Chapter 17#
Tan Ping was somewhat displeased, and he said with a hint of sarcasm, “If you don’t want to do it, that’s fine. President Jin won’t blame you. Did you just graduate this year?”#
Jiang Yicen nodded. “Yes.”
Voluntarily pouring coffee for a superior could be seen as a flattering workplace behavior. Jiang Yicen did need to learn from those in the know first, but he was nowhere near the point of needing to ingratiate himself with the other party.
Tan Ping glanced at him, adopting the posture of a senior guiding a junior. “No wonder. First, register on the company’s internal software as per HR’s requirements. We’ll talk about the rest once you’re done with that.”
Jiang Yicen could tell that Tan Ping was reluctant. He still didn’t fully understand the situation, so he had to go along with it for now.
Nanyuan Group operated on an open-plan office layout. Jin Huanxin had his own office, while everyone else worked at cubicles outside, making it easier to find people and communicate when problems arose.
At that moment, the colleagues from Marketing Planning Department 2 had just started their workday. Some were still eating breakfast while typing on their keyboards.
Jiang Yicen caught the scent of fried dough sticks. It had been a long time since he’d had an authentic fried dough stick.
Having been slighted by Jiang Yicen, Tan Ping left him at his cubicle and busied himself with his own tasks.
The cubicles consisted of four desks arranged in a circular shape. Jiang Yicen had never seen such a layout before. It was very stylish—spacious while still ensuring employee privacy.
On his left was Tan Ping, and on his right was a young woman with shoulder-length hair wearing rimless glasses. Across from him sat another woman of similar age.
He quietly marveled at how freely women worked these days. Female colleagues made up more than half the team, with a lower proportion of men.
The two colleagues cast curious glances at him.
Jiang Yicen took the initiative to greet them. “Hello, I’m Jiang Yicen.”
The rimless-glasses colleague said, “I’m Peng Yijia. You can call me Jiajia.”
The colleague across from him held up her name badge. “Shen Bing. You can call me Dabing.”
Jiang Yicen noticed their cubicles had distinct styles. One had dolls displayed on the desk, while the other had small plants. It felt quite cozy.
It wasn’t just the two of them. From the moment Jiang Yicen entered their Marketing Center, various group chats had started guessing which department this elegant and handsome young man would end up in. After Tan Ping took him away, they became curious about his background and identity.
By the time Jiang Yicen proactively spoke to Peng Yijia and Shen Bing, they had already exchanged hundreds of messages in their internal group chat.
Without exception, everyone agreed: he was handsome and had presence. His clothes weren’t flashy, but the combination was comfortable, clearly a classic and fashionable ensemble. The Marketing Center often came into contact with celebrities, and the male stars who had done promotional visits to Nanyuan couldn’t hold a candle to him up close. The new handsome guy in front of them could definitely rank as “top-tier” in the entertainment industry!
After he started chatting with the two women, colleagues from the adjacent circular cubicle also gathered around.
“Where are you from? I can’t place your accent.”
“Oh my god, you’re so handsome. Have you ever thought about entering the entertainment industry?”
“Did you just graduate this year?”
“Which school are you from?”
Jiang Yicen calmly answered their questions one by one, appearing very sincere. He also subtly asked colleagues to help him download the office software, multitasking by focusing on how they operated their computers.
“I’ve never thought about entering the entertainment industry. I can’t act, and I can’t sing.”
“I graduated this year.”
“I studied abroad in the US before. I majored in…”
“Jiajia, could you help me find where to download our company’s communication software?”
Jiajia: “Sure. You need to download several things. Let me help you download them all at once.”
Jiang Yicen: “Thank you so much.”
Jiajia: “Hey, no problem.”
He had learned about computers while understanding smartphones. He knew how to turn on “Jiang Yicen’s” laptop, but he wasn’t very skilled at typing on the keyboard yet. Learning wasn’t too difficult, though—he picked up things quickly. The more modern knowledge he was exposed to, the easier it became to handle simple operations.
To avoid being caught off guard if asked about studying abroad, he had also reviewed English for a few days using modern grammar rules. He had originally studied with an English teacher, so at least he wouldn’t make mistakes in language.
