Chapter 80 "Did you miss me?"
"Then what the hell are you still doing here?!"
Lin Yao stood up straight, his voice urgent and even a little panicked, "Go find him! Now! Right now! Before that lunatic Lin Yang exaggerates or before Lu Yu finds out from other channels! Tell him everything you just told me... your humble beginnings, your 'secret joy' when you signed the agreement, your fucking love for him, and - most importantly - Lu Yu's meticulously planned 'Ninety-Nine Steps' for you, tell him everything fucking!"
He practically pushed Lin Che towards the door, his strength astonishing. "Go and beg for his forgiveness! Go hug his legs and cry! Let him know that you understand him! You understand the steps he took for you! You understand the sincerity behind his calculations! Let him know that you, Lin Che, are willing to be trapped by him! Let him know that the agreement is just a starting point, but what you have now is real! More real than real gold!"
Lin Yao spoke quickly and urgently, as if the sky would fall and the earth would collapse if he was a second slower. He really didn't want Lin Che to return to the previous state of "living worse than death" again.
"It's okay, Lu Yu is not a fool. If there is really a problem, I will solve it with him." Lin Che looked at Lin Yao's anxious look and smiled helplessly. He wanted to take a cigarette from Lin Yao, but thinking of Lu Yu's face, he didn't have the courage to retract his hand.
"Lin Yao, thank you."
Finally, Lin Che promised Lin Yao that she would treat him to a meal next time before sending him away.
————
"Boss, I want this bunch of hawthorns."
"Okay! You have a good eye, this string of sugar coating is the most beautiful!" The stall owner took off the candied haws swiftly, wrapped it in a layer of transparent glutinous rice paper, and then put it in a paper bag with small flowers printed on it. He handed it over carefully, for fear of breaking the crisp sugar shell.
In one hand, he held a hot and heavy roasted sweet potato, and in the other hand, he held a string of crystal clear candied haws that sparkled with a cool and sweet light.
Lin Che looked down at the "gifts" in her hands, imagining Lu Yu'an's sparkling eyes and surprised expression when he saw them, and the corners of her mouth unconsciously curved into a gentle arc.
He walked to the side of the road, hailed a taxi, opened the door, and got in, feeling the warm air rushing towards him.
The driver took a look at what he was holding and said with a smile, "Oh, are you buying this for your child? These sweet potatoes look delicious, and the candied haws are beautiful too!"
"Yeah." Lin Che replied simply, carefully placing the two items on the seat next to him, making sure they wouldn't fall or get bumped. He gave the address of Lu Yu's company, a subtle hint of urgency in his voice.
"Mr. Lin is here." The receptionist at the Lu Corporation was already familiar with Lin Che. They had come so often that they were familiar with him.
"Hello." Lin Che nodded and greeted them briefly.
When Lin Che pushed open the heavy glass door of the secretary's office outside the CEO's office, he was instantly enveloped by warm air and soft lighting.
The first thing I saw was not the secretary working at the desk, but a little butt sticking out in the middle of the carpet.
Lu Yu'an was lying on the thick wool blanket, his little head almost crawling under the sofa, his two short legs wearing dinosaur socks were kicking, his round little body was arched like a small bridge, and the hem of his sweatshirt was lifted up a little because of the movement, revealing a small part of his fleshy waist.
"An An?" Lin Che called softly, a smile in her voice.
The sticking out little butt suddenly stiffened, and then bounced up as if it was installed with a spring.
Lu Yu'an had a head of messy curly hair and a few dust marks on his face from the carpet. His big eyes looked over at the voice and instantly burst into astonishing brightness.
“Uncle——!!!”
The cry was filled with surprise and dependence that broke through the roof, and the ending tone rose high, like a small cannonball.
He completely forgot what he was looking for. He used his hands and feet to get up from the ground and stumbled towards Lin Che.
Lin Che quickly squatted down and opened his arms. The next second, the warm little body crashed firmly into his arms, the impact causing him to stagger slightly.
Lu Yu'an's two small arms tightly wrapped around Lin Che's neck, with astonishing strength. His furry head rubbed against his neck vigorously, like a puppy that had finally found its owner. His voice was urgent, sweet, and a little breathy: "Uncle, uncle! Why are you here? An An missed you so much! Uncle said you wouldn't come to pick me up today!"
"Uncle misses An'an too." Lin Che held him firmly, feeling the little body in his arms tremble slightly with excitement, and his heart softened. He freed one hand and gently patted Lu Yu'an's back to help him calm down.
Lu Yu'an rubbed against him like a candy for a long time before loosening up a little. She raised her little face, her eyes brightening astonishingly, and began to report impatiently: "Look, uncle! I helped you collect a lot of documents today!"
His chubby hand pointed at a neatly arranged pile of documents on the secretary's desk next to him, although some of the documents were a little crooked at the edges, and said, "I also gave candies to the uncles and aunts!" As he said this, he glanced at the imported candy jar on the secretary's desk, which was obviously much emptier.
Lin Che couldn't help laughing and was about to praise him, but the little guy's attention was instantly captured by the thing in Lin Che's hand.
His small nostrils twitched twice quickly like a small animal, his eyes widened even more, and he pointed his little finger at the bag in Lin Che's hand, his voice rising: "Xiangxiang! Uncle! It's Xiangxiang! What is it?"
Lin Che smiled and placed the bag on the low table next to her. She first took out the paper bag that still exuded a warm and sweet fragrance.
As soon as the bag was opened, the rich sweet potato aroma mixed with caramel and charcoal filled the air instantly.
