Chapter 66
After the meal, Yu Chen’s face was still hot.
In the reception hall, He Zhen was surrounded by the elders, each of them taking turns asking after him, chatting with him, and reminiscing about those “precious” family moments from childhood.
Yu Chen found it nothing but ironic.
Back when He Zhen had needed family affection the most, who even knew where these people were?
In those years, who had ever thought much of a child who had lost both parents?
Yu Chen did not want to look at their fawning faces, so he sat by the flowerbeds with He Zhi’an, drinking milk tea and chatting.
Half a year had passed, but He Zhi’an’s flair was as dazzling as ever. Other than going to class, the rest of his life was practically packed with racing, yachts, and clubs—colorful and glamorous. He even had to put on sunglasses just to look cool while eating.
“Yu Chen, now that He Zhen’s back this time, do the two of you have any plans?”
Yu Chen cracked open a nut. “He’s pursuing me.”
“Pursuing you?” He Zhi’an took off his sunglasses. “Is that some new kind of couple foreplay now?”
Facing the sunlight, Yu Chen’s cheeks were flushed red. “We’re not together yet.”
“Well, damn, He Zhen’s not very capable then!” He Zhi’an put on the expression of someone deeply seasoned in love. “Back when He Zhen went abroad, he basically entrusted you to me like someone leaving behind an orphan, telling me to take care of you and not let you get bullied. It was the first time in my life I ever saw He Zhen cry.”
“He cried?” Yu Chen slowly set down the nut in his hand.
“Not really, just… choked up.” He Zhi’an sighed. “Maybe because he was leaving you and couldn’t stop worrying. Honestly, I thought now that he’s back, you two would already have cooked rice into cooked rice.”
Yu Chen’s heart suddenly skipped a beat.
An indescribable emotion surged through him. “He always worries that I’ll get bullied.”
For some reason, Yu Chen thought of the original book’s plot.
No matter how paranoid or terrible the He Zhen in that story had been, he had still treated Yu Chen decently enough. All these years, if He Zhen had one mouthful of meat, then Yu Chen would have at least one mouthful of soup.
To avoid walking the same road as in the story, Yu Chen had always made himself remember every detail from the book after growing up. Although some of the plotlines related to the main characters had already become blurry in his memory, anything related to He Zhen was something he always tried hard not to forget.
After all, He Zhen’s appearances in the book had not actually been that many.
“How are you these days?” A faintly roguish smile rippled at He Zhi’an’s lips. “Is studying biology fun?”
“I’m pretty interested in it.” Cradling his hot milk tea, Yu Chen squinted comfortably. “Right now I’m especially content. Especially now that Boss is back—my life has no regrets anymore.”
He Zhi’an was busy, and while they talked, WeChat messages kept coming in non-stop.
Yu Chen looked at him. “I want to ask you something. Do you like boys or girls?”
“That?” He Zhi’an crossed one leg over the other and replied with easy swagger, “Hard to say. Just get to know people. I’m still young anyway.”
Yu Chen just had to open the pot that shouldn’t be opened. “A few days ago, I saw Jiashu’s Moments. His college life looks pretty exciting—he even joined the drama club. He invited me to go visit him this summer too.”
“Oh.” He Zhi’an responded perfunctorily. “I’ve already forgotten what he looks like. But I heard Fang Jingrao’s coming back in another month. When that happens, we can all get together.”
“Mm.” Yu Chen smiled with narrowed eyes and sighed, “Time really flies. In just a few months, we’ll already be second-years.”
“Tell me about it. University is way too fun.” Just then, He Zhi’an got a call and stood up. “My friend’s birthday—I’m leaving first. If my mom asks, help me tell her for me.”
Yu Chen waved his hand. “Have fun.”
Out of habit, He Zhi’an blew him a kiss. “Bye-bye.”
The quiet flowerbed was left with only Yu Chen now.
He patiently peeled his nuts, completely failing to notice the person who had walked in.
“Not replying to my WeChat, and hiding out here for some peace and quiet instead?”
Yu Chen jumped in fright at the sudden voice, nearly spilling the nuts everywhere.
“No, I was just chatting with An’an.”
Yu Chen looked up, and the two pairs of eyes met by accident.
In that instant, Yu Chen ran straight into the deep, smoldering heat glowing in He Zhen’s eyes.
His heart instantly recalled all the teasing He Zhen had done at the dinner table, and Yu Chen hurriedly changed the subject. “Oh right. I want to sign up for the food festival. If you have time, you can come taste my food.”
He Zhen leaned back in the rocking chair, long legs crossed lazily.
“Do you have any helpers?”
Yu Chen said, “No, I can do it by myself.”
He Zhen opened his phone calendar. “What day?”
Yu Chen answered, “Children’s Day. June first.”
He Zhen marked the date. “I’ll go sell with you.”
“Huh? But that’s Thursday. Don’t you have work?” Yu Chen muttered softly. “And we’ll be outside. Even if there are fans, it’ll definitely be really hot. Plus there’ll be oil smoke everywhere—greasy and sticky. Standing there for half a day would be exhausting.”
