Chapter 62 "Oh no... The boss lady is really, really, really angry this time!"
The newborn was transferred to the NICU. Lin Che dragged his exhausted body back to the somewhat deserted doctor's office. The air still smelled of disinfectant and a faint bitterness of coffee.
He took off his white coat, which was stained with sweat and unknown stains, and casually draped it over the back of the chair.
He walked to the sink and turned on the faucet. The cold water rushed over. He squeezed a handful of disinfectant hand soap and began to scrub his hands over and over again, almost mechanically.
The foam quickly turned from white to turbid before being washed away by the water.
His hands were red and wrinkled from washing, his skin was tight, and the pungent smell of disinfectant stubbornly penetrated into his nose. He continued washing until he rinsed them clean for the last time and then turned off the faucet.
My fingertips were cold and slightly numb. I subconsciously rubbed my hands on my pants before I remembered to get a tissue.
I felt something hard in my pocket; it was my cell phone.
He took it out and looked at it. The screen lit up, and three missed call notifications clearly displayed the name "Lu Yu". The interval between them was from lunch to now. He didn't know when the phone was turned to silent mode, and he missed it completely.
An indescribable sourness and guilt instantly gripped my heart, even worse than the churning in my stomach.
Lin Che leaned against the cold tile wall. The sky outside the window had begun to take on the gray-blue color of dusk, reflecting his equally pale face.
He took a few deep breaths of cold air, trying to suppress the acid reflux in his throat, then swiped the screen with his fingertips and called back.
The call was answered almost instantly.
"Hello?" Lu Yu's voice came. The background was very quiet and no emotion could be heard, but the silence itself made Lin Che's heart tighten.
"Are you busy?" Lu Yu asked, his voice low and gentle, without any blame in it.
Lin Che's Adam's apple rolled, and she tried to make her voice sound steady: "Well, there was a patient who needed emergency treatment at noon, so it delayed us a bit."
There was a moment of silence on the other end of the phone. Lin Che could almost imagine Lu Yu's furrowed brow.
Then came the most ordinary yet heart-touching concern: "Have you had lunch?"
My stomach felt empty, and the discomfort that had been suppressed by the high tension now surged up clearly, bringing with it a burning feeling of emptiness that completely overshadowed the hunger.
Lin Che subconsciously held her breath. The word "not yet" was about to slip out of her mouth, but she forced it back down.
He didn't want to make Lu Yu worry, so he paused a second before he could finish his words, his tongue touching the roof of his mouth. In the end, he chose to lie: "...I ate in the small cafeteria over by the operating room."
The other end of the phone fell silent again, and this silence was more meaningful than any question.
Lin Che could even hear his own disordered heartbeat, and he knew that Lu Yu must have heard his hesitation.
"Well," Lu Yu's voice finally rang out again, a little deeper than before, with a deliberately slowed-down softness, "That's good. Are you exhausted? Don't push yourself, find a place to rest for a while."
No questioning, no exposure.
Lu Yu casually brushed off Lin Che's clumsy lie and swallowed back all his worries and heartache.
"I understand." Lin Che replied with difficulty, only to feel an even more bitter taste in his mouth. The stone weighing on his heart was not relieved by the lie, but became even heavier because of Lu Yu's indulgence.
"Well...I'll get busy first."
"Okay, take care of yourself." Lu Yu's voice was as light as a sigh.
The phone was hung up and a busy tone sounded, and the office fell completely silent.
Lin Che's fingertips were cold as he held the phone. He remained leaning against the wall for a long time without moving.
He opened the bottom drawer of his desk. It wasn't very big, just some neatly arranged medical records, spare pen refills, and a box of almost forgotten items—a pack of cigarettes.
It was put there a long time ago, so long ago that he almost thought he had completely given up this habit. It was so long ago that a thin layer of dust had already fallen on the box.
He stared at the box of cigarettes for a few seconds, his eyes somewhat blank.
He reached out and stiffly opened the cigarette pack. There were still a few cigarettes left. He pulled one out and pinched it between his fingers. The filter felt dry. He rummaged through the drawer again and found a cheap lighter, also covered in dust.
