Chapter 66 He Missed Me!

Chapter 66 He Misses Me!

It was the seventh day of the business trip.

Zhou Yu frowned at his phone screen. "Is it possible that the signal overseas is bad, so calls from back home can't get through?"

Tan Cong said, "He could send you a WeChat message."

"Messages might get lost," Zhou Yu stated seriously.

"Then ask him what he sent you, and say your messages got swallowed up and you didn't see them."

Zhou Yu's eyes lit up. "That makes sense."

He typed furiously, then suddenly stopped.

"Are you messing with me?" He glared fiercely at Tan Cong. "I said I won't be the first to give in this time!"

"—Unless he gives me a sign first," he added.

Tan Cong: "…"

·

Lin Yunshu turned off his phone.

Zero unread messages, zero missed calls. The phone was blank.

Lin Yunshu couldn't quite describe how he felt as he stared down at the dark screen.

"Shifu—" Guo Shengyao waved to him from afar. "What are you zoning out for? Come over quickly!"

Right, today he had agreed to grab a meal with his colleagues. Everyone had already gathered at the barbecue restaurant entrance, but he had gotten distracted.

Lin Yunshu felt like his head had been foggy these past few days.

"Coming."

He rubbed his temples and quickly caught up.

Sizzle—

The pork belly sizzled and glistened with oil over the charcoal fire. Guo Shengyao rolled up her sleeves, declaring she would show off her incredible barbecue skills.

"While the big boss is away on business, we can finally have a relaxed team outing!" she said passionately.

Other colleagues chimed in: "Yeah, finally we can say whatever we want."

"Before, the boss was always at team outings. I had to run everything through my head before speaking, afraid I’d say something wrong and lose my job."

"No offense, but Mr. Zhou is really the boss who loves joining team outings the most out of any I’ve seen."

"My friend works at Ruike next door. She said she’s only seen their big boss at the annual meeting since she started, let alone team outings."

"Mr. Zhou is also quite a character."

"You can say that again…"

Everyone chattered back and forth, having a great time, when they suddenly noticed Lin Yunshu was there and went quiet.

As all eyes fell on him, Lin Yunshu took a sip of rice wine and waved his hand. "Keep talking, don’t mind me."

That’s what he said, but discussing someone’s husband in front of them is awkward.

Especially since Secretary Lin’s husband was the boss of everyone present.

"Actually, Mr. Zhou is a pretty good boss," someone said cautiously.

"Yeah, yeah, at least our company benefits are really good!"

"Mr. Zhou might be strict, but it’s always for a reason. Not like other nitpicky bosses who don’t know anything but love to order people around."

Lin Yunshu smiled. "Alright, you really don’t need to feel uncomfortable because of me. Relax, I won’t tell him."

The colleagues looked at each other and chuckled nervously. "N-No, Secretary Lin, we aren’t uncomfortable—"

"And how is he not nitpicky?" Lin Yunshu took another sip of rice wine. "If he isn’t nitpicky, then no one in the world is."

Everyone: "o.o"

"What’s wrong with Secretary Lin?"

They whispered among themselves: "Is he drunk?"

"Just a few sips of rice wine couldn’t be enough…"

"If he’s not drunk, how could he be like this? He used to praise Mr. Zhou as the greatest man alive. When has he ever said a bad word about him?"

"……"

Lin Yunshu seemed not to hear his colleagues' chatter.

He didn’t touch the barbecue piled mountain-high on his plate by Guo Shengyao, only drinking from that bottle of rice wine.

"You don’t know," he said. "Initially, Zhou Yu had four secretaries. They were all capable and could handle things well, but he drove every one of them away with his scolding until they quit."

Hearing there was gossip, everyone perked up.

They had indeed heard that in the early years, Zhou Yu had a notorious temper—his reputation as a ruthless slave-driver was deeply ingrained in the company culture.

But few had seen it firsthand.

Lin Yunshu swallowed as he recalled the past. "Back then, even Sister Chen, such a strong alpha, was scolded until she quit in tears. They left one by one, until only Brother Li Xun and I were left."

He propped his chin on his hand, gripping his glass tightly. "When I first started, he even confronted me in the middle of the night for adding a period at the end of 'received'!"

Lin Yunshu had hardly ever spoken with such intensity. Everyone was stunned and couldn’t help but empathize.

"Secretary Lin has had it tough too."

"Secretary Lin has been through a lot…"

Lin Yunshu waved his hand. "It’s nothing."

A colleague across from him sighed. "Speaking of which, when I was in the branch office doing branding last year, during the new product launch, the boss was so hands-on he personally led an inspection team to supervise. We practically lived at the office, working day and night…"

"Secretary Lin, you were at headquarters then, so you might not know. When the project ended, our whole team was completely worn out!"

Lin Yunshu nodded sympathetically and raised his glass to toast him. "I know, I understand completely."

