MGAG: Chapter 131

The movie was very long. The wind and rain outside the house continued. Chen Qizhao felt that the weather was cooling down a bit from when he was outside. But as the movie played, the temperature of the air conditioner in the room was suitable. The feeling of dampness and coldness in his bones seemed to gradually dissipate.

The apartment here was larger than Shen Yuhuai’s previous apartment in the city. However, when looking closely, one would feel it was a bit narrow. It was small because there were more things in the house than before. Shen Yuhuai was a person with a sense of life. He always took care of his life in an orderly manner. The small apartment was full of life…

Now the apartment seemed to be fuller.

There was a wider balcony filled with the green plants that Shen Yuhuai liked. All types of furnishings could be seen everywhere in the house, fully filling this space. Shen Yuhuai’s gaze involuntarily fell on the small table next to the sofa where a small warm lamp was placed.

The surrounding light was dim, and the sound of the movie was still ongoing.

It was like this when he was in the hospital a few years ago, and it was the same when his hands were uncomfortable on a rainy day. Shen Yuhuai sat next to him. The distance between the two of them was around 10 centimeters. The other person’s gaze was on the TV, but the movements of his hands didn’t stop. He pressed in a gentle and orderly manner on the back of Chen Qizhao’s fingers to his wrist.

Chen Qizhao leaned against the sofa, and his tired body relaxed.

He noticed Shen Yuhuai’s gaze and said, “It’s so ugly.”

Shen Yuhuai asked, “Where is it ugly?”

Chen Qizhao’s voice was tired, low, and weak. “My hand.”

Shen Yuhuai said, “It isn’t ugly.”

Chen Qizhao laughed before continuing to watch the movie.

The disturbing sound of the movie was far away. The clammy feeling faded away, replaced by tiredness he never felt before. This exhaustion went deep into his bone marrow. Once it rose little by little, it gave him an indescribable sense of fatigue. Chen Qizhao’s attention gradually detached from his surroundings. Sleepiness swept through his brain, and his eyelids started to fight.

Shen Yuhuai held Chen Qizhao’s hand. His fingertips could feel the marks on the skin, especially near the finger bone. It seemed like he could feel the bones underneath through a thin layer of skin.

People who often sat in the office had white hands. The scars would only remain a light brown color in the end.

Nevertheless, such traces were shocking.

The cold hand seemed to suddenly gain a bit of temperature. Shen Yuhuai’s warm palm covered the other person’s joints. The strong smell of Chinese medicine was everywhere… The movie was over. The continuous recommendation meant it jumped to the beginning of the next one. The wall clock in the living room had reached 12 o’clock.

Shen Yuhuai turned his head. Chen Qizhao had fallen asleep on the sofa.

The man curled up slightly, leaning toward Shen Yuhuai like an insecure little animal.

“Qizhao?” Shen Yuhuai asked.

Chen Qizhao didn’t respond. He seemed to have fallen asleep.

It wasn’t known who watched the movie, and no one remembered the plot of the movie.

Shen Yuhuai stared at the other person’s sleeping face. He raised his other hand to brush back this person’s forehead hair. In recent years, Chen Qizhao didn’t grow his hair much. He always kept it at a convenient and moderate length. The soft hair became dry due to a bit of hairspray and couldn’t cover the eyes that were cold and bright when looking at people.

Some emotions were difficult to restrain. Once Chen Qizhao fell asleep, they were like mushrooms springing up after rain.

Shen Yuhuai stroked Chen Qizhao’s forehead and swiped down his brow bone. This sharp face seemed to soften in his hands, from the brow bone to the end of his eyes. It seemed to be wider and narrower.

He touched Chen Qizhao’s nasal bone and went down the tip of the nose. Once it went down, he didn’t move any further.

Shen Yuhuai changed direction. His fingertips lightly brushed over Chen Qizhao’s eyelashes. Finally, he didn’t touch them again.

The sound of the rain seemed to stop. Shen Yuhuai turned off the TV, and the living room was quiet again.

In the dim light, Shen Yuhuai raised Chen Qizhao’s hand. The hand was very thin, and the smell of the plaster was particularly bad.

He didn’t care at all. Finally, he lightly kissed the skin of the bare knuckles.

The sleeping person seemed to feel the cold. His body moved slightly, and the balance he originally maintained was out of control. He fell in Shen Yuhuai’s direction before finally leaning against Shen Yuhuai’s arms. Then he curled up and kept sleeping.

Shen Yuhuai lowered his eyes slightly. He smiled slightly and carefully picked up this person.

Chen Qizhao was very thin. It seemed he hadn’t increased in weight for so many years. It was easy to carry him.

