### Chapter 23: My Boss Was a Little Bandit Growing Up…
Cheng Yixiu kept glancing at his watch, counting down every five minutes. But in this deliberately prolonged wait, not even a shadow of a taxi or a shared bike appeared.
If things don’t go as planned, believe there’s another arrangement.
About two minutes passed when Lin Siyi spotted a bus in the distance. However, it was too far away for her to be sure if it was the 808 bus they needed.
When the bus was about ten meters away, Lin Siyi suddenly shouted, “Boss, our special ride is here!”
Cheng Yixiu was leaning against the roadside wall, looking at his phone. Her shout startled him, and he looked up to ask, “Where?”
“Over there.”
Following Lin Siyi’s pointing finger, Cheng Yixiu saw a bus. “??? Isn’t that the direct bus to the train station!”
With no other options, Cheng Yixiu resigned himself to fate.
Excitedly, Lin Siyi quickly walked to the bus stop to wait for the bus to halt. Just as she was about to step onto the bus with her suitcase, Cheng Yixiu reached out and grabbed her suitcase, “Let me.”
He waited for Lin Siyi to get on first, then lifted his own suitcase onto the bus.
Lin Siyi pushed her suitcase to the middle section of the bus and chose two adjacent seats, making it easier for them to hold onto their luggage.
On the way, Cheng Yixiu recalled a funny story from his childhood and shared it with Lin Siyi, “When I was in first grade, I ran away from home for the first time and took a bus by myself. I remember there weren’t any self-service ticket machines back then, and the ticket lady asked me to buy a child’s ticket, which was half price.”
“I asked her, aren’t buses free? Otherwise, why are they called that? Everyone on the bus laughed, and that’s when I realized something was off. I searched all my pockets and found I didn’t have a single cent. In the end, an old lady next to me took pity on me and paid the one yuan fare. To me at the time, that was a huge amount.”
Lin Siyi covered her mouth, trying not to laugh, “Boss, I didn’t expect you to be so playful as a kid. You really can’t tell now.”
“But how did you get home later? Did your parents report you missing?”
“You’d never guess. I followed that old lady off the bus, then asked her for another yuan for the fare, and took the same bus back home.”
Lin Siyi: “…” 555, did my boss grow up as a little bandit?
She asked, “It’s been over twenty years, right? They say memories fade as you grow older. Why is this memory so vivid for you?”
Cheng Yixiu replied, “Because this incident taught young me a lesson: money isn’t everything, but without it, you can’t move an inch. I once dreamed of wandering the world with a sword, but being too young and poor, I had to change my plans.”
Lin Siyi commented, “So, are you so good at making money now because this incident deeply affected you?”
“How could that be? You know I grew up in a well-off family and never worried about money.”
Lin Siyi: “…”
Cheng Yixiu continued, “I started trading stocks in college and smoothly entered the public fund industry as a researcher after graduation. Within a few years, I became a fund manager. But the public fund industry had too many constraints, so I went solo. Gu Zhaoyang insisted on following me and resigned from his old job.”
“I initially enjoyed focusing on what I loved, but gradually I found helping others make money gave me more satisfaction than making money myself. In the public fund industry, investors often made index gains but not actual profits, treating funds like stocks, chasing highs and lows, and ended up not making much.”
“That’s why the subscription threshold for Yiyang products is getting higher. High-net-worth individuals can bear risks better than ordinary investors. For me, short-term market fluctuations aren’t risks, but permanent loss of capital is.”
“We can never earn money beyond our understanding. A person’s wealth growth should match their abilities. If wealth arrives but ability doesn’t, what luck brings in will eventually be lost by one’s own strength. If ability is there, wealth growth is just a matter of time.”
“We do long-term investments, making friends with time, reaping the roses of time. If you treat time as a fling, you’ll likely only get its thorns.”
Lin Siyi clasped her hands in mock gratitude to her boss sitting next to her, “…Thank you, boss, for your patient guidance. I’ll definitely correct my mistakes if I have any, and strive to improve.”
Feeling exhausted, Lin Siyi reflected on her few days at work. Whenever she was alone with Yixiu, he would occasionally educate her on investments.
He really isn’t as aloof as he seems. Is he really possessed by “Ikkyu-san”?
Sensing his assistant’s indifference, Cheng Yixiu’s passionate speech was instantly doused. He muttered, “I’ll take a nap. Wake me when we arrive,” and pretended to sleep.
