Chapter 72

He sat at his workstation, not recovering for a long time.

Date.

Such a strange word.

Everyone has the right to date, not to mention the CEO who has both money and talent. But, Roger thought dully, why would he go on a date? Why could he go on a date? Could it be that what he said before, that he had someone he liked and was in contact with - was all true?

Then, what about what they did that night? Roger's face was terribly pale, he felt like he was back in the bottle that day, the bottle mouth was sealed, the oxygen was exhausted, he had difficulty breathing, and his eyes were blacking out.

Lulu noticed his abnormality and asked with concern: "Secretary Luo, what's wrong with you? Are you feeling unwell?"

Luo Jie forced himself to smile at her: "I'll go upstairs to make a phone call, can you help me confirm the list?"

"Okay." Lulu looked at him, looking worried and hesitant.

Luo Jie walked onto the rooftop with his cell phone in his pocket.

In the dialogue box, He Songgao's cold "hmm" was so glaring, as if his usual indifferent tone was ringing in his ears. Luo Jie clicked on his profile picture, and it seemed that he had changed his profile picture to a forest covered with ice and snow the night before he returned from Europe. This was taken on a farm in Rovaniemi. That day they rode a dog sled, a reindeer sled, and took a walk in the quiet woods. In the vast expanse of white, they leaned on each other, like two leaves sprouting from a bud - so close.

If, if time could go back to that time, it would be great. The world was not mixed with dirty snow. They didn't have to think about anything, they didn't have to care about anything. The first second after waking up was to study how to play today... No, Roger thought desperately, even such an imagination was wrong. If he regarded He Songgao as a good friend, then he should bless him. Isn't it a good thing to celebrate that his good friend who has always been single has found a partner?

Is that right?

He already had the answer in his mind, but the consequences of this answer were unbearable for him, so he shamefully chose to escape.

——Let’s just go on a date, this is actually a good thing, at least he doesn’t have to worry about the dark future of “being entangled with the same sex”.

The next day, He Songgao didn’t come to the company.

Are all the meetings canceled? Luo Jie thought numbly, and then sent him a WeChat message in accordance with the principle of official business: "Mr. He, are all the meetings canceled today?"

He Songgao: "Yes."

"Oh." He stood in front of the glass window of the president's office and adjusted the blinds to the angle that He Songgao liked most, and then realized that it didn't matter whether he adjusted it or not, because he wouldn't come today anyway. Suddenly, a surge of anger surged in his heart. He walked over and pulled hard. The blinds were hung high, and the dazzling sunlight poured in. Perhaps it was the bright sunlight that gave him courage. He sat down on He Songgao's office chair and asked in a domineering manner: "Who are you going on a date with?"

He Songgao: "My flirtation partner."

- My flirtation partner. How did you flirt with each other? Roger thought so, and his chest tightened. He didn't want to continue asking, because it would seem that he cared too much. But he couldn't control his hands, nor his heart. When he reacted, a line of words had already appeared in the dialogue box: "How long have you been flirting?"

He Songgao: "For a while."

"How long is a while?" He asked, as if he was confirming something.

"Do you care?" He Songgao asked immediately.

Luo Jie's heart skipped a beat, and his hand moved first. He saw himself replying: "I don't care, I'm just gossiping."

"Then it has nothing to do with you."

Luo Jie was stung by this sentence, and his eyes instantly turned red. "It has nothing to do with me, so I wish you a happy date." He put away his phone and walked out of the office.

If you like dating so much, then I wish you have a date every day.

He was holding back his anger and was unhappy until the end of the work day. It rained a little in the evening, and turned into snow at night. Roger drove home. When he got on the elevated road, he was stuck in traffic for a while. He didn't know if it was an accident or something else. The cars in front and behind were honking their horns. He was annoyed and honked his horn loudly. It was six o'clock in the evening. Everyone was rushing home... Oh no, some people were not. They were enjoying a sweet date.

Thinking of this, Roger's heart was even more blocked. Even the traffic jam didn't make him so uncomfortable.

He took out his mobile phone and opened WeChat. The familiar chat interface popped up, and those dazzling conversations spread out in front of his eyes again.

So bitter. Bitter in the mouth and bitter in the heart. It's

very happy, right? Being with someone you like is a hundred times happier than being with a secretary who has nothing to do with you. If the two are in love, then the happiness should be multiplied by a thousand times.

——Then why bother me, is it fun, is it just because you are lonely?

It's so sour, my heart is sour, and even my eyes are sore. I have the urge to cry.

He is upset and restless, and he really wants to do something to digest this sour feeling.

I don't know how long it has been, the car in front of him moved. He started the car and followed it.

The snow was falling heavily, and the light snowflakes were swirling down like feathers. The traffic was heavy. He didn't know where to go, so he followed the strange car to turn off the viaduct and drove towards the South Third Ring Road.

Half an hour later, Roger stared at the sign of the western restaurant opposite in a daze.

Shit, why did he drive to this place!

