Chapter 3: Touched

Chapter 3: Touched

"How come there's no response?" Jiang's mother asked when she didn't hear anything from the other end of the line. There was no sound from the other side, suggesting that nothing untoward had happened.

"It's nothing. Thanks for the heads-up, Mom. I got it," Jiang Yuduo replied.

The driver continued driving, and Jiang Yuduo kept his gaze fixed on the window until the accident site disappeared from sight.

Due to the angle, Lu Nanqing had no idea where they were. When they mentioned the accident in their conversation, Lu Nanqing wondered if Zhou Yu had been driving properly. Suddenly, another car had rushed out from the side, and he woke up as a tree. He had no idea what had happened to Zhou Yu or where his own body was.

Lu Nanqing pondered if he could ever return to his original body. Jiang Yuduo spoke a few more words with his mother before hanging up.

"Big Fatty, do you think we would have been in danger today if we hadn't encountered Lu Nanqing's car?" Jiang Yuduo asked, stroking his chin with his left hand, his gaze on the small money tree he had 'appropriated.'

"How could that be, Boss? Don't jinx yourself like that. At most, the accident would have delayed us, causing traffic congestion, and you might have lost this collaboration opportunity," Big Fatty said.

"Lu Nanqing wasn't there today," Jiang Yuduo pointed out. "Could he have been stopped?"

But Lu Nanqing hadn't shown up even after the nearly two-hour presentation. Could he really have been held up for so long?

Suddenly, Lu Nanqing found himself being addressed, forcing him to snap out of his thoughts and look up. To his surprise, he found Jiang Yuduo's gaze fixed on him, their eyes locking.

Lu Nanqing averted his gaze, reasoning to himself, I wasn't held up; I was an accident victim...

But Jiang Yuduo's speculation was meaningless. Even if he hadn't blocked his car, driving behind him, with so many vehicles on the road at that moment, there were countless possibilities within just seconds.

"Boss, if you're worried about Boss Lu, you could ask him when you get back to the company," suggested Big Fatty.

"Hell, I'm not worried about him," Jiang Yuduo refuted instinctively, straightening his posture and declaring solemnly, "It's just that his absence made my victory too easy. Winning this collaboration in front of him would have been a real triumph."

Lu Nanqing: ... Never seen anyone more smug after getting off scot-free.

If he had shown up, what would Jiang Yuduo have to do with the partnership with Tengyue Group? He had prepared thoroughly, negotiated with Tengyue's representatives, and received their approval. Essentially, he had already been penciled in for the deal.

Given the unforeseen circumstances, his failure to meet with Tengyue Group wouldn't be held against him. He was confident they would understand.

As the car pulled up in front of a landmark skyscraper in the city center, Jiang Yuduo stepped out. With his suit jacket draped over his left shoulder and a small potted plant in his right hand, he exuded a casual, flamboyant air. However, this image of wealth and power was quickly dispelled as he entered the elevator.

Big Fatty joined him inside and pressed the button for the 8th floor. Jiang Yuduo, on the other hand, unexpectedly pressed the button for the 7th floor.

"Boss?" Big Fatty turned his head in confusion. Floor 7 was the home of Shangluo Tech. Was the boss planning to pay a visit to the competing company? But didn't he just say he wasn't worried about President Lu at all?

Lu Nanqing's gaze also lingered on the "7" button, unsure what Jiang Yuduo was up to.

Jiang Yuduo didn't respond to Big Fatty. When the elevator reached the seventh floor and the doors opened, he pushed Big Fatty out.

"Go ask that kid Lu Nanqing what's going on," Jiang Yuduo said before closing the elevator doors.

Big Fatty: ...

Boss, you couldn't bring yourself to do it, so now you're sending me?

Lu Nanqing was somewhat surprised that Jiang Yuduo actually came to check on him. They weren't friends; they were rivals. He looked up, but from this angle, he could only see the sharp jawline and straight nose of Jiang Yuduo.

The elevator stopped at the eighth floor. Jiang Yuduo strode confidently into his office and plopped down in his large chair. He placed the potted plant on his desk and, for some reason, flicked one of the leaves of the money tree with his index finger.

After a few seconds of rest, Jiang Yuduo started working. The potted plant sat to his left, while Lu Nanqing, nursing a grudge after being flicked, memorized the other man's computer password.

Jiang Yuduo's office was spacious but untidy. His coat was thrown over the sofa, and two remaining steamed buns and an empty soy milk carton cluttered the coffee table. Only the area around the computer on his desk was relatively neat; the rest of the corners were piled with miscellaneous documents, which made Lu Nanqing feel a twitch of obsessive-compulsive disorder.

