With the expression Rong Ning had just worn, he might as well have had the words “teach me” tattooed across his face.
Busted, Rong Ning buried his head even lower, his earlobes turning visibly red.
Liang Chen gave a light cough and reined in his expression. “I chased your brother. That guy Rong Chuquan is way too reserved; if I hadn’t made the first move, he would have stayed a bachelor for the rest of his life.”
Rong Ning’s eyelashes fluttered slightly as an inexplicable feeling crept bit by bit into his heart, leaving a rather sour taste in his mouth.
Not everyone could be as lucky as Liang Chen.
Lowering his head to look at the distracted Rong Ning, Liang Chen gave him a gentle nudge. “Why are you looking so depressed just from listening?”
“I’m not.” Rong Ning looked up at him, a smile curving the corners of his lips as he slowly raised a thumb. “You’re very courageous. He doesn’t look easy to chase.”
Though he didn’t have much contact with Rong Chuquan, in Rong Ning’s impression, the man was always unhurried, quiet, and gave off a keep-your-distance vibe.
It certainly couldn’t have been easy for Liang Chen to win him over.
“Even though… well…” Liang Chen changed the subject, “He’s only reserved on the surface. Actually, he’s quite saucy. I love it so much.” As he spoke, he chuckled foolishly all on his own, completely shameless.
Unsure of what amusing memory Liang Chen was replaying with such an indescribable expression, Rong Ning curled his lip in friendly warning. “Your drool is coming out.”
Liang Chen snapped back to attention instantly, smacking his lips as if he had just finished savoring a fine meal.
“How on earth did you get yourself this infatuated with Rong Chuquan?” The moment he asked, Rong Ning realized the question was redundant. Wasn’t he in that exact same state just a short while ago?
At least Liang Chen had it better than him; he didn’t have to endure a one-sided crush, whereas Rong Ning was only fit for fantasies.
Resting his cheek in one hand, Rong Ning watched Liang Chen sitting across from him looking as sweet as if he had fallen into a honey jar, feeling a growing ache of bitterness in his chest.
After a long while, he stood up from the sofa, gathered his emotions, and prepared to head to the office.
As he reached the entryway, Liang Chen stopped him. “You’re going out in that outfit?”
Rong Ning put on his shoes, tidied his hair in the entryway mirror, and saw nothing wrong with it. “Of course. It’s my first time coming to Rong Chuquan’s place, where would I have a change of clothes?”
Liang Chen glanced toward the seven or eight bags sitting by the sofa and motioned with his chin. “Your brother had someone send those over this morning. They’re all your size. Take them and wear them.”
Rong Ning paused, his gaze falling on the bags.
Under normal circumstances, he might have joked about how Rong Chuquan was as meticulous as a girl.
Right now, however, the bridge of Rong Ning’s nose felt painfully sour, and a thin mist seemed to veil his eyes. Realizing his reaction was off, he quickly lowered his head, grabbed two bags at random in a panic, and scurried back to the bedroom.
When he emerged, Rong Ning had changed into a clean set of clothes.
Not gonna lie, the items Rong Chuquan bought fit him quite well.
Liang Chen curved the corners of his mouth, praising his partner’s eye. “My hubby is so good at buying clothes.”
Rong Ning, whose mood had been slightly low, took a critical hit from that remark. Torn between laughter and tears, he retorted, “Why don’t you praise my good figure? Is your hubby the only one who exists in your eyes?”
“Obviously!” Liang Chen replied with considerable pride, holding his head high with haughty self-satisfaction without a trace of shame.
Just as Rong Ning was about to head out, Liang Chen tossed a set of keys at him. “Are you coming back tonight?”
Catching the car keys, Rong Ning pondered for a moment. “I guess so.” Rong Chuquan’s place was quite warm, after all.
“Alright.” Liang Chen, who had been sitting on the sofa for a long time, finally propped himself up by his waist and winced with a grimace as he told Rong Ning, “I’ll cook dinner for you guys tonight.”
Liang Chen’s movements and expression left Rong Ning completely baffled. Everything was fine last night, so how did a single night of sleep result in him aching this badly?
He looked Liang Chen up and down, noting the pained expression, odd gait, and sluggish movements, and couldn’t help growing concerned. “Dr. Liang, are you alright? Do you need to see a doctor?”
Liang Chen gave him a half-amused, half-exasperated side-eye. “I am a doctor! Kids don’t ask about things you don’t understand, hurry up and leave.”
“Oh.” Gripping the car keys, Rong Ning turned and headed out the door.