“Jiang Yicen” had studied at a business school in the US, majoring in Marketing Science, which didn’t require hardcore technical skills like computer science. He could still muddle through for now, but if data analysis or other tasks came up later, he might need to learn more. Fortunately, his phone was convenient. If professional knowledge was involved, he could record the conversation, review it later, note down unfamiliar terms, and look them up to understand.
Although he had grown up with his grandfather, he had never fallen behind in modern courses. His father had even hired a foreign teacher specifically for him. He learned basic English in three months, and his English teacher said he had a great talent for languages. Later, he tried learning other languages and found it wasn’t too difficult. Thanks to learning several foreign languages, he wasn’t completely in the dark when he later took over Yongjiang Restaurant.
Jiang Yicen wasn’t necessarily a sweet-talker, but when communicating with people, his attitude was very sincere. He wore a proper smile, and every move he made exuded refinement. Although he hadn’t yet become close with his colleagues, everyone had an excellent impression of him.
In the morning, Jiang Yicen received market product materials from his colleagues—materials that should have been given to him by Tan Ping.
On Monday mornings, everyone had various meetings—big meetings and small ones—all packed together, leaving everyone extremely busy. No one was watching him. His back was to the window, and no one would pass by that way, so he found time to practice typing on the keyboard. He had learned Zhuyin as a child, and now Zhuyin could directly type simplified Chinese characters, so it wasn’t a big problem.
After a whole morning, his keyboard typing had become much smoother.
At noon, colleagues invited him to eat lunch together at the company cafeteria. However, some colleagues didn’t go and ordered takeout instead.
Jiang Yicen learned that dining consumption these days was incredibly convenient. Ordering food on a phone could get you hot meals very quickly. Not only could you order meals on the phone, but you could also buy fruits, milk tea, and even have things delivered.
From his colleagues, Jiang Yicen found out that phones could do more than just buy things. You could even arrange courier deliveries directly on them. Online shopping had become deeply ingrained in daily life, and there were even distinctions between shipping-included areas and non-shipping-included areas.
When everyone talked about courier services, they thought of Jiang Yicen studying in the US and began comparing the situation in China with that abroad.
“I’ve heard that receiving couriers abroad is really slow. When I was a kid, I kind of looked forward to it, but now I find out it takes half a month to a month for deliveries. I definitely don’t want to go abroad—I’d be completely out of my element.”
“Everything is slow there.”
Back in their day, horse-drawn carriages and trains were slow too, but having something was better than nothing.
Jiang Yicen found their conversation quite interesting. He only responded when someone mentioned him, mostly listening. When he didn’t understand something, he immediately searched on his phone. That way, he could quickly join in on the topics his colleagues discussed while also building his own common knowledge.
After interacting with them, he felt that getting more exposure to people and communication was indeed the fastest way to integrate into this era.
He really liked the sense of vitality that young people in this era exuded. Even if they occasionally complained or joked about him, that was a characteristic of this era.
No wars. An era where people could eat their fill, drink enough, and even have spare money to travel around the world. In their time, they wouldn’t have dared to dream of such a thing.
This world was truly wonderful. He liked it so much.
Everyone chatted casually while eating. Dabing suddenly asked them, “Did you all see the trending topic on Saturday?”
Jiang Yicen didn’t know what a trending topic was, so he stayed silent.
Jiajia: “I saw it, I saw it. I was so shocked that Nan Shao’s marriage partner turned out to be a man.”
Jiang Tian: “Too bad there were photos showing Nan Shao’s face, but the person who took them never captured the other one. I’m dying of curiosity. Does anyone have connections? No one at the wedding filmed a video? Nothing leaked?”
Jiajia: “Who isn’t curious? Is his partner unsightly or something?”
Dabing: “The protection is way too tight.”
Jiang Yicen: “…”
Were they talking about his marriage to Nan Shuyi?
Did “trending topic” mean something like a headline in a newspaper?
Jiang Yicen intended to hide his identity, but he was curious about what others thought of Nan Shuyi. It seemed like everyone knew him.
