CH 51.1

Early on Wednesday morning, Xu Xinghe rejected Ling Changfeng’s offer to send him to work. Instead he got in his royal blue Phantom S-86 after a long absence, and drove himself to Ark to work.

When he landed in the parking lot, he deliberately chose an inconspicuous corner to park, then got out of the car wearing a black sun hat, and walked quickly into the building without looking sideways.

Even though he acted as low-key as possible and didn’t want to attract attention, from the moment he entered the elevator, he could still feel all kinds of gazes around him falling on him one after another.

When stepping into the main hall of science and technology on the 36th floor, the hall was quiet for a moment.

As Xu Xinghe walked straight across the hall and into his office, people began to whisper again.

“Why did Team Leader Xu come here?”

“Didn’t I tell you that he wasn’t pregnant? Of course he has to come to work if he’s not pregnant.”

“Then why did he ask for leave yesterday? He worked full-time last year and didn’t ask for a day off!”

“Sick leave, isn’t it normal for people to get sick?”

“But… Judging from the way Team Leader Xu just walked with the wind behind him, it doesn’t look like he is sick.”

As soon as Xu Xinghe entered the office, before he had time to take off his coat, there was a squeaking sound from behind-

“Team Leader!!”

“Team Leader, you’re here!”

Ajia and Ryan rushed into the office one after the other.

Xu Xinghe’s temple jumped up suddenly, put his coat on the hanger, then pointed at the door, and said without turning his head, “Go out.”

“I’m not!” Ajia moved closer and looked at Xu Xinghe with two big eyes without blinking. “How are you feeling now? Are you any better?”

“I…” Xu Xinghe wanted to say “I was fine in the first place,” but after thinking about it, the matter of asking for sick leave yesterday won’t make sense then, so he vaguely said: “It’s much better.”

Ryan on the side asked, “What’s wrong with you, team leader? Hasn’t your body been strong all the time? Why did you suddenly get sick?”

Caught in the moment, Xu Xinghe didn’t know how to come up with an explanation to shut their curious and nonchalant questions, so he feigned irritation. “What’s wrong with being sick? Haven’t seen anyone sick? You guys should get the hell out now!”

Then, as if he suddenly thought of something, his black eyes slanted: “How did the investigation go yesterday?”

“…”

“…”

“On it now!”

After the two left in despair, Xu Xinghe’s office finally quieted down. He sat on the large office chair, poured a cup of coffee, and began to deal with the work that had piled up yesterday.

At 10:15 in the morning, the pre-ordered notification rang.

Only then did Xu Xinghe remember that it was time to report to Boss Liang.

Liang Shilei, the head of the technology department of Ark, is 67 years old this year. He is a Ph.D. from the Department of Computer Science of Capital University. In their department, he’s nicknamed President Liang or Boss Liang by the employees.

Since Xu Xinghe entered the Ark, he has received a lot of care and appreciation from Liang Shilei.

At the beginning of this year, Liang Shilei defied all disapproval and promoted Xu Xinghe to be the leader of the Sixth Group. Therefore, Xu Xinghe felt both gratitude and respect for him.

Because of this, when he thought of Ling Changfeng hanging up the phone on him yesterday morning, his whole body felt bad.

After struggling for a while, he finally had to get up from his seat and walked towards Mr. Liang’s office with documents in his arms.

Taking a deep breath, he knocked on the door.

“Please come in.” Boss Liang’s voice came from inside.

Although he is nearly 70 years old, Mr. Liang still looks energetic, but at this moment, he is sitting behind his desk and looking at Xu Xinghe with a complicated expression.

“Are you feeling better?” Liang Shilei asked.

Xu Xinghe touched his nose, nodded and said, “I’m fine.”

Mr. Liang was silent for a while, and said, “I have no intention to inquire about your personal affairs, but from the perspective of personnel transfer and work arrangement, I still want to ask… Xinghe, are you planning to get pregnant in the near future?”

Xu Xinghe was stunned. “Huh?”

Stunned, it took him a while to stammer out a response: “No, no, of course not! Why do you think so?” 

Mr. Liang’s sharp eyebrows and eyes said: “First of all, let me explain that I have no intention of objecting to your pregnancy by asking this question. On the contrary, if you…”

“No if!” To Mr. Liang’s astonishment, Xu Xinghe directly interrupted him. The tips of ears were slightly red as he explained once again, “If there is no if, I can’t be pregnant.”

