Unforgettable Touch - Chapter 13

Chapter 13 – A Pleasant Night

Shu Zhenshan took a cold shower, longer than usual.

He changed clothes and returned to the deck. The ship had already docked, and the guests who could still move on their own were dispersing.

Ran Buyue stood out in the crowd. That male model named Kelvin happened to run into him, and after exchanging a few words, the two strolled toward the gangway.

Shu Zhenshan, in a hurry to get back to the office, strode quickly and soon caught up to them.

He overheard Kelvin saying admiringly, “Ran-ge, it was great talking with you today. You really know so much!”

Ran Buyue seemed a little tipsy and took a moment to react before turning his head and saying, “Not really.” As he turned, he caught sight of Shu Zhenshan.

Their gazes met for a brief second before quickly darting away.

“Hey, any plans for tonight?” Li Yao’s playful voice suddenly interjected.

He had an arm around a pretty young male model, who blinked his hazy, dazed eyes and leaned softly into Li Yao’s chest, clearly drunk.

Ran Buyue felt nothing particular at the sight. In gay circles, people like Li Yao weren’t rare—if he saw someone he liked, he’d sleep with them. It was just a different lifestyle from his own. He countered, “What about President Li Yao? Any plans?”

Li Yao smiled ambiguously, “Whatever you guys are planning, that’s what I’m planning.”

Hearing this, Kelvin actually blushed, looking like a shy college freshman. He leaned in to whisper to Ran Buyue, “Ge, I… I haven’t done it much, my skills aren’t great, but I’ve got good hardware… please go easy on me…”

“…” A flock of imaginary crows flew through Ran Buyue’s mind. He cast a faint glance to the side and leaned against Kelvin’s shoulder with feigned drunkenness, his voice flirtatious, “Oh, so that’s why you rejected me twice just now?”

Kelvin blinked in confusion, “Huh? I didn’t…”

“It’s fine. I don’t mind,” Ran Buyue said lazily. “I’ll teach you.”

Li Yao chuckled deeply, his gaze intensifying. “Ah Ran, you’re so impressive.”

Just then, a sharp gust of cold wind cut past them. Shu Zhenshan, striding purposefully, walked past Li Yao without looking sideways. Beside him walked a tall, long-legged beauty with a stunning figure and an ethereal aura, her back bare and glowing pale under the night lights. As they approached the steps, Shu Zhenshan gentlemanly offered his arm for her to hold onto while descending.

Li Yao murmured in awe—this was the exclusive model of that top luxury brand. Only someone like Shu could land her.

“…,” Ran Buyue looked away coldly.

Young Master Zheng was completely drunk, but the moment he saw Shu Zhenshan, he sobered up at once and began bowing and nodding.

Shu Zhenshan smiled and said courteously, “No need for that, Second Young Master. I really can’t accept it.” The young master quickly waved his hand and signaled to the model beside him, instructing, “Just do whatever President Shu Zhenshan says.”

Shu Zhenshan politely replied, “Thank you, Second Young Master,” then added, “But business is business,” before leaving the frowning young master behind and stepping off the boat.

Ran Buyue disembarked from the other staircase and ended up face to face with Shu Zhenshan.

The dock’s floating bridge was narrow, barely allowing four people to walk side by side. On either side was the open sea.

Coincidentally, Shu Zhenshan and Ran Buyue walked at the same pace, side by side.

Shu Zhenshan had a gorgeous female model to his left, Ran Buyue had a handsome male model to his right. Although the models felt squeezed and in danger of falling into the sea, the two bosses walked shoulder to shoulder, lost in their own world, forcing the others to follow suit.

Even stranger, the two walked together without exchanging a single word.

Shu Zhenshan asked the female model gently, “Are your feet sore in those heels?”

The girl was flattered, “No, not at all.”

Ran Buyue asked the male model with concern, “Did you eat enough tonight?”

The boy nodded eagerly, “Y-Yes! I’ll make sure to go all out later!”

And so the four of them—shoulder to shoulder, to shoulder to shoulder—walked in a military-style march across the bridge.

At the crossroads, the left led to the private parking lot, and the right to the public one.

Shu Zhenshan paused slightly and said calmly, “Mr. Ran Buyue, have a pleasant night.”

Ran Buyue smiled and nodded, “You too, President Shu Zhenshan. Enjoy your night.”

Then, the two turned and walked in opposite directions, back to back, not looking back once.

“Boss!” Tian Xiaozhe jumped out of the car, only to see a sunny, handsome young man standing next to Ran Buyue. He stared in shock for three seconds before bursting into joyful tears. “Boss, you’re finally getting some action! Congratulations!”

Ran Buyue rolled his eyes and slammed the car door shut just as the naive pretty boy was about to hop in. His tone calm and stone-cold sober, “Kelvin, thanks for tonight.”

Kelvin stood there stunned. Before he could even say, “You didn’t even use my services, how was it hard on me?”—the car had already sped off, leaving him alone in the wind, utterly lost.

In the private parking lot, Shu Zhenshan got into his car while the model in the long dress remained outside. She was too good at reading the room—clearly, Shu Zhenshan wasn’t interested.

Shu Zhenshan rolled down the window and said courteously, “Miss Xu, have a good rest.”

Miss Xu replied, “You too, President Shu.”

