Mr. Liu Goes to Work
When I opened my eyes again, the warmth beside me had already gone cold. A family heir could not be compared to a jobless bum like me.
The weather was still clear today, and I lay lazily on the living room sofa watching a movie. A highly rated ghost film. I really could not get interested in other kinds of movies. Actually, I did not like watching movies all that much to begin with, and going alone was just depressing.
A plate of fresh fruit sat in front of me, and the popcorn and cola that were essential for movie watching were all ready too, yet I still fell asleep.
My phone buzzed on the glass table and startled me awake.
“Hello, there…” My throat was a little hoarse from just waking up.
I did not even look to see who it was. The other person paused before speaking. “Mr. Liu, have you thought it over”
“Ah… it’s you… okay, I’ll go.” Please stop calling me already.
“Mm, I’ll make arrangements as soon as possible. Someone will call you then.” Clearly, He Xin’s voice was a little gentler than before. He must have realized I was asleep!
“I’m hanging up.” I did not even give He Xin time to respond before I dismissed that irritating call.
For some reason, I suddenly had a bad feeling.
After lazing around for more than three months, I finally got a job with excellent pay and genuine appeal. I had to admit, He Xin really was thoughtful.
Putting on a suit again did not feel great. I was not very used to wearing something so restrictive, something that made me feel as if I were being bound by the outside world.
Following the front desk lady’s instructions, I made it to the office without trouble. Big companies were big companies, after all, with thoughtful service and impeccable manners.
The department manager had already been waiting for me in the office, a kindly middle-aged man. My first impression of him was good.
“You must be Xiao Liu?” The department manager left his seat and walked over to me, patting my shoulder. “Work hard! The company’s benefits are pretty good.”
“Yes, thank you for the guidance, Manager.”
“Oh, you’re pretty polite, kid! Come on, come on, I’ll show you around and let you meet your new coworkers.”
“Then I’ll trouble you, Manager.” I kept my head lowered, very respectful. Maybe some people would think I was being too humble, but it was better to bow low now than to be resented and framed later. That was the first thing an upperclassman taught me at university.
After making a lap around the company, I was honestly surprised. Almost everyone wore a friendly smile, with no malicious targeting at all. It did not even feel like a company. I had not felt an atmosphere like this in more than ten years.
It felt like home.
The first day could easily be given a hundred points. Both people and things made me feel a real warmth.
As afternoon drew close to quitting time, a text message blocked my path out.
Let’s have dinner together tonight
No, thanks.
I’ll be waiting at the company entrance.
Really no need, thanks.
The other side did not send any more texts. I wondered if the company had a back door. The truth was I could only jump out the window.
The sky slowly grew dark. In autumn, darkness always came a little faster.
The company gradually emptied out. I lingered at my desk, sipping coffee one mouthful at a time. What exactly did He Xin mean by this?
I glanced at the watch I had bought two days ago. It was already 7 o’clock. About time. I packed up and walked out of the company.
The old man standing at the entrance was none other than He Xin. I had already tried to avoid him like this, yet he really was persistent.
“Why hasn’t President He gone home yet?” I forced an awkward smile and asked the obvious.
“Waiting for you.”
I did not want to admit it, but those two words, waiting for you, really did sound nice. If I had been a girl, I probably would have chosen not to marry anyone but him. Too bad I was a proper man.
“Let’s go. I’ll treat you to dinner.” I said generously. It was not that I did not feel bad about the money. He had treated me to skewers last time, so by rights I should return the favor. Hadn’t I heard the saying, what goes around comes around?
“Where to?” His calm voice came from the darkness.
“Hot pot! It’s kind of cold.”
“Mm.”
The car slowly drove into the city center. This was the liveliest part of the evening, with people everywhere and a roaring crowd. Looking through the window at the passersby, I could not help feeling a little emotional.
We went to a not-very-upscale hot pot place. I said it before, He Xin was a very considerate boy. If I had an unmarried female friend, I would definitely introduce him to her.
The yin-yang pot began to bubble.
The steam blurred my vision, and I could faintly make out He Xin’s lips, red from the spice. Pretty sexy.
I was startled and could not help wanting to slap myself awake. What was I thinking? I fished for beef in the pot for a long time and did not even get a single slice, so I muttered in dissatisfaction, “Where’s the beef? Did it grow legs and run off?” Then a piece of beef coated in sauce appeared in my bowl. What else could I say? I could only quietly eat the free beef.
The hot pot meal was eaten in silence. The rule of eat and do not speak, sleep and do not talk, was very well carried out by the two of us.
He Xin dropped me off at my doorstep. I made a polite remark. “Want to come up and sit for a while?”
“No.” That was the answer I thought I would get.
But clearly, the other person could not sync up with my brain waves.
“Okay.”
Could you at least have some shame
What else could I say? I could only respectfully invite this old master into the house.
“Tea, milk, coffee, plain water”
“Green tea, thank you.”
Fair enough. After something so heavy just now, it was better to drink something light and soothe the stomach.
I went into the kitchen to boil some water, then went off on my own to shower.
“The water’s ready, just make yourself some. The cup and tea leaves are on the coffee table.”
“Mm.” He Xin at that moment was like a kindergartener facing a teacher, behaving impeccably. He had realized that barging casually into someone else’s house was inappropriate, right? Probably.
