Chapter 77 - Kissed gently
Edited by xiin and Noks
Yu Yan wrote up a list of computer parts he needed that night and got up early the next morning to buy the parts.
The shop near Lu Xiuhe’s home was owned by a person Father Lu knew well, so it would be less likely that he would get fleeced. Yu Yan had just gotten off the bus when he saw Lu Xiuhe standing at the bus station and waving to him with two boxes of stir-fried rice noodles in his hands.
“Here, breakfast.” Lu Xiuhe said, “You came too early ba, I nearly didn’t even get up.”
“I already told you that I don’t need you to accompany me.” Yu Yan looked at the dark circles under his eyes. “Didn’t you tell me you were going to bed at eleven last night?”
Thinking of last night’s quarrel, Lu Xiuhe only felt a throbbing pain at his temples.
What kind of wretched situation was this ah?
“How can someone just lie in bed and immediately fall asleep? I just dawdled there for a long time. Whatever, I’m not that sleepy. Let’s go and get the parts ba.”
With the list of parts in hand, buying things went very quickly. If the store didn’t have some part, the boss would go to another store to get it. The computer was ready after a few trips.
Yu Yan tried it on the spot, and because it was new, its operating speed could even compare to the one in Yi Chen’s home.
There was no young Internet addict who didn’t like high-performance machines; it was like choosing a gun to take onto a battlefield. What’s more, this was what Yu Yan used to make money, and he was usually accompanied by this thing for most of the day.
So when he finally got the computer in his hands, he was very happy. He took a taxi and even treated Lu Xiuhe to a box of good cigarettes before saying goodbye.
He got in the taxi and couldn’t help sending a message to Yi Chen.
Yu Yan: I got my computer set up [picture]
Five minutes later, an incoming voice call popped up on the phone screen.
Yu Yan was stunned and picked it up.
“Are you home?” There was a bit of noise in the background at Yi Chen’s end.
“Not yet, in the car.” Yu Yan asked, “Where are you?”
“Airport.”
“Where are you going?”
“Business trip,” Yi Chen said, “Three days.”
Yu Yan rolled down the window a bit. “…Why is it so sudden?”
“An impromptu decision, just going there for an inspection, it’s not a big matter.” Yi Chen handed the ticket to the staff at the counter as he continued speaking, “I may not be able to access the Internet these next few days.”
“That’s fine.” Yu Yan looked in the driver’s direction and lowered his voice as he said, “We… can still use voice and video calls.”
Yi Chen raised his eyebrows as if he had thought of something. “Did you forget something last night?”
Yu Yan replied, “Ah. What did I forget?”
The man’s voice was serious. “Forgot to call it out for me to hear.”
The staff person at the counter who was checking in the boarding pass froze for a bit, but soon snapped out of it as well.
She handed the boarding pass back with both hands, and with her smile not changing at all, said, “Have a good trip.”
Yu Yan choked.
They had had a video call after last night’s stream. Yu Yan had been checking for parts needed while chatting, and had already completely forgotten about that small interlude.
Yi Chen took the boarding pass and asked him, “Make it up to me today?”
His life assistant, who was following him, had heard this entire conversation. His face was as calm as water, but his heart was experiencing earthquake-like tremors.
Was his boss… flirting??
Wait! When did his boss start dating? He spent more than ten hours every day following his boss around and taking care of everything, how come he’d detected no signs of this???
Yu Yan’s voice went quieter. “L-let’s talk about it tonight ba. Are you about to board the flight?”
“It’s still early…” Yi Chen raised his eyes and motioned to the people behind him to go through the security check first. He would follow after them after having finished this call.
“I’ll wait for you,” the assistant quickly said.
Yi Chen nodded and walked to a quiet corner, leaving the two assistants to stand in their spot and look at each other with very confused eyes.
Yi Chen didn’t like to waste time in the airport. He would always step into the airport, and it wouldn’t be long before he boarded the plane after receiving his boarding pass. So he couldn’t chat for very long with Yu Yan before the broadcast system announcements started up.
Finally, one of the assistants came forward and reminded him, “President Yi, we’re going to board the plane soon…”
Yu Yan heard this, and immediately stopped speaking mid-sentence. “Then, you should board the plane first.”
“En.” Yi Chen said, and got ready to hang up.
“Then, when you get off the plane, send me a message,” the other side said suddenly.
