Chapter 66
On Wednesday morning, Shen Yan woke up to find it was already past 10 AM.
He had always been someone who struggled to wake up early, and after getting pregnant, it was even worse. No matter what time he went to bed the night before, he would always wake up close to noon.
He lazily stayed in bed for a while, opening the curtains to look at the deep blue sea outside. After zoning out for a bit, he finally rubbed his growling stomach and decided to get up and find something to eat.
Ling Sichen was downstairs in the living room, looking at various documents on his computer about Duan’s Corporation. Hearing the footsteps, he turned around and said, “Finally awake? I thought you’d sleep until the evening. I made some soup and porridge. You should eat a little to fill your stomach first. I’ll go prepare lunch.”
He closed the computer, got up, and headed to the kitchen.
Shen Yan followed him into the kitchen, sitting at the bar while drinking porridge and chatting with Ling Sichen.
Su Yunzhe had an important work trip abroad that would last a week, and he didn’t feel comfortable leaving Shen Yan alone at home, so he insisted on having someone come to cook and take care of him.
Shen Yan thought Su Yunzhe had lost his mind.
There were many pregnant women still working hard with big bellies, yet here he was, not only doing some occasional writing but also not even able to stay at home alone?
So, Shen Yan protested strongly, insisting that he was fine alone, and he only needed someone to come by during meal times to cook.
But Su Yunzhe, perhaps because it was his first time dealing with such a situation, was ridiculously worried. He even suggested that if Shen Yan didn’t want someone to stay with him, he could go to a nursing home where there would be professional medical staff to take care of him.
Shen Yan: ???
He wanted to open up Su Yunzhe’s head and see what was inside.
He was only three months pregnant; it wasn’t like he had some terminal illness.
In the end, however, Shen Yan had to give in a little under Su Yunzhe’s insistence and asked Ling Sichen to come over.
After Duan Songtao had recovered from his illness and was discharged from the hospital, the doctor advised him not to overwork or experience any stress.
The old man had come to terms with it and had planned to step down from his position as chairman of Duan’s Corporation, formally handing over the company to Ling Sichen. He was ready to retire completely and live a peaceful life without worrying about anything.
However, they hadn’t found a suitable professional manager yet, and the company still needed a leader. So, he kept his position as chairman, while Secretary Wu worked with Ling Sichen to oversee the company’s operations and search for a suitable candidate.
During his recovery, the old man had been thinking about Ling Sichen’s maternal grandparents’ home, which was situated in a beautiful, peaceful area ideal for elderly living. It was far away from the city, so he wouldn’t have to deal with the frequent troubles caused by Duan Yang.
After settling his grandfather there, Ling Sichen returned, as there were still some company matters he needed to handle. Though he had help from Secretary Wu, he was intelligent and could manage the work on his own.
To accompany Shen Yan, he was just changing his place of residence.
After the old man went to his hometown, the large Duan family home was empty, so Ling Sichen was happy to stay there and have someone to talk to.
When Shen Yan called him, he agreed immediately.
“Ling Ge, seriously, how’s Feng Ge doing?”
Shen Yan quickly finished a bowl of porridge, then grabbed a bowl of soup and started sipping it, remembering the conversation from last night when Ling Sichen had mentioned that Qin Mofeng had submitted his resume to Duan’s Corporation, applying for the position of executive president.
At the time, Shen Yan had been feeling sleepy and only heard the gist of it, so now he asked more questions.
Ling Sichen, who was cutting vegetables while wearing an apron, casually replied, “I don’t know much about that. It’s a field I haven’t dealt with. Ultimately, it’s up to the professionals to judge. But… he’s a teacher and has no work experience…”
Ling Sichen shook his head. “Just based on his resume, Secretary Wu would probably reject him outright. Secretary Wu is in contact with headhunting companies to find someone with experience managing large enterprises.”
His tone was calm, with a faint smile, and he spoke objectively about the matter, without letting personal feelings about Qin Mofeng influence his opinion.
It was hard to tell whether this detached reaction was good or bad.
“Feng Ge and Su Yunzhe studied the same major in college, so at least it’s relevant. I’ve heard from Su Yunzhe that if Qin Mofeng hadn’t decided not to take over the family business, his father would have handed it to him. Apparently, his father had high hopes for his abilities.”
Ling Sichen looked up at him and smiled, “What’s this about? You’ve never said anything good about him before. Now that you’re married, are you starting to see single people as unfortunate and trying to match them up? This kind of thinking isn’t good!”
“Of course not, I just think Feng Ge is a bit pitiful. But… he also kind of deserves it,” Shen Yan replied.
Ling Sichen suddenly had a thought, went to the fridge, took out a container, and pushed it toward Shen Yan while saying, “Whether he deserves it or not, it has nothing to do with his ability to become the executive president of Duan’s. If he truly has the ability, I won’t oppose it just because of personal feelings. But he shouldn’t think he can get close to me through this opportunity. By the way, I made spicy rabbit heads last night. Try some.”
Seeing the spicy dish, Shen Yan immediately started salivating. He didn’t care anymore about whether Qin Mofeng was pitiful or not. Grinning, he thanked Ling Sichen, “Ling Ge, you’re the best. I love your spicy rabbit heads!”
He had tried them before at Ling Sichen’s family home. Back then, he couldn’t handle spicy food very well, but he still ate a few. Afterward, his lips were swollen, and he had a bad stomach the next day with blisters in his mouth.
