The morning sunlight was blocked by thick blackout curtains, with only a few rays sneaking in through the cracks and landing on the neatly arranged desk.
Wen Jiaxuan turned over and subconsciously moved closer. However, instead of snuggling into a warm chest, he encountered a cold wall.
“Ugh…” Wrapping himself in the blanket, he lay back, blinking in a daze.
The blanket carried a distant yet familiar scent, and the height of the ceiling seemed to have lowered a bit…
Wen Jiaxuan remained in a daze for a while before realizing that he was in his own home.
The first morning back home was indeed a bit unfamiliar.
The advantage of blackout curtains is that they can successfully disrupt a person’s biological clock. Wen Jiaxuan climbed out of bed, checked the time, and it was already half-past eight. Wearing slippers, he entered the living room where Wen hua, enjoying the National Day holiday, was busy with something in the balcony’s flowerpot.
Wen Jiaxuan took milk and fresh eggs from the refrigerator, couldn’t help but sigh at the emptiness of the fridge, and then closed the refrigerator door with a snap.
The sound caught Wen Hua’s attention. He set down the small shovel in his hand, walked into the living room, and asked in surprise, “Why are you up so early?”
Wen Jiaxuan casually glanced at the clock hanging on the living room wall, skillfully set up a pot to boil water, and replied nonchalantly, “It’s already past eight; it’s not early.”
“You used to sleep until eleven every day when you came home on break,” Wen Hua came into the living room, looking at Wen Jiaxuan as if he were a stranger. “You can still make pouch eggs?”
Wen Jiaxuan glanced at his dad with a speechless expression, “It’s so simple; who can’t do it?”
Wen Hua looked at Wen Jiaxuan’s actions with a complex expression and asked, “What have you been doing for these three months?”
Wen Jiaxuan succinctly replied, “Experiencing life.”
“Let me make it clear. If you still don’t pass this time, come work at my office,” Wen Hua said.
“Okay,” Wen Jiaxuan agreed.
“Okay?” Wen Hua was stunned again. He touched Wen Jiaxuan’s forehead with the back of his hand and muttered to himself, “Is everything okay with you, my child?”
“I can’t please you no matter what. Whether I say yes or no, you’re not satisfied. What do you want from me?” Wen Jiaxuan’s tone unintentionally carried a southern accent.
Wen Hua did feel that something was off. He asked, “Why did you suddenly change your mind? Weren’t you quite averse to my job before?”
“That was before; this is now,” Wen Jiaxuan slowly lifted the pouch eggs out of the pot. “A person has to take responsibility for their choices, not just be concerned with liking or disliking something.”
Wen Hua took a sharp breath, widened his eyes, and asked, “Are you really my son?”
Wen Jiaxuan couldn’t help but roll his eyes. “Obviously.”
We’re sorry for MTLers or people who like using reading mode, but our translations keep getting stolen by aggregators so we’re going to bring back the copy protection. If you need to MTL please retype the gibberish parts.
Wen Jiaxuan sat down at the dining table with the prepared poached eggs and milk. Wen Hua also joined him, asking, “I heard from your brother that you’ve been working at a magazine these past few months?”
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“With all the fuss about RQ Magazine before, I heard a bit, but I didn’t pay much attention,” Wen Jiaxuan casually replied without blushing or panting.
“That’s indeed a thing. Nowadays, print media is getting more challenging, and we have to keep up with the trends of the times,” Wen Hua didn’t find Wen Jiaxuan’s initiation of this topic strange. On the contrary, he was happy to discuss it with him. “I have to say, some electronic magazines are doing really well and have great development potential. It’s a bit unfortunate for RQ Magazine; I heard it was the result of the actions of an individual editor.”
“Do you have any magazines in mind now?” Wen Jiaxuan continued to inquire discreetly. “I remember the final results were supposed to come out the week after the National Day, so it should be out by now, right?”
