Quan Quan: "..."

Qiao Guangyu: "..."

"If it weren't for the boss feeling a bit guilty himself," Quan Quan said weakly, "I guess he would think we're having an affair."

Qiao Guangyu felt like crying, "I didn't mean to, I was just scared... Who would have thought the boss would be so cunning, he didn't even give me a chance to have my own bed. Two gay men sharing a bed together, unless both of them have hidden illnesses, it's hard to imagine nothing would happen."

"Should I... go back to sleep?" Qiao Guangyu asked anxiously.

"Forget it, if you go back, it'll just make the boss more awkward," Quan Quan shook his head, "He promised not to touch you, but he couldn't resist wanting you, so if you left, it would have been fine, but going back would deepen this unpleasant memory for him."

Qiao Guangyu quickly shook his head, "Of course not."

"Then just stay with me tonight," Quan Quan called the waiter to bring another blanket and said to Qiao Guangyu, "This is a single room, you sleep on the bed, I'll sleep on the floor."

Qiao Guangyu said, "Quan Quan, let me sleep on the floor, I'm causing you trouble tonight."

"Then how about we sleep together?" Quan Quan looked at him coldly, "It's either you sleep alone, or I sleep with you, those are the only options."

"Why?" Qiao Guangyu asked.

Quan Quan lowered his eyes, "Because I'm the secretary, you're the 'lover', in the boss's eyes, you're more important than me. If you catch a cold sleeping on the floor at night, it will only cause more trouble for me."

Qiao Guangyu exclaimed, "Oh," and quickly made a choice, "Then let's sleep together, I don't want you to catch a cold."

Quan Quan mentioned lightly, "Aren't you afraid I'll take advantage of you?"

"I'm not afraid, if you do, then you do, we're both men, I won't lose out." Qiao Guangyu looked at him with a smile.

Quan Quan reminded him, "The boss is also a man."

"The boss is different, he has someone." Qiao Guangyu waved his hand, looking into Quan Quan's eyes as if he could see through his soul, "And I trust you, your self-control is extraordinary, all your actions are calculated, you wouldn't do anything detrimental to your secretary job at a time like this."

Quan Quan was somewhat speechless, and this topic ended with his wry smile. Turning off the bedside lamp, the two of them squeezed into the same bed.

Qiao Guangyu wrapped himself in the blanket and asked softly, "Are you asleep?"

"No," Quan Quan replied.

Qiao Guangyu enquired, "Quan Quan, do you remember when my contract expires?"

Quan Quan's voice sounded a bit muffled, "It's the end of this year, December 27th, still over two months."

"You have a really good memory," Qiao Guangyu admired.

"I remember all the details of the important contracts signed by the boss," Quan Quan said, "A good secretary always has some exceptional abilities, otherwise, subordinates will eventually replace you."

Qiao Guangyu asked, "Were you born with such a good memory?"

"Just rote memorization," Quan Quan replied. "All trades have their masters, none is easy!"

Qiao Guangyu sighed from the bottom of his heart. He thought he had a deeper understanding of the difficulty of "accompanying the monarch like accompanying a tiger" tonight, but hearing Quan Quan's words, he felt that compared to Quan Quan, he was insignificant. Quan Quan was the one who did not have it easy. He had sacrificed a lot to sit in the indispensable position by Huo Zhou's side. He was always calm and thoughtful, so no one noticed that Quan Quan was also a person, not just a machine.

Qiao Guangyu smiled and said, "I find myself relying on you too much."

"What?" Quan Quan asked.

"When I encounter difficulties, you're the first person I think of," Qiao Guangyu seemed to hear a slight laughter, but he thought he might have misheard.

"It's normal. The boss wanted to find a substitute, I was the one who sent you to him," Quan Quan paused, his tone softened slightly, "I feel guilty towards you. It was because I didn't think things through at the time that your situation became so awkward now. In fact, no one in this world can be someone else's stand-in, no matter how similar the performance, your behavior still carries your own label, which no one can erase from you. If I let you kill yourself, lose yourself, and force you to become another person, then even if I'm not the executioner, I'm the one handing you the knife, which is hard to justify."

"It's not... as serious as you say, I'm fine now, right?" Qiao Guangyu couldn't help but say, "You really helped me a lot, the pros and cons... balance each other out."

Quan Quan didn't say anything, just reached out from the warm blanket and gently touched Qiao Guangyu's head with his large palm, then withdrew it.

After about ten quiet minutes, Qiao Guangyu felt his heart beating rapidly and suddenly spoke up, "Do you like me? I mean... two months from now, when I'm free, do you want to..."