“What kind of person is Nan Shao?”
People were always very curious about the lives of the rich second generation, especially the crown prince of the Nanyuan Group. Before today, he was rich, handsome, and single. But today, he was still rich and handsome, though married. Still, there was no wall that couldn’t be climbed. However, the vast majority were just curious about the lives of wealthy heirs.
Whenever Nan Shao was brought up, there were endless gossip topics.
Jiang Tian: “What kind of person is Nan Shao? Handsome, rich, knows how to have fun, but he’s quite aloof. He even has a social media account but rarely posts anything. Everyone is very curious about him.”
Dabing: “I know he’s into cars—sports cars, motorcycles, off-road vehicles. He plays whatever is thrilling. I remember once, a celebrity was on holiday and ran into Nan Shao. They took a photo together and the celebrity posted it on social media. That celebrity didn’t have many resources before, but after that photo came out, he went from a supporting role to a lead role. People said he had Nan Shao backing him.”
Jiang Yicen: “He supports actors?”
During the Republic of China era, he knew that many famous actors had backers. So-called confidantes were actually common knowledge about what was really going on.
His mood dropped a little. Nan Shuyi didn’t seem like that kind of person. He came home every night and had said he never shared a bed with anyone else.
But these were things that happened before the marriage. He shouldn’t overthink it.
Dabing: “We don’t actually know what wealthy heirs’ lives are like. Those are just rumors, not necessarily true. Nowadays, with self-media, one picture can fabricate dozens of scandals. Nan Shao is pretty famous. A lot of people want to ride his fame. Just taking a photo with him and they dare to claim they dated him. There are so many false stories like that.”
Jiajia: “Although Nan Shao has some connections with celebrities, I think he’s quite kind. Once, an old man on a tricycle accidentally scraped Nan Shao’s sports car. He didn’t ask for compensation and just let the old man go. Someone recorded the whole thing. When the video came out, it got millions of likes. The next day, Nanyuan’s stock price went up.”
Jiang Yicen: “So he has a great influence on Nanyuan.”
Jiang Tian: “No kidding. Nan Shao doesn’t work at Nanyuan, but Nanyuan is full of legends about him.”
Jiang Yicen just listened and let it go. If he cared, he would ask Nan Shuyi directly. Between a married couple, honesty was essential.
After the meal, Jiang Yicen added his colleagues on WeChat. He learned how to look at their friend circles—everyone had rich lives.
In the afternoon, Jiang Yicen continued to be a wallflower in the department. The department held various meetings but didn’t call him. Jin Huanxin seemed to have forgotten about him. Jiang Yicen was happy to slowly learn how to operate the computer and browse through Nanyuan’s currently launched product materials.
Just before the end of the workday, Nan Shuyi sent him a message.
[Nan Shuyi: I’ll pick you up from the company after work this evening.]
That morning, he genuinely didn’t know what mode of transportation to use to get to the company and didn’t want to be late on his first day, so he troubled Nan Shuyi to give him a ride. But today, he noticed that every colleague had a different way of commuting: some took the bus, some the subway, some rode bicycles, and some drove private cars.
He wanted to try taking the subway home himself and experience the billion-yuan transportation tool.
But before he could reply to Nan Shuyi, Jin Huanxin, who had ignored Jiang Yicen all morning, suddenly appeared. His face was grim, clearly in a bad mood.
Jin Huanxin said, “Team 2, come to a meeting. Jiang Yicen, you too.”
He showed no expression when looking at Jiang Yicen.
Actually, he hadn’t intended to include this new hire Jiang Yicen in this meeting. But just now, Assistant An specifically mentioned Jiang Yicen. That told Jin Huanxin this person—who hadn’t even interviewed—was probably some rich second generation from a cooperative company.
The Marketing Center generally required his approval for hiring. Of course, the interview process for regular employees might not need his involvement, but the final hiring decision was still his.
Jiang Yicen was an exception. HR hadn’t asked for his consent or even checked if he needed anyone before shoving this person in. Yes, his department was hiring, but that didn’t mean people could just waltz in like this. He simply disliked these rich second generation kids who used connections. Who knew if his diploma was earned by himself or bought by his family?
