Mid-July hit, and Rongcheng’s temperature set yet another historic high. In comparison, the mountainous areas around Rongcheng were pleasantly cool, and every weekend, large numbers of city dwellers would drive out to escape the heat and enjoy the breeze.
—But that was NOT a reason for Xia Yiyang to agree to go out with Sheng Lin again!!!!
Ever since Sheng Lin told the aunties about their travel plans, the aunties had become even more invested than the two of them combined. One moment they were suggesting a mountain camping trip, the next they were recommending a farm stay where they could pick fruit.
Xia Yiyang was overwhelmed by the aunties’ enthusiastic recommendations and ran to Sheng Lin to complain.
“Boss, why did you say we’re going to the mountains to escape the heat?”
Sheng Lin paused his work and replied, “It’s hot in the city. You got heatstroke at the panda base just from the heat. Next time we go out, of course we should find somewhere cooler.”
“I mean, when did I agree to go escape the heat with you?” Xia Yiyang paced around anxiously. “I thought we were just going out once, and that was enough.”
“Are you treating this like some kind of KPI?” Sheng Lin countered. “One outing with me, KPI fulfilled, no need to continue?”
Xia Yiyang stammered, “No, but… but who goes out with their boss every single week?”
He’d even looked it up online. If an employee goes out with their boss, it’s called a “company team-building activity.” Besides eating and drinking, team-building also includes wonderful performances, mainly consisting of two acts: the boss performs “Mingling with the Masses,” and the employees perform “Praising and Glorifying.”
But clearly, no boss would “mingle with the masses” to the point of personally carrying an employee’s bag, taking photos, and wiping them down, and an employee’s “praising and glorifying” wouldn’t include feeding their boss unwashed, dirty apples.
Seeing Xia Yiyang’s reluctant expression, Sheng Lin didn’t want to force him and said flatly, “If you don’t want to go out and would rather rest at home, I’ll respect that. I’ll go tell the aunties that we won’t go to Mount Qingcheng this week.”
“…”
“And we won’t need to visit Dujiangyan either.”
“…”
“As for river rafting and crayfish fishing, I don’t see any need to arrange those either.”
“…Crayfish (gulp) fishing? (gulp) Is it easy?”
“Very easy. Crayfish are quite dumb. As long as you lower the hook in front of them, they’ll grab it with their claws. Even a straight hook will fool them.” The man’s tone was calm and matter-of-fact. “There are shallow ponds around Mount Qingcheng specifically for crayfish farming. Tourists can fish them out and hand them straight to the restaurant to cook. One minute the crayfish are in the stream, the next they’re on your table—absolutely fresher than anything you’d get in the city.”
A loud rumble came from the boy’s stomach. His face flushed bright red, and he quickly covered it.
Sheng Lin: “Didn’t you just eat? How are you hungry again?”
The young master said shyly, “Well… I’m still growing.”
Always had a justification for everything.
Sheng Lin barely held back a smile and deliberately asked, “So I’ll go tell the aunties to cancel the trip?”
“No, no, no,” Xia Yiyang quickly stopped him. “Actually, when I think about it carefully, you’re doing this for my own good! You know I’m all alone and adrift here in Rongcheng, afraid I might miss home, so you’re taking me to see all the beautiful sights of Sichuan. I’m not some ungrateful jerk—how could I let your kindness go to waste?”
Sheng Lin really didn’t see any sign of him being “all alone and adrift”—all he saw was a kid with a serious case of food cravings.
—Ding ding ding! Something even more likely to take the bait than crayfish has appeared!
…
Recently, several food delivery apps had launched a coupon war, which directly caused the shop’s delivery orders to skyrocket.
Every time the delivery printer turned on, orders would spew out like a waterfall, scaring the young master so much he wanted to yank the plug out right then and there.
Sheng Lin was chopping fruit like crazy, the two aunties were packing ice jelly like crazy, and Xia Yiyang was packing takeout boxes like crazy… The four of them divided the work and barely managed to clear the backlog of delivery orders.
The delivery drivers were piled up at the pickup counter, constantly banging on the table to rush their orders. Xia Yiyang had never seen anything like it—he was so flustered by the pressure that his head spun, and every time he closed his eyes, all he could hear was the buzzing of drivers demanding their orders.
He was working way too hard. He absolutely had to reward himself with a milk tea—add three toppings, swap the milk for coconut milk, and no tea base!
(Barista at a crazily busy tea shop: Who’s this lunatic boss ordering this?)
After closing time, the young master used his last shred of energy to crawl back up to the second floor, then collapsed headfirst onto his own sofa bed, desperately trying to burrow into the blanket.
