Unforgettable Touch - Chapter 28

Chapter 28: Only Kiss Lovers

Ran Buyue chewed slowly for half an hour, and Shu Zhenshan stared at him, not blinking, for just as long.

“I’m full.”

Ran Buyue set down his chopsticks, leaned back against the chair, and stretched lazily.

One last piece of pan-fried tofu remained in the lunch box—now completely cold. Shu Zhenshan picked it up and ate it.

He efficiently cleaned up the empty lunch boxes and packed them neatly back into the paper bag, leaving no trace behind except for the lingering smell of food.

Ran Buyue opened his laptop and made the glass screen fully transparent. He urged seriously, “Let’s get started, talk business.”

Shu Zhenshan sat across from him at the client seat, both of them looking at the side screen.

It wasn’t some deep technical discussion—mainly Shu Zhenshan hadn’t been involved in the project for almost two weeks, and he needed to confirm the current direction was still correct.

After Ran Buyue finished presenting, Shu Zhenshan began sharing his thoughts.

As he spoke, Ran Buyue found his mind wandering a bit.

Compared to their brief last meeting, Shu Zhenshan looked much better—his Adam’s apple moving slightly as he spoke, exuding a masculine charm.

Maybe it’s true—after two people have had s3x, the atmosphere between them changes. Even if they’re just talking about work, after a while, the air grows subtly ambiguous.

They hadn’t been alone in a room for two weeks, and it had been two months since they’d slept together. And earlier, Shu Zhenshan had shamelessly flirted with him. Ran Buyue recalled the way Shu Zhenshan had held him tightly and made him lose control… He couldn’t help looking forward to three days from now.

But thinking about how it was still three days away made Ran Buyue feel a little itchy and impatient. If only he’d scheduled it as a once-a-month thing instead…

Staring at Shu Zhenshan’s face, lost in thought, Ran Buyue was suddenly caught off guard when their eyes met.

At some point, Shu Zhenshan had stopped talking and was now just watching him steadily.

Shu Zhenshan raised an eyebrow. “Zoning out?”

“…” Ran Buyue felt a little guilty being caught.

Shu Zhenshan: “Who were you thinking about?”

Ran Buyue put on a stern face. “Definitely not you.”

Shu Zhenshan replied slowly, “Don’t be in such a hurry…”

Suddenly, Ran Buyue’s phone vibrated. He glanced at the caller ID, muttered a quick “Sorry” to Shu Zhenshan, then got up and walked toward the window to answer the call with a light smile on his face.

Shu Zhenshan’s smile froze.

Ran Buyue’s voice was low and gentle, his words drifting over intermittently.

“Mm, of course I can… When? You decide…”

“Tonight? … Sure, let me see…”

He checked his watch and lowered his voice further, as if not wanting anyone to hear. “Mm… I can get off work in about half an hour. I’ll come straight to you… Where…? That same place as last time? Okay…”

Shu Zhenshan’s expression was now completely grim.

So, Ran Buyue really hadn’t been thinking about him just now.

“Alright, see you later… bye.”

Ran Buyue hung up and returned to his seat, perky and energized. “President Shu, I think that’s about it for today. Let’s wrap it up.”

Shu Zhenshan: “We’ve covered so little—what’s there to summarize? You can’t remember it?”

“True.” Ran Buyue didn’t take the sarcasm to heart and nodded. “I’ll update the team tomorrow. We’ll proceed as discussed. That’s it for today.”

He began gathering up the scattered papers on the table, clearly in a hurry to leave.

To go where? Meet who? Off to some date for a romantic evening?

Shu Zhenshan suddenly found it hard to breathe.

“Mr. Ran, is that your usual attitude toward work?” Shu Zhenshan said coldly. “I don’t recall ending the meeting.”

Ran Buyue looked attentive. “Alright then. What else is there to discuss?”

Shu Zhenshan replied, “We currently have two potential suppliers for the harmonic drive—one domestic and one in Tokyo. We’d better visit both in person to compare pros and cons.”

