Be More Reserved

Wen Shuang only realized he was curled up in Xuan Zhe's arms after the heat in his body had subsided. He immediately felt embarrassed. The man's hand rested lightly on his shoulder, and that indescribable sense of security had gone from something separated by a layer to something utterly real, leaving him somewhat unaccustomed to it.

"President Xuan..." Wen Shuang pulled back slightly. Xuan Zhe had no intention of forcing him and let go as well.

"Sorry, I embarrassed you..." Wen Shuang glanced around and noticed that quite a few people were seated across from them behind a glass window. They had probably noticed what was happening here long ago.

Xuan Zhe said, "It's fine. What do you want to eat?"

How could he have an appetite after embarrassing himself? Wen Shuang lowered his head. "Anything is fine. I'm not hungry."

Xuan Zhe raised a brow. How could those words possibly come out of your mouth?

Braised prawns, garlic oysters, spicy squid, and all sorts of similar dishes—the restaurant lacked nothing when it came to seafood. Since it was rather upscale, the food was exquisitely prepared, though the portions were small and the names were not quite so straightforward. President Xuan, who was usually so particular, broke precedent today and ordered by quantity: three plates of each dish to start. Even the gaps on the table were filled with juice. Seeing Wen Shuang's eyes grow brighter and brighter, Xuan Zhe asked in a low voice, "Are you hungry now?"

Wen Shuang swallowed and flashed a fawning smile. "Hungry."

Xuan Zhe glanced at the red mole on his earlobe, his throat moving slightly. "Then eat."

Wen Shuang was instantly proven wrong, eating with his head down and barely lifting it. Little Quail had a conscience, though. He made time to peel two shrimp for Xuan Zhe or put some food on his plate. Seeing his cheeks puffed out on both sides, Xuan Zhe was briefly at a loss for words.

He moved in circles beyond the reach of ordinary people. Though he had never brought male or female companions around, he had seen far too many disgusting things. Those seemingly innocent and romantic little lovers were all insatiably greedy beneath the surface. Every word they spoke carried implication and hidden meaning. Behind all that tender romance lay naked exchanges of interest. Yet some people in high places loved hearing such things. What was there to like about it? Xuan Zhe could not understand it. It was hypocritical and nauseating.

But Wen Shuang was different. How much could this meal possibly cost? Yet he could be satisfied just like this.

Sure enough, the one I like is different, President Xuan said to himself calmly.

Good food could heal the soul. In any case, after Wen Shuang finished eating, he had long thrown the matter of whether he had embarrassed himself out of his mind. By the time he and Xuan Zhe left the restaurant, it was already eight in the evening. Streetlights lit up on both sides of the road as night fell.

He had watched a horror movie during the day, and when people were all around, he had not felt much. But once night came, only those who had experienced it would understand. Wen Shuang began replaying every scene from the movie in his mind, especially the toe-smashing-into-the-wall part Xuan Zhe had mentioned. But he was already such a grown man—admitting he was scared would be too humiliating.

When they reached the bottom of Wen Shuang's building, Xuan Zhe even thoughtfully asked, "You'll be okay alone, right?"

Wen Shuang rarely put some force into slamming the car door. His voice drifted through the half-open window, muffled and hazy. "No problem!"

Fine. President Xuan nodded. He had not thought an adult man would be so fragile anyway.

Wen Shuang just did not know what Xuan Zhe was thinking. Otherwise, he definitely would have hugged the man's leg and declared, "I'm very fragile!"

It was the first time since coming to this world that he had suffered such severe insomnia. The movie had indeed been successful. Wen Shuang tossed and turned until deep into the night, dreaming of ghosts chasing him. He had to get up at seven the next morning for overtime work. After washing up in a daze, Wen Shuang stared at his pale reflection in the mirror for several minutes. It seemed like he had forgotten something important, but no matter how hard he tried, he could not remember it. Forget it.

Wen Shuang was the perfect example of someone whose energy and condition both plummeted before he was fully awake. After arriving at the company and greeting several colleagues one by one, he turned toward the break room to pour himself coffee, only to run into Zhao Jiaqing again.

