Chapter 42

Chapter 42

Nan Shuyi's palm was very warm. Holding Jiang Yicen firmly by the shoulder, his solitary figure found solid ground.

Why are you crying?

Jiang Yicen did not answer. He'd stopped crying, just sniffled. His sleeve was soaked.

Seeing he didn't want to talk, Nan Shuyi asked, "Thinking about how tough it was for you alone in the US?"

Jiang Yicen shook his head. He'd never been to the US. No matter how many times Nan Shuyi asked, he couldn't come up with anything about studying abroad, so he stayed quiet.

He might be able to piece together clues about his predecessor's life in America, but that wasn't him.

Now, the longer he spent with Nan Shuyi, the less he wanted to lie to him. Nan Shuyi treated him with sincerity, and if he kept lying, his conscience wouldn't let him get away with it. He had no choice but to avoid the topic.

Seeing him like this, Nan Shuyi stopped pressing, but his frown deepened. He'd find out what kind of life Jiang Yicen had in the US eventually. Looking into things was easy enough. There were plenty of Chinese students there, and the circle wasn't that big. As long as Jiang Yicen had a trail of activity, he could find out what he'd been through.

Outwardly tough, but inside he's still a fragile kid.

They skipped the topic of why he was crying, but Nan Shuyi circled back to Jiang Yicen borrowing money to buy the shops.

Nan Shuyi: "Weren't you going to ask me for a loan?"

"Yeah, I was." Jiang Yicen had been lost in his own misery, but the words "borrow money" gradually pulled him out of it. His eyes were red, but when he looked at Nan Shuyi, they were clear and bright. The tears hadn't blurred them—they'd washed them crystal clear.

His voice thick with stuffiness, he said, "You can't take it back, right?"

The way Jiang Yicen straightened up, ready to fight him, made Nan Shuyi laugh. Such a kid.

"Who said I'm taking it back?"

Jiang Yicen still wasn't reassured. "Then what do you want to say? Are you going to talk about interest?"

Nan Shuyi tapped him lightly on the head. "You really can't think of anything good, can you?"

Jiang Yicen gave up. "Then tell me."

Nan Shuyi: "At first, you asking for money took me by surprise. But then I thought about it—actually, I should be paying you. You don't need to borrow from me. You gave me recipes, helped me get Liu Dan to come out of retirement, and gave me lots of useful advice along the way, without asking for anything in return. I'll buy those two shops you want for you."

Jiang Yicen couldn't believe it. The night wasn't even over, and he'd gone from borrowing money to earning money from Nan Shuyi—what a huge turnaround.

He wondered if Nan Shuyi was sleep-talking. He waved a hand at Nan Shuyi. "Are you serious? Are you sleep-talking?"

Nan Shuyi pressed Jiang Yicen's hand down, wedging it against his hip. His muscles involuntarily tensed, but he said seriously, "Seriously. For a food brand, what's the most important thing?"

Jiang Yicen didn't bother pulling his hand away. He was a little cold, and with Nan Shuyi's arm around his shoulder and his hand held, warmth kept washing over him. It felt nice.

"The flavor and reputation of the dishes."

Nan Shuyi: "Exactly. You know some car brand spent hundreds of millions on just a logo? In the long run, the help you've given me might be worth far more than that."

He never thought he'd be the one persuading the borrower to take money instead. Even though he knew Jiang Yicen deserved the money, if this were some other shady businessman, they'd probably haggle over how much to give. But he didn't. Even if Jiang Yicen asked for two hundred million, he'd give it.

Jiang Yicen: "Are the recipes and advice I gave worth a hundred million?"

Nan Shuyi reassured him: "In the long run, it's totally worth it. Shiyi isn't just a restaurant; it will become a brand. This is just the beginning. Besides, I have high hopes for your future business."

After hearing Nan Shuyi's analysis, Jiang Yicen had no idea Nan Shuyi thought so highly of him. The intense joy and grief from meeting and parting with his family in the dream quietly faded away.

Compared to Nan Shuyi treating this "loan" as his "consulting fee," the high recognition he received made Jiang Yicen feel that his life had meaning.

So he wasn't useless after all; he had been helping Nan Shuyi create value without even realizing it. Not only was he helping Nan Shuyi, but he was also helping the employees who might have to find new jobs if the company went bankrupt.

Jiang Yicen's eyes brightened even more. "Really?" To gain the recognition of a modern person made life feel meaningful again.

Nan Shuyi said casually, "If I'm lying, I'm a dog. But from now on, you'll continue to be Shiyi's consultant."

Jiang Yicen: "Sure, as long as you don't think I'm too inexperienced." As long as he could buy back his family's business and continue as Shiyi's consultant, he had no problem with that. He would do his best.

Nan Shuyi thought that Jiang Yicen always had many novel ideas, but he was young and not yet mature. With proper guidance, his future would be limitless. Talents like this, he had to keep firmly in his grasp and not let them fall into someone else's hands.

"Do you remember that I still have a half-dead cosmetics company? I want to relaunch it under a new brand. You reminded me today that an online and offline marketing model might be good. Since you have innovative plans, how about joining this company?"

