What did he mean, “I won’t get angry with you either”?
After taking his sleeping pill, Lu Sili lay in bed thinking about that sentence and silently concluded that there was no such thing as someone who never got angry. Sooner or later, Su Yuan would be driven mad by him too.
After all, Lu Sili was not exactly easy to get along with.
The meeting was scheduled to start at ten in the morning. As usual, Lu Sili woke at seven, sat in bed with his laptop and worked through some tasks in the office automation (OA) system for a while, answered several emails, and when he looked up again, it was already eight-thirty.
Lu Sili got up and washed. His stomach rumbled twice, but it was only making noise. He did not actually feel hungry. The hospital report had explained why: complications from irregular eating and excessive suppressant use.
He suddenly remembered Su Yuan telling him the night before that the hotel could deliver breakfast to the room. Lu Sili had always known that, of course. He stayed in high-end hotels whenever he traveled. He simply rarely used the service, partly because business trips were always busy and partly because his eating habits were poor to begin with.
But remembering what Su Yuan had said, and seeing that he still had time, Lu Sili finished rinsing his mouth, called the front desk, and ordered breakfast.
Hokkaido was below freezing and deep in snow season. A thick layer of snow covered everything outside.
The hotel was built around a courtyard. Outside Lu Sili’s window was a classic Japanese garden. Heavy snow had buried the grass completely, and only bare trunks and branches remained on most of the trees, though there were still a few patches of green plants that Lu Sili could not identify.
Near the window was a low tatami table. The breakfast the hotel had delivered sat on it, and Lu Sili ate while looking out at the snowy garden from the warmth of his room.
The meeting began on time. The same people who had been laughing and fooling around in the hot spring the night before now arrived with carefully prepared presentations, taking turns reviewing changes and achievements in their countries’ film markets over the past year, along with plans for the next.
Discussions about art were broad. They were never as simple as how many films they planned to make or how many would be imported and exported.
Every country had different film policies, land area, and population. As the world’s second-largest film market, China had even more to discuss and explore.
By the end of the day, Lu Sili was so tired his vision blurred.
Even Fiona, who was usually excellent at maintaining her work state, pounded her head and said it was killing her.
“But I did pretty well, right?” Lu Sili asked.
Fiona sprawled across a tatami cushion, still massaging her temples with both hands. “Very well. But Jake was way too pointed. He kept bringing up censorship approval.”
Lu Sili said, “They have their advantages.”
Fiona gave a soft scoff, rolled over, sat up, and blinked slowly to settle herself before saying flatly, “Too bad the Asia regional office isn’t going to be set up in Korea.”
“True. The market is smaller, and…” Lu Sili was reviewing the meeting notes Fiona had taken that day, checking for anything missing, and naturally began analyzing the issue before Fiona interrupted him.
Her temples had gone red from how hard she had been pressing them. She lowered her voice. “I had drinks with Alfonso yesterday. He let slip that the Asia regional office is going to be established next year.”
Lu Sili looked up.
“Did he say who they’d choose?”
“No.” Fiona paused, apparently organizing her thoughts. “He only said, objectively, that someone at headquarters proposed it during the annual meeting. Bob’s exact words were that the proposal had been put on record.”
Bob was the president of F&A.
For the past four years, someone had proposed creating an Asia regional office every year, and every year the answer had been to revisit the matter later.
Lu Sili slowly lowered his eyes and thought for a moment. He remembered that early in the year, Parker had also mentioned that he was undergoing a promotion review.
If Parker really was promoted, he would probably have no time to keep overseeing the scattered Asian branches himself, which would explain why an Asia regional office needed to be established.
That made sense.
Lu Sili looked at Fiona. “Then how do you know Jake isn’t in the running?”
Fiona said, “After we finished talking about it, Alfonso asked me at the end whether I was afraid my workload would increase again.”
“That’s a bit of a stretch,” Lu Sili said.
Fiona propped her cheek on her palm. “There’s a fifty percent chance it was a hint.”
Lu Sili followed smoothly, “And a fifty percent chance that this romantic, amorous Italian man has designs on this cute new assistant.”
The two chatted while resting. Objectively speaking, China was the most likely location for the Asia regional headquarters.
The biggest unstable factor was that compared with Jake and Otsu, Lu Sili really was too young for an executive and had too few years of work experience.
“I have to do something,” Lu Sili said.
The moment he finished speaking, someone knocked on the door.
Lu Sili startled, but Fiona reacted naturally. As she stood, she said, “Probably Su Yuan.”