Regarding the time he had been locked in the cold storage room, Wen Shuang had always told others, "It happened too fast. I didn't see clearly." Zhao Jiaqing was someone who cared greatly about his image. To leave a deep impression on people, he wore a unique perfume. When the power switch had been pulled that day, Wen Shuang had smelled that scent, but he lacked concrete evidence.

And after Wen Shuang had been personally carried out by Xuan Zhe, perhaps Zhao Jiaqing became afraid and restrained himself considerably. In any case, whenever he encountered Wen Shuang now, he no longer made things difficult for him as he had before, though he still did not give him a pleasant look.

Upon seeing Wen Shuang, Zhao Jiaqing forced a smile onto his expressionless face. It was so stiff it made one's scalp tingle. "Morning."

Wen Shuang was still caught in the lingering aftereffects of the horror movie. At that moment, the more he looked at Zhao Jiaqing, the more the man resembled one of the lunatics in the film. He desperately wanted to leave and get him out of sight. "Morning."

"I heard Zheng Yuanfei is back." With his back to Wen Shuang, Zhao Jiaqing suddenly added, "Congratulations."

Wen Shuang's gaze flickered slightly. Without replying, he walked out.

Zhao Jiaqing was too impatient... Wen Shuang took a sip of coffee. Before coming to Power One, some people knew Zheng Yuanfei had relentlessly pursued him. But Zheng Yuanfei was an artist and had been keeping the news tightly sealed on all fronts. In other words, how would Zhao Jiaqing, a complete outsider from beginning to end, know? Then how could he have made that pointed remark just now? Had he investigated carefully? Or had someone instructed him?

Wen Shuang faintly sensed that the rules of this world targeting him had begun turning again.

Close to noon, Cao Nanyu came downstairs.

After having the whole day off yesterday, Assistant Cao was in high spirits and held out his hand to Wen Shuang.

Compared with Cao Nanyu's energetic appearance, Wen Shuang had obvious dark circles beneath his eyes and looked thoroughly sleep-deprived. He stared blankly. "Huh?"

Cao Nanyu said, "Lunch."

Wen Shuang suddenly jolted awake. Fuck! No wonder I said I'd forgotten something when I woke up this morning!

Cao Nanyu's eyes widened slightly at the sight. "You didn't bring it?"

Wen Shuang said, "I didn't make any."

Cao Nanyu said, "..."

"I'm not dealing with this." Cao Nanyu felt that going upstairs to tell President Xuan there was no lunch would be like walking straight into the line of fire. "Handle it yourself."

Wen Shuang sighed and stood up resignedly.

The moment Xuan Zhe saw Wen Shuang enter with his head hanging and empty hands, he knew that lunch was probably ruined today. What was going on? Was he already getting impatient on the third day of pursuing him? Before Xuan Zhe could question him, he noticed Wen Shuang's particularly prominent panda eyes. He looked like a Little Quail caught in a raging storm, desperately unable to keep his eyes open.

"Didn't sleep well?" Xuan Zhe seemed to think of something, a faint smile appearing in his eyes.

Wen Shuang nodded. "Mm. Sorry, President Xuan. I forgot when I woke up this morning."

"It's fine." Xuan Zhe was exceedingly magnanimous. He raised a hand and pointed toward the inner room of his office, his expression unreadable. "Do you see the big bed inside?"

The door to the inner room was half-open. Wen Shuang was not blind. "Mm."

That bed was huge. It looked so comfortable.

"It belongs to you for one hour." Xuan Zhe lowered his head and continued working.

"Oh..." Wen Shuang reacted a beat too slowly. Then his eyes abruptly widened. He felt as though extreme sleepiness had given him hallucinations. He stared at Xuan Zhe with blazing eyes until President Xuan had no choice but to look up again.

"What, you don't want to?"

"I do!" Wen Shuang was overjoyed. Around eleven, his head had already been bobbing like a pounding pestle. But he had plenty of little quirks. No matter how sleepy he was, he could not sleep unless the place was a bed—not even with his head on a desk. After receiving Xuan Zhe's confirmation, he headed straight for the inner room. Before going in, he sincerely exclaimed, "President Xuan, I love you!"

