The old master turned his head to glare at him. “So you never intended to let me know from the very beginning, is that right?”
Liu Duanhe tactfully deflected the question. “Even if I told you, what difference would it make? It would only cause you needless worry. Your health isn’t good right now, maintaining a positive mood is what matters most. Since nothing serious happened to me, there was no need to mention it.”
His grandfather fell silent for a long while. It wasn’t until they were nearly at the main hall that he suddenly let out a sigh. “It’s all my fault. When I was young, your grandmother and I neglected your father’s upbringing, and it twisted his character. Later, when your grandmother passed away, I neglected yours as well.
Now that you’ve grown up, you don’t share anything with me anymore. You treat almost everyone with the same attitude. Sometimes I even feel like I’m not your family at all. Don’t you think you’ve become too much like your father?”
Liu Duanhe was momentarily surprised, then mused, “We’re completely different. He can treat everything as a bargaining chip, but I can’t.”
“As for other things that aren’t as important, of course, there’s no such thing as getting what you want without a price. He could abandon a lover of four years simply because she couldn’t contribute to his career, all for maximum benefit. Perhaps I could do the same, perhaps not.”
“If you’re still troubled by this, Grandfather, perhaps I can bring my partner back to meet you sometime. My original intention was simply not to worry you. And in public, it’s just the optimal solution for maximizing my interests, isn’t it?”
The old man didn’t believe for a moment that this so-called partner actually existed. His gaze at Liu Duanhe was one of complex pity that Liu Duanhe couldn’t quite comprehend, and his withered face carried a smile tinged with both happiness and regret. “There’s never a day when money is fully earned. A person only lives once, enough money is sufficient. Anything more is illusory. What truly matters are the real people, as real as you and me.
I only came to understand this truth after your grandmother left. But I don’t want you to be like me, with dirt up to your neck, regretting that you didn’t spend more time with the people who truly deserved your attention.”
“I won’t even get into your parents. I’m afraid I don’t have much time left with you. My only wish before I die is to see you make one choice from your true heart, for yourself alone, the self that was born naked and unburdened, without any worldly notions attached.”
Liu Duanhe first smiled along with his words, then furrowed his brow in response. “As long as you take your medicine on time, rest well, and keep your spirits up, you’ll definitely live to ninety-nine.”
The old master knew that Liu Duanhe wasn’t taking his words to heart at the moment. No matter how much truth was spoken, it could never compare to actually facing a problem. Having walked this entire way, Liu Yireng was physically exhausted.
He shook his head and withdrew his arm from Liu Duanhe’s grasp. The words he’d wanted to say no longer came out. “I know you probably didn’t take any of this to heart. Since you’ve been feeling unwell lately, there’s no need to rush things at the company. If you don’t rest properly now and leave behind lasting health problems, you’ll be the one suffering later.”
This piece of concern from the old master, Liu Duanhe did take to heart. He had no masochistic tendencies and didn’t want to be left with any aftereffects, but pausing his work was entirely unnecessary, he felt his energy was more than sufficient to sustain both his studies and his career.
Half-hearted refusals were something he never voiced outright. “Secretary Wei has been keeping an eye on the hospital follow-ups. Rest assured, I won’t mistreat my own body.”
Liu Yireng was indeed at ease on that front. Having inherited his parents’ selfish genes, cold-hearted yet warm-mouthed, ruthless in spirit, he was nonetheless someone who would never let himself suffer. There was basically no need to worry about him being taken advantage of in any subjective sense.
Thinking of Chen Xingdong, who had informed him of Liu Duanhe’s injury, the old master narrowed his eyes at him and added, “That Chen boy, after you leave, you’re not allowed to go retaliate against him.”
Liu Duanhe gave a helpless smile. “You’re overthinking it. Am I really that petty a person?”
He absolutely was.
The old master let out a cold, dry laugh. “With so many people around, I won’t dredge up your past misdeeds.”
Secretary Wei, who had been following silently behind them, also nodded inwardly. If Young Master Liu didn’t hold grudges, then no one in the world did.
Last year, at the engagement ceremony of the merger between two conglomerates that he’d attended alongside him, some tactless rich second-generation, whether out of jealousy or instigation, had deliberately made snide remarks about Liu Duanhe, and on the way back had even deliberately cut off their car.
The next day at the company, Liu Duanhe had stalled the approval process for that family’s contracted project with their group. It wasn’t until the family’s elder personally dragged the young man over to apologize that Liu Duanhe, all smiles and feigning confusion, explained that business had simply been hectic these past few days, which was why the approval had been delayed. Then, after verifying everything was in order, he signed off on the spot, putting on a flawless performance that left the other party with no room to vent their frustration, they could only wonder whether it really had been a misunderstanding and they’d simply been overthinking it.
But Secretary Wei, who had relayed the instructions, knew perfectly well: Liu Duanhe had done it on purpose.
Walking and talking, they arrived at the dining hall before they knew it. The old steward was extremely meticulous in his work, by the time they arrived, the meal was already laid out. Several home-style dishes, each portioned into four servings across plates and bowls, still steaming with fragrant heat.
The old master sat in the center, with Liu Duanhe beside him. He looked toward Secretary Wei and invited, “Secretary Wei probably hasn’t eaten yet, come sit down and join us.”
