CH 15

The next morning, Pei You went to work as usual.

Before going to Qingshan, he returned to his previous office first. By the time he returned to work at Qingshan, he was more than an hour later than his usual working hours.

The meeting room was quiet, with the other audit team members working individually. When Pei You pushed the door open and scanned the room, he noticed that Zhou Qingbai was also present.

That day, Zhou Qingbai had arrived earlier than usual and was resting in his favorite corner, looking peaceful. No one bothered him, and he seemed almost invisible to the audit team members who went about their tasks as usual.

The ordinary office chair Zhou Qingbai usually used had somehow magically transformed into a boss chair with a footrest. He reclined on it with half of his suit jacket covering him, his body partially turned, sleeping soundly.

In the morning, a ray of sunlight would shine into that corner between the floor-to-ceiling windows and the wall. The narrow strip of sunlight covered half of Zhou Qingbai’s body, but he seemed to find the sunlight a bit bothersome. Therefore, he buried most of his face in the collar of his clothes.

Pei You’s arrival woke him, and Zhou Qingbai first frowned, then squinted his eyes towards the door, but he didn’t say anything. Instead, he lazily changed his posture and gave a slight wink to Pei You.

Pei You: “…”

Pei You paused for a moment, and then belatedly realized that the reaction just now wasn’t something “Manager Zhou” should have. It belonged to the real, carefree, and even somewhat reckless Zhou Qingbai.

Pei You stood at the office door, facing Zhou Qingbai across the long conference table while their unknowing colleagues were around them. They exchanged a subtle secret glance that only they could understand.

Zhou Qingbai beneath the perfectly maintained “Manager Zhou” facade, was quietly releasing signals to Pei You.

That feeling inexplicably made Pei You a bit nervously secretive. He unconsciously looked around, seeing no one raising their heads to pay attention to them,  he relaxed. He walked to the main seat at the innermost side of the meeting room, giving Zhou Qingbai another glance.

Zhou Qingbai pulled down his suit jacket a little and gave a big yawn, his eyes half-closed, looking pitiful.

“This door in the meeting room needs maintenance.” Zhou Qingbai said, “It creaks every time you push it.”

Pei You felt a little guilty about Zhou Qingbai’s subtle complaint, coughed lightly, and apologized quietly.

Zhou Qingbai lazily mumbled in agreement. Before finishing his response, his eyelids started to battle again.

Pei You observed him for a while, feeling that he seemed unusually tired.

“… Did you go out again last night?” Pei You asked tactfully.

Considering the time he had dropped Zhou Qingbai off at home last night, he shouldn’t have been this exhausted.

“No.” Zhou Qingbai yawned again and whispered, “But I stayed up late playing Resident Evil. I didn’t sleep until 4:30 in the morning.”

That explains it, Pei You thought.

Having received the answer, Pei You decided not to disturb him further. Just as he was about to turn back to the main seat, he felt someone gently pulling his coat hem.

He turned back and found Zhou Qingbai half-closing his eyes,  holding the corner of his jacket.

“My coat is too thin.” Zhou Qingbai suddenly said.

Pei You was momentarily stunned, then bent down in confusion and gently flicked the fabric of Zhou Qingbai’s coat – the lining was soft and thin, indeed a slightly thin spring/summer type.

“Do you have a spare coat in your office?” Pei You asked, ” I can go get it for you?”

Zhou Qingbai didn’t say anything. He just lifted his eyes and stared at Pei You with the same expression as when they parted last night, as if asking, “Do you want to think about it before answering?” In that instant, Pei You once again felt the familiar feeling of being judged and criticized

“Oh…” Pei You thought to himself, “This answer probably isn’t right.”

He quickly shifted his focus and looked around, asking, “Shall I turn up the air conditioning a bit?”

Having missed once, Pei You became more cautious this time. His voice was lowered, and there was a hint of imperceptible nervousness.

Watching Pei You’s face, which was quite cute but naive and clueless, in his mind, Zhou Qingbo sighed heavily.

“Oh, I’m worried,” Zhou Qingbo thought, “What will you do without me?”

“I want this,” Zhou Qingbo said, pointing to the corner of Pei You’s jacket , with a meaningful look, “It’s quite thick.”

This time, Pei You finally reacted. He gave a delayed “Oh” and quickly took off his jacket to hand it to Zhou Qingbo.

Zhou Qingbo was pleased with Pei You’s quick compliance and gave him a relieved look, along with his spring/summer-style suit jacket.

“I’ll take another nap,” Zhou Qingbo said unceremoniously as he covered himself with the jacket. Inhaling the faint scent of white tea, he quickly entered a shallow sleep state, murmuring vaguely, “Wake me up at lunchtime.”

The suit Zhou Qingbo was wearing that day was indigo, which suited Pei You’s taste. Without much thought, Pei You naturally put the jacket on himself.

However, as he sat back at his desk, Pei You noticed something – his colleagues were glancing at him with evasion mixed with curiosity. Though there was no malicious intent, each look was distinct. Pei You put down the mouse after clicking on and off the report on the computer desktop twice, unable to concentrate on work.

“What’s the matter?” Pei You asked.

The closest girl was the most outspoken member in the department. She didn’t hesitate to playfully bite the pen, asking, “Pei-ge, when did you become so close with Manager Zhou?”

In fact, the question didn’t make much sense because Zhou Qingbo had slept under his jacket the previous day as well. But Pei You hadn’t thought much about it then, while today, he felt a bit guilty and avoided the question.

“Is the draft finished?” Pei You asked expressionlessly.

The girl was surprised by that question and quickly retreated to her computer, working seriously without saying another word.

The morning passed quietly in the office. Zhou Qingbo comfortably made up for the sleep he missed last night. During this time, there was no interruption from his secretary, nor did Zhou Cangshan suddenly appear.

The sunlight outside the floor-to-ceiling windows shifted noticeably, and Zhou Qingbo gently turned over, waking up naturally from a pleasant dream.

He didn’t know for how long he was asleep, but when he opened his eyes, the conference room was empty. His indigo suit jacket hung on a nearby chair back, but the person who should have been sitting there was nowhere to be seen.

Zhou Qingbo’s heart lightly sank with a subtle sense of desolation. A long nap at the wrong time magnified the feeling of loneliness, and the empty conference room was uncomfortably quiet.

This “wake-up feeling” was far worse than yesterday afternoon. He didn’t know if it was because there was no sunset, or because there was no familiar face in his line of view.

Furrowing his brows slightly, Zhou Qingbo pushed aside the suit jacket, preparing to stand up and find him.

However, before he reached the door, someone pushed open the conference room door from the outside. It was Pei You, holding the lunch he had ordered in advance, he had his eyes wide open in surprise.

“You…” They both spoke at the same time. Pei You paused and checked his phone in his pocket. The signal icon spun around twice before displaying two new messages on the home screen.

“Sorry,” Pei You said, “I was in the elevator just now, and I guess there was no signal.”

No delivery personnel were allowed upstairs in Qingshan, and all orders had to be left at the front desk. When the delivery call came in, Zhou Qingbo was still half-asleep, so Pei You took the initiative to go downstairs and get it.

Zhou Qingbo let out a sigh of relief. Unconsciously, he took out his phone and placed it next to Pei You’s hand. “The first lesson,” Zhou Qingbo said seriously, “The first rule of dating is no ghosting allowed.”