Yu Chaoxian chuckled softly, hiding his true intentions: "You want to keep watching..."
base.
The office was quiet. Yu Chaoxian leaned back lazily in his chair, a half-smoked cigarette between his fingers, ash about to fall. His suit jacket was tossed on the sofa, and the cuffs of his shirt were folded up, revealing half of his well-defined arm.
However, there were still some faint, ambiguous red scratch marks on his arm.
Ah Jin remembered Miss Yu waving goodbye to her at the airport. Boss wouldn't get hurt easily, especially not in such a conspicuous place, unless those scratches came from Yu Tang.
Chen Diao and Ivan set off for Mexico last night, so the matters concerning the base have now come to Ajin's attention.
He reported to Yu Chaoxian on recent order status and minor changes in transportation routes, as well as that his own weapons and equipment had been replaced with a new batch.
Encountering pirates on a sea voyage is a case in point. Even if the pirates deploy helicopters, the cargo ship is equipped with guns, preventing the helicopters from flying low to board.
Therefore, sometimes, the mere presence of advanced weaponry can be a deterrent, which explains why many wealthy countries still purchase large quantities of advanced weapons even when there is no war.
In particular, some energy-rich countries, such as the United Arab Emirates, are afraid of being invaded by other countries. They have maintained contact with Yu Chaoxian for many years. If Yu Chaoxian has new weapons, they are always the first customers.
Interestingly, as soon as one of the energy-producing countries acquires a new type of weapon, the other countries will also come to Yu Chaoxian one after another.
The reason is simple: if I have something you don't, you'll panic; if you have something I don't, I'll panic.
Therefore, they are very willing to spend money to buy peace of mind.
Yu Chaoxian enjoyed doing business with them; it was lucrative and involved little trouble. They trusted Yu Chaoxian because he had many connections and could always procure military equipment from other countries, or even newly developed weapons.
So when Yu Chao first saw the energy country's order handed to him by A Jin, he asked him to handle it first.
After reviewing the orders, Ajin handed over a procurement budget and last month's accounts for Yu Chaoxian to look over.
Yu Chaoxian was very satisfied with A Jin's efficiency. "The budget is not a problem. First, send me the information on that drone company in Yingzhou."
In his attempt to seize the drone market from the Yu family, Yu Chaoxian wanted to investigate the connections behind it.
Time passed quickly, and it was already five o'clock in the afternoon. The room was quiet except for the faint sound of turning pages. On the desk, Yu Chaoxian's personal mobile phone screen lit up, and Yu Chaoxian looked up.
Ah Jin clearly felt that the man's aura had completely changed. He was certain that the message was sent by Miss Yu. The boss's laughter was always related to Yu Tang, and his anger was also related to Yu Tang.
After picking up her admission notice from the school, Yu Tang bought a plane ticket and carefully hid it away.
Having done all this, Yu Tang took out her phone and proactively reported to Yu Chaoxian. These past few days, she needed to leave Yu Chaoxian with the impression that she could be trusted, so that he would gradually lower his guard and give her more space for private activities.
She was typing away on the keyboard, saying that because Mo Fei wasn't home, she went home after picking up her materials from school and didn't go out to play.
After sending the message successfully, she paused, then added a crucial message that would greatly please him: "What time are you expected to be back tonight? I'll tell the housekeeper so she can prepare your favorite dishes."
Upon seeing the message, Yu Chaoxian raised an eyebrow with pleasure. They had only been apart for four hours, and Yu Tang had already asked him what time she would be home, and she had arrived home more than an hour earlier than his agreed time.
The past month together has been somewhat useful. Not counting the time in Fuzhou, that night in Hong Kong, and this time, Yu Tang has been contacting him for two days to ask when he's going back.
It's hard to say what time he'll be home; he can't leave because he hasn't finished dealing with things yet.
He called out to A-Jin, who was about to leave the office, "Go to the Yu residence and pick up Yu Tang. Also, buy her some of her favorite foods."
When Ajin went out, she bumped into Mickey, who was showing Mingming around the base.
Upon seeing Mingming, Ajin's usually expressionless face showed a hint of surprise. "So handsome... bald head."
Seeing this, Mickey briefly introduced the two: "A-Jin, the boss's assistant. Mingming, the newcomer, we'll be working together from now on." Since they were both working for Yu Chaoxian, the initial awkwardness between A-Jin and Mingming quickly dissipated, and their wariness was swiftly lowered, so that they could cooperate smoothly in future missions.
