The night before last, Fu Ruien had a stomach ache. The medicine he took contained sleep aids, so he slept extremely deeply. Normally, his biological clock would wake him at seven, but today he slept until past eight.
When he opened his eyes, the first thing that entered his sight was not the familiar ceiling, but the small hanging lamp on the tent roof. He stared at the lamp for a full three seconds before remembering he had "stayed over" in his sugar son's tent last night.
He turned to his side, surprised to find the boy who had been sleeping soundly in the crook of his arm was now gone, leaving only the opened sleeping bag spread over him.
Fu Ruien got up and crawled out of the tent, but the boy was nowhere to be seen in the bedroom either.
The curtains had been drawn open, and bright sunlight filled every corner of the bedroom. After washing up and changing out of his pajamas, Fu Ruien took a pre-matched suit from the dressing room. The man in the mirror was vibrant and energetic, with no trace of last night's distress left between his brows.
He pushed open the bedroom door and walked out. At the same time, a rich yet not cloying aroma of food wafted into his nostrils.
Following the scent, Fu Ruien looked over and saw Qiu Qiu bustling busily in front of the stove in the open kitchen. A laptop on the counter was playing a tutorial video synchronously, where a chef in a tall hat, speaking with a Cantonese-accented Mandarin, was teaching the audience how to make soup.
Qiu Qiu was learning with rapt attention, carefully dropping the final ingredient into the bubbling soup pot, his precision no less than during a high school chemistry lab.
The chef said, "Some people think it's over once the last ingredient goes in. No, I say, there's the most important thing left to put into the soup tureen, and that's the chef's love. Who is this bowl of soup for? Is it love for parents, love for friends, or love for guests?... Come, with me, put, the, love, in!"
Fu Ruien: ...Is this chef some kind of cult leader?
And his silly son really fell for the "cult leader's" trick.
He saw Qiu Qiu mutter something to the soup pot, then pinch his right fingertips at his left chest, miming as if plucking out a handful of air. He then gathered this invisible, intangible love in his palm and carefully dropped it into the soup pot.
Fu Ruien couldn't help but laugh. No matter how silly something was in this world, when done by Qiu Qiu, it became the most wonderful thing.
Just as Qiu Qiu turned the heat down, he heard familiar footsteps behind him. He turned around with full energy to greet him: "Godfather, good morning!... Huh? Are you going to the company this morning?"
Fu Ruien walked towards him while fastening his shirt cufflinks: "Yes, my schedule is too packed, no chance to rest. The driver should be here soon."
He glanced at the ingredients tumbling in the pot and asked with interest: "What are you stewing so early in the morning?"
"Pork tripe soup," Qiu Qiu said. "Pork tripe soup is good for the stomach. I bought fresh tripe from the market this morning. Seeing how uncomfortable you were yesterday, I thought you'd at least rest until noon before going to the office. I was hoping it would be ready just in time for lunch."
As he spoke, Qiu Qiu's voice grew a bit downcast, his enthusiasm clearly dampened.
How could Fu Ruien bear to see Qiu Qiu, who used love as a seasoning, look like that? He simply suggested: "When the soup is ready at noon, would you like to come to my company?... Of course, if you're too busy with your studies, I can have the driver come back to pick it up."
"No problem! I can go!" Qiu Qiu's eyes instantly lit up. "I can read in the car on the way there and back, it won't waste much time."
Although he had been by Fu Ruien's side for so long, he had never set foot in Enrui Group, not even in Fu Ruien's study. They say a man is most handsome when he's working, and Qiu Qiu really wanted to see that for himself.
Since the examinee said so, Fu Ruien naturally had no objections. Being able to see Qiu Qiu, hold Qiu Qiu, and best of all, kiss Qiu Qiu during a busy work break would rejuvenate him no matter how tired he was.
...
After breakfast, Fu Ruien was taken to the company by his driver.
As soon as he entered his office, his secretary, He Yu, reported that there was a luncheon meeting at noon.
"Cancel it," Fu Ruien said. "Qiu Qiu is coming at noon. Order lunch, make it plentiful. No need for soup, he made some for me this morning."