He took a deep breath. The acrid, bitter, and tarry smoke suddenly filled his lungs, causing him to cough violently.
He bent over due to coughing, and tears naturally flowed from the corners of his eyes.
This long-lost smell, strange yet familiar, is like a rusty key that suddenly pokes open a dusty door.
The smoke swirled in my mouth and lungs, bringing a brief, almost paralyzing dizziness, mixed with a tightness that permeated my nerve endings and a constant churning in my stomach.
He leaned against the cold window glass, his profile outlined by the dim light outside the window, looking tired and tense.
The cigarette butt between the fingertips flickered, and the blue smoke swirled up, casting a vague, constantly changing shadow on the cold glass window, and then was stirred by the air in the room, silently dispersing and fading away.
————
The afternoon clinic was unexpectedly quiet. After Lin Che finished treating the last child who was coughing due to a common cold and gave them instructions, he watched the parents carry their child out of the clinic. Only then did he feel the tension in his heart completely relax.
He looked at the time and found that he had gotten off work much earlier than usual, so he didn't tell Lu Yu in advance.
He took off his white coat and put on his own jacket. The smoky grey cashmere scarf that Lu Yu had wrapped tightly in the morning was now pulled up high, almost covering most of his face, leaving only a pair of eyes exposed.
As he walked out of the hospital gate, the cold evening wind instantly swept over him. He subconsciously shrank his neck and buried his face deeper into the soft fibers of the scarf, absorbing the faint cold breath that remained from Lu Yu, while also isolating himself from some of the cold outside.
Not far from the hospital entrance, a small stall selling roasted sweet potatoes was emitting wisps of white steam. The sweet aroma was particularly tempting in the cold air. Lin Che paused and walked over.
"A sweet potato." His voice was muffled by the scarf and a little unclear.
"Okay, it's freshly baked and still hot!" The stall owner deftly picked one with a caramelized and cracked crust and handed it to him.
Lin Che paid and took the sweet potato wrapped in a brown paper bag. It was heavy, its scalding heat burning through his palms, spreading to his cold fingertips, bringing a strange, homely comfort.
He held it in both hands as if it were a small heater, feeling the real, warm touch with his fingertips.
He didn't eat it right away, but just held it in his hands. Warmth crept up his palms, seeming to soothe his empty, churning stomach a little and dispel some of the numbness in his fingertips.
Stopping by the roadside, he raised his hand to hail a taxi.
"Master, let's go to the Lu Group headquarters." The voice was still a little tired and hoarse, but very clear.
The sweet potato in his hand was so hot that his fingertips turned slightly red, but he didn't let go. He closed his eyes and felt the slight shaking of the car.
It wasn't until the taxi stopped smoothly in front of the Lu Group's imposing building and the driver reminded her that Lin Che came back to his senses.
After paying and opening the car door, the cold air hit me in the face again.
He subconsciously pulled his scarf up again, revealing only his eyes, then tightly grasped the sweet potato in his hand and walked into the outpatient hall.
The receptionist obviously knew him. Seeing him wrapped up so tightly, with only his eyes showing, and holding a sweet potato, a flicker of surprise crossed her eyes. However, her professionalism allowed her to quickly put on a polite smile. "Hello, Mr. Lin. Mr. Lu is still in the office. Do you need me to inform him?"
Lin Che shook her head, her voice muffled by her scarf: "No, thank you. I can go up by myself."
The receptionist nodded, didn't ask any further questions, and watched him walk towards the dedicated elevator area.
The elevator ascended steadily, the mirrored wall reflecting his current appearance: a turtleneck sweater, a scarf pulled high over his mouth and nose, his hair a bit messy from the wind, his eyes clearly weary, and in his hands, he stubbornly held a roasted sweet potato that looked out of place in this environment. He looked away, staring at the constantly jumping floor numbers.
With a soft "ding" sound, the elevator door slid open silently in the president's office area on the top floor.
Outside was a thickly carpeted corridor, unusually quiet, with only the faint sound of keyboard tapping coming from the secretary's office in the distance.
