After waking up naturally, Xia Zichen ate lunch at an unhurried pace before packing up and heading out to Gu Xu’s company.
The weather today was especially hot, and it happened to be noon. Xia Zichen dressed as lightly as possible—a white T-shirt paired with cotton-linen khaki shorts, revealing his fair and well-shaped calves. He wore a baseball cap on his head and a pair of beige leather Roman-style sandals. Simple, yet stylish. He casually slung a crossbody bag over his shoulder to carry his things. He was already quite young, and dressed like this, he looked even younger—but still very good-looking.
Fortunately, it wasn’t rush hour, so there weren’t many people on the subway, and he didn’t have to squeeze in with others.
Logically speaking, since he was going to Gu Xu’s company today, they could have eaten lunch together. But there was already a lunch meeting arranged at the company, and Xia Zichen didn’t want to join the commotion, so he planned to arrive after the lunch break.
Their company’s lunch meetings weren’t held at restaurants or hotels where people ate and talked at the same time. Instead, they were held inside the conference room, with meals ordered collectively by the company. Of course, employees could also bring their own meals. It was basically just a group of people sitting together eating while discussing recent project plans.
These kinds of meetings happened from time to time, and Xia Zichen always found them strange. Lunch break should be a time to rest quietly and finish eating properly so you could continue working in the afternoon. Eating while holding meetings meant people had to pay attention to discussions while eating, and speakers also had to worry about eating—it just felt inefficient and even bad for digestion.
But this was just his personal opinion. The people in the company, on the other hand, seemed to enjoy it and even complained if it wasn’t held.
Although the company wasn’t officially open yet, the core staff were already in place, just waiting for the opening ceremony next Monday. Gu Xu originally hoped Xia Zichen would attend, but Xia Zichen knew there would definitely be a large crowd of people coming—especially those trying to curry favor with the Gu family. He had no interest in such socially motivated congratulations and would rather have dinner alone with Gu Xu to celebrate.
Knowing he wouldn’t like such social events, Gu Xu didn’t force him and let him decide freely.
The company was located in the central business district, Century Tower, spanning from the 50th floor to the top 60th floor. Standing downstairs, Xia Zichen looked up at the silver-gray building shimmering under the sunlight. He took out his phone and sent Gu Xu a message.
Not long after, Gu Xu—dressed in casual wear—walked out from the entrance and led him inside.
“You should’ve waited inside the lobby. It’s so hot outside—you’re not afraid of heatstroke?” Gu Xu said, holding his hand as they walked.
“It’s fine. The subway had air conditioning,” Xia Zichen replied with a smile.
The brief walk from the entrance to the elevator still made him aware of the curious glances from people around them.
They took the elevator straight to the top floor. When the doors opened, the first thing visible was a small office area—the secretaries’ section. Xia Zichen glanced over and saw more than a dozen secretaries, both men and women, and couldn’t help wondering why Gu Xu needed so many.
Since it was a game company, there was no strict dress code. As long as it wasn’t sloppy, anything went, so the employees dressed rather casually but still neatly.
While Xia Zichen observed the surroundings, others were also secretly observing him. Gu Xu did not let go of his hand the entire time, clearly not hiding their relationship.
“Send a drink in—no carbonated ones,” Gu Xu instructed before walking further in with him.
Behind the office area was a large wooden door. Pushing it open, Gu Xu smiled and said, “Come in.”
Inside, the office was spacious and brightly lit. Afternoon sunlight poured in through the windows, bright but not hot, softened by the curtains so it wasn’t harsh.
“What are you thinking about?” Gu Xu asked when he noticed him silently observing the room.
“You’re pretty good at enjoying yourself—one person taking up such a big office,” Xia Zichen said with a smile.
Gu Xu took his bag and cap and placed them on the sofa, then pointed to a door on the left. “There’s also a lounge there. If you’re tired, you can rest.”
“I woke up pretty late,” Xia Zichen said, walking to the window. From this vantage point, the entire city spread out below him, silently showing its development and structure.
“Do you like it?” Gu Xu asked, smiling as he watched him. In truth, he himself didn’t spend much time appreciating the view—this was simply a workplace to him.
“The view is nice. But…” Xia Zichen paused and turned back. “What if the elevator suddenly breaks?”
