You're avoiding me

"..."

What was he even talking about? Pei Yang said helplessly, "Don't sell yourself short."

"Oh! Right." Yin Sufang remembered something. "Pei Yang, are you really close with Director Feng? Even Sister Lan said you've got someone at Headquarters looking out for you."

"She's talking nonsense."

Pei Yang had no idea how to describe his relationship with Feng Wanting either, so he awkwardly changed the subject. "Don't stress too much. Once I get to Headquarters, I'll see what I can do for you. If you really can't pay the rent... why not move in with me?"

"Ha!" Yin Sufang said gleefully. "Are you asking me to live with you?"

Pei Yang said, "...Pretend I never said anything."

"All right, stop worrying about me. I've been working this long; you think I don't have any savings?" Yin Sufang yawned. "If that's all, I'm hanging up. I still need to get ready for my date with boyfriend number 107."

Pei Yang said, "..."

After leaving the rooftop, Pei Yang returned to the main office to pack what he needed for reporting to Headquarters tomorrow. He had barely started when Lan Shuang summoned him to the president's office.

Pei Yang closed the door and immediately said, "Not happening."

"You don't even know what I'm going to say, and you're already refusing?"

"What else would you want to see me about, Boss Lan, besides changing the company's address?" Pei Yang asked.

For a moment, Lan Shuang had no answer.

"Boss Lan, with all due respect, you've been going about this the wrong way from the start." Pei Yang tried earnestly to reason with her. "If you want FK Exhibitions to relocate, you need to submit a request to the higher-ups and follow the proper procedures, not resort to these underhanded tactics. If even you, the president, don't have the power to do it, Yin Sufang and I are just ordinary employees..."

"What do you know?!" Lan Shuang interrupted him, suddenly getting worked up. "I have no say at Headquarters at all. Otherwise, why would they have sent me to manage this place in the middle of nowhere? They look down on me and dismiss me just because I'm a woman!"

"Boss Lan." Pei Yang sighed softly. "No one can belittle you unless you belittle yourself. We've never shown you the slightest disrespect because you're a woman. In private, we've only ever admired you. You've gone to such lengths to change the company's address that it's become something of an obsession. I'm sorry, but I can't help you, nor is it within my power to."

Pei Yang gave Lan Shuang a slight nod and left.

The next day, Pei Yang reported to the Exhibition Planning Department at Headquarters. After assigning him an office, the department manager specifically arranged for a longtime employee to show him around the legendary FK. Before coming, Pei Yang had worried he might run into Feng Wanting, but after touring the first ten floors, he felt reassured. The group occupied more than forty floors, and the interior was absurdly vast. The odds of him running into Feng Wanting were roughly 0.00000001 percent.

Besides, a low-level employee like him only had access to the first ten floors on his work badge. He couldn't even enter the floor where Feng Wanting's office was. It was like asking whether someone at the bottom of a pyramid could happen to run into someone at the top.

After spending a day getting acquainted with his new coworkers and surroundings, Pei Yang rode the elevator down at the end of the workday and felt he had something to look forward to. Once he settled in at Headquarters and had some money to spare, he would rent a slightly nicer place and bring Xinji over.

Thinking of Xinji, Pei Yang took out his phone and found the vet's WeChat contact, which he had secretly added. The vet occasionally sent him photos of Xinji, and seeing Xinji looking better by the day put Pei Yang at ease.

He couldn't possibly feel comfortable leaving Xinji with Song Yixiao. From what Pei Yang had coaxed out of the vet, Song Yixiao hadn't visited Xinji even once lately. But that was only to be expected. How could one dog take proper care of another?

With a ding, the elevator reached the first floor. It was crowded at the end of the workday, and people were packed shoulder to shoulder inside. Pei Yang quietly retreated to the back and waited until everyone else had left before stepping out.

"You don't need to bring next month's quarterly report to me for my signature..."