Lin Che immediately spotted COCO, who was whispering with her head down. He could clearly feel that the atmosphere was unusually quiet. Lin Che had just taken a step forward when COCO turned around with a look of shock on her face.
"Why are you here, Madam Boss?" Lin Che tightened his grip on the sweet potato. He could immediately see through COCO's expression of suppressed voice, obvious panic, and hesitation.
"What's wrong?" Lin Che's voice was barely noticeable, coming through the scarf.
His gaze passed COCO and turned to the tightly closed dark wooden door of Lu Yu's office.
COCO opened her mouth, glanced quickly at the closed door, and then quickly retracted her eyes. Her face was full of the embarrassment of "something bad is going to happen" but she didn't dare to say it out loud.
"No...nothing serious, it's just..." She tried to organize her words, lowering her voice even more, "Mr. Lu...is dealing with something, so it might not be convenient for him..."
Before she finished her words, a deliberately suppressed but still intense quarrel suddenly penetrated the heavy door and came out faintly.
Lin Che stood there and took a look. He roughly understood what was going on. The discomfort in his stomach that had been suppressed by the warmth of the sweet potatoes began to churn again, mixed with a strong sense of unease. He walked straight past COCO's obstruction and headed towards the office door.
"Hey! Madam Boss! Wait! Don't..." COCO was so anxious that she almost jumped up. She wanted to rush over and grab him, but she didn't dare to really stop him. She could only shout in vain in a low voice.
Lin Che's hand was already on the cool, smooth doorknob. Without even pausing, he pressed down with his fingertips, pushing the door open with ease.
The scene in the office instantly caught his eye.
Lu Yu leaned back in the large boss chair, his face so gloomy that water could drip out of it. One of his bony hands was tightly gripping the wrist of a young boy.
It can be seen that the force was so great that the boy's wrist was twisted at an unnatural angle, and blue veins bulged on the back of Lu Yu's hand, full of unquestionable violence.
The boy was leaning forward across the large desk, his other hand hanging awkwardly and embarrassedly in the air - his fingertips were only a millimeter away from the top unbutton of Lu Yu's shirt.
Obviously, he was trying to do something just now, but Lu Yu pulled him away mercilessly and almost with disgust.
The boy's face was completely pale, half of it was pain, half of it was embarrassment and panic, his eyes were evasive and his posture was in a mess.
The sound of the door being pushed open was like pressing the pause button.
The intense air flow in the office froze instantly.
Lu Yu's icy gaze suddenly lifted from the boy's wrist and fixed precisely on Lin Che at the door.
The moment I saw who was coming, a sense of panic that I had never felt before spread through my heart.
"Cheche..." Lu Yu's voice was extremely low and hoarse, with a tension that was forcibly suppressed but on the verge of losing control.
He almost immediately released his grip on the boy and stood up abruptly, the chair legs scraping harshly against the ground.
The boy who was pushed away also turned around suddenly and saw the "uninvited guest" at the door, who was wrapped in a scarf, with only a pair of cold eyes showing, and holding a roasted sweet potato in his hand.
Especially when he met Lin Che's all-seeing gaze, the last bit of color on his face faded away, leaving only embarrassment and guilt. His lips trembled, and he couldn't utter a word. He subconsciously took another step back and bumped into the corner of the table.
Lin Che stood at the door, like a statue that had suddenly been frozen.
The roasted sweet potato in his hand was still scorching hot, and the temperature burned his palms through the brown paper bag, even causing some stinging.
The bright overhead light in the office fell on him, making his eyebrows and eyes above the scarf look even more lifeless. His fingers holding the sweet potato unconsciously tightened under the unnoticed paper bag, and his knuckles turned blue and white from the force.
Time flowed in the suffocating silence. From the secretary area came the sound of COCO taking a breath, followed by a deeper silence, so quiet that you could hear a pin drop.
Lin Che finally moved.
He didn't say anything, didn't question, and didn't even look at the embarrassed boy a second time. He just walked into the office very slowly, step by step.
