The two of them simply looked at each other in silence.
"You..."
"I-"
"You first!" Su Cimu beat him to it.
"Sweetheart, shall I pick you up first thing tomorrow morning and take you to work with me?" Shen Yannian asked, smiling at him.
"What would I do at your company all day? I'd be better off sleeping at home."
"Sweetheart, just think of it as granting my little wish. Keep me company at work, all right?"
"Ahem, since you're begging this young master, I suppose I'll reluctantly agree to go to the office with you."
Young Master Su agreed with a thoroughly tsundere air.
At that, Shen Yannian gave an indulgent smile, his gaze so tender it seemed about to drown Su Cimu.
"Well, um, I'm going to sleep..."
"Go ahead, sweetheart. I'm not stopping you."
"Then hang up already," Su Cimu muttered, giving him an annoyed look.
Shen Yannian chuckled softly, then said:
"I don't want to hang up. I want to keep looking at you, sweetheart. Put your phone beside your pillow. You sleep, and I'll watch."
Stunned by Shen Yannian's shameless words, Su Cimu hung up the video call outright.
Shen Yannian smiled helplessly, then put his phone away. With Su Cimu's every smile and frown on his mind, he drifted off to sleep.
Early the next morning, Shen Yannian got up half an hour earlier than usual because he had to pick Su Cimu up at the Su residence first.
"Heading to the office this early? Are they giving you a perfect attendance bonus?"
Shen Chuannan snapped at Shen Yannian.
Shen Yannian glanced at him. "As chairman of Shen Group, a perfect attendance bonus isn't part of my compensation package. Or would the former chairman like to add a few hundred yuan for perfect attendance?"
Shen Chuannan rolled his eyes at that, unwilling to talk to his younger son.
"Take care of your health. I'll visit you at the old residence another day."
"Hmph, as if I care whether you visit. Next time, bring that Su boy home so I can have a look at him. You're already engaged, and I haven't even met him. It's utterly improper," Shen Chuannan said with feigned casualness.
Shen Yannian knew this meant his father was making a concession, but that did not mean he had to accept it:
"We'll see. If Xiao Ci is willing, I'll bring him home."
"What's that supposed to mean? He's engaged to you, yet he might not want to come home with you?" Shen Chuannan had an explosive temper; even a casual remark from Shen Yannian could set him off.
Shen Yannian had no desire to say more to him. He turned and left the Shen residence, leaving the old man bristling with anger.
Seeing this, the old butler hurried to soothe him:
"Sir, don't be angry with the second young master. He's been like this since he was a child. You know that perfectly well."
"Hmph! It's precisely because I know his temperament so well that I don't believe a single word of his claim that he willingly agreed to a marriage alliance with the Su family's young master. If you ask me, he must have had his eye on that Su boy for ages. Why else would he have agreed to get engaged to him?" Shen Chuannan said irritably.
The old butler smiled at that.
"Sir, since you know the second young master likes the Su family's young master, why oppose it? It's so rare for him to take an interest in someone."
"Hmph, my son casually gets engaged to some boy, and as his father, I'm not supposed to find out more about him?"
"You have a sharp tongue but a soft heart, just like the second young master. Neither of you will budge. If either of you could compromise, your relationship wouldn't be so strained," the old butler said with a helpless sigh.
The old butler was not only a subordinate who had served Shen Chuannan for many years, but also his friend and childhood playmate. He therefore knew all about the affairs between Shen Chuannan and Shen Yannian and could offer a few words.
"Hmph, enough of that."
When Shen Yannian arrived at the Su residence, Su Cimu was not even out of bed yet.
Su Yunchao found it rather surreal to see Shen Yannian at his home so early in the morning.
"Second Master, what brings you to our house so early?" Su Yunchao asked.
"I'm here to take Xiao Ci to the office."
Shen Yannian did have patience when dealing with his future brother-in-law.
"You're taking Xiao Ci to your office? He isn't even awake yet. Did he agree to this?" Su Yunchao asked in astonishment.
"Yes, I arranged it with Xiao Ci last night. I'll go wake him now."
With that, Shen Yannian nodded in acknowledgment and, without wasting any more words on him, went to Su Cimu's room to wake him.
Su Cimu was deep in dreamland when Shen Yannian woke him.
"Huh? Who is it? Stop disturbing this young master's sleep!"
"Sweetheart, you promised me last night that you'd come to the office with me. You can't go back on your word," Shen Yannian said with a soft chuckle.
Hearing Shen Yannian's words, Su Cimu came to his senses, his eyes gradually clearing.
"What time is it?"
He slowly sat up and rubbed his eyes as he asked.
"It's eight twenty. Wash up, and we'll head out. We'll get to the office at nine, and I'll order breakfast for you there," Shen Yannian coaxed softly, wanting only to get Young Master Su out of bed quickly so he could accompany him to work.
"All right."
Su Cimu kept his word. Since he had promised him yesterday, he would follow through. He quickly got up, washed, and went downstairs with him.
As they passed Su Yunchao, Su Cimu greeted him, then left with Shen Yannian.
Su Yunchao felt as though his little brother had been stolen away, and was thoroughly unhappy.
"What are you standing in the doorway for? Playing door god? Don't you have work?"
As soon as Su Huaiyuan and Liang Zhen came downstairs, they saw their eldest son standing motionless in the doorway and could not help commenting.
"Dad, Xiao Ci's been abducted," Su Yunchao told them solemnly.
"What? What?! My precious son's been abducted? Who would dare?! Call the police!"
Su Huaiyuan was pulling out his phone to dial 110 when he heard Su Yunchao continue:
"Shen Yannian came over just now and lured Xiao Ci away to his office! Xiao Ci won't even go to our own company, but now he's going to work with Shen Yannian!" Su Yunchao said angrily.
Su Huaiyuan shot Su Yunchao a withering glare. He could not even explain things properly. What a false alarm.
Liang Zhen, on the other hand, was much calmer. She knew her younger son could not possibly have been abducted by a criminal in his own home. Her eldest son must be making a mystery out of nothing.
"If Xiao Ci wants to go to Shen Yannian's office, let him. He can familiarize himself with the workflow ahead of time. Once he graduates, we'll have him gain some experience at our own company," Su Huaiyuan said unconcernedly, feeling that Su Cimu really could learn quite a lot from Shen Yannian.
But Su Yunchao disagreed:
"Xiao Ci could come to work with me. I could personally teach him how to manage a company. Surely that would be better than following Shen Yannian around!"
As a bro-con, Su Yunchao wished he could keep his little brother tied to his side at all times, rather than watch his sweet, adorable little brother get stolen away by an old man!