Shi Ye was dressed in clean, grey sportswear. Although he had changed into new shoes, they were vastly different in style from the previous pair. Furthermore, he had deliberately left his hair uncombed, letting it fall loosely across his forehead just as it had the day before.
The goal was authenticity.
Thanks to this outfit, Yan Xi no longer mistook him for a burglar.
Yan Xi watched helplessly as the intern moved in, bag in hand, effortlessly crossing the threshold into the apartment he had spent all day cleaning and organizing. He moved like a reckless beast, trampling wantonly through new territory. The apartment, which had seemed overly spacious just moments ago, suddenly felt cramped.
In less than ten minutes, this “beast” seemed more familiar with the new apartment than Yan Xi himself, completing the routine of taking off his shoes, hanging up his coat, and putting away his luggage with fluid ease. Yan Xi had only bought one pair of new slippers. Unable to watch Shi Ye pace around barefoot, he had no choice but to fetch his own bathroom slippers and toss them to him.
“So, the apartment the logistics department prepared for you is this one, too?”
“Yeah, exactly! Why else would the company prepare a two-bedroom unit? They are just trying to save a little money.”
Shi Ye did not stand on ceremony, seemingly oblivious to the sorry state of the slippers, which were nearly stretched out of shape by his large feet. Yan Xi pressed his temples. Fine, he would scrap his plan to perform “Gratitude” at the annual meeting.
On the projection screen in the living room, the movie subtitles were still slowly scrolling. Shi Ye stood at the entryway, tilted his head slightly, and swept a casual glance toward the screen. “Watching a movie?”
Yan Xi’s expression shifted instantly, and he rushed over in a flurry to turn off the machine.
Shi Ye took two steps back and smiled, raising a hand to cover his eyes. “It is okay, it is okay. Take your time cleaning up. We are both men; there is no need to be embarrassed.”
Yan Xi knew the other man had misunderstood, assuming he was watching something explicit, but he had no way to argue. After all, if the young intern discovered he was watching a film with homosexual themes, the boy might be so terrified he would pack his bags and leave overnight.
Shi Ye wandered around the apartment. Seeing the tidy bed in the western bedroom, he did not ask any questions and dragged his luggage into the guest room near the door. Once Shi Ye had put his things away and returned to the living room, Yan Xi handed him a glass of water.
“Are you officially checked in now?”
Shi Ye leaned against the wall, holding the glass with one hand and the other tucked into his pocket. “Yep.”
Yan Xi looked at him. “But I still do not know your name.”
Shi Ye took a sip of water before speaking slowly, “Did the company not forward my information to you?”
“Information on intern trainees is usually kept by the Personnel Department and is not sent to the retail branches.”
“Oh, I see.” Shi Ye set down his glass, returned to his room, retrieved a transparent document folder, and handed it to Yan Xi. “Sorry about that. Let me offer a belated self-introduction. My name is…”
“Ye Xiaobao?”
Yan Xi stared at the three bright characters on the resume, nearly losing control of his facial expressions. Yan Xi was a decent man who generally did not mock others, but his features distorted for a split second upon seeing the name.
“You can call me Baobao,” Shi Ye said with a beaming smile. “My classmates and friends all call me that.”
Yan Xi would rather die than say those two words; his professional standards would not allow it. He rubbed his brow hard, skimmed the rest of the document, and gave a light cough. “How about this? I will call you Xiao Ye from now on.”
“OK,” Shi Ye shrugged. “Whatever makes you happy, Store Manager.”
“No need to call me Store Manager,” Yan Xi said, having noticed the date of birth on the resume. “I am a few years older than you; just call me Brother Yan.”
“Sure.” Shi Ye looked down at him with sparkling eyes and slowly exhaled two words from his thin lips: “Brother Yan.”
The night was already deep, and everything was silent, save for the occasional rustling of a stray cat scurrying through the bushes downstairs. Under the young intern’s gaze, Yan Xi suddenly felt uneasy. He grabbed the blanket from the sofa and headed toward his bedroom. “Let us go to sleep. We have to wake up early for work tomorrow.”
On a typical Monday morning, Yan Xi opened his eyes in the unfamiliar bed. The gentle sunlight, unique to autumn, spilled through the gap in the curtains. Through the door panel, he could hear the faint sound of footsteps in the living room.
Yan Xi stood by the bed to straighten his pajamas carefully before opening the bedroom door. Shi Ye had just returned from outside. Sweat beads still lingered on his head; his black top was unzipped, the white base layer underneath clinging to his skin, and his black track pants could not hide the vigorous lines of his legs. With broad shoulders, long legs, and fluid muscles, the pheromones of a young man permeated the air.
Yan Xi lowered his eyes, looked away, and offered a greeting: “Morning.”
He had just woken up, and his voice carried a hoarse, nasal tone. Shi Ye held a towel in his hand, gave his head a couple of rubs, and having put away his “peacock display,” pretended to reply to Yan Xi: “Morning.”
Throughout the entire morning, only five people entered the shop. Three were there to borrow a power bank, one was asking for directions, and one was drawn in by the porcelain hippo on the counter. Shi Ye had expected business to be slow, but he had not imagined it would be this bad.
The last customer was a girl from the bubble tea shop on the next street. She picked up the little hippo on the counter and looked at it over and over, clearly smitten. Yan Xi said it was not for sale, so the girl had to leave regretfully.
“Why could you not sell it?” Shi Ye could not help but ask.
