◎ Meeting. ◎
Huan Fang Equation’s office was brightly lit with many people working overtime. Su Yun walked through a few rows of cubicles back to his office.
Shortly after his office lights turned on, someone poked their head in from outside: “Oh, well if it isn’t Teacher Xiao Yun, who said he wouldn’t be working overtime tonight?”
With a lifeless expression, looking as though he had been drained of all energy, Su Yun looked over: “KG wants a few game resources adjusted.”
The reason he looked so dispirited wasn’t actually because of work, but rather because of tomorrow’s blind date.
Who could have guessed that his grandfather would be so efficient this time, actually setting the blind date time for tomorrow evening right in front of him, leaving him with zero room for maneuver?
Unaware of Su Yun’s distress, Yang Ximing was shocked: “A few? Isn’t the workload huge?”
Su Yun had already turned on all his computers and monitors, responding through his nose: “Mmh-hmm.”
“Why?” Yang Ximing still hadn’t recovered from the shock. “Starting the revisions from your end, isn’t that practically redoing everything from scratch? That’s way too exploitative.”
“To coordinate with the launch of Stellar Journey in Country A,” someone helped Su Yun answer the question.
Yang Ximing’s eyes widened wider than copper bells: “Boss, why did you come too?”
“How else would I know you were slacking off here if I didn’t come?” Fang Ko asked. “What percentage of the remaining wrap-up projects has been completed?”
Yang Ximing let out a perfunctory haha dry laugh, scurrying back to his workstation. While running, he shouted, “Ruthless capitalists are all perverts,” which drew echoes of agreement from the other overtime colleagues. The office, where previously only the sound of keyboards could be heard, instantly became noisy and bustling.
Fang Ko gave a hum toward Yang Ximing, who had triggered this riot, and turned back to Su Yun with a beaming smile on his face.
“Xiao Yun, actually there isn’t that much workload, and nobody said it’s needed immediately, but aren’t we going on a business trip to Country B the day after tomorrow?” Fang Ko said. “I’ll have Xiao Jie and Xiao Ying work on it with you.”
“Understood,” Su Yun nodded.
Just now on the phone, Fang Ko had told him that this revision was requested by KG’s major shareholder, who stated that some of the game resources for Stellar Journey’s launch in Country A did not align well with local aesthetics.
Having handled projects from many other companies before, he knew that investors who didn’t get involved in day-to-day operations typically liked giving random feedback, feedback that didn’t need to be professional, but served simply to flaunt the authority of a financial backer.
However, after seeing the revision breakdown sent by Fang Ko, that preconceived notion was shattered.
The areas requested to be redone had been designed by KG’s original design team, and he agreed that there was indeed still plenty of room for improvement. The breakdown thoughtfully circled the resources that needed modification and put forward constructive suggestions, taking into consideration both the ease of modeling and the consistency of the visual presentation. It was extremely professional.
Aside from that, he felt that the other party’s aesthetic standards were also quite good.
Fang Ko turned around to appease the rest of the corporate slaves: “I ordered late-night snacks for everyone.”
The riot instantly turned into cheers.
Listening to the lively commotion, the corners of Su Yun’s mouth curled up slightly.
To be honest, busy as it was, he really liked Huan Fang Equation’s work environment. He wondered whether things would still be the same as before after the merger into KG, given that KG’s financial backer seemed rather perfectionistic.
Since he had a blind date the next day, Su Yun intentionally or unintentionally pulled an all-nighter, only taking a short nap at noon.
He originally wanted to go to the appointment wearing his IT-worker outfit, but then remembered the meeting location was a high-end Western restaurant where you couldn’t get in without formal attire. As a result, he had no choice but to head back to his nearby apartment to take a shower and change into a suit.
His roommate, Yang Ximing, had returned an hour earlier than him and was sitting on the sofa looking up gossip to recharge, though heaven knew which channel’s news he was digging up this time.
“Are these two celebrities? How come I’ve never seen them? They’re both so tall, must they be models? They’re making a scene about breaking up at the airport.”
Su Yun leaned closer and saw that the screen displayed two tall figures standing at the airport exit. The woman had flowing long hair, while the man’s face was blocked, and he could faintly hear someone questioning something about do you love me or the like.
He had no interest in gossip and only cast a casual glance, asking Yang Ximing: “Are my dark circles heavy?”
Knowing he was heading to a blind date and assuming he was worried about his appearance, Yang Ximing comforted him: “Not heavy, just a little bit. But these minor dark circles actually only add bonus points to your looks, you look pitiful and endearing. Is the person you’re meeting handsome or not?”
Su Yun expressed concern over Yang Ximing’s language proficiency: “I don’t know. Also, pitiful and endearing isn’t used that way.”
Yang Ximing insisted that Su Yun lacked a clear self-awareness of his own looks: “Even if you went wearing a burlap sack, everyone would still think you were walking the runway.”
Not wanting to listen to his nonsense, yet worried he was dressed too formally, Su Yun swapped his white shirt for a plaid shirt.
“A plaid shirt paired with a striped tie? You certainly have the potential to be a comedy fashion blogger,” Yang Ximing sharp-critiqued. “Why don’t you change into a reflective-fabric suit instead?”
Su Yun sighed with regret: “I only have black suits.”
Harboring this regret, Su Yun went to the entryway to put on his shoes and get ready to leave.
Lying on the sofa like a salted fish, Yang Ximing offered his blessings: “I hope you meet your dream lover on this blind date.”
As he put on his shoes, Su Yun corrected him: “I don’t have a dream lover.”
