My Boss Always Flirts With Me - Chapter 62

Chapter 62: Shaking Things Up

When he received the message, the band had already played five songs, and the last one was reaching its climax. Fang Ci propped his chin on his hand, looking at his phone, and didn’t reply right away. Distance truly had its benefits. If they were face to face at this moment, He Chi wouldn’t give him time to hesitate. He had long ago discovered that “solving things on the spot” didn’t work for He Chi and didn’t help their relationship.

But now, it was different. Silence would breed hesitation and doubt, quietly shaking the door to that heart.

The chorus ended before Fang Ci replied: [I’m at a dinner party. A handsome big brother invited me for a drink.] That’s right, the person in charge is a handsome big brother, so there’s nothing wrong with saying that.

He Chi: [?]

[Come out and give me a call.]

Seeing this, Fang Ci’s lips curled up, but he sent a confused emoji on WeChat: [Now?]

He Chi: [Mm.]

Fang Ci: [Then should I wait until I finish this glass?]

He Chi: [?]

Fang Ci took a photo and sent it to him. The glass was still a third full. The background lights were beautiful, and you could vaguely see people moving around on the dance floor.

[Almost done, just five minutes.] Fang Ci said.

The atmosphere in the photo was good, looking like a place young people would like. But He Chi’s frown didn’t relax. It was rare for him to feel an emotion akin to irritation. He restrained himself from calling directly. No matter how difficult the problem was at work, he could remain calm, because emotional thinking was never helpful in solving problems; on the contrary, it would affect his judgment. But now, the rules were being challenged. His emotions had a subtle change. It definitely couldn’t be called “calm.” The beach photo, the delayed notification, the silhouette on the cup—all of it made him uncomfortable.

He was like a hibernating python that finally felt its most vulnerable spot being poked with a finger, and an unprecedented sense of crisis arose. He had been right in what he thought a few days ago. The duration of Fang Ci’s business trip was indeed set incorrectly. It was very necessary to re-plan it.

Otherwise, the little one is going to go wild out there.

…

Five minutes later, Fang Ci sent a voice call request. He Chi accepted. It was very quiet on the other end, so it seemed Fang Ci had gone outside. He pressed his temples, temporarily reigning in his agitated thoughts, making sure his voice was as calm as usual. Even his concerned tone was the same as before: “Is it cold outside?”

Fang Ci replied, “It’s alright, not cold. It’s in the twenties (Celsius), and there’s no wind.”

His voice had a soft quality to it that smoothed over the inexplicable irritation in He Chi’s heart.

“I heard from Yuan Cheng that there was a small issue at the Southeast Asia factory. Has it been resolved?”

Fang Ci’s voice was still gentle and soft: “We submitted the solution this afternoon.”

Up to this point, everything was normal. He Chi’s heart eased slightly. He asked, “Did you have a good time at the party?”

Fang Ci paused, then replied, “I had a lot of fun. I met new friends, and the person in charge of the company here is very enthusiastic.”

He Chi chatted with him briefly, and Fang Ci told him the location of the restaurant and described the local Southeast Asian food he had just eaten, as well as the cultural customs of the locals. He mostly gave a rough summary, answering whatever He Chi asked. It was clear that He Chi’s tone was gradually relaxing, returning to its usual lazy and casual state.

Fang Ci wasn’t in a hurry. He truly wasn’t. He understood He Chi well enough, and it was precisely because of this understanding that he dared to pull these “little tricks” in secret. He was certain that Teacher He couldn’t do anything about him, at least for now. While on the phone, he walked forward along the beach. He was waiting for Teacher He’s “little mind games.”

“The handsome big brother you mentioned—he’s a new friend, too?”

The way he said it was so casual, yet it clearly betrayed his concern. Fang Ci stopped walking. The sea breeze blew slowly from the distant horizon. He turned his head to look out. The sea under the night sky was pitch black. The moonlight could only illuminate the churning waves. On a night like this, it was okay to play a little trick. The tide would take away both lies and truths and bury them in the sea.

“I just met him. He was by my side the whole time we were drinking. I guess he was just looking after me, the junior.” He paused for a moment, then said softly, “But the media department colleague said that person seems to want to pursue me. I didn’t pay much attention.”

