Chapter 20: It's okay to be polite
According to Zhuo Can, this chance encounter on a rainy night was just an episode. When they returned to the company, everyone would do their own things and there was no need to bring their private friendship to work.
Besides, helping others doesn’t really mean you have any friendship with them; it only proves that the boss is a kind person.
Unexpectedly, when he passed by the transparent president's office and saw Lu Song talking to several people inside, he wanted to slip away, but was stopped by Lu Song and greeted generously.
And instead of calling him Manager Zhuo, he was called Xiao Zhuo.
It is a very common way for juniors to address their seniors, and for superiors to address their subordinates using the combination of "Xiao" and "surname". There is nothing special about it.
If this boss calls others by a combination of their surname and position, it seems different if he just calls him Xiao Zhuo.
The conversation that followed was even more inexplicable.
"You didn't catch a cold yesterday?"
“Ah…ah? No, no…”
"That's good."
"Thank you, Mr. Lu. I really troubled you yesterday."
"fine."
This conversation is neither ambiguous nor normal, in that it is more or less not so clearly distinguished between public and private. If someone with ulterior motives slightly misinterprets it, the whole company will be in turmoil in no time.
Everyone around them was looking at them.
Zhuo Can faced all kinds of looks from others, as if he had become a villain who was trying to curry favor with the powerful. He was simply speechless and had no idea what to say.
Fortunately, Lu Song smiled and helped him explain: "It rained heavily yesterday, so I gave Manager Zhuo a ride."
Since the boss said so, the employees naturally had no objections. They just flattered him a little and then went on with their work.
Once you have smoothed out the surface, you can't control what others think or say behind your back.
This made Zhuo Can anxious for the whole day.
First, he was promoted as the youngest to be the head of the new department, then he gave him a ride on a helpless rainy night, and now he is unusually close to him.
If it were someone else, they might have already found a way to establish another relationship.
But Zhuo Can's thinking process was different from others. He wondered if he had done something wrong and that Mr. Lu wanted to get rid of him?
Well, not in a illegal way. More precisely, they fired him from the company.
Not to mention that they have no grudges against each other in the past or present, even if Mr. Lu dislikes him and wants to fire him, the boss can just say a word, so why go through so much trouble to be roundabout.
Zhuo Can was puzzled and worried.
After hearing the whole story, Qi Rui gave him a slap on the head without saying a word.
Zhuo Can covered his forehead, angry and confused: "What's the matter?"
Qi Rui was so disappointed: "Can'er, why are you so stupid? It's obvious that the boss has taken a fancy to your talent and wants to take you to the top! Why don't you hurry up and get on with it!"
Zhuo Can was still confused: "Go? What? Where does my talent come from?"
Qi Rui sighed deeply, "You always say you're unlucky, and it's true that your circumstances don't quite match yours. But you still have a solid foundation, otherwise you'd be sleeping on the street long ago. Look, you're young, smart, and hardworking. If I were the boss, I'd give you priority for promotion. Why are you so unsure of yourself? Okay, okay, don't think so much. Just work hard and try to move up while your new boss is guiding you. Then you won't have to worry about your future."
“…Is that so?”
While Zhuo Can was hesitating, Xiao Hui came over holding Mian Li and said, "Fight for your child."
Mianli leaned over from her arms and opened her arms for Zhuocan to hold her.
Zhuo Can's heart hung in the air for a whole day, and then it settled back to the ground as the weight of the little body returned to his arms.
Zhizhi followed reluctantly, as if she really wanted to go with Mianli.
Taotao, who has always been aloof and unwilling to see people, actually followed.
Zhuo Can asked Mian Li: "When did you become so close to them?"
Mian Li looked down at the cats, one rubbing against Zhuo Can's trouser legs, the other trying to pounce on him with its tail drooping. He rubbed his chin like the people on TV and made a condescending expression: "Because Li Li is the Lord God."
The adults were all amused.
*
After the last experience of a sudden heavy rain, the weather hadn’t cleared up in the past few days. Zhuo Can didn’t dare to take the chance again and took the children back by public transportation.
After taking the subway several times, Mianli complained that he couldn't see outside and it was full of people, so he changed to the bus.
Zhuo Can didn’t like public transportation before, and there was nowhere to sit. The young man took the lead and walked from the station to the exit. The subway is much safer than the bus.
Now when I take care of a little child, it seems like the world looks at him differently. He suddenly becomes a key group of people who receive special care, and people always give up their seats for him.
Zhuo Can was very nervous and didn't want a young and strong man like him to take up the seat, so he let Mian Li sit down.
The little fairy's legs are too short to reach the ground, so he keeps shaking his feet, turning the bumpy bus ride into an amusement activity.
Sometimes I feel bored with my back to the window, so I turn around and kneel on the chair to look outside. I see cars running side by side, cyclists with bamboo helicopters and ducklings on their helmets, or billboards rustling in the wind. I look and say "Wow", and the scenery moving backwards seems to be the most bizarre thing in the world.
After being scolded by the old lady sitting next to him for not considering the safety of the child, Zhuo Can never again dared to allow this behavior.
Risk warning: Good children should not imitate this.
After the bus arrives at the stop, it's still ten minutes away from the community. In the past when he was a bachelor, Zhuo Can would check his phone and listen to music, or simply ride a shared bicycle and get home quickly.
Now that he has become a stay-at-home dad (Zhuo Can feels the need to correct this, as he is single and can be considered a stay-at-home "brother" at best), this journey can take him half an hour to walk if he has to make some delays.
The noble Lord God is unwilling to walk on his own feet and must be carried everywhere.
