ABSTIWTVMST Chapter 147

Li Nian opened his mouth but then suddenly reacted, “What did you just say?”

Xu Chenghao looked at him curiously. “I said if everything wraps up by the end of the month, we can put the wedding on the agenda. Why?”

“So you’re saying you’re willing to get married within half a year?”

“Sure, I’m willing. But it still depends on whether Jing Yicheng has any plans. Otherwise, even if I’m willing, it wouldn’t…”

“Ahhhhhh!!” Li Nian suddenly jumped up from his chair, shouting excitedly, “Damn, I did it! My sea-view apartment! My 1.3 billion! Ahhh, I’m going to be rich!!”

Xu Chenghao: “???”

What sea-view apartment? What 1.3 billion? What kind of nonsense is this?

Li Nian jumped and bounced around the office for a good five or six minutes before he finally calmed down. After straightening his clothes, he returned to being the composed and refined top assistant, and said seriously, “I’m good now. Let’s continue.”

Xu Chenghao looked at him, puzzled. “What on earth is going on with you?”

Li Nian chuckled, “Nothing, nothing. Let’s get back to your stuff.”

Xu Chenghao wasn’t convinced. “No, you tell me first. What sea-view apartment? What 1.3 billion? Why are you suddenly rich?”

Li Nian said, “Your personal matters come first. We should stick to your topic.”

Xu Chenghao replied, “I’m the boss. I get to choose what we talk about.”

Li Nian: “…”

Xu Chenghao: “Talk!”

Li Nian had no choice but to bow to capitalism. “Fine, I’ll go first. I just got excited because my assets increased. It’s purely a personal matter…”

“Then why did you get excited only after I said I was willing?” Xu Chenghao cut him off. “Does that mean your assets are related to me?”

Li Nian: “…”

Xu Chenghao slammed his pen on the desk. “And you’re still lying to my face!”

Li Nian was at a loss for words and could only mutter, “It’s just that your partner was afraid you’d run off and wanted some formal status, so I put in a few good words to help out.”

Xu Chenghao frowned, thought for a moment, then recalled Li Nian’s repeated questions about marriage and his recent burst of excitement. He couldn’t help but twitch the corner of his mouth. “So you two were striking deals right under my nose, cornering me from both sides to get me to agree to marriage?”

“Pretty much.” Li Nian launched into rapid-fire defense. “But there were conditions and boundaries to our deal. At first, I thought you two just needed a little push, so I agreed. Who knew you’d be so stubborn and keep refusing. When I realized I’d misunderstood, I wanted to back out, but I didn’t dare go back on my word with Jing Yicheng.”

“As for Jing Yicheng… the fact that he wants to marry you and have official status proves he genuinely likes you. And maybe he’s insecure and needs something solid to hold on to.”

In just a few words, Li Nian managed to pull himself out of the situation and paint the whole deal in a touching light. He was almost moved by his own performance.

But Xu Chenghao remained unmoved and scoffed, “I think you just caved for the money. 1.3 billion, huh?”

Li Nian: “…Hehehe, how could that be? You’re the most important person in my heart.”

“Really.” Xu Chenghao said unhurriedly, “Then I’ll just tell Jing Yicheng to give the reward to me instead.”

Li Nian: “…”

Keep smiling. Don’t cry. QAQ

Xu Chenghao couldn’t hold it in and burst out laughing. “Look at those greedy eyes of yours… Forget it. Considering everything you’ve done, you deserve the reward this time. I won’t interfere.”

Li Nian’s eyes lit up instantly. “Thank you, President Xu!”

Xu Chenghao gave a small huff and picked up the black pen on the desk to resume signing documents.

Li Nian cautiously asked, “So, should we talk about your personal matter now? Like what big thing you need to accomplish by the end of the month? And what happens if you don’t?”

“Shut it! Don’t jinx it!” Xu Chenghao glared at him unhappily. “Don’t want to talk to you. Get out.”

Li Nian: “…”

Yes, President Xu. Whatever you say goes, President Xu!

Li Nian doggedly hugged the folder and left the office. Just as he was about to close the door, he paused, opened it again, and offered a few words of comfort. “I don’t know what it is, but I hope everything goes smoothly for you at the end of the month. Good luck.”

The pen on the paper suddenly stopped. Xu Chenghao stared at his half-finished signature for a long time. By the time he snapped out of it and looked up, Li Nian had already quietly closed the door and left.

Xu Chenghao held back his emotions, but after a while, he couldn’t help but let out a soft chuckle. Then he lifted his hand and completed the final stroke of his signature.

Some say that when facing the unknown, you should always prepare for the worst outcome. That way, any emotional blow will be within manageable limits, and a good ending can become a pleasant surprise.

Xu Chenghao had thought the same at first. But the people around him were just too good, too warm. He couldn’t bear to imagine the worst ending… He wanted the best one.

***

Outside the office, Li Nian sent a message to Jing Yicheng to report the latest progress. After the message was successfully sent, he hummed a little tune and returned to his own office. Not long after, his phone dinged with a new message. He opened it to see the reply:

Jing Yicheng: “Mm. Come collect your reward on the wedding day.”

Li Nian: “!!! Thank you, President Jing!”

Ahhh, he really was happy! His sea-view apartment! His 1.3 billion!!

On the other side, after receiving the update, Jing Yicheng spun his phone in his hand, feeling very pleased. Propping his chin up, he speculated whether Xu Chenghao’s sudden agreement had anything to do with that secret at the end of the month. If that was the case, then by the end of the month, not only would he know Xu Chenghao’s biggest secret, but he’d also gain official status and be able to marry him… Just thinking about it made him so happy he could hardly wait to see him.

