Chapter 41
Chapter 41
“For someone’s safety,” Tan Yue said, “we don’t need to spend the night together, but…”
Tan Yue paused and said in a low voice, “As for the previous question, well, it’s a bit complicated.”
What was the previous question? Song Linchu struggled to gather his wits and recall. It seemed like he had asked, “Gege, are you suddenly so caring because you have budding feelings for me?”
Song Linchu suddenly looked at Tan Yue, and Tan Yue also looked back at him.
Ever since he discovered his unspeakable desires for Song Linchu, Tan Yue realized that his feelings for him were not just simple fondness. His emotions towards Song Linchu were deeper than he had imagined.
This was not something shameful, and Tan Yue didn’t want to string him along. He took this opportunity to directly confess.
“In terms of relationships, I’m still a novice, so can you give me some time to grow?” Tan Yue asked.
Song Linchu was dazed by Tan Yue’s directness and subconsciously nodded.
“Well then, go to bed early. Good night,” Tan Yue said.
“Good, good night, gege,” Song Linchu replied, still in a daze.
Before Tan Yue turned and left the room, he couldn’t help but reach out to rub the young man’s furry head.
It wasn’t until Tan Yue had walked out of his room and closed the door that Song Linchu’s reflexes caught up with the situation.
Tan Yue had feelings for him!
It turned out that this dog-man was being caring not because his emotional intelligence had suddenly improved, but because the iron tree had blossomed!
A burst of fireworks exploded in Song Linchu’s heart, and he couldn’t help but roll around on the soft bed. He forgot all about his embarrassment of failing the exam and being caught by Tan Yue.
He was just happy, very happy!
Capturing someone like Tan Yue was like facing an almost insolvable boss in a game. Countless players had fallen under his feet, but an unknown person like him had opened up a crack. Although he had not been completely captured, it was enough to make people excited.
The sense of achievement was overflowing.
The next day, although Tan Yue’s company had already started their vacation, as the boss, he still had a few things to deal with, so he went to the office.
Song Linchu was resentful in his heart. If only he had known that Tan Yue was going away the next day, he wouldn’t have sneaked around at night!
But it seemed like he had opened a crack in the old oyster shell, and it was worth it.
No, it was more than worth it.
In the afternoon, the Tan family’s car first picked up Song Linchu and then went to Tan Yue’s company to pick him up before the two of them set off together to the hotel where the annual meeting was held.
Song Linchu wore a black hooded sweatshirt for fall and winter, with a down jacket on top, which he could take off when he arrived at the hotel.
To Song Linchu’s surprise, Tan Yue was wearing the coat he bought for him last time, with a white shirt and trousers underneath. Perhaps because he bought it himself, the filter was very thick, and Song Linchu was almost moved to tears by how handsome Tan Yue looked.
“Wow, where did this handsome little brother come from?” Song Linchu grinned at Tan Yue when he got on the car and then answered himself, “Oh, it’s my husband. That’s all right then.”
Tan Yue: “…”
He couldn’t keep up with the way young people’s minds work nowadays.
“Gege, do the people in your company not know that you’re married?” Song Linchu asked.
Tan Yue replied with an “mm”.
“I appeared so suddenly…you must have a lot of female employees…and male employees who are heartbroken, right?” Song Linchu teased.
“No,” Tan Yue replied.
“That’s impossible. My gege is so charming, I don’t believe there’s no one who likes you among your subordinates! Come on, tell me. I won’t get jealous, really!”
“…,” Tan Yue fell silent for a moment and then said, “They’re afraid they won’t even have a chance to get close to me.”
Tan Yue was not a gentle and easy going boss. Just his cold face was enough to make people at the company fear him. Let alone like him, they were already brave to be able to talk to him normally when they saw him.
However, Song Linchu didn’t think that way. Liking and fearing were not mutually exclusive. Tan Yue was so outstanding that he must have someone who liked him. It was just that this dog man was only focused on work. Moreover, he secretly expresses his affection, and doesn’t dare to show it clearly.
