“Then I…”
“I’ll give you a day off. You’ve worked hard last night.”
Qin Yu smiled slyly. “Thank you, Director Rong. You don’t need to see me out, I’m heading off!”
“Mm.”
Rong Ning stayed at his own place for a little while before running back to the apartment right across the hall.
By the time Jiang Moshan got home, it was just past nine, and he brought back several takeout food boxes.
“Aning, time to eat!” Jiang Moshan arranged the food boxes on the table and poked his head out to call out to him.
Rong Ning walked out of the bedroom looking indignant. “If you had come back any later, dinner could have directly been changed to a midnight snack.”
Looking apologetic, Jiang Moshan pulled him toward the dining table. “I had an impromptu meeting this afternoon.”
With three dishes and a soup laid out before him, Jiang Moshan urged Rong Ning to eat while heading toward the study himself.
“Aren’t you going to eat, Big Brother?”
Why did calling him “Big Brother” roll off his tongue so naturally?
Jiang Moshan was momentarily dazed, quickly pulling himself together and replying, “I still have things to deal with. Aning, eat first.”
“Is it about the new technology? Do you need my help?”
Although he didn’t like going to work, Rong Ning had a sharp mind and had learned a lot during his years of advanced studies abroad, making him quite knowledgeable in the field.
Jiang Moshan smiled. “No need, just be a good boy and eat your meal.”
Half an hour later, Rong Ning quietly went to the study to look for Jiang Moshan. Through the crack in the door, he saw him staring intently at the computer screen while his fingers flew across the keyboard so fast it looked like they were about to spark.
With Big Brother working this hard, compared to his own behavior over the past few days, he looked just like a lump of…
Mud.
Drooping his head, Rong Ning returned to the edge of the dining table and picked up his phone to check the company updates.
A sports news notification suddenly popped up in his message bar, and Rong Ning clicked into it without hesitation.
Sure enough, he couldn’t stay serious for even three minutes.
The news was a follow-up report on a motorcycle racing accident that had happened some time ago.
He hadn’t participated in that race, but seeing the accident scene during the live broadcast, it was utterly horrific, even worse than his own previous accident.
Although accidents were not uncommon in this sport, it was truly shocking when it happened to a top contender who frequently won first place in major competitions and had a near-zero error rate.
Rong Ning browsed the webpage, watching in a daze.
A low, pleasant voice suddenly came from above his head. “What are you looking at? So engrossed?”
“Oh, just looking at random things for fun.” Startled, Rong Ning turned off the screen, placed the phone face down on the table, and hurriedly pulled out a chair for Jiang Moshan. “Sit down, Big Brother, I’ll go reheat the dishes.”
“Don’t bother reheating them, I don’t mind them cold.” Jiang Moshan pressed Rong Ning back down. “You’re not feeling uncomfortable, are you? Still running a fever?”
Rong Ning stretched his head forward, his tone coquettish and spoiled. “Big Brother, test the temperature.”
Jiang Moshan smiled helplessly with pursed lips and pressed the back of his hand against Rong Ning’s forehead. “Mhm, it’s normal.”
“I feel a lot better too.”
Jiang Moshan glanced at him again, straightened his posture, and picked up his chopsticks to eat. “Working overtime has been pretty tough lately. I want to take everyone out to relax. Is there anywhere you’d like to go?”
“Does Big Brother want to go wherever I want to go?” A flower bloomed across Rong Ning’s face, his eyes full of anticipation.
“Well…” Jiang Moshan paused with his chopsticks in mid-air, looking serious. “Because you have too many wild ideas.”
“What’s that supposed to mean!” Outwardly reluctant, Rong Ning was already brainstorming locations in his heart.
The weekend.
On a hillside in the suburbs of Beijing, Qin Yu clumsily bustled about setting up a tent and erecting a barbecue grill.
Jiang Moshan stared at the scene before him, speechless with frustration.
“How about an intimate contact with nature?”
“You’re actually proud of this?!” Jiang Moshan massaged his temples as his head throbbed furiously. “I asked you to find a place for everyone to relax, why on earth did you run off to a barren mountain? Are you waiting to be fed to the wolves?”
Rong Ning offered an awkward laugh. “I wanted to watch the sunrise. I heard the view from here is exceptional, and tonight is perfect for stargazing.”
If it wasn’t a barren mountain, how else could he discourage all the employees from coming?