Why probably Su Yuan? Lu Sili did not understand. From Fiona’s point of view, what standing did Su Yuan have to knock on his door this late at night?
But it really was Su Yuan.
“Did the meeting go smoothly?” Su Yuan looked as though he had only just come back from outside. The chill had not yet left him, and he carried a box wrapped in coarse blue cloth.
Lu Sili noticed that his ears were still red and the ends of his hair slightly damp, probably from moisture condensing in the cold air outside.
Fiona welcomed him in, then prepared to leave.
“Fiona, stay and have something too.” Su Yuan stopped her and lifted the box in his hand. “I brought back something good.”
Fiona looked a little embarrassed and turned toward Lu Sili.
“Mm. Eat with us,” Lu Sili said.
Meanwhile, he complained inwardly, Why are you looking at me? We’re not a real married couple! You know that. Why are you trying to leave?!
He had not finished reviewing the meeting notes. Lu Sili pushed his computer aside and moved the cups and fruit in front of him so Su Yuan could place the box on the table.
The three sat cross-legged around the low table. Lu Sili still could not help glancing at his laptop screen. Work always had a grip on his attention.
Fiona, meanwhile, watched Su Yuan open the box with anticipation. She was genuinely hungry.
“Wow.” The usually steady and experienced Fiona let out an unexpectedly cute little sound, then immediately covered her mouth.
A little undignified.
But the exclamation successfully pulled Lu Sili’s attention over.
It was cheesecake.
Su Yuan laid out the plates and spoons that had been packed with it for each of them. “Western-style confectionery. I went to Otaru today and saw that this shop was doing good business, so I went in and brought back a cake. I heard Hokkaido’s milk and eggs are excellent, so cakes made here have a particularly good texture.”
By the time he finished speaking, the cake had already been cut. Lu Sili, who had not had much appetite, caught the faint milky fragrance and unexpectedly felt a little hungry.
“Here.” Su Yuan placed the first slice on the plate in front of Lu Sili.
Lu Sili looked up at him. “Thank you.”
On a snowy night in a foreign place, eating a bite of soft, fragrant cheesecake in such a warm room unexpectedly soothed the mind.
Su Yuan had eaten quite a bit while visiting several shops in Otaru during the day and was not hungry. Right now, his attention stayed on Lu Sili’s reaction.
Lu Sili took one bite, then two, then three…
He finished the entire slice.
“Do you like it?” Su Yuan asked.
Lu Sili and Fiona answered at the same time, “It’s good.”
When it came to food, Lu Sili had a very limited vocabulary. It felt as though, because of the suppressant problem, it had been a long time since he had really tasted how wonderful food could be.
“I’d heard Hokkaido’s milk was excellent. These past two days, whether it’s the milk coffee or the desserts, everything has been incredibly smooth, richly fragrant, sweet without being cloying.” Fiona delivered her review.
The corners of Su Yuan’s mouth lifted as he looked at Lu Sili.
Lu Sili tucked both hands against his thighs and nodded hard. “Mm-hm!”
“As long as you like it.” Su Yuan was not annoyed by Lu Sili’s perfunctory answer. Instead, his smile deepened, his eyes curving beneath his lenses as though he were genuinely happy.
“But don’t eat too much at night either. It’ll burden your stomach.”
“Thank you,” Lu Sili said.
Su Yuan stood. “Then I’ll head back. Don’t work too late.”
Lu Sili nodded and watched him leave.
He really wanted to do something to repay the favor. Accepting Su Yuan’s care unconditionally like this made him feel awkward.
“Director Lu.”
“Mm?”
Fiona leaned against the back of her chair. “Still working?”
Lu Sili said, “Are you tired?”
Fiona did not hide it. “Mm. My brain worked too hard today, and now I’ve eaten something delicious. I just want to shower and sleep.”
“Go rest. I’ll finish reading this and rest too,” Lu Sili said.
Soon Lu Sili was alone in the room. While continuing to read the notes, he ate another slice of cheesecake. By the time he finished, it was almost midnight.
He did not know whether it was because he had consumed so many carbohydrates and so much sugar late at night, but his head felt a little woozy. Lu Sili could feel himself drifting off before the sleeping pill even had a chance to take effect.
The next day’s schedule was similar. Su Yuan went out sightseeing by himself while Lu Sili and Fiona attended meetings.
The difference was that today’s meetings were shorter and ended around noon. Parker’s plan for the afternoon was skiing.