Thinking of this, Song Linchu felt extremely fortunate that he and Tan Yue started with WeChat. On WeChat, Tan Yue wasn’t as scary and cold as he was in real life, and Song Linchu wasn’t afraid of him as much as these people were.
He had a first Impression of Tan Yue, so when he saw him in person later, he wasn’t as nervous as these people were. He was truly a lucky goose!
Although the annual meeting was not in the form of a banquet, Wanou Group was still one of the top group enterprises, and the annual meeting could not be shabby. The venue for the annual meeting was located on the top floor of the most famous Haikou Hotel.
When they arrived at the hotel, Song Linchu and Tan Yue held hands and walked directly into the banquet hall. The boss always appeared last, and most of the other employees were already there.
There were more people at the venue than Song Linchu had imagined. When they entered the banquet hall, the originally bustling crowd suddenly became eerily quiet for a moment, followed by a rather large commotion.
Tan Yue has always been rather mysterious, and many employees only got to see him at the annual meeting. However, this did not mean that they do not understand the young president who holds immense power and wealth. When they saw him holding hands with a handsome young man, it was like throwing a bomb into a calm lake, instantly stirring up a storm.
The onlookers cannot contain their curiosity and, as is human nature, started to speculate. Anyway, Tan Yue couldn’t fire all of them even if he wanted to.
“I’m not mistaken, right? President Tan is holding hands with a man!”
“Is that his boyfriend? My goodness, I always thought President Tan was only into work, but he likes people too?!”
“Who is this person? Is he a celebrity? He’s too good-looking!”
“He probably isn’t a celebrity, I would definitely have some impression given his looks he looks.”
“Someone in the Tan family said that President Tan got married. Is it true?”
“True or not, then wouldn’t he be our…boss too?!”
“Although President Tan is someone I can’t get, I’m heartbroken.”
“Stop talking. I’ve already cried in the bathroom. This came too suddenly. There wasn’t even a preview.”
“Is it just me, or does boss seem to be robbing the cradle a bit? Has this boy reached adulthood yet?”
…
Hoodies make people look younger, and with Song Linchu’s youthful face, he looked like a high school student.
As the saying goes, their boss is silent but deadly, constantly probing the criminal edge.
Song Linchu couldn’t hear these people’s discussions at all, completely unaware that in their minds, Tan Yue had become a beast. Tang Yue led him to the main table.
The people sitting at the main table were all important figures like vice presidents and financial directors. Everyone who could sit in this position at Wanou Group was not simple, and Song Linchu discovered that these people looked older, either overweight or balding.
Among them, Tang Yue was a young and handsome talent.
It was hard to imagine that the youngest one was also the one with the highest rank and power.
When these executives saw Tang Yue, they all stood up, and when they saw Tang Yue appear with a young man, they were also very surprised.
“President Tan,” the financial director spoke first and asked, “Who is this…?”
Other people perked up their ears, wanting to hear what Tang Yue would say.
Under everyone’s expectation, Tang Yue introduced calmly, “My partner, Song Linchu.”
Partner! Not boyfriend, but partner!
The financial director didn’t expect Song Linchu to have this identity, and he seemed to hear the sound of male and female employees’ hearts breaking.
But what does this have to do with him, a middle-aged man in his forties with a balding head?
The financial director sincerely greeted Song Linchu, and other executives also greeted him. The boss was not easy to get along with, but the boss’s partner looks like a good-tempered person, and he’s so young, he definitely wouldn’t come to the company to dictate things.
Of course, they must get close to such a person and maybe even use him to whisper in the boss’s ear in the future.
Tang Yue had arrived, and the annual meeting officially began.
The waiters came in one after another, serving dishes, and the person in charge of hosting the annual meeting first made some opening speeches, and then invited Tan Yue to take the stage to deliver a speech.
