Chapter 33 Tying You to My Belt

Chapter 33: Keeping Him on a Leash

Cheng Ye was afraid that saying more would only lead to more mistakes, so he had no choice but to grit his teeth and agree.

The next morning, Cheng Ye, who was used to sleeping until noon, was dug out of his warm bed by Shen Xu. Yawning nonstop, he was so sleepy he could barely keep his eyes open.

"Why so early?" Cheng Ye rubbed his eyes and watched Shen Xu take off his pajamas and change into going-out clothes.

"It's not early anymore. It's almost nine."

Only nine... Cheng Ye just lay back down. It wasn't until Shen Xu was already sitting at the dining table that he realized Cheng Ye wasn't there. He went back upstairs to wake him up, resulting in them being extremely late for the first time this month.

"I've never been late before." Shen Xu couldn't help saying, seemingly complaining about Cheng Ye's dawdling.

"Isn't the company yours? Can't you go whenever you want?"

Cheng Ye felt that if he were the company boss, he probably wouldn't set foot in the office more than twice a month. Why did Shen Xu love going to work so much...

Shen Xu remained silent at that, clearly showing his displeasure. Cheng Ye leaned on his shoulder, turned his head, and said, "Then let me kiss you, alright? What's there to be angry about?"

Cheng Ye tried to lift his head, but could only manage to kiss him on the chin, straining his neck.

"We're outside."

A hand covered Cheng Ye's mouth, pulling them apart.

The driver in front seemed to have gotten used to it, not even glancing in the rearview mirror, as if he had completely forgotten the two people messing around in the back.

Although Shen Xu said they were outside, it was obvious that his earlier irritation had dissipated. Cheng Ye had been with him for a while now, so he could naturally tell whether he was happy or not.

"I know."

But you enjoy it, don't you?

Shen Xu suddenly felt warmth on his palm. His face flushed as he lowered his head, only to find the culprit smiling at him.

Shen Xu stared at him for a moment, and Cheng Ye deliberately kept at it under his gaze. After a while, Shen Xu suddenly spoke, "Last time you bit me. What changed this time?"

Bite him? Did that happen? Cheng Ye thought back carefully—he did seem to have bitten him before...

Why was Shen Xu so petty? Wasn't his own neck basically a chew toy? He hadn't said anything about that.

Cheng Ye was muttering to himself when the car stopped and pulled up in front of Shen Xu's company building.

Getting out of the car, Cheng Ye looked at the towering glass curtain wall, reflecting dazzling light in the morning sun. He squinted, raised a hand to shield his eyes, and then followed Shen Xu.

Shen Xu, tall and long-legged, strode steadily, looking straight ahead as he headed for the private elevator. Cheng Ye, with a brand-new employee badge hanging around his neck, stuck close behind him, walking almost in lockstep, almost as if Cheng Ye was stepping in his shadow.

They entered the elevator one after the other. Just before the doors closed, Cheng Ye's sharp eyes caught sight of the employees in professional attire hurrying across the lobby. Although they all looked down or elsewhere, the corners of their eyes kept darting toward him, precisely landing on this obvious "connection hire."

This feeling of being stared at made him very uncomfortable. He instinctively moved half a step closer to Shen Xu, almost pressing against his back.

The elevator went straight to the top floor.

As the doors opened, a spacious, bright, and simply decorated office area came into view. It was much quieter here than downstairs, with fewer people, but everyone who passed by—whether secretaries clutching documents or executives in a hurry—showed curious expressions when they saw Cheng Ye behind Shen Xu, their gazes landing on him.

Cheng Ye felt like a zoo animal on display, thoroughly uncomfortable under all the scrutiny. He lowered his head and muttered under his breath, *What are you looking at me for? Never seen someone who got in through connections before...*

As they passed the secretarial pool, Cheng Ye could see through the glass partitions that a few secretaries and assistants were busy at work.

He remembered Shen Xu saying he was supposed to be a secretary? He instinctively stopped, wanting to remind Shen Xu that they had passed it.