But it was so delicious.
Now that he was pregnant and his taste buds had changed, he craved spicy food. The sight of the dish made his eyes light up.
He finished the entire box of rabbit heads while chatting, even skipping lunch.
Afterward, Shen Yan curled up on the sofa to write, while Ling Sichen continued to look through his documents. Not long after, Shen Yan fell asleep again.
When he woke up, it was already past 3 PM. Ling Sichen was gone, but there was a note on the coffee table saying that he had gone to the company.
Shen Yan glanced at it, tossed the note aside, went to the balcony to get some fresh air, then went back inside just in time for Su Yunzhe’s call.
Su Yunzhe called at this time every day, knowing that it was the best time to catch Shen Yan awake.
“How’s today?” was his usual first question.
“Same as usual. What about you? You always call at this hour. It’s too late. You could call earlier. I won’t be asleep during lunchtime,” Shen Yan said lazily, lying on the sofa, not sure how to complain anymore.
It felt like with Su Yunzhe, his pregnancy was such a big deal that every change in his body was treated as something major.
In fact, despite eating so much every day, his weight hadn’t increased by even a kilogram.
But on the other hand, wasn’t Su Yunzhe worried about him? Thinking about it, he felt pretty good about it.
“It’s fine, I’m also busy early in the morning.”
“So hard-working?”
“Well, I want to finish quickly so I can go back to be with my wife. Come on, wife, give me a kiss, reward me for working so hard just to get back to you sooner.”
Tch~
The sound slipped out of his mouth and was about to be blurted out, but Shen Yan swallowed it back down. Laughing, he made a “mu” sound into the phone. “Good work! So… are you coming back early?”
On the other end of the line, Su Yunzhe chuckled softly, seemingly pleased with the kiss that had crossed an entire Pacific Ocean. “Mhm, if all goes well, I’ll be back tomorrow night.”
“Tomorrow?” Shen Yan’s voice unconsciously carried a hint of surprise. “Wasn’t it supposed to be a week? You’re done in just four days?”
“Yeah, don’t you know your wife misses me so much? I can’t keep her waiting too long, can I?” Su Yunzhe detected the surprise in his voice and became even more smug.
Shen Yan silently rolled his eyes. Who’s really missing who here? It’s not like it’s me who can’t stop thinking about you, so you’re working so hard.
But… never mind, he did miss him too.
At first, he thought a whole week would pass quickly. Since he spent most of the day sleeping, he hadn’t had time to miss anyone.
But every night when he lay in bed, he still felt a little… lonely.
If Su Yunzhe could come back earlier, that would be great.
Maybe, given how hard Su Yunzhe was working, he could give him a little surprise?
After hanging up the phone, Shen Yan kept thinking about it.
It seemed that he had never really done anything meaningful for Su Yunzhe. Apart from making a plate of dumplings, he really hadn’t done anything else.
He was terrible!
Shen Yan suddenly felt that he was such a poor partner. He immediately decided that tomorrow night, he would create a little surprise for Su Yunzhe.
So he quickly started planning. Despite being so busy, he wasn’t even sleepy, and only realized it was getting dark when he noticed Ling Sicheng hadn’t come back yet.
In the few days that Ling Sicheng had stayed here, he would occasionally go out during the day, but he usually didn’t return too late.
Shen Yan thought for a moment and called Ling Sicheng. He answered quickly.
“I was just about to call you. I have some things to take care of here, so it might be really late. There’s some food in the fridge, heat it up yourself. Also, there’s a box of spicy rabbit heads, you can eat that first to fill your stomach. I’ll make you a late-night snack when I get back.”
“It’s fine, I can take care of it. I was just wondering why you’re so late today. If you have work, go ahead, I won’t disturb you.”
After hanging up, Shen Yan heated up the food in the microwave, ate a little, and then grabbed the spicy rabbit heads to snack on.
After finishing the box of rabbit heads, he finally felt tired. The late-night snack could wait, so he went upstairs to shower and then went to bed.
The next day, he woke up quite early, mainly because he had something on his mind. He was thinking about how Su Yunzhe would be back today, and he needed to prepare this little surprise before then.
He got up and went downstairs, but didn’t see Ling Sicheng. He didn’t think much of it, assuming that since he had returned so late last night, he was still asleep.
However, when he went to the kitchen, it was just as it had been the night before.
He found it a bit strange, since Ling Sicheng usually would have started cooking porridge and soup by now. But today, the kitchen was cold with no pots or pans.
Shen Yan’s brow twitched, feeling that something was off. He went upstairs to knock on the guest room door, but there was no response. He pushed the door open and found that the room was empty. The bed was neatly made, clearly indicating no one had slept there.
He didn’t come back?
He took out his phone to call Ling Sicheng, only to see several unread messages on WeChat. He opened them, all from Ling Sicheng.
The earliest message was from midnight: “Yan Yan, it’s too late. I have a meeting at the company early tomorrow, so I won’t come over tonight. I’m staying at a hotel near the company for the night.”
The second one was sent around 6 AM: “Yan Yan, can you cook noodles for breakfast? If not, I can order takeout for you.”
The third message was sent just now: “Are you awake yet? I won’t have time to make lunch. I heard about a really good private restaurant with sour and spicy dishes. You should like it. I’ve made a reservation. I’ll send you the details in a bit, and we can go together for lunch.”