And so, Jing Yicheng acted on impulse. He ditched everyone at the research institute, drove straight to the Xu Group, walked into the office, and sat down across from Xu Chenghao with a soft, restrained smile. “Haohao~”

Xu Chenghao didn’t even lift his head. “Mm.”

“Haohao~~”

“…”

Xu Chenghao glanced up at him and said helplessly, “You’re really happy?”

“Mhm.”

“Then let’s go get some Little Yellow Duck Sichuan cuisine later to help you cool off.”

Jing Yicheng’s expression didn’t change, but he was clearly delighted. “As long as you’re with me, anything is fine.”

Xu Chenghao snorted a laugh and lowered his head to continue working.

Jing Yicheng also looked down, tapping on his phone for a while. Then he suddenly heard the person across from him say, “Don’t do anything like a proposal. I don’t like making a scene.”

Jing Yicheng silently deleted the proposal plan from his notes.

“And the ring design should be simple. If it’s too fancy and uncomfortable, I won’t wear it all the time.”

Jing Yicheng quietly retracted his chat with the designer.

“And…” Xu Chenghao paused slightly, looked up at Jing Yicheng’s nervous face, and smiled. “I just want to be with you simply. As long as you’re there, that’s enough.”

Jing Yicheng froze for half a second, then his expression melted into a radiant smile. He nodded repeatedly. “Alright, whatever you say is fine.”

Still, what needed to be prepared had to be prepared—like the wedding rings! They didn’t have to be fancy, but that didn’t mean they weren’t important. Jing Yicheng instructed the designer that the rings had to be one-of-a-kind globally, had to be engraved with their initials, had to have a symbol representing just the two of them, and had to…

As for the proposal, it didn’t need to be flashy, but that didn’t mean he could slack off or skip the surprise. Jing Yicheng decided to propose at home. First, he needed to choose the perfect spot. Then came the decorations and the surprise setup.

The most important thing was that he would be there!

Jing Yicheng curved his lips into a smile, tapping away as he noted down everything he needed to prepare. While Xu Chenghao was busy with Xu Group and chili business matters, Jing Yicheng, besides helping out occasionally, would also sneak time to get the surprise ready. He wanted the end of the month to mark a new beginning—a happy one!

Five days later, the pepper seedling cultivation succeeded. Xu Chenghao went around checking each plot. Whether it was just in his head or a trick of the eyes, he couldn’t help but feel that the number of seedlings didn’t look any different from last time… and that wasn’t a good sign. If they really were short by four million peppers, the project would be utterly doomed, with no chance of recovery.

Of course, any shortfall was a failure, but being four million short would be devastating.

Xu Chenghao could only chalk it up to nerves messing with his perception. He decided to wait another five days until the flowers bloomed to get a clearer picture. Maybe once the little white flowers appeared, he’d be able to see the difference. But when the flowers did bloom, Xu Chenghao became even more anxious. It seemed like there were even fewer white blossoms than last time, and just looking at them made his heart pound with dread—it felt like a loss was coming.

Jing Yicheng reassured him, “There really are more than last time. Don’t psych yourself out.”

“But I keep feeling like…”

“You’re just too nervous,” Jing Yicheng said gently. “Look, last time we only had two planting bases. This time we’ve got those same two bases plus newly allocated plots. We planted way more seeds than before. How could it be fewer than last time, right?”

Xu Chenghao understood the logic, but he still couldn’t shake the feeling that something was off.

Jing Yicheng, seeing this, gave in and sat with him at the edge of the field, counting the tiny white flowers together. Eventually, when the person in his arms grew dizzy from counting and leaned on his shoulder, falling asleep, Jing Yicheng picked him up with practiced ease and carried him home.

Day after day passed. The fifteen-day cycle finally came to an end amid Xu Chenghao’s mix of anticipation and fear. He sat in the monitoring room at the chili base, watching the machines harvest the peppers. His mind was blank with nerves. He couldn’t even register Jing Yicheng’s voice on the phone trying to calm him down. Moving stiffly, he walked into the warehouse, heart pounding so hard it felt like it would leap out of his chest.

The final result was just around the corner!

There was no way not to be nervous at this point. Xu Chenghao held his phone and opened the notes app, his fingers trembling as he waited for the peppers to be transported into the warehouse. He wasn’t just nervous now—he was scared. Scared of losing, scared of being unable to change Jing Yicheng’s fate, scared that everything would end in failure and they’d never be together again.

Buzz buzz buzz—the conveyor belts suddenly started up. Bag after bag of peppers was delivered one after another. Xu Chenghao stared tensely at the robots, watching them work until their eyes turned blue and they began to report.

“Task complete. Left side: 23098, right side: 27009. Report finished.”

“Task complete. Left side: 12977, right side: 20009. Report finished.”

“Task complete…”

Xu Chenghao’s hands were shaking so badly that he decided to just record the audio and calculate everything at once later.

It was hard to tell how much time had passed. By the time Jing Yicheng arrived, he found Xu Chenghao squatting alone in the warehouse, looking pitiful and exhausted. Heart aching, he rushed over and pulled him into his arms, soothing him, “Don’t be scared, I’m here now.”

Xu Chenghao rubbed against him, gathered his energy, and asked, “Where are the peppers?”

“They’re at the entrance. They’re setting up the conveyor belt now. They’ll be brought in soon,” Jing Yicheng said gently. “There’s a lot. Way more than last time.”

Xu Chenghao forced a smile, eyes fixed on the entrance, waiting for the peppers to be brought in and counted.

Just as Jing Yicheng had said, the amount this time really was significantly higher than before. The two robots worked until they ran out of power, and the once empty warehouse was now completely packed. After recording all the numbers, Xu Chenghao simply sat cross-legged on the warehouse floor, calculator in hand, continuously adding up the totals.

“Add 30012, add 10882, add 29661…”