"Wow!" Lu Yu'an's little mouth opened into an O shape, and his little head moved forward, almost burying it in the bag, "It's roasted sweet potatoes! So big and smells so good!" He took a deep breath, his little face full of intoxication.
Then, Lin Che took out the paper bag with the small flower print and carefully took out the string of candied haws wrapped in glutinous rice paper.
When the string of crystal clear, bright red hawthorns was fully revealed under the light, Lu Yuan let out the loudest and most surprising cheer of the day:
“Tanghulu——!!!”
He almost held his breath, staring at the string of candied haws with his big eyes without blinking.
"So beautiful! Like... like a sparkling gem!" Lu Yu'an couldn't find a better adjective. His chubby little hands wanted to touch it but didn't dare, for fear of breaking the brittle candy shell. He just waved excitedly beside it, "Is this for An'an? Uncle?"
"Of course." Lin Che smiled and carefully handed the candied haws to him. "Look, isn't it the most beautiful one?"
Lu Yuan nodded vigorously, his little head nodding like a chick pecking at rice.
He stretched out his little hand and very carefully pinched the bottom end of the candied haws stick with only his fingertips. He held it high up as if he was holding some rare treasure, looking left and right in the light. The bright red hawthorn and the dazzling candy light were reflected in his bright eyes, which were full of pure joy and amazement.
"Thank you, uncle! An An loves you the most!" He confessed sweetly, and couldn't help but move closer and carefully licked the shiny sugar shell on the hawthorn ball on the top.
"Mmm - so sweet!" A satisfied sigh escaped from the little guy's mouth. He narrowed his eyes, his little face filled with great happiness.
Lin Che's smile deepened as he looked at his satisfied expression. He took out a wet wipe and habitually wanted to wipe the little guy's face. "Look at you, like a little cat, your face is all dirty..." He lifted Lu Yu'an's little chin, but his eyes suddenly stopped.
On the chest of the little guy's sweatshirt, there was a clear, small, oily handprint. It was dark brown in color, with some suspicious debris. Looking more closely, there was also a small black mark on the heel of his dinosaur socks.
Lin Che raised an eyebrow. This mark... didn't look like carpet dust, but more like...
He raised his eyes and scanned the secretarial office. Soon, next to the carpet where Lu Yu'an had been lying, he spotted an overturned, exquisite ceramic dessert plate with the Lu Group logo printed on it.
A smear of dark brown sauce and a few sesame seeds still clung to the edge of the plate. Tumbled beside it was a lone, bitten crab roe dumpling, its filling oozing out.
Lin Che understood instantly.
He lowered his head, looking at the little guy in his arms who was still engrossed in admiring the candied haws, completely unaware of his "crime scene." Helplessly yet amusedly, he pinched his little face, which was covered in dust and sugar stains. "An An, little friend, tell me, did you sneak some snacks again? And knock over the plate?"
Lu Yu'an's movement of admiring the candied haws suddenly froze, his big eyes blinked, and his long eyelashes fluttered. Only then did he lower his head and see the oily handprint on his chest.
His mouth pursed, his eyes began to wander guiltily, his chubby hands secretly hid behind his back, trying to cover up the "evidence", and his voice became small and sticky: "I... I didn't eat it secretly... It... The snack fell by itself... An An wanted to help it pick it up..."
"When did you come?" Lu Yu appeared behind him at some point. He took Lin Che's hand and gently held him in his arms.
Before Lin Che could turn around, a warm hand naturally covered his slightly cold wrist.
Lin Che almost leaned back following the familiar pulling force, and his back instantly felt a solid and warm chest. The familiar scent of cedar mixed with a faint aroma of coffee instantly enveloped him.
Lu Yu's arms wrapped around his waist loosely, his chin almost touching his temples.
"Just arrived a while ago." Lin Che leaned relaxedly in his arms, turned her head to look at him, a smile still on her face.
Lu Yu's gaze had already fallen on the hand that Lin Che was holding Lu Yu'an with, or to be more precise, on the two Band-Aids on the inside of the joint of his right index finger.
"What's wrong with your hand?" Lu Yu's brows furrowed instantly, and the arm around Lin Che's waist tightened a little. With the other hand, he directly grasped Lin Che's wrist and lifted his hand in front of his eyes to examine it carefully.
Lin Che's hand subconsciously retracted, but Lu Yu held it firmly. "Oh, this. This afternoon, when I was sorting medical records in the office, I accidentally got scratched by the metal edge of the folder. It's okay, just a little cut."
He moved his fingers, trying to prove that it was really okay.
Lu Yu glanced at Lin Che to confirm his emotions. Lin Che seemed to sense something and subconsciously raised his eyes to look back at him.
However, the moment Lin Che raised her eyes——
Lu Yu's big hands with distinct joints rose up without warning and covered Lu Yu'an's big, bright eyes that were staring at the candied haws with incredible precision.
The broad palms tightly covered the upper half of the little guy's face, leaving only a candy-stained, dazed, slightly open little mouth.
"Huh?" Lu Yu'an's eyes went dark in an instant, and his little head moved around in confusion, his little hand still holding the candied haws stick, and he had no idea what was happening.
At the same time, Lu Yu's tall body leaned forward slightly, and his other arm tightly wrapped around Lin Che's waist, locking him deeper into his arms.
The next second, his warm lips pressed down heavily with an almost ferocious force, accurately capturing Lin Che's slightly parted lips.
"Did you miss me?" Lu Yu's breath fell beside Lin Che's ears. Lin Che suddenly came to his senses and reached out to cover Lu Yu'an's ears, but it seemed a little too late.
The little guy heard it clearly.
"My uncle said he missed me today."
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