However, Jiang Yuduo typically dressed in loose tank tops, baggy shorts, and flip-flops. One couldn't expect too much in terms of tidiness from such a casual personality. Besides, the suit he was wearing today seemed a bit too small.

After Lu Nanqing swiftly scanned the office surroundings, his gaze lingered on the person working at the desk. The white fabric of the shirt clung to his body, outlining the contours of his biceps and pectoral muscles.

He wasn't short, standing at 181 centimeters, but next to the towering Jiang Yuduo, he still came up short by half a head. Jiang Yuduo had to be over 190 centimeters, though the exact height remained unknown to him.

Looking up, he saw the focused and earnest profile of the man. With his left hand tapping the keyboard and the right gliding the mouse, his sharp features exuded an assertive air of audacity.

No wonder he labeled this person a rogue. Even while engrossed in work, his gaze remained on the computer screen, but his left hand couldn't resist wandering from the keyboard.

Jiang Yuduo fumbled a bit before finding the base of the potted plant. Twisting his finger, he shifted the pot, then reached out again to caress a leaf.

Lu Nanqing couldn't help trembling slightly. Seizing the opportunity when the grip loosened, he swiftly extracted the leaf from between the fingers without drawing attention. However, as he maneuvered the leaf, another one fell under the grasp.

Lu Nanqing: ...

As Jiang Yuduo perused the documents, he entertained himself with his newfound "favorite," touching each leaf for about ten seconds in a seemingly equal display of affection. In no time, almost every part of Lu Nanqing's body became a target.

Lu Nanqing yearned to swat the annoying hand with a leaf, but he feared attracting notice and causing unnecessary trouble. After enduring the ordeal, just as he was about to relax...

Jiang Yuduo extended his index finger to caress the tree's branch.

If the leaves were akin to limbs, then this branch was equivalent to...

Though trees had a layer of bark, for an intelligent primate who habitually wore clothes, this "bark" didn't count as attire. Not only did the other party touch it, but they even rubbed it up and down...

Lu Nanqing almost trembled uncontrollably, accompanied by a spreading sense of shame that surpassed the intimacy of their face-to-face encounter and the touch on the leaves. All the leaves quivered in response.

Finally, Jiang Yuduo noticed something unusual about the potted plant. He turned his head, but the leaves remained still.

Jiang Yuduo furrowed his brow slightly. What was going on? He was sure he felt the branch moving just now and heard the faint rustling of the leaves. Could it have been an illusion?

The tree, frozen in fear: ...

"Boss, I got some information," Big Fatty announced as he entered the room unannounced.

Jiang Yuduo shifted his attention away from the potted plant, providing Lu Nanqing with much-needed relief.

Lu Nanqing was drained, still overwhelmed by embarrassment. Despite his impeccable upbringing, he was tempted to lash out at the person before him.

Even if it were a tree, one couldn't... keep fondling it in a 360-degree rotation all the time! What kind of twisted mentality is that?

"According to the receptionist downstairs, both President Lu and Zhou Yu haven't returned yet. When I asked if they might have overwatered our money tree and killed it, she dodged the question and talked about other things. Clearly, she's feeling guilty!" Big Fatty reported, grumbling with accusation.

"It's almost noon and they still haven't come back?" Jiang Yuduo was puzzled. He remembered that Big Fatty had Zhou Yu's contact information and thought about asking him, but eventually held back.

Why does it feel like I'm overly concerned about Lu Nanqing?

Startled by his own thought, Jiang Yuduo shook his head, deciding not to focus on Lu Nanqing anymore. His suspicion arose from the car accident and Lu Nanqing's absence at the Tengyue Group meeting, but no news was good news. Besides, Lu Nanqing wasn't that unlucky.

As Big Fatty left, Jiang Yuduo continued "petting" the tree, this time running his hands over the leaves instead of the trunk, as if trying to polish them. (Lu Nanqing: Let go of your wandering hands!)

With his "body" released, Jiang Yuduo shifted his attention to "holding hands." Gradually, Lu Nanqing accepted his current form, the shame subsiding as he numbly convinced himself that the "bark" was his "clothing." Therefore, he wasn't naked; he was wearing clothes...

It was during lunchtime, when Jiang Yuduo was eating takeout with his employees, that he heard the news. He abruptly looked up, astonished:

"Lu Nanqing was in a car accident this morning?!!"