Xie Sui appeared at Yiyuan Capital with his carefully prepared food.
Without giving a heads-up beforehand, he went straight to Jin Huaiqian’s office and pushed open the door right in front of Zhou Zheng. His movements were as smooth as flowing water, as if he were strolling through his own backyard, leaving Zhou Zheng with absolutely no time to prepare.
When Xie Sui walked in, Jin Huaiqian was looking over some documents. Hearing the movement, he did not even lift his head, merely giving a calm instruction: “Just leave it on the desk.”
Xie Sui placed the lunch box on the desk. Seeing that the visitor had not left yet, Jin Huaiqian assumed there was some business.
He looked up, and what came into view was an unexpected face.
“President Jin, it’s eleven-thirty. Time to eat, isn’t it?”
Jin Huaiqian capped his fountain pen. “I usually eat at twelve.”
Yet, barely two seconds after those words left his mouth, Jin Huaiqian had already pressed the intercom, telling Zhou Zheng that there was no need to order lunch for him today.
Xie Sui walked to Jin Huaiqian’s desk, pulled him straight up from his chair, led him to the sofa, and made him sit down.
Xie Sui leaned down close, a gentle smile rippling in his eyes. “Guess what the dishes are.”
Jin Huaiqian did not look at the lunch box; his gaze slowly and deliberately scanned Xie Sui’s face. “You.”
Xie Sui was stunned for a moment, then let out a low laugh. “Wrong, bad guess.”
He took the lunch boxes out of the bag and opened them one by one.
Inside was a portion of potato stewed beef brisket, a small bowl of creamy mushroom soup, and a few pieces of fragrant, toasted oatmeal cookies.
Jin Huaiqian raised his eyebrows. “You made this?”
Xie Sui: “Yeah, I spent the entire morning on it. Now my back and shoulders are practically aching.”
Hearing this, Jin Huaiqian’s hand naturally covered his lower back, pressing down with moderate force through the fabric of his clothes.
Xie Sui let out a soft sigh of comfort.
“Alright, alright, I feel much better now. Hurry up and eat.”
While Jin Huaiqian was eating, Xie Sui propped his head up with his hand and watched him from the side.
Xie Sui asked expectantly, “How does it taste?”
Jin Huaiqian nodded. “Delicious.”
He reached out to wrap his arm around Xie Sui’s waist, pulling him closer with a slight tug. “Come eat with me. Did you not have lunch?”
“How did you know?”
Jin Huaiqian’s voice carried a smile. “Weren’t you busy the whole morning, to the point of your back and shoulders aching?”
Xie Sui said, “Then give me another massage later.”
Jin Huaiqian didn’t refuse. “Eat first.”
After eating, Xie Sui felt tired and completely drained of energy, not wanting to move at all.
Xie Sui let out a yawn. “President Jin, after eating, it should be time for a nap, right?”
Jin Huaiqian teased him on purpose: “Shall I have the driver take you back?”
Xie Sui’s movements paused, and he grumbled: “How can you be like this? I even delivered lunch to you, yet you won’t even let me sleep in your lounge for a bit.”
Jin Huaiqian said helplessly: “Let’s go, go sleep.”
Xie Sui stretched out both arms. “Carry me over.”
Jin Huaiqian bent down, scooped him up by his back and waist, and lifted him off the sofa with a slight effort. Xie Sui naturally wrapped his arms around Jin Huaiqian’s neck, his legs coiling around his waist, hanging steadily onto him.
Xie Sui was truly sleepy. When Jin Huaiqian placed him on the bed, Xie Sui wouldn’t let go, so Jin Huaiqian simply used the momentum to lie down right beside him.
Xie Sui’s eyes curled with a smile. “Give me a kiss, a good afternoon kiss.”
Though he said a kiss, it really was just a light kiss. Xie Sui complained that he was stingy, then fell asleep resting his head on Jin Huaiqian’s arm.
Jin Huaiqian just quietly gazed at him.
When Xie Sui woke up, the spot next to him was indeed empty again.
Xie Sui always felt that the bed here was exceptionally comfortable to sleep on. He bounced on it hard twice; it was super soft. He peeled back the bedsheet and took a photo of the mattress brand, planning to buy one for himself as well. Xie Sui opened the door and walked out. Jin Huaiqian was looking at his computer with a focused expression.
He said, “I’m going back.”
Jin Huaiqian asked, “Not staying to have dinner together?”
