Heart-Warming Youth - Chapter 25

Chapter 25: I’m Downstairs at Your Company

Translator: Noodletown Translations Editor: Noodletown Translations
Xu Ai was shaken to her core. She couldn’t believe it, Su Xuan went to her house?
Why the hell did he go to her house?
She thought she misheard and said immediately, “What did you say, grandma? Say that again, please.”
“I said, Little Xuan came to our house and is waiting to have dinner with you when you come home from school. How could you not come back?”
Xu Ai heard it loud and clear this time. Su Xuan really went to her house. She stood up instantly and asked in horror, “Why did he go to our house?”
“What is that supposed to mean?” The old lady sensed the strange tone in Xu Ai’s voice and became even grumpier. “Little Xuan is your boyfriend, why can’t he come over and visit me? Besides, look how busy he is. Had I not phone him, he probably wouldn’t make time today. You darn brat, he said you haven’t phoned him in a week? Have you not put an end to this lover’s spat yet?”
Xu Ai almost couldn’t stand straight. Her hand holding her phone was trembling. She could not believe what she heard, “grandma, what are you doing? How did you even get his number?”
“I called him because, naturally, I missed Little Xuan. We gave each other our phone numbers that day.” The old lady chided Xu Ai, “Little Xuan is a good boy. When he heard I missed him, he dropped by without hesitating, unlike you, so rude.”
?
Xu Ai was speechless. She was about to stomp her foot. How come she didn’t know they gave each other their numbers? When did they do this behind her back?
The old lady expressed her dissatisfaction strongly, “Your company had asked you to pull an all-nighter before, many times if I recall correctly. This is exploitation by capitalism. You should just quit now and don’t ever work for him again.”
Xu Ai shut her mouth.
“Look at Little Xuan. He’d been here for a while now and has been helping me out with preparing the dough and making the fillings. Not only is he efficient, he also does a great job. The dumplings he made look like flowers, even better than what you can do.” The old lady complimented Su Xuan, “Especially when we chatted, he said his company has a very humane administration and never asks its employees to work overtime. Even his personal assistant follows him only when needed. When he’s not needed, he’s off to do his own thing. If it is too late, he drives himself and tells his driver to go home and rest…”
Xu Ai felt a little gloomy and cut her off, “Grandma!”
“Are you coming home or not?” The old lady stopped talking.
Xu Ai glanced at Lin Shen and caught him looking her way. His gaze was deep and meaningful. She lowered her head and said softly, “I already promised him. I can’t go back.”
“Then what do we do?” the old lady asked.
How would she know what we do?
Xu Ai was a little grumpy, “you missed him, you didn’t miss me. Now that he’s there, you two can enjoy your meal.”
“You stinky brat! Who raised you? Who did I do this for? Who did Little Xuan come here for?” The old lady was about to blow a gasket, “I don’t care, you have to…”
“Grandma, I’m on the subway, the signal is a little iffy here. I gotta go, I’m hanging up now.” Xu Ai hung up the phone immediately.
Now that the nagging of the old lady is gone, Xu Ai was finally able to sigh in relief. However, in her heart, she was still ready to bang her head against the wall.
Ahhhhhhhh…
It was driving her insane!
Su Xuan was such a douche bag. He exchanged phone numbers with her grandma and went to her house without informing her.
What was his motive?
His grandma visited her at her school on Monday, it was only Friday, and he was already at her house visiting her grandma.
Would she be able to survive if he kept up like this?
“Xu Ai, are you alright? Zhao Yang looked at Xu Ai with worried eyes. He noticed that her expressions kept changing since the moment she picked up the phone. Now, her face was totally livid with a horrible expression.
Xu Ai paused for a second to control the raging fires in her bosom. She shook her head, “I’m alright.”
“It’s good that you’re alright!” Zhao Yang shook his phone with the game still open. “Still wanna play?”
Where the hell could she find the mood to play!
Xu Ai shook her head, “Nope, we’re almost at our stop.”
Zhao Yang gave up, feeling a little disappointed. “Then I guess I’ll have to pick another time to battle against you.”
