Before they even made it home, Mai Ding asked in the car, “Does Uncle Fu dislike me? He never seems very willing to see me.”
“Other than Grandpa and me, he rarely even sees my dad.”
“He’s been taking care of Grandpa privately for many years?”
“Mm. More than twenty years.”
“At his age, he should have a family of his own too, right?”
“He has a son.”
Mai Ding had actually wondered whether the man he saw meeting An Zi Yan might have been Uncle Fu, or rather, he had hoped it was Uncle Fu. But no matter how he tried, the details did not fit. Uncle Fu should be older, while the man Mai Ding saw looked only a little over thirty. They were not relatives and would not use family seniority titles casually, so there was no way An Zi Yan would call a man in his thirties “Uncle.” It was not very polite to pry into someone else’s private life anyway, so Mai Ding stopped asking about Uncle Fu and switched topics. “What are you going to do about the Hobbit? You never discuss anything with me. We’re supposed to be honest with each other.”
“When you get rid of your habit of overthinking everything and tying yourself in knots, I’ll consider that proposal.”
“I don’t do that.” His denial lacked conviction. “Absolutely not.”
“And,” An Zi Yan tapped his fingers against the steering wheel, “why don’t you try being honest about how you curse me and insult me in your head every day?”
How does he know that?! Mai Ding felt even guiltier and forced out a smile. “I think maybe we shouldn’t be too honest with each other after all. It’s better to keep a little mystery.” He was only good at criticizing other people and finding grand excuses for himself. Afraid An Zi Yan might ask exactly how he cursed him in his head, Mai Ding pressed his face against An Zi Yan’s arm. “Don’t doubt my love for you. How could I curse you and insult you in my head? I’m not that kind of person. Let’s never talk about this again, okay?”
“I’m driving. I don’t have time to hit you. Behave.” Mai Ding obediently sat upright. He remembered that the Hobbit problem still had not been resolved. Threatening people was wrong. He would need to think hard tonight and find a way to clean up after An Zi Yan. Sigh. Luckily, Mai Ding stood firmly on the side of justice and could always pull An Zi Yan back whenever he started sliding toward the edge of morality. Suddenly feeling rather noble, he muttered to himself, “I’m absolutely indispensable to you.”
Cars roared past beside them, drowning out An Zi Yan’s reply. “Mm. You are.” Mai Ding only watched the car speeding away. No one knew whether he had heard clearly.
It was already very late when they reached home. On the stairs, they ran into the newlywed couple returning as well. They were holding hands tightly and leaning into each other. Yu Rong Mei asked, “You’re back pretty late too.”
“Mm. We just got off work. What about you?” They climbed the stairs together. An Zi Yan walked ahead with a cold expression and took no part in the conversation.
“We went to a nearby bar for a little while. You look pretty tired.”
“Mm. A lot happened at the company today.”
“That sounds exhausting. Oh, right, here.” Yu Rong Mei took a box of tea bags from her shoulder bag. “I just bought these. They’re good for your health.” Mai Ding waved his hands. “You don’t have to be so polite.” Yu Rong Mei pushed the tea into his hands. “You’re the one who shouldn’t be so polite.”
“Thanks.”
“We’re neighbors. We should look out for each other.”
They wished each other good night and went into their respective homes. The moment Mai Ding stepped inside, he asked, “You still don’t like them?” An Zi Yan peeled off his clothes as he walked toward the bathroom. “Dirty.”
“That’s such a rude answer. I still don’t understand what you’re seeing.” Mai Ding followed behind him, picking up the clothes from the floor. “You only told me to stay away from them. You don’t even get angry when I talk to them. Deep down, you probably doubt your own instinct too.”
“I just don’t want someone accusing me again of restricting his right to make friends.” If Mai Ding remembered correctly, An Zi Yan was talking about the Lu Wei incident. Mai Ding pursed his lips. “That happened forever ago. You really hold grudges.” His expression turned complicated as he complained and tossed the dirty clothes into the washing machine.
Two days after the incident with the Hobbit, the man came to Public Relations himself, deliberately choosing lunchtime when nobody else was around. At the time, Mai Ding was in An Zi Yan’s office rambling about something pointless. The moment he saw the Hobbit arrive, he ducked under An Zi Yan’s desk without even thinking. Although he had spent every day wracking his brain for a way to clean up the mess, his mind was still completely blank. He whispered instructions to An Zi Yan. “If I think you’re saying something inappropriate, I’ll tug on your trouser leg. Don’t use a bad tone, and definitely don’t threaten him. Nothing serious has happened yet, so just bluff your way through and smooth things over.” He had barely finished when the Hobbit pushed the door open, glanced around, and put on a deliberately calm expression.
“President Yang, what brings you here today?”
Under the desk, Mai Ding tugged An Zi Yan’s trouser leg. His tone sounded a little too cold. He should have said something more like, President Yang, what favorable wind blew you all the way here? That sounded much warmer. At least it did according to Mai Ding, though it sounded more like a brothel madam greeting a customer in an old movie.