Didn’t the company usually assign such rich second generation to logistics or support roles? As long as they were placed there, it was fine; they didn’t need to worry about performance evaluations anyway.
He had planned to just leave Jiang Yicen out in the cold, but since Assistant An specifically mentioned him, fine. Let him work. That way, he’d retreat when faced with difficulty. His department had no room for incompetent rich kids.
Jiang Yicen didn’t know what Jin Huanxin was thinking. He went with Team 2 colleagues to the meeting room.
In the meeting, Jin Huanxin first harshly criticized one of the previous product proposals, saying the execution results were a complete mess. If they couldn’t come up with a better plan, everyone would have to pack up and leave.
Jiang Yicen thought President Jin was quite strict, but he didn’t know the specifics of the execution plan or its results, so he didn’t say much.
Then Jin Huanxin got to the main point of the meeting.
“These are our three types of candies. The New Year is usually the best marketing opportunity. So why, after our marketing plan came out, are our sales completely below Company A’s? Where’s the problem? Have you done proper data research? Found out where the issue lies? Why can’t our products attract customers?”
“Tan Ping, Jiang Yicen—the two of you will each come up with a marketing plan for these three candies. Send it to me before Friday’s end of work. Jiajia, you and Dabing are responsible for the new product promotion plan. Send it to me before Saturday.”
Although Jin Huanxin had issues with Jiang Yicen, he didn’t hold back at work. He made everything clear. He just intended to use this method to reasonably kick Jiang Yicen out of the Marketing Center.
Peng Yijia and others all tensed up. After the meeting, everyone’s face showed only worry. Even after work hours, everyone was still sitting in front of their computers. Some directly ordered coffee delivery and asked Jiang Yicen if he wanted to join a group order—buy two cups for the price of one.
Jiang Yicen didn’t quite understand this group order method but respected it. He thought for a moment and decided to stay for overtime to work on the proposal.
On his first day at work, he experienced the overtime culture of the modern workplace.
·
[Little Overseas Student: Working overtime tonight, might be back a bit late. I can take the subway home myself.]
Nan Shuyi leaned expressionlessly against the back of his chair, put down his phone, and didn’t want to reply. But just after setting it down, he picked it up again. He hesitated for only two seconds before opening the input box.
Zhou Yi’s voice came from above him.
“I say, Nan Shuyi, are you listening to me? Want to go out and have some fun tonight? Ever since you started working, I can’t find you!”
“Didn’t I just see you at my wedding two days ago? Why are you in such a hurry to find me?” Nan Shuyi glanced at him, moving back slightly to prevent him from looking at his phone screen.
Zhou Yi plopped down on his desk. “The wedding is over, and you’ve started working seriously. You should find a chance to relax, right? Don’t tell me you’re really settling into married life with that Jiang guy? Tell me, have you two…”
[Nan Shuyi: What do you want to eat tonight? I’ll order some food for you and your colleagues and have it delivered.]
[Little Overseas Student: Let me ask them.]
Nan Shuyi shot Zhou Yi a blank look. “It’s just a marriage of convenience. How could anything happen between us? By the way, you mentioned before that there’s a good food stall near Nanyuan. Do you have the delivery number?”
Zhou Yi: “Why order delivery? Let’s go out to eat.”
Nan Shuyi did as he pleased. “I need it for something. Don’t worry about it.”
Zhou Yi: “…”
·
“Yicen, the Typhoon Shelter-style fried crab you ordered is amazing! I’ve worked at Nanyuan for three years and never found such a delicious food stall.”
“I love this stir-fried rice noodles with beef.”
“This garlic stir-fried water spinach is so crispy and tender. Local chefs in Lincheng always cut water spinach into short segments, and it ends up flavorless. This cooking method is really good.”
The colleagues from Marketing Department 2 who stayed for overtime gathered in the break area to share dinner.
Jiang Yicen hadn’t expected Nan Shuyi to send so much food. The colleagues also hadn’t expected the new colleague to be so generous.