Lu Sili did not have the stamina, so he basically just went along.
While they were preparing for dinner, Parker and the others asked where Su Yuan was. Lu Sili had received a message from Su Yuan that morning saying he would not be back until around nine, so he told his colleagues Su Yuan had gone out on his own.
“On your honeymoon? That’s tragic.” Parker took a sip of his drink and said, “We’re leaving tomorrow. You and your husband could stay another two days.”
Lu Sili smiled without saying whether they would stay.
The dinner and drinks lasted until after nine. The moment Lu Sili returned to his room, he threw up.
“Director Lu, should I call a doctor?” Fiona rubbed his back gently, visibly worried.
Lu Sili said no.
He had not actually drunk much. The pressure of the past two days had simply been too much for his body. He told Fiona to go back and rest, insisting he was fine.
After cleaning up briefly, Lu Sili carelessly stripped off his clothes and shoes, took some sedative medication from his medicine bag to ease his symptoms, and crawled under the covers.
A night’s sleep would fix it.
Because of the sedative effect of the medication, Lu Sili slept deeply. In a haze, he sensed someone touching his face and moving his body around, but no matter what, he could not wake up.
When he woke the next morning, Lu Sili discovered that the clothes he had thrown around had all been tidied up, the clean clothes he was supposed to wear that day were hanging on a rack, and there was even a glass of clean water on the bedside table.
“Wasn’t that you?” Lu Sili asked in confusion.
Fiona had just refused to accept Lu Sili’s thanks and explained, “It was probably Su Yuan. He came back not long after you fell asleep. When he heard you’d been drinking, he insisted on checking on you, so I gave him the spare key card. Why?”
Lu Sili took a sip of rich mocha and, unusually, made a joke. “Nothing. I just woke up thinking a Snail Maiden had sneaked into my room overnight.”
Fiona laughed. “A Snail Gentleman.”
Elio’s Notes: The “Snail Maiden” comes from a Chinese folktale about a mysterious woman who secretly cooks and keeps house for a kind young man. Fiona’s “Snail Gentleman” is her playful gender-flipped version of the reference.
The work in Hokkaido was over, but a mountain of work was still waiting back in Licheng.
Parker and the others had to transfer in Tokyo and had already left. Lu Sili’s flight did not require a transfer, so after packing briefly, they prepared to head for the airport.
Su Yuan had gone out early again and bought who knew what. He had somehow acquired an extra suitcase.
Seeing Lu Sili looking, Su Yuan explained, “I found a lot of tableware I liked, so I bought a little more.”
“That’s nice.” Lu Sili was not the type to travel abroad and buy tableware, but he respected the choice.
Su Yuan smiled. “I’ll keep it as a souvenir. What about you? Did you keep anything as a souvenir?”
Lu Sili said, “No.”
The three of them rolled their suitcases through the entrance courtyard and saw Jake asking his assistant to take a photo of him with an instant camera.
“elio! Want a picture?” Jake invited enthusiastically. Then he immediately said hi to Su Yuan, came over, and said, “I’ll take a photo of you two together as a souvenir.”
Lu Sili instinctively wanted to refuse.
“Sure, thank you. We really do want a few photos to remember the trip,” Su Yuan said.
Lu Sili looked over.
Fluent English. So he had heard and understood every word of the conversation at the hot spring that day.
Lu Sili felt rather embarrassed that he had not explained Su Yuan’s identity at the time.
Lu Sili was pushed into standing beside Su Yuan in the snow-covered courtyard. The two of them stood there like statues.
“Three, two…” Jake counted down.
Lu Sili raised the corners of his mouth into a polite camera-ready smile. Su Yuan suddenly wrapped an arm around his shoulders. Lu Sili’s body stiffened and resisted slightly, but he heard Su Yuan whisper, “If we’re putting on a show, we may as well do it properly.”
Jake pressed the shutter. “Good!”
The photo slowly slid out of the camera. After what felt like an entire century of developing, the two figures appeared on the film.
In the two-dimensional world of a photograph, there was no ABO. They looked extraordinarily well matched.
The way Su Yuan leaned slightly toward him carried an inexplicable intimacy that made Lu Sili feel too hot to take the photo himself.
“I really like it. Thank you,” Su Yuan said to Jake.
Jake laughed, then turned toward Lu Sili and waited for his approval.
Lu Sili’s skin was very fair, and the below-freezing air had flushed his cheeks. He could only smile and “admit” it, then shake Jake’s hand. “I really like it too.”