Chapter 100 – Extra: Brother Shancha and His Coworker
For a split second, Meng Shancha’s tall, broad-shouldered figure seemed frozen. He was watching a boy-band promotional video—why was Shangguan Ning angry?
Was it because people in hands-on, industrial work didn’t like the entertainment industry?
Meng Shancha paused the video and pointed at the frozen frame. “Don’t look at this big star acting all aloof, he—”
The stupid app popped up an ad the moment it paused, completely covering the star’s face. Meng Shancha paused, then tapped to resume. “He’s actually—”
Before he could finish, Shangguan Ning had already walked away.
“…my cousin.”
Meng Shancha said it softly, afraid someone might hear—but no one did.
That night, when Meng Shancha got back to the dorm after work, he saw exactly what he’d expected: his coworker had thrown his pillow up onto the top bunk.
The top bunk hadn’t been slept in for a long time, but a diligent worker bee would never let it gather dust. It was always ready to be used again at any moment.
For the first time, Meng Shancha thought: what’s the point of wiping dust all the time? With the weather getting hotter, that effort would be better spent washing the sheets a few more times.
His coworker was showering in the bathroom. Meng Shancha had an internal timer in his head—he knew exactly how many minutes it usually took Shangguan Ning to finish.
He did push-ups while timing it mentally: by the time he finished exercising, his coworker would be done showering, and then it would be his turn.
At the fifteenth minute, the coworker still hadn’t come out.
Meng Shancha paused, tilted his head to listen, and heard the sound of clothes being scrubbed. He hurried to the bathroom door and said, “You can leave the laundry for me to wash.”
Shangguan Ning replied coolly, “No need. I’m not missing any hands.”
Meng Shancha felt a slight discomfort in his stomach—just a little.
He had no choice but to keep exercising.
Before long, Shangguan Ning came out and went to the balcony to hang the clothes.
Meng Shancha put one hand behind his back and did one-armed push-ups, fierce as a leopard.
After blow-drying his hair, Shangguan Ning sat on the lower bunk reading, not sparing Meng Shancha a single glance the entire time.
Meng Shancha felt extremely uncomfortable.
In the past, when he did push-ups, his coworker would sit on a chair watching while drying his hair. Occasionally, droplets from the ends of Shangguan Ning’s hair would splash onto Meng Shancha’s bare back. It was hard to tell whether it was sweat rolling down or water scented with Shancha shampoo—but to Meng Shancha, it felt like a reward, something that made him excited.
Depressed, Meng Shancha went to take a shower.
It was only because he’d been away from the queen bee that he was experiencing some symptoms of a worker bee separated from the hive—restlessness and anxiety. It wasn’t like he was deliberately having those kinds of thoughts about his coworker. He was already trying very hard to restrain himself.
He hadn’t done anything wrong. He just needed to go back to China once and he’d be fine. But the project was on a tight schedule, taking leave was difficult—just endure another half month and it would be over. Still, Meng Shancha felt that even if he did go back, his coworker’s cold attitude would remain cold. There was no fixing it.
After showering, he finally couldn’t hold it in anymore and pulled the book out of Shangguan Ning’s hands. “Have I been causing you trouble lately?”
Shangguan Ning replied, “No.”
“Then why can’t we sleep together like before?”
“What dorm has roommates who sleep together just fine?”
“But I’m used to it. Was it because of the nonsense rumors they spread about me? I swear I’m straight.”
He was straight—why couldn’t he sleep with his coworker? He wasn’t gay. It was still pure brotherhood. At most, he’d been sick lately.
Being sick and then abandoned by his coworker—normally optimistic worker bee Meng Shancha felt like the world had gone dark.
After hearing this, Shangguan Ning’s expression grew even colder, unmoved.
Over the next half month, Meng Shancha’s days became even harder. His coworker wouldn’t look at him, wouldn’t let him do laundry, and wouldn’t even eat lunch with him anymore.
Why wasn’t the project finished yet? He’d been stationed abroad for two years before, but that wasn’t South America. South America was just too far. He grew more and more restless.
Meng Shancha held in his frustration and waited to return home. As long as he went back to normal, his coworker wouldn’t dislike him anymore.
Those not-so-straight symptoms of his—Shangguan Ning must have noticed them to some extent, which was why he was keeping his distance.
While eating in the cafeteria, a colleague asked in surprise, “Have you been getting heaty lately? You’ve got blisters at the corner of your mouth.”
Meng Shancha, anxious enough to break out in sores, replied, “A bit. I’m anxious to go back to China.”
The colleague patted his shoulder and sighed. “First time I’ve seen you miss home this much. I thought you were born to be a workhorse.”
“…”
When Meng Shancha saw Shangguan Ning coming over to eat, he hurriedly shoveled down two mouthfuls. Eating too fast made him wince in pain, but he didn’t care. He immediately picked up his tray and headed to the return station.
Mouth sores were too embarrassing—he didn’t want to be seen.
The colleague said, “Eating so fast? Your roommate just got here! Why do you look like you’re dying from heartbreak?”
Shangguan Ning asked, “What’s wrong with him?”
“Probably heaty—mouth sores, can’t eat properly.”
That afternoon, during the railway inspection, Shangguan Ning saw Meng Shancha again. The usually rough-and-tumble man was wearing a dust mask, covering half his face. The eyes that were visible held no trace of a smile.
In the year-end peer evaluations, colleagues often described Meng Shancha as a blazing sun—first, because he burned himself tirelessly to light up the construction site, working nonstop as if the sun itself never took a day off; second, because of his fiery, bright gaze and powerful, upright build.
Such a sun, when covered by clouds, could also show a dull, solemn side.