His footsteps were light, making almost no sound on the thick carpet, but every step felt like stepping on Lu Yu's nerves that were stretched to the limit.
He walked straight to Lu Yu's large, mirror-like desk.
Lin Che's gaze first fell on Lu Yu's shirt collar - the unbuttoned button, and the taut neck line beneath the open gap.
His gaze lingered on that area for a very brief moment, as if confirming some insignificant yet crucial detail.
There was no trace or smell left there that did not belong to Lu Yu, at least not visible to the naked eye.
After all, the boy's fingertip was just a millimeter away.
Then, his gaze slowly shifted to the pale-faced boy.
There was no anger, no questioning, not even contempt, only pure, cold, condescending disdain.
It's like looking at a piece of garbage that has accidentally gotten dirty and needs to be cleaned up immediately. It would be unnecessary to look at it any longer.
In this suffocating silence, Lin Che spoke. His voice, through his scarf, was unusually steady, even carrying a cold indifference that seemed to have nothing to do with him. "Have you finished with the matter?"
Lu Yu's heart clenched tightly at these words. He opened his mouth, a thousand words stuck in his throat, but when he met Lin Che's deep, calm eyes, not a single word came out.
In those eyes, there was only bottomless fatigue and a kind of alienation that he had never seen before and made him panic.
Lin Che didn't seem to need his answer.
He paused for less than half a second, his eyes swept over the two frozen people, and he said clearly: "Go home after you finish."
He turned slightly sideways, his eyes finally falling on Lu Yu's face, and added: "I'll wait for you outside."
After saying this, he didn't hesitate any longer. He wrapped his scarf tightly around him and buried his face deeper in it, leaving only his tired and cold eyes exposed.
He turned around, straightened his back, and walked out of the office without any hesitation. He even closed the door behind him when he left.
COCO still maintained the posture of wanting to stop but not daring to, her mouth slightly open, eyes wide open, watching Lin Che walk past her with a cold aura, without looking at her, towards the rest area next to the elevator.
It wasn't until Lin Che's figure disappeared around the corner of the rest area that COCO suddenly came to her senses. She subconsciously covered her mouth and whispered to the closed office door in a voice only she could hear:
"Oh no... it's over, it's over, the boss lady is really, really, really angry this time!"
Even though she had only met Lin Che once, she could tell that the proprietress was usually gentle and easy to talk to, but once her bottom line was touched, she would become cold and expressionless.
This is a hundred times scarier than Mr. Lu getting angry and smashing things! This is definitely the silence before the storm!
In the office.
The door slammed shut, and Lu Yu's heart felt like it was being gripped by an invisible hand, the pain so severe that he could barely breathe. The deep sense of alienation, more than any anger, made him panic.
"Get out." One word, icy cold and with destructive power, burst out from between his clenched teeth and hit the boy who was still shivering.
This time, there was no room for maneuver, no hesitation, only overwhelming hostility that was enough to freeze a person to death.
Lu Yu didn't look at him again. He pushed the chair away so hard that a metal pen holder on the table fell over. The pens inside scatter all over the floor, but he didn't care at all.
He strode towards the door, his leather shoes making a harsh friction sound as he stepped on the scattered pens.
He gripped the cold doorknob and pulled it open, but COCO was the only one left standing in the corridor with a look of "something bad is going to happen" on her face. Lin Che was no longer in sight.
Lu Yu's heart sank to the bottom. Without any hesitation, without even glancing at COCO, he quickly chased after her towards the rest area next to the elevator.
The sofa in the lounge area was empty.
Lu Yu's heart skipped a beat, and he looked around anxiously. Finally, in the shadowy corner near the huge French window, he saw the familiar figure.
Lin Che stood alone in front of the huge floor-to-ceiling window with his back to him. He was still wrapped in the smoky gray scarf, which was pulled high, revealing only a little bit of the top of his head and the taut back of his neck. He lowered his head slightly and stuffed his hands in his coat pockets.
He stood there like a silent island.
Lu Yu's steps suddenly stopped. Looking at the back of that figure, which was almost as thin as Lin Che, his throat seemed to be blocked by something.
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