The window rolled up. The dark Maybach slid into the night. In the driver’s seat, Xiao Sun looked back at Shu Zhenshan’s tired face and asked worriedly, “President Shu, are you sure you want to go to the office now? It’s almost 3 a.m.”

Shu Zhenshan said simply, “Go.” His eyes calmly watched the road. The Maybach glided past car after unfamiliar car.

It wasn’t until they merged onto the expressway that Shu Zhenshan looked away and opened the photo and video updates from Aunt Dong—shots of her walking his dog. He then checked the surveillance cam and saw Sesame curled by the door, occasionally lifting its head to sniff, then laying it back down in disappointment.

The company building was empty and silent late at night. Shu Zhenshan stepped into the CEO’s office, and the lights and screen automatically lit up—like entering his personal spacecraft.

Twelve hours later, he was scheduled to meet with a director from the Development and Reform Commission. In a week, he planned to formally announce that Yanchuan would be entering the robotics field. Before that, he had a mountain of documents to personally review and prepare.

Normally, Shu Zhenshan worked with unwavering focus. But tonight was different.

Something under his skin seemed to be burning restlessly, like a background process that couldn’t be shut down. No matter what he tried to focus on, the agitation remained.

At 3 a.m., he turned off the screen and went into the private rest area. After showering and brushing his teeth, he lay down in the wide, empty bed.

He closed his eyes—but couldn’t sleep.

He was no stranger to this state. For the past six years, between his day-and-night grind to build his business, even if he only slept four hours a day, every time he closed his eyes, Ran Buyue’s face would flood his mind.

And tonight, what came to him was Ran Buyue drenched, soft and warm as he clung to him, eyes damp, calling out another man’s name.

Shu Zhenshan couldn’t explain the feeling. The things Ran Buyue used to rarely do with him—he could now do freely with a male model he had just picked up.

Yes, even back then, Ran Buyue rarely called Shu’s name.

That morning after the senior’s wedding, Shu Zhenshan had woken up in the guestroom of a villa. Ran Buyue was still asleep beside him, face buried under the covers, like a snake coiled into a ball for hibernation.

Shu Zhenshan had quietly watched him until Ran Buyue naturally woke and opened his dazed eyes.

“Shu?” That was the first syllable Ran Buyue uttered upon waking.

Shu Zhenshan felt a trace of disappointment. He had wanted to hear Ran Buyue say his full name in proper Chinese—not just his surname, pronounced with an American accent like everyone else.

Last night, for a moment, Ran Buyue had cried out his full name, “Shu Zhenshan,” in a choked, tearful voice. His hands had tried to push Shu away while his body curled closer—was he begging for help, or seducing him?

From that day on, Shu Zhenshan often felt like he was floating in the clouds—

Am I… dating Ran Buyue? Is this what being in love feels like?

So happy.

In daily life, not much had changed.

Class. Lab. Occasionally dealing with problems. Skipping class. Lab again. Skipping more class. Back to the lab. No, don’t overthink it—they were really just doing projects.

They were preparing for a robotics competition at full speed. Their opponents were the barely-worth-mentioning Haye-Puss and some even less notable schools. Everyone had staked their pride, dignity, and even s3x life on winning—well, at least on beating the muggles at Harvard.

Ai Zilan, a Chinese-American curly-haired girl and the first person in the lab to meet Ran, kept suggesting they pull harmless pranks on rival schools during the competition. That way, even if they didn’t win, they’d still go down in history in a different way.

Everyone chewed on the free bananas from the school, excitedly raising their hands in support like a troop of monkeys.

“Hey, Ran Buyue, Shu Zhenshan!” Ai Zilan suddenly popped up with a banana in hand. “Why aren’t you two paying attention?”

Ran Buyue casually covered up the papers covered in design sketches and nodded seriously, “Yeah, I support the idea.”

Shu Zhenshan sat up straight and calmly blocked her view, saying coolly, “It’s a decent idea. But I think we should focus on increasing the prototype’s accuracy to at least 90% first…”

“Oh my god. Oh!” Ai Zilan clapped dramatically with the banana, eyes gleaming with excitement. “Ran and Shu have a little baby! A secret little baby project that no one else knows about!”

The monkeys swarmed over to gossip, but the pair kept tight-lipped. No matter how they were prodded, they didn’t let anything slip. Everyone respected their boundaries and eventually dispersed, returning to the stress of development.

Late at night, when everyone else had left the lab, Ran Buyue and Shu Zhenshan exchanged a look, pulled out crumpled drafts from the drawer, and resumed work on their “little secret.”

That was when Ran Buyue had been caught secretly using the 3D printer to prototype his little creation.

No matter how much time passed, Shu Zhenshan never forgot the look of sheer joy and brilliance on Ran Buyue’s face as he sketched, the way his pen could bring anything to life. And when he talked about his ideas, the fleeting vulnerability and softness he revealed made Shu Zhenshan’s heart ache.

Back then, Ran Buyue’s eyes had shone with excitement as he said, “Shu Zhenshan, you’re the only one who understands what I’m trying to do. We can witness its birth together.”

…But in the end, it was Shu Zhenshan who abandoned their “little baby”—that tiny thing that should have shone brightly never got the chance to be born.

Now, leaning against the headboard in the CEO’s private lounge, Shu Zhenshan once again revised the Chief Designer Invitation Letter—a document over twenty pages long, filled with detailed information and partnership terms. He had already edited it countless times.