Reporting a safe landing was a common practice, but Yi Chen seldom heard reminders of it. It was too common for him to fly here and there; sometimes, he would go out on multiple business trips, and his friends wouldn’t even know; his parents were always somewhere that had a big time difference with him.
There was no one waiting for him to report his safe landing to them.
Yi Chen held his cellphone, and his original feelings of being a little upset because of the impromptu business trip were suddenly soothed a lot.
“Alright.”
After hanging up the phone, Yu Yan’s smile deepened.
“Young man.” At the red light, the taxi driver stopped and chatted with him, “Girlfriend ah?”
Most taxi drivers loved chatting, and Yu Yan would usually be perfunctory, but this time he blinked and said, “En… sweetheart.”
The word “sweetheart” felt a bit awkward coming out of his mouth. Everyone was used to using “boyfriend” or “girlfriend”, so the taxi driver was stunned when he heard it. Then he laughed and said, “Oh, very good. At your age, you should date. You’re so handsome, so there’s probably a lot of young women who like you ba? Your girlfriend must constantly feel an impending sense of crisis.”
“No, no young women like me.” Yu Yan looked out of the window, thinking of his sweetheart. He couldn’t help muttering, “It’s me who should be the one feeling an impending sense of crisis.”
—
As soon as Yu Yan started streaming today, his stream followers discovered some changes.
[??? Has my near-sightedness been cured? All of a sudden, my field of vision is bright and not fuzzy at all… Blu-Ray quality?]
[I thought you went to Boss 1’s house again, but one look at the background, and it’s still just your small shabby house.]
[Congratulations to Yanyan on getting a new computer~]
[How much money did the anchor spend ah? Is it refreshing playing on it? Recently, I have also been wanting to change my computer, kneeling down and asking for a parts list!]
“I changed out the main processor.” Yu Yan quoted the price and said, “I looked up the information by myself, put it together casually. It’s not very professional… If everyone wants it, I’ll put up the hardware list on the public screen later.”
As soon as he said that, the private messages notification icon beside his video screen flashed violently.
Because of his growing popularity, Yu Yan had started receiving more and more private messages. Normally, he couldn’t read them all, so he had adjusted his settings. Only those private messages from stream followers on his livestream’s star offering list would appear with a flashing prompt—to make it convenient for bosses to get on the bus.
He started the game on the computer while opening his private messages with the platform’s livestreaming app on his phone.
[Nimble Electronics: Hello yanxyan! I’m an employee of Nimble, and we want to discuss a collaboration with you. Would you like to add your contact information for more details?]
Ever since the end of the annual gala, Yu Yan had already received many private messages of this kind. Most of them wanted him to advertise for them. Some of them were selling high-quality imitation shoes, some were selling kittens and puppies, and one had even wanted him to join the entertainment business…
His understanding of this advertising aspect was zero, and even checking their information wouldn’t produce accurate information, so he didn’t dare to agree, and had directly refused all of them. After all, these things would be used by fans, and before getting some kind of guarantee, he couldn’t publicize anything just like that.
But Nimble was different.
Nimble was a very famous gaming equipment company, to the extent that many professional players privately chose to use their brand of gaming equipment. Recently, Nimble had also signed a contract with CN7, and even had well-known teams representing them in all the three major games—LoL, PUBG and DOTA.
It was basically the equivalent of StarTV in the gaming equipment industry.
All of the equipment Yu Yan had noted down when he had gone to Yi Chen’s house was also from Nimble. Thus, he hesitated for a moment and didn’t directly refuse. After confirming the identity of the other party, he sent his WeChat contact details over.
Not long after Yi Chen got off the plane, he received a call from Mo Nancheng.
“Heard you came to M City?”
Yi Chen sat in the back seat of the car and asked in a light tone, “How did you know?”
“I met Manager Wu at breakfast today, and he said that your plane was coming in at noon.” Mo Nancheng’s tone was a bit different than usual, it seemed to be a bit listless. “You shouldn’t rush to work at noon, let’s have a meal together ba.”
“No,” said Yi Chen.
Mo Nancheng replied, “I’m begging you, I’ve already booked the restaurant, and I’ve prepared the wine, five figures guaranteed. You can drink whatever you want, and if you don’t want to drink it, you can even dump it in the water.”
