After the New Year holiday ended, the company became busy again. Public Relations barely had time to rest because of the new product’s publicity and promotion. Before the holiday, An Zi Yan’s frequent absences had allowed Manager Cui to gain a considerable advantage. President Wang had not said anything to An Zi Yan, but several of the other executives were dissatisfied, so they had the departments under them drag their feet on providing the materials An Zi Yan needed.
Mai Ding deeply understood the feeling of having rain pour in through a leaking roof, but was that not simply how life worked? Sometimes it did not stop just because it had already hurt you once. Mai Ding anxiously tried to comfort himself. His tolerance for pressure was poor, and he felt the knot in his chest rising into his head again. He often developed headaches for no apparent reason, could not sleep at night, and spent his days feeling weak all over.
He did not want to tell An Zi Yan. This was not the time to add to his worries. But An Zi Yan noticed very quickly. The moment Mai Ding came home from work, An Zi Yan asked directly, “What exactly has been wrong with you lately?” He was actually asking Mai Ding that question. Did he not know? Did they not live in the same space?
“Nothing’s wrong.”
“Mm?”
“Really. Nothing.”
“I want the truth, Mai Ding.”
“I-I’ve just been having some headaches. It’s nothing serious, just something minor. A little rest and I’ll be fine.” Mai Ding told the truth in the end. An Zi Yan frowned, gave him no chance to say anything else, and pulled him straight downstairs. Mai Ding stumbled after him down the steps. “Where are we going?”
“The hospital.”
“I’m not…” An Zi Yan turned and looked at him. There was something indescribable in his eyes. Mai Ding could feel the hand gripping him tighten, as though An Zi Yan might crush his wrist at any moment. In a cold voice, An Zi Yan asked, “Do you want me to lose you too?” Without waiting for Mai Ding to answer, he pulled him downstairs again. Watching An Zi Yan’s back, Mai Ding thought: Grandpa’s illness had cast a shadow over him.
Sitting in the car, Mai Ding kept trying to prove to An Zi Yan that it was probably some minor problem like anemia. An Zi Yan said nothing, his expression cold the entire way. Only after a round of examinations and the doctor diagnosed Mai Ding with a nervous-system disorder did An Zi Yan’s expression finally ease.
As the doctor entered prescriptions into the computer, he said, “It was brought on by too much stress and not enough sleep. Remember to go to bed earlier, relax, stop overthinking, and maintain a healthy daily routine.” Mai Ding nodded obediently on the outside while thinking: If I could go to bed early and relax, I wouldn’t be in the hospital in the first place. Easy for you to say.
Whenever you went to a hospital, you should prepare a bag in advance, because no matter what illness they found, you would always leave with a pile of medicine. Mai Ding stuffed the medication into every pocket he had until they bulged. Ever frugal, he pulled out his phone and started searching the prices of each medicine online to see how much the differences were.
“What exactly are you thinking about all by yourself?”
“Work hasn’t been going very smoothly lately, has it?” Mai Ding did not mention An Zi Yan’s recent gentleness.
“What does that have to do with you?”
“I’m an employee of the company too.” Mai Ding was still searching on his phone. When he entered the name of the tablets from one of the small boxes, the results said it was a prescription medication, a type of sleeping pill. Mai Ding had only ever seen sleeping pills in movies, especially Western ones where some gloomy male lead swallowed them with alcohol before bed. He had always thought sleeping pills belonged to a world far removed from his own. Now he suddenly felt like one of those movie protagonists, sensitive, complicated, needing sleeping pills just to fall asleep.
“An Zi Yan, these are sleeping pills.” His tone was almost boastful, as though he had acquired something wonderfully artistic. He shook the medicine. “Do you know what this means?”
“It means the doctor thinks you’re hopeless and wants you to take sleeping pills and kill yourself.”
At the crowded hospital entrance, Mai Ding stopped walking. People rushing past bumped his shoulder, but he remained frozen in place, his paused body containing nothing but a violently beating heart. Had An Zi Yan just mocked him? Had he actually made fun of him again? An Zi Yan noticed Mai Ding had not followed and turned around. “Why are you crying like an idiot?”