Xu Ai still wasn’t in the mood. She sat back down.
The subway arrived at their stop ten minutes later. Lin Shen stood up and told Xu Ai, “If you’re busy, then you can go do your thing at your wish. I…”
Xu Ai interrupted, “It’s okay, I’ll follow you to the company.”
Lin Shen spoke no more.
Xu Ai thought, because she knew that Su Xuan went to her house, there was no way she was going home. That black-hearted douche probably was calculating different schemes to set her up. Had she went home, she probably would fall into his trap. Even though she couldn’t go home, her grandmother had already been ensnared. But she still had some hope.
She disembarked the subway with a heavy heart and almost bumped into someone.
Lin Shen held her immediately. “Is something really up? I don’t think you’ll be able to do your job if you’re feeling like this.”
Xu Ai pushed away all those random thoughts in her mind and shook her head, “Nothing’s up, you can relax! I’ll be back at a hundred percent once I arrive at the company. I thought you’d know that about me after three years.”
Lin Shen pursed his lips and nodded his head.
Zhao Yang disembarked after them and looked around, “Xu Ai, Lin Shen, I’m leaving from this exit. See you next time!”
Lin Shen nodded at him.
Xu Ai waved her hand at him.
The two started exiting the subway station. Xu Ai passed Lin Shen’s jacket to him, Lin Shen took it in his hands without saying anything.
They exited the subway station and started walking for some distance. Lin Shen turned around to look at Xu Ai, “Let’s grab something to eat first!”
Xu Ai had no appetite whatsoever. But it was evening, she couldn’t miss dinner; even if she didn’t eat, Lin Shen couldn’t starve with her. So she nodded anyway.
Lin Shen found a decent-looking restaurant and entered.
Xu Ai followed.
As per usual, they ordered two hot dishes, one cold dish, and one pot of tea.
Xu Ai wondered, her grandmother hadn’t called back since she hung up on her. Perhaps she was having dinner with Su Xuan by now.
“Would you like some rice? Or…” Lin Shen finished ordering and asked Xu Ai, who had her head down.
The word “dumpling” was about to slip past Xu Ai’s mouth. She gritted her teeth and swallowed it down. “Rice.”
Lin Shen nodded and passed the menu to the waiter.
Xu Ai poured herself a glass of water and started sipping. She wasn’t in the mood to talk.
Lin Shen gave her a few extra looks. He lowered his lashes and didn’t say anything at all. He started sipping tea with her.
A short time later, the waiter brought them their rice and dishes altogether.
Lin Shen’s phone started ringing just as he was about to pick up his chopsticks. He took out his cellphone from his pocket, looked at the screen, and frowned. Then he hung up.
It started ringing again just as he hung up. He frowned again.
Xu Ai looked up at him.
Lin Shen sensed her gaze and looked up at her. He tucked in the corners of his mouth for a little bit and pressed connect, “Hello?”
A woman’s voice came through the phone faintly.
The distance between them across the table is short, so Xu Ai was able to recognize that it was Cheng Yanan’s voice. It seemed like she was asking him if he had time tomorrow because her mother was going to invite him to her house. Lin Shen didn’t put it on speakerphone so she couldn’t hear everything clearly.
Xu Ai lowered her head. She picked up her chopsticks and started eating in silence. She was laughing internally, her hearing was probably a little too sharp, so sharp that she could even hear this.
Lin Shen understood what Cheng Yanyan implied and answered coldly, “I’m sorry, I don’t have time.” He paused, then added, “and I’m not going.” Then, he hung up the phone straight away.
Short, terse, straight to the point. Much like Lin Shen’s usual style.
Xu Ai thought, was she the reason why they had a kerfuffle after the wine party that day? Or else, Lin Shen would not act this way towards Cheng Yanyan. She clearly remembered the day Zhao Yang stopped her to inquire if she had a boyfriend. Zhao Yang asked if she was his girlfriend, he didn’t answer, but when Cheng Yanyan opened her mouth, he jumped the gun to explain.
