Chapter 67#

Lily, a high-EQ professional woman, skilled in communication, and proficient in the social tactic of “the enemy of my enemy is my friend.”

“How about this one?” Yan Zishu actually pointed to the oldest one who looked kind and benevolent.

“Vice president, his resume is quite impressive,” Lily said. “But I don’t know if he still sees outpatients. It might require a special appointment.”

“Actually, rich people are more or less a bit problematic. What, ah, we rich people also have rich people’s troubles, you poor people can’t understand.”

Lily put away her phone, “It’s just being pretentious. For ordinary people like us, take me for example, I broke up with my boyfriend just to scrape together the down payment for a small, old apartment in the city center. People who can afford to buy a big villa at will sigh in their mansions every day?”

Although Yan Zishu knew she was doing it on purpose, he still fell for it and chuckled in cooperation.

Whether it was funny or not, why give a cold shoulder to someone who was paid to do a job?

Lily went to open the window to ventilate the room in the morning and evening. The room was immediately filled with the unique smell of the sea breeze.

The light wind stirred the curtains. Yan Zishu looked out from the floor-to-ceiling window. In the distance, the sea was sparkling, and reefs like isolated islands rose from the bottom of the turquoise water. It made one’s chest feel open, feeling that the sky and the earth were vast, and only oneself was insignificant. This sea view suite was truly worthy of the VIP treatment.

Fu Jinchi never actively appeared in front of him again.

Lily came for a while every morning and afternoon with great discretion. For the rest of the time, she went to do her own activities.

She never directly persuaded Yan Zishu of anything. The two usually only chatted about these unimportant trifles.

But Yan Zishu knew that Lily had complained about the boss to him, but in fact, she would report back to Fu Jinchi.

Sometimes she would even secretly take photos and videos of Yan Zishu and send them over.

One servant serves one master, as it should be. Yan Zishu just pretended not to know.

But he reflected and felt that it was unnecessary to make it like this.

What’s the point of two grown men not sorting things out themselves and involving others?

He felt that sooner or later he would have to talk to Fu Jinchi, but he needed time to prepare a draft.

But every time he thought of this, Yan Zishu always wanted to procrastinate a little longer—perhaps wait until he was better.

*

Hearing that Yan Zishu had a bout of pneumonia, Old Mr. Ding also came to visit and played a round of chess.

This also let Lily see for the first time that there were capable people in the world who would repeatedly retract moves even when playing Chinese checkers.

At the same time, she witnessed Yan Zishu’s extraordinary patience as he waited like an old monk in meditation for him to move the pieces back.

Probably because they were both extremely idle.

Regarding Yan Zishu’s sudden move to a premium suite, Old Mr. Ding still didn’t ask a single question. Instead, seeing Lily pouring water and giving medicine to him, he gossiped with some enthusiasm: “Is she your girlfriend? Came to see you?”

Yan Zishu quickly denied: “How could that be? Just an ordinary friend. Because I’m sick, she’s temporarily taking care of me.”

Old Mr. Ding then reprimanded: “You young people, how come you are all in no hurry, one after another? When you have a headache or a fever, there’s no one to help. My eldest grandson is the same. He complains about being too busy all day long, breaks up with one girlfriend after another. The girls complain endlessly, and he still gets angry, saying they don’t understand his work—I think he’s just like a scumbag!”

Thinking of that Ding Hongbo, Yan Zishu was not clear whether he was a scumbag. As for his bad temper, he had just experienced it.

Just yesterday, he unexpectedly received a call from Ding Hongbo and was suddenly scolded from head to toe.

“You can’t do the contract proofreading for A-J28, why didn’t you say so earlier? Do you know you’ve delayed other people’s work?”

Yan Zishu was given a big hat before he understood. It was because he had been sick in bed for the past few days and didn’t check his email every day as he used to. After the last contract was proofread, Ding Hongbo’s company sent another one. Seeing that he didn’t reply, they assumed he was working on it.

