As the end of the year approached, Lin Yu’s workload became increasingly demanding.
He was currently working as a project manager at a creative design company, handling IP incubation projects.
Though the company wasn’t large, it had great potential and was considered a rising star in the industry. The team was young, and the workplace atmosphere was harmonious.
With experience in publicly traded companies and major projects, Lin Yu was highly valued from the moment he joined.
He lived up to expectations, leading his team to secure multiple successful bids. His boss trusted him more and more, always patting him on the shoulder with a wide grin whenever they met.
On Tuesday morning, he had a meeting scheduled with a new client. Lin Yu arrived early at a teahouse with his designer, Xiao Zhao, to wait.
But the client had arrived even earlier.
The moment they met, Lin Yu was stunned.
The person across from him was also taken aback but quickly regained composure, extending a hand for a polite handshake. “Please, have a seat.”
…
“Lin-ge… Lin-ge!”
Lin Yu snapped out of his daze. “What?”
Xiao Zhao said, “I called you a few times, but you didn’t respond… You’ve been spacing out ever since we left the teahouse. Did something happen? I thought the meeting went pretty well.”
Lin Yu pulled his keys from his pocket. “…It’s nothing. Get in the car, let’s head back to the office.”
That evening, after taking a shower, Lin Yu leaned against the living room couch and casually turned on a comedy movie.
Lu Ziqing, carrying his clothes, blew him a kiss. “Wait for me, I’ll join you after my shower.”
“Okay.”
Lin Yu responded, but his eyes stayed fixed on the TV screen.
Watching a movie together before bed had become a recent habit.
When they first moved in, Lu Ziqing had wanted to buy a large-screen TV, but since this was a rental, they would eventually have to move. In the end, he settled for a projector in the living room instead.
It wasn’t as crisp as a TV, but with the lights dimmed, it created a nice ambiance.
Lin Yu liked comedies. When he got into a movie, he’d sit cross-legged with a serious expression.
Lu Ziqing, on the other hand, preferred horror movies with heavy atmosphere. Every time Lin Yu picked a comedy, he’d make a show of fighting for the remote before inevitably giving in and watching together.
Lin Yu rolled his eyes. “You always end up watching with me anyway. You might as well just sit down without all the fuss.”
Lu Ziqing replied confidently, “I’m fighting for control of the remote. This is about maintaining an alpha’s position in the household.”
Lin Yu replied casually, “And yet you lose every time.”
Lu Ziqing sighed dramatically. “Sigh, my baby is too strong. I can’t win. No choice.”
When Lu Ziqing came back from drying his hair, he saw Lin Yu still sitting in the same position.
Something about the way he looked made Lu Ziqing’s heart itch.
Wrapped in a thick, deep-blue coral fleece pajama set, his face small and delicate, his skin soft and pale—he looked like a little bear in hibernation, so cute it made Lu Ziqing want to scoop him up and squeeze him.
Lu Ziqing climbed onto the couch in a few quick steps, naturally draping an arm over Lin Yu’s shoulder, kissing and hugging him for a while.
Lin Yu didn’t react at all.
Lu Ziqing: “…”
“Baby, at least react a little,” Lu Ziqing pouted. “This is too humiliating. I’ve been kissing you for ages, and you haven’t responded at all. We’re not even thirty yet. Isn’t it too early for the seven-year itch?”
Lin Yu’s back trembled slightly. He turned his head as if snapping back to reality. “Sorry… I spaced out just now.”
“…Even more insulting,” Lu Ziqing said bitterly. “Zoning out while being intimate with me? Could you be any crueler?”
Lin Yu reached out to ruffle his hair and fed him a cherry. “My bad…”
Lu Ziqing sulked seriously for the entire evening.
It wasn’t until they got into bed that night—when Lin Yu, blushing, took the initiative to climb onto him and pressed a kiss to his Adam’s apple—that he finally “reluctantly” forgave him.
He flipped them over, pinning Lin Yu beneath him. “I’ll let it slide this time. Next time—”
“There won’t be a next time,” Lin Yu quickly interjected.
Lu Ziqing nibbled at his ear, kissing softly and lingeringly, as if savoring a delicacy. His tongue traced from Lin Yu’s earlobe to his cheek, leaving a faint, translucent trail. “…There can be a next time too.”
Lin Yu’s face burned red, almost dripping with embarrassment.
…..
For several days, Lin Yu was on edge.
A week later, the thing he feared the most finally happened.
The new project he had been assigned was suddenly given to another manager. His boss even explicitly instructed that he was not to be involved in it at all—not even a little.
Xiao Zhao was indignant. “Why? This is the biggest deal of the year! You’ve brought in so many projects for the company over the past few months, and now all the benefits are just handed over to someone else?”
Lin Yu stared at his computer screen in silence.
Xiao Zhao lowered his voice. “What’s going on…? You seemed off that day at the teahouse too.”
