Chapter 18: CH 18

Xia Wennan stopped in his tracks and looked at Ming Luchuan over his shoulder.

Ming Luchuan pointed towards the lounge. “Change inside.”

Xu Feng stood at the side expressionlessly, looking as diligently serious as ever. 

Xia Wennan then took the clothes and entered the lounge.

The clothes Xu Feng had brought him were casual, but the colour and texture were considerably more dignified. The top was a light ash-grey T-shirt, and it was paired with cotton pants and soft leather shoes. 

Xu Feng had already left the office when Xia Wennan returned after changing, leaving Ming Luchuan alone. He approached Ming Luchuan’s desk slowly and asked, “Are you still angry?”

Ming Luchuan ignored him. 

Xia Wennan braced his hands on the tabletop and lowered his head to look at the other man. “If you’re not going to say anything then I might as well leave.” 

Ming Luchuan raised his head at that. “Where are you going?”

“Home. Or out for a walk.” As he said this, Xia Wennan had an idea. “Can I take a look around my workplace?”

Ming Luchuan fell silent for a moment, then pressed a button on his desk and called Xu Feng in. 

“Take him around the company. He can go wherever he wants,” he said to Xu Feng. 

“All right,” Xu Feng responded. 

To Xia Wennan, going anywhere was preferable to being cooped up in a room with Ming Luchuan, so he immediately walked up to Xu Feng and patted his shoulder, saying, “Let’s go.”

Xu Feng took Xia Wennan on a tour of the Ming Yan building. 

Xia Wennan didn’t really have any specific place in mind; all he wanted to see was his old office, so Xu Feng brought him to the R&D department.        

“The R&D department has two supporting labs, one of which you directly oversee, sir,” Xu Feng explained. 

The labs were outfitted with glass walls, which made it possible to see the interior and its goings-on from the corridor. Xia Wennan saw a great deal of R&D personnel clad in white lab coats inside, engrossed in their work, until one of them looked up and met Xia Wennan’s eyes, a look of surprise gracing his face. 

Raising a hand and waving at the man, it suddenly occurred to Xia Wennan that, were he to enter now, he’d have no choice but to tell them about his memory loss. He didn’t know a soul inside, and this place was all but familiar to him; the thought that he’d immediately arouse everyone’s concern made him uncomfortable, so he told Xu Feng, “We’ll leave them be, let’s go take a look at my office.”

Xia Wennan’s office was located on the same floor. It wasn’t a large office, but it was also equipped with a separate lounge. His desk was neat and tidy, with a computer, a notebook, and an array of small perfume bottles that also adorned Ming Luchuan’s desk. There was also a photo of him and his grandpa.

The photo was framed, sitting squarely on his desk. Xia Wennan took a seat and reached for the photo to examine it carefully, and realised that he had no recollection of when the photo had been taken. He looked to be in his twenties, and the photo was likely a memento of his grandpa, taken some time in the years he’d forgotten.  

Xu Feng quietly said, “Why don’t I wait for you outside, Sir?”

Xia Wennan put the photo down. “It’s okay, I won’t be long.”

He went through his cabinets and drawers but found nothing save for work-related items, no personal belongings in sight. The same went for the lounge and its few sets of clothes. He then called Xu Feng over and left the office with him. 

At noon, Ming Luchuan took Xia Wennan to the company’s cafeteria for lunch. 

When they got there, they were greeted by a bustling cafeteria, employees lining up to order dishes with meal trays in their hands. Xia Wennan followed Ming Luchuan as he—naturally—skipped the queue, taking their seats at a special area where the cafeteria staff came to take their orders.

The employees they encountered on their way would all take the initiative to greet them. It seemed that few knew of Xia Wennan’s car accident, and only a handful of people asked if Xia Wennan was no longer on leave. 

In lieu of explaining, Xia Wennan merely nodded. 

As they ate, Xia Wennan caught several people stealing glances their way and whispering something between themselves. He thus shifted closer to Ming Luchuan and asked, “Why are people pointing at us?”

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Ming Luchuan raised his eyes. “Who?”

“The table in front of us,” Xia Wennan said. 

“They’re your laboratory staff.”

“Oh.” Xia Wennan recalled seeing them in the lab earlier. “Did I upset them or something?”

Ming Luchuan glanced at him. 

At this time, Xia Wennan was slowly spooning rice into his vegetable soup and slowly mixing them together—which was something of a habit of his. “I’m not sure what I’d be like as a manager,” he said. “I don’t think I’d be a mean boss, but sometimes a high-up position can get to people’s heads and they’d put on a stinky face every now and then.”

“You’re not like that,” said Ming Luchuan. “You get along with them.”

Xia Wennan nodded. “I knew it. I wasn’t talking about me specifically though—I mainly meant you. Look how nasty your face is.”

Ming Luchuan slammed his chopsticks down and snapped, “XIA WENNAN!”

A company executive who was approaching Ming Luchuan’s table in hopes of greeting him jumped in fright. He immediately changed directions and sat at the table behind them. 

“What are you so scary for.” Xia Wennan lowered his voice. “As you can see, you’ve scared everyone away. Except for me, who would be able to stand you?”

“If you can’t stand me, feel free to get lost.”

Xia Wennan realised that he was becoming less and less afraid of Ming Luchuan as these sharp words that were repeated over and over again every day lost their ability to intimidate him. He had first imagined Ming Luchuan to be a wolf locked up in a yard, snarling menacingly at humans every single day, and yet when he got close enough to have a good look at him one day—he discovered that he was really just a husky. 

He swallowed his food and decided that the cafeteria’s dishes were genuinely rather decent. “I developed such an amazing perfume for you guys and now you want me to leave? Has the company even paid my fair share?”

Ming Luchuan’s timbre deepened. “You’ve already been fucking paid. Go check the company dividends in your bank account.”

Xia Wennan remembered the three million in his bank account and a slightly silly smile adorned his lips. “So that’s what that is.” He then softened his voice and told Ming Luchuan, “Don’t swear, it’s not nice to hear.”

Ming Luchuan brushed him off.

After lunch, the sun had gone from hot to searing, the roads were an expanse of white, burnt by sunlight, and the streets were virtually deserted save for cars. 

All the desire to go out left Xia Wennan’s body, and he stayed at Ming Luchuan’s office to take a nap. 

Ming Luchuan directed him to sleep in the lounge, but Xia Wennan refused and directly laid down on the large leather sofa in Ming Luchuan’s office. 

The air-conditioning was just right and Xia Wennan was full from lunch; as he sunk into the soft sofa and gazed blankly at the ceiling, it only took him a dozen minutes to fall asleep. 

He sensed something being thrown over him while half-conscious, but his mind was far from awake, so he rolled over and buried his face in the sofa, inhaling the scent of leather as he dozed off again. 

Towards the end of his nap, his body was mired in a hazy, half-asleep, half-awake state, and he could feel someone sitting next to him. Even with his eyes shut tight, he was certain that the person was Ming Luchuan.

Ming Luchuan held his leg and suddenly said, “Let me take a look at those moles on your ass.”

He struggled to break free but found that he couldn’t move at all, so he used up all the strength in his body to shout out—and then abruptly sat up. 

The blanket covering his body slipped down as his eyes flew open. He discovered that he was the only one on the sofa, and Ming Luchuan himself remained where he was at his desk. He hadn’t come over at all. 

Ming Luchuan looked at him and said icily, “Have you gone mad?”

Xia Wennan flopped back down and buried his face in his hands, his mind filled with nothing but Schrodinger’s mole.

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