“No, I have plans tonight.”
Jin Huaiqian’s brow knit almost imperceptibly, a fleeting movement, but it was still caught by Xie Sui.
Having seen the reaction he wanted, Xie Sui was in an excellent mood. He picked up the lunch box, which had already been washed clean and packed back into the bag.
“I’m leaving now. Maybe see you tomorrow, or maybe some other day. Don’t miss me too much.”
The door opened and closed.
Xie Sui’s figure disappeared from the doorway.
Jin Huaiqian looked at his computer, which was currently playing a segment of surveillance footage, it was the scene inside the lounge.
In the footage, Xie Sui was sleeping sweetly, the blanket rising and falling gently with his breathing. Suddenly, he unconsciously rolled over, stretched his arms out in a yawn, and slowly sat up in bed. Having just woken up, Xie Sui was like a cat that had tucked away its sharp claws and rolled over to expose its soft belly under the sun, soft and dazed, completely different from his usual flashy, prickly self. Xie Sui sat there for a short while, then suddenly flopped back down, bounced on the bed once, then got onto his knees, peeled back the bedsheet, and started taking photos of the mattress.
The dim light of the screen reflected onto Jin Huaiqian’s face, the corners of his mouth curving upward.
He called Zhou Zheng in.
Zhou Zheng: “President Jin.”
“Buy another mattress identical to the one in my lounge, and have it delivered to this address.”
Jin Huaiqian handed him the post-it note he had just written.
Zhou Zheng: “Understood.”
Xie Sui returned home, rummaged through the refrigerator for a while, and pulled out a bag of bread. Checking the date, it was fortunately still within its shelf life.
He wolfed down the bread in two or three bites, took a shower, and lay down on the bed.
At this moment, the surrounding noises settled down and subsided.
Outside the window, there was the sound of cars driving past, as well as various indescribable whispers that could not find a home but were jointly composed of numerous lives; yet, on this side of the window, there was only him.
Xie Sui did not feel lonely; on the contrary, he enjoyed solitude.
Xie Sui opened his phone and sent a message to Shen Yi, asking where he was.
Shen Yi replied quickly, saying he was drinking with some people and asking if Xie Sui wanted to come over.
Xie Sui told him to take a picture for him, specifically instructing him to make the photo show there were other people around but without being too obvious, just showing a tiny bit of them, and absolutely not showing Shen Yi himself.
Although Shen Yi did not understand his purpose in doing this, he still complied.
Soon, Xie Sui received the photo sent by Shen Yi.
Xie Sui clicked it open to take a look; it barely passed.
After sending a red packet to dismiss Shen Yi, he forwarded the photo to Jin Huaiqian.
There was no text, just a single, lonely picture.
After a while, Jin Huaiqian replied with a question mark.
Xie Sui saw it but did not reply. He casually tossed his phone aside, opened his tablet, and found a comedy movie to watch.
“This President Xian is truly unexpected. I originally thought he would be quite easy to book, but I didn’t expect it would take several attempts before we finally succeeded.”
Sister Ling grumbled while checking the camera.
“Yeah, I thought it was going to be a real struggle, but who would have thought he’d actually reach out to us of his own accord, saying he wanted to do the interview. The minds of rich people are truly hard to guess,” Hu Yingying said.
Xie Sui gazed at the scenery outside the window, not joining the conversation.
For this interview with Xian Qingshan, the company had dispatched the three of them.
Sister Ling was mainly responsible for taking photos, while Hu Yingying was in charge of taking notes.
Yan Shuzhi had said to let Xie Sui handle this interview, and Xie Sui had agreed without a second thought.
Aside from the man’s appearance, another reason was that he found this person’s name very interesting, Xian Qingshan.
It reminded him of a poetic line: “Envying the green mountains for having thoughts, the white crane forgets all worldly schemes.”
The agreed venue for the interview was a tea house with excellent privacy located in the west of the city.
When they arrived, there were still ten minutes left before the interview.
After entering, they were led by a server dressed in a plain-colored qipao to a tea pavilion with a view of a sparse bamboo courtyard. A faint scent of pear-infused incense burned inside the room, sweet with a trace of coolness.
Sister Ling praised: “This place is actually so elegant.”
Hu Yingying: “I feel like my soul is being cleansed the moment I step inside.”
It was very quiet here; no matter how restless a person was, they would find a peace of mind upon stepping into this space.