"Shen Xu, did we go too far? Isn't the secretarial department back there?" Cheng Ye whispered.

Shen Xu didn't stop walking; he just turned his head to glance at him and said succinctly, "We haven't gone too far. Your office isn't here."

"Aren't I a secretary? Aren't secretaries all in this area?" Cheng Ye was confused and hurried to catch up.

"Just follow me." Shen Xu responded without further explanation, heading straight for the imposing double wooden doors at the end of the hallway.

Cheng Ye thought to himself, *So this is what it's like to be a connection hire—even the workstation isn't with the regular secretaries. Did Shen Xu give me a private office?*

Shen Xu raised his hand and pushed open the heavy solid wood door.

The moment the door opened, an extremely spacious and bright office unfolded before Cheng Ye's eyes.

The first thing that caught his eye was a huge floor-to-ceiling window that took up almost an entire wall. The morning sunlight poured in unobstructed, illuminating the entire space. Outside the window was the city skyline, row upon row of high-rise buildings in full view, the vista breathtaking. Dark gray electric blinds were half-open, regulating the light while ensuring privacy.

The office floor was covered in high-quality light gray carpet, soft and silent underfoot. In the center was a large desk, almost empty except for an ultra-thin curved monitor, a wireless keyboard and mouse, and a landline phone—very tidy. Behind the desk was an ergonomic black high-back leather executive chair, clearly expensive.

To the side and back of the desk, a full wall of dark wooden bookshelves held neatly arranged books, documents, and decorations. On the other side was a simple reception area with comfortable dark sofas and a glass coffee table. In the corner stood a tall potted plant, but its leaves were yellowing, looking like it was dying.

Cheng Ye was floored. Although he knew Shen Xu was wealthy, this was the first time he'd seen such a high-end office up close. He walked straight over and flopped down into the wide, comfy executive chair, and even spun it a little to test it out.

He touched the smooth, cool desktop and looked out at the view, clicking his tongue in amazement. "You got me this swanky office?"

He had completely forgotten he was supposed to be working, soaking up the VIP treatment as a connection hire.

Shen Xu stood at the door, watching him spin around, clearly amused. He walked over and rapped the desk.

"You're in the wrong seat. That's mine."

"Huh?" Cheng Ye looked up, stunned.

Shen Xu raised a hand and pointed to the right side of the big executive desk.

Cheng Ye followed his finger and saw for the first time that, right next to Shen Xu's imposing executive desk, there was a noticeably smaller desk. On it were a computer monitor, keyboard and mouse, some brand-new stationery, and even a cute little potted plant—which was also yellowing, looking like it was on its last legs.

The two desks were extremely close, almost side by side, with less than two feet between them. They could easily reach each other's things.

Cheng Ye: "..."

He pointed at the small desk, then looked at Shen Xu, his expression shifting from confusion to surprise to a kind of indescribable complexity.

"I'm here?" Cheng Ye got up, went behind the small desk, and gestured at the gap. "In the same office as you? This close?"

Shen Xu nodded matter-of-factly and said, "Yeah, it's convenient."

"Convenient for what?" Cheng Ye almost jumped. At this distance, if he sent a text, Shen Xu could read it with just a glance. Why not just keep him on a leash?

Then again, honestly, this was basically the same thing.

Cheng Ye poked fun at him. "Since the desks are this close, why don't you just stick a sign on my desk that says 'World's Best Connection Hire'?"

Shen Xu pretended to seriously consider it, then shook his head and said deadpan, "That would be too flashy. Not a good look."

Cheng Ye: "..."

*Do you think this isn't flashy?!*

The whole company saw me walk in right behind your ass, and now you’ve put me in your office with our desks practically glued together. Anyone would think these two desks eloped.

Cheng Ye was mentally ranting, but seeing the calm expression on Shen Xu’s face only made him feel even more helpless.

Forget it.

When you’re under someone’s roof, you have to swallow your pride.

Anyway, he wasn’t planning to stick around for long. He might as well let Shen Xu have his way.

