After Running Away With a Cub, I Became Everyone’s Favourite

 

Chapter 47

When Xia Qing Shu came out of the bathroom, his face didn’t look too good.

“What’s wrong, not feeling well?” Wen Sheng asked.

The fact that Zhou Qian could come into the exhibition meant that he had a good relationship with the owner of the place. Xia Qing Shu did not say that he had met a pervert in the bathroom, but only that he had drunk an iced drink and was a bit uncomfortable.

Wen Sheng poured him a cup of hot water and whispered to him, “If you don’t feel well, let’s go first.”

Xia Qing Shu nodded his head.

Wen Sheng said gently, “Sorry, I didn’t know you didn’t like it. Wait for me, I’ll have a word with the owner and leave right away.”

“Brother Sheng, I don’t blame you, it’s quite nice here and the paintings are nice…..I… I’m just a bit uncomfortable.” Xia Qing Shu said, “You have something to do, I’ll just sit for a while.”

Xia Qinshu held the hot water and sat in the center of the gallery. People came and went and the nauseating feeling of being entangled by the mangy pervert finally subsided a bit.

Wen Sheng walked in the direction of the bathroom.

After a while, he seemed to hear the sound of a fight. He was not familiar with the the place well, so he didn’t dare to wander off, for fear that Wen Sheng wouldn’t be able to find him if he left.

About ten minutes later, Wen Sheng came back.

“Qing Shu, we can go now.”

When he came back, Wen Sheng had put on a pair of silver-rimmed glasses.

“Huh.” Xia Qingshu pointed at his glasses, “They’re kind of nice.”

“I like your level of appreciation.” Wen Sheng smiled gently.

Xia Qing Shu observed carefully, Wen Sheng’s warm eyes were covered when he put on his glasses, and when he pursed his lips, there was a thin and cold look.

He stood up and walked out with Wen Sheng, and when he got into the car, Xia Qing Shu noticed that the skin on the back of his hand was a bit broken, as if it had been left by a hard object. Perhaps it was from the shooting.

“I know a private restaurant that has food which tastes good.” Wen Sheng started the car engine, “Let’s sit down again and take you home after dinner?”

Wen Sheng looked at him, the smile on his face was just right.

“Sure.” Xia Qing Shu nodded, he was also a bit hungry, “You treated me last time, let me treat you this time instead.”

Xia Qing Shu thought to himself that he could take Wen Sheng to the “Healing House” and they could go in through the back door and ask Xia Lao Er to reserve a private room for them so that they wouldn’t be surrounded by people.

“My dad owns a restaurant, I’ll call him and ask him to reserve a table.” Seeing some confusion from the other party, Xia Qing Shu explained, “My adopted father.”

When Chen Qixi first introduced Xia Qingshu, she said that he had been abroad, and it was the first time Wen Sheng heard that he had an adopted father who also ran a restaurant. But he didn’t show surprise, smiling and responding with a “good”.

Xia Qing Shu had just picked up the phone when he received a call from Secretary Li.

Secretary Li was in a bit of a hurry: “Student Xia, can you come to the office?”

Xia Qing Shu refused in a whisper, “Brother Li, sorry, I have something to do, can you call another time?”

Secretary Li paused and changed his tone to a very anxious one, “Classmate Xia, please come to the office right away, will you, something has happened to the boss!!!”

Xia Qing Shu asked in a small voice, “What happened?”

Secretary Li stammered on the other side and didn’t say clearly, only that it was private, very urgent and very serious, and asked him to hurry over.

After hanging up the phone, Xia Qing Shu said apologetically, “Sorry Brother Sheng, it’s an emergency.”

Wen Sheng smiled thoughtfully and said, “Go ahead, we’ll meet again next time.”

“Okay, I’ll treat you to a big meal next time.”

After Xia Qing Shu left, Wen Sheng sat alone in the car for five minutes, keeping his eyes on the direction he left.

 

～

In the gallery, Zhou Qian sat on the spot where Xia Qing Shu had sat, his mouth biting into the water cup Xia Qing Shu had drunk, taking small sips of water. There was a wound at the corner of his mouth, as if it had been smashed by a hard object, and it was still oozing blood.

He didn’t know what to think, but even though he was pulling at the wound, he was still smiling.

One hand was in his trouser pocket, fumbling around, one would wonder what he was up to.

