Chapter 8: 8

On Wednesday, He Jianshan would be heading to Lucheng for an on-site inspection.

During past business trips, Lin Hui would definitely be going with him unless something extraordinary happened. However, He Jianshan proposed that Lin Hui stay behind this time around. 

Lin Hui was a little puzzled by this. “President He, are you sure?”

He Jianshan hesitated for a while, but, in the end, he still nodded. “You’ll stay behind.”

 

 

Lin Hui didn’t ask any further questions. He Jianshan was sure to have his own reasons for arranging things this way. As his subordinate, all he needed to do was obey. However, Lin Hui wasn’t sure if He Jianshan just forgot, but he didn’t actually arrange any important work for Lin Hui.

The business trip cancellation was a little abrupt. Lin Hui always found himself rather unaccustomed to working in the office alone. After solving all the issues that needed to be urgently dealt with, he fiddled around for a bit before finally going to the other departments to see if there was anything for him to do. Everyone was incredibly surprised to see him. “Assistant Lin, did you not go on the business trip with President He?” 

It seemed that his colleagues were even more unaccustomed to it than he was.

 

However, Lin Hui wasn’t the only one who wasn’t used to it.

Over in Lucheng, An Ni and two other colleagues were sorting through documents in the living room of the hotel suite. He Jianshan was sitting on the sofa in the inner room. His face was as pensive as water, and his eyes were downcast. He turned his phone around in his hands, the screen lighting up every now and then. His impatient expression was carved up into strips of light and shadow. After a while, He Jianshan stood up and said, “I’m heading out for a bit.”

The busy employees in the hotel room paused. Everyone gave each other a look. An Ni put on a brave face and replied, “Alright, President He. I’ll call you when we’re done.”

 

He Jianshan went to the cafe on the top floor of the hotel. There weren’t a whole lot of people there at the moment. The soft music playing in the cafe slowly eased his discomfort. He Jianshan ordered a random cup of coffee. Then, he sat on the sofa and clicked into WeChat.

He wanted to send Lin Hui a message, but he didn’t know what to say.

Since it was a last-minute decision not to bring Lin Hui, He Jianshan also hadn’t made preparations for it. He’d been feeling uncomfortable all day. According to how things were in the past, he should be sitting in the hotel room and sorting out the contents of the on-site inspection with Lin Hui. However, when he was faced with other people, he didn’t have the slightest desire to discuss things. Of course, he could always call Lin Hui, but the reason He Jianshan didn’t bring Lin Hui along in the first place was because he hoped Lin Hui would be able to relax for a couple of days.

 

He needed to refrain from “exploiting” Lin Hui. 

Lin Hui was lounging around his house at the moment, texting An Ni on WeChat.

Around ten minutes ago, An Ni straight up messaged him for help on WeChat. She said that she kept getting the feeling that President He was unhappy and asked Lin Hui to check if there was anything wrong with their work.

We’re sorry for MTLers or people who like using reading mode, but our translations keep getting stolen by aggregators so we’re going to bring back the copy protection. If you need to MTL please retype the gibberish parts.

Lin Hui was a little dumbfounded. Lin Hui told her that it wasn’t like she was a new employee or something, this wasn’t her first business trip, don’t think too much about what could go wrong.

An Ni: [It’s because you’re not here this time! I don’t have a sense of security!] 

Lin Hui: [Can you please calm down a bit? He’s always been like that.]

An Ni: [No, he’s just nice to you.]

Lin Hui: […Alright. I’ll go ask. Remember to keep your phone on silent when you’re indoors. President He doesn’t like the sound of phone notifications.]

An Ni: [Okay! Got it.] 

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“A sunset is like melting gold.” This was what He Jianshan had said at the time.

 

Although the sunset was very beautiful, Lin Hui knew that He Jianshan probably liked the urban buildings in the photograph more. He discovered very early on that He Jianshan liked to take photos of all kinds of buildings. Before He Jianshan’s lens, they were stripped of their cold and sharp edges, revealing a gentle arc between the sky, sunlight, and shadows.

Lin Hui sent him a message: [President He, did the inspection go well today?] 

He Jianshan didn’t seem to be very busy. He replied very quickly: [It was alright.]

Lin Hui: [Okay. Tell me about it when you get back. I haven’t been to Lucheng yet.]

After a while, Lin Hui received a reply from He Jianshan. It was a photo, a photo of the city at night, taken before a window.

If people were the heart and soul of a city, then the architecture would be its skeleton. And the city lights at night were the start of a grand and magnificent dream. 

Thanks to the wonders of technology, Lin Hui, a person who had never been to Lucheng, could also partake in this dream with He Jianshan.

Lin Hui quietly admired the photo for a while. Then, he replied: [Lucheng is so beautiful. It’s getting late. You should get some rest. Tell An Ni and the others to get some rest as well.]

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He Jianshan: [Sure.]

He Jianshan quickly returned to his room. An Ni could clearly tell that her boss wasn’t as cold and standoffish as before. He even told her to go back and get some rest. She sighed. As expected of Assistant Lin. Wanzhu could afford to lose anyone else, but they couldn’t afford to lose Assistant Lin. 

On the second day of the inspection, the host invited them to try one of their regional specialties: Lucheng Fragrant Noodles. The noodles themselves weren’t particularly special. The thing that made these noodles special was a special ingredient called tatsoi. This was a plant that could only be found locally. Grind up the plant and add it to the noodles. Then, pour a bit of hot oil over it and mix it well. This would instantly bring out an amazing aroma. These noodles truly were a little different from other noodles. Everyone from Wanzhu had nothing but praise for it. Even He Jianshan, who hadn’t been particularly interested, couldn’t help but ask about where he could buy the noodles in order to bring it back with him.

