Yuan Ye was a busy person, and Li Sheng hardly ever caught a glimpse of him during the day. Aside from late at night when he could feel the bed beside him sink and occasionally felt someone tucking the blanket around him, Li Sheng felt as though he had simply rented a house where the refrigerator was stocked with pre-made food that just needed to be heated up every day.
Having an injured right arm was extremely inconvenient; all tasks took twice as much time as usual to complete. However, what Li Sheng was most grateful to his boss for was the fact that he was still allowed to work.
Ever since Li Sheng moved in, Li Mengying and Cheng Jun had become regular visitors, bringing over piles of work every day and returning home under the stars at night. The two of them were also exceptionally hardworking. Because Li Sheng’s arm was inconvenient, he didn’t dare to use force when rendering graphics, and several times he wasted time due to his hand shaking. This put him in a terrible mood, so whenever he worked, he simply unspooled the gauze hanging from his arm, threw his entire being into the work, and could go the entire day without drinking a single drop of water.
Near the end of their work session, Li Sheng told the two of them to take a short break, while he stood up on the balcony and straightened his back to give his stiff spine a rest. Sweeping his gaze outward, he spotted Yuan Ye’s cigarettes on the windowsill, hesitated for a moment, and still lit one up. It wasn’t that Li Sheng didn’t know how to smoke; the period when he smoked the most heavily was the second year after he met Wei Heng. Work was exhausting, but what exhausted him even more was his clear knowledge that Wei Heng didn’t love him. That caused him far more agony than years of unpromising, stagnant work.
Li Mengying sat on the sofa, pounding her aching shoulders, and said to Li Sheng, “Sheng-ge, since you haven’t been coming to the company, you have no idea—so many things have happened at the office.”
Li Sheng pulled back his gaze, stubbed out the cigarette, fetched three cans of beverages, and returned to the living room. “What’s going on? What happened?”
Cheng Jun took a sip from his drink. “Sheng-ge, Director Yang quit. He’s the type who drops everything and walks out over the tiniest of matters. Plus, I heard that Director Yang never signed a contract with the boss in the first place, so at worst he’ll just forfeit his salary—Director Yang hasn’t lost anything at all.”
Li Mengying nodded along. “I think Director Yang totally planned this in advance. He was just looking for an excuse. Also, Sheng-ge, it’s spreading like wildfire around the company that you’re about to leave too. A new design director is coming in, apparently poached from some other firm, and they say…”
“They say he’s replacing me?” Li Sheng smiled. “I’m resigning soon anyway. I’ve heard about that person; he’s very capable. The two of you had better keep up closely, or you’ll be phased out and eliminated in no time.”
“Sheng-ge? You’re really quitting?”
“I haven’t handed in my resignation letter yet, but this matter isn’t exactly a secret around the company anymore, is it?”
“Then I’ve really got to cherish the days left working with you. That new director is super fierce and not friendly at all; everyone misses you so much more.”
Li Sheng nodded. “That just shows my character is somewhat reliable. Alright, back to work. Work a little longer and then you two can head home.”
“There’s still so much left! None of these graphics are finished yet.”
“It’s fine. You two run back and forth every day and are worn out. I’ll work overtime tonight, and tomorrow I’m heading to the hospital, so I can conveniently drop them off for you on the way.”
Li Mengying instantly perked up. “Sheng-ge, hearing you say that makes us even more reluctant to see you go.”
Li Sheng waved a hand. “Hurry up and get back to work.”
A little past seven o’clock, Li Sheng told the two of them to leave. Looking at the stack of materials piled together on the sofa, a wave of weariness washed over him. He squatted down at the side to start organizing them when the door suddenly unlocked and swung open. Finding it a bit strange that Yuan Ye had come home so early today, he raised his head and was greeted by Yuan Ye’s tightly furrowed brows.
Without even taking off his shoes, Yuan Ye strode over in two or three steps to Li Sheng’s side and grabbed his right arm. A sharp pain shot through Li Sheng, making him want to curse out loud, but Yuan Ye growled in a low voice, “Look at this! Just how badly bruised is your arm already, huh? Did this lousy work absolutely have to be finished today?” With that, he retreated into the bedroom to fetch gauze, carefully disinfecting Li Sheng’s arm. A moment later, catching the scent of cigarette smoke lingering on Li Sheng, he asked, “You were smoking too?”
Li Sheng felt a bit irritated inside, but due to his relationship with Yuan Ye, it was hard to vent it out. “Which of your questions do you want me to answer first?”
Looking into the eyes behind Li Sheng’s lenses, Yuan Ye slowed down the movements of his hands. Feeling rather uncomfortable under his gaze, Li Sheng snatched the gauze to wrap it around himself, only for Yuan Ye to instantly snatch it right back.
“You came home so early today?”
“What? Missed me?”
Li Sheng suddenly felt extremely foolish, wondering if his brain had short-circuited when he decided to strike up a conversation with him. He waited for Yuan Ye to finish wrapping the gauze, then squatted back down to continue sorting the files. Knowing that Li Sheng wouldn’t stop until he finished his work, Yuan Ye could only walk over to the entryway to change his shoes. “Have you eaten yet?”
“Not yet. There’s food in the fridge; just microwave it.”
Yuan Ye’s brow furrowed once more, unable to stop himself from nagging Li Sheng a bit: “You didn’t eat lunch either?”
“No time, forgot.”
Opening the refrigerator, Yuan Ye took out the uneaten lunch, poured it all out into the trash, and set about making dinner. By the time Li Sheng finished organizing, Yuan Ye had also finished preparing the meal. The two of them sat facing each other in silence. After a good while, Li Sheng spoke up, “Let’s sign that contract. How much initial capital do we need?”
Hearing Li Sheng suddenly agree, a flicker of secret delight welled up inside Yuan Ye, but unable to let it show, he kept his head down and continued eating. “The company scale is small—three people, five hundred thousand each will be enough.”
“Alright. Tomorrow evening, let’s have the three of us sit down and talk with Yang Shu.”
“Let’s make it tomorrow night then. You have to go to the hospital in the morning, and I won’t have time in the afternoon. After dinner tomorrow evening, we can just head back together.”
Li Sheng agreed without even thinking. Suddenly, a strange feeling washed over him—since when had his life and Yuan Ye’s blended together like this? In just a single short month, everything had become so natural. He found himself growing accustomed to Yuan Ye’s care, accustomed to the meals he cooked, accustomed to having him tuck him in late at night and treat him with such tenderness.
Li Sheng raised his head to glance at Yuan Ye, only to find that Yuan Ye was staring right back at him. After a two-second freeze between them, Li Sheng lowered his head again to resume eating, while Yuan Ye kept his gaze fixed on him the entire time. After a long moment, Yuan Ye spoke up: “Do you have a crush on me?”