You are like a perverted stalker now, do you know that? Roger cursed himself in his heart, but - he was more relieved, as if he had to do this, and now he could put his heart into it. It was a quarter after seven, and it was dinner time. Several groups of diners came in one after another, and business seemed good. He turned off the car, got out, stood under a big banyan tree, and stretched his neck to look inside.

This restaurant is very good, with three glass walls and almost no obstruction to the view. He hid himself in the dark shadow of the tree, looking for a familiar figure among the many seats like a voyeur.

After two or three minutes, Roger suddenly seemed to have sensed something and hid in the darkness.

Then, he saw He Songgao and a tall man walking across the street and entering the restaurant. He Songgao was very gentlemanly. He opened the door for the man and let him go in first, and then he followed.

Roger's heart was pounding, and then it stopped beating.

It was real.

It turned out to be a date.

His heart was in his throat.

He held onto the thick roots of the banyan tree, his legs so weak that he almost sat down on the ground. He didn't understand what was wrong with him, why he felt so uncomfortable, was it because He Songgao was dating someone he liked? The man was tall and well-proportioned, wearing a short black down jacket, and his legs were thin and long.

His face should be good-looking, Roger thought, and at this moment he actually felt a kind of despair.

Since, since there is someone you like, why do you still treat me like that, making me like you, and then you go and love someone else and just throw me aside, right? His face was gray, like a leaf that had lost its last touch of green, he shook weakly, and then fell off the branch.

He didn't know how he got back to the car, how he started the car, and then how he left the crime scene like a defeated rooster. He only knew that he had been driving aimlessly since he got on the road, going around the Third Ring Road again and again. After that, he returned to the restaurant, but the people inside were gone - they should have finished their meal and went to the hotel by now.

When he thought about what was going to happen to them in the hotel, Roger felt an unbearable heartache.

He cursed himself for being like a puppy that occupied territory, just peeing on that person and tacitly acknowledging him as his. That was just his wishful thinking.

But he still felt wronged and uncomfortable.

- Even angry.

What did he think of him as, a plaything for when he was lonely and bored? He was so angry that he lost his mind. He drove straight to the hotel without caring about anything.

He wanted to ask He Songgao why he had a relationship with him that went beyond friendship, and why he threw him away like trash, because that person was more "fun".

The hotel was nearby, and Roger drove an ordinary car like a racing car, and arrived at the front desk in less than ten minutes. The lobby manager greeted him warmly: "Secretary Luo, are you here to book a room?"

Luo Jie asked in a domineering tone: "Is our General Manager He here?"

The lobby manager was stunned and didn't understand what happened: "He is here... You are so anxious, do you have something to talk to him about?"

"Yes." Luo Jie tried his best to keep calm, "I have something important to talk to him about, but his phone is unreachable. The situation is urgent, so I have to come here in person - which room is he staying in?"

The lobby manager took him to the front desk and helped him check the check-in information: "It's on the 9th floor, room 988, do you need me to take you upstairs?"

"No need." Luo Jie took out his ID card, "Is there any vacant room next door? Open one for me. We may have a meeting until very late and rest here at night."

"Oh, oh." The lobby manager didn't think much about it and got him a room next door.

Roger took the room card and went upstairs, his heart pounding all the way, as if he was about to do something unforgivable. When passing by 988, he stopped. He wanted to rush in directly, but he was afraid of seeing something that would make him sad. It has come to this point. He must meet He Songgao today. He lowered his head, took out his mobile phone, and opened the WeChat chat interface. He should send a message to He Songgao, asking him if it is convenient now, I have something to talk to you about, and so on. But his thumb slid back and forth on the screen, he typed and deleted the words, and typed again, but this damn message could not be sent.

Tears rolled in his eyes, and with a click, they finally fell, landing silently on the carpet at his feet.

He felt sad. Why did he feel like a queen who came to catch a cheating wife? Oh no, he wasn't even a queen. He was just a eunuch at best, he thought with disgust. But who the emperor chose to sleep with him had nothing to do with a eunuch like him. How sad it was - he came to "catch a cheating wife" but he didn't even have a position, so what was he doing standing here? He raised his head and swallowed the extra tears back into his eyes, then turned around and opened the door to the next room.

Time passed as if it was almost stagnant. Roger sat on the shoe-changing stool next to the entrance, without turning on the lights, just staring at the screen of his mobile phone.

It was ten past eleven, so even if he had something to do, he should have finished it by now. He thought, and then his nose felt sore and he began to cry again. If he was still angry at first, now he felt wronged. It was all He Songgao's fault - even if it wasn't all, he had to take at least 80% of the responsibility. Luo Jie wiped his tears and typed on his phone mechanically with both hands: "Are you free now?" This time he didn't hesitate, hardened his heart, and pressed send.

Unexpectedly, He Songgao replied in less than half a minute: "What's the matter?"

Luo Jie was trembling all over, and asked cautiously: "Are you wearing clothes now?"

He Songgao: "?"

"I have something to talk to you about." He gritted his teeth and typed, "Can we meet?"

"Where are you?" "Next

door." Luo Jie said, the grievance in his heart was about to turn into a sea to drown him, "999."