Xuan Zhe said, "..." Did he not know how to be a little more reserved at his age?

This was Xuan Zhe's resting area. Even if it was merely an inner room, there was nothing to criticize. The bed was softer than the one at home. Wen Shuang's consciousness nearly blurred the instant he lay down. The sunlight warmed his body, and he hugged the extra blanket to his chest. Thinking that Xuan Zhe was stationed outside and no evil spirit could possibly enter, the grimacing ghost faces quickly faded away, and his dream became exceptionally peaceful.

Not long after, the door was gently pushed open. Xuan Zhe stood in the doorway, watching Wen Shuang's brows gradually relax. It was as though he had entered the same dream as him, comfort spreading through his limbs and bones in an instant.

Cao Nanyu came in to deliver documents. His movements were light, but not completely soundless. Yet President Xuan merely leaned against the door without moving, not noticing him at all. Cao Nanyu glanced over and could only see Wen Shuang's blurred outline through the gap. He sighed inwardly and tiptoed back out.

The favor of a good sleep was greater than heaven itself. In any case, Wen Shuang woke feeling refreshed and invigorated, to the point that he could practically set up an altar and worship Xuan Zhe.

Before getting off work, Zhu Lian came over and gave Wen Shuang the Weibo account the company had opened in his name. "The show will be recorded in a few days. Before recording, all the amateurs have to repost the production team's official Weibo announcement, so don't forget. Also, unless something unexpected happens, you and Jiang Ning will be partners next episode. Hehe!" Zhu Lian suddenly laughed at this point, laughing so hard that Wen Shuang felt awful all over. "Ahem. Anyway, the viewers like watching it too. Remember to interact more."

"Mm-hm." Wen Shuang agreed. He had developed a shadow over recording the show, but having Jiang Ning as his partner was good news. It should be much easier.

The weather forecast said it would rain over the next two days, so the production team decided to record this episode indoors. A notice was sent out at five in the afternoon. Remembering Zhu Lian's instructions, Wen Shuang immediately reposted it. Then, the very next second, his phone exploded like firecrackers. Wen Shuang froze before realizing they were likes and comments.

[Ahhh, Wen baby, you're here! We'll get to see you next episode! I'm so happy!]

Wen Shuang frowned. Wen baby? Who was Wen baby?

Why was he, a grown man, being described as a "baby"?

Wen Shuang was somewhat angry and took a screenshot of the comment to send Xuan Zhe.

Their interactions had noticeably increased over the past few days. Mainly because Wen Shuang had still been scared while sleeping at home the next day and could not resist sending Xuan Zhe a message, nervously claiming there were noises inside the wall. He had thought he would not get a reply, but Xuan Zhe sent back a long message that was unmistakably personal in style and clearly typed by hand: [Stop thinking about it. Walls are good conductors. Put simply, it's structural sound transmission. There might be ants or other small crawling insects inside. What, are you scared of bugs too?]

It was a scientific explanation, logical and well-supported.

In any case, after Xuan Zhe said that, Wen Shuang somehow stopped being afraid. Every night before bed, he reread every sentence Xuan Zhe had said, as though carrying a protective talisman.

Whenever something amusing happened, Wen Shuang also dared to muster the courage to send it to Xuan Zhe. Receiving a reply made him very happy. In Wen Shuang's eyes, for someone as detached from ordinary life as Xuan Zhe to seriously listen to him talk about such pointless things was simply incredibly generous.

Xuan Zhe, meanwhile, became even more smug. He knew Wen Shuang was especially serious about him. Sharing one's life was the most direct proof of it!

Han Ling, who had been scheduled to participate in the recording, had a concert that conflicted with the schedule. To make up the numbers, Lin Nuan was brought in. Lin Nuan had once been a famous model, but later some unfavorable scandals had surfaced. After losing her endorsements, her reputation steadily declined. She had been quiet for more than half a year, and no one knew how things had turned around for her, but she had made it in.