Secretary Wei hesitated for a moment. Outside of work, Liu Duanhe was always extremely gentle and good-tempered, and he had kept him for meals before when mealtimes came around. Still, he felt the pressure of sitting together with them was a bit much. He agreed awkwardly, “Thank you, boss.”
Before he could even reach out, the attendants on both sides stepped forward to pull out the chair for Secretary Wei, and brought over steaming hot towels on a tray after disinfection.
Liu Duanhe and Liu Yireng stopped conversing at this point as well, taking the towels and carefully wiping their hands.
The old butler had already eaten ahead of time, and now went to the adjacent room to organize the affairs the old master would need to review shortly.
Their family originally didn’t have the rule of not speaking during meals, but later Liu Duanhe’s mysophobia grew increasingly severe, if people talked while eating, the sanitary conditions would make him quite uncomfortable.
The old master never said anything about it, but he actually cared about him deeply. After observing this situation, he stopped discussing matters at the dinner table as well.
It wasn’t until more than half an hour later, when the dishes were cleared away and Liu Duanhe washed his hands and rinsed his mouth again, that the group finally moved to the study to begin discussing company affairs.
The old butler had been highly versatile in his youth, fluent in multiple languages, and had passed the CFA exam, CPA exam, judicial exam, and several other certifications of considerable value. Now he was in a semi-retired state, only handling the old master’s daily affairs, part of the family foundation’s business, and a small portion of secretarial work, a massive reduction compared to his former workload.
Originally he had fully retired, staying home to enjoy his grandchildren, but he couldn’t stand the emptiness of not working and not being needed. Within a few years, the old butler returned to the old master’s side and continued as butler, earning an annual salary that exceeded the combined income of his middle-aged sons, daughters, and grandchildren.
Secretary Wei had also heard about the old butler’s achievements. His current goal was to reach half of the old butler’s salary.
Given how much the young master Liu valued him, that goal wasn’t far off. As long as he didn’t make mistakes, Liu Duanhe was indeed an excellent boss, rewards for results, no nepotism, only merit.
Because he was satisfied with Secretary Wei’s work ability, having rarely made mistakes since joining him, Liu Duanhe had recently promised to transfer him to a branch company for training in the second half of the year, and if he did well, he’d be brought back to headquarters for a promotion and raise.
Thinking of this, Secretary Wei, who had been starting to feel drowsy from the meal, suddenly perked up and reported his work with even more vigor. Liu Duanhe gave him a curious look.
The pen spun once between his slender fingers. After Secretary Wei finished, Liu Duanhe gave his instructions with ease, then asked with a smile, “What were you just thinking about? Your eyes suddenly lit up.”
Secretary Wei carefully noted down each point, then turned off his recording pen and phone, abruptly pulled out of work mode. He adjusted his black-rimmed glasses awkwardly, knowing that although Liu Duanhe didn’t like sharing his own feelings, he disliked others evading questions or hiding things. He answered honestly, “I was thinking about what you mentioned before, about sending me to the Fengcheng branch for training in the second half of the year. It made me happy.”
Liu Duanhe took off his silver-chain glasses and set them on the desk. His fair, slender fingers pressed down on the alcohol gel on the desk and carefully rubbed his hands together. His phoenix eyes blinked, and as he did this, he said with relaxed implication, “Then you’ll have more things to be happy about in the future. Work hard, and prepare yourself mentally in advance, everything you want will come.”
As he smiled lightly, his features were open and handsome, spirited and dashing, incomparably beautiful.
Secretary Wei had already known Liu Duanhe’s subtext before, but actually hearing his nearly explicit words still made him unable to suppress his joy, more excited than when he’d checked his college entrance exam scores.
He felt a little dizzy, experiencing for the first time in his life the charm of a CEO romance novel. If the male lead in a novel had Liu Duanhe’s configuration, giving out money, status, and resources so generously, no one, male or female, could resist.
It was almost impossible to tell whether it was the charm of money or the charm of Young Master Liu that made his heart pound wildly.
On his own turf, Liu Duanhe was much more relaxed. His back rested against the chair, his shirt outlining broad shoulders and a narrow waist. The deep purple silk shirt made his skin appear as soft and fine as pearls and jade. Most captivating of all was his appearance, beautiful to the extreme, deep and rich enough to be called gorgeous, with ample capital to appeal to both men and women. Yet his collar was buttoned all the way up, meticulous and proper, elegant but not flirtatious, noble but not vulgar.
Seeing that Secretary Wei’s ears had turned slightly red from happiness, Liu Duanhe found it curious and novel, and teased with surprise, “I always thought Secretary Wei had a steady, composed personality that could rival the old butler’s. I never expected to see this side of Secretary Wei. It seems the salary I’ve been giving you hasn’t been enough.”
Secretary Wei shook his head. “It’s already a lot. It’s just that people are always greedy.”
When he finished speaking, Liu Duanhe denied it, saying, “It’s not greed, you know. Your work ability is very strong, and I plan to focus on developing you. Do your job well, and in the future, you can imagine your salary reaching as high as you like, because it’s all possible.” He was not stingy with his praise and affirmation.
Liu Duanhe was always like this. With him, anyone could get emotional value. To him, this was the least valuable thing. Secretary Wei felt that she had almost been won over, and could only tell herself this.