After all, excluding the National Day holiday period, it had only been a few days since the results were announced.
“Not yet,” Wen Hua said, “I didn’t go on vacation during the National Day holiday because I needed time to go through these magazines.”
“Oh, I see…”
The perennial workaholic.
“By the way, Dad,” Wen Jiaxuan blinked innocently, harboring ulterior motives, “I’ve accumulated some work experience these past few months. How about… I help you take a look too?”
“You?” Wen Hua raised an eyebrow in surprise. “Which magazine have you been working at?”
“Cough, cough.” Wen Jiaxuan, pretending to be choked by milk, coughed twice. “It’s a small magazine, you wouldn’t know even if I told you.”
“Then your judgment skills are questionable,” Wen Hua said in a business-like tone.
“Well, then teach me,” Wen Jiaxuan’s mind rarely worked so quickly. “It’s a good opportunity for me to see the standards of a big company and what qualifies as an excellent magazine.”
Wen Hua fell silent for a moment and then nodded, “Alright, I’ll let you get involved. Once you officially join, I’ll assign you to work on this project for training.”
Wen Jiaxuan silently stuck out his tongue in his mind, thinking, “I’ll consider it when I get into the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.”
After finishing the poached eggs, Wen Jiaxuan, while washing the dishes, asked, “What do you want for lunch? I’ll go buy groceries.”
“You can buy groceries?” Wen Hua was so surprised that his glasses almost fell off his nose. Then he immediately realized an even more shocking fact, “Wait a minute, you can cook too?”
“Some simple dishes,” Wen Jiaxuan wiped the water from the bowl and put it away in the cabinet. “But I have to warn you, they might not taste very good.”
“It’s okay, it’s okay,” Wen Hua said happily. “I can die without regrets if I get to eat a meal you cooked in my lifetime.”
“…You’re really amusing.”
When Wen Jiaxuan was still at Wu Zehao’s place, he would occasionally visit the market. Ironically, it was the first time he had gone to the market near his own home.
The prices in P city were similar to H city, so Wen Jiaxuan casually bought some meat and vegetables. Then, he leisurely walked home in his flip-flops. Once inside the residential area, feeling bored, he took out his phone and sent a message to his dear boss, asking what he was up to. While waiting for a reply, he casually scrolled through his friends’ moments on social media.
Most of the moments were filled with vacation pictures, with diverse locations, including even Mexico. It was the National Day holiday, and being one of the few staying at home, like Wen Jiaxuan, was rather uncommon.
As he scrolled, Wen Jiaxuan suddenly came across a refreshing moment among all the scenic photos.
This moment didn’t have any pictures, only a line of text: “Got a dog.”
Excitedly, Wen Jiaxuan clicked on the two words above the text, “Boss Qian” (Boss Qian), and sent him a message.
[++: You got a dog??]
[++: What breed/Wow]
[Boss Qian: Teddy.]
[++: A Teddy flooding your moments?]
[++: How did you end up with this?]
[Boss Qian: I have no idea.]
[++: Did you get him neutered?]
[Boss Qian: Was thinking about it, but changed my mind.]
[++: That won’t do, you should neuter him.]
[++: Have you been at home recently? I want to go see the dog/Wow]
This time, Qian Wuyou didn’t reply immediately. Wen Jiaxuan glanced at the screen multiple times while walking. The chatbox showed “Typing…” continuously, and he wasn’t sure what Qian Wuyou wanted to say. When Wu Zehao replied to his message, Wen Jiaxuan switched to their chat and started talking to Wu Zehao.
After a while, two new message notifications appeared in the upper left corner. Wen Jiaxuan returned to the WeChat main interface and saw a message from Qian Wuyou saying, “It’s not convenient, just look at this.”
It seemed that Qian Wuyou had sent a photo or video. Mentally prepared, Wen Jiaxuan opened the message, only to be shocked by the photo Qian Wuyou had sent.
