Chapter 20 – Astray Youth (20)
The butler always felt like something had changed while he was unaware of it.
Firstly, the person who had gone back to his room on the second floor to sleep yesterday inexplicably emerged from Secretary Chen’s room today. He had returned yesterday with a somber expression, but this morning, as he exited the room, there was a faint shade of dark circles under his eyes. Despite that, he seemed spirited, even smiling and greeting him when he saw him.
After exchanging greetings, he was promptly ushered upstairs by someone walking behind him to put on his coat.
Standing in the corridor, the butler looked at the person who had just walked out of the room and remarked, “Did the young master have another nightmare?”
He had initially been unaware of this incident, but he had noticed the high schooler visiting the other’s room frequently at night, so he had figured it out.
As he adjusted his tie, Chen Luosong casually replied, “Yeah.”
The butler had thought this matter would pass, but he soon realized it was far from over.
Specifically, when Secretary Chen came home from work every day. Previously, the high schooler would quietly sit in the living room and wait, only standing up to greet Secretary Chen when he returned. But now, he would rush to the door ahead of everyone else, taking advantage of his height to immediately embrace the person who had just returned and engage in sniffing and nuzzling similar to a large dog.
The person, who used to be reserved and silent when he first got home, had gradually transformed into this without anyone noticing.
Furthermore, Secretary Chen didn’t push the person away; instead, he patted his back with his free hand.
The butler felt this was silent indulgence.
After a thorough sniff without detecting any smoke smell, Zhou Xiaokai finally straightened up, a smile spreading across his face.
He had come back relatively early today, so Chen Luosong hadn’t eaten dinner at the company. The butler and the kitchen staff knew his routine, so they prepared dinner for him when he returned to his room, so that he could eat it directly after he came out of the shower.
Zhou Kaiji also hadn’t eaten dinner, waiting to eat together with him.
The food was served. The high schooler took a few bites, then turned to ask, “Brother Chen, when do you have your break?”
Chen Luosong replied, “In two days.”
After finishing work tomorrow, the day after tomorrow would be the annual meeting, followed by an extended break. Although they would technically be on vacation, there would likely still be some dinners and banquets to attend.
Zhou Kaiji asked, “Can Brother Chen spare some time on New Year’s Eve?”
Chen Luosong: “Hmm?”
The high schooler looked over and said, “I want to go out and have fun with Brother Chen.”
Chen Luosong agreed.
The high schooler smiled.
The next day, Chen Luosong went to work as usual. There was a meeting in the morning, with people from the Yuan Group also present. The meeting started in the morning, had a half-hour break in between, and then continued until noon before ending.
After discussing back and forth for over a month, this meeting finalized every detail and included them in the contract. After both parties’ staff and lawyers confirmed the contract on-site, Chen Luosong and Yuan Yan signed and confirmed.
Actually, there was no rush to sign the contract, but both sides were busy taking holidays, and delaying could lead to changes. Especially on Yuan Yan’s side, although they had already made some concessions, they still felt that after the holiday, the other party would come up with more reasons for them to make further concessions.
After signing, both parties shook hands.
Secretary Chen had slender fingers, and even in this heated room, his fingertips were still a bit cold.
Yuan Yan held his hand and joked, “I thought I could get a hug.”
Chen Luosong also laughed, “Have you had enough of shaking hands?”
Yuan Yan then let go of his hand somewhat clumsily.
The other people present discreetly perked up their ears.
By the time the meeting was truly over, it had been past noon for a while. Meetings were not like sitting at desks as usual; they couldn’t snack, and everyone was hungry, so they didn’t bother much and went straight to the company cafeteria for lunch.
The cafeteria had hired a chef at a high cost, and the decoration was also very good, in fact, better than many restaurants outside.
Yuan Yan walked alongside Chen Luosong all the way, with everyone else maintaining their emotional intelligence, and those without it being controlled by others, eventually resulting in the rest of them sitting in a row while the two of them sat at a table.
Just having a meal, Chen Luosong didn’t pay much attention to these dynamics, while Yuan Yan smiled brightly.
While the two were chatting, the people in the row next to them tried hard to listen in, their eyes unconsciously drifting towards the two, regretting that they were sitting too far away.
There’s no absolute secrecy for office gossip; if one person knows, it’s as if the whole company knows.
They had already heard from the secretary’s department that Yuan Yan occasionally sent flowers to Secretary Chen, and each time it was different; counting them, it had been two months already.
According to somewhat unreliable sources, Yuan Yan’s longest relationship among his girlfriends lasted only a month from dating to breaking up.
Now, he had been sending flowers for two months, and it seemed like he would continue to persist afterward; it was hard to say it was just for fun like before.
But looking at Secretary Chen, it seemed like his attitude hadn’t changed from the beginning to the end.
Noticing the constant glances coming their way, Yuan Yan subtly adjusted his position, blocking the view of others looking towards Secretary Chen.