Jiang Yicen: "Me, join this company?"

Nan Shuyi: "Yes. In the future, the income from the storefronts will be yours, and you'll also have a share of the company's profits."

Jiang Yicen: "Doesn't that mean I'm taking advantage of you?"

Nan Shuyi thought to himself, it's not clear who's taking advantage of whom. "It's not profitable right now, but your ideas are good—vintage cosmetics. I believe many girls will like them."

Jiang Yicen: "But I don't know much about cosmetics."

Nan Shuyi: "I think you know quite a bit. Who did you study under?"

With the big issue weighing on his mind resolved, Jiang Yicen felt much lighter. He looked at a plane passing through the sky.

He said proudly, "I have many masters."

As soon as he said that, he sneezed.

Nan Shuyi: "Let's go inside. It's cold out here. It's still the season of early spring chills. We can talk about the details later."

But Jiang Yicen didn't get up. "It's almost dawn. I'd like to watch the sunrise." He wanted to see the moment the city woke up.

Nan Shuyi didn't respond. Instead, he went back inside. Jiang Yicen thought he was going back to rest, but soon, he returned with two blankets and a cup of hot water.

His expression was neutral. "Drink the water. Put on the blanket. If you catch a cold, it'll delay work."

Jiang Yicen: "Saying that now makes you sound like a slave driver."

Nan Shuyi draped the blanket over his head. "I'm a slave driver? Jiang Yicen, where's your conscience?"

Jiang Yicen, wrapped in the soft, appropriately warm blanket, laughed as he surrendered from inside. "I'm wrong, Brother Shuyi." But Nan Shuyi purposely teased him and didn't let go. He added, "Brother, I'm wrong. You're not a slave driver. You're a handsome, absolutely good man—a reincarnated bodhisattva!"

Only then did Nan Shuyi lift the blanket, suppressing the fluster in his heart. Those calls of "brother" had a hint of intimacy and ambiguity.

He smiled and asked Jiang Yicen, "Which brother is your brother, and which man is your man?"

Jiang Yicen gave a clever answer: "Brother is just brother, and man is just man. What other brother, what other man could there be?"

Nan Shuyi pursed his lips and looked at him.

A brother can be an elder brother, but also a lover. A man can be a stranger, but also a spouse. Which one did he want to hear?

This kid could be dull sometimes, but other times alarmingly clever. Quite multifaceted.

Jiang Yicen wrapped the blanket around himself, sipped the hot water, and waited for the sun to rise from behind the layered horizon of tall buildings.

When he placed the water glass on the table, Nan Shuyi suddenly told him, "Jiang Yicen, you don't have to be so polite with me. You and I don't need to use the word 'borrow.' Don't forget we're married."

This was the first time Nan Shuyi had acknowledged his marriage to Jiang Yicen, and also the first time he had confronted the reality that they were married. In fact, he was saying this to himself. He could avoid the topic, but there was no need. Moreover, he didn't want to avoid it. Being married was a fact, and it was also true that he had started to care for Jiang Yicen.

Jiang Yicen turned his head and smiled at him, moving closer to Nan Shuyi, who was also wrapped in a blanket. After a while, he said, "Nan Shuyi, I'm a little sleepy. Can I lean on you for a while?"

Nan Shuyi moved closer to him: "Mm."

Jiang Yicen gently rested his head on Nan Shuyi's shoulder and whispered, "I meant 'husband' in that sense too."

Nan Shuyi curled his lips into a smile. When he turned his head again, Jiang Yicen had already closed his eyes and fallen asleep leaning on his shoulder. He steadied himself, trying not to let Jiang Yicen slide down.

When he looked up again, the sky was turning a pale, silvery white, and the faint morning light was slowly pushing back the dark.

Shortly after, the first ray of morning sun slowly rose, not very warm. The soft warm light fell on Jiang Yicen's fair, cool face and his slightly tousled black hair.

Nan Shuyi slightly turned his head, his lips just touching Jiang Yicen's hair. He breathed in the scent at the top of his head, and inadvertently his lips lightly pressed against his hair. A faint fragrance drifted into his breath, as if catching a floral scent. He grew intoxicated without realizing it, letting himself sink into the moment.

However, Nan Shuyi silently scolded Jiang Yicen in his heart for not keeping the agreement. On the first day of "borrowing money," he had not provided the wake-up call.

·

Naturally, Jiang Yicen missed the sunrise he wanted to see. He asked Nan Shuyi if he had seen the sunrise. Nan Shuyi said he hadn't seen it either, because he had also fallen asleep.

When he went to work on Monday, Jiang Yicen's eyes were indeed swollen. On the way to work, he used a bottle of water filled with ice to ice them for a while. He wanted to use a large ice cube directly, but Nan Shuyi refused.

After arriving at the company, Jiajia and Dabing immediately noticed something wrong with him.

He thought the two girls would guess that he had been crying, but they didn't even think along those lines. Instead, they smiled mysteriously.

