Wen Qinxi's gaze lingered on the beautiful clear ocean right in front of him. The scenery was especially soothing to one's unsettled heart temporarily finding solace. One might ask how he ended up on a beach on an island resort. That's because his mother and brother dragged him all the way here in the name of curing a broken heart.
He would have preferred to hibernate in his apartment and binge watch anime while downing a bottle of expensive wine but his family wouldn't let him. Wen Danzhe had helped him take a leave of absence from work while his mother booked flight tickets and bought sunscreen.
In no less than two days they were on the sunny beaches of Yalong bay sipping cocktails under a thatched umbrella. They were right, it was relaxing but his mind couldn't help but veer in Qie Ranzhe's direction. Apart from the money transfer he hadn't heard anything from him.
This was to be expected but he couldn't help but have hope. He had reached out for his cellphone several times a day to make a phone call but an inexplicable ache would fill his heart and he would clutch his cellphone till his knuckles turned white. He didn't have Qie Ranzhe's WeChat and that dinosaur had no social media accounts.
He could either call Machu or the office but he was afraid of being rejected or better yet finding out that the man had truly rekindled his relationship with Zhao Huangzhi. Qie Ranzhe didn't promise or owe him anything. Him going into the game to save Qie Ranzhe was a transaction backed by the transfer in his bank account so what right did he have to look for him?
This line of thought weighed heavy on his heart that his emotions involuntarily seeped out which Wen Danzhe noticed. He grabbed Wen Qinxi's cell phone out of his hand and yelled, "Ma, Qi-ge is going to get a cocktail. Do you want anything?"
Wen Qinxi abruptly turned his head glowering at Wen Danzhe like a cat whose tail had just been stepped on. "What the fuck?" he mouthed at Wen Danzhe feeling annoyed.
Wen Danzhe smiled slyly and said, "He said he also likes the waitress at the bar but he's too shy!"
Mama Wen hurriedly lifted her sunglasses and got up. "Aiya..... let mummy dearest go with you. I am certain she will like you. I will be your wingman," she said before dragging Wen Qinxi all the way to the bar.
While Wen Qinxi was embarrassedly getting his mother's help in matters of the heart, Qie Ranzhe was seated on his desk looking somewhat distracted. He was hoping to set up a meeting with Wen Qinxi as soon as he reached the office but he found out the man had asked for an extended leave.
These past few days he had been grounded by his mother and cousin as a consequence of refusing to stay in the hospital against the doctor's advice. He wanted to hurriedly go back to work and hopefully get in touch with Wen Qinxi but that was merely wishful thinking.
He stared blankly at the documents on his desk struggling to concentrate when his office phone rang. His heart jolted slightly as a thought fleeted past his mind. If it was Wen Qinxi calling what would he say? He hadn't come up with the right words to say yet.
"Delun, pick up the call," he said to the virtual assistant AI running in his office. The call was immediately picked up and the soft voice of Li Menxie reverberated in the air.
"Sir, you have a visitor. Dr Machu is here to see you," she said in a tone that could grasp any man's interest.
"Let him in," he replied feeling a little disappointed. Even though the likelihood of it being Gecko was next to none he was still rather discontented.
Machu strode in through the door in the next minute and slumped on the couch with no care in the world. He had been incredibly busy these past few days that he hadn't checked up on Qie Ranzhe. He decided to come over and see how he was doing before going home to sleep.
"You look like shit," said Qie Ranzhe without taking his eyes off the documents in his hand.
"You are the one to talk," replied Machu before he abruptly stood up and sat on Qie Ranzhe's desk peeking at the documents, "Approving supply materials for Flagship?.... When are you introducing it to the world?"
"A month from now... we about to run some trials to get certified," he replied while glaring at that tooshie that dared to sit itself on his desk. Machu felt the oppressive air coming from his friend so he got off the desk and sat in the chair opposite him.
"Geez, such a stick in the mud..... So have you discussed it with your team yet? Oh, that reminds me, did you talk to Gecko?" he asked leaning in closer to hear the hot gossip. If he didn't get these two together then his name isn't Machu.
Qie Ranzhe's stern expression softened seeming somewhat hesitant. "No," he replied placing the documents back down on his desk, "I thought he would come to work today but he didn't."
"Tsk, tsk.... you are already a CEO of a company yet you don't know how to use a cellphone. Even an email would suffice," he said but the chilling aura coming from the opposite side of the table had him let out a nervous chortle, "Okay, okay I was just messing with you. Here, how about I give you his number and you can call him right now?"
Machu took out his cellphone and wrote Wen Qinxi's number on a sticky note. Qie Ranzhe took the note while tapping the table nervously with his finger. That's when he realised something. "Why do you have his number?" he asked eyeing Machu like a little boy robbed of his Optimus prime truck.
Beads of cold sweat formed on Machu's forehead as he hurriedly explained himself, "To talk about you of course. Just stop looking at me like that and call him." The scariest thing about his friend over here was his vicious death glare that could frighten a comatose patient's soul to spirit away.
Qie Ranzhe pursed his lips and picked up his cellphone to call Wen Qinxi but what he didn't know was that the nerd's cellphone was in the hands of Wen Danzhe.
Wen Danzhe had his sunglasses on lying in a beach chair as he watched his mother pimp out his brother when he heard something vibrating on the beach table. It was the cellphone he had just confiscated from Wen Qinxi. Seeing it was an unfamiliar number, he was about to hang up when a thought crossed his mind.