He Zhen looked at him and smiled. “Do you take me for some delicate little flower grown in a greenhouse?”
“No.” Yu Chen explained, “I just think… it’ll be too hard on you.”
“Precisely because it’s hard, I’m going with you.” He Zhen had his secretary leave that day’s schedule open in advance. “I’ll be your assistant. You keep the money, I do the work.”
A dimple appeared at Yu Chen’s lips. “There’s such a good deal as that?”
He Zhen curled his lips. “The boss title belongs to me.”
Yu Chen’s gaze stayed on He Zhen’s face, a trace of shyness hidden in his eyes. “Oh, so that’s what you’re aiming for.”
He Zhen held out his hand and gripped Yu Chen’s slender wrist. “Can I?”
Yu Chen lowered his eyes and said quietly, “Only if you help me take care of the signboard.”
“No problem. I’ll hand-paint it myself.”
Yu Chen gave a satisfied little hum and leaned back in the rocking chair, kicking his legs lightly, his palm still tightly enclosed in He Zhen’s large hand.
In the blink of an eye, a week passed.
It had already been half a month since He Zhen took over as CEO of the group.
He Feng had started out through heavy industry. Although over the years it had developed into a comprehensive conglomerate, industrial manufacturing was still the group’s core business and accounted for 65% of its profits.
At present, He Zhen had already gotten a clear picture of the group’s current state, and recently he had been discussing with He Heng how to balance and restrain the board.
The board had fourteen members in total, divided into three factions led by Director Lin, Director Zhang, and Director Qi respectively.
Among them, Director Qi’s faction was loyal to Grandpa He.
“I realized that although our group’s profit rises steadily every year, the internal problems are huge. There are two team-building events every quarter, and each one costs an average of twenty million yuan—and that’s only at headquarters.”
He Heng nodded. “Actually, those problems have always existed. Even when Grandpa He was still in charge, he turned a blind eye to them. As chairman, as long as the group’s profits were there, some things could be tacitly allowed.”
“But if this keeps going long-term, who can guarantee it won’t affect the group’s development? If I want reform, I have to clear away internal obstacles first.”
What He Zhen had mainly studied at university was the American management model. Applied to He Feng, it did count as something innovative—but at the same time, it did not fit perfectly. After all, the social and cultural context was different.
“You’re planning to…?” He Heng had a bad feeling.
After hesitating for a moment, He Zhen said, “I want to lay people off. Dismiss those who never do any real work and only know how to build factions.”
He Heng said, “Using that method to remove Director Lin’s and Director Zhang’s people would indeed be effective, but it also comes with risks.”
“I know. So I’ll think it through some more.”
He Zhen pulled out the equity structure. “Our group’s major foreign investors all hold preferred shares. For all these years, they’ve had no right to interfere in board decisions, and they’ve long been dissatisfied. But I’ve discovered that Director Lin has been in frequent contact with them lately, planning something together.”
He Heng replied, “Back then, to balance out the foreign shareholders, Grandpa He built conditions into the share sale, ensuring that the preferred shares they held could never be converted into common shares. So you don’t need to worry too much.”
Preferred shares ranked below common shares, and shareholders holding preferred shares did not enjoy decision-making power within the group.
“But under certain conditions, preferred shares can be turned into common shares.” During those days in the archives, He Zhen had been thinking constantly about these matters. “Let’s prepare ahead. If they ever seize an opportunity to convert the preferred shares and then collude with Director Lin and the others, the entire group will be thrown into turmoil.”
He Heng actually did not quite understand He Zhen’s concern.
All these years, those foreign shareholders had behaved fairly honestly. And even if they wanted to turn their shares into common stock, that would require extremely harsh conditions—such as a merger or bankruptcy.
“Fine. We’ll go with your judgment.”
By the time the two finished discussing things, it was already eight in the evening.
Seeing that He Zhen still had no intention of leaving, He Heng found it strange. “Didn’t Yu Chen make you dinner today?”
“He went back home to spend time with Grandpa and Uncle.”
He Zhen finished reviewing the last document and pinched the back of his neck.
Lately, Yu Chen had been staying at his place all the time. Afraid that Li Huan might grow suspicious, Yu Chen had decided to go back home and stay there for a few days.
He Zhen found no joy in guarding the house by himself, so he simply stayed late at the company and worked overtime.
“You can get off work. I still have something to do.”
From the lounge, He Zhen brought out a half-finished cartoon poster and rolled up the sleeves of his white shirt before starting to fill in the colors.
Curious, He Heng leaned over. “This is?”
A tired smile hooked at He Zhen’s lips. “Yu Chen’s going to participate in the food festival in a couple of days. He asked me to help him draw the poster.”
He Heng laughed. “You should’ve said so earlier. I could’ve just ordered one custom-made for him and saved you all this time and effort.”