Shen Yuhuai carried this person to the bedroom. He finally covered Chen Qizhao with the quilt before leaving the room.

The door wasn’t closed tightly. The missing light revealed a line in the dark room, and the warm light became extra warm at this moment. Without the interference of the sound of rain, all the sounds in the room were particularly obvious. Chen Qizhao opened his eyes slightly. The smell of the plaster was heavy, but the pillow still seemed to have a faint mint scent. The noise outside the room was very slight.

He heard the sound of Shen Yuhuai turning off the whirring air conditioner and the sound of the kitchen sink… the subtle sounds stacked up little by little. Chen Qizhao moved, and his warm fingers still seemed to have the soft touch of not long ago.

Shen Yuhuai’s lips were cold, and they were also cold against his hands.

Chen Qizhao thought to himself and raised his hand slightly.

Deep eyes fell on his knuckles, and his lips lightly touched somewhere.

The weather was exceptionally good the next day. The sky was getting exceptionally bright with the rising sun.

Xiao Zhou followed the driver to the downstairs area of the community. After explaining to the driver, he habitually went to the door of the boss’ house, but no one came to open the door after ringing the doorbell. He was hesitating over whether to call his boss or not when the door next to him suddenly opened.

Shen Yuhuai was wearing pajamas, and he looked at Xiao Zhou from the door.

Xiao Zhou said, “Good morning, Mr Shen.”

“Wait a minute, he is still sleeping,” Shen Yuhuai said.

Xiao Zhou paused for a moment before turning his head to look at the door of his boss’ house.

Chen Qizhao hadn’t slept for a long time. The long sleep brought up his body’s soreness and weakness, and his brain was completely empty. This was until he noticed the harsh brightness and realized it was sunny outside.

There were no dreams that night. There were no good dreams and no nightmares. It was a rare, empty good sleep.

Chen Qizhao lifted the quilt and walked to the bay window to look at the open sky outside the house.

The clouds cleared, and the sun was shining.

He stared at the sky outside and didn’t react for a long time. This was until there was a knock on the door that he woke up in a daze.

Shen Yuhuai stood at the door, still keeping the motion of knocking on the door. “Why didn’t you sleep more?”

“I’ve slept long enough.” Chen Qizhao glanced slightly sideways. He stared at the sunlight in a slightly dazed state. He had developed the habit of getting up early. His biological clock was fixed. Even if he didn’t go to the company on Saturdays and Sundays, he stayed in the study for a long time.

Xiao Zhou sat in the living room of Shen Yuhuai’s house. Once he heard the movement, he immediately followed the sound and looked over. The next second, he saw two men coming out side by side from the direction of the bedroom. They seemed to be saying something. Soon, his boss glanced at him and didn’t speak.

“Breakfast will be a bit later,” Shen Yuhuai told him.

Chen Qizhao’s eyes followed Shen Yuhuai’s hands as he cooked. The relaxed feeling after adequate sleep surged up. “It is 8:30. Don’t you have class in the morning?”

Shen Yuhuai said, “No, class is in the afternoon.”

Chen Qizhao told him, “I’ll go wash.”

As a worker for many years, Xiao Zhou knew his boss’ first need. He looked down at the time on his watch. For the first time, he hesitated to remind the boss of the time. He didn’t break the atmosphere in the room. He watched the boss go to the kitchen and heard Mr Shen tell the boss the time for breakfast. Then the boss walked out again in loose pajamas.

He seemed to have gone back next door to wash.

Xiao Zhou hesitated for a while. He was about to follow the boss’ steps to the apartment next door when he was suddenly stopped by the person behind him.

Shen Yuhuai put something on the dining table and stopped Xiao Zhou. “The weather has changed a lot recently. His hands are easily pained on rainy days. Take time to go to the hospital today to get some medicine for him.

Xiao Zhou was stunned when he heard this and immediately said, “Okay, I’ll contact the doctor later.”

Chen Qizhao came back soon after washing. Shen Yuhuai had already prepared breakfast.

The two of them finished eating, and Chen Qizhao had to go to work at the company. Shen Yuhuai had nothing in the morning and stayed at home.

Once they got into the car, Xiao Zhou told Chen Qizhao about today’s trip. The air conditioning in the business car was very sufficient, but Chen Qizhao’s gaze stayed on his hand. He didn’t know if it was due to the weather, but ever since the morning, the continuous pain in his right hand had stopped.

He opened his hand and closed it again.

The dazzling light entered the car. Xiao Zhou noticed the plaster on the boss’ hand. In fact, the boss didn’t remind him of these days. In the past, the boss would check his hands every three months. When he was busy with work, he might postpone the physical examination until the end of the year. Generally, the plaster wasn’t used much. Xiao Zhou went to receive it according to the drug cycle.