Seeing that Ah Jin seemed to be going out, Mickey casually asked, "Going out?"
“Yes,” A-Jin nodded, “Go to the Yu residence and pick up Miss Yu.”
Mingming added, "Go pick up your sister-in-law."
Upon hearing this, Mickey immediately turned and glared at Mingming, lowering his voice to remind him, "Don't you dare talk back! If you make someone cry and the boss can't soothe them, I'll be waiting to collect your corpse."
He used to be a mercenary, and in a way, he still is. The world is filled with sex, violence, and unscrupulous transactions, and ethics and morality are extremely weak. In his view, the fact that his boss and his aunt are together is not shocking at all; it's even quite commonplace.
But what he didn't know was that what Yu Tang feared most and couldn't bear most was that others would know about her chaotic and immoral relationship with Yu Chaoxian.
Ah Jin remained silent. He had long known that the relationship between his boss and Miss Yu was far more than just that of aunt and niece. Perhaps it was because he had been by Yu Tang's side the longest that he had seen far more than just the surface-level relationship. He had seen Yu Tang silently shed tears countless times when she was alone.
He understood better than anyone that Miss Yu was not as fragile and vulnerable as she appeared. She possessed an astonishing resilience and would never rely on her boss's comfort or the solace of others to get through life. She always managed to silently and painstakingly find some way to piece together her broken emotions little by little and then continue on her way.
Just then, a white cat jumped into Ah Jin's arms. He got out of the car, picked up the cat, fed it cat food, rubbed the back of its neck a couple of times, and then drove away quickly without lingering.
Mingming went to look at the cunning white cat: "He keeps cats too?"
Mickey glanced over and said, "It's a stray cat. It was injured before, and after it recovered, A-Jin took it in and raised it."
When Ajin arrived, Yutang was busy taking photos of the clothes and bags in her home and posting them on a second-hand website.
Yu Tang was a new user and had to register on the website first. She gave herself the username "Little Fish Hammers Big Fish" and started uploading photos after filling in the basic information.
There were a few pieces of clothing that Yu Tang particularly liked, so she kept them for herself. Actually, all the clothes Yu Chaoxian bought for her were quite suitable for her, but in order to get money, she had to reluctantly part with them.
She photographed and posted all the items she could sell on her website, but the expensive red diamond bracelet remained untouched in her jewelry box.
Not long after she posted it on the website, someone messaged her privately asking about the price of that cream-colored white bun.
Yu Tang hadn't even finished uploading the photos yet; there were several other bags with the same cream-white design, just different colors. Yu Tang even suspected that Yu Chaoxian had bought the entire series of bags. To be fair, her nephew had good taste; these bags were indeed very pretty and girly.
There was a sudden knock on the door, which startled Yu Tang so much that she almost threw her phone away.
Yu Tang hurriedly stuffed her clothes and bag into the closet. She took a deep breath to calm herself before opening the door a crack and cautiously peeking out half her head.
Only after she saw that it was her Filipino maid outside the door did her tense nerves relax slightly.
The aunt said, "Ah Jin is here. He said he's taking you to the base."
Yu Tang immediately understood that it must have been Yu Chaoxian's order.
Why would they suddenly send her to the base? Didn't they just tacitly allow her to go home? Something was off, and Yu Tang wondered if she had given herself away somewhere.
"Impossible!" She checked repeatedly; there was absolutely no one following her the whole way. She was out for less than four hours in total, her itinerary was simple, and she proactively and promptly reported back to Yu Chaoxian upon her return, behaving impeccably.
She couldn't afford to panic at this moment, so she quickly said, "Okay, wait a moment, I'll go change my clothes."
Yu Tang quickly went to the bathroom to take a shower, washing away the fatigue of her journey and making herself look more refreshed. She grabbed a piece of clothing at random, but changed her mind and put on the clothes that Yu Chaoxian had bought for her instead.
Before leaving the room, her gaze swept quickly across the bookshelf, finally settling on the unassuming, thick-covered book. She carefully tucked the book, which contained her plane ticket and acceptance letter, back among a pile of academic books, making sure its placement looked natural and inconspicuous, ensuring it wouldn't attract attention.