Jiajia gnawed on a crab leg and said, “Yicen, from now on, I’ll take you to eat good food too. You must rarely get to eat Chinese cuisine abroad, right?”
Jiang Yicen smiled. “Okay, thank you, Jiajia.”
Jiang Yicen got along very well with Peng Yijia and the other female colleagues.
Unlike He Nuanqing, who was reserved and affected, they ate heartily and without pretense. He thought modern women were wonderful—so different from the women of his time. They had gender equality ingrained in their bones, whereas back then, women were still fighting for equality, yet society remained harsh on them.
China was a country of culinary delights. Although young people nowadays rejected the drinking culture at banquets, they continued the food culture. At the very least, they had a common language through food.
Jiang Yicen was very grateful to Nan Shuyi for this timely help. Writing a proposal in four days was too challenging for him. He didn’t even know how to use office software like PowerPoint. He had to learn everything from scratch.
The most important thing now was to first understand the product for which he needed to write the plan, then study the competing products. Their department was half a product department; they dealt with products the most. They had plenty of samples from their own company and competitors.
After finishing their meal, everyone returned to their cubicles and started typing.
Under Peng Yijia’s guidance, Jiang Yicen obtained the three types of candies for which he needed to write a plan, along with two other companies’ similar milk candies as competing products.
The competitor’s product was a gift box with seven colors and seven flavors of candy, while Nanyuan’s had eight colors and eight flavors.
Marketing plans were usually based on holidays, but none of the upcoming holidays seemed suitable for candy marketing.
Jiang Yicen was troubled by this, and the others were equally stuck.
Tan Ping, who also needed to write a new plan, wasn’t in the company. He had left with Jin Huanxin at the end of the workday, apparently going to a dinner party.
Peng Yijia and Shen Bing seemed to know something, but they didn’t bring up workplace underhanded tactics in front of Jiang Yicen. Even without their reminders, Jiang Yicen could see that Jin Huanxin valued Tan Ping highly, probably as a key talent he was grooming.
For now, Jiang Yicen just wanted to learn how to use PowerPoint at the company. He didn’t want Nan Shuyi to find out he couldn’t do anything. He didn’t want to be a fraud, even though none of this was his intention.
He hadn’t cared so much before, but over the past couple of days, he had become inexplicably concerned.
He couldn’t find the other candies he needed for the plan in the company, so he decided to leave work first. He asked Peng Yijia, who told him he could check nearby supermarkets; he should be able to buy them there.
Jiajia said, “You need to hurry. Supermarkets in malls usually close before 10 p.m. It’s already 8:30 now.”
Jiang Yicen: “Thanks, I’ll go right now. You all should also go home early. It’s very late. It’s not safe for girls to go home too late.”
Jiajia was momentarily stunned. When she came to, Jiang Yicen had already turned off his computer and left the company. His desk was neat and clean, and he had only taken the thin blue striped notebook issued by HR.
As soon as Jiang Yicen got to the first floor of the company, he saw that the area outside was still brightly lit. When he walked out, he saw many people still working overtime. So being a modern person wasn’t easy either. Everyone treated the company like home, with almost no personal time.
The supermarket was about two kilometers from the company. He needed to take a taxi, so he had to learn how to use a ride-hailing app.
Just as he was about to place an order on the app, he received a message from Nan Shuyi.
[Nan Shuyi: Still not off work?]
[Jiang Yicen: I’ve left the company, but I need to go to the mall to buy C-brand’s milk candies.]
[Nan Shuyi: Why buy candies?]
[Jiang Yicen: I need them for the product proposal. I haven’t tasted them yet, so I want to try the flavors first.]
[Nan Shuyi: Where are you now? I’m near the company. I’ll take you to buy them.]
[Jiang Yicen: Great! I’ll wait for you at the company entrance.]
Nan Shuyi, still sitting at the dinner table, thought about how Jiang Yicen had previously waited for him in the cold wind, and he couldn’t bear it.
[Nan Shuyi: It’ll take me about ten minutes to get to you. Wait for me on the first floor.]
