“Sit properly,” Su Xingque said, staring straight ahead. His cold voice instantly halted Shen Zhu’s fingers, which had nearly crawled all the way onto his trouser leg.
Shen Zhu hadn’t expected to get caught. He sat up sheepishly. “You’re allowed to tease me, but I’m not allowed to tease you back? That’s so unfair.”
“Have I been indulging you too much lately?” Su Xingque started the car, casting a sidelong glance at Shen Zhu. “You’re getting bolder by the day.”
“Well, it’s not like you actually like me anyway, sir,” Shen Zhu whined, pulling out his classic green-tea playbook. He turned his head to stare out the window, murmuring weakly, “So what difference does it make how I act?”
Su Xingque didn’t reply.
Believing he had been too impatient and pushed too hard for a reaction—thus annoying the man—Shen Zhu made an excuse to duck straight into his guest bedroom the moment they returned to the estate, making sure to stay out of Su Xingque’s sight.
The next morning, Su Xingque didn’t have the butler wake Shen Zhu up to accompany him to the office. Shen Zhu slept in until nearly noon. The moment he opened his door, he was greeted by the sight of the first-floor living room overflowing with gift boxes of all shapes and sizes.
“Are you awake, young master?” The butler, who was in the middle of arranging flowers in the living room, looked up to see Shen Zhu standing on the second-floor landing with a completely dazed expression. He explained with a warm chuckle, “The master gave instructions first thing this morning to have these prepared. He said it’s spring now, and that we should refresh your wardrobe and jewelry collection.”
What a classic tsundere, Shen Zhu thought, hiding a smirk as he headed downstairs to poke through the gift boxes.
Su Xingque clearly thought he had upset Shen Zhu yesterday and wanted to coax him back. But unable to swallow his pride and apologize in person, he had showered him with gifts instead to make him happy.
Shen Zhu pulled out his phone, snapped a photo of the sea of presents, and posted it to his WeChat Moments with the caption: 【Love it.】
As expected, Su Xingque left a like on the post.
After lunch, Shen Zhu dragged the various boxes back to his room. Sitting cross-legged on his bed, he bit his thumb as he pondered exactly when he could sneak a few of these items out to sell them without anyone noticing.
With so many gifts lying around, nobody would keep track of every single item anyway.
At this rate, I’ll have gathered enough money to live comfortably for the rest of my life in no time, Shen Zhu thought happily. But a moment later, a profound sense of emptiness washed over him.
What am I actually going to do once I’ve saved up enough money? Shen Zhu stared blankly at the cracks in the bedroom floorboards.
For as long as he could remember, everything he had ever done was solely for survival—just to have a bite to eat and a roof over his head. Even his grandest dreams had never gone beyond securing enough wealth to never have to worry about basic necessities again.
While other twenty-somethings had boundless plans and grand illusions for their futures, his entire outlook on life was capped at this tiny, survival-driven goal.
Maybe I should take my time conquering that short-tempered tyrant, Shen Zhu thought, drawing his knees to his chest and curling himself into a ball.
Suddenly, the phone resting on the bed vibrated violently, startling him. He swiped to answer without even looking at the caller ID.
“Come to the company right now. I’ve sent a driver to pick you up,” Su Xingque’s voice commanded over the line.
“Huh?” Shen Zhu blinked, confused. “But why would I go—”
“Immediately. Right now.”
Before he could ask anything else, Su Xingque cut him off and hung up.
Any lingering trace of Shen Zhu’s melancholy vanished instantly. He hurriedly changed his clothes and headed out. On the way to the office, the driver filled him in: the projects that had previously run into snags had suddenly faced another massive setback.
Several of the investment partners had banded together to stir up trouble, staging a surprise ambush and demanding to hold Su Xingque accountable at the office tomorrow morning.
“So they have to pull an all-nighter for an emergency meeting today?” Shen Zhu summarized.
Navigating the speeding car through traffic, the driver took a brief second to nod in agreement.
Shen Zhu’s brow furrowed deep. Then why on earth are they calling me in?