The phone was too silent. Fang Ci’s ears were filled with the sound of the sea breeze, and he couldn’t even hear He Chi’s breathing.

“Is there anyone else?”

After a long while, He Chi asked another question, his tone calm. Fang Ci froze for a moment. Suppressing his pounding heart, he asked, “Anyone else what?”

“Is there anyone else who wants to pursue you?”

The sound of his heart still drowned out the wind and the waves. Fang Ci licked his dry lips and said, “I don’t know. Maybe… there are.”

Another bout of silence. He Chi’s tone became calmer with each sentence, but Fang Ci seemed to sense something, and his heart was thumping like a drum. Then he heard He Chi say flatly, “Okay, I understand.”

The sentence was so blunt and surprisingly bland. Fang Ci blinked. After a few seconds, he asked, “Understand what?”

“Yuanyuan is very popular.”

The drumming stopped on a minor beat.

“It’s a good thing. You can make friends everywhere you go.” One second, he was about to touch the bottom line of He Chi’s emotions, and the next, he saw him deftly sidestep it. Fang Ci’s nerves were taut. He clutched the hem of his T-shirt. The anticipation and tension were like an endless tide, ebbing and flowing, repeatedly crashing against the shore.

“Mm, so Teacher He doesn’t need to worry,” he smiled, finally letting go of the fabric, and said, “I’m adapting very well.”

Moonlight spilled onto his shoulders. Besides the scattered light in the sky, nothing else could be seen.

…

Because he had been drinking, Fang Ci slept very soundly that night. His dreams were filled with the sound of the waves.

The next day, Fang Ci got up on time, washed his face, and went to work. The Southeast Asia company provided three meals a day for its employees. The three of them on the business trip were too lazy to buy breakfast, so they came to clock in every day, even more diligently than the local employees.

“Why did you leave right after your call yesterday? We were still waiting to drink with you,” the media colleague asked with concern, slurping his noodle soup. “Nothing happened, right?”

Fang Ci shook his head. “It was a call from family. Just a daily greeting. It’s fine.”

“Your family has a great relationship then. My mom only calls me once a month. She’s too lazy to answer when I call her back. Last month, she even asked me where I worked. Seriously, why didn’t she ask what school I was studying at?” the R&D colleague chatted idly beside them.

Fang Ci and the media colleague laughed after hearing that. “That’s pretty terrifying.”

The R&D colleague added, “Looking at how often you were on the phone, I thought you were in a relationship. I was just complaining yesterday that our company is so inhumane to make people in the honeymoon phase of their relationship go on a business trip.”

The media colleague said, “Yeah, I can vouch for that. That’s a valid complaint. Luckily, I came here after a breakup.”

The two people next to her looked at her. “Really?”

“Yeah, it’s true. The conditions in Southeast Asia are so bad. Everyone in our team said three weeks was too long. I wish I could stay for three months. It would be a nice distraction.”

Hearing this, the two of them nodded. It wasn’t polite to pry into a girl’s personal matters, so they all buried their heads in their food.

“Remember to fill out your attendance sheet,” the media colleague reminded them as they headed back to the office after eating.

Their business trip wasn’t much different from working in China. Besides the change in location, the process was the same: regular reports, overtime attendance, clocking in and out… Everything was still submitted to the president’s office. Fortunately, the president’s office turned a blind eye. They treated a party like yesterday as work and didn’t strictly nitpick the details.

Before work, Fang Ci brewed a cup of coffee. As soon as he got back to his seat and turned on his computer, he heard the R&D colleague exclaim, “Holy sh*t!”

The media colleague thought there was a system error and asked, “What’s wrong?”

The R&D colleague grabbed his computer and showed them: “Email, email! Did you guys get the new notification from the president’s office?”

Fang Ci opened his inbox. There was indeed a new email.

“…Oh my god, our business trip has been changed from three weeks to one. The other two weeks are granted as leave, counted as extra vacation! Am I dreaming?”

“Aaaah, I wanted to stay for three months! Maybe I should just resign now.”

Fang Ci: “…”