Leaving the villa area, Pei Xi took a taxi home as quickly as he could. Upon entering the door, he went straight to the bathroom.

Less than half an hour passed before he opened the door and emerged with half-dried hair.

He didn’t have time to grab clothes before he went in, so he only had a bath towel around his waist. His upper body was dazzlingly white, and still looked slender with the thin layer of muscle covering it. 

In his hand, he held the ice seed jadeite bracelet he had just taken off his wrist in the bathroom, and he threw it on the bed like trash as soon as he entered the room.

Then he turned around and found a clean set of clothes in the closet. The white shirt was gathered up and buttoned to the top, completely covering the cold white of his chest.

The mirror against the wall to the side dutifully reflected the young man’s entire body.

He wore a suit, a neat tie, and was meticulously groomed from head to ankles, the aura of a superior wrapped within his unique cool calmness.

His cellphone, which was running low on battery, was still able to hold on for an incoming call.

There was just a number without a title. It was Xiao Gu, the temporary assistant assigned to him by the company.

Pei Xi picked up the car keys and walked out.

“No need, I will be at the company right away.”

“You should have finished the handover of Dong Han’s recent work. Print out the documents needed for today’s meeting and put them in my office.”

“Complete the information on the results of last week’s discussion as soon as possible. If there are any mistakes, go to the HR department yourself. I don’t need a troublesome assistant by my side.”

“Also, contact a local courier and tell him to go directly to the front desk when he arrives.”

Once he was done giving systematic instructions, Pei Xi hung up and stepped into the elevator.

Pei Group Headquarters.

Xiao Gu, who from beginning to end had only asked “Do I need to send the files to your email,” stared for a long time at the phone that had returned to its normal interface, then slowly turned his head.

“Isn’t it said that President Pei is easy to get along with and never puts excessive pressure on the employees around him?”

He held his cellphone with a look of despair: “Doesn’t your conscience hurt at all, deceiving my feelings like this?”

The two supervisors in front of him exchanged confused glances.

They were people who often dealt with Pei Xi at work, and although Pei Xi had a cold and unsmiling temperament, he was actually not difficult to get along with.

Why was he suddenly so confrontational today?

Who had provoked him?

“Maybe…..he wants to help you grow?”

“He just had an accident, which delayed his work, and Assistant Dong is taking a long vacation, so it’s normal for him to be a little emotional.”

“Relax, it will get better after a while.”

“Your work ability will definitely satisfy President Pei. I am optimistic about you.”

Xiao Gu lowered his head to look at his phone. Thinking of the phone call just now, he felt that the faces of these two people were full of deception. 

Would it really go smoothly?

Why did President Pei sound so…..fierce……ah……

*

*

Pei Xi arrived at the company before eleven o’clock.

The express courier had arrived one step ahead of him and was receiving other deliveries at the front desk.

Xiao Gu had estimated the time and was already waiting at the door, fully armed. When he saw him enter, he immediately went to greet him: “Hello, President Pei. I am Xiao Gu.”

Xiao Gu: “All of the meeting documents have been printed, bound, and placed in your office. The other information is still being prepared and will be handed over to you before 3pm at the latest.”

“Understood.”

Pei Xi handed him the ice seed jadeite bracelet that didn’t even have a packaging bag and said in a cold voice: “Send this to the He Group headquarters building.”

Xiao Gu quickly took it with both hands: “Okay, who is the recipient?”

“He Chuzhou.”

Pei Xi threw these two words down stiffly, then turned around and headed to the conference room with an expressionless face.

Oh, He Chuzhou.

……Ah? He Chuzhou?

Xiao Gu twisted his neck, as confused as the two front desk sisters who had listened from beginning to end with their ears perked up. 

“President Pei is sending something to President He?”

“Isn’t it said that these two people are incompatible?”

“No way, isn’t this the bracelet that was auctioned at a high price a couple days ago???”

One of the sisters spotted the hidden details with sharp eyes. She quickly tapped the phone twice and then raised it to show the other: “Look, here’s the industry news feed from the past two days. It was taken by President He.”

“It seems to be the item, ah.”

“Ninety-five million??!”

“Oh my god……”

Amidst the gasps, the young express delivery brother’s expression was stunned. He slowly looked at the bracelet, and the hand that was writing down the order shook.

