“Hubby.” Yu Hao turned on the video function and called Zhou Sheng.

Zhou Sheng, adorned in sportswear, was running on a treadmill and sweating all over. He almost fell when he accepted the video call and quickly reduced the speed, then stood gasping for breath.

“You've been taking the initiative to call me Hubby quite often lately ma.” Zhou Sheng grabbed a towel and wiped his sweat away.

Yu Hao scrutinised him. He wanted to tell him the good news and also ask him for a bit of money too. He really had no money left. He had been eating Shaxian snacks for several days, and he was on the verge of vomiting from them.

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“Are you busy?” Yu Hao smiled. He realised that Zhou Sheng seemed a little thinner now, and his countenance was a little aggressive, but he was grinning from ear to ear.

“I have an exam tomorrow.” Zhou Sheng answered, “I've done the PPT for the entire department's strategic objectives meeting.”

“Exam?” Yu Hao was surprised.

“The internship period's about to end.” Zhou Sheng smiled sadly, “The old man asked me to report on the project in front of everyone. The branch in Shanghai is expanding its business. After it's approved, I'll lead a department and operate under the wing of the general office.”

Yu Hao said, “That's great! Are you ready?”

Zhou Sheng sat on the chair. He bent over and scrutinised Yu Hao, who was on his phone screen, with his sweat dripping onto the screen, “I miss you. I really, really miss you. We haven't seen each other in a long time, do you know how much I miss you?”

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Yu Hao almost cried on his side. Zhou Sheng laughed again, “Your birthday's coming up soon; I prepared a present for you, you'll definitely like it. Once my project's settled, I'll go over to find you.”

Three months, it had already been a full three months. Although Yu Hao had already antic.i.p.ated this the first time he had said “see you next week”, at least all the hard work throughout these three months had not been in vain.

“I'll report the project to you ba.” Zhou Sheng said, “Take a look at it later? And give me some advice?”

“Okay.” Yu Hao would want to listen to it no matter what. Zhou Sheng turned off the video call. Yu Hao went back home to take a bath and lay in bed. At 8pm, Zhou Sheng FaceTime-ed with Yu Hao on another company number. He was standing in front of a projection screen in the conference room.

Yu Hao saw several people sitting in this conference room, including Zhou Sheng's department manager and his colleagues. Zhou Sheng had taken pictures of them before to show him. The lights in the conference room dimmed a little, and the PPT was shown on the screen. Zhou Sheng held a remote control in his hand and stood in front, looking perfectly at ease.

“Let's start the trial ba.” Zhou Sheng didn't change into a suit and wore his sports attire, “May I trouble everyone to offer some opinions at the end? This will probably be settled by tomorrow. Director Huang isn't here, we won't wait for him, he'll just listen to what he can.”

The conference room was quiet. Zhou Sheng pressed the remote control, changed the slide, “According to last year's earnings, the Major Business Department did a systematic risk a.n.a.lysis……”

Yu Hao, “……”

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.Yu Hao once again saw a Zhou Sheng that he had never seen before!

“……obg atf qjra akb dejgafgr, gfijalnf ab beg mbwqfalabgr……”

Ktf rilvfr bo atf UUK milmxfv obgkjgv bcf ys bcf. Itbe Vtfcu'r fzqgfrrlbc kjr delaf mjiw, jcv vlvc'a rffw ab tjnf wfwbglrfv j rmglqa. Coafg wbnlcu ab atf cfza rilvf, tf aegcfv la yjmx, “Gjaj lr vfjv. Ciatbeut kf jgf yjrlcu la boo vjaj, kf wera yf jyif ab wjxf jqqgbqgljaf ragjafulm jvperawfcar, yea bo mbegrf kf mjc'a pera yilcvis obiibk atf vjaj……”

When he flipped to the 'wind control' slide, Zhou Sheng said, “This evaluation is 73-pages long. I've made a simple summary here……” As he spoke, he paused slightly and raised an eyebrow to indicate that he had something to say to the audience.

Yu Hao couldn't understand Zhou Sheng's report at all, but his movements and voice were just like what he would see in strategic conference videos. Although he hadn't changed into formal attire, his aura was so formidable that it allowed no leeway for jokes.

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Zhou Sheng spent 45 minutes on the PPT, “It's time for a tea break, then it'll be a Q&A session.” The trial skipped to this portion. His colleagues in the department came up with all sorts of questions. Zhou Sheng's answers to them were quite ingenious, which aroused their roaring laughter.

Although Yu Hao didn't know what they were laughing at, he felt that Zhou Sheng's att.i.tude in resisting and defusing his opponents' offence was very interesting, so he laughed along with them.

At 12 o'clock, Zhou Sheng finished answering all the questions tossed at him. “Everyone has worked hard, please fight with me tomorrow ba.”

His colleagues all came up one after another to shake hands with Zhou Sheng and patted his arm to show their encouragement. After the crowd dispersed, Zhou Sheng was in the conference room as he glanced at Yu Hao's side, “Fell asleep?”

Yu Hao said, “I'm still here.”

Zhou Sheng looked down to text and changed the video to his phone, then went to throw away his Red Bull can. Yu Hao said, “You presented it so well!”

Zhou Sheng put on his earphones, “Did you understand what I was saying? You just know how to praise me brainlessly.”

Story translated by Chrysanthemum Garden.

Yu Hao said, “Didn't understand it.”

Zhou Sheng quipped, “Knew it. In any case, you'd think I did really well even if I had a lisp.”