Alone in the living room, He Xin looked a little restless. It was not until he heard a ding that he seemed jolted awake.
After showering, I wiped my hair dry and walked into the living room. There was still a living, breathing person standing there.
“What, is President He planning to stay the night?” I looked outside at the sky and could not help frowning.
That startled He Xin so badly his hand shook, and the scalding water spilled onto his pale hand. He seemed to have lost all sense of pain, sitting there blankly without expression. He was scared stupid? I threw down the towel in my hand and rushed over to drag him into the kitchen. The cold water made him jerk, and then he seemed to wake up, his expression a little twisted as he tried hard to endure it.
“How is it? Does it still hurt?” I looked at his hand. It was a little red, but there were no blisters.
No one noticed, actually only I did, that He Xin’s ears were red beyond belief. If… forget it, there was no if.
“…Mm.” The president, who was not used to showing weakness, actually looked wronged.
Hey, that is not my fault, okay? Don’t dock my salary. I’ll agree to anything you do.
“I… can stay.” This was not a question, yes, it was just a statement.
What else could I do? If you want to stay, then stay. Did you even give me a choice
The next day, I showed up at work with dark circles under my eyes and received concern from my coworkers, but I could only remain silent. Could I say your deadpan president spent the night curled up on me and made me dream of being strangled to death by a water ghost
Quitting time was like a nightmare trapping me in place. I sat in front of my computer considering the possibility of spending the whole night there. I would get sick.
The phone lit up beside me. It was clearly a text message received not long ago, together watch a movie
Like I said before, watching movies alone really was dog abuse. But now I had to add, going with another man doubled the dog abuse index.
In the end, I still resigned myself and walked out of the company entrance. You say jump out the window? My office was on the 6th floor. Go ahead, give it a try.
Before the movie started, I went as usual to buy cola and popcorn, two sets.
I had absolutely no idea what kind of movie it was, but the couples all around me gave me a bad feeling. Sure enough, from the very start I could feel the ghost movie atmosphere. Ghost movie venue, dog abuse index max. So how exactly had He Xin picked this movie.
Mr. Liu would never know about the secret book President He kept hidden away, the little tricks of dating.
Even though it was a ghost movie, it was actually well made. The atmosphere was on point too, and it was not scary just for the sake of scaring people. Did not you see all the young couples hugging each other? What the hell, some of them were even kissing. Animals.
I had endured that hand reaching over from beside me for a long time. Finally, I spoke up and stopped him. “He Xin, you have your own popcorn, so why are you eating mine?”
I never would have thought the president would weakly answer me with this: “Yours tastes better.” I was nearly furious enough to spit blood. Babe, your popcorn and mine were both taken from the same cabinet. Fine, I was not saying anything anymore. I simply snatched the bucket out of his hands and stuffed the half bucket I had left into his. I was even skipping dinner to watch this movie. This was the first time I had seen someone this bizarre.
The movie reached its climax, the scariest part. Suddenly, my hand was grabbed. I turned my head to look and saw that He Xin’s face had gone even paler. I did not know whether it was because of the theater atmosphere.
Anyway, I could not understand the reaction of a grown man being scared by a ghost movie, but I could only let him hold on while signaling him to let go with my eyes. It hurt quite a bit. A man’s grip strength, when the other person was emotionally agitated, was beyond imagination.
He seemed to hesitate, then let go with a tremble. I sighed and rubbed his head. Mm, as expected, his hair felt very soft. I did not want to think too deeply about what such an action meant. I would just call it a moment of impulse, a bit of hentai behavior on my part.
After the screening ended and the crowd dispersed, I used the moonlight to check my hand. Sure enough, it had turned red. He really had been scared. I looked over in confusion, and He Xin’s face was deathly pale.
He picked the movie himself, so he had to watch it on his knees. Self-abuse, this was.
I did not even want to talk about what happened next.
Buy spicy hot pot skewers, fill our stomachs, go home, shower. Then there was still one more person on the bed.
In the middle of the night, I was so constricted I could not sleep. I woke up and turned on the light. He Xin was breaking out in a cold sweat, the furrow between his brows deep enough to pinch a fly to death. What kind of nightmare had he had? So this was the result of seeking death by watching a ghost movie.
I pulled back the blanket, ran to the kitchen to pour a glass of milk, then thought about it and decided to heat it in a pot. After that, I carried two cups of hot milk and set them on the nightstand. Don’t ask me why one cup became two. Since I was heating it anyway, having a little more seemed more cost-effective, right?
Looking at He Xin on the bed, wrapped tighter and tighter in the blanket, I could not help feeling a kind of suffocation. If I did not leave, the blanket’s fate would become mine.
“Wake up.” I reached out and patted his face.
He woke up, yes, but why did I feel like something was off about his gaze? It had no focus.
In a daze, I was suddenly hugged around the neck. Hot breath puffed against the back of my neck, and a “Dad” scared the soul right out of me.
“You brat, wake up already.” Since you already called me Dad.
I patted the back of his head. Oh, he woke up.
He Xin slowly pulled away from my shoulder, a blush rising on his cheeks. I pretended not to see it and handed over the milk without saying anything.
He obediently took it. He drank too fast in one gulp and started coughing. I had no choice but to knock on his head. Don’t misunderstand, this was a method my mother taught me for handling choking.
“Go back to sleep.” I took the cup and walked out of the room, considering whether I should sleep on the sofa.