When the deadline came, the sender came to urge, only to find that he hadn’t seen it yet, and the progress was still zero.

This was also to blame on the other party for being too presumptuous and not confirming. However, for this kind of blunder, eight out of ten clients would not admit their own responsibility. Ding Hongbo had a standard client’s brain, babbling on and on, saying things like “I originally thought you did a good job and could be considered, but this attitude is too irresponsible,” and “Don’t think you can get away with anything just because you have my grandfather’s backing.”

Finally, he solemnly stated, “I will re-evaluate whether you are suitable for this job,” with a very official tone.

But after all this, it made him hear an extra meaning. Thinking again about Ding Hongbo, this busy man, who was also a “general manager” in his own group, the crown prince, the designated heir, why would he specially lose his temper with him, a freelancer, over a small matter?

Yan Zishu thought about it and realized, could it be that the old man had taken matters into his own hands again and wanted his grandson to get him a formal job?

During this period of cooperation, although Ding Hongbo doubted his character, he seemed to have gradually taken his work ability seriously.

Now it seemed that Yan Zishu himself didn’t even know that he had already been rejected by the highest interviewer.

So it was a no-go.

Lily was also present at the time. Yan Zishu glanced at her, not knowing if she would also report this kind of trivial matter to Fu Jinchi.

But since meeting Fu Jinchi, in just a few days, he had been living in a sea view suite with no worries about food and clothing, and was no longer anxious about his future survival. It seemed that compared to making progress, the corruption of money came more easily to people.

As for the bumps with Ding Hongbo, Yan Zishu, as always, did not tell Old Mr. Ding.

Usually, no matter how irritable the other party was, he never resorted to the primary school student’s trick of complaining. If he could do it, he would do it; if not, forget it.

Yan Zishu saw clearly that old people always had some stubborn ideas. For the kingdom they built with their own hands, they had a habitual desire for control. The new lion king had grown up, but he also had to define his own territory and establish his own indisputable ruling position.

He was very well-behaved in this regard and would never let himself become a target and escalate the conflict to the surface.

Just as others didn’t pry into his life, he didn’t become an unstable factor in others’ enjoyment of their later years.

When Yan Zishu recovered from pneumonia, it was Halloween. This festival was naturally a chaotic dance of demons. The restaurant in the sanatorium had properly prepared pumpkin pie, apple pie, and candy jars, and decorations were everywhere.

Lily said there was a carnival celebration on the commercial street. Yan Zishu said he wouldn’t go, but suggested she could go and have fun by herself.

Later, Lily also posted on her Moments. Besides the streets being full of witches, zombies, and vampires, the parade also had a very fishing port characteristic, with many sirens, Poseidons, and mermaids, and even sea turtles and crabs. It was extremely lively under the colorful neon lights.

It’s just that this kind of liveliness, after being transmitted secondhand, faded a lot. Yan Zishu browsed the local forum for a while and went to bed.

As a result, he dreamed of Fu Jinchi in a fitting manner. He was wearing a black coat, a high top hat, and holding a cane, looking dapper. Then Fu Jinchi took off his top hat and turned into a thin and long ghost, merging with the urban legend, wrapping around him tightly.

In the middle of the night, he woke up inadvertently. The bedside seemed to be haunted as well, with a person sitting quietly in a chair.

Yan Zishu closed his eyes, then opened them again, and said in a low voice: “What on earth are you doing! Don’t you know this is very scary?”

His heartbeat seemed to react only then, starting to accelerate, thumping loudly, and stopping after a long time.

Fu Jinchi stretched out his arm and turned on the small night light. The light was soft and not dazzling.

“Sorry, did I wake you up?” He smiled, but showed no remorse. “Just treat it as a nightmare, okay?”

Yan Zishu sat up and endured it again and again: “You didn’t just sneak in for the first time. Do you think I’m a fool?”

During this time, Fu Jinchi seemed not to appear directly in front of him, but would always sneak in when he was napping and sleeping at night.

This kind of behavior, even if Yan Zishu couldn’t discover it once or twice, how could he be completely unaware if it happened every day?