There was a resting area on the first floor of the Nanyuan building where people could wait.
Zhou Yi looked at Nan Shuyi with confusion as he picked up his phone and got ready to leave.
“You’re not eating again?” Why did he have to use the word “again”?
“Go ahead and eat. I have something to take care of.”
Tonight’s seafood gathering was organized by Zhou Yi. He had traveled all the way to Nan Shuyi’s company to find him, waited for him to get off work, and then accompanied him here for seafood. He wanted to drink, but Nan Shuyi wouldn’t touch alcohol, saying he was driving. Zhou Yi told him to call a designated driver, but Nan Shuyi said he didn’t want anyone else sitting in his new car. Zhou Yi said fine, and then he called a few friends over to drink together.
Zhou Yi had gathered several friends for drinks, barbecue, and seafood. Apart from Nan Shuyi—who was, as always, drinking cola—nothing much had changed.
Before Zhou Yi could finish his lament, he saw his friend grab his jacket and head out, showing no reluctance to leave the delicious food.
Lawyer Jiang Ruolin had barely found time to come out. “Nan Shuyi, why are you leaving early again?”
Nan Shuyi raised his cola, toasting everyone as if with tea instead of alcohol. “I really have something to do. Dinner’s on me tonight. Order whatever you want.”
Zhou Yi: “Who cares about who’s paying?”
Nan Shuyi waved his hand behind him and walked away quickly, not wanting to argue with Zhou Yi.
Jiang Ruolin: “Something’s off with him.”
Cheng Chen, a friend from a red-third-generation political family, asked, “What’s he up to? He hasn’t been coming out much lately. What’s wrong with Nan Shuyi?”
Zhou Yi shook his head. “No idea.”
Jiang Ruolin’s expression was meaningful as he smiled and picked up a piece of the rare fresh king crab with his chopsticks.
“Once a person gets married, it’s hard for them to go out with friends anymore.”
Cheng Chen: “What, are you saying he’s pregnant or something?”
Jiang Ruolin: “Have you ever been in a relationship?”
Zhou Yi: “You don’t actually think he’s gotten involved with Jiang Yicen, do you? They have no emotional foundation. It’s just a marriage of convenience.”
Jiang Ruolin: “Didn’t you notice anything on their wedding day?”
Another friend who had been silent, He Mingshuo, was an architect. He usually didn’t hang out with them much, but they were all young masters from the same circle. He had only recently gotten to know Nan Shuyi. Today, he had finally managed to meet up, but before he could even exchange a few words, the other party was leaving. He felt a bit annoyed that he had come too late.
With his own hidden agenda, he suggested, “It’s been a while since we’ve all gathered. How about I treat everyone to a weekend gathering at Linlong Club? Come and have some fun, what do you say?”
Zhou Yi, always fond of having fun, immediately agreed. “Sounds good. The weather is getting hotter by the day, perfect for going out to ride horses or do some archery.”
Jiang Ruolin was also curious. “I haven’t had the chance to interact with that Mr. Jiang the Fourth yet.”
Cheng Chen: “Didn’t you see him at the wedding?”
Jiang Ruolin: “Did you see Nan Shuyi give us any chance to get close to him?”
Cheng Chen: “I drank too much that day. I don’t remember much. I just recall he looked gentle and refined—a pretty young guy. He doesn’t look much like Jiang Yiting at all.”
They were all about the same age as Nan Shuyi. Jiang Yicen was only in his early twenties, a younger brother in their eyes. They hadn’t paid much attention to Nan Shuyi’s marriage partner, merely out of curiosity.
Nan Shuyi drove to the Nanyuan Group entrance at the fastest speed allowed by city traffic laws.
If Nan Anru knew that he had come to Nanyuan twice in one day, he would probably wake up in the middle of the night and call to arrange for him to work at Nanyuan. Before this year, the number of times he visited Nanyuan in a year could be counted on one hand.
Jiang Yicen spotted Nan Shuyi’s car through the floor-to-ceiling windows of the building. At this time of day, few cars came to pick people up at the Nanyuan entrance.