Lin Siyi awkwardly wiped her nose.
This journey was indeed as Cheng Yixiu hoped. Pretending to sleep, he was genuinely lulled by the swaying bus.
Yawning, tears uncontrollably streamed down his face. Just as he was about to remove his glasses, he felt a weight on his left shoulder.
Turning his head, Cheng Yixiu saw Lin Siyi had fallen asleep at some point, her head resting on his shoulder without waking from the impact. She was completely unaware.
Even more unbelievably, Cheng Yixiu felt his shoulder getting damp, “…” He didn’t need to look to know what was happening.
He was thankful he wore a black short-sleeved business shirt today. No matter how much Lin Siyi drooled, no one would notice.
He had just instructed her, yet she fell asleep right away. Does she have no sense of responsibility as an assistant?
Cheng Yixiu looked up at the station map above the window and saw the train station was the final stop. Thankfully, they wouldn’t miss their stop.
Not wanting to wake her now, he let her sleep on his shoulder.
After about an hour, the bus’s announcement reminded everyone they had reached the final stop.
Cheng Yixiu nudged her, “Lin Siyi, wake up, we’re here.”
“Uh… Boss? Wait, my neck feels a bit stiff!”
Lin Siyi rubbed her neck.
“You drooled all the way, you know?”
Lin Siyi: “???”
“My shoulder’s all wet. You were leaning on my shoulder the whole time. Did you forget already?”
“No way?” Lin Siyi touched her mouth, feeling traces of drool.
But she didn’t want to admit she drooled, so she stubbornly denied, “No way. That’s impossible.”
“Evidence doesn’t lie. If you don’t believe me, feel my left shoulder. It’s still damp.”
“That’s inappropriate. Men and women shouldn’t touch. Even though you’re my boss, I can’t flirt with you in public.”
“…”
Cheng Yixiu checked the time and reminded her, “Let’s head inside first. We’ll settle this later.”
“Oh, okay. Coming.”
They took out their IDs, passed through the security check, and Lin Siyi took the initiative to lift the suitcases off the conveyor belt, saying to Cheng Yixiu, “Boss, there are a few seats over there. Let’s go there.”
Once seated, Lin Siyi pulled a small pack of wet wipes from her handbag, peeled off the plastic seal, and pulled out two wipes.
“What are you doing?” Cheng Yixiu asked, puzzled.
Lin Siyi, embarrassed, said, “I want to wipe the spot I got wet earlier. After wiping with wet wipes, I’ll use dry tissues to absorb the moisture. It should help a bit.”
“No need. Once we reach the hotel, I’ll just change. No need to go through the trouble.”
“How is it trouble, boss? We still have a few hours on this journey!”
Cheng Yixiu refused again, “Really, doing that will only make me wetter.”
Lin Siyi: “…”
Suddenly, the air around them felt a bit thin.
Lin Siyi glanced at him, blinking her innocent big eyes.
Cheng Yixiu, speaking too quickly, didn’t realize what he said.
Then, Lin Siyi blinked again.
“Uh…” Cheng Yixiu suddenly realized he might have said something inappropriate.
Looking at Lin Siyi, he saw her face gradually turning from pale to crimson, almost like she was being cooked.
After a while, Lin Siyi found her voice and quickly adjusted her posture, “I think… it was indeed unnecessary of me.”
Cheng Yixiu rubbed his forehead: “…” He really didn’t mean it that way, please don’t misunderstand!
To ease the awkwardness, Cheng Yixiu took the two wet wipes from Lin Siyi’s hand, “I’ll do it myself!”
He wiped his left shoulder absentmindedly, deliberately avoiding looking at Lin Siyi sitting to his left.
The wiping lasted about a minute, long enough for Lin Siyi to almost remind him, “Boss, you’re really getting wetter now…”
But she couldn’t bring herself to say it. After all, she had just entered the workforce and hadn’t lost all her dignity yet!
Fortunately, Cheng Yixiu soon finished his diligent work and tossed the wet wipes into the nearby trash bin.
Before he could ask, Lin Siyi pulled out a small pack of tissues from her bag and handed it over, “Boss, press this on top. It can speed up absorption.”
“Mm, thanks.”
“It’s my duty.”
After all, it was her drool that almost drowned the boss!