The door to the private room was pushed open, and the waiter waiting in the corridor immediately came forward to offer a respectful greeting.
Yu Yanzhuo gave a slight nod. His gaze lingered on the door left ajar behind him, and the curve of his lips lifted a few degrees more. He looked at the waiter and said, “You can clean up now. Thank you for your hard work.”
Having said that, he walked leisurely toward the other end of the corridor and entered the room at the very end without looking back.
The waiter pushed the door open and was surprised to find that someone was still sitting on the sofa.
The man inside seemingly did not expect someone to enter so soon. He stood up by bracing himself against the table and uncomfortably averted his eyes. As if to cover his tracks, he raised a hand to tug at his collar.
“Hello, Sir. The gentleman just now said that the room is no longer in use, so I am here to clean up.”
The waiter bowed slightly to him. The man gave a muffled grunt in response, “Fine. I am leaving now.”
His voice was somewhat hoarse.
After speaking, he did not spare the waiter another glance and strode toward the door, his pace appearing hurried.
The door was closed once more, and the waiter finally began to clean. However, for some reason, he felt as though there was a faint, strange scent lingering in the air.
The manager’s voice came from outside urging him along, so he lowered his head and stopped thinking about it.
“Jingyan? Where did you go just now? You were gone for a long time.”
Several people at the booth looked up at the person standing before them, their tones curious.
Calculating the time, it had been nearly an hour since Shi Jingyan was called away by a well-dressed man who wanted to “chat.” Did a chat really take that long?
And besides, one person’s gaze fell on Shi Jingyan. The hem of his shirt was somewhat wrinkled, and he had even fastened a button incorrectly. While such a situation was not rare for most, it was quite strange for someone like Shi Jingyan, who dressed meticulously every single day.
Shi Jingyan noticed their stares and looked down at himself. His body stiffened instantly, and he hurriedly grabbed the hem of his shirt to pull it down, his movements so fast they seemed like an attempt to hide something.
He cleared his throat, his voice still a bit raspy. “I am a little tired. I will head back first. You guys enjoy yourselves.”
The others were surprised. “This early?”
Shi Jingyan nodded and immediately turned to walk toward the exit, acting as if staying a moment longer would lead to something he was unwilling to face.
It was not until he stepped outside and breathed the fresh air that he let out a long sigh of relief. He raised his fingers and refastened the mismatched button to its correct position.
There were many people at the entrance, seemingly gathered to take photos. Shi Jingyan looked over and saw several eye-catching luxury cars surrounded by the crowd.
The scarlet supercar leading the pack was the most prominent. The patterns on both sides of the car doors were sleek and elegant, the result of the owner’s own design.
Shi Jingyan paused, immediately guessing who the owner of this car was.
That wicked succubus.
Shi Jingyan pulled his collar tight with a blank expression and looked away.
The car turned into the wealthy district and drove all the way in, finally entering a vast front yard and stopping in front of a villa.
Yu Yanzhuo stepped out with his long legs. Without even looking, he tossed the car keys into the air. A servant at his side caught them steadily and bowed deeply. “Young Master.”
Yu Yanzhuo gave a hum of acknowledgement and walked toward the main entrance. Servants on both sides of the door opened it to usher him in. Just as he reached the hall, he heard a man’s voice coming from not far away.
“You finally know to come home. How much time has passed since our scheduled meeting?”
Yu Yanzhuo glanced over and, as expected, saw Yu Mingzhen sitting in the main seat of the living room with a furrowed brow.
“Sorry, Dad. I was having fun and forgot the time.”
Yu Yanzhuo gave a lazy yawn and offered a casual apology.
Usually, he lived in a penthouse in the city center. He only came here once a week at this time to have dinner with his parents. He had originally planned his time well, but he completely forgot about it after encountering that human.
I am going to get lectured by my old man again, he thought.
Sure enough, he heard Yu Mingzhen reprimanding him for being improper, having no sense of time, and being unable to achieve great things. These words went in one ear and out the other, failing to cause Yu Yanzhuo any harm at all. They only made him yawn again.
“Where is my mom?” He looked around as he spoke.
His shoulder was suddenly pressed down by someone. Yu Yanzhuo started for a moment, then realized who it was and looked behind him.
A woman pressed her right hand on his right shoulder and poked her head out from his left side.
Wine-red hair, identical to Yu Yanzhuo’s, fell to her waist. A black-and-gold long dress hugged the graceful curves of her body. Her bright golden eyes scrutinized him, her features nearly seventy percent similar to his own.
She did not speak but leaned closer, her nostrils fluttering slightly. A second later, she looked up at Yu Yanzhuo.
“Son, I am so gratified.”
She finally let go and lightly covered her heart with a face full of emotion. “It has been five or six years since you became an adult, and I finally smell the scent of a human on you.”
After a succubus consumes the essence of a human, that person’s scent remains briefly on the succubus before dissipating. Only another succubus can detect it.
Yu Yanzhuo smiled at her. “Yes. I met someone who is quite interesting.”
Wen Yingling looked at him, her elegant eyebrows arching slightly. “How far did it go?”
Judging by the scent alone, it did not seem to have reached the final step as she had expected.