Driving down to the lobby of Lingyue, he happened to run into Qin Yu scurrying out of the building in a panic. Rong Ning called out to him, “You’re supposed to be working at the company, where are you running off to?”
Hearing a familiar voice call his name, Qin Yu lowered his head to peer into the unfamiliar car. “President Rong? How did you get here?”
Rong Ning knitted his brows. “Are you blind? I said I came by rocket, do you believe that?”
“No, your phone and keys were both with President Jiang, so how did you manage to get a car?” Qin Yu pulled Rong Ning’s phone and car keys out and held them out in his open palm.
Taking back the two items, Rong Ning rolled his eyes and spoke offhandedly, “He gave these to you?”
Qin Yu nodded silently. “President Jiang also told me to come pick you up. Look at that, we ran into each other right as I stepped outside.”
“Huh?” Rong Ning wanted to ask how he knew where he lived, but upon second thought, Liang Chen and Jiang Mohan were on good terms, so finding his location wouldn’t be difficult.
Even so, how on earth did Jiang Mohan guess that he would be staying with Liang Chen?
Did Jiang Mohan possess clairvoyance or something?
“President Rong? President Rong?” Qin Yu gently tapped on the window. “Shall I park the car for you?”
Rong Ning snapped out of his daze. “Oh, right.” He unbuckled his seatbelt, pushed the door open, and stepped out.
“Is President Jiang in his office?”
“No, he’s out handling business development meetings.”
“Why is he always so busy?” Rong Ning frowned, feeling somewhat puzzled.
He was busy before the trial run, and once the data started rolling in, he was even busier.
Out of five workdays, he spent three running around outside, sometimes not even sparing the weekends.
“Assistant Zhang said this past month has been even more exaggerated than before, like he’s high on adrenaline, wishing he could run on a 24-hour non-stop cycle.”
Handing the keys over to Qin Yu, Rong Ning walked into the office building on his own, his thoughts in a tangle as he silently speculated, “What kind of stimulation did he get?”
Inside the vice president’s office, Rong Ning carefully analyzed the performance data of the new technology over the past few days. The numbers were fantastic, even exceeding expectations.
Old Yang, the technical department employee who had previously caused problems, had been exposed for taking bribes from the Jiang family, which was why he had secretly leaked data. However, that data was merely superficial, and Old Yang had already been fired. The Jiang family’s side had also been very quiet lately, without throwing any wrenches into Jiang Mohan’s plans.
The partnership agreements previously signed by the company were also being fulfilled smoothly, and feedback from the collaborators was excellent.
Everything was going swimmingly, so why push himself so hard?
Rong Ning couldn’t puzzle it out no matter how hard he tried, and even if he wanted to help, he didn’t know how.
Forget it, help with what? That damn man only knows how to make him angry!
Irritated, he swept the documents on his desk into a neat pile, shoved them to the corner, propped his cheek on his hand, and stared huffily in the opposite direction.
Knock knock knock.
Qin Yu knocked and pushed the door open. “President Rong, President Gu is here. He’s in the reception room.”
Hearing that the visitor shared the surname Gu, Rong Ning froze for a fraction of a second, his brows furrowing slightly. “Got it, I’ll be right there.”
Through the glass window, Rong Ning saw Gu Yan leaning casually against a chair, his fingers idly spinning his phone while his expression looked contemplative.
“Senior Gu Yan!” Rong Ning wore a smile as he offered a polite greeting.
Upon seeing Rong Ning, Gu Yan’s eyes lit up instantly. He stood up in a hurry and stepped forward with open arms to embrace him.
Rong Ning’s expression shifted slightly. Raising a hand to ward him off, he extended his right hand for a simple handshake instead.
Looking somewhat awkward, Gu Yan sat back down in his original spot and laughed it off. “Rong Ning, long time no see.”
“Yeah, it’s been half a year.” Rong Ning refilled Gu Yan’s cup of coffee, pulled his chair a short distance away from him, and sat down to chat as if nothing were amiss. “When did Senior get back?”
“Right before your birthday.”
“Oh.” Rong Ning’s gaze shifted as he gave a slow nod. “Has the overseas company been running smoothly?”
“Pretty well. I’m planning to return to China to develop my career now.” Resting his chin in one hand, a slight smile played at the corner of Gu Yan’s lips as he gazed at Rong Ning with keen interest.
Rong Ning deliberately averted his gaze, his fingers rubbing against each other inside his pants pockets as he spoke business with a straight face. “The domestic market is great too, and high-tech prospects are very promising.”
Gu Yan picked up his coffee cup and took a light sip. “Rong Ning, I didn’t come here today to talk about work with you.”