Chapter 52 Creating the Future
"Hey? Mr. Ling, what's this?" Song Ze pushed his gold-rimmed glasses that had slid to the tip of his nose. The expensive mechanical watch on his wrist shone coldly under the fluorescent light. As soon as the six o'clock chime sounded, Ling Shen had already buttoned the cufflinks of his custom-made suit, and a relaxed atmosphere lingered around him.
Ling Shen lowered his eyes and adjusted his tie clip, the luster of obsidian flowing in the shadows. "What? It's time to get off work, aren't you leaving?"
He looked up at his assistant sitting on the leather sofa. The tablet on his knees was still showing densely packed reports. His knuckles slid mechanically across the screen, and his eyes behind the lenses were bloodshot.
Song Ze's fingers tightened around the tablet, the stylus drawing messy lines across the screen. He stared out the floor-to-ceiling windows at the gradually darkening sky, then glanced at the pile of documents on his desk. His Adam's apple moved.
"But, the quarterly summary hasn't been released yet..." Before he could finish his words, Ling Shen had already pressed the down button for the elevator. The blue light of the metal button reflected on his well-defined profile, with an unquestionable decisiveness.
"Oh, then go ahead." Ling Shen's voice came mixed with the sound of wind in the elevator shaft, and the black figure quickly disappeared into the slowly closing elevator door.
Song Ze subconsciously took two steps forward, his hand suspended in the air stopping ten centimeters away from the elevator panel. His knuckles turned white from the force, and in the end he could only watch the numbers on the display rapidly jump from the 32nd floor to the B1 floor.
"Hey, that boss Ling who doesn't like to work overtime is back again. It seems that Mr. Su must be back too." Song Ze shook his head and walked out of the office. Anyway, the boss had gone home, so why should a small assistant like him work overtime? Song Ze thought so and walked briskly towards the elevator.
The sound of leather shoes stepping on the marble floor echoed in the corridor. Before Song Ze's hand touched the elevator button, the sharp sound of high heels suddenly sounded behind him.
"Song Zhu, there is a document that needs urgent processing. Oh, and this..." The secretary caught up with a folder that was half a person's height, her messy hair sticking to her flushed cheeks.
"It's time to get off work." He curled his lips into a smile, but his back teeth were sore from biting. From the corner of his eye, he saw the setting sun outside the floor-to-ceiling window, tinting the glass amber. He suddenly remembered the relaxed smile on Ling Shen's lips when he said, "Don't always think of yourself as a perpetual motion machine," before he left.
The secretary held the documents and looked at Song Ze's face, which was obviously gritting his teeth but still smiling. He took a few steps back in fear, turned around and ran in the other direction, "Oh, Song Zhu, take care."
Song Ze stared at the secretary's back as she walked down the corridor in a "Fast and Furious" style wearing ten-centimeter high heels. The tapping sound of her red patent leather heels hitting the ground sounded like dense drumbeats. He walked into the elevator in astonishment.
It was not until the automatic door dinged open and the scorching sunset hit his face that he squinted his eyes as if waking from a dream.
Since Ling Shen went abroad, he had hardly seen the afternoon sun. He was a little uncomfortable with the sudden arrival of work on time. Song Ze thought so and shook his head in self-mockery.
Su Nian washed the last cup and placed it in the cup rack. The ceramic cup bottom made a crisp sound when it collided with the wooden cup rack. Li Li also stretched and said, "Boss, I'm leaving first."
"Li Li, wait, I have something to ask you." Su Nian turned off the faucet, and water droplets fell from her fingertips into the stainless steel sink. This sentence made Li Li's foot, which was about to step over the threshold, dangle in mid-air, and when she turned around, she brought a gust of cool wind.
Under the warm yellow light of the bar, a cup of steaming jasmine tea was pushed in front of Li Li. She lowered her eyes to stare at the unfurling petals in the cup, her fingertips unconsciously stroking the raised vine patterns on the cup wall.
"Boss, just tell me what you want to say." The glass made a slight sound on the solid wooden table, as if urging Su Nian, who was hesitant to speak, to finish his words.
Su Nian repeatedly wiped the already dry table with a tea towel. "I want to ask, are you willing to come to work in the bookstore? Of course, if you don't want to..."
Before she could finish her words, Li Li suddenly knocked over a chair, its metal legs scraping against the floor with a harsh sound. She leaned forward, her hands on the bar, her eyes gleaming like stars. "I do, I really do!"
Su Nian looked at the excited Li Li and asked her to sit down with a smile. "Don't get excited, as long as you are willing. I will pay you the highest salary. You are familiar with the daily work, I believe you can do it."
After Li Li's excitement subsided, she suddenly remembered something and looked at Su Nian with some uneasiness, "Boss, you're not still..."
"What are you thinking about?" Su Nian pulled out a gold-stamped notebook from behind him, with the ginkgo bookmark Ling Shen gave him tucked between the cover pages.
"I originally opened this bookstore on a whim, and you guys gave me the motivation to keep going. But now I want to go out and explore with him, so naturally I need someone to help me run the bookstore."
Li Li breathed a sigh of relief, her ponytail swung as she moved. "That's good, boss. Don't worry, I will definitely take good care of the bookstore!"
She hummed a tuneless song as she pushed open the glass door, the copper bell above it ringing cheerfully. The streetlight at the alley entrance stretched her shadow far out, and she bumped into Ling Shen, who had just turned into the alley.
Li Li skipped out of the bookstore and saw Ling Shenhai at the corner of the alley and waved to him. Ling Shenhai looked at Li Li in surprise as she ran away excitedly, feeling confused.
This girl had always been indifferent to him. Aside from that time he'd repaired the bookshelf, he'd never been treated well by her since. What was going on this time? Ling Shen pushed open the bookstore door, puzzled.
"What's wrong?" Su Nian looked at Ling Shen's expression as if he had seen a ghost, and couldn't help but asked with a smile.
Ling Shen shook his head. "I just ran into Li Li. What happened to her?"
Su Nian put away the cup, "Oh, you mean Li Li. I invited her to work in the bookstore. She might be happy."
"Why did you think of hiring someone? Are you too busy? Or are you tired?" Ling Shen walked to the bar and helped Su Nian clean up.
Su Nian wiped her hands and looked at Ling Shen steadily. "It's not that I'm tired, nor am I busy. It's just that I want to spend more time with you. Instead of having you always accommodate me."
"A Nian..." Ling Shen looked at Su Nian in front of him with some helplessness, and for a moment all the words were stuck in his throat.
Su Nian smiled and held Ling Shen's hand tightly. The two of them slowly walked to the window, where the sun still had one last ray of light.
"I don't want you to always be waiting for me." Su Nian turned his head, his eyelashes casting a trembling shadow under his eyes. He raised his hand to touch Ling Shen's eyebrows, which were gilded by the setting sun, the color of honey. As his fingertips brushed the bridge of his nose, he felt the warm breath gently brushing against his skin.
"This bookstore carries the past, but I want to create a future for us with you."
Ling Shen wrapped his arms around Su Nian's waist from behind, his chin gently nuzzling the soft hair on the side of his neck. A scent of cedar and ink enveloped him, and Su Nian could hear a low resonance in his chest, like a single note plucked from a cello.
The chimes of a distant clock tower announced the time, startling a few white doves that flew across the darkening sky. Ling Shen's voice drifted into my ears through the twilight: "Okay."
In the last rays of the setting sun, Su Nian saw the tenderness surging in the other person's eyes, like the sea water flowing over the beach at high tide, with irresistible heat and determination.
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