“Since you’re tired, go take a shower first.” Sheng Lin gave him a nudge. “The more you lie around, the more tired you get. Don’t drag your feet—shower and get some rest early.”
Xia Yiyang struggled to roll over on the sofa, raising both arms high into the air and clasping his hands together.
Sheng Lin: “?”
The young master chanted: “Rocket… launch! Ten, nine, eight, seven… three, two, one!”
At the exact moment he yelled “one,” his arms pulled his upper body upward in a desperate attempt to sit up—but he only made it to a forty-five-degree angle before crashing back down onto the sofa.
The young master shook his head regretfully: “Sigh, rocket launch failed.”
Sheng Lin: “…”
Half-asleep, the young master weakly raised his arms again in a rocket-launch pose: “Rocket second ignition… ten, nine…”
This time, before he could even get to the third count, a pair of strong hands suddenly gripped his. He felt his body lift off the soft sofa with a start.
“Huh? Huh? Huh?” Xia Yiyang’s eyes shot open in alarm.
It turned out Sheng Lin had had enough and decided to assist the rocket’s successful liftoff—he pulled the boy up by his hands, hoisting him upright.
“Go take your shower. Don’t make me tell you a third time.” Sheng Lin snorted. “Or do you want me to wash you?” His gaze flicked down to the space between Xia Yiyang’s legs, then added meaningfully, “I’ve already wiped you down anyway…”
“No, no, no, no need!” Xia Yiyang suddenly became very diligent, obediently grabbing his change of clothes and slipping into the bathroom.
Showering was always the same routine—dawdling before, reluctant to undress and get the towel ready; then, once in the shower, savoring life, pondering philosophical questions in the drifting steam; and finally, stepping out refreshed, and if he could follow it up with an ice-cold cola and a bite of chilled watermelon, that would be the absolute best!
But there was something even better than ice-cold cola and chilled watermelon—
When the young master stepped out of the bathroom with his hair still dripping wet, he found a bowl of fruit-and-rice jelly waiting for him on the coffee table by the sofa.
“The jelly is for you.” Sheng Lin passed by him with his change of clothes. Just before closing the bathroom door, the man suddenly paused and reminded him, “The new hairdryer is in the cabinet. Remember to use it. Don’t let your hair stay wet and then try to cool off in front of the fan—if I catch you doing that again, no more late-night snacks for you from now on.”
“Fine~ fine~ fine~” Xia Yiyang replied reluctantly.
Was this guy his boss or his dad? Why did he have to nag him about showering, drying his hair, and eating midnight snacks too?
Xia Yiyang found the hairdryer, plugged it in, and roughly blew his hair for about two minutes, shaking his head around like a puppy in the breeze. He had no patience to dry his hair completely—getting it half-dry so it wasn’t dripping was already pretty obedient in his book.
Finally, he could sit comfortably on the sofa, eating his jelly and playing with his phone.
V(＾－＾)V Phone, phone! He’d been busy all day and hadn’t had time to properly accompany it—he hadn’t even done his daily game quests. He hoped his phone wouldn’t be mad at him.
He picked up his phone and saw several missed calls and a text message.
Unknown number: [Mr. Xia, hello. The package you sent from Guangyuan City has been delivered to your doorstep. Signed for by: Family member]
Xia Yiyang: “?”
That was strange—he hadn’t bought anything recently, and why was it sent from Guangyuan City to the capital? He’d never even been to Guangyuan.
He was about to call his parents to ask what it was when his mom called first.
Xia Yiyang quickly answered, holding the phone between his ear and shoulder so he could keep eating his jelly.
“Yiyi, we received the fruit you sent!” His mother’s pleased voice came through the phone. “You’ve really grown up, kid. You go out to have fun and still remember to send things home—last time it was hotpot seasoning, this time fresh fruit. Your dad and I both tried them just now, and they’re really delicious! And the packaging was excellent—each one was individually nestled like eggs in a carton, no bruises at all during transit.”
“What?” Xia Yiyang was confused, his spoon pausing mid-air. “What fruit?”
“Red-fleshed kiwis,” his mother’s voice said. “The box had your phone number, your name, and our home address on it… Could it be that you didn’t send them? But the shipping origin was Sichuan, so I assumed it was from you.”
In a flash, a certain person appeared in Xia Yiyang’s mind, and he guessed the answer: “…It really wasn’t me. It should have been sent by my—uh, by a friend of mine.”
“A friend? You’ve made such a good friend over there, and you’ve never mentioned him?” His mom pressed further. “Also, I saw your WeChat post—you went to the panda base. Did you go alone, or with a friend?”
