Rest is always short-lived. While Jiang Muzhou was busy, Shang Shixu grew busy as well.
After he left Jiang Muzhou’s studio, he had originally planned to watch a movie and go to sleep with his remaining time, but in the end, he still went to attend a hosted dinner banquet that evening, which wrapped up very late.
They say it is easier to get things done when you have people in high places. He did have connections, but not everything required leveraging that sort of relationship to get started.
Furthermore, only a few people knew about his background, and most of the partner companies did not choose to work with him because of it. Therefore, whenever the directors under him failed to push certain matters forward, he had to step in himself.
Once the gathering broke up, Shang Shixu had his driver take him straight home.
Entering that empty house, he switched on all the lights.
Finding the remote control, he changed the air conditioner mode from heating to cooling, then found a bottle of club soda in the refrigerator, opened it, and took a couple of sips.
Afterward, he collapsed onto the sofa. The surrounding area was eerily quiet, so quiet that he could practically hear the beating of his own heart.
He knew he ought to go to his bedroom, but huddled on the sofa, he simply didn’t feel like getting up. He suddenly thought of the major life event he had discussed with Jiang Muzhou during the day.
He was twenty-eight, so it was indeed time to consider it.
Early Monday morning, the driver Xia Xinsheng drove his car to the entrance and waited. Before long, he saw Shang Shixu open the door and come out, greeting him the moment he caught sight of him.
Shang Shixu nodded, got into the car, and leaned back against the headrest to rest his eyes. Xia Xinsheng glanced at the rearview mirror and drove carefully, trying to keep the ride as smooth as possible.
Since they set out early, there were not many cars along the way.
Shang Shixu did not like rushing through the morning rush hour, nor did he like squeezing through the evening rush hour. Consequently, whenever he stayed at home, he would leave for work a bit earlier.
The journey was smooth and unimpeded, and they arrived quickly.
Once the company employees began their workday, Chen Jinghuai knocked on the door with a file in hand and entered.
“Good morning, President Shang.”
“Mm.” Shang Shixu signaled for him to hand over the file.
Chen Jinghuai handed over the documents prepared for that morning’s regular meeting and went on to report the day’s schedule: “President Shang, today at nine in the morning is the routine meeting, at ten-thirty we head to the suburban factory, at noon we have a meeting with President Su of Shengda, and tonight there is another dinner banquet you need to attend, arranged by Ms. Shang.”
As Shang Shixu looked over the documents in his hand and heard this, he knew the person being referred to was his aunt, Shang Chunying.
He replied, “Alright, I know.”
Chen Jinghuai hesitatingly spoke up: “She specifically instructed that you should prepare a gift to give to a young lady.”
“Mm. Have Xiao Zhang prepare the gift, make it high-end, and have Lao Xia bring it to me this afternoon.” Without raising his head, Shang Shixu picked up a pen, drew a few strokes on the meeting document, wrote a few words, and then handed it to Chen Jinghuai. “Change this part.”
Chen Jinghuai took it: “Yes, President Shang.”
In the past two years, this aunt of his had become very enthusiastic about playing matchmaker, or rather, enthusiastic about introducing potential partners to Shang Shixu.
She could always find eligible young women from various prominent families in Beijing, and if one did not work out, there was always the next.
Shang Shixu was not averse to blind dates, as he viewed them as a way to get to know members of the opposite sex.
The fact that he needed blind dates did not mean there were no girls around him who liked or pursued him, but rather that he simply did not believe the reasons given by those who claimed to love him after just a single meeting.
He felt they could simply state outright that they had taken a liking to his family background and assets, yet the affection expressed in those girls’ words had nothing to do with such things, while their behaviors everywhere else demonstrated a deep interest in them.
Based on his analysis, finding someone of matching social and family status, someone whose family background was at least decent, was his best choice.
He had not expected his aunt to be so efficient; the moment he sent her a message last night, she had already put it on the schedule for today.
A busy day passed, and by evening, Xia Xinsheng drove Shang Shixu to an elegant, high-end restaurant.
After Shang Shixu stepped out, Xia Xinsheng reminded him, “President Shang, the gift.”
Entering the restaurant and following the guidance of a waiter, they arrived at a small private dining room where Shang Chunying was already seated inside.
Beside her sat a young woman in her early twenties wearing a light-colored dress and long black hair. She had delicate facial features, and her eyes in particular were very bright, prompting Shang Shixu to take a second look.
“Come, sit down quickly. Why are you so late? We have been here quite a while, and it is really impolite to keep a young lady waiting so long,” Shang Shixu’s aunt feigned a reprimand.
“Aunt Shang, it is fine.” Upon seeing Shang Shixu in person, the girl seemed taken aback, as if she had not expected him to look like this.
With his white shirt sleeves rolled up, dark trousers, striking facial features, neat hair, and the composed demeanor of someone in a position of authority, he possessed an aura that compelled people to look twice.
Seeing the girl staring at Shang Shixu, Shang Chunying felt reassured and, with a beaming smile, urged Shang Shixu to sit down quickly.
After taking his seat, Shang Shixu handed over the gift he was holding: “Our first time meeting, and since I did not know what you liked, I prepared a small token of my esteem.”
Accepting it and looking at the exquisitely packaged rectangular box, the girl looked up and smiled, “Thank you.”
Shang Chunying immediately introduced the two of them: “This is my nephew, and this is Committee Member Wu’s daughter, Wu Wanting.”
Jiang Muzhou took a sip of his coffee and looked at the game taking shape, realizing that his technical skills had improved considerably. The amount of work that used to take him a whole week to complete could now be knocked out in a day or so.
As his coffee hit the bottom of the cup, Jiang Muzhou got up to check on the progress with Zhu Zhu.
Zhu Zhu was furrowing her brow as she operated her computer. Seeing Jiang Muzhou walking over with his coffee mug, she cautiously reminded him, “Boss, this is the fifth cup of coffee you have had today. Drinking too much coffee can lead to an irregular heartbeat.”
“I will not drink anymore then. How is the progress on your end?”
Zhu Zhu tactfully expressed her aesthetic opinion: “Boss, this kind of game style was not even popular when I was in college. Do we really need to design it like this?”
Jiang Muzhou indicated that it should be designed according to that exact feel, telling her she could improvise freely on the subsequent parts, but the specific framework must strictly follow his.
Hearing that she had creative freedom, Zhu Zhu’s eyes could not help but light up. “Alrighty, Boss! You go take a rest, this game is simple, and I guarantee it will be done in two days.”
Feeling a bit tired and drowsy, Jiang Muzhou lamented that his physique truly was not what it used to be back in school. In his student days, he could pull all-nighters at internet cafes and still go to class the next day just fine, but now, missing a single night of sleep felt like he was about to kick the bucket.
He set down his coffee cup, rubbed his neck, yawned, and headed straight upstairs.
The afternoon sun happened to stream right through the window, making the entire room piping hot.
Jiang Muzhou walked over to the window and drew the curtains, plunging the room into immediate darkness. The sultry sunlight persisted, drilling through the thin gaps in the curtains and leaving tiny patches of light on the floor by the window.
Jiang Muzhou turned on the air conditioner, and a wave of cool air instantly swept across the room. Taking advantage of the cooling temperature provided by the AC, he went into the bathroom to take a shower.
By the time he came out, the entire room was cool and refreshing.
Clutching his air-conditioning quilt, he lay down on the bed and fell asleep not long after.