President Wang’s cold still had not cleared up after an entire week. In fact, it had gotten worse. When he brought Wang Xi Yuan downstairs to find An Zi Yan, he looked haggard. His sycophants were extremely worried and tried every possible way to offer remedies for his cold. By comparison, Wang Xi Yuan seemed completely heartless, but then again, a child’s mind was not fully developed yet. She abandoned the sickly President Wang, ran over to An Zi Yan, and hugged his leg. “Big Brother~~ Big Brother~~ hold me~~ hold me~~.” It had practically become Wang Xi Yuan’s catchphrase. Mai Ding was certainly not going to get jealous of a child. Poor Xi Yuan even had to beg An Zi Yan to hold her. Mai Ding was completely different. Every time, An Zi Yan was the one who forcibly hugged him, and Mai Ding could not push him away even when he tried.
“Yuan Yuan, cough, cough cough, Daddy…”
“Big Brother, hold me.” Wang Xi Yuan did not listen to President Wang at all. Seeing his daughter plead so desperately while An Zi Yan remained unmoved made President Wang’s heart ache. He glared up at An Zi Yan. “As your superior, I order you to hurry up and hold her.” An Zi Yan clicked his tongue in annoyance. “I have things to do.” Even though he said that, he still picked Wang Xi Yuan up.
President Wang kept rubbing his nose with tissues until it was bright red. “I feel awful. What’s going on?”
“Maybe you’re too old. You should retire and go home to rest.” An Zi Yan was probably the only person who would dare say something like that directly to President Wang’s face. To make matters worse, his heartless daughter started giggling.
“Dream on. No matter what happens, I’m not giving my position to you.”
“Is that so? Your daughter is in my hands.” An Zi Yan’s tone reminded Mai Ding of a kidnapper in a movie. Wang Xi Yuan played along perfectly, wrapping her arms tightly around An Zi Yan’s neck. “I want to stay with Big Brother.”
“Yuan Yuan, men can’t be trusted! How many times has Daddy taught you that?”
While they were talking, Manager Cui happened to walk in from outside. President Wang immediately returned to the intimidating demeanor of a superior. “Old Cui, the week you promised is up. Don’t put me in a position where I can’t answer to everyone.”
“There’s only a little left. I can give it to you for review tomorrow. I guarantee that not only you, but every executive will be satisfied.”
“Let me take a quick look first.”
Manager Cui glanced behind him. Someone immediately nodded and brought the documents over. President Wang skimmed through them. As one of the company’s executives, he was not someone who could not distinguish right from wrong. The company’s interests still came first. “This really is good. Yan, you should look at it too. Old Cui has been in Public Relations for many years. There are still things you can learn from him.” Manager Cui smiled. “It won’t be too late to let Manager An see it tomorrow once everything is finished.” President Wang nodded and handed the documents back to him. Bored by the adults discussing dull matters, Wang Xi Yuan complained that she was hungry and wanted donuts. An Zi Yan put her down, and she ran straight to Mai Ding and tugged on his pants. “Little employee, go buy some.” Then she sniffed Mai Ding’s clothes and asked softly, “Are you still wearing Big Brother’s old clothes?” The question drained the color from Mai Ding’s face. If he had known Wang Xi Yuan was coming, he should have borrowed some of Fan Shao Jun’s cologne and sprayed it on himself. It was too late now. He could only stammer, “Y-yes.” Wang Xi Yuan turned to President Wang. “Daddy, give the little employee more money to buy donuts. Also, I don’t like the dress you bought me last time. Can I give it to the little employee?”
Mai Ding clearly saw An Zi Yan turn his head away. This is all your fault, and you still dare laugh! Mai Ding screamed inwardly. His coworkers once again gave him looks usually reserved for a pedophile, while President Wang looked as though he wanted to kick Mai Ding out of the company immediately.
“Fine. Whatever you say.” President Wang stared at Mai Ding as he spoke, and Mai Ding felt as though his gaze was about to bore holes through his body.
“Daddy should eat a donut too. Maybe your cold will get all better after you eat one!”
“Then Daddy definitely has to eat one. Mai Ding, get me a sugar-free one. If you buy the wrong thing…”
He’s trying to find an excuse to fire me, isn’t he?! While nobody was looking, Mai Ding shot An Zi Yan a pleading look. An Zi Yan merely shrugged as though it had nothing to do with him. What’s the point of getting married?! What use is a husband who doesn’t care whether I live or die?!
While carrying out the donut-buying mission on which his job and future apparently depended, Mai Ding never stopped cursing An Zi Yan. Unfortunately, his curses were all harmless things like make him hit one wrong note on the piano or make him unable to find his tie. No god or witch would ever bother helping him with curses that pathetic.
Mai Ding cleverly guessed that President Wang wanted a sugar-free donut because he might have diabetes. To show how thoughtful he was and keep frosting from the other donuts from getting onto President Wang’s, he asked for an extra paper box and had two sugar-free donuts packed separately. Why two? The reason was simple. Another person he knew also did not like sweet things. Carrying two bags full of donuts, Mai Ding headed back toward the company. A gust of wind blew past and he shrank into his collar. Looking up at the heavy, dim clouds, he thought it seemed like the weather was going to turn colder again. Mai Ding did not know when he had begun to hate winter. It was not because of the cold, nor because everything withered. Last winter had brought Mai Ding far more than simple gloom.
Mai Ding looked down at the bags in his hands again and muttered to himself, “Considering how hard I worked to buy these donuts, a lot of good things had better happen today.”
When he returned to Public Relations, nobody praised him for running the errand. Instead, they kept complaining.
“You took forever. We’ve all been waiting to eat the donuts President Wang is treating us to.”
“Exactly. You didn’t secretly eat some outside before coming back, did you?”
“Sending someone we can’t trust to buy food was clearly a mistake.”
Mai Ding shouted angrily, “Then go buy them yourselves! Why did you have to send me?!” Sharp-eyed Fan Shao Jun noticed a woman from Finance walking over and hurriedly urged Mai Ding, “Quick, get the donuts out of sight. The glutton is coming. If she sees food, she’ll take all of them. The women in Finance are basically bandits. They control our salaries, so they do whatever they want.”
“No way.”
Guo Ping soothed Wang Xi Yuan, who was already impatient to eat, telling her to wait a little while as he urged Mai Ding on. The other male coworkers did the same. People, especially men, never completely outgrew a certain childish boyishness no matter how old they became. Mai Ding had no choice but to carry the bags toward An Zi Yan’s office, only for An Zi Yan to stop him. “Don’t put stupid things in my office.”
“Why?!”
“It ruins the overall aesthetic of my office.”
“Manager An, could you please stop saying things that make no sense?”
“You still can’t put them in here.”
Mai Ding ground his teeth. He had nearly forgotten there was one person here even more childish than the rest!