This time, Wang Ning’an was not going away on a business trip. He would be stationed long-term in the capital, that glittering metropolis of luxury and excess. Wang Cheng was not worried that the prosperous city would lead him astray. He was only afraid Eldest Brother would neglect his health. Wang Cheng had called Mama Wang about it two days earlier, and she had also told Wang Ning’an to take care of himself.
“Eldest Brother, are you going to be very busy once you start working in the capital?” Wang Cheng helped him pack. His brother owned several times more clothes than he did. It looked extravagant, but someone who earned that much had every right to enjoy a little comfort.
“I’ll definitely be busy at the beginning. Why? Is there something you need?” Wang Ning’an could hear the question behind the question.
“I was thinking that if you aren’t too busy, you could take Little Sister to Jing University when she goes to register. Didn’t you attend Jing University too? We’d feel more at ease if you went with her.” After all, it would be the first time Wang Ziyu traveled so far away on her own. Their parents were worried.
“That’s still more than half a month away. What are you worrying about already?” Wang Ning’an shook his head helplessly and packed the bottles and toiletries he had brought out of the bathroom into his suitcase.
“It’ll come quickly. If I’d ever been to the capital, I’d take Little Sister myself.” Wang Cheng was not comfortable letting her travel so far alone either.
“If you want to visit the capital, that’s fine too. I can find someone to show you around. You can go wherever you want.”
“We’ll see when the time comes.”
Wang Ning’an booked a plane ticket online. This time he was going alone and would not bring any of his assistants. Headquarters would naturally assign him one or two new assistants after he arrived. He booked a Friday flight. He needed to leave for the airport at nine in the morning, board at ten-thirty, and, if the flight was on time, arrive in the capital before noon.
Wang Cheng deliberately took half a day off to accompany him to the airport. It was his first time seeing one. The vast terminal was imposing, with people everywhere.
“Here are the car keys. Find some time to learn how to drive and get your license. Once you have it, use the car however you want, but be careful.” Wang Ning’an knew his brother hated squeezing onto crowded buses in hot weather.
“Got it.” Wang Cheng took the keys. He had already been thinking about learning, but driving lessons would take time. By the time he got his license, several months might have passed and winter could already be here.
“There’s one more thing.” Wang Ning’an suddenly hesitated.
“Just say it.”
“That boss of yours. Unless it’s necessary, don’t get too involved with him.”
“Why?” Wang Cheng looked surprised.
“I’ve heard his background isn’t simple. Getting too entangled with him may not do you any good.” Wang Ning’an thought of the things he had heard during his last business trip to the capital. None of it had been confirmed, but he did not want his only younger brother dragged into any kind of trouble.
“He’s my boss. I’ll try.” Wang Cheng did not dare tell him that he and Chu Yifeng had already made their commuting arrangement.
After seeing Eldest Brother off, Wang Cheng walked out of the airport terminal and suddenly heard someone calling his name. A silver sports car reversed and stopped in front of him. Through the window, a face that was both familiar and unfamiliar appeared.
“I knew I wasn’t mistaken. You’re Wang Cheng, Leon’s employee.”
The man was Shen Yuan, Chu Yifeng’s friend, the one Wang Cheng had labeled a playboy, with peach-blossom eyes that seemed ready to flirt at any moment. But who was Leon?
“Leon is your boss.” Shen Yuan saw his confusion and explained, then warmly invited him, “Heading back? Want me to give you a ride?”
“Then I’ll trouble you.” Wang Cheng had never been one to refuse a convenient ride.
“I’ll just call you Wang Cheng. Mr. Wang sounds too distant. And don’t call me Mr. Shen either. Just call me Shen Yuan, or Brother Shen if you want.” As he drove away from the airport and onto the asphalt road, Shen Yuan glanced at Wang Cheng. Back then, he had thought the two men’s relationship was unusual, so he deliberately stayed a few extra days and invited Chu Yifeng out every day afterward. Yet after that first dinner, he never saw the two together again. Even so, he still did not believe they were merely an ordinary boss and employee.
What kind of person was Chu Yifeng? He had always been a lone wolf. Shen Yuan had never once seen him bring anyone along to a meal. Even when he was dating someone, he never introduced that person to Shen Yuan, which showed they had never mattered enough to him and were bound to break up sooner or later. Yet now he had actually brought a man to dinner with him. If there was truly nothing between them, Shen Yuan would chop off his own head and use it as a ball.
“Don’t you have work today?”
Hearing Shen Yuan chat with him as casually as if they were already familiar, Wang Cheng was not especially bothered. It was not the first time he had met someone this naturally friendly. “I came to see my eldest brother off.”
“Where are you from?”
“The countryside.” Was this a background investigation?
“Hahaha.” Shen Yuan laughed at the answer. “You really are interesting.”
Wang Cheng silently looked at him.
Shen Yuan drove him directly to the company and did not leave afterward. He parked the car and went upstairs with Wang Cheng. Unfortunately, he seemed destined to have made the trip for nothing. Chu Yifeng generally did not come to work this early. Seeing him once or twice in the morning during an entire week was already unusual.
This time, however, Wang Cheng guessed wrong.