After doing all this, she took a deep breath, opened the door, and went out.
Yu Tang brought some freshly baked butter cookies for A Jin. She remembered that A Jin liked to eat these when A Jin took her to school before, just like Mo Fei liked to eat chestnut cake.
As usual, Ah Jin took the paper bag and put it down, saying, "Thank you, Miss Yu."
“There’s no need to say thank you between friends,” Yu Tang asked again, “We’re friends, right?”
Ah Jin didn't know how to define the relationship. He was the boss's subordinate, and Miss Yu was the boss's woman. It seemed that such a relationship couldn't be considered friendship.
He paused for a moment, then said, "Whatever Miss Yu defines it, that's what the relationship is."
“Then don’t keep calling me ‘Miss Yu’ anymore, just call me by my name.” Yu Tang was already used to A Jin’s way of speaking, and she quickly turned the topic to what she really cared about, her tone casual and natural, “By the way, didn’t he tell me to stay at home? Why did he make me come to the base with him? Is he afraid I’ll… wander off on my own?”
A-Jin glanced at her pure confusion in the rearview mirror. He guessed that the boss missed Yu Tang, but it seemed that Yu Tang was completely unaware of her importance in the boss's heart. She always seemed to place herself in a very low position, to the point that she subconsciously interpreted any form of attention or care from the boss as surveillance and control.
These were all just his guesses, and A-Jin didn't know how to answer.
"It shouldn't be," he replied vaguely, then suddenly remembered his boss's instructions, "Are you... hungry? What do you want to eat? We can buy it on the way."
Yu Tang heard this extremely familiar question, as if Yu Chaoxian had asked her the same question.
She smiled and nodded, readily taking over the topic, "Okay! It seems there aren't many good snacks at the base. Shall we go buy some freshly baked egg tarts? And that cheese pie from that shop is also very famous! We'll buy some fruit too."
Ah Jin seemed to understand why the eldest brother was so keen on buying food for Yu Tang. It seemed that only when talking about buying snacks did Yu Tang's smile look like the smile that a girl her age should have, not a smile that was deliberately trying to please her.
At 6:30 p.m., Yu Tang appeared at the entrance of the base office. The space, which had been silent all afternoon, finally came to life with her arrival.
Yu Chaoxian had Candy Company documents on his side. He stubbed out his cigarette and only glanced at Yu Tang as she pushed the door open to enter, noticing that she was wearing the dress he had bought for her.
The man ignored her and let her wander around aimlessly, sometimes coming closer and sometimes going further away. The huge office was almost too big for her to navigate.
Seeing that he seemed completely absorbed in his official duties, Yu Tang carefully picked up the shopping bag on the table and tried to leave quietly.
"Where to?" Almost the instant she turned around, Yu Chaoxian's lazy voice came over.
Yu Tang froze, wondering if she had disturbed him, since she had been moving so gently.
"Go wash the fruit," she gestured, shaking her shopping bag.
Yu Chaoxian didn't look up from his documents, only grunted, "Go ahead."
Yu Tang pondered carefully. Did this mean she had to report even something as simple as washing fruit to him? His mind was truly as small as a pinhole.
She carefully divided the washed and cut fruit into portions, leaving a special set on the coffee table in the outer lounge for A-Jin and the others. After a while, she returned to the office with a delicate fruit platter and gently placed it beside Yu Chaoxian.
He watched as she casually took the wine he hadn't finished and replaced it with freshly brewed Pu'er tea.
Yu Tang always subconsciously cared about these things. Drinking tea was better than drinking alcohol. Wasn't her brother's cerebral infarction caused by smoking and drinking?
Of course, this has nothing to do with liking someone; it's just that he doesn't want Yu Chaoxian to follow in his brother's footsteps. It's an almost instinctive worry about his family's health.
The sweet and fruity aromas wafted over, lifting Yu Chaoxian's spirits considerably. He was even happier when he discovered that Yu Tang had taken away his wine. Yu Tang truly cared for him; she had always cared for Yu Yanting in the same way.
After delivering the fruit and tea, Yu Tang consciously moved away from his office area. She took the sliced pineapple, quietly nestled on the sofa some distance away, and ate it in small bites, trying not to make a sound, completely invisibly, so as not to disturb his work anymore.
Yu Tang sat quietly reading on the sofa. The last rays of the setting sun peeked through the gaps in the blinds, casting dappled patterns on her collarbone.
