Chapter 14 – Astray Youth (14)
It was somewhat surprising that these high school students were interested in this topic. Chen Luosong put down his water cup and said he wasn’t.
A few people looked quite shocked.
Once the topic started, it was hard to stop, especially when several high school students were already tired of doing their assignments.
Zhou Kaiji quietly continued doing his homework after hearing the answer he wanted. However, staying quiet didn’t mean the fire wouldn’t burn him. Li Hua spoke up again, and the topic instantly shifted.
Li Hua mentioned that during this period, many girls came to ask him for Zhou Kaiji’s contact information, saying they wanted to be friends.
They said that Zhou Kaiji seemed difficult to approach, and since he hadn’t joined their class group chat or added anyone as a friend, they turned to Li Hua, who seemed closer to him.
In reality, even Li Hua didn’t have his contact information. He added Zhou Kaiji only after they mentioned it to him that night.
Chen Luosong chuckled, propping his chin up. “You’re quite popular.”
It seemed he wanted to avoid the topic. Every day when the high schooler went home, he would talk to him about what happened at school, but he had never mentioned these things. Today was the first time he found out.
And it was Li Hua, an ordinary gossip pro, who broke the news.
The others initially listened but then sensed something was off.
Good Brother widened his eyes and said, “We’re all friends, how come no one came to ask me!”
He then asked, “So did you add them?”
Zhou Kaiji hadn’t added anyone.
Li Hua hadn’t given out the contact information, and the others didn’t dare to ask directly. Perhaps they had asked, but they got rejected. Last time when he passed on the class group chat notice to the person beside him, he glanced at his chat list and saw only Brother Chen at the top and them below.
This buddy was cutting through peach blossoms with his skills.
The others felt very sorry. “How come not even one was added?”
Li Hua chuckled and said, “Maybe you prefer older girls. After all, those who come asking for contact information are like elementary school girls.”
Without commenting on that matter, Chen Luosong just smiled and said, “Youth is truly wonderful.”
Zhou Kaiji glanced at him.
The person sitting on the side looked young, very easygoing, and also possessed the calmness and unruffled demeanor that comes with time and experience.
“…”
He silently withdrew his gaze.
Because they had been chatting in the afternoon, the high school students stayed a bit longer here in the evening. The last bus had already left, so they decided to stay overnight and continue reviewing their lessons the next day.
The villa had enough guest rooms, and the butler originally wanted the servants to prepare guest rooms, but the classmates insisted there was no need.
Rather than sleeping alone in their rooms, they preferred staying together for late-night conversations, so they chose to sleep on the floor in Zhou Kaiji’s room.
While the others were excitedly discussing what they should do tonight, Zhou Kaiji got up and went to the bathroom.
As the bathroom door closed, the voices outside instantly became muffled, only faintly audible.
He washed his face, droplets of water still clinging to his hair as he looked at himself in the mirror.
—Still retaining some childishness.
…
After a night of revelry, they spent another day studying. The high school students left feeling relaxed and carefree. Only Zhou Kaiji returned to his room, looking at the pile of unopened snacks on his desk, lost in thought.
When they returned to school on Monday, exams began immediately and lasted for three days, with the last day finishing at noon for a break.
At noon, Chen Luosong was still working, so the driver went to pick up Zhou Kaiji.
For Zhou Kaiji, the break wasn’t much different from usual. He spent half his time studying in his room and the other half reading in Secretary Chen’s office.
However, a few days later, the butler saw him take a call and then informed him that he needed to go out for a while.
He left quickly and returned just as swiftly, acting as if nothing had happened, and resumed reading in Secretary Chen’s office.
When Chen Luosong returned in the evening after dinner, Zhou Kaiji, as usual, went to report to him.
After quickly tidying up the desk, he turned to the person who had just closed the door and asked, “Which book do you want to read today?”
Zhou Kaiji mentioned a book title and took a seat on the nearby chair.
The sound of pages turning filled the quiet room, interrupted only occasionally by conversation, while snowflakes gently fell outside the window.
They read half a chapter that evening, finishing just around half past ten. After completing the last section, Chen Luosong closed the book, patted the high schooler’s back, and said, “Time to go to bed.”
Zhou Kaiji got up to walk to the door, his hand just gripping the handle without turning it before he turned back.
Chen Luosong watched as he approached, pulling a small box from the pocket of his pajamas.
It was a black velvet box.
Zhou Kaiji lowered his head and opened it.
His movements were so practiced, precise, and smooth as if he had done it countless times before.
The item nestled in the velvet reflected the light from above, quiet yet dazzling.
It was a tie clip.
Zhou Kaiji said, “This is for Brother Chen.”
Based on his experience of over a decade, he had never given gifts to others before and didn’t know how to go about it or what to say when giving one.
He had thought about it all afternoon and ultimately chose this as the only way he could think of.
Chen Luosong took the small velvet box.