Time passed, and the gallery became less and less crowded. After an unknown period of time, Zhou Qian stood up, ready to leave.

Suddenly, a burlap sack came over his head and his throat was strangled by the rope, so he could not make a sound. The other man was very strong and dragged him towards the bathroom.

Zhou Qian felt that he was going to die.

～

Chen Zhiyu had always been very busy with his work and would not normally attend painting exhibitions, wine tasting parties and other social engagements unless it was for work reasons.

So when Wu sent the invitation to the exhibition, he didn’t pay much attention to it. The two of them had a good relationship, and when they were in high school, Wu went abroad and hadn’t been in touch for several years. Last year, Chen’s group won the tender for the construction of the urban museum, and it happened to have cooperation with Wu’s company, so they got to know each other again.

Wu Qianxi was not a proffessional painter. It was the first time he held a solo exhibition, and he needed some support at the scene. He called Chen Zhiyu several times, but he didn’t show up, so he was angry.

When the exhibition was about to end, Wu Shanxi called Chen Zhiyu to ask for help, “Hi yo my busy president, you promised to come to my exhibition, where are you?”

Chen Zhiyu cupped the phone, his face unruffled, “It’s finished? I have a meeting.”

Wu Shaoxi snorted, “What meeting?”

Chen Zhiyu said in a cold voice, “Am hanging up.”

Wu Shaoxi: “What the hell! Chen Zhiyu, we’ve been friends for decades at least, would it kill you to say a few more words?”

Chen Zhiyu: “Yes.”

He tapped on his phone and was about to hang up when Wu Shanxi shouted, “Emperor Wen whom I’ve only met twice came and even brought a beautiful child to support the show, you are too ungrateful as a friend for decades!”

When he heard the words “Emperor Wen”, Chen Zhiyu’s finger, which was pressed to the red symbol, let go. He is not a gossipy person, but his heart is just vaguely uncomfortable, “Who did he bring with him?”

Wu Shaoxi: “Do not know, the first time to see him, but seems to be called Qinshu, looks beautiful, sweet voice, white skin, Wen Sheng was very protective …… Alas, I took the video ……”

Chen Zhiyu said coldly, “Send it to me!”

Hanging up the phone, Chen Zhiyu clicked on the video and his face grew cold.

The video was filmed of a painting exhibition situation, in the corner, Xia Qing Shu and Wen Sheng were standing in front of a fancy painting, Wen Sheng was saying something, and Xia Qing Shu was looking at the painting with his head tilted.

…………

As the president’s chief secretary, Secretary Li has to hold many meetings every day. He was presiding over a bidding meeting when he was suddenly called out by his boss.

As soon as Secretary Li stepped into the office, Chen Zhiyu sternly asked, “Li Mi, why didn’t you arrange the Wu Qianxi art exhibition invite in advance?”

Hearing Chen Zhiyu’s tone of voice, at first Secretary Li thought he had caused hundreds of millions of dollars of damage to the company, and was slightly relieved to hear that it was only about the painting exhibition.

“Boss, I asked you after I received it and you said you wouldn’t go.”

“When did you ask?” Chen Zhiyu asked again.

Secretary Li flipped open his note book, “This week, Monday morning between ten and eleven o’clock.”

Every week during this time, Secretary Li would arrange the boss’s schedule for the week.

Chen Zhiyu did not speak, he turned his boss chair towards the floor-to-ceiling glass curtain wall, pausing for several minutes in between before asking, “I didn’t even go, why would Xia Qingshu go?”

Secretary Li: “?”

How would he know, he wasn’t Xia Qing Shu?!

Secretary Li had his head down and couldn’t see his boss’s expression. But this kind of unreasonable scolding was too much like his wife at home who would get jealous at the drop of a hat.

When Secretary Li pinched his fingers, not only did Xia Qing Shu go, but he didn’t go alone.

The people in the meeting downstairs were waiting for him to speak, and with the work piling up this week and the need to stay up late if he couldn’t finish it, Secretary Li was in a hurry.

He tentatively returned, “Maybe he went because he knew you had also received an invitation and wanted to meet you by chance.”

Chen Zhiyu’s face looked slightly better.

“A chance encounter can create a special sense of destiny, I used to deliberately create chance encounters when I was chasing my wife.”

“Is that so?” Chen Zhiyu’s tone softened a little, but it still sounded cold and hard to Secretary Li’s ears.