Not long after he finished speaking, there was a knock on the door.

Luo Jie's heart skipped a beat, and he suddenly felt a little timid. What should he say when he saw him? How to explain why he was here. And why did he care so much about him dating and checking into a hotel with another person? There was no time to think so much, Luo Jie opened the door, and He Songgao was standing outside.

He was still as handsome as ever, his hair had been cut, his sideburns were shaved close to his scalp, and his head was simply styled, like a male model who had just stepped off a fashion show.

They looked at each other and were speechless for a moment.

He Songgao looked him from head to toe, and when he looked up again, there was

a hint of smile in his eyes: "Why are you here?" Roger felt embarrassed as if his heart was seen through. He dodged He Songgao's gaze and stubbornly tried to regain some self-esteem for himself, "I want to confirm something with you."

"What is it?"

Roger's eyes turned: "The guest list for the annual meeting - your guests."

"Oh -" He Songgao dragged out his voice, "Wouldn't it be more convenient to send it to me directly?"

"This matter is more important." Two strangers passed by outside and stared at them curiously. Roger opened the door a little, "Well, come in a little, we'll talk in the room."

He Songgao walked in, and the originally spacious suite suddenly became crowded. Luo Jie's heart had been beating since the moment he saw him, and now it was even more excessive, beating so fast that his heart was numb, his head was dizzy, and he didn't even know where to put his hands and feet. These words that sounded too much like excuses must have been seen through by him, because he was smiling, a very subtle smile, as if he was full of confidence, as if he had won the game - Luo Jie stared at him a little angrily: "What are you laughing at?"

The room was heated, He Songgao took off his coat, put it on the sofa, and walked closer to him: "Tell me, what do you want to discuss with me?"

Luo Jie stepped back involuntarily: "It's, it's the guest list, let me see," he fumbled out his mobile phone, opened the file, and read the names on it seriously, "Zhang XX, Wang XX, Li XX... What are you doing?"

He Songgao approached him. With every step forward he took, Roger took a step back. Finally, there was no more room to retreat, and Roger's back was against the door. He Songgao showed a narrow smile in his eyes: "When did you come?"

Roger's heart was pounding, and he felt that something was wrong, but - there was a door behind him, where else could he escape? So he just looked away, and his voice escaped to his throat: "Just, just now."

He Songgao tilted his face: "What did you say?"

"I said, I just arrived." Roger raised his voice a little, "Didn't disturb you?" "

What did you disturb me?"

"Disturb you, with a date." Roger finally plucked up the courage to look into his eyes, and the moment their eyes met, Roger's pupils were burned. He Songgao's eyes were deep, like the unfathomable sea - at this moment, it shouldn't be said that it was like the sea, but more like the center of a volcano about to erupt, with invisible magma flowing inside. Roger's throat was dry, and he couldn't help but tighten his trousers.

"Date--" He Songgao said slowly in that sticky and seemingly particularly meaningful tone, "I did disturb you."

"Oh." With a thud, Roger's jealousy was finally overturned. He said in a voice sour enough to make ten plates of vinegar potatoes, "Should I go back now?"

"Since I'm here, why should I go back?" He Songgao bent slightly and stared into his eyes, "Do you care?"

Roger swallowed and was so panicked that he forgot to hide: "Care about what?"

"I'm on a date with someone else, do you care?" He Songgao curled the corners of his lips and smiled, "You followed me all the way from the restaurant just to tell me this?" He took Roger's mobile phone. The so-called guest list on it had been confirmed with him long ago. It was not important at all. He turned off the screen and put the phone back into Luo Jie's trouser pocket. "If that's all you're saying, I'm sorry, I have more important things to do."

"What is it?" Luo Jie whispered, "Is he...still waiting for you?"

"Who?" He Songgao straightened up, and his eyes became unfathomable as he looked at him.

"How do I know who it is?" Luo Jie stared at him, his tone involuntarily becoming aggrieved, "Why did you go on a date with someone else?"

"You ask me why?" He Songgao frowned slightly, a little annoyed, "Didn't you go on a blind date with someone else first?"

"I, I..." Luo Jie couldn't refute this, but he could explain! Although he didn't understand why he had to explain, "We just had a meal, nothing happened. The WeChat chat was just a greeting to verify."

He Songgao was silent for a while, "Who said that we started chatting during the meal and continued until one or two in the morning?"

"Did I, did I say that?" Luo Jie turned his eyes away guiltily, "I forgot."

"Forgot." He Songgao repeated his words, and suddenly changed the subject and returned to the question just now, "Do you care if I date someone else?"

"..." Luo Jie subconsciously wanted to say no again, but he inadvertently saw He Songgao's eyes, and in an instant, his heart seemed to be knocked by a hand, producing a buzzing echo. He bit his lip, and the word "no" could no longer be said.

He Songgao seemed satisfied with his reaction. He bent down again, and this time he was very close to him, so close that their noses were touching each other's noses, their breaths intertwined, their eyes met, and he smiled and asked Roger, "Do you like me?"