Inside the bedroom. The curtains were drawn, and the chandelier was lit, filling the room with light. In the middle of the large bed, a small, fair bottom kept wiggling and twisting. Along with it came faint, stubborn, childish grunting sounds.
“Chichi, do you want mommy’s help?” Chen Jinyao slowly folded clothes, sorting them into piles, occasionally stealing glances at Yan Chi. Seeing him struggling and unable to stand up despite his best efforts, she couldn’t help but laugh softly.
Little Yan Chi heard the laughter and immediately blushed. “No.” Then, he decisively gave up, no longer trying. His chubby little body flopped down, panting heavily, burying his small head in the blanket. “Tired, need rest.” After a pause, he said very clearly, word by word, “Do it myself.”
“…”
Not long after, the little bottom stuck up again. Though small in size but big in determination, the little dumpling was determined not to give up until he achieved his goal. There were clearly easier ways to get up, and he could stand up that way, but he was particularly fixated on this face-down, bottom-up method.
Yan Cheng came out of the study. Standing at the bedroom doorway, leaning against the doorframe, his demeanor was relaxed. He watched with an amused smile for a while, but finally couldn’t bear it anymore. Without saying anything, he walked over and bent down. Before Yan Chi could react, one arm went under his armpit, and he was easily lifted up.
Yan Chi, suddenly airborne, looked bewildered. Then he blushed and struggled hard, “Daddy! Daddy!” His little meat paws patted Yan Cheng’s handsome face repeatedly, “Down down I want down.”
Yan Cheng snorted, dodging backward but still patiently reasoning with him: “Daddy is helping you, you ungrateful little one.”
After saying this, he put the ungrateful little one on the bed. As soon as his little feet touched the blanket, his whole little body became incredibly active, breaking free from Yan Cheng’s arms. After stumbling a few steps, he fell straight onto the bed, and seconds later, his bottom stubbornly stuck up again.
“…”
Disbelief flashed in Yan Cheng’s eyes. He was stunned for a good while, then laughed quite rudely. His chest trembled, unable to stop.
“He doesn’t want anyone’s help, the little fellow is very ambitious,” Chen Jinyao said, putting all the folded clothes in the cabinet. Walking over, seeing Yan Cheng still laughing, she frowned and gave him a hard slap on his back, looking at their little one, “Stop laughing, give our son some face.”
“By the way, have you written your speech?” Chen Jinyao asked. Yan Cheng gave her a fleeting glance, raised his arm to wrap around her shoulder, pulling her closer to him. After looking into her eyes for several seconds, he shrugged and told her very honestly, “I haven’t written it.”
Hearing this, Chen Jinyao was shocked.
“This kind of thing, I can just improvise on stage,” he raised his eyebrows carelessly and said, “It’s just saying the same few things over and over anyway.”
Zhiyuan Technology had now established itself in the capital. Its developed projects had spread throughout the country. One could say that the company, which previously had high staff turnover, had unconsciously become one of the most desired employers.
In the blink of an eye, it was graduation season again. Students from all over the country who had gathered at the school would soon step into society, each heading in different directions to pursue their careers. Every year before students left school, the university would organize a large-scale campus recruitment fair and several company presentations.
Yan Cheng was now highly successful, and when people heard his name, they no longer immediately thought of his title as “Er Restaurant’s owner.” The speech he was preparing was at his alma mater’s invitation, meant to inspire soon-to-graduate juniors with motivational words. It was scheduled for Saturday, tomorrow morning from nine to eleven, in the lecture hall below the Capital University library.
Like Yan Cheng, Luo Xiao also had to return to his alma mater. He was mainly responsible for recruitment. The larger the company, the higher the position, and reportedly they needed to hire some secretaries. Luo Xiao’s school had many foreign language majors, which would be useful for future international business dealings, and the salary would naturally be high.
When Chen Jinlin learned of this, alarm bells rang in her mind. TV dramas always showed beautiful secretaries following their bosses every day, and over time, things would happen. But she didn’t dare mention these groundless suspicions directly to Luo Xiao. So Chen Jinlin messaged Chen Jinyao on WeChat.
Chen Jinyao would face the same crisis, and she believed that as women, her sister would understand and stand with her against this common enemy. However, Chen Jinyao replied with just an ellipsis.
Sister: [This is simple?] Sister: [If she finds young, beautiful female secretaries, Director Chen, you just find handsome, tall male secretaries.] Jinlin: […] The logic was flawless, impossible to refute.
Coming back to her senses, Chen Jinyao secretly glanced at Yan Cheng. Her jaw tensed slightly as she pressed her lips together, not asking anything. After a few seconds, she slowly looked away.
Just then, little Yan Chichi finally managed to stand up through his persistent efforts. He was so happy that he clapped for himself, his clear, pure grape-like big eyes staring straight at Yan Cheng and Chen Jinyao. He blinked, his fan-like long eyelashes fluttering. His fair little face wore an expression seeking praise.
Chen Jinyao wanted nothing more than to pick up Yan Chichi and shower him with kisses. After much consideration, reason still prevailed.
“Chichi, daddy is going out to play tomorrow,” Chen Jinyao said with a smile, sitting on the bed and gently poking Yan Chichi’s little forehead. “Chichi was so impressive just now, do you want daddy to reward you?”
“How about daddy takes you out to play tomorrow?”