This thing was just handed to him?

Didn’t his household have a safe?

“But why is it in President Pei’s hands?”

“A gift from President He?”

“??? What are you saying?”

“I. Under. Stand.”

The sister suddenly skewed her eyes, her face glowing red as she put away her phone: “The incompatibility between fire and water is just a cover-up. In fact, this is about spending a lot of money to win a beauty’s smile, but the beauty didn’t appreciate it in the end. Competing fiercely and unwilling to lag behind, the wife-chasing road is long~”

“…….”

The corners of her companion’s mouth twitched: “Jiejie, how did you come to this conclusion?”

“I’m speaking from experience.”

The sister smiled and said: “I’m just an ordinary scholar, don’t admire me too much.”

*

*

At the end of the meeting, all of the executives who left the high-level conference room were sweating profusely.

They hadn’t had such a speechless meeting in a long time.

They hadn’t had such great work pressure in a long time either.

Had their company lost a huge project recently?

It shouldn’t have?

Then why did it feel like the low pressure surrounding their immediate boss was about to blow up the conference room?

Small mistakes that were usually easily forgiven were now infinitely magnified, and serious warnings were given. Just one glance from him would send shivers down one’s spine.

Was the company going to lay off employees?

Was he preparing to take action against them???

There was a moment of panic among senior management, but Pei Xi knew nothing of how the meeting left their small minds in disarray.

After returning to his office, he first made a few internal calls to make follow-up work arrangements, then opened his mailbox and marked the newly received emails as read. Finally, he took the well bound documents on the side and began to process them.

It was only that the stack of documents was not very thick, and he hadn’t turned a page for over ten minutes.

No, he wasn’t reading them at all.

He covered his eyes irritably in the sunshine that filled the room.

As soon as there was silence, his mind was flooded by all of the stupid things he said and did to He Chuzhou the previous night when he was out of his mind. He couldn’t concentrate on his work at all.

Yes, he remembered it all.

From the phone call he made to He Chuzhou when he woke up at night to insisting that He Chuzhou hug him to sleep, he remembered everything clearly.

He had never expected that the so-called confused memory would actually lead him to think that scumbag was his husband.

Perhaps he should be grateful to He Chuzhou for not leaving him alone in the hospital, but he was too affected by subjective psychological factors and only felt sick.

Sick because of He Chuzhou’s skillfully coaxing words, because of his arms that had held countless men and women, and even more because of his bed that had been rocked by countless others.

Even after taking a thorough shower and changing clothes, he still felt as if he had that person’s scent on him, making him extremely disgusted.

Letting out a deep breath, he simply closed the documents and took the cell phone beside him. He found He Chuzhou’s phone number in his contacts and blocked it with one click.

This was purely an accident. He needed to treat it as if it had never happened. The same was true for He Chuzhou. He would not give He Chuzhou any chance to use this matter to threaten him or laugh at him.

Yes, threaten him.

He rubbed his forehead and began to recall whether he had left anything behind with He Chuzhou last night.

Call records proved nothing.

He had also sent back the bracelet.

He hadn’t signed the letter of guarantee. It was written solely by He Chuzhou, so he couldn’t use it as evidence…..

The phone rang suddenly, and his thoughts were interrupted. He answered with a frown: “What is it?”

The male voice on the other end contained a familiar smile. It was his schoolmate Xie Ling, who was now a well-known lawyer in the industry. They had kept in contact for many years after graduation. 

Xie Ling: “Some old classmates have come to Wancheng recently and invited us to get together tonight. Will you go?”

Pei Xi: “I won’t go, I’m busy.”

Xie Ling: “I guessed that would be the case. But your tone…..”

Xie Ling knew him well, and could tell that there was something wrong from just a few words: “Are you in a bad mood? Who messed with you?”

Pei Xi didn’t respond: “It’s nothing. I still have work to do, so I’ll hang up first.”

“Okay, if you don’t want to go, then don’t go.”

Xie Ling didn’t force him: “Actually, I told them a while ago that you would probably be too busy with work to spare the time, and wouldn’t accompany these drunkards—”

Pei Xi suddenly changed his words and interrupted: “Time and place.”