“Yes, definitely.” Secretary Li added, “I guess he’s still there with someone else.”

Chen Zhiyu looked over with cold eyes and nodded his head.

YES, the guess was right.

Secretary Li had a wealth of experience in from reading novels and immediately began to directly edit one up on the spot, “Student Xia happened to learn about Mr. Wu’s painting exhibition and knew that you had also received an invitation, he was not familiar with Wu Qianxi and did not get the invitation, so he went with his friend, hoping to have a chance encounter with you.”

The corners of Chen Zhiyu’s taut mouth gradually unfolded and he hummed disdainfully, “What’s the basis for what you’re saying?”

The boss was worthy of being the boss, overwhelmed by love but still managed to keep a clear head and seek him out for evidence.

The reason why Xia Qing Shu did this was unknown, but the reason why the boss is still single now was discovered by him.

Boss, ah, falling in love is not something that is done behind closed doors, it needs practice. But he didn’t dare to say this to the boss, he still had to make it up again on the spot, “Boss, I’ll call Xia now and say you’re looking for him, he’ll definitely leave the painting exhibition right away and rush over immediately.”

Chen Zhiyu graciously said, “Go ahead and call.”

Secretary Li secretly said in his heart, “Xia student, I’m sorry, consider our boss, although he has a little bit of a clear brain and a little bit too much self-confidence, he is still considered a high-quality bully boss.

After hanging up the phone, Xia Qingshu promised to come over immediately, and the corners of Chen Zhiyu’s taut mouth finally hooked upwards with a shallow margin.

“You wait here.” Chen Zhiyu said, “If you’re not right, I’ll deduct six months salary.”

Secretary Li: “……”

~

Xia Qingshu had just stepped out of the car with one foot when a staff member stood guard at the door and took him to the president’s office.

The staff treated him with unusual respect, respectful but at the same time with some eagerness.

Xia Qing Shu’s heart thumped, thinking that something big had happened to Chen Zhiyu, but when he pushed open the door of the president’s office, he saw Chen Zhiyu sitting at his desk reading documents for good reason.

He didn’t know if the company had encountered a problem, his face was a bit stinky, and when he saw Xia Qing Shu enter, he only gave him a light glance and turned his attention back to the documents in his hand.

Not even a greeting, a clear cold shoulder.

Secretary Li stood next to Chen Zhiyu, his head bowed and his face waxed yellow, secretly passing a wink to Xia Qingshu when his boss wasn’t looking.

“Brother Zhiyu?”

Xia Qingshu blinked his big watery eyes and looked over with some confusion.

Because he had walked in a hurry, his face was flushed, and the reddest of all was his lips, glistening with watery light, so red that they were tempting. Chen Zhiyu squeezed his palms, his crumbling facial muscles stretching out, and put down the papers in his hands in a pretentious manner.

“Brother Zhiyu, what’s wrong with you?”

Chen Zhiyu lifted an expressionless handsome face and asked instead of answering, “Where have you been?!”

Xia Qingshu froze, a dumbfounded look on his face.

Secretary Li lowered his head and coughed.

Xia Qing Shu came back to his senses.

He was not angry that his appointment had been interrupted, but he had rushed here with the best of intentions, but the other party did not respond to his concern, and even questioned him aggressively.

Xia Qing Shu blurted out, “What are you being mean about?”

His tone was not hard, his bite was soft, and even if he was questioning, it was still without any momentum, with some aggression hidden in the middle.

The aura on Chen Zhiyu’s face was like a mountain torrent pouring down, collapsing instantly.

“…… I, I’m not being mean.”

Xia Qingshu stared at him with big, pretty eyes, looking at him incredulously, his long, curly eyelashes twitching slightly, he didn’t what to believed.

Secretary Li coughed, “Student Xia, the boss was just being mean to me.”

Xia Qingshu lowered his eyes, seemingly convinced.

“Boss, I’m going out first.” Secretary Li thought to himself, “Boss, I can only help you so far.

“What do you want?” Xia Qingshu sat down on the sofa opposite to Chen Zhiyu and asked in a small, whispered voice.

Chen Zhiyu glanced at Secretary Li’s back and did not know what to say.

Secretary Li was really getting bolder and bolder, daring to leave before he had given his account? He didn’t know how to react.

Xia Qing Shu had always been timid and soft-spoken before.

When had he ever dared to lose his temper in front of him? What was even stranger was that he didn’t get angry even when Qinshu lost his temper at him.

