“Lu Jiayan…”
A familiar voice sounded by his ear, pulling Lu Jiayan back from his thoughts. He raised his head to look at Chen Ke, who was standing beside his workstation holding a cup of coffee.
“What are you thinking about that has got you so absorbed?” Chen Ke took a sip of the sugar-free coffee that tasted more bitter than life itself, his brows instantly knitting into a knot, and continued, “I called your name several times and you didn’t react at all.”
Lu Jiayan lowered his gaze. “I was thinking about the new project.”
Chen Ke raised an eyebrow. “The team leader is giving you another new project?”
His gaze landed on the documents Lu Jiayan had placed on his desk, which bore the company name Qingyuan Group.
“The new client is Qingyuan?”
“Yes.”
Chen Ke extended his fingertip to tap on the two characters for Qingyuan, frowned, clicked his tongue lightly, and pressed his tongue against the roof of his mouth.
He said, “During the team-building event last time, a bald guy bullied Xiaomin, and he’s a manager from their company.”
“You look good and have delicate skin, so you need to be extra cautious and careful not to get bullied.”
“If they call you out to some shady place late at night to discuss the project, don’t go. If they make unreasonable demands or try to give you a hard time, you can call me. I’m on call twenty-four hours a day.”
Lu Jiayan couldn’t help but chuckle softly. “Don’t worry. I’m a six-foot-tall man, I won’t get taken advantage of.”
Chen Ke nodded. “Anyway, keeping your guard up a bit higher is never wrong.”
Compared to their own company, Qingyuan Group was much larger and could be considered one of the firm’s major clients.
Under normal circumstances, if someone was groped or harassed by a client company’s manager during a dinner party or project negotiation, they could only swallow their bitterness and endure it.
There was no helping it; they couldn’t afford to offend them.
“I know,” Lu Jiayan replied.
Seeing the unspoken words lingering on Chen Ke’s face, Lu Jiayan leaned back slightly in his seat, maintaining a relaxed posture as he twirled a pen at his fingertips. “Is there something else you wanted to tell me?”
Chen Ke suddenly lifted his eyelids, locking gazes with Lu Jiayan’s clear and open eyes for dozens of seconds, only to find the words dying on his lips.
What could he say?
Was he supposed to say that Lu Jiayan’s attitude had suddenly turned cold lately? Or ask if he had done something wrong?
As friends, no matter how close the relationship was, there had to be a bit of boundary. Besides, they aren’t teenagers in school anymore to throw tantrums or give people the cold shoulder over trivial matters.
Actually, there was one more thing besides that.
That was seeing Lu Jiayan get onto a stranger’s motorcycle last Friday.
Chen Ke understood Lu Jiayan’s personality, and that motorcycle owner looked like some rich second-generation heir, leaving him worried that Lu Jiayan might be taken advantage of.
“It’s nothing much,” Chen Ke said. “I just wanted to tell you that if there’s anything you don’t understand about the new project, you can come to me. I did some research on this company, and I’ll send you the data in a bit.”
The data was something Chen Ke had gathered bit by bit, yet he was sharing it so easily. Lu Jiayan would be lying if he said he wasn’t moved.
This meant Chen Ke truly regarded him as one of his own.
After all, Lu Jiayan hadn’t had many friends since childhood, spending his school years up until graduation almost entirely revolving around Pei Zhiwen.
“Don’t say thank you,” Chen Ke humorously interrupted before Lu Jiayan could express his gratitude. “If you really want to thank me, just treat me to a meal next time.”
Lu Jiayan deliberately brought it up. “Will you be bringing Xiaomin along as your girlfriend then?”
Chen Ke was stunned for a moment before a smile curved his lips. “I never expected you, Lu Jiayan, to learn how to tease people.”
“Just wait for it. Once I’m in a relationship, big brother will treat you to a celebration meal.”
Seeming somewhat reflective, he added with a hint of curiosity, “I wonder when you’ll ever get into a relationship yourself.”
With that, he leaned down, stepped close to Lu Jiayan, held up his coffee cup as if to toast, and asked in a voice only the two of them could hear:
“Tell your big brother, have you ever been in one?”
The smile on Lu Jiayan’s lips faded slightly. He picked up the ceramic cup on his desk and clinked it against Chen Ke’s, producing a crisp sound.
Pei Zhiwen’s striking face outlined itself in his mind, only for the image to dissolve into bubbles and gradually vanish into a phantom shadow.
After a long silence, Lu Jiayan said:
“I suppose, I’ve never been in one.”
Chen Ke straightened up, staring at Lu Jiayan’s face with suspicion. “Really never? That’s hard to believe.”
Clearly possessing such a striking and attractive face.
How could he have never dated?
Could it be that his standards were simply too high?
Chen Ke scanned Lu Jiayan’s features and decided that probability was extremely high.
“I’m not lying to you.”
Every word Lu Jiayan spoke was the truth.
Because he used to revolve entirely around Pei Zhiwen, accompanying him to play, study, and learn when they were young; and once he turned eighteen, he was coaxed straight into bed, adding a bedside companion to his job description ever since.
The two of them had never defined whether they were in a romantic relationship. As long as the mood was right or a desire struck, all it took was a single look, and their clothes would strip away completely as they lay in bed waiting for the next step.
Forget dating anyone else, even speaking to another person could earn him a cold glare and a rough tossing around by Pei Zhiwen.
Lu Jiayan had never dared to dream that Pei Zhiwen could love him.
Yet deep down, there had once been a faint expectation that the man at least held some shred of genuine affection for him.
He never expected that in the end…
“No worries,” Chen Ke said. “There’s still a long way to go in life. Maybe fate will bring someone your way one of these days.”
“I’ll stop chatting now. If the team leader looks through the glass window and catches me slacking off here, he’s definitely going to make me work overtime.”
Lu Jiayan curved his lips. “Alright.”
Right at that moment, someone called his name, prompting him to stand up and leave his workstation.
The phone lying on the desk suddenly lit up with a bright screen as an unread WeChat message popped up.
Once Lu Jiayan got caught up in work, he completely lost track of time.
After receiving the client data from Chen Ke, he dove into researching it and drafted several proposal reports.
Given how busy he was, he chose to work overtime at the office.
Before sending out the final email, he sent two documents to Li Yizhao via the corporate software.
[Team leader, I drafted two proposals this afternoon. The first focuses on market research, and the second covers corporate requirements. The third is a combination of both. Please take a look and see which one is suitable or if any parts need modification.]
A prompt indicated the recipient had received them.
Fifteen minutes later.
Li Yizhao: [Okay.]
Lu Jiayan thought silently.
The universal flaw of all superiors: answering an alternative when given two choices.
Right then, the clock in the bottom right corner clicked over to 21:00.
Lu Jiayan suddenly remembered an important matter he had forgotten.
Yesterday, Liu Yan had mentioned that Pei Zhiwen would arrive at the apartment around eight tonight. It was already nine; could the man have been waiting at the door for ages?
Moving swiftly, he shut down his computer, packed up his belongings, grabbed his phone, and hurried out.
While waiting for the elevator, Lu Jiayan took a quick glance at WeChat.
At ten past eight, Pei Zhiwen had sent a message.
In a dim hallway, long, pale, slender fingers held a cigarette with a glowing red tip, beside which sat a silver suitcase.
No text, but the meaning was crystal clear.
Lu Jiayan’s heart sank as he calmly calculated whether the box of supplies at home would be enough.