Scars always faded eventually. Mai Ding’s An Zi Yan was back.
I don’t want to admit it. I really don’t want to admit that being insulted by you could make me so happy I’d cry. Is there something wrong with me? I don’t want your gentleness.
After Mai Ding’s coworkers found out he was sick, not only did he receive no sympathy, he was mocked instead. Fan Shao Jun sat with one leg crossed over the other as he typed. “Wow, what a delicate illness you have. A nervous-system disorder? Looks more like an endocrine disorder to me.”
“I think it’s kidney deficiency.”
“Could you put a little more thought into your work?” Mai Ding complained. Feng Fei Meng helplessly flipped through some documents. “What can we do? Several executives up top want An Zi Yan to suffer a little, so it feels like we’ve been isolated. Just look at those people gloating over there.” The people Feng Fei Meng meant were Manager Cui and his subordinates.
“Is it really that serious?”
Guo Ping nodded seriously. “Marketing is the department we work with most closely. They can’t do without us, and we can’t do without them. Take this promotion campaign. If they don’t give us the market-research reports, we can’t move forward. The executives have already hinted at what they want. Even Zhu Qiang can’t do anything about it. He isn’t the only manager in Marketing.” Hearing Guo Ping, Mai Ding became depressed all over again. An Zi Yan was practically being pushed out of the company. Those damned executives. Bullying Mai Ding was one thing, but how dare they bully An Zi Yan? It was not as though An Zi Yan cared about staying at their lousy company. Plenty of places would want him. Mai Ding indignantly defended An Zi Yan in his head. He frowned, bit down on his pen, and forced his brain to come up with some kind of solution.
An Zi Yan walked out of his office and tapped Mai Ding’s desk with one finger. “Come with me.” Before Mai Ding could ask anything, An Zi Yan had already walked away, so he hurried after him.
“Where are we going?”
“Stop asking questions. Just follow me.”
An Zi Yan did not enter the elevator. After looking around to make sure no one was nearby, he walked into the stairwell. Mai Ding immediately grew nervous and wondered whether An Zi Yan had brought him along so they could sneak up to the eighteenth floor and murder an executive. Instead, An Zi Yan went downstairs. When they reached the fifth floor, a man was already waiting for them. It was Cao Cheng Yi. He handed An Zi Yan a document and walked away without saying a word. Mai Ding followed An Zi Yan upstairs again, thoroughly confused, and finally could not resist asking, “What did he give you?”
“The market-research report.”
“No way!” Mai Ding exclaimed, then quickly lowered his voice in alarm. He finally understood why Cao Cheng Yi pretended not to know An Zi Yan very well at the company. He was obviously An Zi Yan’s spy!! Mai Ding stared at An Zi Yan’s back. Terrifying. When had he planned all this? Not wanting to offend this demon, Mai Ding began flattering him. “You’re amazing. Now you won’t have to worry about getting Marketing’s documents anymore.”
An Zi Yan gave a contemptuous snort. “I didn’t do it for such a stupid reason.”
“Then what reason could there be?”
“Figure it out yourself.” An Zi Yan tapped the document against Mai Ding’s head. Mai Ding thought about it again. If this unexpected situation had not happened, An Zi Yan would never have needed to deliberately get information from Cao Cheng Yi. Then what exactly was the point?
“I can’t figure it out.”
“Good thing I never had any expectations for your intelligence.”
“Then why did you make me guess?!” Mai Ding pouted unhappily. An Zi Yan shrugged. Mai Ding still refused to give up and asked again, “What is it?”
“For the future. I’m going to push Cao Cheng Yi into a Marketing manager position.”
Was this demon planning a coup?!
One question had been answered, only for another to appear. Why had An Zi Yan deliberately brought Mai Ding along? He had kept this secret from him for so long, so there was no need to tell him now. The answer came quickly in An Zi Yan’s next sentence.
“If you have this much time to worry about my problems, worry about your own intelligence instead. Don’t forget to take your medicine on time at noon.”
You bastard. If you want to cure me, it’s not going to be that easy. You’ll have to love me even more first!