It was that kind of feeling of being half-dreaming and half-awake while sleeping, and also discovering clues when awake. At first, he was skeptical, but later he became more and more certain that he was really doing this. It was just that he lacked evidence before and was too lazy to care.

Today was the first time he caught him red-handed.

Yan Zishu had to admit that Lily was right. He covered his forehead: “Fu Jinchi, is there something wrong with you?”

Seeing that he was awake, Fu Jinchi simply sat directly on the bedside and raised his hand to stroke his cheek: “It’s not the first day you’ve known me.”

Yan Zishu helplessly held his hand and pulled it down, not letting him touch randomly.

“You didn’t just find out that I’ve never been a good person, a gentleman.” Fu Jinchi, however, pushed his luck, supporting himself with both hands on either side of his body, his entire upper body pressing down, forming an aggressive posture. “Since you don’t want to see me, but I really want to see you, I can only use this compromise. Zishu, don’t be so cruel, let me at least see you once.”

Fu Jinchi’s voice was low and hoarse, lingering in his ear. The midnight whisper was like a dream talk and a plea.

Yan Zishu sighed, unable to distinguish whether he was being domineering or humble—maybe just crazy.

Following Fu Jinchi, he forcibly squeezed himself onto the bed and gently pushed him to lie back: “Zishu, let me look at you.”

Yan Zishu hesitated for a moment. Fu Jinchi had already reached for the buttons of his pajamas. Seeing that he didn’t object, he unbuttoned the bottom one.

Yan Zishu was a little nervous and tensed his body: “Don’t go too far…”

Fu Jinchi comforted him: “Don’t be afraid, I won’t move around.”

In the end, he only unbuttoned two buttons.

Fu Jinchi lifted the hem of his pajamas, and several scars on his abdomen were exposed to the air.

He had surgery here, and the color of the new tissue was different from the skin in other places. The body wrapped in pajamas was slender and fragile. In another two years, if well-nourished, it might be possible to regain the original physique, but the hideous marks would never disappear in a lifetime.

For a long time, Fu Jinchi stretched out his palm and slowly rubbed the light-colored scars: “Does it hurt?”

“Don’t think about it.” Yan Zishu pushed his shoulder and shook his head. “Of course it doesn’t hurt now.”

Naturally, it had hurt before. There were times when he was tormented by the wound and couldn’t sleep at night, but when he was in agony, he was in agony. Afterwards, he felt it was not important anymore. Anyway, humans, this animal, have excellent self-repair ability and always forget the pain after the scar heals.

How thrilling it was, life and death on the line, but looking at it now, it just passed like that.

However, being caressed like this, regardless of desire, made Yan Zishu instinctively want to curl up: “You… don’t do it like this.”

Fu Jinchi let out a long sigh. He changed his posture, took Yan Zishu into his arms, and lifted the quilt to wrap them both.

The quilt was warm and soft, like a barrier separating them from the outside world, disintegrating the will that was considered strong during the day.

The sea breeze in the middle of the night became a bit fierce, and could be heard howling outside the window, but it was always safe in the room.

“Let me hold you for a while longer, I just… miss you too much.” Fu Jinchi stroked the back of Yan Zishu’s head, pressed his forehead against his, and murmured his name again. “Don’t push me away, Zishu, just treat it as a dream, I’ll leave at dawn.”

Yan Zishu was like a doll, held tightly in his arms. The problem was that he was not a doll, he was a real person, and Fu Jinchi’s behavior was like spreading his wings on the borderline between infatuation and perversion.

“No, I’m really not used to this.” Yan Zishu still sat up. “I can dream, but you can’t live in a dream, right?”

Fu Jinchi didn’t refute, looking at him with deep eyes.

“Although now is not the time I expected, this is also fine.” Yan Zishu took a pillow from the bed and padded it, sat a little to the side, and pulled Fu Jinchi up to sit as well. “Let’s talk openly. I’ll give you another chance to speak properly.”