This long string of words nearly confused the little one. Fortunately, he was good at catching key information, automatically filtering out unnecessary decorative words. Only “daddy going to play” remained in his little head. Yan Chichi instantly forgot about seeking praise, his bright eyes sparkling like stars as he looked up hopefully at Yan Cheng.
His chubby little chin made Yan Cheng unable to resist scratching it. He gave Chen Jinyao a meaningful look and lazily clicked his tongue, playing along, “I can take you to play, but you have to go to bed early tonight.”
His long finger tapped the little one’s nose tip, “Early to bed, early to rise means you can go.”
“…” The expressive little eyebrows wrinkled in confusion. Yan Chi tilted his little head, raised his paw and started chewing on it while weighing the pros and cons. Soon, he made his decision, “Mommy, I want to bathe and sleep.”
Chen Jinyao kept a straight face, but suddenly felt a sense of foreboding. Based on past experience, after the little one went to bed early… Her ears turned slightly red, and when she looked up, she indeed met his meaningful gaze, his eyes deep and full of obvious suggestion. Plus that smug upturned corner of his mouth. Everything was clear without words.
Chen Jinyao: “…”
Su Ran had stayed in the capital after graduation. She worked an office job at a small company, with a salary that wasn’t high, often struggling to make ends meet in the expensive capital. But big cities offered great temptations and opportunities – truthfully, with a bit of luck, the chances of success were higher, which was why so many people drifted to Beijing.
It happened to be Saturday, a rest day. She rented a place near the university district. Well-informed, she learned about a speech at Capital University, followed by a dedicated Zhiyuan Technology recruitment fair at its cultural square. Su Ran was very interested, stayed up all night preparing her resume, ready to try her luck.
She arrived early but was surprised to find the venue already full. The university students were all looking forward to this legendary senior’s story. The venue was bustling with everyone engaged in heated discussions. Su Ran stood in a corner near the door and, driven by curiosity, casually pulled aside a nearby female student to ask for details.
The girl said: “Zhiyuan’s CEO Yan was originally the capital’s notorious playboy. Think about it – transforming from a playboy to today’s elite, wouldn’t the story behind it be fascinating? I think it’s more impressive than a rags-to-riches story.”
“Plus, he’s super handsome.”
Su Ran thought for a moment, not quite understanding the girl’s perspective. “Aren’t we here to learn from these successful people’s experiences?”
The girl: “If just listening to speeches could lead to success, I guarantee everyone here today would be a CEO.”
“These inspirational words – search online and you’ll find tons.”
After a moment of silence, she suddenly screamed, “Look, CEO Yan!”
Su Ran turned back and looked up. She immediately saw the photo and brief introduction of the CEO the girl mentioned, projected onto the screen. The man in the photo seemed familiar to her.
“But it’s a pity that all the handsome ones are taken.”
“This one too – has a wife and son, and I heard he’s totally whipped by his wife.”
“Why do you sound so disappointed? Being whipped is cute.”
The chatter around started up again amid the noise.
In the midst of the noise, Su Ran suddenly remembered. This man called Yan Cheng was the bar owner who had kicked her out when she was working part-time at a bar. Impolite, full of rough energy, indeed a rich playboy who did whatever he wanted because of his money. Her impression of him was extremely poor.
Now seeing him able to stand up there was truly bewildering. And his wife had once been her dentist, who corrected her teeth – a quiet and elegant lady. Later, when she ran into him and his wife at the clinic, they nearly got into an argument, which made her feel even more that this man didn’t deserve his wife.
She suddenly lost interest. People around said they liked hearing stories about playboys transforming into social elites. What was there to listen to? The prerequisite for being a playboy was having money. This kind of success story, starting from an already privileged position, had nothing worth learning from.
Looking down in thought for a moment, Su Ran prepared to leave. But she paused before turning around. Since she was already here, she might as well listen. Besides, there was a recruitment fair in the afternoon, and if she could really get into Zhiyuan Technology – she’d heard their benefits were especially good. She shouldn’t let personal feelings get in the way of opportunity.
Society was cruel. It wore down fighting spirit and exhausted innocence. Before, Su Ran believed that as long as you worked hard and stayed optimistic, anything was possible. But now, she had become cynical. Not only cynical, but unconsciously, she had developed a double standard. Just like how she had been thinking that a rich second generation’s business success didn’t deserve to be called legendary. Now, she slightly narrowed her eyes, thinking uneasily that if she met Chen Jinyao here, perhaps she could use their old acquaintance to ask for some help getting in through the back door.
She could treat Chen Jinyao to a meal. She knew such a request was too much. But such thoughts kept emerging from deep inside, impossible to hide. If only she had become friends with Chen Jinyao back then, Su Ran thought. But back then, when Chen Jinyao suddenly took leave and transferred her to another dentist, after learning about the situation, she seemed to have directly deleted Chen Jinyao’s WeChat. Later, she never added her back.
On campus, on the tree-lined path leading to the venue, Chen Jinyao carried Yan Chi.
“Chichi, daddy looks especially handsome today.”
Yan Chichi just felt like he had been tricked – this place wasn’t fun at all. His face was full of unhappiness as he pouted, grumbling: “Daddy not handsome.”
He was quite clever and knew to gather allies, twisting his little body to kiss Chen Jinyao’s cheek, then clenching his little fist with conviction, “Chichi most handsome.”
Chen Jinyao laughed, “Yes, yes, yes, you’re the most handsome.”
Leave a Reply