If I keep being this “silly,” will Lin Yusen keep making me work overtime?

I turned off the lights in the main office and poked my head into his office, knocking on the door: “Vice President, aren’t you leaving yet? I’m heading out.”

“Wait.”

He gathered his documents, turned off his office lights, and walked out with me.

The office building was especially quiet at night, and for a moment it seemed like our footsteps were the only sounds in the entire building. After walking quietly for a while, I couldn’t help but ask: “Vice President, why do you always make me work overtime?”

“Nie Xiguang, your family owns 49% of this company’s shares, half the profits go to your family.”

“So?”

“So when I make others work overtime, I feel guilty about exploiting the working people’s surplus value,” he said gently, “but I don’t have that guilt when making you work overtime.”

“…” What should I say to that?

“Also, Nie Xiguang, could you not call me Vice President after work?”

“Why?”

“Mm, it feels like I’m still working for you even after hours.”

“…”

Could I say that I’d already gotten used to this version of Lin Yusen these past few days? Was this perhaps his true nature? I remembered how he chatted with Dr. Fang, seemingly this casual and witty…

As we talked, we’d already walked out of the office building. I waved at him helplessly as I ran off: “Lin Yusen, goodbye!”

He suddenly called out: “Nie Xiguang, come back.”

I ran back, “What is it?”

“This morning, that Wuxi Da Fu on my desk, was it from you?”

I looked up at the sky, “Yeah, someone said to focus on the main contradiction, right? When I was waiting for the train at Suzhou Station last time, I suddenly had enlightenment, so I bought one at the station. Fifteen yuan, no need to thank me.”

“Oh right,” I added, “It was meant to hang in your car, not sit on your desk.”

He stared at me, “If you bought it so long ago, why give it to me only now?”

“I was still recovering from the trauma of that expensive dinner!” That one meal cost me all my salary since I started working~~~

“Was the impact that deep? If you’d given it to me earlier, maybe I wouldn’t have forgotten my wallet.” He suddenly smiled and tossed me a small bottle: “Unbranded product, dare to use it?”

I reflexively caught it, “What is this?”

What landed in my palm was a small jade-green bottle. Though made of jade, it wasn’t cold at all, but rather warm, as if someone had been holding it.

I opened it, and a faint medicinal fragrance wafted out.

“It’s a Chinese herbal ointment for removing scars.”

“Ah?”

“You can use it to remove the scars from those external injuries. It works well.”

“Thanks…” I suddenly didn’t know what to say, “Actually it’s fine now, the scars will fade after a while.”

“That may be true, but how can I take you out looking like this?”

What does he mean by taking me out? I looked at him puzzled, and what’s with that picky expression…

Lin Yusen handed me a red invitation.

“Your friend’s wedding banquet? Is it that woman who screamed and made you fall?” Yu Hua asked while handing me a big red apple.

“Yeah, he said his friend was just passing through Suzhou to deliver invitations when she saw me climbing through the window. She got really scared, seems like she has acrophobia… This apple is quite good.”

After praising the apple, I continued: “Vice President Lin said she’s felt very guilty about it, so she specifically invited me to attend her wedding. It’s in Shanghai on New Year’s Day… Should I go?”

Yin Jie said: “Of course you should go! Why not go for free food and drinks? Hey, you probably don’t need to give a gift, right?”

I said uncertainly: “…Probably not? But that’s not the point.”

“How is that not the point!” Yin Jie jumped off the bed and deftly opened the invitation, “Look here, oh, your name is written together with Vice President Lin’s, so you don’t need to give a gift! Hey, your name seems to have been added later.”

“Of course it was, they didn’t know me at first.”

“True. Anyway, if you don’t need to give a gift, you must go! Dress up nicely! We’ll go back to your dorm later to pick out clothes! Goal: Free food and drinks!”

…Why do I feel like she’s more excited than I am?

“Oh my, come to think of it, you’re attending a wedding banquet with the Vice President!” Yin Jie exclaimed emphatically: “This is what they call friendship forged through hardship! If we’d known jumping off a building would change Vice President Lin’s opinion of you, you should have jumped earlier!”