Sixty floors… going up or down would be quite a challenge.
Gu Xu’s smile turned a little helpless. “Why are you thinking about that? This building has multiple elevators. Even if one breaks, there are others.”
“What if there’s a power outage?” Xia Zichen raised an eyebrow.
“There are backup power systems for a building this size,” Gu Xu replied calmly.
Xia Zichen looked at him without speaking, as if asking: and if everything really stops working?
Gu Xu sighed. “Even if all elevators stop, I’ll either give everyone a holiday or just stay here.”
After spending more time together, he had noticed that Xia Zichen occasionally showed a bit of playful stubbornness in front of him, which he found rather amusing.
Xia Zichen nodded, seemingly satisfied with the answer.
Just then, someone knocked on the door. Gu Xu said “come in,” and a secretary entered with a glass of iced juice.
“Boss, your drink.”
“Mm.” Gu Xu took it and handed it to Xia Zichen. “Later, order some snacks to be sent up.”
“Alright.” The secretary glanced between the two of them quickly before leaving. From beginning to end, Gu Xu’s attention remained on Xia Zichen, while Xia Zichen was still looking around the office, neither of them paying attention to the third person in the room.
After the secretary left, Gu Xu asked, “No work this afternoon. Want to play games together?”
Xia Zichen didn’t object. It had been a while since they last ran a dungeon together. “You finished your work already?”
“Mm. Things are light for now. We’ll handle the rest after official opening.”
He took out his laptop from a drawer and asked, “Use your desktop or this?”
Xia Zichen tilted his chin toward the laptop.
Gu Xu opened it and placed it in front of him, while he himself logged into the game on the desktop.
Since it was summer break, many guild members were online at this time. Surprisingly, both Baicao Zhe and Jian Lang were also online.
“Are Luo Ji and Mo Xiang in the company too?”
“Mm, downstairs. Want to go see them?”
Xia Zichen paused. “Your company really is very idle.”
Gu Xu laughed. “Then do you want to come work part-time?”
Xia Zichen looked at him. “What would I even do? Serve tea and water?”
Gu Xu shook his head. “You’re studying accounting. Getting early exposure to financial work is good. And if you plan to take the CPA exam later, it’ll help even more. In short, working here part-time is a good option for you. Finance is a very important part of any company—it’s better handled by trusted people.”
This kind of early exposure was indeed attractive to Xia Zichen, though his knowledge was still limited and mostly theoretical. Real-world practice would be far more complex than textbooks suggested.
“Aren’t you afraid I’ll mess things up?”
“It’s fine. Worst case, I clean up after you. Think of it as learning.” Gu Xu continued, “I originally planned to let you intern at my brother’s company. The accounts there are more complex and would give you more experience. But I’m not comfortable placing you in that kind of environment. Here, with me, you’ll have more freedom.”
That had been the reason he hadn’t mentioned it earlier during their meeting. After discussing with his older brother, it was decided that starting simple would be better—complex accounts might overwhelm him or damage his confidence.
“Mm.” Since Gu Xu had already thought this through, Xia Zichen had no reason to refuse. “But I don’t need special treatment. Just treat me like a normal intern.”
“Internships don’t pay salary, and I can’t let you work for free. Transportation and meals are expenses. I’ll just give you a probation salary.” Gu Xu said. In truth, it was just a way to give him pocket money under another name.
“Alright.” Thinking about the extra expenses, Xia Zichen didn’t refuse.
Seeing his agreement, Gu Xu took out a folder and handed it over. “Sign this.”
“What is it?” Xia Zichen opened it.
“Internship contract. Standard terms, nothing to worry about. Just sign.”
When he reached the last page, the company name caught his attention—
Shengchen Network Technology Co., Ltd.
Noticing his reaction, Gu Xu handed him a pen and smiled. “The name was chosen by someone. There were many options, but my brother and I both thought this one was best. It includes your name.”
When Gu Yan saw it, he paused for two seconds, circled it with his pen, and said, “Since you’ve decided to settle down with Xia Zichen, then naming the company after him isn’t bad. Don’t waste the meaning behind it.”
Xia Zichen smiled slightly and signed his name.
With that stroke of ink, he became formally connected to this company.
And those three familiar characters also signed into his future life.