When Yu Chaoxian looked up, he happened to see the wind brushing past her hair. The black hair was tinged with the afterglow in the backlight, and then slowly fell down, finally settling quietly on her collarbone.
He was somewhat lost in thought when his fingertips unconsciously tapped on the smooth tabletop, producing a crisp sound that brought him back to his senses.
Then, he said in her direction, "Come and see."
Yu Tang tilted her head and looked over, a genuine look of confusion on her face: "Won't this disturb your work?"
Previously, Yu Yanting wouldn't let her go to the study when he was working.
"Not breathing means it's not a disturbance." She ate pineapple on the sofa, crunching away like a rabbit munching on a carrot.
Yu Tang couldn't help but retort in a low voice, "If I don't breathe, won't I die?"
As she slowly approached, she didn't forget to mutter a very soft retort: "And your breathing is disturbing my reading..."
And there it was again, that cowardly yet defiant expression.
She's actually quite cute.
She had barely dawdled to the desk and hadn't even had a chance to sit down when Yu Chaoxian grabbed her face and said, "Yu Tang, do you think you can take back ten sentences when I say one? Huh? I told you to come over here, so hurry up and come over."
Yu Tang winced in pain and was about to protest when A Jin knocked on the door.
Ah Jin presented another new order. This order was somewhat unusual; it wasn't for weapons, but rather a commission from an international charity requesting Yu's Logistics to transport a batch of emergency relief supplies to a war-torn region.
A rough estimate suggests that the fuel and cost of sending a special plane on this trip alone far exceeds the value of the goods themselves.
Yu Chao glanced at it first, not even mentioning the loss-making deal. He sold the guns to Fuzhou, and then sent medical supplies to Fuzhou. He could fight and recover health at the same time, like a perpetual motion machine.
Ah Jin also felt that the boss wouldn't be interested in this order, but the order still needed to be approved by the boss, and he couldn't make decisions on his own.
Yu Tang, who had always been indifferent to the family business, was drawn to the words "charity" and "relief" on the order. She even moved closer from the sofa, pointing curiously at the document, and looked up at him, "You...you do charity work?"
Yu Chaoxian looked up from the document and his gaze met those dark, moist eyes. Yu Tang was staring intently at him, her eyes gleaming with an unusual light.
He had never seen Yu Tang look at him with such a lingering gaze before. Was it... adoration?
"Of course." Almost without hesitation, the man gave an affirmative answer. Yu Chaoxian liked the way Yu Tang looked at him now.
This answer warmed Yu Tang's heart.
Yu Tang suddenly realized that she might have misunderstood Yu Chaoxian a lot in the past. She had always thought he was callous and cold-blooded, only interested in profit, but she never expected that he would do charity work in private! This made Yu Chaoxian's image in her mind brighter and more three-dimensional.
Indeed, everyone has two sides; one should never generalize. She thought to herself.
Yu Tang's expression also turned serious, and she asked pleadingly, "Then... could you add some more feminine hygiene products to this batch of supplies? The girls over there must really need them."
“You can have anything you want,” Yu Chaoxian replied without hesitation. He even enjoyed the feeling of being “taken” by her. “If you want anything else, just tell Ajin.”
The man tapped the order form with his fingertip and looked at Ah Jin, "Donate in Miss Yu's name."
Ah Jin's eyes widened as if he'd seen a ghost. The boss doing charity? Forget about him, even Chen Diao, who'd been with the boss the longest, had probably never heard of it.
Yu Tang felt ashamed, since she hadn't contributed any money. She waved her hand and said, "It's not appropriate to use my name. It's your money, and I didn't do anything."
Ah Jin thought to herself, "Miss Yu is really too modest. Her role is so important. If it weren't for what she just said, the boss would never have been associated with the word 'charity' in his life."
Yu Chaoxian waved his hand to the outside, and A Jin went out and closed the door behind him.
Only the two of them remained in the office. Yu Chaoxian looked at her and repeated, "Everything I have is yours. Did I say you could have whatever you wanted?"
Yu Tang looked up at him, puzzled. She had heard these words several times before, but she had never quite understood their meaning. Did it mean... he was going to divide the inheritance among her? Now that her brother was in a coma, the Yu family business depended entirely on him to function. Was his repeated mention of this implying that she should ask for a certain amount?