"Go to sleep," Quan Quan interrupted him, his voice sounding cold and hard.

Qiao Guangyu could feel he didn't want to talk more, and even if he asked later, he probably wouldn't get the answer he wanted. Feeling a bit disappointed but manageable, perhaps because there was someone beside him, he felt an inexplicable sense of security, or perhaps after a day of travel exhaustion, his mind couldn't bear it anymore. Qiao Guangyu soon fell into a deep sleep, not even having a single dream.

*

It wasn't even dawn yet, and Quan Quan got up.

People who were accustomed to thinking often found it hard to fall asleep and also hard to stay in bed. With his eyes open, there was no reason to linger in bed wasting time. Carefully, Quan Quan sat up.

The mattress was quite bouncy, and he was worried that the movement would wake Qiao Guangyu. However, he was thinking too much. Qiao Guangyu was soundly asleep, rolling over slightly with the subtle movement of the mattress, tucking the blanket under himself, his hair in disarray, and his pyjamas rolled up, revealing a slice of his fair and soft waist. He was completely unaware, even slightly opening his mouth, looking rather silly.

Quan Quan paused for three seconds, then pulled his own blanket over to cover him and got out of bed to get dressed and freshen up.

By the time Qiao Guangyu got up, it was already bright outside. He felt much more comfortable facing Huo Zhou now, and it seemed like Huo Zhou didn't take last night's incident to heart, or perhaps he pretended it never happened, forcefully forgetting it.

Qiao Guangyu wouldn't bring it up with a poker face, so the incident smoothly turned a new page.

After breakfast, with Quan Quan acting as the driver, the two went to the cemetery. Early in the morning, Quan Quan had already bought incense and candles, and also brought a bouquet of fresh and tender white lilies, placed in the trunk of the car for easy access when they arrived at the cemetery.

Huo Zhou asked Quan Quan to wait aside while he accompanied Qiao Guangyu to the black tombstone. This was where Qiao Guangyu's mother was buried.

The autumn weather was crisp, the sunlight was just right, dispelling the inherent cold and dampness of the cemetery. The woman in the black-and-white photo didn't look much like Qiao Guangyu, but she was a gentle and beautiful woman, smiling at the camera, bearing a slight resemblance to Qiao Guangyu.

Huo Zhou took out incense, candles, and a lighter from the plastic bag, and Qiao Guangyu quickly took them: "Let me do it." He didn't dare to let Huo Zhou do it himself.

Quickly lighting the incense and candles, symbolically burning some spirit money, Qiao Guangyu whispered to the tombstone, "Mom, we won't light a fire here. We'll extinguish the candles when we leave later. Please don't mind."

He thought about his contract almost expiring, about being able to do whatever he wanted in the future, without having to pretend anymore, and there was a lightness and happiness in his speech. Of course, he couldn't say it so directly: "President Huo... has been good to me, and in the future... I'll live well too, not to worry."

Scratching his head, Qiao Guangyu didn't have much else to say. There were things he couldn't say in front of Huo Zhou, so he could only leave it at that: "Then... I'll come to see you next year."

He added silently in his heart, maybe I'll come with Brother Quan to see you next year.

"I'm sorry." Qiao Guangyu stood up, smiling apologetically at Huo Zhou, "I made President Huo wait for a long time."

Huo Zhou walked over, patted his shoulder, "Don't be sad, I'll take care of you in the future. You've been with me for almost two years, right?"

"It's almost three years," Qiao Guangyu blurted out.

Huo Zhou was stunned for a moment, as if he remembered something, his face suddenly turned unpleasant, and the hand on Qiao Guangyu's shoulder exerted more force uncontrollably, making Qiao Guangyu ache, but he didn't dare to move.

Huo Zhou took a deep breath and asked tentatively, "Have you thought about what kind of work you want to do in the future? What did you study in college?"

"...Computer science major. I haven't thought about it. At that time, I was happy to have a job. As a fresh graduate, the competition is fierce." Qiao Guangyu smiled slightly. His palms were already sweaty.

Qiao Guangyu had been by Huo Zhou's side for so long, and when he saw Huo Zhou's face darken, he knew it was bad. He really didn't mean to remind Huo Zhou about the contract expiration!

Huo Zhou squinted his eyes, "Speaking of which, you have 5 million on hand. Have you thought about using it for something?"

A cold sweat dripped from Qiao Guangyu's forehead. Looking into Huo Zhou's scrutinizing eyes, the only thought in his mind was: Brother Quan! Help!

 

Translator : DarNan