Ye Mingxuan’s pants were dirty, so Tan Sizhe helped him take them off and threw them aside.
Then he placed Ye Mingxuan into the bathtub.
Ye Mingxuan stared blankly at the wall, his right hand still clutching Tan Sizhe’s clothes.
“Sir, I’ll wash myself.” He shifted in the water, creating ripples.
Tan Sizhe raised an eyebrow and looked down. Ye Mingxuan met his gaze and instinctively reached out to cover himself: “Sir…”
“Alright, you can wash yourself.”
Tan Sizhe walked over, brought in a new set of pajamas, and placed them on the massage sofa next to the bathtub.
After bathing, Ye Mingxuan quickly dried his hair and went out.
Ye Mingxuan walked over and saw that the wooden box was filled with wrinkled clothes. He remembered that these were the clothes Zhao Dongxuan had mentioned earlier—all leftovers from Ye Yufan.
They had packed all the clothes into this box and shipped them here.
“Yes, it’s… it’s mine.” Ye Mingxuan lowered his head.
Tan Sizhe lowered his voice, “Your clothes?”
“I…”
“They don’t look like your clothes.”
Caught off guard by the man’s words, Ye Mingxuan nodded helplessly.
A few seconds later, the man’s large hand landed on Ye Mingxuan’s head and rubbed it.
The A Building was packed with students, with classrooms filled to capacity.
The front rows listened attentively, taking notes as needed, while those in the back rows were less focused—some played games under their desks, others watched shows on their tablets.
The last row was a sea of heads, all lying on their desks catching up on sleep.
The professor was reading the PowerPoint presentation on stage. Upon seeing the scene at the back, he hesitated to speak, but eventually compromised by asking the middle rows to keep their voices down.
When the class ended and the bell rang, Lin Jiale suddenly sat up from his sleep, wiping the drool from the corner of his mouth: “Is class over?”
He immediately woke up and shook the person next to him: “Mingxuan, class is over. Where should we go for lunch?” “
“…” Ye Mingxuan finally woke up, slowly lifting his eyelids, sitting up, and rubbing his eyes: “Is class over?”
“It’s been over for a while. Hurry to the cafeteria; otherwise, we won’t get a seat.” Lin Jiale pulled out his backpack and carelessly stuffed everything inside.
Ye Mingxuan nodded, slung his backpack over his shoulder, and followed Lin Jiale out.
The corridor and stairs were crowded with people. Lin Jiale watched as Ye Mingxuan struggled to escape the crowd and made his way downstairs to find a shared bicycle.
Seeing Ye Mingxuan’s listless appearance, Lin Jiale asked, “Are you okay? You’ve been sleeping all the time lately. Have you been staying up late?”
“I’m fine,” Ye Mingxuan shook his head. “I haven’t done much lately, just feeling sleepy. But after a good night’s sleep, I’ll feel better. It’s nothing.”
Lin Jiale hummed in response.
They arrived late today, and every window in the cafeteria had a long line. The two of them took trays and joined the back of the line.
Ye Mingxuan asked blankly, “Is it good?”
The line moved forward, and it was finally Ye Mingxuan’s turn. He placed his meal card on the counter, and the auntie serving the food asked him what he wanted to eat.
Ye Mingxuan: “Um…”
Lin Jiale suddenly gasped: “Did you come into a fortune?”
“What?” Ye Mingxuan turned to look at him.
Lin Jiale pointed at the balance displayed on the machine: “One, two, three…”
He flipped the card over to the back where his name was printed, and it was indeed his meal card.
“Are you going to buy or not? There are a lot of people waiting behind you,” the aunt urged Ye Mingxuan.
Ye Mingxuan took the plate, stood there dumbfounded for a moment, then stepped aside to wait for Lin Jiale to finish serving the food before leaving together.
“Could it be your mom who transferred the money to you?” Lin Jiale asked, “Or maybe your boyfriend?”
Ye Mingxuan sat down at the window seat and immediately opened his phone upon hearing Lin Jiale’s words.
He noticed a bank notification from an hour earlier:
【Your account ending in 0000 received a transfer of 5,000,000.00 on September 21 at 11:00 AM. The recipient’s account ending in 8888.】
Ye Mingxuan was so shocked he choked on his saliva. If he hadn’t been mentally strong, he probably would have fainted on the spot.
Ye Mingxuan screamed silently in his mind.
He immediately sent a message to Tan Sizhe, but couldn’t find the right words.
Ye Mingxuan was so anxious that sweat beaded on his nose. For the first time, he felt his vocabulary was so limited.
Lin Jiale had already gnawed the pig’s trotter down to the bone. Seeing that Ye Mingxuan hadn’t taken a single bite, he urged, “Mingxuan, eat quickly. It won’t taste good once it gets cold.”
The fatty braised pork was piled on the plate. Ye Mingxuan thought of the braised pork he had eaten at the Ye family’s house, and it seemed as if a sour and foul smell had entered his nostrils—even though the braised pork in the cafeteria was very fresh.
Ye Mingxuan paused for a moment, ate the pig’s trotter first, then finished the rice and tomato scrambled eggs. He hesitated for a moment before finally eating the braised pork.
After finishing, Ye Mingxuan felt a bit uneasy in his stomach, probably from the greasiness of the braised pork, but he didn’t think much of it.
Ye Mingxuan went to the water dispenser to pour a cup of water, suppressing the fishy taste in his throat, then walked to the empty spiral staircase to make a call.
The U-shaped conference table was surrounded by board members on both sides, each with a computer and microphone in front of them. No one dared to speak, all holding their breath and staring intently at the man in front of them.
Tan Sizhe leaned back lazily in his chair, flipping through the documents handed to him by Bai Yu.
As his gaze grew colder, the air grew quieter.
Soon, every director present was subjected to the man’s icy glare.
The scene was suffocating, and Xiao Wang covered his eyes with a folder.
“I want to see the return on investment next month, or this project is canceled.” Tan Sizhe tossed the folder onto the table. “Meeting adjourned.”
The directors rose one by one, each having been berated, their heads hanging low as they made their way toward the door.
The directors who were almost at the door stopped in their tracks, stunned, and looked over.
It wasn’t because Tan Sizhe was answering the phone, but because of the tone he used.
After all, when Tan Sizhe was angry, anyone who approached him was asking for trouble.
But the tone he used to answer the phone now showed no sign of discomfort.
“Sir…” Someone walked past, and Ye Mingxuan stepped aside. “Are you available now?”
“Available.” Tan Sizhe looked down. “I know what you want to ask me.”
“Do you like it?”
When you were scolding us earlier, you didn’t ask us if we liked it, President Tan!
Their feet seemed to be nailed to the ground, and everyone wore expressions of curiosity, wanting to hear something more.
Unfortunately, Bai Yu wouldn’t let them.
A minute later, the directors and Xiao Wang were asked to leave the conference room.
Bai Yu closed the door and waited for Tan Sizhe to hang up the phone: “I was just about to tell you about this.”
“Ye Mingxuan was already very busy back then, barely having time to go out with friends, all to help his mother with chores at the Ye household.”
After Bai Yu finished speaking, he looked at Tan Sizhe.
The latter was staring at a spot, lost in thought.
After a moment, Tan Sizhe closed his eyelids and murmured, “I understand.”
Bai Yu paused, unable to discern Tan Sizhe’s expression.
He could only sense that his mood was low, neither anger nor worry.
Bai Yu walked to the door, pressed the doorknob, and glanced back.
Tan Sizhe remained seated, motionless.
Bai Yu pursed his lips and walked out.