The familiar voice reached Pei Yang's ears from beyond the noisy stream of people. He stepped out of the elevator and froze, his usually aloof face filled with disbelief. Thinking about it, the way he kept crossing paths with Feng Wanting was absurd beyond belief.

The Northern Continent was so huge. How many times had he run into Feng Wanting by pure chance in just a few short months?!

Sure, they worked at the same company, so however slim the odds, they were bound to meet eventually. But this was way, way, way too soon! This was his first day at Headquarters! His first day!!

"Director Feng." "Hello, Director Feng." Amid the chorus of flattering greetings, Pei Yang immediately turned around. As long as he got back into the elevator fast enough, Feng Wanting wouldn't see him.

"Ow-! Hss..."

Pei Yang charged straight into the elevator doors just as they closed. The sharp pain in his forehead made him cry out before he could stop himself.

Several developers followed behind Feng Wanting. He had been looking down at a report, but at the cry, he lifted his eyes and saw a tall, slender figure pacing in place with a hand over his forehead.

Feng Wanting's brows lifted, and for a moment he thought his eyes were playing tricks on him. He casually tossed the report into Wu Rui's hands behind him and headed toward the employee elevator.

Wu Rui and the developers were taken aback. "Director Feng, everyone's getting off work right now. We should take the executive elevator..."

Then they saw Director Feng stop in front of a man pressing a hand firmly to his forehead and say in a tender voice, "Pei Yang?"

Still clutching his forehead, Pei Yang bit his lip hard. Only after thoroughly bracing himself did he turn around. "D-Director Feng."

"What are you doing here?" Feng Wanting asked.

Pei Yang said, "..."

What's it to you what I'm doing here? Why don't you go ask someone else for their WeChat?

Pei Yang felt that asking for someone's WeChat because you found them attractive was a very private matter. Even if you desperately, utterly wanted it, you ought to do it discreetly. Yet Feng Wanting had actually asked another man for his WeChat right in front of him. If he was that shameless in front of Pei Yang, who knew what he was like in private! Maybe he'd already maxed out his WeChat contacts!

Pei Yang couldn't understand it. No matter how hard he tried, he couldn't understand it. Feng Wanting had even walked over and called his name in front of all these people. Couldn't he have some sense of boundaries? Were they that close?!

Pei Yang kept his head lowered and said nothing. Bewildered, Feng Wanting tilted his head. "Why aren't you saying anything?"

"I was passing through." Pei Yang stepped around him to leave.

"Passing through?" Feng Wanting swiftly caught the Employee ID Badge hanging around Pei Yang's neck and gave it a gentle tug, pulling him back. "Why are you wearing an FK Group Employee ID Badge if you're just passing through?"

Wu Rui and the developers waited for Feng Wanting for a while. When it became clear that Director Feng had no intention of returning, Wu Rui bowed apologetically and went over to fetch him himself.

"Director..."

Before he could finish, Feng Wanting waved him off. "Go upstairs without me. Don't wait."

"Of course." Wu Rui glanced at Pei Yang, then turned and led the developers into the executive elevator.

"You should go upstairs with them, Director Feng. Don't let me hold up your work." Pei Yang tugged at his Employee ID Badge, but it wouldn't budge. Feng Wanting was holding it firmly.

"Answer the question." Feng Wanting adopted an authoritative tone. "What are you doing here?"

He really was impossible to shake off. Pei Yang said coldly, "I was transferred internally to Headquarters. Today's my first day."

Feng Wanting was suddenly delighted. Now Pei Yang really was his subordinate.

"The Exhibition Planning Department?" he asked.

"No," Pei Yang denied reflexively. How could he let Feng Wanting find out which department he worked in?

"No?" Feng Wanting flipped Pei Yang's Employee ID Badge over. Printed clearly in white on the metal badge were the words: "Exhibition Planning Department."

Pei Yang said, "..."

They both fell silent for a moment. Then Feng Wanting drew out his words as he said, "Pei Yang, you're avoiding me."