He Yu thought to himself, the most important part of that statement was definitely the last sentence. Look how pleased the boss is. That tone wasn't about a sugar son at all, it was completely about a sugar wife.
Normally when Fu Ruien was busy, the morning would pass in a blink, but today he felt time dragged on extremely slowly. He would work for a bit, then glance at his watch, wishing he could walk into the clock and push the hands forward himself.
Missing someone after just a few hours apart—Fu Ruien was experiencing this wonderful state of mind for the first time. He was beginning to understand why, every Qixi Festival, Christmas, and Valentine's Day, the junior secretaries vanished the moment work ended.
At half past eleven, the driver went to the apartment on time to pick up Qiu Qiu.
Qiu Qiu had already transferred the soup into a thermal pot beforehand. He handed the lunchbox to the driver and took a photocopied review booklet to read on the way. Before leaving, on a sudden impulse, he also slung his guitar on his back. The driver looked at him with a slight smile. Qiu Qiu didn't notice the teasing gaze, his mind preoccupied with which song to sing later.
The apartment wasn't far from Enrui Group, arriving in just over half an hour.
The driver parked the car in the reserved parking spot in the garage. Right next to it was the CEO's private elevator, which went directly to the top floor where Fu Ruien was.
The elevator had a semi-transparent, panoramic glass wall. They ascended from underground to ground level, gradually leaving the diverse crowds of people beneath their feet. Childishly, Qiu Qiu pressed against the glass, fascinated by the people who looked as small as tadpoles.
Next time he came, he would definitely enter through the main door and properly tour the company his godfather had built from the ground up!
When they reached the top floor, the elevator doors opened. He Yu was waiting outside and led him towards the CEO's office.
This floor, aside from the extra-large and imposing CEO's office, was occupied by meeting rooms and the secretariat.
Managing such a large company, Fu Ruien certainly had more than one secretary. He Yu was his confidential secretary, with his own private office. The remaining junior secretaries sat in the secretariat, under He Yu's management.
It was lunch break now, so most people had gone down to find food. But two young junior secretaries, dieting to lose weight, were sitting at their desks munching on cucumbers. So, they happened to see their boss, He Yu, leading a boy around twenty years old towards the CEO's office with a smile on his face.
That boy was really good-looking, the kind of good-looking that would make kindergarten teachers play favorites since childhood. He had a guitar on his back and was carrying a thermal soup pot in his hand. When he saw them, a flicker of shyness passed through his eyes. He nodded slightly, greeting them with his little dimples.
"Sisters, hello."
...The sisters suspected he was deliberately trying to charm them! Otherwise, why was every feature of his face exactly to their liking??!!!!
Before the secretaries could reply, the door to the CEO's office opened.
They watched as the handsome young man turned his head, his eyes curving into happy crescents as he called out to the person inside: "Godfather!"
Then a large hand reached out from the doorway, tightly seized the boy's fingers, and yanked him straight into the CEO's office!
With a loud "bang," the door slammed shut right in front of He Yu's face, the sound of the lock engaging clearly audible.
He Yu rubbed his nearly injured nose and began to consider whether the afternoon meeting needed to be postponed by half an hour.
Behind him, the two secretaries could no longer contain their excited whispers.
Secretary A squealed: "Ahhhhh! What on earth is that boy's relationship with the CEO? I heard him call President Fu 'godfather'! Tell me I'm not dreaming!"
Secretary B clasped her hands to her chest, joining in: "Of course you're not dreaming! A boy that gorgeous is beyond our poor imaginations—we couldn't even dream him up!"
Secretary A: "What would you call this? 'The Overbearing CEO Falls for the Prince Charming'?"
Secretary B: "Did you see the lunchbox he was carrying? He's here to deliver a lovingly made meal!" She teased, "You know what they say—to capture a man's heart, you must first capture his... what?"
"I know, I know!" Secretary A immediately chimed in, "His 'dick'!"
He Yu: ???? Are his subordinates so prone to wild fantasies because they don't have enough work to do?