Qian Wuyou seemed to be lying on the sofa, taking a picture of the area below his chest. Resting on his chest was a large “creature” with clenched fists beneath its chin, a pitiful expression on its face, looking as if it had been miserably bullied.
Wen Jiaxuan had never imagined that Zhang Zhitao would make such an expression.
He raised his eyebrows, took a sharp breath, stared at the phone screen in disbelief, and examined it more closely.
Yes, it was indeed Zhang Zhitao.
[++: Are you… together?]
[Boss Qian: I told you, this is the dog I’m raising.]
Wen Jiaxuan struggled to compose a lengthy response, but in the end, he deleted everything and settled for a concise sentence.
[++: As long as Boss Qian is happy.]
After leaving the bar last time, due to a sudden message from his Japanese classmate, Wen Jiaxuan forgot to tell Qian Wuyou about Zhang Zhitao’s “good deeds” behind his back. Unexpectedly, Zhang Zhitao, feeling guilty, couldn’t wait to confess to Qian Wuyou.
Because of this incident, Zhang Zhitao approached Wen Jiaxuan, admitting that he wasn’t fair, but Qian Wuyou completely ignored him. Wen Jiaxuan told him he deserved it, and since then, he hadn’t paid much attention to their affairs. However, it seemed that the two of them had somehow ended up together again.
Wen Jiaxuan shook his head with a complicated expression, reassuring himself that Boss Qian was capable and wouldn’t suffer any losses. Moreover, it seemed that the two had officially become a couple. Considering Zhang Zhitao’s personality, he would surely value this relationship, and the outcome would undoubtedly be Boss Qian dominating the situation.
Back home, Wen Jiaxuan placed the groceries in the kitchen and then returned to his room to study and review. The exam date for the national civil service exam had been announced, and it was on the 17th of next month. There wasn’t much time left for preparation.
Wen Jiaxuan felt that he had made significant progress compared to the previous year, but he dared not slack off, especially at this crucial stage. The competition for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs was fierce, and he could only, as Wu Zehao had advised, work hard to reduce the chances of encountering opponents better than him.
After an unknown amount of time passed, urgent footsteps suddenly echoed outside the bedroom door. Wen Jiaxuan was concentrating on answering questions and didn’t pay much attention at first. However, soon after, his bedroom door was pushed open by someone.
Wen Hua walked in, holding a laptop and aimed the screen at Wen Jiaxuan, asking sternly, “What’s going on?”
Wen Jiaxuan inexplicably glanced at Wen Hua’s laptop and then froze.
On the screen was an exquisite portrait of a lively young man drinking sugarcane juice, wincing from the heat.
Wen Jiaxuan still remembered that in the sugarcane juice in Singapore, there were red dates, longan, and lotus seeds, and it tasted very sweet, making him feel like the air around was sweet.
“Where did this come from?” Wen Jiaxuan took the laptop from Wen Hua, looked up and down, and quickly found this line of text—
“The most beautiful thing during the journey is not a romantic encounter but you who accompanied me to appreciate the scenery.”
This was from the September issue of “Zeyou Travel” magazine, assigned by Company A for the travel category. Wen Jiaxuan didn’t expect that Wu Zehao would directly use him as the theme.
He desperately bit his lip, not wanting his dad to notice, but he couldn’t conceal the smile on his face.
He remembered that Zhang Zhitao had once told him that Wu Zehao only knew about work and had no clue about dating.
It was simply a slander.
What did he not understand? His boss was so romantic that his heart was almost melting.
“Why are you smiling?” Wen Hua snatched the laptop back from Wen Jiaxuan’s hands. “Explain to me clearly what’s going on here.
Hope Boss Qian and Dog Zhang Zhitao live a happy life together!! The picture Wu Zhehao took Of Wen Jiaxuan made me smile too, but how will Wen Hua react? 😥
Uh oh, protective dad mode switched on real fast lol