Chapter 93
Note: Early chapter release. Thank you for the Ko-Fi, Sakuradahl! ◝(ᵔᵕᵔ)◜
The residential area of Galen Technology was located a floor above the office area.
Mu Cai and Li Yu took the elevator up one floor. When the elevator doors opened, he told Li Yu as they walked out, "There's a gym available outside the office area downstairs. After unpacking, I'll take you down there for a look. This floor is the living area, separated into a staff canteen and staff dormitory. Look, the canteen is there. You can get your meals there when it's time to eat, and it's free of charge."
Bathed in the ethereal and pleasing voice, Li Yu couldn't prevent his vision from following Mu Cai's guidance.
The staff canteen occupied a corner of this floor and had four windows in total. It was beautifully decorated both inside and out, exuding a serene elegance, furnished with sleek and elegant tables and chairs. Although it was open for breakfast, lunch, and dinner, it was currently closed for a break. Still, the distant sweet scent of milk tea and cake was wafting over.
As for the staff dormitory, it takes up the majority of the space on this floor. The rooms inside are partitioned like a hotel, each equipped with a private bathroom, a television, air conditioner, and hot water supply. Apart from the air conditioner, which has a separate electricity charge, all other amenities are free for the employees.
Li Yu was amazed at the quality of Galen Technology's staff accommodation and was momentarily stunned. However, Mu Cai had already selected a room for him. On his arrival, he had asked the cleaning lady which rooms were unoccupied and chose one with a window for Li Yu.
Now, he used a key to open the door, and upon seeing that the room was spotless, despite no one living there, he was pleased. Turning around, Mu Cai said with a smile, "Come in and settle down, your official internship begins this afternoon."
Li Yu had been pulled closer by a hand that had extended from an expensive-looking coat sleeve. There was not much strength to be felt, and Li Yu could have easily pulled away at any time. But he looked into the glittering, crescent-shaped eyes of the other, and almost involuntarily followed him into the room. When Mu Cai asked whether he was satisfied, Li Yu didn't think, he just nodded mechanically.
That morning, Mu Cai helped Li Yu unpack his luggage, got an extra key from the cleaning lady, and even took him for a tour of the gym outside the office area. By noon, they had enjoyed a hearty meal in the staff canteen and, after a break, they went down to the office area.
The project team had already decided which project Li Yu would join. He was just a freshman and probably hadn't learned much from school lectures. He would likely have only been exposed to the basics of programming languages. So after a group discussion, they assigned him to the simplest group to work on the least important part of the project. He could learn as he worked and ask team members for help when necessary.
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Li Yu began his official internship that afternoon.
What delighted the fewer than ten employees of the company was that their beloved CEO, Mu Cai, had also decided to stay.
The lunch break had just ended, and everyone was in a relaxed mood. Lin Xingchen was sitting by a table next to a plant in the office area when a shadow fell in front of him.
He looked up to see Mu Cai, who he had recently bumped into in the cafeteria, standing at his table, smiling at him.
Mu Cai's delicate face and fair skin were a delight to the eye, and Lin Xingchen felt captivated. If only there was no one annoyingly standing next to Mu Cai.
Lin Xingchen's gaze grew colder as it swept to Li Yu, who was standing closely next to Mu Cai. He brought back his gaze, his dark eyes staring at Mu Cai, "Boss, do you need anything?"
Perhaps due to the original body's awe of his stern older brother, coupled with the fact that Lin Xingchen was indeed much more mature than Mu Cai, he always felt nervous when dealing with this person. Hearing the question, Mu Cai's smile grew even larger, his eyes turning into crescents, looking very sweet, "Brother Chen, from this afternoon until the Chinese New Year, I will be staying in the company, please guide me then."
Lin Xingchen glanced at Mu Cai, then looked at Li Yu standing to one side.
Li Yu was virtually glued to Mu Cai, with just a slight gap between them. He was taller and hardier than Mu Cai, and from this perspective, it seemed like Li Yu had enclosed the slender person within his arms.
Their intimacy was just too palpable.
And Lin Xingchen found it irritating to watch.
These childish tactics truly betrayed their youth. With throbbing emotions, Lin Xingchen retorted with a confident smile, "Of course, there are quite a few things in this company that require the boss's personal attention. I'm glad that you've decided to return. I will hand them all over to you later."
A sigh of relief washed over Mu Cai.
Although he admitted that he decided to stay at the company to pursue Li Yu, Mu Cai knew he probably wouldn't be able to behave like the original, playing mobile games in the company and using every opportunity... to bother Li Yu during rest times.
Now that Lin Xingchen could assign him tasks, keeping him occupied during work hours, it would help to avoid the awkwardness of sitting alone in the office.
Considering this, Mu Cai smiled at Lin Xingchen again, "Thank you, Brother Chen!"
The young man standing by the table had already taken off his coat due to the indoor heating, revealing a casual blue striped shirt. The bottom of his shirt was loosely tucked into his black casual jeans, highlighting his slender waist that was barely a handful.
Just by chance, that particular section of waist was right in front of Lin Xingchen's eyes. It swayed slightly with its owner's movement, making it hard for Lin Xingchen to stay calm. Just when Lin Xingchen took a deep breath, trying to steady his emotions and look away from that waist, an arm suddenly stretched across the table, blocking Lin Xingchen's view.
The distracting newcomer turned his head and asked the oblivious Mu Cai, "Cai Cai, isn't the lunch break already over?"