He and Ling Changfeng have done their spousal responsibilities. There’s a ghost at work if he can conceive!

However, it is difficult for him to explain such a clear violation of the rules of the mastermind. He can only express his stance in front of President Liang: “I am currently focusing on work, and I have no other plans for the time being.”

Mr. Liang glanced at Xu Xinghe earnestly and said warmly: “Young people, you can’t just have work in your mind. And this… This kind of thing is usually not under one’s control…”

Xu Xinghe: “…”

He never imagined that Mr. Liang, who was always concise and neat in his actions, would be so naggy one day.

After pulling him to chat about some life things, it took a while before finally getting to the point and discussing work.

When he finally came out of Mr. Liang’s office, it was already half past eleven, half an hour later than expected.

After a busy morning, it was time for lunch.

Xu Xinghe went back to his office, took out the bento he brought, put on the tablecloth, and started lunch.

Halfway through the meal, there was a knock on the office door.

Xu Xinghe was stunned for a moment, then raised his head with emotion: “Please come in.”

The door was pushed open, and it was Gu Nai who came in.

“Good afternoon.” The young man wearing a light blue plaid shirt entered with a smile on his face. The dark brown eyes behind the lens quietly surveyed Xu Xinghe, before he said softly: “Why is Team Leader Xu eating so late today? Why don’t I come back later, so I won’t disturb you for lunch.”

“No, I’m almost done eating.” Xu Xinghe said so, but his chopsticks didn’t stop. While cleaning up the food, he raised his hand towards Gu Nai and said, “Sit down, why are you here?”

Gu Nai sat down across from him and asked, “How is Team Leader Xu?”

There were already countless people this morning who’ve asked Xu Xinghe this question. He replied while eating, “It’s okay.”

Gu Nai said with a light smile, “I heard that Team Leader Xu was on sick leave, so I stopped by to visit. What’s wrong with Team Leader Xu all of a sudden?”

Xu Xinghe: “…”

He was at a loss for words, and then said casually: “I have a fever, it’s not a big deal. As you can see, I’m at work now.”

Gu Nai nodded: “That’s good, did you take medicine?”

“No, I usually don’t take medicine for minor illnesses, and just need sleep.”

“Well, if you have a cold, drink plenty of water and rest.” Gu Nai said, glancing at Xu Xinghe’s bento. “Don’t eat too much oil, it’s easy to get indigestion.”

Xu Xinghe: “…”

It was a little awkward hearing Gu Nai care of him.

Gu Nai’s behavior can’t be considered too friendly, but if it’s just concern among colleagues, it’s a bit too warm.

It wasn’t long since the two knew each other, and now he’s telling him to drink more water and rest…how strange.

Xu Xinghe fell silent for a while, put down the chopsticks in his hand, and wiped his mouth.

But before he could say anything, Gu Nai, who had been watching him all the time, suddenly smiled, and stood up first. “Okay, I’m just dropping by to see Team Leader Xu. There’s been a lot of work in the Third Group recently, so I’ll go first. See you next time. “

Xu Xinghe was stunned for a while, and couldn’t say anything more, so he stood up to walk him out. “Go slowly. “

“That’s right.” At the door, Gu Nai suddenly turned around and said, “Team Leader Conrad mentioned this morning that the Third Group’s recent Thunder Engine Project may require the assistance of your Sixth Group. He may go and find President Liang this afternoon. “

“Oh, did you encounter any problems with the development of the thunder engine?” Xu Xinghe also heard a little about the big project that the group was responsible for recently.

Gu Nai shrugged: “There are no big problems, there are many small problems, mainly because the Lanton Star government plans to update their city’s system before the end of the year, so research and development of the first-generation thunder engine is imminent. Recently, even after working overtime, the Third Group is too busy. However, Mr. Liang said that as long as the work can be completed before the deadline, he will give us three days off. “

Xu Xinghe nodded: “That’s not a loss, I’ll wait for the official notice from President Liang.”

Capitalizing the Thunder Engine or not gave me a headache, so forgive me for any inconsistencies there. The project name is a proper noun, but the engine itself shouldn’t be?

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