With a resigned sigh, Cheng Ye walked over to his own small desk, pulled out the chair, and sat down. The chair matched the desk—smaller than Shen Xu’s but still comfortable. He gave it a spin, then leaned forward, folded his hands on the table, tilted his head, and looked at Shen Xu, who had already sat down and started flipping through documents. In a tone that was half joking, half giving up, he asked:

“Alright, Boss Shen. So as your secretary now, what do I need to do? Get you coffee? Print stuff? Or answer calls?”

After experiencing Shen Xu picking up a pointer and calling himself “Teacher Shen,” Cheng Ye had gotten used to switching between different titles for him.

Shen Xu leaned down and pulled out what looked like an employee handbook from his own desk drawer, then placed it on Cheng Ye’s desk.

“Today, start by getting familiar with the company introduction, department structure, and basic rules.”

He then grabbed a tablet from nearby and slid it over as well. “There’s an electronic version in here with more details. Ask me if you don’t get something.”

Cheng Ye stared at the thick booklet and the tablet in front of him, the corner of his mouth twitched. Was this even a legitimate company? It felt like he'd walked into a pyramid scheme.

“Does every new employee get one of these?”

“Yeah.”

Just handing out useless stuff, he thought.

Shen Xu handed him the booklet and then started working.

Cheng Ye picked up the booklet, felt its weight, and grimaced. “It’s so thick. I might take forever to read it.”

“No rush.” Shen Xu had already looked back down at the documents in his hands. “Just get through it in the next few days.”

Letting out another sigh, Cheng Ye sat back down, flipped a couple of pages, and felt sleepy.

Not long after, Shen Xu heard the sound of paper tearing—*rip, rip*—coming from beside him. He looked up and saw Cheng Ye tearing apart the booklet with a blank expression. But Shen Xu didn’t stop him. He also thought the booklet was useless. Back then, the company brochures were something he’d been talked into making, high cost and not even interesting enough to read on the toilet. But since the money was already paid and the stock was sitting there, he handed them out to everyone.

Whether you were a new employee who had just arrived two days ago or a veteran who had been here twenty years, you all got a useless company brochure.

Cheng Ye methodically tore the booklet apart page by page and then neatly stacked the folded paper boxes onto Shen Xu’s desk.

Looking at the pile of folded, lidless paper boxes on his desk, Shen Xu asked, “What are these? Boxes?”

“Bone dishes. For putting bones in.”

Seeing Shen Xu examining the little boxes with interest, Cheng Ye asked curiously, “You’ve never seen these before?”

As soon as the words left his mouth, Cheng Ye realized that Shen Xu was different from him—born rich, so of course he'd never seen something like this.

Back in the day, the ad flyers handed out on the street used the same kind of paper as the company brochures Shen Xu had given him—smooth on both sides, thick and stiff—perfect for folding into little dishes for bones. You’d put one at every seat at the dinner table. It kept things clean and made cleanup easy.

Shen Xu shook his head, put the box down, and smiled. “Pretty clever. Take them with you.”

“Nah, they're yours. I still have half the booklet left. Do you have any more paper? Gimme some more.”

So he pulled a few more brochures out of Shen Xu’s drawer and started tearing those up too. By the time someone came in looking for Shen Xu to sign documents, both his own and Shen Xu's desks were piled high with paper boxes.

The person coming in to get a signature hesitated, staring at the cluttered desk. Sheepishly, they said, “Boss Shen, maybe I’ll come back later?”

“No need. I’ll sign it now.”

Shen Xu swept a pile aside with his arm, clearing enough space on the desk to place the document.

As soon as Shen Xu signed, the person grabbed the document and hurried out.

Seeing Cheng Ye still hunched over folding, Shen Xu simply told someone to bring over two big sacks and told Cheng Ye to put the folded boxes in there instead of stacking them on the desk.

Cheng Ye hadn’t expected Shen Xu to bring him two sacks. He folded furiously all morning and still didn’t fill even one sack.

Author's note:

Boss, I’m cranking out 15k in two days.