Their host was called Xia Hui. He was a burly man with a broad face. When he heard this request, he felt a little awkward. “President He, to be honest, these noodles can be bought anywhere. The hard part is the seasoning. The tatsoi’s aroma doesn’t really keep for a very long time. This is the reason why the restaurant grinds their tatsoi on the spot. The noodles that are sold in the supermarket are all dehydrated and vacuum-sealed. There’s hardly any fragrance to speak of.”

He thought to himself for a moment. Then, he added, “How about this? Before you leave the hotel, I’ll have someone bring you a portion of noodles and freshly ground tatsoi. It should taste the same if you eat it the very same day you arrive in Beijing.”

He Jianshan did not refuse. “Thank you so much, President Xia.” 

On Friday, He Jianshan handed over the laptop which almost never left his side over to An Ni. Meanwhile, he carried the noodles that Xia Hui had prepared for him and boarded the plane. By the time they arrived back in Beijing, it was already 2:00 PM. He told all the employees who had accompanied him on the business trip to go home. He, on the other hand, rushed back to the company without delay.

When He Jianshan arrived at the office, Lin Hui had been sitting at his desk reading documents. As soon as Lin Hui saw He Jianshan push in the door, his eyes lit up. “President He, you’re back.”

He Jianshan nodded. Then, he handed the bag that he’d carried all this way over to Lin Hui. “President Xia gifted us with some regional specialties. I brought some back for you.”

There were business partners who had given them commemorative gifts before, but most of them were gift boxes with beautiful packaging. The bag that He Jianshan gave him looked a bit simple. Lin Hui couldn’t help but be a little curious. “What kind of specialty?” 

“Noodles. Lucheng Fragrant Noodles. They’re pretty good. It’s best if you eat it today.”

He Jianshan’s tone sounded a little urgent. Lin Hui laughed. “There’s no need to be so anxious, is there?”

 

“Apparently, the aroma doesn’t stick around for very long, so you need to eat it as soon as possible. Besides, don’t you like noodles?”

“I’ve been meaning to ask you about that. Why do you seem to think that I like noodles?” 

He Jianshan frowned. “Do you not like noodles? I’ve seen you eating noodles several times. For example, the last time we spoke on the phone, you said you were eating beef noodles. There’s also that time I saw you eating noodles at the convenience store.”

That time, he’d had an appointment with a lady for dinner. However, halfway through the meal, the other party left early, so he simply returned to the company. When he got to his office, he found that he didn’t have the key on him. Fortunately, he saw some people from the other departments. They said that they saw Lin Hui at the convenience store downstairs.

He Jianshan could still remember when he suddenly appeared in front of Lin Hui. There were noodles hanging from his chopsticks and a bit of red chili oil on the corner of his mouth. He was completely shocked. “President He, why are you here?!”

He Jianshan patiently explained, “Miss Feng left early. I don’t like French cuisine, so I came back.” 

“Ah?” Lin Hui furrowed his brows as if he couldn’t understand.

“It’s obvious that Miss Feng isn’t as interested in me as Secretary Feng.” He Jianshan noticed Lin Hui’s half-eaten noodles and oden. He felt a little hungry. “Is it good?”

Lin Hui wouldn’t let it go. “You’re He Jianshan!”

He Jianshan found this a little amusing. “Well, she’s still an executive’s daughter.” 

He stopped paying attention to Lin Hui. He walked over to the shelf and grabbed the exact same brand of noodles. Then, he handed it to the convenience store employee. “I’ll have one of these too.”

However, He Jianshan ended up putting it down after just one bite. The reason was very simple. It was too spicy. He couldn’t stand it. At the same time, he found it incomprehensible. Lin Hui looked like such a gentle person. How could he stomach such spicy food?

As soon as He Jianshan mentioned the convenience store, Lin Hui also remembered. Lin Hui was a little baffled. He Jianshan had only seen him eat noodles two times, so why did he seem so sure that he liked noodles? Still, since the other party went out of his way to bring these noodles back for him, Lin Hui decided to accept this beautiful misunderstanding. He opened the bag and saw that there were raw noodles packed into a takeout box, as well as a powdered seasoning. He said, “Let’s keep it in the refrigerator for now. I’ll take it home with me and have it for dinner once I get off work.”

He Jianshan glanced at his watch. “You can get off work early today.” 

Lin Hui: “…”

There was no need to be in such a hurry.

The very first thing Lin Hui did after getting home was make the Lucheng Fragrant Noodles. He plated the noodles very carefully. Lin Hui also took several photos before finally digging in. The taste was as magnificent as He Jianshan described it to be. After eating the noodles, he went through each one of the photos in his phone. Then, he picked one out and sent it to He Jianshan.

[Thank you, President He! These noodles were delicious! ] 

Then, he posted a photo to a private server only he had access to.

He was stingy. He wanted to hide away every memory that he shared with He Jianshan.

 

Lin Hui turned his phone off and walked out onto the balcony. His place was on the third floor. All he could see were the lights of the opposite building. Night was falling. There were a great deal of shadows from the trees.

It wasn’t anything beautiful like the scenery in Lucheng. Still, Lin Hui couldn’t help but take a photo. He opened up He Jianshan’s Wechat. He hesitated for a long time, but, in the end, he locked his wistful mood and his nighttime photos away in his phone. 

 

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