Amid applause, Tan Yue stepped onto the stage.
His expression had always been indifferent, and when he came on stage, he looked like a majestic dean going to give a speech. The originally noisy banquet hall fell silent, and a needle could be heard.
Tan Yue’s voice was cold and steady, easily overwhelming the entire room. He stood there calmly, as if emitting a radiance that drained all color from his surroundings, making people involuntarily look up at him.
His speech was neither overly sentimental nor exaggerated, yet every sentence inspired and uplifted the audience. Three minutes later, the speech ended, and the banquet hall erupted in thunderous applause.
Song Linchu applauded along with everyone. His gaze met Tan Yue’s as he descended from the stage, and Tan Yue curved his lips, not too obviously, but it still caused a burst of screams.
Song Linchu wanted to scream too. This man was so handsome!
The host returned to the stage and asked everyone to take out their phones and scan the QR code projected onto the big screen at the side. After scanning, a number would be generated, which was their lucky draw code for tonight.
Song Linchu also took out his phone and scanned it. His number was 514, and the prizes for tonight were listed underneath the number. As he scanned through the list, his eyes widened.
Their grand prize was actually a sports car…even the lowest prize was a Fruit brand smartphone. Not only that, every participant would receive a guaranteed red packet of 888. With so many people present at the annual meeting, how much money did they spend?
Song Linchu also wanted to work in such a company. If one’s luck was good, they could get rich directly from attending an annual meeting!
Tan Yue was the protagonist of this annual meeting. These people probably only dared to pour him drinks today under the guise of respecting the boss. Even Song Linchu was tricked by the executives into drinking two glasses, but when Tan Yue said not to let him drink, they didn’t dare to anymore.
Although Song Linchu could hold his liquor, with the alcohol, the crowded banquet hall, and the heat from the heater, his face quickly turned red. He took the opportunity to slip outside to catch some fresh air, unnoticed by others.
This was the rooftop at the hotel, with a terrace outside and many coffee seats. Some employees who had been cooped up inside for too long also came here to catch their breath.
As soon as Song Linchu appeared, he received warm glances from these employees. They were afraid of Tan Yue, but not of Song Linchu, and it seemed like they wanted to come over and gossip about him and Tan Yue.
Song Linchu felt uneasy under their curious gazes, so he turned and went in the opposite direction.
The top floor of the hotel was contracted by their company, and Song Linchu saw a lounge. He asked the waiter and was told that anyone could go in, so he found a vacant lounge.
After a short rest, he felt a little uncomfortable in his stomach and needed to use the restroom.
Not long after Song Linchu entered the restroom, he heard some noise outside. It seemed like someone had entered the lounge.
“It seems to be empty, let’s rest here.”
Song Linchu heard someone say this, and it seemed it seemed that a man and a woman came in. The door of the toilet was not facing the lounge, so they didn’t seem to notice someone was inside.
Embarrassed, Song Linchu wanted to leave, but with the arrow already on the string, he had no choice.
Just as he was about to make a noise to signal someone was inside, he heard the woman outside say with ill intentions, “You can drink so much, why don’t you go toast President Tan? Maybe you can get him drunk like last year and he’ll give out red packets of a ten thousand yuan.”
Song Linchu froze in his attempt to make a noise.
The voice was too malicious, making him very uncomfortable.
The man chuckled, “Forget it. The bird that sticks out gets shot. He’s so petty and scheming, and if he remembers this, he’ll make trouble for me and give me a hard time.”
Song Linchu gritted his teeth. You’re the petty and scheming one, your whole family and neighborhood are petty and scheming!
The woman said Indifferently, “You’re going to resign next year anyway, what’s there to be afraid of?”
“You can also take the project materials you have on hand to your new company and get a position as director,” the man said.
“Humph, aren’t you going to do the same thing?” the woman replied.
The two of them laughed knowingly.