“It is a little trinket I made myself,” Yan Xi said, not looking up as he checked the inventory list on the computer. “Would it not be deceiving the customer to sell it to someone else?”
“But I think the little things you make look much better than the pile of stuff on the shelves,” Shi Ye shrugged, speaking earnestly. “I am not joking.”
Yan Xi finally looked up at him: “Thank you.”
“Have you ever thought about changing the business model?” Shi Ye pulled up a chair and sat next to Yan Xi.
Yan Xi quietly shifted his legs to the other side of the counter. “What ideas do you have?”
“YK is an established company, and revenue has always been stable. Logically, it does not need a brick-and-mortar store like this for profit. In the era of e-commerce, creating an appealing brand image is crucial. Therefore, we need to change our traditional mindset and shift the primary function of physical stores from generating profit to promoting the brand. We could start with the company’s more accessible daily chemical products, design some interesting-looking, low-cost merchandise or figurines related to the products, and expand the contact point between YK and the consumers…”
As Shi Ye spoke at length, Yan Xi watched him steadily. He did not show much on the surface, but inwardly, he was shaken to the core. Does this person have some kind of superpower? The ideas he had just expressed coincided perfectly with the suggestions Yan Xi had emailed to the CEO. If there was any difference, it was that his ideas were even bolder.
“How about it?” Shi Ye looked expectant. “Brother Yan, do you think this idea is feasible?”
Yan Xi was silent for a moment before saying, “Your idea is very interesting, but…”
“But what?” Shi Ye suppressed the corners of his mouth from turning up, feigning innocence.
Yan Xi pointed to the overflowing shelves and brought up the issue he had deliberately omitted from his email that night: “Ideas on paper only take a few sentences, but actual implementation requires a massive investment of capital and manpower, and the risk is not small. Given that the initial investment has not shown results yet, I do not think the company will agree to let us take this risk.”
Shi Ye raised an eyebrow. He had not expected Yan Xi to hold back an ace up his sleeve. It seemed his previous assessment was correct; everyone at YK was cunning, including this “sheep.”
“Alright, go to the storeroom and organize the packaging bags,” Yan Xi patted the “naive” intern.
Although there were not many customers, because it was a new store, there was plenty of work to be done. By the end of the day, Shi Ye was exhausted, but he also felt the experience was novel. Facing the streetlights, Yan Xi locked the front door, engaged the security mode, and said to Shi Ye:
“Good work, Xiao Ye. To celebrate your first day, I will treat you to dinner tonight.”
“Then I will not be polite,” Shi Ye said. There was a breeze at night, and he pulled the zipper of his top all the way up, tucking his chin behind it. “What is the manager treating me to?”
Yan Xi walked ahead, stepping through the shadows of the lights: “You will know when we get there.”
Ten minutes later, in front of a crab soup dumpling shop. Shi Ye stood under the bright red storefront sign, gazing at the shop, which was less than 20 square meters; his feet felt as if they were stuck with superglue, and he could not move them.
“Come in, why are you spacing out?” Yan Xi pulled out a chair and sat at a small table by the entrance, calling to him.
Shi Ye looked at the menu posted on the wall, which was so minimalist it felt pathetic, and could hardly believe his eyes. “We are eating this for dinner?”
A poor college student could only afford bland cafeteria food every day. Crab soup dumplings were not cheap, and for an average student, it was indeed something they might not eat often. Yan Xi looked at him with sympathy. “Do not worry, I am paying today. Eat whatever you want.”
After a moment of hesitation, Shi Ye bit the bullet and stepped into the shop. Yan Xi took out his phone, scanned the corner of the table, and said while looking down, “I have ordered two bamboo baskets of dumplings and two bowls of porridge. If it is not enough, we will order more.”
Shi Ye was big and tall, and sitting at the small table felt stifling; no matter how he moved his legs, he could not get comfortable. To Yan Xi’s eyes, he assumed the young intern was nervous about eating with his boss. To show approachability, Manager Yan gently made small talk: “Xiao Ye, when do you graduate?”
Shi Ye mentally calculated before answering: “June of next year.”
Yan Xi nodded, his fingers resting on his knees, unconsciously picking at the fabric of his trousers. He asked again, “I looked at your resume; you went to university in Country Y. Why did you come back for your master’s?”
The topic was even blander than the free tea provided by the shop. Shi Ye simply turned the tables and initiated his own topic: “Brother Yan, I heard you used to be the CEO’s assistant?”
Yan Xi had not expected the intern to take the initiative to ask questions. His fingers on his knee paused, and he gave a slight nod: “Mm.”
“Then why did you end up at a retail store later? Did you not like the atmosphere at headquarters?”
Yan Xi looked at the innocent-looking intern sitting across from him, not knowing how to answer. Is this kid naive? He was not good at lying, so he could only tell the truth: “It started with the resignation of the previous CEO. The turning point was a wrongly booked flight ticket…”
Aiming to use his own experience as a lesson so the intern would learn and take his work seriously, Yan Xi gave a rough account of what happened. After listening to his experience, the intern raised a question: “Brother Yan, you seem like a very cautious person. How could you book the wrong ticket?”
Yan Xi pulled out two pairs of disposable chopsticks and handed one to Shi Ye. “I received the notice at ten o’clock the night before; time was too tight. Also, I was having a bit of trouble at the time, and my head was not very clear…”
“The night before? How is that possible?” Shi Ye blurted out. “The flight information was notified to the administrative department a week in advance.”
Snap.
The chopsticks broke in Yan Xi’s hand.
“How do you know it was notified a week in advance?”