Nan Shuyi habitually spoke with a hint of sarcasm. “Why aren’t you waiting outside today?”
Jiang Yicen quickly got into the car and fastened his seatbelt. A trace of feigned anger appeared on his gentle face. “Nan Shuyi, please forget the time I got lost. Thank you.”
Nan Shuyi laughed. “You ask a lot of me.”
Jiang Yicen: “If you’re annoyed by my requests, then I won’t trouble you next time?”
Nan Shuyi: “I actually like hearing you ask things of me.”
Jiang Yicen tilted his head to look at him. “Do I have the privilege to ask for anything?”
Nan Shuyi turned the car. “Of course. You have that right.”
Jiang Yicen watched as Nan Shuyi drove further away. Nan Shuyi wasn’t taking him to the supermarket near the company; instead, he headed toward another shopping mall closer to home.
Jiang Yicen was familiar with this bustling street.
The commercial buildings along the street had appeared in his memories, except in his memories, they were newer. Now, the shopping mall was covered with layers of decorations that hid the traces of time.
Nan Shuyi saw him staring thoughtfully, a hint of nostalgia in his eyes, and asked, “Haven’t been here in a long time?”
Jiang Yicen nodded. “Yes. After all these years, these commercial buildings have aged. They bear the marks of time, but they’ve also become more beautiful. They’ve been well maintained.”
Nan Shuyi: “They’ve been renovated. During the war, the outer walls were damaged.”
Jiang Yicen’s voice grew quieter, and his mood sank. “In war, no one is spared—neither people nor things.”
Nan Shuyi looked at him deeply. “When you encountered a shooting in the US, were you scared too?”
Jiang Yicen nodded. “Very scared. I like the peace we have now. An era of great peace and prosperity is wonderful.”
Nan Shuyi said sincerely, “Then don’t go back to the US in the future.”
Jiang Yicen nodded. “Mm, I won’t. It’s not safe.” He couldn’t go back anyway, and he didn’t want to return to a time of war.
Now, when he talked to Nan Shuyi, he subtly replaced “the US” with references to his past. Occasionally, he also wanted to share everything from his past with him. Otherwise, he would be too lonely. In this world, there was no one else who carried memories from a previous life like he did.
The car entered the parking lot. Nan Shuyi, familiar with the place, led Jiang Yicen into a large supermarket inside the mall.
C-brand’s candies were displayed in the most prominent spot. In contrast, Nanyuan’s milk candies were very inconspicuous. Passing customers, including Jiang Yicen, were easily attracted by C-brand’s signage and candy packaging.
Nan Shuyi took down a gift box printed with the colorful characters “Until Death Do Us Part.” He opened the box and took out a heart-shaped white chocolate candy.
Holding up the candy, he asked Jiang Yicen, “Want to try it?”
Jiang Yicen was still reading the ingredient list on the candy. Following Nan Shuyi’s cue, he nodded. “Yes.”
Nan Shuyi extended the candy forward. “Open up.”
Jiang Yicen obediently opened his mouth. A sweet white chocolate, still wrapped in its wrapper, was fed into his mouth by Nan Shuyi.
Nan Shuyi still held the just-ripped candy wrapper in his hand. The tips of his fingers still remembered the soft touch of Jiang Yicen’s lips.
He had noticed earlier that Jiang Yicen’s mood had been low since entering the mall. They said eating candy could improve one’s mood.
Nan Shuyi asked him, “How is it? Sweet?”
Jiang Yicen couldn’t help but bite the chocolate in half. The tips of his ears felt warm. He looked down at the ingredient list and said softly, “Pretty sweet.”
He didn’t think anyone had ever fed him candy like that before. Such an action was too intimate. But since it was Nan Shuyi, it was okay. Nan Shuyi was his husband. He didn’t mind.
Nan Shuyi probably felt a bit embarrassed too. He put the candy box into the shopping cart and pushed it forward without looking back.
As he walked, he asked, “Which other brand do you need to buy?”
Jiang Yicen noticed that the candy packaging boxes in the mall were all unfamiliar to him. A bag with a green monster print caught his attention.
