit while traveling, eating quickly. Before long, he had eaten enough to feel half full, stopped, relaxed for a while, and then turned to talk with him again.

He felt completely satisfied, both mentally and physically, after the meal. He gently patted his rounded belly and glanced at him, thinking about a good excuse to leave.

They were probably talking about work.

He caught a bit of their conversation.

Next week, he would be traveling to M city, so he had to try to resolve the C city project before he left.

He nodded, lowered his eyes, and quickly went through the list of people he could assign to handle the project.

One person had good abilities, but her current projects seemed to be quite a lot. Giving her this mess might be a bit too much.

Another person was also supposed to be on a business trip in a few days.

After quickly considering the personnel, he felt a bit overwhelmed and couldn’t come up with a good choice.

Should he assign it to the intern?

He glanced at him, and his gaze stopped for a moment on his face.

He felt a chill behind him and quickly withdrew his gaze, which had been observing the two leaders.

“What are you thinking about, Xiao Chi?” he asked.

He honestly responded, “I’m thinking of a reasonable excuse.”

He: “?”

He also looked over, his eyes dark behind his glasses.

He pressed his lips together, his tone a bit awkward, and said politely, “So I can go home early.”

He: “…”

He was momentarily stunned. His lips opened and closed a couple of times, then he gave him a deep look and turned his gaze to him.

Though both were his superiors, he was the one who invited them, and had the highest rank, so it wasn’t up to him to make a decision about him leaving.

Since the kid said he wanted to leave…

“Alright.” After a pause, he spoke, “You can go.”

He blinked, too lazy to think too much about the leaders’ words or internalize the situation. He didn’t want to overthink whether leaving would affect their impression of him. Instead, he smiled openly at him and answered, “Okay, I’ll leave now.”

He nodded.

He immediately stood up, his gaze lingering on him for a few seconds.

He watched him stand up, smiling and observing him with some curiosity. When he looked back, he smiled and waved his hand, saying, “See you at the meeting on Monday.”

He: “…”

Damn.

Why does he always say things that make him want to die?

“Alright,” he said, forcing a smile. He also waved at him and said, “Manager.”

He finished speaking and then turned to leave the private room.

He blinked innocently, smiling as he watched him leave. After the door to the room closed, he turned to him and asked, “Was he just subtly mocking me?”

He said “Manager” with so much resentment?

He calmly withdrew his gaze, a sharp smile curling at the corner of his lips. His tone was cool as he replied, “Wasn’t it obvious?”

He: “… This kid, no respect.”

“Are you two having a meeting on Monday?” he suddenly asked.

“Yeah.” He crossed his legs. “I haven’t been in the company for two weeks, so I need to evaluate the work situation of my team when I return.”

“As for the interns,” he rubbed his chin and continued, “It doesn’t really matter whether they participate. I can’t care about interns, but calling them this time shows I’m giving them some attention, and also makes the older employees tighten up a bit.”

Although he wasn’t in the company, he still had a general understanding of the department’s situation.

He wasn’t a very strict or difficult boss. Occasionally, he could joke around with his subordinates without a problem, but when it came to work-related matters, he was much stricter.

He didn’t comment, lowering his eyes to take a sip of tea, keeping his opinions on his management style to himself.

When he mentioned the Monday meeting, he, in a playful mood, turned to him and said, “So, Mr., do you have time on Monday? Wanna sit in on the meeting?”

He snorted with a laugh, took off his glasses, rubbed the arms of the glasses, and after a long pause, put them back on, tapping the table casually.

He nodded knowingly, “Got it, got it. I’ll pack it.”

Seeing that he didn’t respond to his previous question, he didn’t press further. He was just asking out of habit, not really expecting him to attend a department meeting.

The time of a capitalist is money.

For someone at his level, time was even more valuable than money.

He raised his hand and called over the waiter to pack the leftovers.

Meanwhile, he was about to leave the restaurant when he was stopped by someone.

“Good afternoon, sir,” a waiter said to him. “Thank you for dining with us. This is a small gift from our restaurant. We wish you a happy life and hope to see you again soon.”

He paused, his gaze lingering on the waiter’s face for a couple of seconds. He felt like he had seen him before.

It was probably the same waiter who entered their private room earlier.

“Thank you.” He hesitated for a moment before taking the small gift from the waiter and politely expressing his thanks.

Chi Xiting’s eyes were very beautiful, gentle and soft, clean and clear, with the smile in the corners of his eyes deepening as it reached his pupils.

The server’s smile involuntarily became more sincere, and after giving a small bow to Chi Xiting, she left.

Chi Xiting tilted his head slightly and lowered his gaze to examine the small gift.

It wasn’t a large item, wrapped in a delicate little bag.

Chi Xiting wasn’t someone who could resist curiosity, so he couldn’t help but open the bag right there.

Inside were almond crisps and a piece of tea leaves.

Chi Xiting blinked in slight surprise, then slowly blinked again. His hand holding the paper bag tightened for a moment, and his brain finally started to process the situation. He hesitated and looked toward the direction of the private room.

Just as he did, a server pushed open the door and entered. The wooden door opened and closed, and Chi Xiting caught a glimpse of Chu Yu’s profile, seated by the door.

Chu Yu?

It seemed that Chu Yu noticed Chi Xiting’s gaze, as he looked over, and their eyes met briefly through the air. Chu Yu then lowered his gaze, and his eyes lingered on the small bag in Chi Xiting’s hand for a moment.

Chu Yu?

The server helped Shen Zhizhe pack, and Shen Zhizhe left the private room with Chu Yu. As they passed the front hall, they saw that Chi Xiting, who had already planned to leave, was still standing at the door.

“Didn’t you leave already?” Shen Zhizhe casually greeted Chi Xiting. “Why are you still here?”

Chi Xiting replied, “I just went to the bathroom.”

“Oh, I see.” Shen Zhizhe glanced at Chi Xiting while swinging the car keys. “Where do you live? Do you want me to give you a ride?”

Chi Xiting’s gaze lingered on the car keys for a moment before he reluctantly looked away.

Damn.

The evil capitalist.

“No, thank you,” Chi Xiting politely declined. “I live near the office, just a couple of steps away.”

Shen Zhizhe had only asked casually and wasn’t serious about offering a ride. Hearing the response, he just grinned and said, “That’s good. Short commute time, makes work a bit more comfortable.”

Chi Xiting gave a dry laugh. “Haha, yes.”

Comfortable, my ass.

Work was never comfortable.

It seemed that Shen Zhizhe had heard the fake tone in Chi Xiting’s smile. Chu Yu, who had been silent, glanced at Chi Xiting.

Realizing Chu Yu was looking at him, Chi Xiting immediately stopped his fake smile.

“What’s that you’re holding?” Shen Zhizhe asked again.

“Just some snacks,” Chi Xiting replied, lifting the little bag in his hand and casually glancing at Chu Yu. He continued, “The server gave it to me.”

Shen Zhizhe exaggerated, “Wow, that’s crazy. I’ve never received anything like that.”

Chu Yu remained silent, his gaze lingering on the little bag for a second before he moved his eyes away without changing his expression.

Noticing Chu Yu’s gaze, Chi Xiting tightened his grip on the small bag for a moment, then naturally withdrew his hand, clasping the bag behind his back. He slowly responded to Shen Zhizhe.

“I don’t know. Maybe they think you’ve become a little out of touch with the masses.”

Driving such a nice car.

Is he out of his mind?

Shen Zhizhe: “?”

Chu Yu: “…”