“I went with him.”
When mentioning Sheng Lin, Xia Yiyang didn’t notice his own voice becoming unusually cheerful, as if a spoonful of popping candy had been sprinkled on his tongue.
“He’s a local, very familiar with Rongcheng, and older than me—he’s always looking out for me. We’ve made plans to go to Mount Qingcheng next week, and he’s going to take me crayfish fishing.”
“You can fish for crayfish?”
“Yeah.” Xia Yiyang repeated what Sheng Lin had told him. “Apparently crayfish are really dumb—even a straight hook will fool them.”
He couldn’t help but keep talking, from the trip to the panda base this week to see the baby pandas, to next week’s plan to escape the heat in the mountains—he rattled on and on, unable to stop.
“Mom is so happy for you,” his mother said sincerely. “I was worried, you know—you leaving home all alone to live in such a faraway city, and you’ll be studying there for four years. You’ve always been the baby of the family, a bit spoiled. I was afraid you wouldn’t adjust to the climate, afraid you wouldn’t fit in with the local culture… But now that I see you’ve made such a good friend, your dad and I can finally breathe easy.”
“Who says I’m spoiled?” Xia Yiyang immediately defended himself. “I’m not spoiled at all—I can handle things!”
“Right, right, right.” His mother played along. “Mom misspoke. You’re not spoiled—you’re our pride. Our Yiyi is the pride of the family.”
Xia Yiyang felt his nose sting, and quickly ducked his head to take another spoonful of the jelly to push the feeling away.
He chatted affectionately with his mom for quite a while, and by the time he hung up, he’d just finished the last bite of the jelly.
Click—the bathroom door swung open, and Sheng Lin stepped out after his shower. Even on such a hot day, with no air conditioning in the room, his pajama buttons were always fastened all the way to the top, at most with his sleeves rolled up.
A burst of steam billowed out of the bathroom with him, mist clinging to his short, stiff hair and softening the sharpness of his brows, lending him an extra touch of gentleness and ease.
“Boss,” Xia Yiyang held up his empty bowl to show off, “I dried my hair, and I finished my snack.”
“Mm.” Sheng Lin looked satisfied. “You behaved this time.”
“Hey, so my mom just called and said a package of kiwis arrived at home, with my name and phone number on it… Was that you?”
“What package?” To his surprise, Sheng Lin seemed genuinely unaware.
“The red-fleshed kiwis from Guangyuan.” Xia Yiyang gave a puzzled “Huh?” “So it really wasn’t you?”
Sheng Lin kept his usual poker face: “Why would I send kiwis to your home?”
“Fair enough.” The young master did a complete one-eighty and turned to walk away. “Maybe it was Brother Qin who sent them. He’s got that fortune-telling thing—tarot cards, crystal balls, pendulums—he probably divined that I love kiwis and generously sent a box to my house! I’m going to call Brother Qin right now to thank him~”
“…Come back.” Sheng Lin grabbed him by the collar. “It was me.”
The young master snorted: “You say it was you, but I don’t believe it. How did you know I wanted to send kiwis home?”
“You were mumbling about it while you ate that day—even a deaf person would have heard.”
“Where did you buy them?”
“I went to the wholesale market yesterday morning to stock up, asked a supplier I know, and it just so happened he knows a farmer in Guangyuan, so I had them ship a box directly from the source.”
“And my home address?”
“I have a copy of your ID—it’s on there.”
“And—”
The man cut him off: “Xia Yiyang, where do you get so many questions?”
The young master raised his head proudly: “Who told you to lie to me just now? Of course I have to ask until I’m satisfied.”
Still, there was one last question Xia Yiyang hadn’t figured out. Why did Sheng Lin remember a casual remark he’d made so clearly, go to all the trouble of shipping a whole box to his home, and not even ask for the money?
“—Employee benefit,” Sheng Lin replied. “You’ve been working at my shop for a full month now, and with all the delivery orders piling up lately, you’ve been working really hard every day. So I sent a box of fruit to your family as a little reward.”
Xia Yiyang drew out an exaggerated “Oh~” and asked, “So the aunties got one too?”
“They didn’t.” Sheng Lin could tell he was asking on purpose and let out a helpless laugh. “They don’t like them.”
“Oh, so they don’t like them? I thought they seemed pretty happy eating them the other day.” Xia Yiyang’s eyebrows practically danced—turns out his boss couldn’t even lie properly; his lies fell apart at the slightest poke.
—Who said crayfish were the dumbest? The young master had already found someone even dumber than a crayfish!
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