Chapter 40 Chapter 40 is a gift, but also a punishment

After a few bantering exchanges, Yu Wan and Fu Zhiyao stopped talking.

They stayed in the Liao family villa for quite a long time. Discussing the cooperation was very exhausting. The two of them leaned back in their car seats to rest and recover their energy.

Soon, raindrops began to fall from the sky, from a drizzle at first to a crackling sound later. In less than five minutes, the rain poured down the car window, blurring the scenery outside the window.

Yu Wan subconsciously turned her head to look at Fu Zhiyao. He supported his chin, his eyes fixed on the car window, his expression unclear.

Yu Wan unscrewed the thermos and handed it to Fu Zhiyao: "Boss, here's the hot water I poured before I left. Would you like some?"

"I bought this new thermos, and I washed it before using it."

Fu Zhiyao glanced at Yu Wan, took the thermos from her hand, lowered his head and took a sip. It was still the right temperature, slightly hot, but not so hot that it was hard to swallow.

He suddenly felt somewhat fortunate that he had decided to transfer Yu Wan to be his secretary because he was curious and could not read her mind.

If it were someone else, he would probably overthink and become suspicious of what he heard, and eventually transfer or fire the person.

This is also why since the establishment of the President's Office, there have been only three permanent members: Assistant Director Lin, Secretary Cai, and Secretary Shang.

Being able to hear people's inner voices is both a gift and a punishment for him.

Human hearts are complex and changeable. How can one truly understand them by simply looking at their outward appearance? Possessing the ability to read minds, one can know the meaning of another's every move without having to spend energy observing or time inquiring. What a convenient and useful ability! However, it was also the ability to read minds that made him understand the dangers of society and the dirty intentions of others at the age of a teenager, and he resisted close relationships other than his family.

His parents noticed his emotions in time, gave him extra care, enlightened him, and took the initiative to bring him to cancel his engagement with Yu Jintong. They told him that it didn't matter if he didn't fall in love, get married, or have children. The world is so big, and they gave birth to him not to let him grow up according to a predetermined path, but to let him experience the world.

Before his parents passed away, Fu Zhiyao was never forced to learn how to run a business. After his parents left, he even thought about giving up and handing over the company to other directors. At least with the foundation left by their parents, the family would not have to live on the streets.

But those old foxes were not easy to deal with. Each one was more greedy than the other and wanted to empty the Fu family out. Seeing his grandmother trying to deal with those cunning old foxes alone, Fu Zhiyao finally stood up and provided shelter for his family as a shield.

To this day, Fu Zhiyao still dares not recall the scene that happened on the day his parents had the car accident, because it was too tragic. The truck was loaded with nearly eight tons of steel and rushed through the railings and the road like a beast, crashing towards the direction of his parents' car.

The truck driver who caused the accident died, the driver who was driving the car died, and his parents who were sitting in the back seat died.

Waking up from a dream in the middle of the night, Fu Zhiyao felt that the sticky sweat on his body was more like blood, trapping him in the rainy day when his parents died in a car accident.

The raindrops outside the window were crackling, with no sign of slowing down, as if they wanted to smash into his heart and crush it again and again.

After five minutes, the rain not only didn't let up, but it got heavier. The sky and the ground seemed to be reversed in an instant. Even though the wipers were working hard, the car's view forward was still severely obstructed.

Yu Wan could clearly notice that Master She had slowed down the car.

Yu Wan asked Master She, who was driving ahead: "Master She, it's raining so hard now. Can you still recognize the road? Is there a place to stop urgently? It's really dangerous if you can't see the road clearly."

Master She had already slowed down when the rainstorm began. Upon hearing Yu Wan's words, he replied, "Ms. Yu, it's not convenient to stop in this situation. There are cars on both sides of the road, and other vehicles should also slow down. Miss Yu, don't worry too much."

Unexpectedly, the next second after Master She finished speaking, a car suddenly crashed into him from the opposite direction.

Despite being fastened with a seat belt, Yu Wan's body leaned forward involuntarily, and his head hit the driver's seat pillow. He suddenly saw stars. Yu Wan didn't care whether there was anything wrong with his head or not, and hurried to see Fu Zhiyao.

"Boss, are you okay?"

Fu Zhiyao's face didn't look good, his brows furrowed tightly, and after a long while he managed to utter two words: "It's okay."

The driver, Mr. She, was also startled, but the airbag did not deploy, which means the collision was not too serious.

Master She immediately activated his hazard lights to warn the vehicles behind him and unbuckled his seatbelt. "Ms. Yu, don't worry. I'll get out and take a look."