“Everyone's had it tough.” The colleague wiped his face as if meeting an old friend in a foreign land. “Let's not talk about it anymore—it's all in this drink.”

He raised his glass high. “Bottoms up!”

After several rounds of drinks, the dinner table was strewn with passed-out colleagues.

Everyone had been mixing white liquor and beer, and before long, they were all slurring and swaying.

Lin Yunshu had only drunk rice wine, which had such a low alcohol content it was almost like a soft drink. Among the table of collapsed drinkers, he barely managed to remain sober enough to function.

Leaning on the table, he stood up and asked the few remaining colleagues with good alcohol tolerance to look after the others, then staggered out of the private room.

He wasn’t really that drunk. Lin Yunshu first went to the front desk to settle the bill, then washed his face with cold water in the restroom, gradually clearing his head.

Rubbing his temples as he left the restroom, he reproached himself for speaking so carelessly in front of his colleagues earlier.

The barbecue restaurant was full of office workers having after-work gatherings, and at this hour, half of them were already heavily drunk. Lin Yunshu sidestepped a few stumbling alphas.

As he brushed past them, he caught the faint scent of residual pheromones on them—the natural overflow of an alpha after drinking.

The scent was faint, but in an instant, it made Lin Yunshu’s whole body burn with pain.

He abruptly braced himself against the wall.

His knees felt as if needles were pricking them, and the pain was so intense he could barely stand. Leaning his full weight against the wall, he barely managed to steady himself.

Lin Yunshu took a deep breath and had no choice but to return to the restroom.

He locked himself in a stall, slowly squatting down and hugging his knees.

His mind was a mess. Lin Yunshu reached up and touched the back of his neck—the inhibitor patch was intact.

It was the strongest inhibitor patch available, and before leaving home, he had even given himself an inhibitor injection. In theory, it should have blocked pheromones completely.

Besides, that alpha’s rank wasn’t particularly high...

Could it be that even this strength of inhibitor was no longer enough? Lin Yunshu’s heart gradually sank.

Ten minutes later, the stall door opened, and Lin Yunshu walked out slowly. He washed his face again and straightened his collar, making sure there was no trace of abnormality in his appearance.

At the entrance of the barbecue restaurant, everyone was gradually dispersing, leaning against each other as they waited for their rides.

Lin Yunshu scanned the crowd and waved toward someone not far away. "Shengyao."

"Hey!" Guo Shengyao trotted over. "Boss, I’ve already called a car for you. It’ll be here in five minutes."

"Thanks," Lin Yunshu transferred the money to her. "What about the others? Make sure the drunk omegas get home safely."

"Don’t worry, I’ve arranged everything." Guo Shengyao patted her chest confidently.

Lin Yunshu smiled. "Good. You take care of yourself too, and let me know when you get home."

"No problem."

Guo Shengyao agreed, watching as Lin Yunshu got into the car. After arranging rides for the other colleagues, she finally took a taxi home herself.

Once in the car, she rolled down the window. The biting cold air of deep winter rushed in—chilly, but refreshing.

The thought that tomorrow was the weekend, with no overtime work since the big boss wasn’t around, and she could binge-watch all the shows she’d been saving, made Guo Shengyao so happy she almost laughed out loud.

Buzz! Buzz!

Guo Shengyao picked up her phone and glanced at it, her smile freezing on her face.

Caller ID—Zhou the Skinflint.

Guo Shengyao: "...???"

What’s the meaning of this? Inspecting work from thousands of miles away?

She sighed, resignedly answered the call, and forced a smile. "Good evening, boss. Any instructions?"

"Nothing specific," Zhou Yu’s voice sounded faint. "It’s the weekend tomorrow. Any plans?"

Why is he suddenly asking this?

Guo Shengyao’s heart tightened.

Confused but honest, she replied, "Planning to stay home and binge-watch some shows."

"Oh, that’s good. Binge-watching is good." Zhou Yu said.

Guo Shengyao: "..."

Zhou Yu: "..."

"Ahem," Zhou Yu cleared his throat. "Well, what about him?"

"Him? Who?" Guo Shengyao’s mind blanked for a moment. "Oh, him. He’s probably resting at home too."

"Has he been... acting unusual lately?"

"Unusual? Not really," Guo Shengyao rubbed her chin. "What exactly are you referring to?"

"Just in general—mood, condition, social interactions... anything."

"Hmm..." Guo Shengyao thought carefully. "I really think he’s fine. We just had a team dinner, and the atmosphere was lively."

"A team dinner?!" Zhou Yu raised his voice. "You even had a team dinner?!"

"Y-yes..."

"...?&**?%"

Zhou Yu cursed under his breath through the phone line. Guo Shengyao pretended not to hear and tactically remained silent.

"So what did you talk about?"

"Everything."

"What I mean is, did you talk about me?!" Zhou Yu said impatiently. "Why are you so inflexible, kid!"