He instinctively lit a cigarette, and the person sitting across from him glanced at him, saying, “You better not light that.”
“You don’t like the smell of cigarettes?” Yuan Yan crushed the cigarette in the ashtray on the table, saying, “Okay.”
Chen Luosong didn’t say much else, just mentioning, “I don’t want the smell of cigarette smoke to get on me.”
Without a cigarette to smoke, Yuan Yan took a sip of water as a substitute habitual action. Then he asked, “Does Secretary Chen have time on New Year’s Eve?”
Chen Luosong replied, “I have plans.”
“What about the day after?” Yuan Yan inquired.
Chen Luosong raised an eyebrow slightly, asking, “Why?”
Yuan Yan chuckled, “I just wanted to go out and have some fun.”
Chen Luosong declined, “I have a party to attend.”
“You’re just brushing me off,” Yuan Yan’s eyes widened incredulously, “You’re definitely brushing me off.”
The circle was small enough that he would know about the party that could invite this person; he should have also received an invitation, but the fact was he had no idea about it at all.
He knew, yet he still said it, a blatant and undisguised brush-off.
Yuan Yan took another sip of water and said, “You could at least make a convincing brush-off.”
Chen Luosong chuckled.
In the end, Yuan Yan didn’t manage to make plans to go out for a day; after lunch, he was seen off.
As the last day of work for the year ended, by the time of the annual meeting the next day, most people were feeling relaxed.
The annual meeting was jointly planned by several departments, and Chen Luosong didn’t participate much, only signing off on the proposal at the end, agreeing to the plan without knowing the specifics, only the general outline.
This year’s annual meeting was quite innovative, to the extent that some of the older employees were momentarily caught off guard.
The range of reactions varied from confusion to understanding, from joining in to thoroughly enjoying the event.
After the usual speeches and awards, Chen Luosong glanced at the time.
With only the remaining time left for others to enjoy themselves, he didn’t see the need to stay any longer.
Noticing his intention to leave, his assistant stopped him in time, saying, “Secretary Chen, don’t leave yet. There’s a raffle later.”
The raffle was for everyone, with numbered slips placed on seats early in the day as lottery numbers.
So, Chen Luosong stayed back.
Apart from the earlier award-giving segment, what everyone was most looking forward to was the raffle.
Especially after someone won a prize worth tens of thousands, the atmosphere reached its peak.
Chen Luosong won a phone charm, a small yellow dog head. Based on the order of prizes, this was likely a consolation prize; everyone who didn’t win another prize received this phone charm, just with different animals.
The dog head eventually ended up in the hands of the high schooler.
…
On New Year’s Eve morning, when Chen Luosong woke up and walked into the living room, Zhou Xiaoji was already sitting on the sofa, typing away, dressed and ready to go out.
Chen Luosong buttoned up the last button of his coat and asked, “Why are you up so early?”
It was good not to make a sound; but as soon as he did, a large pendant appeared on his body.
Zhou Kaiji actually woke up a bit earlier than it seemed, spending some time doing homework in his room before heading downstairs. As he descended, he happened to receive a message from a few people including Li Hua and replied briefly.
Patting the large pendant on his body, Chen Luosong said, “Let’s have breakfast first.”
Although they woke up fairly early, by the time they left, it was already well past morning.
It was the first day of the holiday, so the streets were bustling with people, and the trees along the roads were adorned with colorful lights and other decorations, twinkling in the morning light. The sky wasn’t particularly bright today, making these decorations quite noticeable amidst the tall buildings.
Chen Luosong reached out slightly, and the high schooler walking beside him instinctively lowered his head, allowing Chen Luosong to comfortably lean on his shoulder.
Feeling at ease, Chen Luosong put one hand in his pocket and asked, “Didn’t a few of your little classmates ask you to hang out?”
Considering their personalities, they shouldn’t have missed such a lively opportunity.
The “little classmates” he referred to were obviously Li Hua and a few others. Zhou Kaiji glanced around and said, “They had something to do today.”
Chen Luosong remarked, “That’s a shame.”
As he spoke, a shout emerged from the surging crowd, but it was quickly drowned out by the noisy clamor.
Before he could turn his head, the person walking beside him instantly stood up straight and said, “There are too many people here, Brother Chen, let’s take another route.”
They navigated through the crowd and took a different path.
This area was an old square with quite a lot of people, and the buildings on both sides had a retro design. Many people were taking photos with their phones, and some were dressed in formal attire, taking wedding pictures by the street.
Chen Luosong’s steps didn’t falter, his gaze sweeping over the scene, pausing briefly.
Zhou Kaiji lowered his head and asked, “What’s wrong?”
“Nothing,” Chen Luosong’s voice remained steady as he said, “It just reminded me that I almost got married before.”
The cacophony of noise assaulted their ears, and Zhou Kaiji couldn’t hear clearly. He bent slightly and asked, “What?”
The person standing beside him adjusted his scarf and chuckled, saying, “It’s nothing.”