"good."

Before Master She could get the warning triangle from the trunk, the driver of the car on the opposite side got out of his car, holding an umbrella, and walked towards him, yelling in Cantonese: "Are the eyes on your head meant to be ornaments?! You hit the front of my car and it flew off! Do you even know you were driving against the flow? It's raining so hard and you're driving so fast! Are you going to be reborn?"

Even if Yu Wan didn't understand Cantonese, she understood that the other party was in the wrong but still wanted to curse.

Master She was a little confused at first, but when he came to his senses, he began to argue with the other party anxiously, and the two sides confronted each other in the heavy rain.

"Look for yourself. You were driving in the wrong lane and on the wrong side of the road and hit us. I'm going to call the traffic police right now and have them come and sort it out!"

Seeing this, Yu Wan grabbed two umbrellas beside her and glanced at Fu Zhiyao. "Boss, I'll get off the car to help Master She get the warning sign. You wait in the car."

When I pushed open the car door, the sound of rain was instantly amplified, pouring into the car. Then, the door closed and the world returned to silence.

Fu Zhiyao clenched his palms, suppressed the rapid breathing that was heaving in his chest, and slowly raised his head to look at Yu Wan.

It was already dark, with only the streetlights and the colorful shop signs on the roadside illuminating Yu Wan's figure. In the heavy rain, she handed the umbrella to Master She, went around to the trunk to get the warning sign, walked back along the railing in the middle of the road, put the warning sign away, and returned the same way.

The rain seemed to have subsided a little, and Fu Zhiyao saw Yu Wan's face clearly. She was holding a black umbrella that was much bigger than her body, but the splashing rain still fell on her, wetting her trousers and coat cuffs.

Yu Wan didn't notice it, and suddenly lowered her head, glanced at him through the car window, turned her head, and said something to the driver.

After a moment, the car door on his side was opened.

Yu Wan spoke amidst the sound of rain: "Boss, it's raining so hard, the other car lost its steering and hit us. Master She has already called the traffic police, they're coming soon. Let's get out and wait on the side of the road for a while. It's not safe to wait in the car."

Even if it is raining outside, we have to go out. The rain is so heavy that it is inevitable that some drivers will not pay attention and hit us again.

After Yu Wan finished speaking, she realized that Fu Zhiyao had not responded to her. Yu Wan waved her hand in front of Fu Zhiyao and said hesitantly, "Boss?"

Fu Zhiyao seemed not to hear Yu Wan's voice. He arched his body and buried his head in his arms, exposing the back of his neck. His bones bulged out in a sharp arc, like a snail curled up in its shell, appearing in a state of self-protection.

"Boss? Are you feeling unwell?"

Yu Wan didn't dare touch Fu Zhiyao without permission, and asked softly with a frown.

Master She was halfway through his argument when he turned around and saw that Yu Wan and Fu Zhiyao hadn't gotten out of the car yet. He called out to her through the rain, "Ms. Yu, take Mr. Fu out first. I've already contacted a colleague, and he'll be here to pick you up soon. Please wait by the roadside!"

"good!"

Seeing several cars speeding past her, Yu Wan looked at the road blurred by the rain and decided to take Fu Zhiyao out of the car first.

After all, safety comes first.

Yu Wan called the boss again, but Fu Zhiyao still didn't respond to her. Yu Wan didn't care about anything else and lifted Fu Zhiyao's shoulders. Fu Zhiyao raised his head as well. Yu Wan was caught off guard and met a pair of dull eyes. There was no emotion in those dark eyes, only confusion and emptiness, as if he had lost the ability to perceive the outside world in an instant.

Yu Wan was stunned.

She remembered that Fu Zhiyao's parents died in a car accident on a rainy day.

And now, it’s raining and there’s a car accident, both elements are present.

Yu Wan grabbed Fu Zhiyao's wrist and realized that his boss's hand was shaking. After confirming that he would not resist, Yu Wan spoke in a slow voice: "Boss, please get out first. We are safe now. It's okay. We can just wait on the roadside for a while. Master She has already called his colleagues. We will be back to the hotel soon. It will be very comfortable to take a hot bath in the hotel."

Fu Zhiyao blinked mechanically.

Without waiting for him to get out of the car, the driver who had caused the accident came around and saw Fu Zhiyao sitting motionless in the car. He thought Fu Zhiyao was the person in charge and rushed up to him and started scolding him.

"You're going to die! You're sitting in the car like a statue. You're a foreigner visiting Hong Kong. You're wasting Hong Kong's air. Do you know who's above me? I don't want to waste my breath arguing with these two dogs!"