Dabing: "Looks like you had a wild night, huh? Can you tell me if nightlife is that kind of decadent and glamorous, where when in a good mood you gesture grandly and say 'Mr. Jiang's treat!'?"

Jiang Yicen smiled: "I wouldn't do that, but I've seen people do it before."

Jiajia and Dabing were really surprised: "Really? There are people like that?"

Jiang Yicen nodded: "At least I've seen it." The world is full of strange things, and he believed that these days, such people are even more common.

In their time, he had indeed seen a wealthy playboy splashing large amounts of money in a dance hall, spending tens of thousands of silver dollars in one night. But later that playboy quickly squandered his family's fortune and was never seen again. His elder brother often used this playboy as a cautionary tale for his younger brother.

Less than an hour after Jiang Yicen started work, they received good news.

He received a message from Pan Yamin. She told Jiang Yicen that Youqian was very satisfied with his co-branding proposal and agreed to a collaboration between "Smiling Life" and Nanyuan's candies. After this news got the green light, Nanyuan's legal department began preparing the contract for signing. Jiang Yicen started working on the contract details, and for areas he didn't understand, he would first look up information himself.

After this news came out, the entire department looked at Jiang Yicen, a newcomer who hadn't even passed probation yet, with new respect.

In the afternoon, during the regular marketing department meeting, Jin Huanxin made a sarcastic comment to Jiang Yicen: "Yicen, you discussed the co-branding with Master Nan, didn't you?"

Jiang Yicen knew the principle that a tall tree catches the wind—outstanding people attract criticism. He didn't take the credit for himself but gave it to Nan Shuyi.

He said without hesitation: "Yes, we needed Master Nan to make it happen."

Jin Huanxin gave a sarcastic smile: "It's indeed good to follow Master Nan."

Anyway, since he had already fallen out with Nan Shuyi, he didn't need to be polite to Jiang Yicen. Moreover, his confidence stemmed from Maria contacting him recently and promising him better salary and benefits if he left Nanyuan. It was meaningless for him to stay at Nanyuan any longer. Nan Shuyi was obviously going to take over the company, and he had completely offended Nan Shuyi.

However, Nanyuan securing the co-branding was indeed beyond his expectations. He initially thought Nan Shuyi wouldn't care at all, and that Maria would directly secure the co-branding rights. It seemed that only Nan Shuyi could secure Youqian's co-branding rights.

For now, he didn't care about quarterly plans or anything like that.

Jiang Yicen communicated back and forth with Youqian for a whole day. After confirming the contract, the company began the approval process. Everyone knew the time-sensitive nature of co-branding; the earlier the preliminary work was completed, the earlier they could launch and build buzz.

After submitting the contract on the company's OA platform, the legal assistant processed it quickly. The next step was Jin Huanxin, since he was the head of the marketing department. However, before the end of the workday, Jiang Yicen didn't see him in the company anymore. He sent him a message but got no reply. Jin Huanxin could have easily approved the contract on the OA platform by just clicking "Approve."

His plan was to go directly to Youqian early tomorrow morning with the contract to sign, but it was obvious that Jin Huanxin was deliberately holding up the contract and didn't want the cooperation to succeed.

At first, he thought the person who leaked the co-branding with Youqian might be Tan Ping, who had been transferred to a branch. Now he realized that the person who actually leaked the information was Jin Huanxin.

In the workplace, having such a vengeful boss is really scary.

This was no longer just harming his personal interests; it was jeopardizing the company's interests.

At this moment, Manager Yang happened to be in a meeting in the meeting room closest to Jiang Yicen's workstation. He came over to see Jiang Yicen and asked him, "Yicen, how is the contract? Has it been printed? We'll go together tomorrow morning."

Jiang Yicen: "Manager Jin still needs to review the contract. He hasn't approved it yet."

Manager Yang didn't know about the issues between Jin Huanxin and Jiang Yicen, so he said, "Okay, then follow up with him. Let's meet at the entrance of Youqian's company at ten tomorrow."

Jiang Yicen: "Okay."

In fact, it was just the last step, and it had to be completed today no matter what.

After Manager Yang left, it was almost time to leave work. Jiajia, sitting nearby, also learned about this situation and was anxious for Jiang Yicen.

Jiajia also started offering advice: "Manager Jin didn't say where he went. Why don't you ask the junior assistant? She's on good terms with Manager Jin."

Jiang Yicen shook his head: "I already asked. She said Manager Jin left the company at three in the afternoon."

Jiang Yicen considered his connections in the company. The people who could know Jin Huanxin's whereabouts and would reply to his message were Nan Shuyi, Nan Anru, and Assistant An. The ones he could turn to for help were these three.

But it was completely unnecessary to involve Nan Anru, and Nan Shuyi had a social engagement tonight, so he had to choose Assistant An.

Assistant An replied quickly. It turned out that Jin Huanxin had actively requested a spot at a brand banquet and went to attend the dinner party.

"I'm here tonight representing Chairman Nan. If you want to find him, why don't you come with me in my car? It'll be easier to get in."

Jiang Yicen looked at his attire. He always wore a suit during work hours, which was enough for a dinner party, so he agreed.