After a moment, the woman said, “Hey, what do you think, President Tan is really interesting. So many young ladies and young masters pursued him before, but he ignored them all. Now he’s interested in an unknown nobody. What’s he up to?”
“He’s after his good looks, he’s just a selfish and indifferent hypocrite. Don’t be fooled by his cold exterior. Who knows how many people he’s slept with behind closed doors.” the man said.
Song Linchu: “…”
Don’t you know your boss can’t do it?
“Why don’t you say that the boy is the one who seduced him? Just look at his appearance, he looks good, but who knows how many men he’s slept with behind closed doors. Maybe his chrysanthemum is even rotten,” the woman said.
Song Linchu: “…”
“Hahaha, you say that because the filter on your image of President Tan hasn’t broken yet. Don’t tell me you still like him,” the man said, laughing.
The woman became angry and ashamed, “Who still likes him? Is he worthy of my affection?”
“Not worthy, not worthy, of course not!” the man laughed, “Just watch, someday this hypocrite who has no ethics or limits, will crash and burn. Even if he doesn’t, he’s done so many immoral things to get ahead, and people are watching. He’ll be defeated sooner or later by a car accident or disease.”
Song Linchu clenched his fist.
“Bankruptcy is also fine. I want to see him on the streets, kneeling and begging me, repenting for rejecting me in the first place,” she said with a laugh.
“Hahaha, we’ll have to pop champagne to celebrate that,” he replied.
The two knew they couldn’t do anything to harm Tan Yue, but through this conversation, they could satisfy their psychological needs. Even just thinking about it was enough to fill them with joy.
Song Linchu was angry at first, but then he couldn’t help but laugh as he heard their words. He thought that a listed company like Wanou would have white-collar elites as employees, but it turned out that even small rats in the gutter could be found among them.
The two were chatting happily when they suddenly heard a noise coming from the direction of the restroom, causing them to jump in fright.
“Who’s there!” the man shouted.
Song Linchu finished using the toilet and washed his hands before opening the door to come out of the restroom. The two were surprised to see him, as they had never expected that someone would be hiding in the restroom, let alone their boss’s partner.
They couldn’t believe their bad luck.
“How did you end up here?” the man questioned.
Song Linchu shrugged and said, “I’ve been here all along. Did you two not bother to check the room for anyone while you were talking behind your boss’s back?”
The two exchanged a glance. The man sneered and said, “So what if you heard us? We were only stating facts.”
For the first time, Song Linchu’s expression darkened and he said, “It’s not just about that. I can announce that you two are fired.”
Talking behind your boss’s back is not an unforgivable offense, but the two clearly intended to take important company documents to their new company for personal gain.
Both of them changed their expressions immediately.
Although they were going to leave the company at the end of the year, being fired was not the same as resigning. While being fired would entitle them to three months of salary, it would also leave an extremely ugly mark on their employment history, which would greatly affect their ability to find a new job in the future.
Especially being fired by a company as reputable as Wanou, it would be adding insult to injury, and could even affect their next job.
But they quickly regained their composure.
The man sneered, “You’re not even part of our company, where do you get the confidence to fire us?”
“You’re just one of President Tan’s playthings,” the woman added, her voice filled with mockery. “Who do you think you are, the boss?”
“Laugh all you want, but I’m the one who’s firing you,” came a cold and indifferent voice from the phone that Song Linchu was holding. The suddenness of the voice was like a bolt out of the blue. The two who were just getting ready to mock were stunned, not even able to retract their mocking smiles.
At the same time, the door to the lounge emitted a “beep” sound as the door card was swiped, followed by a “click” as the door opened from the outside. Tan Yue walked in with a cold face, followed by their immediate supervisor, who had a green face and was sweating profusely.
Song Linchu almost burst out laughing on seeing their faces changing like Sichuan opera masks.
He walked over and took Tan Yue’s hand, maliciously asking, “Husband, tell them, since I am your partner, am I not the boss as well?”