Yang Ximing bantered: “Oh oh oh, not a dream lover, but the bird-feeding male god. On this business trip to Country B, I specifically booked the hotel you mentioned, maybe it’ll let you run into your male god again.”
Having finished putting on his shoes, Su Yun stood up and continued to deny it: “He’s not a male god, it’s just that that person’s back happened to match a reference object I used for my imagination.”
Continuing his banter, Yang Ximing said, “Ah, isn’t that just a muse?”
Too lazy to entertain him, Su Yun pulled the door open and dropped a leaving now.
It was still raining outside, and he drove his small new-energy car toward the blind date location.
The sky was hazy and gray, nothing like how spring ought to be.
In weather like this, a person’s mood would take a major hit. Su Yun was quite pleased with this arrangement by the heavens and secretly hoped the other person’s mood would be just as gloomy as his.
Because of the rain, he parked his car in the underground parking garage.
Since it wasn’t time yet, he wanted to arrive right on the dot, so he sat in the car doing some psychological preparation: “That person won’t fancy me, that person won’t fancy me, that person won’t fancy me…”
Right as he was chanting this, an eye-catching sports car pulled out from a parking space diagonally across from him. After the car came to a steady stop, two tall figures got out.
The woman had flowing long hair and stylish, striking attire. She intimately blocked the man by the side of the car. The man’s face was shielded, but because of his broad shoulders, he could be seen wearing a black peak-lapel suit.
The woman’s back and the way the two of them were positioned made Su Yun feel inexplicably familiar. Remembering the scene he had just seen on Yang Ximing’s phone, he couldn’t help taking a few extra glances.
During this time, the long-haired beauty forcefully blocked the man who wanted to leave, raising her hand as if helping him adjust his bowtie.
Knowing it was bad to peek at others, Su Yun stepped out of the car quietly and closed the car door just as quietly.
“That’s enough,” upon getting out, he heard a man’s voice with superior vocal timbre, carrying a hint of impatience.
If Yang Ximing were here, he would surely gossip while hiding behind a pillar, but Su Yun only felt awkward and walked briskly toward the elevator.
The Western restaurant on the top floor had an elegant ambiance with soothing piano music playing. He reported his table number to the receptionist, who led him to a seat by the window.
Upon seeing the person sitting at the table, he was somewhat surprised.
Su Yannan was afraid he would directly refuse, so he hadn’t shown him a photo of the blind date partner, only telling him that the other person was of mixed heritage and should be easily recognizable at a glance.
Yet the person right before his eyes had blond hair and blue eyes, looking quite pure and not mixed at all, plus she was a beautiful woman.
Did Grandpa get it wrong again?
Su Yun thought to himself.
He stepped forward. The blond beauty looked up at him in confusion and asked in imperfect Mandarin, “Excuse me, is there something you need?”
Su Yun vaguely felt something was amiss: “Excuse me, are you Miss Yan?”
The blond beauty looked blank: “No, I’m not.”
Shortly after, she boldly tossed her hair and blurted out a chaotic sentence of Chinese: “However, I would wish to share dinner with you.”
To his surprise, Su Yun understood, and also realized the person wasn’t whom he was looking for. He nodded slightly in apology and checked his phone.
The table number was correct, though.
This time it was his turn to be blank. Seeing that he hadn’t taken his seat for a while, the restaurant waiter walked over to ask about the situation.
The blond beauty also sensed something was wrong and asked the waiter in English, “Isn’t this Table 7?”
The waiter indicated that it wasn’t.
After some clarification, Su Yun finally understood that when the blond beauty spoke Chinese, she had pronounced the number seven as nine.
The ordered food had not been served yet. The blond beauty picked up her handbag, preparing to transfer to Table 7.
Before leaving, to show her apology, she pulled a business card from her small bag and slipped it into the chest pocket of Su Yun’s suit: “Call me,” she added, enthusiastically blowing a flying kiss.
When Si Yan walked into the restaurant, that was precisely the ambiguous scene he witnessed.
As the blond beauty left, Su Yun’s shoulders sank as he sat down in his seat, facing away from the direction of entry.
As for the fact that the blond beauty wasn’t his blind date, he was actually quite disappointed.
If she really had been, he would have had a solid reason to shake off this blind date.
Thinking that he still had to face a stranger next, he let out a heavy sigh in his heart.
Recalling the scene just a moment ago, Si Yan found his mood turning somewhat relaxed for no apparent reason. It seemed this truly wasn’t a family-arranged blind date.
With brisk steps, he walked around to the front of the seat. But when his gaze landed on the person in the seat, he paused slightly, his chest feeling as though it had been struck by something.
“Hello,” the other party was gazing blankly at a business card. As if afraid of disturbing him, his tone was low and slow. “Are you Su Yun?”
Su Yun had been lost in thought and completely failed to notice someone approaching. Hearing the question, his spine straightened slightly. When he looked up, his gaze still held a trace of daze, until he clearly saw the other person’s facial features, at which point that trace of daze magnified step by step, ultimately turning into shock.
The man before him was tall, with the clean-cut, deep bridge of the nose and lip lines resembling a Westerner’s, yet his brows and eyes retained the charm of an Easterner. Especially those dark, glossy eyes, when he lowered his head to gaze at him, they held a kind of aggressive focus.
Su Yun felt his cheeks grow warm under that gaze, his thoughts turning hazy. The back bathed in sunlight from his memories seemed to slowly turn around, its face merging bit by bit with the person right in front of him.
As the two faces blended into one, he struggled to suppress the excitement in his heart and silently took a deep breath.
There really was someone who looked exactly as he had imagined.