She despised herself at the thought of this.
What are you thinking about, Xu Ai? Even if there’s something wrong between him and Cheng Yanyan, you sure had something to do with it, but you didn’t have a chance. Besides, every living soul knows you are Su Xuan’s girlfriend now, what’s the point of going back and thinking about this mess?
She took a deep breath to suppress all the emotions in her heart. She concentrated on eating her food in complete silence.
Lin Shen put down his cellphone to look at her.
Xu Ai felt Lin Shen’s gaze but acted as if she didn’t know and didn’t look up at him. She thought he must have remembered the day she went off on Cheng Yanyan and indirectly embarrassed him! But, she didn’t feel she did anything wrong that day, therefore, there was no way she would apologize.
After a while, Lin Shen picked up his chopsticks and started eating quietly.
They have never engaged in conversations whenever they ate together. Every time, they just ate in complete silence and gradually became accustomed to it, so they didn’t feel awkward.
Xu Ai didn’t have the appetite and thus didn’t eat much. Lin Shen didn’t seem to have a big appetite, either. When they finished, they walked to the company building together.
As they approached the building, Xu Ai stared at it and felt a sense of unfamiliarity.
She hadn’t been here in a few months. This used to be a division of Lin Corporation, a property that Lin Shen’s mother fought with her life for. At first, they leased all units of the building in order to pay their debts and only kept one level. Later on, Lin Shen took over and gradually got everything back. As their company’s profits increased, so did their size. It was no longer the small company it used to be.
Although this company was not an A-lister in the field, with its roots connected to Lin Corporation and its owner, Lin Shen, she is on her way to promising stardom.
Xu Ai was definitely an MVP along the way.
She was always by his side during his darkest days. Step by step, little by little, it started, stabilized, expanded, and became what it is today.
Xu Ai felt, in her heart, the deepest awe. For the past three years, she devoted all her vigor and love to the company other than her academics. At that time, she never thought it didn’t belong to her.
Lin Shen didn’t belong to her, either.
She turned around to look at Lin Shen. She didn’t know when he walked behind her. Now that she had stopped walking, he stopped walking, too, and stared at the building with her.
The sun was slowly sinking in the west, the crepuscular sunbeams spread across the sky, gilding a layer of gold all over Lin Shen’s body.
Suddenly, she remembered a too-popular quote from A Chinese Odyssey: My lover is the greatest hero in the world. One day, he will ask my hand in marriage on a rainbow-colored cloud. I guessed the first part, but I couldn’t have imagined this ending.
She, too, guessed the first part, but couldn’t have imagined this ending.
Little did she know, the relationship between them could tumble like this in such a short amount of time. No matter how hard she tried, she could never leap over the gully.
Xu Ai stopped staring and entered the building.
Lin Shen didn’t step inside right away and still stood by the entrance. The setting sun behind him cast an ethereal shadow on the planes of his face, adding a layer of mystery over his countenance, making it look inscrutable.
It was already past closing time. No one was there other than the security guards. It felt empty and deserted when they entered.
Lin Shen entered the building from outside after Xu Ai waited inside for about two minutes. He realized she was waiting and told her, “To the office.”
Xu Ai nodded.
They stepped inside the elevator together.
She didn’t have her own office at this company. She had to cram with Lin Shen in the same office every time they came here. She prayed and begged for an opportunity like that in the past, but now, she had no feelings for Lin Shen anymore, yet she didn’t feel inconvenient about sharing an office with him. After all, for the past three years, she had presented herself to him myriads of times, but Lin Shen didn’t want any of that, he probably wouldn’t want any now.
Lin Shen took out the keys, unlocked the office door, and stepped inside. He put the file folders on the desk and asked her, “Would you like some water?”
“No.” Xu Ai shook her head, “let’s begin!”
To which Lin Shen did not object. He sat down and opened the files.
Xu Ai sat across from him.
For three years, they had achieved a tacit mutual understanding. They were able to do everything efficiently and started checking the files as fast as they could.