Yu Yanzhuo shrugged. “Just the beginning. I am not in a hurry.” He thought for a moment and added, “It is just that as soon as I smell his scent, I feel hungry.”
At these words, a flash of surprise crossed Wen Yingling’s eyes.
In an era where succubi do not rely on human essence to survive, having such a reaction could only mean that her son’s compatibility with that human was indeed very high.
Yu Mingzhen’s voice cut in at just the right time, interrupting their chat. “All you know is how to mess around outside all day.”
Yu Yanzhuo remained noncommittal and glanced at the time. “I am not eating here tonight. I just came specifically to see my mom. If there is nothing else, I am heading back.”
“Come to my office tomorrow morning. I have work to give you.”
Hearing Yu Mingzhen’s words, Yu Yanzhuo blinked. “Give to me?”
The man looked at him. “To keep you from running out all day to fool around with that group of disreputable people.”
Actually, it does not interfere at all. And I should be the most disreputable one, Yu Yanzhuo thought.
10:00 AM.
Huanya Century Center Building, Top Floor Chairman’s Office.
Yu Mingzhen sat behind the desk and pushed a proposal for the new shopping center toward Yu Yanzhuo.
“I am handing over the work regarding the resident brands for daily chemical products in the new shopping center to you. Aside from well-known big brands, the group intends to focus heavily on local brands this time.”
“By next week at the latest, I want to see a persuasive shortlist and a preliminary report. You must ensure the brands selected meet the requirements in the proposal. Most importantly, they must have enough potential for development.”
Yu Yanzhuo picked up the proposal and flipped through a couple of pages with little interest. “Do I have to go? This work is usually done by the marketing department.”
Yu Mingzhen frowned and glared at him. “I am giving this work to you. You are always lazy and only know how to play with those fair-weather friends. What kind of behavior is that!”
Yu Yanzhuo gave a lazy response. Seeing his attitude, Yu Mingzhen became even more annoyed and delivered a final ultimatum: “If I do not see your results by the deadline, all your cards will be stopped by me.”
To be honest, such words were not much of a threat to Yu Yanzhuo. Even if he were thrown out by Yu Mingzhen right now and became penniless, he could easily charm a wealthy CEO and have more than enough living expenses.
However, his own standards were too high and picky. Plus, he did not want to make his father angry again, so he nodded and agreed.
“Understood. I will give you the results next week.”
“That is more like it.” Yu Mingzhen’s expression softened slightly, and he signaled that Yu Yanzhuo could go and prepare.
Returning to his own office as the Chairman’s Assistant, Yu Yanzhuo called someone in and pushed the proposal toward them. His slender fingers tapped on the desk.
“Sieve through the brands on the market according to these criteria. Give me a preliminary list and a report. The faster, the better.”
The subordinate nodded, took the proposal, and left.
Yu Yanzhuo pulled out his phone, his gaze falling on the chat interface.
At the end of the night in the private room, he had taken the phone in front of Shi Jingyan, grabbed his finger to unlock it, and then openly added his WeChat back.
“If you dare to delete it again,” he had said those words but did not finish the sentence, only giving Shi Jingyan a meaningful glance full of suggestion. At the time, Shi Jingyan did not say a word, only taking the phone back with a cold face.
Recalling his expression, Yu Yanzhuo pulled up the keyboard and typed a few words.
[Do you want to come out for a drink tonight?]
This time, the message went through successfully without a red exclamation mark. Yu Yanzhuo curled his lips in a good mood and immediately sent another message.
[We can reserve the innermost private room, the kind that is very soundproof. You do not have to worry about being heard.]
After sending the message, Yu Yanzhuo clicked on the profile picture to enter his Moments and scrolled through casually. The background was the default one, the signature was blank, and the Moments page showed only a single line.
Did he block me again?
Yu Yanzhuo raised an eyebrow and opened the chat box with Shi Jingyan again. Just then, Shi Jingyan’s reply jumped out.
[I am not going.] [Very busy.]
A very stiff tone.
Yu Yanzhuo happened to enjoy seeing him speak like this, so he typed lightly.
Yu Yanzhuo: [So cold. I thought you would like a soundproof room.] Yu Yanzhuo: [After all, your voice was quite loud last night.]
The nickname on the other side instantly changed to “Typing…”, then changed back, and after a moment, showed “Typing…” again.
In the end, however, no message was sent.
Yu Yanzhuo could roughly guess Shi Jingyan’s expression. He had only intended to tease him casually, as he was more concerned about another matter.
Yu Yanzhuo: [Did you block me?]
This time, Shi Jingyan’s reply came very quickly.
Shi Jingyan: [What?] Yu Yanzhuo: [I cannot see your Moments.]
The other side went quiet again. Yu Yanzhuo waited patiently for a while before seeing a message pop up.
Shi Jingyan: [I did not block you.] Shi Jingyan: [I have never posted anything on Moments.]
That is more like it.
Yu Yanzhuo typed with a smile on his face: [You are not allowed to block me. Otherwise, the consequences will be the same as deleting me as a friend!]
The other side was quiet for a few seconds.
[…Understood.]
He did not refuse.