“Can we buy this one?”
Nan Shuyi: “We can. This brand is relatively niche. The candy flavors are very unusual—not your typical chocolate, milk, or fruit. They’re all heavy flavors: durian, cilantro, scallion, garlic, snail noodle.”
Jiang Yicen smiled and put the candy box into the shopping cart. “That’s a bit unconventional.”
After that, no matter which brand of candy he saw, Nan Shuyi could explain the company’s creative philosophy behind it. He even knew who the founders were and used the opportunity to teach Jiang Yicen about candy categories.
From small details, Jiang Yicen understood that Nan Shuyi had never actually given up on Nanyuan. He wasn’t the playboy others perceived him to be. Perhaps he had his reasons for acting the “playboy” part, but Jiang Yicen didn’t know them yet.
They ended up buying a pile of candies and took them home. On the way, Jiang Yicen picked a few to taste. Seeing that Nan Shuyi was driving and it wasn’t convenient, he unwrapped a few and took the opportunity to pop them into Nan Shuyi’s mouth.
“Jiang Yicen, don’t feed me the wasabi flavor!”
“What does wasabi taste like?”
“Taste it yourself.”
“There’s only one in this box. I gave it all to you.”
“It’s pretty pungent.” Nan Shuyi pulled out a tissue and spat out the candy, frowning. “And a bit nauseating.”
Jiang Yicen took an orange-flavored one for himself, then picked a cilantro-flavored one and offered it to Nan Shuyi.
“What about this one?”
Nan Shuyi saw through Jiang Yicen’s little scheme at a glance. “Are you doing this on purpose? Picking all the weird flavors for me?”
Jiang Yicen gave an embarrassed smile, not denying his ulterior motive. He really had no curiosity for these strange-flavored candies.
Nan Shuyi spat out the candy in his mouth and warned, “Don’t give me any more weird candies, or you’ll have to walk home.”
Jiang Yicen reluctantly put away a piece of ginger-and-glucose candy. “Fine.”
When they got home, Nan Shuyi looked at the two large bags of candy and couldn’t help worrying about Jiang Yicen’s teeth. “Are you going to eat all of them?”
Jiang Yicen shook his head. “I’ll just try a few flavors.”
Nan Shuyi reminded him, “Remember to brush your teeth before bed.”
Jiang Yicen crouched on the floor, organizing the candy boxes, and asked, “Have you tasted all these before?” Actually, he didn’t like sweets that much. “I can’t finish trying them all in one go. Why don’t you just tell me what they taste like?”
Nan Shuyi still had the lingering taste of cilantro in his mouth. He looked at Jiang Yicen with an expression that said “you can’t be serious.” “Why would I eat such bizarre flavors?”
Jiang Yicen looked up and smiled at him. “But you even know how the boss plagiarized the employee’s design draft.”
Nan Shuyi casually picked up two boxes they had already opened and lightly tapped them on Jiang Yicen’s head.
“You know too much. I might have to silence you.”
Jiang Yicen covered his head and muttered, “Don’t hit me and make me dumb.”
Nan Shuyi: “Better dumb. Then you’ll be better at keeping secrets.”
Jiang Yicen thought to himself that no one had ever called him dumb before, but he knew Nan Shuyi didn’t mean it that way, so he gave a light hum.
Nan Shuyi was struck by the way he wrinkled his nose, as if hitting his very soul. The tip of his heart inexplicably tingled.
Jiang Yicen looked at the candy boxes in his hand. “Why are you taking so many? Didn’t you say you weren’t going to eat them?”
Nan Shuyi: “I’ll take them to the company tomorrow for the employees to eat.”
Jiang Yicen counted the candy boxes around him and realized that Nan Shuyi had conveniently taken the ones he didn’t like. His aim was quite accurate.
For once, he set aside the reserve of a young master. As Nan Shuyi stepped up the stairs, Jiang Yicen raised his voice behind him and said firmly, “Nan Shuyi, I’ll sleep in the guest room tonight. I definitely won’t disturb your rest!”
Nan Shuyi nearly stumbled at those words.
Who asked to hear that?