Yi Chen wasn’t interested in his wine and was even less interested in sprinkling it into the water.
However, he didn’t think Mo Nancheng’s tone was quite right. Mo Nancheng was the kind of person who was careless and casual, extremely proud of his successes, and it was rare for him to not have a smile on his face.
So, they met in a large restaurant located on a ship at noon.
Mo Nancheng said, “This place’s seafood is especially fresh, try it!”
“I’m going to the branch office at two.” Yi Chen sat down and wiped his fingertips with a hot towel. “If you have something to say, just say it, or there won’t be time.”
It had taken him a lot of time to rush here from the airport. Now, it was already half past one.
The relationship between the two of them was so good that Mo Nancheng didn’t need to waste any extraneous words with him.
“Can you check the address of a female anchor for me…”
“No way.” Yi Chen refused without even thinking about it.
“……” Mo Nancheng’s smile dimmed a bit. “Don’t be like this. If you don’t agree, I’ll have to use illegal means.”
Yi Chen said, “So your meaning here is that you want me to go call the police?”
“Don’t ah,” Mo Nancheng said with a mournful expression.
Yi Chen leisurely picked out the fish bones. “Who are you looking for? Tuantuan?”
Mo Nancheng thought that he now had a chance and hurriedly said, “No! It’s Lulu!”
This time, without waiting for Yi Chen to ask, he explained it all by himself, “That day at the gala, I had too much to drink, and got a room with her… The next day though, when I woke up, she was gone, and I hadn’t asked for her name the previous night. I spent a whole day searching for her through all your livestream channels before finding her. Yet in the end, even after I sent several messages on the public screen, she ignored me and even banned me…”
If this woman was switched to someone else, and if they had left, and he didn’t get sick from them—then that would have been fine.
But he had really liked Lulu. He had thought that the two of them had been especially well-matched.
But obviously, he was the only one who had felt that way.
Yi Chen said, “Her leaving in the morning meant that she wasn’t interested in you. You’re well-experienced, and you can’t fail in understanding this point.”
Mo Nancheng replied, “But I still have to try and win her over. If it works, that’s good, and if it doesn’t, then I’ll just forget about it.”
“Then you go and try to win her over.” Yi Chen said, “I can’t help you.”
“How hard is it? Just transfer out her information to me, and I’ll have a look. I’m chasing her, not doing anything bad…”
It was true that Mo Nancheng wasn’t the type to do bad things, and it could be seen clearly that he was really sincere this time.
But emotions were emotions, and principles were principles.
“No way.” Yi Chen looked down at his wristwatch, then got up. “I’m going to the company now, I’ll pay for this meal.”
“Yi Chen.” These past few days, Mo Nancheng had been seething with anger over getting blocked by that shabby little livestream, and upon getting rejected by his best bro now, he became annoyed immediately.
He got up, swallowed down his anger, and said, “It’s okay if you don’t transfer the information to me, but you’re the boss, and she should recognize you. You can go help me reconnect with her, that isn’t so difficult ba?”
Yi Chen frowned and was about to say something—
But his little action of frowning became the flame that instantly ignited Mo Nancheng.
“This expression again.” It was as though Mo Nancheng had reached the end of his forbearance. He stood up with a complicated expression and suddenly asked, “Yi Chen, are you the only person in your world, and you hold no one else in regard? Is there nobody who is worthy of a shred of your effort?”
Yi Chen paused a bit while adjusting the cuffs of his shirt, and his eyes held a trace of confusion.
That seemed to be the last straw that broke the camel’s back. Mo Nancheng said, “You know, when I go out and tell others that I’m your good bro, do you know how they all look at me? They all think I’m ridiculous. After all, Yi Chen, what do you see me as? You see me as a boot-licker, a fool who sticks his hot face to your cold ass every day. What bro am I calling myself here, isn’t that all a joke?”
“I sometimes also wonder why I fucking have to hold onto you all day long. Yes, your family’s business is big, but I don’t lack any meals from you. We’ve known each other for a long time, but I’m always the fucking one to take the intiative to invite you out, and I even have to beg, plead, and wait upon you to come. You’re handsome, but that has fuck all to do with me, I’m so straight, I could shoot up into the sky.”
“Then, I understood.”
Mo Nancheng said all this, and then paused.
In fact, he already had some regrets, but he had already said this much, and stopping this speech was already out of his control——
“I thought you seemed pitiful.”
