Chapter 1

July, the air was stifled by the heat, and it was the rainy season.

A doorman opened the car door with an umbrella. A young man in a white shirt got out of the car first and went around the other side of the car. He bowed slightly and reached out to pick up the man inside the car.

His gesture was respectful without losing intimacy.

The man gently grasped his outstretched hand and held his shoulder. He pushed him under the eaves of the clubhouse and did not release his hand until they entered the door. He brushed off a few drops of water on the young man’s hair and said to the welcoming lady who walked to him, “Room nine, Mr. Zhao.”

“Yes, sir. This way, use the No. 3 elevator, please.”

After they entered the elevator, the hostess helped to press the floor to room nine. When no one was around, the young man in a white shirt hurriedly fixed his collar and hair in front of the mirror. When the man saw that the corners of the young man’s lips were tightly tense, he felt a little nervous and comforted him, “It’s just meeting a few acquaintances and there are no outsiders. Relax and don’t be nervous.”

The young man smiled at him, he shyly whispered, “Acquaintances will pay even more attention. Don’t worry boss, I promise I will not give you a bad impression.”

As soon as he started to talk, the man couldn’t help but laugh.

Chinese dialects are complicated. Some people have a Northeastern accent, some have a Jiang Huai accent, some are from Hong Kong, some are from Su Pu. There are all kinds of strange voice intonation. But for the first time in Yan Chong’s life, he met someone with a “comic accent”.

Xue Liang has a cadence feeling when he speaks and he has a very articulate pronunciation. He spoke between Beijing and Tianjin dialect, but occasionally gets a little mixed up with a Northeastern accent. Once he began to speak, he was able to infect others with joy and enter a state of bewildered giggles.

Yan Chong has been a noble and charming man for half of his life. But after meeting Xue Liang, he always carries a radio with him. It would automatically broadcast a comic dialogue from time to time. According to Yan Chong’s observation, his driver recently started wearing strings of Xiaoye Rosewood on his hands.

A minute after the elevator door opened, the waiter guided the two to room nine. The cold wind, accompanied by the clamour, hit his face as he walked into the room. There was someone on a sofa who turned his head to look at the door, and immediately got up to welcome them, “Yo, Little Goose is here! Come inside and sit.”

Xue Liang recognized the man and greeted him after the latter shook hands with Yan Chong, “Hello, Mr. Zhao.”

“Hey, nice to meet you.” Zhao Li didn’t give him a glance and carelessly nodded at him. He walked toward Yan Chong along with several other people who came over to say hello. Xue Liang obediently followed behind them and waited for Yan Chong to sit down. He hanged the opposite side’s western-styled coats properly. He also poured water in a new cup, gave it to Yan Chong, and said “Please take your time”. After that, he stepped back and stood behind the armrest of the sofa. His gesture was diligent and swift, and his manners were cautious and timid. He resembled a boss of a henchman in the olden days. He was wearing a long sleeve shirt and a bowler hat with a Mauser Pistol around his waist.

Everyone, “……”

Yan Chong, who was forced to be the boss, slowly said, “Don’t pretend to be obedient, and you don’t need to keep watch. I’ll discuss some things with Zhao Zong, you can chat with others in the meantime.”

Xue Liang nodded his head.

Apart from the Zhao Li type of middle- aged man present in this meeting, there were also some young entrepreneurs. Xue Liang was quickly taken aside to sit down. Someone offered him a drink and politely asked his age and origin. After listening, he said in a surprised tone, “You’re from X University? You’re schoolmates with Yan Chong, right? Our company is beside your University. Mr. Liu, also graduated from X University.”

Xue Liang said with a smile, “Nice to meet you, senior.”

There’s a natural sense of closeness between the X University students. Mr. Liu, who originally didn’t talk, immediately got chatty, “Junior, which faculty are you from? Which class?”

“Faculty of Humanities. I’m in my third year, I’ll graduate next year.”

“You haven’t graduated yet? Then now you’re…”

“On my summer internship,” Xue Liang said sincerely, “This major isn’t a good counterpart. By being an assistant, I can learn a lot from the boss.”

Mr. Liu listened attentively, and soon after he smiled. Without continuing on the topic, he said, “Do you know XXX? Oh, she’s my classmate’s girlfriend. They are already married, and their child is already one year old…… you’re from the musical club? That’s why it sounded familiar. I remember I used to be next door to the musical club and watch their training everyday. I even remembered the name of the dishes they ate.”

Xue Liang became interested, “What club are you from?”

Mr. Liu smiled “I’m from the orchestra club. I’m a saxophonist.”

Xue Liang instantly sat straight while cupping his hand, “You have my respect.”

Mr. Liu said humbly, “You’re welcome”

The other people were confused and started asking them questions. Xue Liang then began to tell them his story. X University is rich in club activities. Every time it’s school season, every club needs to set up a booth to recruit new members. The orchestra club has always been a fearful existence. The saxophonist is a killer weapon. While others can only shout “Come and check out our club”, the saxophonist can play a piece of ‘Go Home’ and make them automatically walk to their booth. The musical club is even worse, every year their booth have been assigned next to the orchestra club. Xue Liang, as the backbone of the club, has been blown out by the saxophone like a psychological shadow of a sandstorm.

There was a lot of chatting over there, the attention of Yan Chong and Zhao Li were also drawn in. Zhao Li stared at Yan Chong’s smiling face for a few seconds. He withdrew his eyes and asked in a low voice, “Little Goose, are you planning to take him as your assistant from now on?”

Yan Chong spun the cup in his hands and gave a noncommittal nod.

“Don’t blame me for talking too much, but let me remind you something. These types of good-looking young people and still are college students, might have bad intentions. Don’t be too friendly with them and keep an eye out.” Zhao Li said, “The people around you know everything about you and your weakness, and it’ll be difficult to deal with when you’re in trouble”

“I know.” Yan Chong replied. Only Zhao Li can give conjectures about Xue Liang like this, which made him upset. “If it weren’t for the fact that the topic ‘Fun activities’ is brought up wherever we go to discuss things, I wouldn’t ask for trouble. Let’s see how he performs in the future, I’ll replace him as soon as possible if he’s not suitable.”

Yang Chong is twenty-seven years old. It is the age to talk about marriage, but he never had a thought about it. One, it’s because of his busy career, and two, it is due to his sexual orientation. Even though being single makes him at ease, the consequence is big. Relatives and elders are eager to introduce him to someone, but there is no one that gives the impression of ‘young and inexperienced’. You can’t deal with it under the excuse that you already have a wife.

Yan Chong really doesn’t want to get involved in these situations. Some time ago, there was a sudden unannounced investigation. There were some fake industry elites caught on scene. In a short amount of time, this became a laughing stock. It is not safe to look for temporary workers. In order to solve this problem once and for all, he decided to raise a ‘small pet’. As long as that person is clever and quick-witted, it is good enough.

That’s how Xue Liang came to his side.

He originally expected a quiet and well-behaved worker, like a canary. If Yan Chong told him to be quiet, he would be quiet. But for some reason, Yan Chong had an illusion that if he gave him a tail, this guy would reveal his true character and turn into a monkey on the spot.