"Can I have just a little bit?" she asked tentatively, holding up a very small distance with her finger. "Don't worry, it won't be much."
As long as she doesn't starve, that's fine. It would be best to give her cash so she can survive until she graduates from university. Although she can apply for scholarships in university, she has a clear understanding of herself and knows she probably doesn't have the ability to get them.
Looking at her timid yet earnest expression, Yu Chaoxian was too lazy to say anything. Who was it that had so brazenly said, "Can't I have you?" Now she's getting more and more timid, and her memory is getting worse and worse. That night when she cooked instant noodles for him, she said she wanted him and promised to "remember what she said that night," but now it seems she hasn't taken a single word to heart.
Given her memory, well, she needs to do math problems several times to remember them, so Yu Chaoxian decided not to argue with her.
Yu Tang pulled her into his arms again and made her straddle his lap.
Yu Tang's cheek was forced against his chest.
This position made her ears burn; he always preferred to hold her tightly in front of him like this whenever they did that. Yu Tang instinctively tried to lift her leg to break free.
"You forgot again, didn't you? Don't move around." Yu Chaoxian's voice was deep and warning, and he raised his hand to give her a light pat on the buttock.
Yu Tang instinctively tried to dodge, but instead sank even deeper into his arms.
Having witnessed too much death, Yu Chaoxian had long lost the concept of "life".
But now, Yu Tang was warm in his arms, her eyes and brows so vibrant, her strong heartbeat resonating with his through her chest.
Yu Tang's soft breath brushed against his neck, causing him to look down. Yu Tang was also looking up at him, her dark eyes innocent and confused, as if asking him, "Are you afraid I'll die?"
Are you scared?
In that instant, Yu Chaoxian suddenly remembered why he had insisted on killing Howard. He didn't have to kill him. To let a proud idealist live a life of crippling pain was the real torture.
But then, Howard casually crushed an ant with his foot.
It was Howard's action that made Yu Chaoxian want to kill him.
Howard killing Yu Tang was as easy as killing an ant. So how could Yu Chaoxian not kill him?
Yu Tang didn't know why Yu Chaoxian suddenly fell silent, nor did she understand what he was thinking in that moment of quiet. All she wanted to do was get off his lap.
"Brother Xian, Brother Xian..." Yu Tang whispered in his ear, repeating the same trick over and over again, waiting for him to get annoyed with her.
To everyone's surprise, Yu Chaoxian had no intention of stopping her at all. He raised his hand and stroked her wrist, a smile playing on his thin lips, "What are you yelling about now?"
"Aren't you tired of holding me like this?" Yu Tangyi straightened her back, blocking his view of the documents, trying to annoy him so that he would let go of her.
Yu Chaoxian didn't listen to what she said; he only wanted to kiss her soft, fragrant lips, and that's exactly what he did.
The man's kiss was slow and extremely gentle, lingering on her lips, his breath so close it was almost touching her face.
They even touched nose to nose.
This tender kiss, devoid of desire, felt both unfamiliar and terrifying to Yu Tang, yet he kissed her deeply. Yu Tang opened her eyes halfway through; Yu Chaoxian's eyes were closed, his drooping eyelashes trembling slightly, and his sharp features suddenly showed a rare gentleness.
Yu Chaoxian doesn't look scary at all like this.
She was always afraid to meet those dark eyes, sharp and dangerous, as if they could see through her every thought.
Yu Tang was a little stunned. It seemed that Yu Chaoxian wasn't so scary after all, if he continued to be so gentle...
But her lapse in attention was quickly noticed by the man. Yu Tang caught a glimpse of his slightly unfocused eyes as he opened them, a look that seemed distant and lost in thought—a gaze Yu Tang was unfamiliar with. Yu Chaoxian should always be clear-headed and sharp.
The two gazed at each other silently for a long time, her image reflected quietly in the man's dark pupils. She saw herself in his eyes, a look of confusion and bewilderment on her face. Why did she show such an indescribable expression? Even though Yu Chaoxian didn't continue kissing her, but simply remained pressed against her lips, Yu Tang didn't think of pulling away.
The room suddenly became so quiet that they could hear each other breathing. Yu Chaoxian chuckled softly, "Do you want to keep watching, or do you want to keep kissing?"
He knew that Yu Tang liked to look at him.
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