The rainy days lasted a bit long this time. He should’ve considered the boss’ hand injury in advance. “Mr Shen said this morning that your plaster has run out. Do you need to make an appointment with the doctor for a review?”

It took a long time for Xiao Zhou to hear a reply from the boss. The boss asked him to make an appointment next week.

He had been with the boss for too long and he knew the boss’ personality. Once Mr Shen was mentioned, the boss would always think about it for a while.

It was just that he always felt the boss was a bit distracted today.

This feeling didn’t become obvious to Xiao Zhou until he was in the company. In particular, when the boss was in the office, he usually dealt with certain work in advance and had no free time at all. Compared to the rest of the company, the boss was a complete workaholic and didn’t leave any rest time for himself. The capitalist squeezed himself unceremoniously.

Yet today, he saw the boss in a daze several times when he went to deliver documents.

The places he looked at were either outside the window or on the small potted plants on the table. He occasionally looked at his hands in a daze.

Xiao Zhou went in to deliver documents and suddenly noticed the boss looking at Xiao Zhou’s hand, as if looking at the wedding ring.

Chen Qizhao signed the document. “Was your honeymoon postponed the year before last?”

Xiao Zhou was stunned before replying, “Yes.”

Too many things happened over the years. He got married a couple of years ago and didn’t get to go on his honeymoon.

Chen Qizhao finished signing the document and handed it to him. “Then when this period of time is over, I will give you a long vacation.”

Xiao Zhou was a bit surprised and thanked him.

Once he left, he saw the boss looking at the potted plant on the office desk again.

All the decorative potted plants in the office were brought by the boss from home. It was said that Mr Shen grew them himself. He gave pots to the boss several times. It was kept here and at the boss’ home. It was just that the boss couldn’t raise them. He had been with the boss for several years. The potted plants in the house and office had been changed several times… Later, every time Mr Shen came to the company, he would occasionally water them for the boss.

Due to this, Xiao Zhou added Mr Shen’s VX account. The matter of taking care of the office’s potted plants fell on him.

Then later on, there was less talk about potted plants, and Mr Shen often asked about the boss’ overtime.

Xiao Zhou told the boss these things. The boss didn’t refuse after knowing it and acquiesced to such behavior.

Before the things in the laboratory happened, especially when Mr Shen didn’t have to go on a business trip, Xiao Zhou often saw Mr Shen coming to pick up the boss from work.

The matter of the Gu father and son was solved. The Chen Group got a lot of dividends for this matter. The senior management of the company smiled, and there were more dinners after getting off work. Also, Boss Chen’s reputation in S City was much higher than before. Some people wanted to develop a relationship with the boss, while others wanted to use past relationships to seek dividends.

In the past few years, the boss didn’t refuse these things. Xiao Zhou had met Chen Qizhao very early. He had been following this person in the Chen Group since the beginning. In the early years, he followed the boss’ entertainment all the way. If the Chen family wanted to rise, it was inevitable for him to socialize with those powerful bosses. He watched the young boss drink cup after cup. He drank until his stomach bled and he had to go to the hospital. After he came out, he rested a while before continuing to drink.

It was different today. The drinking party was still the same, but no one dared to force the boss to drink.

People were different from the past.

In the next few days, Chen Qizhao was dealing with these follow-up matters, and Xiao Zhou followed the whole process.

This was until the day of the appointment with the doctor when Chen Qizhao took the time to go to the hospital and get the medicine.

The doctor in charge prescribed the medicine and couldn’t help mentioning, “On the next rainy day, you should pay attention. If time permits, take time to do physiotherapy.”

“Yes.” Chen Qizhao put his clothes on and didn’t say much.

Xiao Zhou waited at the door. He saw the boss coming out and followed while continuing to talk about work.

As Chen Qizhao walked out, he caught a glimpse of the wall clock at the nurse’s station before quickly withdrawing his gaze.

He got to the car, and Xiao Zhou ordered the boss to drive back to the company. Suddenly, Chen Qizhao asked, “Is there anything else in the afternoon?”

“No, the remote meeting has been postponed until tomorrow.”

Xiao Zhou said, “But there is a small meeting. It is the afternoon wrap-up of the project that was developed a year ago.”

Chen Qizhao looked out the window. “Yes. Does Shen Yuhuai have a big class today?”

Once Xiao Zhou heard this, he quickly opened a certain class schedule file. Since the laboratory accident, the boss had paid special attention to Mr Shen.

The semester schedule of S College was in Xiao Zhou’s work file. Xiao Zhou found it and said, “There is a big class in the afternoon. It is until 5:45 in classroom A203, the third teaching building of S College.”