MTY chapter 36

The next morning, Lin Yu woke up with a heavy head, washed up, and, remembering the events of the previous night, quickly called Liu Yuwen.

He didn’t know much about the boy named Zhu Lan, and the more he thought about it, the more worried he became.

The call went through, and Zhu Lan answered.

Lin Yu hesitated. “Liu… Liu Yuwen, is he with you?”

“He’s here,” Zhu Lan replied lazily. “But he’s too exhausted to pick up the phone… Ow! Why’d you hit me?”

After some shuffling noises, Liu Yuwen’s voice came through clearly.

Lin Yu asked, “Are you okay?”

“Yeah,” Liu Yuwen’s voice sounded normal, just a bit hoarse. “You got home safe too, right?”

Lin Yu sighed in relief. “As long as you’re safe. I’m going to grab breakfast before heading to work.”

Lu Ziqing had already prepared breakfast.

At some point, he had started taking it upon himself to wake up early every morning and handle breakfast. Sometimes it was milk, sandwiches, eggs, and steak; other times, it was steamed buns, soy milk, porridge, and boiled eggs.

At first, Lin Yu had felt a little flattered, but eventually, he got used to it. Sometimes, he even put in requests the day before.

After washing up, Lin Yu walked out and saw Lu Ziqing setting the bowls of congee. He quickly stepped forward to take them. “You’ve gone through the trouble again—I feel bad.”

He hummed a tune while neatly arranging the plates on the table.

It was a classical piano piece, but he had improvised a light, cheerful melody.

Lu Ziqing glanced at him. “You’re in a good mood?”

“Am I?” Lin Yu replied, though the smile on his face was impossible to hide. “The weather’s been great these past few days. If I didn’t have work in the morning, I’d love to sit on a park bench and bask in the sun.”

Truthfully, he was just excited about returning to headquarters soon, and it showed.

Lu Ziqing naturally understood why he was so happy.

Lowering his gaze, he took a sip of congee and asked, “So, when are we getting divorced?”

Lin Yu was caught off guard. “Divorced?”

“The contract stated that our marriage would last a maximum of three years, but we could agree to end it earlier,” Lu Ziqing said flatly. “You’re getting a promotion when you return to headquarters, right? If you continue playing my partner, it’ll affect your career.”

Maintaining a fake marriage took effort.

During this time, Lin Yu had cleared out several stubborn factions within the company, and his role as “Lu Ziqing’s partner” was nearly complete.

Everything was coming to an end.

He had actually been thinking about the divorce issue as well.

But hearing Lu Ziqing say it first, he couldn’t just immediately agree with an eager “Sure, anytime.”

So, he carefully replied, “I’ll go along with whatever works best for you. Whenever you think the time is right, I’m fine with it.”

Lu Ziqing: “Anytime?”

Lin Yu nodded earnestly. “Anytime.”

Lu Ziqing let out a short laugh. “You’re really cooperative.”

“I’m just an employee,” Lin Yu said modestly. “You and President Lu are the bosses—it’s your call, of course.”

Meeting Lu Ziqing’s gaze, Lin Yu vaguely sensed that something about his expression was off.

He seemed… annoyed.

A little fierce, even.

But the look vanished so quickly that Lin Yu wasn’t sure if he had imagined it.

“Although I also want to let you go as soon as possible,” Lu Ziqing stirred the porridge in his bowl with his spoon, lowering his head, “I do have one favor to ask. I hope you can help me before the divorce.”

“No need to be so polite,” Lin Yu said. “Go ahead.”

“I recently fell for someone—someone from our company—but I don’t know how to confess,” Lu Ziqing said. “Can you give me some advice?”

…..

Lin Yu had never heard such a strange request before.

Nor had he ever taken on such an unusual task.

He was a little surprised, given that Lu Ziqing had never mentioned having feelings for anyone before.

But he quickly made sense of it. After all, they were just ordinary friends—there was no reason for Lu Ziqing to confide in him about something so personal.

Now that he was bringing it up, it was probably because he wanted to start pursuing the person immediately after their divorce, so he was seeking advice in advance.

Since Lu Ziqing refused to give too many details, Lin Yu figured that he wasn’t entirely sure his confession would be successful, which was why he was reluctant to reveal too much.

Understandable.

Young people tended to be thin-skinned about these things.

Difficult, but not impossible.

Lin Yu’s philosophy was simple: do the job, solve the problem.

Based on the limited information Lu Ziqing provided, the person he liked worked at the company, was a bit “slow,” and possibly a little dense.

First, he needed to identify who this person was.

Lin Yu pulled up a list of all company employees and sorted them by educational background, from lowest to highest.

Then, he stared at the names of the cleaning lady and the security guard at the top of the list, falling into deep thought.

…

That wasn’t right.

“Slow” likely referred to intelligence, but intelligence wasn’t necessarily reflected by education. After all, in past decades, higher education wasn’t as widespread as it is now.

Lin Yu realized he was thinking in the wrong direction.

Instead of focusing on “slow,” he needed to focus on Lu Ziqing.

If Lu Ziqing liked this person, they must have spoken before and were probably quite familiar with each other.

Lin Yu went over the employees who interacted with Lu Ziqing frequently.

Mi Lan—quick-witted, definitely not the one.

Xiao Cai from HR—a prestigious university graduate, nowhere near “slow.”

Zhou Youyu—already in jail.

…

Lin Yu was stumped.

After thinking about it over and over with no clear answer, he decided to probe further during dinner.

Trying to sound casual, he asked, “So, who exactly is the person you like?”

Lu Ziqing glanced at him, then lowered his head to take a bite of his chicken leg. “And here I thought my dad always praised you for being smart. You still haven’t figured it out?”

Lin Yu: “The range is a bit too broad… How about another hint?”

Lu Ziqing didn’t answer immediately.

Lin Yu added, “I’m just trying to help you…”

Lu Ziqing chewed for a moment, then sighed, putting down his chopsticks.

He spoke slowly. “He doesn’t talk much, has low emotional intelligence, but is very serious and hardworking. When it comes to work, he’s extremely professional.”

“He comes from a small city, has an average family background, but was an excellent student who got into a top university through sheer effort. After joining the company, he quickly gained the respect of the leadership.”

“He doesn’t like sports, has pale skin, and is quite thin. I worry about his health, so I often cook meat for him, hoping he’ll put on some weight.”

“He doesn’t have many friends, but he’s loyal. If a friend is in trouble, he’ll help them without hesitation, like an old-school martial hero.”

…

Lin Yu furrowed his brows, listening intently.

The more he listened, the colder he felt inside.

…

By the time Lu Ziqing finished, Lin Yu let out a long sigh.

Now he finally understood who Lu Ziqing liked.

And he finally understood why Lu Ziqing hadn’t wanted to say the name out loud.

Indeed, an alpha falling for another alpha was something society would never accept.

So it was him.

A small-city background, top university, quiet and reserved, diligent and serious at work…

All the descriptions pointed to one person.

The young man sitting at the desk right next to Lu Ziqing, always with his head down, diligently sketching in silence—

Liang Zhi.

 

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Author’s Note

Liang Zhi: ?

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