Chapter 24

Chu Yu looked at Chi Xiting with a half-smile, as if helplessly shaking his head. It was a subtle movement, and Chi Xiting wasn’t sure if he had seen it correctly.

“Are you hungry?” Chu Yu casually wiped his hair with a towel, the motion relaxed. His eyes, narrow at the corners, and long, straight eyelashes, became more noticeable when dampened by water.

Chi Xiting paused and then replied, “Yes.”

They had had lunch on the plane, but the quality of the airplane meal was mediocre. Chi Xiting was picky about food, so after eating just a few bites to fill his stomach, he didn’t eat more. Now, after several hours, that little bit of food had long been digested.

Chu Yu put the towel down and said, “Wait a moment.”

Chi Xiting nodded. He was always obedient to the leader.

Chu Yu proceeded with his tasks in an organized manner—blowing his hair dry, changing clothes, tying his tie, putting on his watch—all done leisurely and with a sense of ease.

Half an hour later, Chu Yu said to Chi Xiting, “Let’s go.”

Chi Xiting had been waiting so long that he felt exhausted. He looked at Chu Yu with weak eyes.

Such a meticulous man.

When Chi Xiting approached Chu Yu, he could distinctly smell a faint scent of pine needles after snow—soft, but very pleasant and recognizable.

Chi Xiting was so caught up in the smell that he lost focus for a moment and nearly passed the door, only for Chu Yu to pull him back just in time.

“Watch where you’re going.” Chu Yu released his grip on Chi Xiting’s arm, his suit sleeve accidentally brushing against Chi Xiting’s wrist. Chi Xiting instinctively looked down and saw Chu Yu’s long fingers and the delicate watch on his wrist.

A new watch.

Chi Xiting took a quick glance and made a judgment.

“Do you like it?” Chu Yu glanced at Chi Xiting’s gaze on his watch and raised an eyebrow, asking.

Chi Xiting was honest. “I like it.”

It just looked really expensive.

“It’s not cheap.” Chu Yu opened the door with a hand, slightly raised his chin, signaling Chi Xiting to go out. He spoke calmly, answering the question.

Chi Xiting paused, then belatedly realized he had inadvertently spoken his thoughts aloud.

“How much is it?” Chi Xiting asked, throwing caution to the wind.

Chu Yu calmly replied, “Knowing too much isn’t good for you.”

Chi Xiting: “…”

Alright.

Understood.

“Damned capitalists,” Chi Xiting muttered quietly.

Chu Yu didn’t respond, but a subtle smile tugged at his lips.

The two of them had no plans to eat outside, so they decided to have something simple at the hotel and rest early since they needed to go to Ruifeng early the next morning.

When they reached the second-floor restaurant, Chi Xiting suddenly remembered that there was a third person on this business trip.

Chi Xiting glanced at Chu Yu, who was sitting across from him and intently studying the menu. He softly said, “Did we forget to invite Huo Yushen?”

Chu Yu paused while flipping through the menu, and after a long while, he finally looked up at Chi Xiting.

Chi Xiting didn’t speak further.

Neither did Chu Yu.

—-

The two of them locked eyes for a moment, and then Chu Yu continued looking at the menu. Chi Xiting, taking matters into his own hands, pulled out his phone, searched for a while in the group chat before finally finding Huo Yushen’s contact and sending him a message.

Huo You-shen seemed to be quite shocked by the two of them and their disregard for him, as it took him a while to respond, saying he’d be there soon.

Only then did Chi Xiting put his phone down and obediently rest his chin on his hand, waiting for the food.

A nearby waiter, bowing slightly, said, “Hello, Mr. Chu, you’re one of our valued clients, and we’ve prepared some small gifts for you.”

The waiter spoke and gestured to the side, where another waiter quickly walked over, carefully holding a bottle of red wine.

The waiter glanced at Chu Yu, then secretly at Chi Xiting, and softly asked, “Would you like us to open it for you?”

Chu Yu looked at the wine and casually asked, “Do you want some?”

Chi Xiting politely declined, “No, I can’t drink.”

Chu Yu turned back to look at Chi Xiting, confused.

Chi Xiting softly explained, “I’m allergic to alcohol.”

Chu Yu didn’t say anything further.

The waiter immediately understood, smiling as he set the wine aside and picked up the menu Chu Yu had ordered before leaving.

Before the dishes were served, Huo You-shen arrived late.

Huo You-shen walked into the restaurant with his brows still furrowed. It wasn’t until he reached the two of them that his expression relaxed. He pulled out the chair next to Chi Xiting and greeted Chu Yu, “Mr. Chu.”

Chu Yu responded with a brief “Mhm.”

Huo You-shen sat down, and the three fell silent again.

The table where the three sat became quiet.

Chi Xiting habitually distanced himself from the situation, observing the two from the perspective of an outsider.

Could this be the natural friction between the protagonist and the antagonist?

Although the plot hadn’t reached that stage, Chi Xiting could already sense that these two didn’t get along.

Chu Yu glanced at the time and suddenly said, “We’ll only be in M City for three days.”

At the mention of work, both Chi Xiting and Huo You-shen looked up at Chu Yu.

Chu Yu continued, “We need to finish handling the matters with Ruifeng in the first two days.”

Chi Xiting tilted his head slightly.

What about the third day?

It seemed like Chu Yu had sensed Chi Xiting’s question, so he added, “Jiang Group is hosting a project celebration, and they sent me an invitation a while ago.”

Chi Xiting asked, “Are you going alone?”

Chu Yu replied, “You’ll come with me.”

Chi Xiting asked, “Are we supposed to attend the banquet together?”

But they didn’t even know anyone there.

Chu Yu: “…”

Huo You-shen couldn’t hold back and turned to glance at Chi Xiting, as if wanting to say something but stopping himself.

