Pervert

Feng Wanting hadn't quite understood. "What? Did Xile have another dream?"

"I said," Feng Chuxun raised his little hand and pointed at the huge floor-to-ceiling windows in the downstairs living room, "was that person who just ran outside my mom?"

"..."

Feng Wanting raised his eyebrows helplessly, crouched down, and stroked Feng Chuxun's head. "I've told you before. Your mother is a great woman."

"But I saw him come out of your room!" Feng Chuxun looked over Feng Wanting's upper body and continued, "And you're not wearing clothes."

"I-I'm in my own home. Why do I need to wear clothes?" Feng Wanting stammered.

"Teacher said you can't take your clothes off in front of strangers, or you're a pervert!" Feng Chuxun declared indignantly. "But I believe you're not a pervert, so the person who just left definitely wasn't a stranger."

"...You're right about all of that. He really isn't a 'stranger,' but he isn't your mom, either."

Feng Chuxun's face immediately fell. "Oh."

Feng Wanting glanced at the clock on the wall. If he didn't get ready now, he would definitely miss the meeting.

He tried a coaxing tone. "Be good, Xile. How about I ask Aunt Tian to come keep you company?"

"Aunt Tian again."

Pouting, Feng Chuxun quietly went downstairs and sat on the living room rug to finish the building blocks he'd left unfinished yesterday. "Feng Wanting, did you know the kids at kindergarten all call me a little stray with no mom or dad?"

Feng Wanting froze, his heart aching, and sat beside Feng Chuxun on the rug. "Why didn't you tell your teacher? Your teacher would scold them for saying things like that."

"I'm not a tattletale." Feng Chuxun kept his head down, concentrating on his blocks while continuing to talk. "Why would I tell the teacher about something so small? Besides, I know why they say it. A driver picks me up after school, and Aunt Tian comes to the parent-child activities with me. They've never seen my mom or dad, so of course they think I don't have any."

Feng Wanting steadied his breathing and silently helped Feng Chuxun put a roof together.

"But I'll tell them I have a really, really handsome dad, the best dad in the whole world!"

Feng Chuxun raised a model plane and pretended to crash it into Feng Wanting's arms. He nuzzled his forehead affectionately against Feng Wanting's chest, then looked up with wide eyes. "So, Dad... our whole class is going to an exhibition on Wednesday, and we can bring our moms and dads. You'll come, right?"

"Wednesday?"

"Wednesday."

Feng Wanting thought it over. He had a very important Exchange Conference on Wednesday.

Feng Chuxun was very good at reading expressions. Noticing the hesitation in Feng Wanting's brow, he ventured, "Busy again?"

"..."

Feng Wanting felt awful. What hurt was having a five-year-old child look at him with such hopeful yet cautious eyes.

"I'm not busy." He smiled gently at Feng Chuxun. "I'll definitely be there on time."

Unsurprisingly, Pei Yang was late yet again. When he arrived at the office, a crowd was gathered around his desk, cheering as though they were celebrating something.

No one noticed him. He approached and listened for a while, only to discover they were celebrating Yin Sufang getting the Independent Curating project.

"Congratulations, Fangfang! You deserve it!"

"If this exhibition goes well, that spot at Headquarters is bound to be yours, Fangfang!"

Sitting in the middle of the crowd, Yin Sufang smiled so broadly his eyes disappeared. "Thanks, everyone. I'll do my best."

"How did they decide on you already?" Pei Yang pushed past them and demanded abruptly, his gaze piercing Yin Sufang's eyes like a blade. "Wasn't the lead curator for this exhibition supposed to be chosen through competition?"

"Oh shit, Curator Pei's here..."

"Now we're in for a show! Hahaha!" The crowd immediately scattered to make room for Pei Yang. As though the scene wasn't chaotic enough, they added fuel to the fire. "Curator Pei, Sister Lan herself made the call. If you've got a problem with it, go talk to her..."

Hearing this, Yin Sufang slowly stood and gestured for the speaker to shut up.

"Pei Yang," he began, "the lead curator was indeed chosen through competition. But you and I both know that choosing a project's lead curator isn't just about ability. It's also about conduct and, most basically, punctuality."

Pei Yang's confidence faltered.

"Sister Lan told us to present our preliminary project proposals in the meeting room at nine thirty today, but you didn't arrive until the meeting was over. Since I was the strongest candidate present, what's wrong with her choosing me?" Yin Sufang asked sharply. "Were all dozen or so members of our Exhibition Planning Department, including Boss Lan, supposed to sit around waiting for you, Pei Yang?"

Pei Yang was utterly ashamed and had no way to argue. Yin Sufang's words had reminded him.

He'd known perfectly well that he had an important meeting today, yet he'd still gone out drinking over those two scumbags, Song Yixiao and Xia Jingmo. He'd drunk himself unconscious, missed the meeting, and lost his eligibility to compete for the project. What right did he have to challenge colleagues who'd arrived on time? What right did he have to challenge Yin Sufang, whose abilities were on par with his own?

The office fell silent. Pei Yang took a moment to steady his breathing, then said, "I'm sorry."

Yin Sufang froze for a moment.

"Um..." Just then, a colleague in the crowd spoke quietly. "Curator Pei, Sister Lan said... she wants you to stop by her office."

Pei Yang turned and left, making his way to Lan Shuang's office with practiced ease and knocking on the door.

"Come in."

Pei Yang entered with a haggard face, a mess of hair, and a wrinkled shirt, giving Lan Shuang a fright.

"My goodness, is this really Yangyang? What were you doing last night?"

"..."

Naturally, Pei Yang wasn't going to tell the truth. "Nothing."

"Nothing made you two hours late?" Lan Shuang rose in her heels and closed the blinds, then leaned closer to sniff Pei Yang. "You reek of alcohol. Had quite a bit to drink last night, didn't you?"

"...Yeah."

"Technically, I'm just your boss. I shouldn't pry into your personal affairs, and I have no right to. But you've been acting so strangely lately. I remember you didn't like drinking. You wouldn't touch a drop even at group dinners. Yet these past few days, you've been coming in late, leaving early, and spacing out at work. Now you've even started drinking. Tell me, what's going on? Something at home?"

"..."

Pei Yang was a little surprised.

Yin Sufang was smooth-talking and sweet-tongued, and usually the closest to Lan Shuang. Yet he hadn't told her about Pei Yang's breakup or spread it around among their colleagues.

"It's nothing," Pei Yang said briefly. "It won't happen again. I'm sorry."

"If you don't want to talk about it, never mind." Lan Shuang raised an eyebrow and tipped her chin toward the door. "What were you arguing with them about? Are you unhappy that I chose Fangfang to head this project?"

"I wasn't arguing," Pei Yang said. "And I'm not unhappy."

"I picked Fangfang before you even had a chance to present the proposal you'd prepared. You're really not angry?"

"...I'd be lying if I said I didn't feel anything." Pei Yang avoided Lan Shuang's gaze and let out a light breath. "But Yin Sufang was right. I failed to be punctual and was late to the meeting. I can't blame anyone else. I accept him as the head of this project, and I'll give him my full cooperation."

"Don't just accept it like that." Lan Shuang folded her arms and circled Pei Yang, looking him up and down with a mischievous gleam in her eyes. "Our Yangyang really is handsome. Even looking this unkempt, you make it hard to look away."

"I've always thought it was strange that our whole department went to Headquarters for that meeting last time. Why would Headquarters suddenly remember a company like ours, right at the bottom of FK? So I did a little asking around, and guess what? Apparently... someone in senior management at Headquarters has taken a fancy to you."