Xie Ling said reflexively: “Eight pm, Wanxiang Town, Xinjie street.”

Xie Ling: “Wait, why are you asking this? Do you plan to pick me up then? Are you so considerate?”

Pei Xi: “Understood. I will be there on time.”

Xie Ling: “?”

“Didn’t you just say you weren’t going?”

Xie Ling was delighted by his capriciousness: “Don’t say I didn’t warn you, those few are reincarnations of drunkards, and they won’t stop until they get drunk one by one.”

Pei Xi: “Understood.”

*

*

At 8 o’clock in the evening, Pei Xi arrived at Wanxiang Town on time.

He rarely attended gatherings with classmates, and was a rare visitor today. As soon as he entered the door, he was surrounded by enthusiastic old classmates and drank a whole cup.

Fortunately, it was just a cocktail and the alcohol content wasn’t high.

“That’s enough, ah. It’s not like you don’t know our top student can’t drink much, so don’t overwhelm him as soon as he comes in.”

Xie Ling raised his voice in a shout to rescue him, then led him away from the crowd to sit down on a corner sofa: “You’re actually here, ah. Do you need me to help block a few drinks later?”

Pei Xi: “No need.”

Xie Ling: “You really don’t want me to?”

Pei Xi nodded. Just then, the happily laughing class leader wandered over and insisted on honoring Pei Xi with a cup.

Pei Xi didn’t evade it, and drank at once.

Xie Ling felt that it was a rarity. He touched his chin while looking at him, and waited until the class leader left before speaking: “What sort of trouble could cause you to come out and get drunk?”

Pei Xi set down his cup: “There’s no trouble.”

Xie Ling: “Did He Chuzhou steal another project from you?”

When he heard that name, Pei Xi paused slightly and his face became colder: “No.”

Xie Ling felt that it should really be related to He Chuzhou: “Say, you guys are fighting too hard against each other. Why don’t you just discuss a win-win solution?”

“If your two leading companies cooperate, it would be easy to dominate the business district. Remember to hand over the contract to my agency, and I’ll give you a 9.2% discount on the agency fee.”

“We can’t cooperate.”

Pei Xi left no room to maneuver, breaking his fantasy: “The Pei and He groups will never cooperate.”

Okay, then.

Xie Ling smiled helplessly and didn’t dig deeper.

Pei Xi’s drinking capacity was indeed not very good, but he had a third round.

His nerves were numbed and his thoughts were so blurry that he didn’t have time to think about messy things, so he was just barely able to calm down.

Xie Ling helped stop a few drunk people who still wanted to come over and drink with him: “It’s too early to go. If you’re really dizzy, just close your eyes for a while and we’ll leave together later.”

Pei Xi nodded. Amidst the drunkenness, he reclined on the corner sofa and closed his eyes.

The noise in his ears never stopped.

There was constant laughter and quarreling. Pei Xi slept uneasily, and his mind was thrown into chaos. For a brief moment, his consciousness went blank, then the hustle and bustle returned in the next second. 

His shoulder was hit neither hard nor lightly. His eyelashes fluttered and his eyes opened. When he saw the lively scene in front of him, he was stunned for a moment, and his eyes flashed with confusion.

Xie Ling had just persuaded a drunkard who was already walking unsteadily, and turned around to find that his eyes were open: “You woke up? It will probably take them more than ten minutes. How about you sleep a little longer? Or I can just call a driver for you first.”

Pei Xi shook his head, and it was unknown what was on his mind.

Xie Ling felt that he seemed a little different after waking up, but couldn’t tell what it was. He reached out and waved a hand in front of him: “Are you still asleep?”

Pei Xi shook his head again.

Xie Ling thought he was just drowsy.

After looking at the situation in their box, he was about to call a driver over first when he suddenly heard Pei Xi ask: “Where is Chuzhou?”

Xie Ling abruptly stopped typing.

“What?”

He felt like he was hallucinating: “Who?”

But Pei Xi stopped talking.

Immediately afterwards, Xie Ling watched as Pei Xi opened the phone in front of him. After a moment of fiddling, he dragged the number marked “He Chuzhou” from the blacklist, then looked up: “I’m going out to make a phone call.”

Xie Ling: “? ? ?”

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Chapter 7 << Table of Contents >> Chapter 9