When the driver who had crashed the car came over, Yu Wan quickly lowered her umbrella to cover Fu Zhiyao's face, and sternly retorted after the driver finished speaking.

"First of all, we were driving normally and didn't violate any rules. Secondly, you crossed the solid line and crashed into other cars. You should be thankful no one was killed. Your ability to yell here is simply because you think we understand more about propriety, righteousness, integrity, and shame than you do!"

"you……"

Master She stopped the driver, and Yu Wan took the opportunity to bend down, take Fu Zhiyao out of the car, cover him with an umbrella, and walk quickly with him to the side of the road.

The rainwater gathered on the ground for only two seconds before flowing into the sewer through the manhole cover. There was no need to worry about water accumulation on the road, but the splashing rainwater still inevitably wet the trouser legs of both men.

Yu Wan didn't mind, as she had already been wet when she was talking to the driver. But the boss was obviously in trouble now. Yu Wan supported him and tilted the umbrella towards him as much as possible to protect him.

When I got to the roadside, I saw an iron bench in front of a shop. The parasol next to the bench was standing firm in the rain, and only the side of the bench near the handle of the parasol was relatively dry.

Yu Wan took off his coat and spread it flat on the chair, letting Fu Zhiyao sit down while he stood holding an umbrella.

Fu Zhiyao didn't react at all throughout the whole process. Compared to his previous decisiveness, arrogance and aloofness, he now seemed to have regressed and become closed, looking fragile and unwilling to communicate with the outside world.

Yu Wan did not ask why Fu Zhiyao was in such a bad mood, because she knew that some scars could never be healed in a lifetime.

Like a damp rain, it suddenly fell on a sunny afternoon.

Yu Wan stood under the parasol, making sure that the rain would not fall on her, and tilted the black umbrella in her hand towards Fu Zhiyao, leaving the remaining time for Fu Zhiyao to recover.

Inside and outside the umbrella were like two different worlds. Fu Zhiyao's blocked thoughts gradually returned to normal. His wrist was still held by Yu Wan, and the warmth of her palm came through the fabric of her shirt.

Fu Zhiyao looked up at Yu Wan in a daze. She was very close to him, so close that if he moved a little, his knees would touch her thighs. The fragrance of white magnolia mixed with the smell of damp rain filled the air. He saw Yu Wan's wet shoulders and long hair, saw Yu Wan sticking her head out to look at the situation on the side of the road, saw her slightly frowning her long eyebrows, and her eyelashes blinking lightly in the falling rain. Everything seemed to be in slow motion, reality and illusion intersected, making Fu Zhiyao unable to tell where he was.

The next second, Yu Wan's face suddenly moved closer into sight.

Yu Wan leaned close to Fu Zhiyao's ear, maintaining a suitable distance, and spoke softly, "Boss, I just contacted the hotel and asked them to make some brown sugar ginger soup. I know you don't like ginger, but it's safer to drink it to avoid catching a cold. You can go to bed early after returning to the hotel. I will sort out today's cooperation with my colleagues at the company, and I will report to you tomorrow morning when you wake up."

When Yu Wan said this, her eyes were still focused on the situation on the road, so she didn't notice that the distance between her and Fu Zhiyao was getting closer and closer.

The sounds of the world seemed to fall in an instant, the driver's scolding, the sound of violent rain, the sound of impatient wind, and Yu Wan's voice.

At this moment, he reconnected with the world.

Fu Zhiyao's fingertips trembled, and he spoke in a hoarse voice: "Yu Wan."

Yu Wan bent down and hid under the umbrella again, "What's wrong, boss?"

Her expression was normal, as if nothing had happened. Facing such a pair of bright and clear eyes, Fu Zhiyao didn't know what to say for a moment. After a long silence, he whispered, "...you can arrange it."

Yu Wan nodded: "Okay, boss, the car has arrived, let's go back to the hotel first."

"Um."

Without waiting for Fu Zhiyao to stand up, Yu Wan had already reached out and helped him up, in the same position as before, holding his arm tightly, as if he was a frail patient. The two of them were very close. Except for the time when he was drugged, this was the second time Fu Zhiyao and Yu Wan had close physical contact. The action was too intimate, but did not contain any desire or seduction, it was too simple.

Fu Zhiyao opened his mouth but said nothing in the end. His tense body relaxed and he handed the weight to Yu Wan.

Raindrops fell, carrying the light and shadow of neon lights, splattering all over the ground. In the puddles, countless Yu Wan and Fu Zhiyao were leaning under umbrellas.