He Zhen’s gaze was serious. “No need. I’ll draw it for him myself.”
He Heng did not leave right away. He even brewed a cup of coffee for He Zhen.
“What do you think the name should be?”
Holding his paintbrush, He Zhen mixed a mint green. “I suggested Chubby Sausage Grill. He said it sounded tacky.”
He Heng laughed. “It does, a little.”
The brush carried a touch of mint-green paint and gently colored the little vest on the cartoon baby.
He Zhen remembered that Yu Chen had once had a little dinosaur vest in exactly that color when he was younger.
“Then what should it be called?” He Zhen frowned slightly.
He Heng suggested, “Maybe just call it Delicious Starch Sausage.”
“That works.” He Zhen curled a faint smile, and in his deep, gentle eyes there was an indescribable kind of love.
“Does this chubby little kid look like Yu Chen when he was younger?”
He Heng leaned in for a closer look. “Honestly? It really does.”
Satisfied, He Zhen lifted his lips. “The price list would look better written on the right. It should be three yuan for one, five yuan for two.”
He Heng quietly watched every movement He Zhen made, and the suspicion in his heart became even stronger.
He Zhen was probably secretly in love with Yu Chen.
“Young Master He, Yu Senda and Xu Ru have been found. Back then, your two uncles gave them money and told them to take Yu Chen away. If Yu Chen hadn’t secretly run off himself, they would already have sold him to a couple in another province.”
A flash of vicious coldness passed through He Zhen’s eyes. “Send them to prison.”
He Heng hesitated. “Shouldn’t we ask Yu Chen what he thinks?”
“I don’t want him remembering this disgusting thing ever again.” He Zhen painted two little yellow ducks onto cartoon Yu Chen’s shoes and completed the poster.
He Heng nodded. “Alright.”
He Zhen stared at the poster, and his bad mood slowly eased.
He sent the picture to Yu Chen and quietly watched his phone, waiting for the reply.
A few seconds later, WeChat lit up.
[Yu Chen: My little CEO Ma Liang with the magic brush, you’re too incredible!]
He Zhen’s lips rose. “Satisfied?”
[Yu Chen: More than satisfied! I’m not just bragging—if I take this poster to set up my stall, it’ll absolutely crush a whole bunch of vendors! This poster alone is priceless!]
He Zhen: “Really? That rainbow fart is a little over the top.”
[Yu Chen: There is not a single false word in what I said!]
He Zhen: “Do you want to come over to my place tomorrow night? The day after tomorrow we can go set up the stall together.”
[Yu Chen: Can’t, Dad’s making meat patties for me tomorrow night. Shy puppy jpg.]
He Zhen raised a brow slightly and set the phone down.
He Heng assumed their chat was over and started tidying the office for He Zhen. “The day after tomorrow, are you going with Yu Chen to the food festival?”
“Mm.” He Zhen was still keeping an eye on his phone. Sure enough, not even two minutes later, Yu Chen began hitting him with a fatal combo of messages.
[Yu Chen: Boss! Are you there?! Puppy kiss jpg.]
[Yu Chen: My most handsome boss in the whole world!]
[Yu Chen: Has my dashing and elegant boss gotten angry?]
[Yu Chen: Sweet good boss! After the day after tomorrow, can I come stay at your place? I’ll stay seven days in a row!]
[Yu Chen: Wuwuwu, my boss doesn’t love me anymore. Puppy rolling on the floor jpg.]
Smile showed in He Zhen’s eyes. “I’m here.”
[Yu Chen: I thought you were ignoring me.]
He Zhen: “My tatami’s broken. Where are you supposed to sleep?”
[Yu Chen: How did it break?]
He Zhen: “A dog scratched it.”
[Yu Chen: You got a dog?]
He Zhen: “An unruly dog from He Zhi’an’s house came over as a guest. While we weren’t paying attention, it tore the tatami apart.”
[Yu Chen: Then what do we do? Can you buy a new one in time?]
He Zhen: “It has to be custom-made, so probably not.”
Lying on the sofa, Yu Chen’s eyes flickered when he read those words.
For some reason, he actually felt a little expectant.
[Yu Chen: Then can I just not stay at your place?]
[He Zhen: No. You already promised.]
Yu Chen could feel his cheeks heating up. Slowly, he tapped out a reply: “Fine then. I’ll reluctantly allow you to temporarily sleep on the bed for a few days.”
[He Zhen: That works too.]
Looking at those two light, casual words, Yu Chen felt a little dissatisfied.
What did that works too even mean?
Why did it sound like he was being so reluctant?
On the other side, He Zhen had already leisurely put on his coat and prepared to get off work.
“He Heng, I want to ask you for a favor.”
He Heng looked at him and nodded.
“Tomorrow morning, have the tatami in my place torn out.”
He Heng said, “Sure. Send me the style you want, and I’ll have someone install the new one tomorrow.”
“That level of efficiency won’t be necessary.” He Zhen smiled slightly. “It won’t be needed anymore.”