Guo Shengyao: "..."

Me?%...%?…?!

She forced a smile. "Of course we mentioned you."

Zhou Yu managed to calm down a bit. "What did he say about me?"

"..."

Guo Shengyao recalled what Lin Yunshu had complained about Zhou Yu during the meal earlier.

Probably shouldn't mention that...

Alphas care about their pride, and Zhou Yu is even more sensitive than the average alpha. If he found out his husband was complaining about him to colleagues while he was away on a business trip, there's no telling what he'd do when he got back.

Guo Shengyao chose her words carefully. "He... he praised you! Said you’re considerate, decisive at work, thoughtful toward your subordinates, and super caring!"

Zhou Yu replied coldly, "Since when does any of that describe me?"

Guo Shengyao: "..."

Well, at least you’re self-aware, she mused.

"Was there nothing else?" Zhou Yu sounded impatient, for some reason.

"Well, on the day you left for your business trip, he took half a day off..."

"I know about that," Zhou Yu said sharply. "You have one minute. Think carefully—has Yun Shu been acting differently these past few days?"

Guo Shengyao was practically tearing her hair out, biting her lip as she racked her brain.

The truth was, Lin Yunshu had never been one to show his emotions openly. Aside from saying a few things about Zhou Yu after having a bit to drink during the meal, he had been no different than usual.

Guo Shengyao ran through the whole week in her mind and finally remembered something.

"He postponed his medical check-up!" she blurted out excitedly.

"Check-up?"

"Yes!"

Guo Shengyao couldn’t help but pat herself on the back for remembering. Lin Yunshu had only mentioned it casually a few days ago, and she had actually remembered.

Zhou Yu thought for a moment and realized that the so-called "check-up" was actually a follow-up appointment.

When they were at the hot springs, Lin Yunshu had mentioned wanting Zhou Yu to accompany him.

Zhou Yu’s heart skipped a beat.

"...Boss?" Guo Shengyao couldn’t help but speak up after the long silence.

"Alright, I understand."

Zhou Yu’s tone gave nothing away as he hung up abruptly.

Guo Shengyao: "??"

·

Tan Cong: "??"

He leaned against the doorframe, staring blankly at Zhou Yu, who had shown up at his door early in the morning.

"Are you out of your mind?"

"I need to head back early," Zhou Yu said seriously. "You wrap things up here."

As he spoke, he glanced at Tan Cong’s messy bed-head. "A real man keeps up appearances."

"Do you sleep with hairspray on or something?!" Tan Cong snapped. "Do you even know what time it is, dude?!... Wait, what did you just say you were going to do?"

"I’m going back," Zhou Yu said. "Yun Shu needs me."

"?" Tan Cong: "Did he message you?"

"No."

"Did he call you?"

Zhou Yu shook his head.

"Then how do you know he needs you?"

"He signaled me," Zhou Yu said with a smile.

Tan Cong narrowed his eyes, looking skeptical. "How did he signal you?"

"That’s none of your business," Zhou Yu said, turning toward the elevator with his suitcase. "He’s reserved, prefers artistic expressions. He never comes right out with it."

Tan Cong: "??"

Now he was genuinely curious. He followed Zhou Yu out. "Like what?"

"For example, Guo Shengyao told me he postponed his check-up," Zhou Yu said proudly.

Tan Cong didn’t follow. "What does that have to do with you?"

"Everything to do with me," Zhou Yu raised an eyebrow, pressing the elevator button. "Such important news—he didn’t tell you, didn’t tell me, not even my brother-in-law. But he told Guo Shengyao, of all people. What does that mean?"

"What does it mean?" Tan Cong genuinely had no idea.

"Tsk," Zhou Yu shot him a disdainful look. "No wonder you're single."

Tan Cong: "..."

"Just say what you have to say. No need for personal attacks."

"Fine, fine," Zhou Yu waved his hand. "Let me teach you something today. You have to read between the lines. Who is Guo Shengyao—"

"Your secretary. One of them, yeah."

"Yes, but not entirely," Zhou Yu said. "She’s also our go-between. When Yun Shu wants to tell me something but is too shy to say it outright, he has his junior pass it along."

Tan Cong: "...So you’re saying Lin Yunshu deliberately went through all this trouble just to get you to come back?"

"Isn’t that obvious?"

"...You've really lost it," Tan Cong’s eyebrow twitched.

Ding!

The elevator arrived.

Zhou Yu stepped in, turned gracefully, and ignored his friend’s eye-roll.

"The most crucial point is, he once said he wanted me to accompany him for the check-up. Isn't that him showing interest in me?" He hit the close button. "So I must go back."

The elevator doors slowly closed.

Zhou Yu looked up, with a determined look.

Tan Cong: "…………"

-----------------------

Author's note: Tan Cong: Accidentally wandered into a loony bin.