“What did you call me over for?” Xia Qingshu beamed, his pink lips slightly parted in a nagging expression of dissatisfaction, “Calling me over and not speaking.”

The voice was thin, clearly spitting, yet it seemed like he was pouting.

Chen Zhiyu came back to his senses and pointed to a bottle of ointment on the table, “My leg hurts and no one is rubbing it.”

Xia Qingshu blinked his big eyes twice and let out an “oh”.

He did not ask for help to rub his medicine, nor did he care about his condition. He seemed to be very angry.

Chen Zhiyu had never encountered such a scenario before and was a bit at a loss. He wanted to recall Secretary Li, but was afraid that he would make it worse, so in the end, he had to pretend that his leg hurt a lot and howled a few times with his poor acting skills, and Xia Qingshu finally walked towards him.

Xia Qing Shu took the ointment in her hand and squatted down in front of him, tilting his small face up to look at him, “Does this medicine have instructions?”

Chen Zhiyu’s gaze flickered a little, “No, it’s the same as the ointment that was used to rub his back last time.”

The plaster on Chen Zhiyu’s leg had been removed and the gauze taken off, and there were still some bruises on his slender calf.

Xia Qingshu smeared the ointment onto his hand, melted it away and rubbed it on.

The moment the soft, boneless hand touched it, Chen Zhiyu felt his leg go numb, like an electric shock, as if the skin on his leg wasn’t his own anymore. In order not to lose his composure, Chen Zhiyu did not dare to be distracted, his whole body tensed up, his toes gripped tightly and his teeth clenched.

Being rubbed by Xia Qingshu was like being “tortured”, but with electricity, it was as if his calves were connected to a master switch, and the tingling sensation spread throughout his body.

Xia Qingshu lowered his head, half squatting, carefully rubbing the bruises.

When Chen Zhiyu looked down, he saw the top of his hairy head, it had two swirls. He heard that people with two swirls were very stubborn. This child, who looked soft, would be hard to coax when he was angry.

What?! Chen Zhiyu was taken aback when this thought suddenly popped up. Why did he need to coax? It was obvious that Xia Qing Shu liked him? He would never be able to take the initiative to coax him!

After he had easily finished rubbing the medicine, Chen Zhiyu was finally able to relax. He deliberately found something to talk about and teased Xia Qing Shu into talking.

Only after Xia Qingshu said a few more words and didn’t look angry did he coax and ask, “Qing Shu, where did you go this afternoon?”

Xia Qingshu’s hands were sticky, he pulled a wet tissue to wipe his hands, after wiping one, his hands still smelled like ointment, he was considering whether he should go to the bathroom to wash his hands, he casually replied, “I didn’t go anywhere.”

Chen Zhiyu knitted his eyebrows, he had obviously gone to a painting exhibition, but still refused to admit it. He spoke at an unconsciously high volume, “I’ll ask you again, where did you go this afternoon?”

After saying that, he didn’t think about what kind of position he was in to ask this question. He pushed the wheelchair and moved in front of Xia Qing Shu. His original personality was cold and gloomy, and his cold face was somewhat seeping. The wheelchair moved to Xia Qing Shu’s feet and didn’t stop, hitting his knees straight up and knocking him to sit on the sofa.

Xia Qing Shu was so confused by him that he dropped the wet paper towel in his hand. He sat on the sofa just at eye level with Chen Zhiyu, “…… What did you just ask that I didn’t respond to?”

“Where did you go this afternoon?” This was the fourth time he repeated the question with some anxiety.

Xia Qingshu sat on the sofa and crossed his feet, gently pushing the wheelchair against the wheels, and said in a small voice, “To see the painting exhibition.”

Chen Zhiyu grunted coldly, his tone quenching like cold ice, “With whom?”

He maneuvered the wheelchair and stepped forward again, bracing his arms on the arm of the sofa, imprisoning Xia Qingshu.

Xia Qingshu didn’t know why he was pushing himself like this, his attitude was harsh and he was so aggressive.

Who was he to do that? He, himself had just helped him rub the medicine.

His eyes were red and his pretty eyes were filled with crystal tears. He bit his lip, trying not to let the tears fall, a small face glowing cold white.

“…… With a friend.” Xia Qing Shu opened his big watery eyes and said suspiciously, “I’m going out with a friend …… Why do you care?”