“Did that friend of yours contact you after the gathering or say anything to you?”
“Friend?” An Zi Yan asked as though he did not understand. “Who do you mean?”
Good job! Mai Ding had not expected An Zi Yan to actually listen to him and abandon the threat route. He had been terrified that An Zi Yan would say something like, Stop making trouble for the company or I’ll expose your attempt to rape Ellen, then drag them both into a vicious fight that ended with neither side backing down. The thought that An Zi Yan had listened so obediently made Mai Ding so excited that he could barely control himself. Under the desk, he hugged An Zi Yan’s leg. An Zi Yan kept staring at the Hobbit without changing expression and casually nudged Mai Ding away with his foot, very much like an owner trying to shoo aside a pet dog that was getting in the way.
“The blond woman.”
“You mean Ellen? We’ve only met a few times. We’re not close.”
“I see. I thought…” The Hobbit stopped himself, hesitating over whether he should tell An Zi Yan. After standing there for a moment, he decided caution was better and turned to leave. Just as he was about to step through the doorway, An Zi Yan said mildly, “Did something happen? If President Yang has run into some difficulty, perhaps I can help. Privately.” He deliberately emphasized the final word. President Yang stopped. A few seconds later, he glanced outside, made sure nobody was there, then closed the office door. “I can tell you, but you can’t tell anyone else.”
“Mm.” Something about An Zi Yan’s attitude made people feel compelled to trust him. The Hobbit sat in the chair across from the desk. “At the gathering that day, I might have had a little too much to drink. In my car, I accidentally touched her. Then that woman called me today saying she was going to report me. I originally wanted to settle it with money, but she refuses to take anything.” The Hobbit’s version was extremely restrained.
“Since it happened in your car, even if she wants to report you, she won’t have much evidence. As long as you deny it, the matter should eventually disappear.” Seeing that An Zi Yan seemed to be on his side, the Hobbit relaxed a little. “If only it were that simple. When she ran out, there were people nearby who saw her. The way she looked and acted made it seem like I’d really raped her. I didn’t actually do anything. It would still be best to settle this privately. If word gets out, it’ll hurt me badly. And if my wife finds out…”
“As far as I know, she’s a spoiled young lady from a wealthy family. Money probably won’t solve this very easily.” Under the desk, Mai Ding had completely lost track of what was happening. All he wanted was for An Zi Yan to pretend he knew nothing and dissolve the problem. He never imagined An Zi Yan would now be sitting there discussing with the Hobbit how to deal with Ellen.
By this point, the Hobbit was treating An Zi Yan like a trusted confidant. “I came to you because I thought, since you’re friends with her, maybe you could help persuade her.” He looked utterly troubled, brow furrowed. An Zi Yan remained silent for perhaps two or three minutes. The Hobbit’s usual arrogance was nowhere to be seen. A man who normally would not even look directly at An Zi Yan was now asking anxiously in a low voice, “I don’t know anything about that woman. I don’t even know where she is, so I can’t contact her at all. Could you…” A faint, almost invisible smile touched the corner of An Zi Yan’s mouth. “Leave it to me. I’ll take care of it for you.” An Zi Yan’s expression did not change, though one hand reached beneath the desk to idly play with Mai Ding’s hair. Mai Ding had already tried several times to push it away.
“Really?”
“Mm.”
“That’s great. If you can settle this for me, I’ll owe you a huge favor. If you ever need anything in the future, just ask.”
“You’re too polite.”
After that, the Hobbit dropped plenty of hints about giving An Zi Yan gifts or money, but An Zi Yan refused every one of them. That only made the Hobbit like him more. Once he heard people returning to the office outside, he stopped taking up An Zi Yan’s time and left. The moment he was gone, Mai Ding crawled out from under the desk, rubbed his numb legs, and stared at An Zi Yan without looking away. Demon! Schemer! He had been the worst person from beginning to end, yet somehow he had transformed himself completely into the good guy and made Mai Ding worry for nothing. At least the Hobbit had not noticed a thing.
“You…” Mai Ding’s words were cut off by An Zi Yan’s sudden attack. Flushing, he pushed An Zi Yan away and wiped the lingering warmth from his lips with the back of his hand. “I-I’m going back to work. I don’t want to talk to you.” He fled with absolutely no dignity, afraid that if he stayed another second he would fall into the demon’s trap too.
The tumor of Public Relations not only stopped causing trouble, he began praising An Zi Yan frequently in front of senior management. Zhou Ge and Ellen received an enormous collection of beautifully made uniforms from every profession imaginable. Mai Ding carried An Zi Yan’s devious secret and swore he would never tell anyone. He would keep watching An Zi Yan do more bad things. He would keep watching, and keep helping him guard even more secrets.
And so the final outcome was this: other than Mai Ding, who believed himself to be a good person and therefore suffered pangs of conscience, all the bad people lived happily ever after without a care in the world.