Yi Chen stood upright, motionless and still, his face unchanged, but his eyes were heavy enough to scare people.
“Everyone always says, you, Yi Chen, are so awesome, so amazing. You just took over the company, and you pressed down on that group of relatives until they didn’t even dare to show their faces. Over the past few years, the company has grown larger and larger.”
“But what else do you have besides money?” Mo Nancheng asked.
“Friends—if you leave out your business partners, do you even need one hand to count up the number of friends you have?”
“Family—I won’t mention those relatives of yours, but even with Yi Ran, who you’re closer to—he’s no different from me in your eyes, all of us are just boot-licking dogs. Your parents—I fear they only think that their son is a Philistine, not caring about anything else but making money.”
“Love… haha.”
“You’ve nearly turned into a machine… so you tell me, are you pitiful or not?”
Mo Nancheng had thought that he was in a rage, but the more he said, the more upset he got, and the worse he felt.
The two of them remained silent for a long time after this.
The assistants standing below didn’t even dare to breathe, and no one dared to remind Yi Chen that it was time to go.
After a while, it was Yi Chen who made the first move.
He didn’t change his posture, and he didn’t get angry or ridicule him. He just asked, “Are you finished?”
Mo Nancheng: “…”
“If so, I’m leaving.” Yi Chen fastened his last cuff link and took two steps forward.
Then he stopped.
“Although I don’t really want to discuss these meaningless matters with you, I think it’s necessary to make a correction.”
He looked sideways at Mo Nancheng. “I have a boyfriend.”
Mo Nancheng was shocked and abruptly spun his head around. “That little anchor?”
“It has nothing to do with you.” Yi Chen’s tone was light, but his eyes were cold. “Also, if you really like a person, you should respect her choice and follow her ideas instead of accosting her at her door.”
Having finished saying that, Yi Chen left without looking back, bringing in a cool breeze.
When he got off the ship, the assistant hurried to meet him and asked cautiously, “President Yi… Where are we going?”
They’d been quarreling so violently up there just now. If it was a normal person, they wouldn’t be able to go work ba.
Yi Chen got into the car. “The company.”
After a while, the black car started.
Yi Chen looked out of the window.
Because of the material of the glass, even the best scenery would get covered with a layer of lifeless grey.
At last, there was a slight crack in his expression.
He subconsciously picked up his cellphone, and before he could react, he had already sent a message.
1: Yanyan.
After looking at this message, he kept feeling like it was a bit dumb. Yi Chen opened the chat dialog box and just wanted to type “It’s nothing”, but before he could finish typing those words, his palm felt a bit of vibration.
Little Anchor: What’s the matter?
Little Anchor: [picture]
There was a bowl of hot and sour noodles with steam still coming out of it in the picture. It looked really delicious.
Little Anchor: I’m having lunch. The hot and sour noodles from this shop are really tasty. Next time you come to Manyang… I’ll take you to this shop to eat.
Little Anchor: Have you eaten yet?
Yi Chen held his cell phone tightly. He repeatedly opened the picture of the hot and sour noodles, and it felt like his originally unsettled heart had been safely and securely scooped up, and had even been kissed gently.
1: Nothing much.
1: Just miss you a little.
—
Juurensha: So sweet! (Although Yi Chen, you should probably talk to Yanyan about your fight with your bestie). Regarding the fight, I feel like while Yi Chen was in the right for not giving Mo Nancheng Lulu’s info (Mo Nancheng, that’s veering into stalker territory, and trying to convince your friend to use his authority over her as her boss to force her to talk to you is really not cool either), I also feel like Mo Nancheng has been biting back a lot of things he’s wanted to complain about about Yi Chen. He definitely didn’t have to be as mean and brutal as he was about it, like that went way over the line, but I have thought that Yi Chen doesn’t seem to treat him especially well. It does feel like sometimes he was just putting up with him, but if you’re besties, it has to be a two-way street.
xiin: … i want to stab Mo Nancheng wtf
Noks: That was brutal, Mo Nancheng. Part of it true, but part of it was just pure rage, and that’s gonna hurt both of you…
Some entries for the CG5k fanart contest:
Boss Yi by Neils:
And that scene of Yanyan and Boss Yi from that fanfic Yanyan read by lemonmangosteen:
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