I glared at her: “If you were promised a promotion for jumping from the second floor, would you do it?”

Yin Jie looked troubled. “How big a promotion?”

…I decided to ignore her.

I kept putting off giving Lin Yusen an answer about the wedding banquet, but before long, I unexpectedly received another red bomb.

It was an email from Boss.

“Xigua, are you going to be in China on January 2nd? Overseas places should have Christmas holidays, right? Come back if you can, your boss is getting married! If you’re back in China you must come! If you’re overseas you must send a red envelope! My Shanghai number is 159xxxxxxxx, remember to contact me, you brat, haven’t contacted us since you went abroad.”

There was an angry emoji at the end, very much in Boss’s style.

I dizzily read the email several times, still couldn’t figure out what overseas Christmas holiday she was talking about, and called the number in the email with a bewildered expression.

The other end quickly picked up: “Hello, who is this?”

“It’s me, Xigua.”

“Hey, you little devil, finally decided to contact me! Wait, this is a domestic number, you’re still in China…”

“…Where else would I be if not in China? This is my Wuxi number, you all have my number.”

Boss asked somewhat shocked on the other end: “Aren’t you studying abroad?”

“Who said that?” I was baffled, “I just traveled abroad for a while. I sent you all messages asking for your addresses so I could send gifts…”

“We all changed to Shanghai numbers, you know!”

“…”

Well, I had considered they might have changed numbers. With today’s advanced communications, finding new contact information couldn’t be easier, but in the three months since returning to China, I had subconsciously avoided looking them up, always thinking I’d contact them later, and kept putting it off until now…

“I was wrong… Send me everyone’s numbers later. Why did you think I went to study abroad?” Even if we lost contact, how did they come to that conclusion?

“I think Rong Rong said so, and you didn’t come to Sheng Yuan either.” The boss seemed confused.

Why would Rong Rong say I went to study abroad? I found it puzzling, but at the mention of her, I wanted to change the subject, “Oh, never mind that. I’ll come to your wedding.”

“Just coming isn’t enough, everyone has to come a day early to help out. Come on the first, hehe, we’re poor, we have to set everything up ourselves.”

Everyone?

…

I paused for a moment and immediately refused: “I probably can’t make it on the first, you know how ‘finance’ always has to work overtime at the beginning of the month…”

“Overtime on New Year’s Day?” The boss was suspicious.

“Yeah, yeah, cruel isn’t it?” Afraid she’d keep pressing, I quickly chuckled and said, “Getting married so quickly, Boss, you’re not…”

The boss had probably been suspected too many times and immediately exploded: “Your boss isn’t pregnant! Damn, you’re all so impure!”

“I wasn’t going to say you’re pregnant.” I protested.

“Then what were you going to say?”

I thought for a moment, “I was going to say… Boss, you didn’t get your husband pregnant, did you==”

The other end went silent for a moment, then suddenly burst into laughter: “Hahahahaha! That’s right, exactly! Xigua, out of everyone, only you saw through the truth! Hahaha, come drink to celebrate when he gives birth next year!”

I shuddered at her burst of laughter: “Boss, you have such a low laugh threshold.”

“That was funny, okay! By the way, Xiguang, you seem to be in a good mood.”

I was startled, “Really?”

“Yes! I can smell it through the phone.”

After hanging up, I rested my chin on my hand and spaced out for a while. Even Boss could tell I was in a good mood over the phone, so I must be in a good mood, but why? It’s not like anything earth-shattering happened.

Could it be…

I unconsciously glanced at Lin Yusen in the vice president’s office.

…Could it be because a handsome guy finally stopped hating me?

Mm, that must be it. What a joyous occasion – Lin Yusen and I, before the end of this year, after his car accident and my fall, finally entered—

A harmonious superior-subordinate relationship.

Wasn’t it difficult?

Even more twisted than other people’s romances, right?

So, I concluded!

To maintain our current friendly relationship, I should go to his friend’s wedding banquet! Can’t let someone get married while feeling guilty!