Zhou Kaiji appeared relatively calm, but his entire body was already stiff, and if he didn’t move soon, he might start to feel numb in his hands and feet.
—As the velvet box was handed over, Zhou Kaiji withdrew his hand, and his other hand instinctively rubbed his slightly numb fingers.
He felt a bit nervous.
But Secretary Chen smiled, and he couldn’t help but smile back.
He had initially thought it would take some time to buy this tie clip, but unexpectedly, the school’s efficiency was surprisingly high. The results were out in the morning, reviewed at noon, and the money was deposited into his account in the afternoon.
With the cool touch of the tie clip in Chen Luosong’s hand, he suddenly asked, “Would you like to learn how to tie a tie?”
Zhou Kaiji looked at him and said, “Yes.”
Chen Luosong got up and casually found a tie in the wardrobe.
It was black.
He was wearing a loose shirt under his sweater, with the buttons not done up all the way. After removing the sweater and buttoning up properly, he could easily put on the tie.
He did this routine every day, tying the tie with great skill. However, this time he slowed down his movements, making it clearer for the high schooler to observe.
Zhou Kaiji had always thought that Secretary Chen had hands well-suited for writing. Now, he realized they were also well-suited for tying a tie.
Secretary Chen’s hands were pale and cold, creating a stark contrast with the black tie, giving them a strong presence that couldn’t be ignored.
The tie was just tied when it was immediately undone.
Chen Luosong pulled off the tie, looked at the person standing opposite him, and said, “Want to give it a try?”
It took Zhou Kaiji some time to realize what Secretary Chen meant by “give it a try.”
He took the tie, even though he had just seen it a moment ago, his mind was in disarray, and he couldn’t think of what the first step should be.
Realizing that it would take quite some time, Chen Luosong leaned back against the edge of the desk, lazily supporting himself with both hands on the tabletop.
Zhou Kaiji finally caught on and remembered the first step. He reached out, and the person across the table cooperatively tilted his head slightly back.
He bent down slightly, every movement careful, not daring to touch skin or wrinkle the shirt.
Progress was slow but smooth. However, halfway through, Zhou Kaiji lifted his eyes and glanced at the person slightly tilting his head back.
He usually didn’t dare to stare directly at the other person like this, only now realizing that Secretary Chen’s neck was also pale and thin. He could feel the presence of the prominent collarbone beneath the shirt.
The high schooler’s movements slowed down, and Chen Luosong lowered his eyes slightly, asking, “What’s wrong?”
Zhou Kaiji quickly averted his gaze and said it was nothing.
Despite the lengthy and somewhat bumpy process, the tie was eventually tied properly.
Chen Luosong could finally stand up straight. He glanced down, praised the high schooler’s skill, then turned around and picked up the small black velvet box from the desk.
The silver clip and black tie matched well.
He commented briefly, “Looks good.”
Zhou Kaiji smiled, his icy fingertips unconsciously touching his slightly heated ears.
Since Secretary Chen had to work tomorrow, he didn’t stay any longer and bid goodnight before heading back to his room.
That night, Zhou Kaiji couldn’t fall asleep again. It wasn’t due to the occasional nightmares but simply because his mind was inexplicably excited.
He sat up straight, working on his assignments all night before finally returning to bed before dawn.
The next day, the high schooler unusually struggled to wake up. There was a meeting scheduled, and Chen Luosong got up to have breakfast, instructing the butler to wake the high schooler up, at least to have breakfast before going back to sleep.
The driver was waiting outside, so he left after saying this.
By the time Zhou Kaiji woke up, breakfast time had long passed.
As he sat at the dining table eating, he glanced sideways and noticed a folder placed at the other end of the table.
The butler noticed his gaze, and said, “These are the documents that Secretary Chen needs. He must have forgotten to take them this morning. I’ll send them over later.”
Zhou Kaiji slowly swallowed the porridge in his mouth and said, “I can go deliver them.”
So, he went to deliver the documents.
The distance from the villa to Guangsheng was quite far, and by the time he arrived, it was already afternoon.
The last time he had been here, he had only glanced from a distance. Now, as he stepped into the building, he realized it was much larger inside than it appeared from the outside.
Navigating through the crowd, he approached the reception area and informed the receptionist that he was here to deliver something to Secretary Chen.
The receptionist had already received notification and didn’t ask further questions. She stood up and pointed to the elevator on the left, saying, “Secretary Chen’s office is on the twenty-fifth floor. Take the leftmost elevator, and it will take you directly there. Once you arrive, just keep walking straight, his office is at the far end.”
Not quite used to being addressed like this, Zhou Kaiji thanked her quietly and stepped into the elevator.
Exiting the elevator on the twenty-fifth floor led to the office area. Ignoring the various gazes from both sides, he walked straight ahead.
He saw the office and also noticed a desk in front of it. An employee holding a large bouquet of roses stood in front of the desk. When he heard someone approaching, he turned his head with some difficulty and said, “Secretary Chen, what about these flowers sent by Mr. Yuan…”