Ran Buyue thought it was a bit overkill to visit upstream suppliers himself, but considering it was a critical component, maybe it was worth the trip.

“When?” he asked.

Already scheduled, Shu Zhenshan replied. Two days from now.

That timing was a bit awkward, and Ran Buyue didn’t answer immediately.

“Other plans?” Shu Zhenshan asked.

“No,” Ran Buyue shrugged. “Let’s go with that, then.”

The meeting was finally over. Ran Buyue packed up quickly. Shu Zhenshan grabbed the bag of empty lunch boxes and left without looking back.

Ran Buyue headed straight to Hong Kong.

Earlier, Zhan Yuran had called and invited him to the private restaurant they’d been to last time—apparently, the chef had come up with a new dish. More importantly, Ran Buyue had helped design a mechanical element for one of Zhan Yuran’s films, and the relevant scenes had now been completed. He wanted Ran Buyue to see the result.

Ran Buyue had been responsible for almost all of the industrial design in Zhan Yuran’s films, and he loved doing work related to movies—it was the most creatively free. Seeing his designs appear onscreen made them feel real.

Every time, he couldn’t wait to see the final product.

Zhan Yuran always thoughtfully gifted him a collector’s edition DVD of each film.

That night, after watching the preview, Ran Buyue was so absorbed in talking about his ideas with Zhan Yuran that he tripped while stepping out of the dim screening room and fell hard—kneeling like he was in a traditional wedding ceremony.

Zhan Yuran rushed to help and called a bunch of doctors.

Ran Buyue’s pant legs were rolled up, and his knees had turned blue and purple—startlingly bad to look at.

Luckily, it was only a mild contusion, no sprains or fractures. Some ointment would do.

Zhan Yuran was very remorseful. The step lights had been broken, and he’d been meaning to fix them but kept forgetting.

Ran Buyue said it was fine—his skin just looked worse than it felt.

After confirming it really wasn’t serious, Zhan Yuran finally let him go.

Two days later, Ran Buyue arrived at the airport with his luggage.

He used to travel frequently for work, and Tian Xiaozhe should’ve been used to it. But this time, he seemed especially anxious, fussing: “Boss, want to take a motion sickness pill before boarding? You need to eat something, even if you get nauseous.”

“It’s just a few hours.” Ran Buyue reassured him. “We’ll land before it even starts.”

Good.” Tian Xiaozhe glanced around, lowered his voice, and said worriedly, “Boss, if you and President Shu fight on this trip… don’t argue with him. Without us around, you might lose.”

“…Thanks.” Ran Buyue patted his shoulder. “Relax. He’s bringing some engineers. He won’t act out in front of them.”

After yesterday’s team meeting, once everyone had left, the glass turned opaque again. Shu Zhenshan, as usual, took out a few packed meals and sat beside him to supervise his eating.

Ran Buyue felt nervous under his gaze, stiffly confirming travel details—how they were getting to Japan and who else was coming.

Shu Zhenshan said he’d bring a small team and they’d fly private.

Ran Buyue casually mocked the extravagant lifestyle, and Shu Zhenshan quickly changed his mind they’d fly commercial instead.

Soon after, Shu Zhenshan walked over from afar, alone—wearing sunglasses and a long light coat, looking like a male model on the street.

When he approached, Ran Buyue asked, “Where are your engineers?”

Shu Zhenshan took off his sunglasses. “Just me.”

“…What?”

“Taking them would cost extra first-class tickets,” Shu Zhenshan said plainly. “I make the final call anyway—no need.”

Ran Buyue was speechless. Big boss, you calculate every penny? You’ll fly a private jet on a whim but now you’re saving on first-class?

Really—a master of spending where he shouldn’t and scrimping where he shouldn’t.

Tian Xiaozhe watched nervously, wondering if he should get his boss one of those kids’ smartwatch phones—in case of emergency, at least he could call for help.

Shu Zhenshan said, “Let’s get through security. We don’t have much time.”

So Tian Xiaozhe stood at the security gate, watching with teary eyes as Ran Buyue left alone with the big-shot client, praying for a peaceful mission and that his boss would return unscathed.