“Fine, fine, fine. Everything you say makes sense.” Jiang Moshan looked around and grew puzzled again. “Where is everyone else? Just the three of us for a team-building trip?”
“The others…” Rong Ning’s gaze shifted as his brain searched for a suitable excuse. “They’ve been exhausted for months, so they wanted to sleep in at home.”
He had convinced all of Jiang Moshan’s assistants to go home.
Having finished setting up the tent, Qin Yu shook his arms and jogged over to Rong Ning. “Director Rong, can we start now?”
Rong Ning looked up at the sky where the light was already dimming, feeling an inexplicable excitement. “Start! Fire up the meat.”
“You got it!” Qin Yu happily scampered off to grill the meat.
Far away from the hustle and bustle, gathering around a campfire, eating barbecue, and feeling the cool breeze, it actually felt quite chic.
Having eaten and drunk their fill, the three of us lay flat on the lawn to admire the twinkling stars overhead.
“A shooting star!” At that, Rong Ning immediately crossed his hands over his chest and made a pious wish.
Knowing that shooting stars vanished in the blink of an eye, the wish he made was very simple.
Jiang Moshan tilted his head to look at him with a probing gaze. “What wish did you make?”
“Can’t say. If I say it out loud, it won’t come true.”
“Tch, still playing the mystery card?”
“Things like this have to be mysterious.”
Qin Yu, on the other hand, had been serving the two masters and working hard all evening, leaving him exhausted to the point of yawning repeatedly.
“I can’t take it anymore, I’m going to go recharge. You two carry on.”
“I’m going to sleep too.” Rong Ning immediately sat up and crawled into the other tent.
Only then did Jiang Moshan realize that there were only two tents, Qin Yu and Rong Ning each had one, so where was he supposed to sleep?
“Rong Ning, where is my assistant? Why didn’t he come set up a tent for me?”
“Uh…” Rong Ning poked his head out from inside the tent. “I forgot to notify him.”
“Big Brother, you can squeeze in with me, I don’t mind.”
Although they had brought a slightly smaller tent, it could still fit two people.
Only Qin Yu knew why he had brought a small tent.
Jiang Moshan cast a sideways glance, his expression shifting as if pondering something.
Seeing him remain unmoved, Rong Ning purposely asked, “Or do you want to sleep with Qin Yu instead?”
Jiang Moshan glanced at the neighboring tent, his expression instantly breaking as he silently shuffled over to Rong Ning’s side.
It was still quite chilly in the mountains at night, so the two of them lay down fully clothed.
With hardly any light inside the tent, they could barely see each other. Rong Ning scooted his hips over and turned on his side to face the person beside him.
“Big Brother, are you cold?”
“Not cold.”
“Well, I’m cold. Scoot closer to me.”
Jiang Moshan paused for a few seconds, then shifted his body a tiny bit closer to Rong Ning. “Is this okay?”
“A little more.”
Jiang Moshan gave a light cough. “Umm… Where’s the blanket? I’ll go get it.”
“Didn’t bring one.”
Jiang Moshan was utterly shocked and chided him, “It’s autumn right now, and you didn’t bring a blanket for camping? Did you forget you just recovered from a fever?”
Following that came a rustling sound inside the tent.
“Put my coat on.” While his words sounded like a rebuke, his actions showed care.
A piece of clothing fell over Rong Ning’s small frame, making him feel so warm.
Jiang Moshan lay back down, and the tent plunged into silence once more.
“Are you asleep?” Rong Ning broke the quiet, asking in a soft voice.
“Mhm.”
“Does ‘mhm’ mean you’re asleep or not asleep?” Rong Ning pursued with a hint of confusion.
“Asleep.”
“You’re asleep and you can still talk?”
Jiang Moshan was amused to the point of frustration. “Then how would you like me to answer?” Though his tone carried a trace of helplessness, there was not a shred of annoyance.
Realizing his question sounded a bit ridiculous, Rong Ning laughed sheepishly. “Then let’s sleep. Goodnight, Big Brother.”
With that, he instinctively nestled closer to Jiang Moshan again, his cheek resting practically right against the man’s neck as the pleasant fragrance of the man’s body drifted into his nasal passages in wisps.
Such a clean scent, resembling pine wood or a forest, making one feel at ease.
Rong Ning was utterly intoxicated.
I want to date you so badly.
I want to kiss you so badly.