Lin Yu said, “The client we met at the teahouse was a former colleague of mine from my last company.”
The moment he saw that familiar company name, he’d already considered the possibility of this outcome.
But he thought—this deal might be the biggest of the year for them, but for the Lu family, it was just a drop in the ocean. And he was just a small project manager; it shouldn’t come to this, right?
Clinging to that bit of wishful thinking, he went anyway—only to find that the person handling negotiations on the other side was none other than Assistant Qiao, who had once worked closely with Lu Zhaolin.
The moment Assistant Qiao saw him, his expression turned cold.
Xiao Zhao hesitated. “Did you… offend the leadership at your old company?”
Lin Yu let out a bitter laugh.
More than just offending.
He had blackmailed the company’s CEO with bedroom photos.
“This is too much,” Xiao Zhao fumed. “It’s not even about a non-compete clause! How can they still be sabotaging you after you left? And they call themselves an industry-leading publicly traded company? How petty!”
Lin Yu shook his head. “It’s fine. Go back to work.”
He was trying to reassure Xiao Zhao—and himself.
But in a company this small, rumors were impossible to contain.
Within a few days, everyone knew.
Rumors spread that Director Lin had a falling-out with his former company over personal matters before quitting, that he had offended top executives, and that he had essentially been blacklisted within the industry—forcing him to take a job at their small firm.
The boss was furious that they had nearly lost a major project and, in a smaller team meeting, explicitly ordered that Lin Yu was to be kept away from any high-value deals in the future.
Which meant his career in this company had essentially hit a dead end.
When the gossip reached Lin Yu’s ears, he actually felt a strange sense of calm.
At least the consequences had landed—it was better than having them hang over his head indefinitely.
He had already been through the worst before. This was nothing.
The worst-case scenario? He’d just be fired again.
…..
The workday ended.
Ignoring the subtle glances from his colleagues, Lin Yu left the office with a calm expression. On the way home, he even stopped by the supermarket to buy some pumpkin.
Winter had arrived. He wanted to steam some pumpkin for the evening and make a sweet milk-pumpkin soup for Lu Ziqing.
Lu Ziqing had been working overtime for days, staying up late night after night, and his complexion had turned pale.
On his way back, Lin Yu passed by a street promoter handing out flyers:
“Hiring math, Chinese, English, and physics teachers! Great pay, negotiable terms…”
Lin Yu, as always, ignored it and walked past.
But after a few steps, he stopped.
Then he turned back and took a flyer from the promoter.
The young man perked up. “Interested? We’re a new educational training center, with locations nationwide. We’re hiring teachers for middle school, high school, and college entrance exam prep…”
Lin Yu tucked the flyer into his down jacket pocket. “I’ll take a look. If I’m interested, I’ll contact you.”
……
Back home, Lin Yu turned on the heater, took off his coat, and casually tossed it onto the sofa.
Carrying the plastic grocery bag into the kitchen, he washed the pumpkin, cut off the thick, tough outer skin, and sliced it into finger-length pieces.
The sound of a door opening came from behind him.
Lin Yu knew it was Lu Ziqing stepping out of the study. “I’m making milk-pumpkin soup tonight. Anything else you want to eat?”
Lu Ziqing made a vague sound of acknowledgment.
Lin Yu figured he was tired. “If you don’t want anything else, I’ll just boil a few eggs and cut up some fruit for later—”
The room went silent.
Lin Yu kept his head down, focused on chopping the pumpkin.
Then, suddenly, a pair of arms wrapped around him from behind, encircling his waist.
Lu Ziqing lowered his head, rubbing his chin against the curve of Lin Yu’s neck. “Baby, is there something you need to tell me?”
Lin Yu’s hands froze for a moment before he continued chopping. “…No. Why?”
Lu Ziqing asked, “Aren’t couples supposed to be honest with each other?”
Lin Yu: “Yeah.”
Lu Ziqing: “Then why aren’t you telling me the truth?”
Lin Yu: “But we’re honest with each other every night, aren’t we?”
It was the first time Lin Yu had ever made a dirty joke.
Both of them were momentarily stunned.
Lu Ziqing blinked in surprise—then became even more certain. “You’re hiding something from me. Otherwise, why would you suddenly act like such a rogue?”
Lin Yu also felt like his brain had short-circuited for a moment. “No, really—”
“And another piece of evidence—” Lu Ziqing suddenly held something colorful in front of him. His tone was serious. “I saw this fall out of your pocket just now.”
Lin Yu glanced at it.
It was the flyer for the tutoring job.
Lu Ziqing’s expression darkened. “Are we so poor that you need to work two jobs just to make ends meet? If not, then there’s only one possibility—something went wrong with your job again.”
Lin Yu looked at the flyer, speechless: “…”
“Spit it out,” Lu Ziqing decisively tore the flyer into pieces and threw it into the trash. “My dad’s giving you trouble again, isn’t he?”