He wants to see butterflies, okay, stop and lift people onto the flowers;
If you want to see the kittens, fine, Zhuo Can will squat next to the bushes and wait;
If you want to walk to the bridge a few kilometers away, fine, then just take a detour;
Even if it means chasing youth in the sunset, Zhuo Can has to carry Him and run.
Fortunately, the little fairy used some magic to make himself very light, and turned Zhuo Can into a limited strongman, otherwise the human would have been exhausted to the point of having a herniated disc.
Being a parent is not easy. Zhuo Can decided to call his parents in the evening to show his concern and buy them some gifts.
Zhuo Can was both happy and sad to see such dedication.
The good news is that Mian Li does bring a lot of difference to his dull daily life. The quirky boy, who is sometimes childish and sometimes profound like a little adult, plays a completely different note in his straight path from nine to five.
Because of Mianli, he sees his friends more often, observes the world more carefully, works with more energy and purpose, and has a different connection with the unfamiliar outside world.
What's more, the little god seemed to be a lucky turning point in his unfortunate life.
From big things like being noticed by the boss and getting a promotion and a raise, to small things like never missing the subway again, the little moments of brilliance in ordinary days add up to great miracles.
It can be said that before meeting Mian Li, Zhuo Can's world had been filled with continuous rain and gloom with no end in sight.
Only after the arrival of the Sleeping Ceremony did the first ray of sunshine appear, and it seemed that the clouds were clearing and the sun was coming out.
Sadness is also very simple, just like he picked up a unique night pearl, bought a dust cloth and dust cover that he clearly could not afford, and even spent a lot of money to install 24-hour monitoring, taking good care of it day and night, not only spending financial resources but more importantly, mental effort.
Rather than being afraid of thieves, I am more aware that one day the owner will come back to claim the lost items.
——And he had no choice but to offer it with both hands.
If I had told him a few months ago that a short period of time together would make him develop an inseparable affection and dependence on a child, he would definitely not have believed it.
Now that I'm involved, I have to believe it even if I don't want to.
Zhuo Can sat on a bench in the garden, chin in his hand, bored, looking at Mian Li who was half floating in the air and easily established communication and leadership relationship with the wild cat.
He was not only a babysitter, but also a bodyguard on guard, guarding against both ordinary people and the gods' messengers: the slightest sign of trouble would make him think that a man in white had appeared and was trying to snatch the little god away from him.
I don't know if this can be considered as unnecessary worry.
The date of execution was notified in advance.
Zhuo Can sighed deeply.
When will it come? Give me a definite news.
*
After Zhuo Can's persistent adjustments, Mian Li's nighttime routine was finally almost synchronized with his, and she was able to get a full night's sleep.
But there are conditions: you have to drink milk before going to bed and listen to a bedtime story.
Drinking milk was entirely Zhuo Can's own fault.
In order to teach Mianli that humans, especially human cubs, should sleep well at night, he found a lot of promotional videos about infants and young children, and learned with Mianli how to coax his baby (and himself) to sleep.
After reading a bunch of them, Zhuo Can asked, "Do you understand?"
Mian Li nodded seriously.
Zhuo Can breathed a sigh of relief: "Then can I sleep well tonight?"
Mian Li said, “Okay.”
Zhuo Can thought there must be no buts.
"but--"
Okay, there is a but.
Mianli pointed at the baby on the screen and said, "Lili wants that too!"
Zhuo Can took a closer look and saw the baby holding a bottle.
He laughed: "That's something only babies a few months old use."
Mianli blinked, lay down immediately, pulled the quilt up to cover his nose, exposing his eyes, and pretended to cry like a baby.
Zhuo Can was completely confused.
What is this operation?
Mianli looked at him with disdain, as if to say, "Why are you so stupid?" She sighed, raised her thumb and sucked it, then made herself look both innocent and righteous: "Lili is also a baby."
Zhuo Can: “…”
There is such an operation.
Well, the old father admitted defeat and bought milk bottles and milk powder made of high-end materials.
The three-year-old baby was lying in the soft quilt, holding a bottle of milk, and his round eyes kept following Zhuo Can's movements.
The adults who were packing up caught His gaze and asked, "What's wrong?"
Mian Li's voice was cheerful: "Tell a story~!"
Zhuo Can was overwhelmed when he heard these three words.
As a boring science and engineering man who has been single since birth, Zhuo Can’s mission is to deal with numbers, not words.
He had never experienced any romance in his life, and he didn't have any brain cells to make up fantasy fairy tales. Asking him to tell stories to a child would be too torturous.
At first, Zhuo Can planned to read from the picture book, but the little fairy didn't want to listen to the ready-made one: "These are all in Lili's world."
Zhuo Can recalled that he seemed to have entered a dark and thriller fairy tale copy, similar to Snow White and the Seven Little Killers, Devil of the Sea and other childhood-ruining things.
Zhuo Can was speechless for a moment. Poor kid, what kind of childhood did he have?
There was no way out. The gods fulfilled his wish, and in return, he had to fulfill the gods' wishes as well.
Zhuo Can racked his brains and tried changing the original head, and also tried changing the people and things around him, but Mian Li was still not satisfied.
Zhuo Can lay on the bed with his hands behind his head, listening to the sound of the child next to him tapping the rim of the bottle with his fingers, and staring blankly at the ceiling.
He suddenly had an inspiration.
Zhuo Can turned sideways, his face full of pleading: "How about, Kami-chan, tell me your story today?"
——He is really curious.
The author has something to say:
The collection has been growing very slowly in the past two weeks since it was listed, so I slightly changed the title and copy QWQ
Don’t miss Lili, my dear readers~
Thank you for following the article!
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