The sky turned dark without them realizing it.
Xu Ai felt thirsty after halfway through checking the files. Lin Shen rose from his seat just as she was about to stand up. He took the cup that she left here, walked to the water cooler, and asked her, “Water or coffee?”
Xu Ai paused to think. “Coffee!”
She peered at her cellphone. It was already ten in the evening and they were only halfway done. The fastest time for them to finish would be two o’clock in the morning. They really had to pull an all-nighter.
Lin Shen nodded and made her a cup of instant coffee and placed it in front of her.
Xu Ai stirred the coffee with her spoon and saw him making a cup of instant coffee for himself. She rubbed her shoulders and kept on checking the files.
“We’ll have to pull an all-nighter anyway, so let’s take a break.” Lin Shen said.
Xu Ai shook her head.
Lin Shen looked at her and suddenly shouted, “Xu Ai!”
“Hmm?” Xu Ai didn’t raise her head.
Lin Shen held the cup in his hand tightly, “Thank you for staying by my side for the past three years. If it weren’t for you, I…”
Her phone started ringing and sliced through the silence, covering Lin Shen’s voice.
Xu Ai felt a nervous attack when Lin Shen talked for no particular reason. Her cell phone broke off her nervousness. She didn’t know why, but while she was relieved, she felt her cell phone rang at a bad time.
She looked up and saw Lin Shen stopped talking. She reached for her cellphone and saw it was Sun Pinting. She stood up and picked up the phone.
“My granny asked when are you taking Su Xuan to my place tomorrow?” Sun Pinting went straight to the question as soon as she picked up.
Xu Ai covered the side of her phone with her hand, “I don’t think I have time tomorrow.”
“Huh? Why?” Sun Pinting asked.
“There’s a copywriting that needs to be done for our contract signing tomorrow. I need to pull an all-nighter.” Xu Ai said.
Sun Pinting grunted, “You’re still working for Lin Shen? And you’re pulling an all-nighter? At his company? Just the two of you? What the hell are you thinking?” She utter something else after asking these bombarding questions, “Don’t forget that you are the suited mate of Empyrean’s Su Xuan, the news about him losing a few billions had just faded, are you planning to get on the headlines for sitting on the fence tomorrow?”
Xu Ai was livid when she heard that. “What the hell are you talking about?”
“I should be asking what the hell you are talking about?” Sun Pinting was grumpy. “My grandma nagged about it all week. If you’re not coming tomorrow, you better call her yourself.”
Xu Ai pinched between her brows, “fine, stop stressing about it. I’ll call your grandmother tomorrow.”
Sun Pinting continued, “I’m warning you, you gotta be careful. The outside world is bubbling about you and Su Xuan, yet Lin Shen is still asking you to work for him as if nothing is happening. Who knows what he’s been calculating, you…”
“Okay, I gotta go, there’s plenty of work waiting for me to do. I’m hanging up now.” Xu Ai could not listen any further and hung up the phone immediately.
The office seemed dead silent when she hung up.
Xu Ai looked at Lin Shen with her phone in her hand. His head lowered, a cup of coffee in his hands. It was as if he was staring into the coffee, or, it was as if he was contemplating.
Her phone started ringing again just as she was about to sit down. She looked down, it was Sun Pinting again. She declined the call. It rang again, and she declined again. When it rang for another time, Lin Shen looked at her, she had no choice but to pick up and grunted. “If you want to lambaste me, you have to wait until I’m done working. Then, you can feel free to lambaste me all you want. Stop messing around with me now.”
She heard a slight chuckle from her phone when she finished talking.
That chuckling sound did not belong to Sun Pinting.
Xu Ai was shocked. Immediately, she brought her phone from her ear to in front of her eyes. The caller was Su Xuan. It scared her so much that she almost threw her phone away. However, she still had some self-control, so she put the phone back to her ear again. She questioned angrily, “How is it you? What are you doing calling me?”
Su Xuan seemed to be in a good mood, and his beautiful voice was not at all affected by Xu Ai’s tone. “I’m downstairs at your company.”