Mu Cai took out his cellphone from his pocket and saw that it was indeed already past 2 PM. Realizing it was time to return to work, he looked back at the project team members busily typing on their keyboards, their thick-framed glasses reflecting the light from the computer screens.
It seemed like they were working hard, without even a moment to spare for extra rest.
Feeling apologetic, Mu Cai thought his conversation with Lin Xingchen might have disturbed them, and quickly nodded towards Li Yu and Lin Xingchen, saying, "Yes, the lunch break is over. Let's get back to work."
With that, he lightly patted Li Yu's shoulder and smiled, "Keep up the good work."
Although his hand was barely warm and his touch gentle, Li Yu felt a searing sensation on his shoulder, as if it had been burned. Even through the layers of clothing, the warmth lingered, distinct from the rest of his shoulder. A faint redness crept up his ears as he eventually replied, "Alright."
Watching this, Lin Xingchen couldn't help but feel somewhat irritated. He calmly stated, "I will send the compiled documents to the boss's office later."
As soon as he said this, Mu Cai's attention was indeed successfully drawn. The stunningly beautiful young man looked at him, his eyes flashing a small hint of panic, "Alright, Brother Chen. But, I might not understand how to read these documents..."
The man standing across from him promptly interrupted him, a suave smile spreading across his handsome face, "No problem, I will explain each one to you later."
Mu Cai felt relieved and gratefully nodded to the other party, before turning towards his own office.
Believing that all issues had been handled, he felt light-hearted and walked ahead without looking back. Unbeknownst to him, Lin Xingchen watched his slender silhouette for a while before turning his gaze away.
Li Yu, who had also been observing Mu Cai, naturally picked up on the gaze from his side. As he turned to look, he saw Brother Chen silently grinning at him, his eyes icy.
The project team members who had been stealthily watching this scene couldn't help but feel excited: How much time had passed? Just a short morning and already Brother Lin couldn't help but make the rivalry clear!
Facing the provocation, Li Yu managed to keep his cool.
He too responded with a polite smile, before turning and heading towards his own section.
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Mu Cai hadn't been in the office for long before Lin Xingchen entered by pushing the door open.
The other party brought a laptop and placed it on Mu Cai's desk.
Mu Cai hurried to look at it, only to find the screen filled with dense characters. A large pile of Word documents had been opened, and judging by the file names, some were contracts and others were not. Despite being familiar with each individual Chinese character on the screen, Mu Cai couldn't understand them when they were combined.
He was rather bewildered and wanted to ask Lin Xingchen for help, only to feel a shadow descending beside him.
Lin Xingchen had already walked behind Mu Cai.
He leaned over, one hand gripping the back of the young man's chair, the other resting on the table as his fingers deftly manipulated the computer screen's scrolling. This sudden action brought the two so close together that Mu Cai felt a little uncomfortable. Just as he was about to speak, the man suddenly whispered, "This one is the contract for our outsourced project."
As soon as Mu Cai realized it was work-related, he immediately disregarded his discomfort and began listening attentively. Lin Xingchen's voice was steady and calm, as he navigated through the documents and explained their content.
The once confusing documents, after Lin Xingchen's concise explanation, finally allowed Mu Cai to understand what kind of projects Galen Technology was involved in, which companies they were collaborating with, and the progress of each project.
He listened for a while before he finally couldn't help but genuinely praise during Lin Xingchen's explanation, "Thank you, brother Chen, you've worked hard!"
In Mu Cai's bright eyes, Lin Xingchen saw his own reflection. He couldn't help but feel a flutter in his heart and he smiled, "It's nothing, Cai Cai is overpraising."
The delicate, pale young man sitting on the chair chatting and laughing with the mature, composed man looked wonderful. The image reflected in the completely transparent glass window struck Li Yu, who was sitting across the boss's office.
He stared at Mu Cai, watching without blinking.
Li Yu had just joined a team handling outsourced software application projects. He discovered that the language for writing the program assigned to him was something he had never encountered before, which made him feel quite overwhelmed.
He required some time to study before he could complete this assignment, which albeit was the simplest and most basic task within the team. In the office, mature business professionals were already capable of expertly guiding the delicate young man in making business decisions.
Seeing the look of trust and admiration on Mu Cai's face, Li Yu finally clearly recognized the gap between him and Lin Xingchen.
He was nothing more than a good-looking young man, a vase with no substantial value to Mu Cai. Meanwhile, Lin Xingchen had already become a big tree that could offer protection and guidance to Mu Cai.
This realization caused pain in Li Yu's heart.
What hurt him most was the trusting smile on Cai Cai's face.
Li Yu was silently observing the two figures across him through the clear glass. Suddenly, Lin Xingchen, who was explaining something, paused and looked outward from the computer screen.
He quickly locked onto Li Yu's position as if he was certain that Li Yu would be watching. At this moment, a triumphant smile, almost a provoking one, spread across Lin Xingchen's face.
It was as if he intentionally wanted Li Yu to understand that the gap between them was like a chasm.
Meanwhile, the hand Lin Xingchen had propped on Mu Cai's chair was lifted and gently ruffled the young man's hair.
Seeing how Mu Cai didn't resist, Li Yu finally realized his situation couldn't continue like this.
He had to grow swiftly.
But he absolutely couldn't let others snatch Cai Cai away during this vulnerable period!
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Author's Note:
Li Yu: Despicable... person! Taking advantage of my momentary downfall, he dared to share in His Majesty's favor with me!
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