Yu Hao laughed.

At that moment, Yu Hao felt much more strongly that he and Zhou Sheng lived in two different worlds. But Zhou Sheng didn't detect it in the slightest. He took his phone out and let Yu Hao take a look at the office. The other employees have all gotten off work. Zhou Sheng watered the plants, turned off the lights, and picked up his bag.

“Just now, I suddenly felt like I barely recognised you.” Yu Hao said a bit sadly, “But I'm still really happy. That's the real you ah.”

Zhou Sheng stopped in front of thee elevator, “My dear wife, do you know why I like you so much?”

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Yu Hao lay in bed and looked at the video. Zhou Sheng went down to the lobby of the office building. Several girls pa.s.sed by and Zhou Sheng nodded at them, “Go back early and rest.”

A soft scream was heard from behind.

Yu Hao, “Don't tease girls! I'm already on the verge of collapsing from eating vinegar!”

“I didn't tease them.” Zhou Sheng smiled, “It was just out of courtesy. It's not like I shouldn't greet departmental staff when I see them ba? Eat it, eat it. Now you know how I felt when I saw the Rubik's cube Ou Qihang gave you?”

Yu Hao, “That's not the same!”

Yu Hao has never felt such a strong sense of insecurity like he does now. In actuality, ever since the day he parted with Zhou Sheng, Yu Hao has felt a little upset. But that kind of feeling was quickly dispelled by him, because he has always believed in their feelings that was like an indestructible dungeon.

Yet today, he had a hunch that he and Zhou Sheng were walking further and further down their respective paths.

“What exactly do you like about me?” Yu Hao asked.

“I'll tell you when we meet.” Zhou Sheng said, “There's still my birthday present too.”

Yu Hao said, “I had a lot of things I wanted to say, but now I suddenly can't say anything.”

Zhou Sheng hailed a cab by the roadside with his earphones on. He looked up at the resplendent lights in the office building opposite him, and the scene seemed just like a bustling urban forest.

“I have a lot of things I want to say too.” Zhou Sheng said, “But it's okay, I know you understand it in your heart.”

Yu Hao's eyes reddened, “I'll go take a bath now, it's past 12 o'clock. All the best today.”

Story translated by Chrysanthemum Garden.

“Good night.” Zhou Sheng said, “Wifey.”

Yu Hao lay in bed, and his head started to hurt. He sneezed a few times and thought that he must have caught a cold. The temperature in Beijing dropped very quickly. The heating pipe kept making noises, but there was no heating, and his neighbour was still engaged in a violent DOTA battle. Yu Hao thought can a game really be that fun?

The autumn wind brought with it a chill, and Ying City's most beautiful season arrived again.

Zhou Sheng was waiting for his Didi, but his family's car drove over and parked by the roadside. Zhou Laichun said, “They said that you were still doing the trial presentation, why didn't you say anything after you finished?”

Zhou Sheng said, “What? What's there to say?”

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As he spoke, Zhou Sheng got in the car. Zhou Laichun had just drunk and clearly made a trip over just to pick him up.

“Tomorrow is the major exam at the end of your probation.” Zhou Laichun said, “You know yourself how important it is.”

“Stop nagging.” Zhou Sheng said wearily, “Could you hold back a little with the c.r.a.p? Who do you think you are?”

Zhou Laichun said, “There's one in the afternoon, and another at night. After you pa.s.s both, you won't have anymore problems.”

“At night?” Zhou Sheng was alert at once, “You didn't tell me about doing anything at night.”

Zhou Laichun said, “Have a dinner, exchange some pleasantries, entertain the other side a little. I believe you won't have a problem with that.”

Zhou Sheng cast a doubtful glance at his father. Zhou Laichun said, “He's an old comrade-in-arms of mine, and is very particular about food. I can't anymore. Over these years, I feel like I'm getting less and less skillful at cooking. But I think you should be able to talk to him a little.”

Story translated by Chrysanthemum Garden.

Zhou Sheng dispelled his doubts for now, “From the province?”

“Yes.” Zhou Laichun said, “He doesn't really have many hobbies, he just likes to eat.”

Zhou Sheng, “Does he have a daughter?”

“No.” Zhou Laichun answered.

Zhou Sheng said, “Okay then. Once everything's done, I'm taking a week off.”

“You can't leave the day after tomorrow.” Zhou Laichun said, “You must wind up everything properly.”

Zhou Sheng said, “Another week at the latest, then I don't care if you'll allow me to take leave or not. I have to go, I'll come back in December.”

“If you can arrange your work around it I won't have anything to say. Don't forget, Zhou Sheng — to them, this is a job, but for you, this is your career. You finally understand your responsibilities now, you'll have to grow up eventually.”

Zhou Sheng didn't continue talking. He returned to his rented place. It was pitch-dark, and no one was waiting for him. Fu Liqun was already asleep.

Zhou Sheng wanted to talk to Yu Hao again, but it was already 2am. He saw Yu Hao lying in bed just now, so he should be sleeping early today, thus he didn't disturb him.

That night, Yu Hao caught a cold.

He started having a fever in the middle of the night. His whole body was shivering uncontrollably, and he dreaded the cold. He struggled off the bed to look for water, and fortunately he had prepared some fever medication so he consumed it with water. After letting out a scorching breath, he looked at his phone. It was 4am. Zhou Sheng's message was on the screen【Asleep?】, so he replied to it and thought that Zhou Sheng should be asleep by now.