Shangguan Ning touched the items in his pocket: Huanglian Shangqing tablets, watermelon frost spray, vitamin B—all remedies effective against heatiness and mouth sores. He’d asked around; Meng Shancha hadn’t gone to the site’s medical clinic.
What was the point of just wearing a mask to block dust? Why not take medicine?
That evening, Meng Shancha saw a pile of medicine on the table. His heart stirred—was this his coworker extending an olive branch?
That’s more like it. Between coworkers, there were no grudges that couldn’t be resolved. It wasn’t like couples, making a huge fuss over the smallest thing. Coworkers—one laugh and it’s all forgiven.
Meng Shancha grinned, only to hiss in pain.
Worth it! Shangguan Ning had only been cold because he didn’t know he was sick. A little visible battle damage had softened his coworker’s heart!
He immediately took the Huanglian Shangqing tablets—bitter in the mouth, sweet in the heart. He sprayed the watermelon frost—icy cold, yet his heart felt warm. He even took the vitamin B—B in the alphabet, but his heart was going “HHHH” with happiness.
With his masculine energy back online, sweeping away the gloom, Meng Shancha stripped off his coworker’s pillowcase, sniffed the lingering Shancha-scented shampoo, and started scrubbing it in the sink.
Shangguan Ning pushed the door open, saw him washing clothes, and didn’t say anything to stop him.
Meng Shancha was secretly delighted—but soon, he wanted more. He wanted to completely return to how things used to be.
Staring at a coworker was impolite, so Meng Shancha could only curl up on the top bunk with his 1.92-meter body, looking at photos of his coworker and drafting a heartfelt declaration of friendship.
“I want to be your best friend…” Meng Shancha frowned. The worker-bee agitation affected him too much. Just looking at photos while editing words already triggered an embarrassing reaction—let alone saying it face-to-face.
His coworker was just too good-looking.
So Meng Shancha postponed their heart-to-heart talk again and again, daydreaming of the day he’d return to China, stand before his coworker openly and properly, and say those words.
Finally!
The project passed local government inspection perfectly, and the whole team set off to return home.
The moment he got off the plane, Meng Shancha rushed straight to Crown Apartments, Meng Xueyuan’s place, using spiritual energy to restore his calm and rational state.
He was cured!
In the spacious, bright office at the Nan Cheng headquarters, Meng Shancha switched from workwear to a suit—and his rationality returned as well. He looked exactly like a handsome, reliable engineer.
But… Shangguan Ning no longer relied on him.
Meng Shancha brought homemade soy milk in a thermos—soybeans and red beans grown by his parents, no pesticides or growth hormones, producing a rich, mellow aroma.
Before he could pour a cup for his coworker, Shangguan Ning accepted a coffee someone else had brought for him, thanked them, and walked into the office separated from Meng Shancha’s by a glass wall.
“Want some soy milk?” Meng Shancha asked.
“Sorry, I only drink coffee.”
Meng Shancha muttered, “You didn’t have this habit in South America.”
That night, he went to the mall and bought a coffee machine and coffee beans. The offline prices were jaw-dropping. He hadn’t bought a car or a house—this coffee machine was the most expensive appliance he’d ever bought, even pricier than his flagship phone.
The next day, he switched to bringing coffee, even freezing a tray of ice cubes, carefully squeezing onto the subway.
Meng Xueyuan offered to buy him a car, but Meng Shancha thought it unnecessary. He lived close to the company—two subway stops. Sometimes when it was too crowded, he’d just run to work, faster than being stuck in traffic.
But his coworker still wouldn’t drink the coffee he made.
After downing two cups himself, Meng Shancha felt painfully clear-headed—and anxious.
He understood now. His condition still wasn’t cured.
After work, he saw his coworker’s car drive out of the underground garage—then stall, blocking the exit.
Meng Shancha hurried over. He didn’t own a car, but he knew a bit about fixing them. Stalling? Open the hood and take a look.
“No need.”
Shangguan Ning pressed one hand on the dark green matte hood, pulled out his phone, and called a tow truck.
A colleague who had exited earlier stopped and got out to ask what was wrong.
“Probably hasn’t been driven for too long,” Shangguan Ning said.
“Are you waiting here, then? If you’ve got something urgent, I can give you a ride.”
Shangguan Ning tilted his head, thought for a moment. “My mom’s urging me to come home. Thanks, then.”
He handed the car keys to the security guard. “Please take care of it.”
One car, two people, drove off into the distance—right in front of the strongest worker bee.
That colleague was the same one who brought Shangguan Ning coffee—apparently they’d been classmates.
Meng Shancha’s agitation peaked. Why was seeing the queen bee still useless? Was it because the queen bee hadn’t been drinking royal jelly lately? Or because he hadn’t spent enough time with him?
Meng Shancha decided to stay over for a couple of days.
“Sure, cousin,” Meng Xueyuan said, downing two bottles of royal jelly on the spot.
Then Lu Xiao told Meng Shancha some news: he’d seen Shangguan Ning on a blind date at a restaurant—with a man.
The key point: a man.
Meng Shancha was shocked. That very day, he confronted his coworker.
“You like men? Isn’t there some mistake?”
Shangguan Ning froze for a second, then regained his composure. “Why are you so worked up? Don’t tell me you are too?”
“I’m definitely not,” Meng Shancha said.
Shangguan Ning smiled. “How many gay people have you met to be so sure?”
“I’ve met plenty. Anyway, not like me.”
“Then like me?”
Meng Shancha froze. Faces flashed through his mind, until they finally settled on his coworker’s beautiful, proud face.
Oh no. It really was his type.
Unwilling to accept that his coworker needed to go on blind dates with other men, Meng Shancha said, “I don’t think you are.”
Shangguan Ning turned and walked away. “Sorry.”
Meng Shancha muttered gloomily to himself: If you are… then why don’t you like me?