Chu Yu, feeling tired, chose not to respond to Chi Xiting’s remark. As the waiter began serving the dishes, he focused on his meal.

Seeing this, Chi Xiting didn’t say anything either, glancing around the table and putting some shrimp into his mouth.

Hmm…

It’s not bad, but not as good as Qingting Xuan’s dishes.

Chi Xiting swallowed the shrimp, suddenly missing the exquisite shrimp from Qingting Xuan.

It seemed like no shrimp could compare to the ones from there.

None of the three had the habit of speaking while eating, and after a long journey, they were all a bit tired. After finishing their meal in silence, they all returned to their respective rooms.

Perhaps because of the past incident where he wasn’t called for a meal, Huo You-shen had learned his lesson and confirmed with Chu Yu the departure time for the next morning before leaving.

—-

After confirming, Huo You-shen left.

Chi Xiting and Chu Yu also returned to their rooms.

As the evening darkened, Chu Yu sat back at the desk in his room after returning, took out his laptop from his bag, and began reviewing documents.

Chi Xiting glanced at Chu Yu but was unaffected. After a quick shower, he sat down on the sofa and began playing with his phone.

Perhaps worried about disturbing Chu Yu, Chi Xiting had the sound off. After watching a few silent videos, he suddenly received a WeChat message.

It was a group message.

From the group for the Xing Jingqi project.

Chi Xiting clicked on the message to read it, and it was from Shen Zhizhe.

【Simon】: “Next Monday at 10 am, department leaders will meet in the conference room.”

【Simon】: “Also, all the interns should come along for their training sessions. I’ve made some adjustments to the arrangements for our department’s interns.”

After reading the message, Chi Xiting felt a slight unease, his eyelids twitching.

Shen Zhizhe hadn’t shared much in the group except the meeting details, and after mentioning the interns, he focused on professional project modification suggestions.

Chi Xiting, feeling idle, decided to click through the suggestions.

They were professional, precise, and concise. Every issue was clearly pointed out, and where he thought the team couldn’t handle something, he added his own recommendations.

Chi Xiting was drawn into reading more.

No wonder Fang Ben had spent so much time talking about how impressive Shen Zhizhe was.

His business acumen was indeed remarkable.

As Chi Xiting moved on to the next document, he unexpectedly saw the proposal for C City he had worked on.

Unlike the other documents, this one showed no signs of edits and was completely untouched, preserving Chi Xiting’s original version.

Chi Xiting scratched his chin, pondering whether this meant the file hadn’t been changed because there was nothing to correct, or perhaps it had just been overlooked.

Before Chi Xiting could dwell on it any longer, he found himself added to another group chat.

This new group’s name was much more direct and simpler.

—-

After becoming familiar with the operations of the marketing department, the interns inevitably had to collaborate with other departments. After running to a few different departments, some of the more capable interns were noticed by departments with fewer people, who would occasionally ask for someone to be temporarily assigned to help.

Although they were all from the marketing department, they were essentially tools shared across the entire company.

Since most of the people in the group were interns, and their ages were similar, they spoke more freely in the group chat, much more casually than they would in larger, more formal groups.

【Ren Xinxin】: “Before graduation, I thought I’d be a dark horse, but after graduating, I realized we’re all just cattle and horses. Selute/”

【Ding Yu】: “I’m already being honest, please spare me.”

【Lei Nan】: “We’re cattle and horses, aren’t we? Otherwise, why would we call it job-hopping? At least Chu’s is a good place to hop to. If I can get a full-time position, it would really be a miracle.”

—-

The messages in the group were refreshing rapidly, and Chi Xiting enjoyed watching the younger ones complain in the group. When he saw something funny, he couldn’t help but smile.

Chu Yu took off his glasses and pinched the bridge of his nose. After a while, as if he remembered something, he turned to look at Chi Xiting.

Chi Xiting was looking at his phone, his expression very focused. The dim light in the room cast a warm glow on his face, and his long eyelashes left a delicate shadow under his eyes.

Seeing how serious Chi Xiting looked, Chu Yu thought he was reading work documents. But just as he looked away, he suddenly heard a soft chuckle from Chi Xiting.

Chu Yu: “…”

Well.

His stereotype of Chi Xiting only deepened.

Chu Yu glanced at the time and saw it was already past 11, so he closed his laptop and gathered the files he would need for tomorrow.

Chi Xiting, noticing that Chu Yu was packing up, asked, “Are you going to sleep?”

Chu Yu responded with a soft “Mhm,” then added, “You should sleep too, we need to leave early tomorrow.”

When the boss speaks, Chi Xiting dared not disobey. Although it wasn’t quite his usual bedtime, he obediently climbed into bed, assuming a posture that suggested he was ready to sleep.

Chu Yu glanced at him and then turned his attention elsewhere. After getting into bed, he turned off the lights.

The suite was immediately plunged into darkness.

It seemed like he heard a sound, and Chu Yu sensed something, opening his eyes. He looked toward Chi Xiting, and saw a faint white light on Chi Xiting’s face.

Chi Xiting was lying flat on the bed, staring at his phone, his eyes fixed without blinking for a long time, showing no signs of wanting to sleep. He appeared completely refreshed and energetic.

Chu Yu: “…Still not asleep?”

Chi Xiting visibly jumped in surprise, his expression blank as he looked at Chu Yu. In the darkness, their eyes met perfectly.

A feeling of guilt surged up, and after a moment of hesitation, Chi Xiting cautiously replied, “I’m afraid to sleep.”

Chu Yu: “?”

Chi Xiting gently explained, “I’m afraid that when I open my eyes again, I’ll have to go back to work.”

Chu Yu: “…”