CH 32

In the blink of an eye, it was Friday.

The elevator doors opened and Bo Yueming walked out in formal attire, holding a walking cane in his hand. Pei Yi followed him out obediently.

With assistant Lin Zhong as a guide, the two slowly walked to the main entrance of the G.M. company floor.

The new receptionist was surprised when she saw Bo Yueming’s “blind man” accessories, and didn’t realize Bo Yueming’s identity for a moment.

Then Yan Cen’s assistant hurried out and said respectfully, “Boss Bo.”

Her eyes fell on the familiar assistant Lin Zhong, and then on the face of the completely unfamiliar Pei Yi—

The person before her had a cute and innocent face, and the casual clothes on his frame were designed by famous niche brands. He didn’t look like a person capable of blending into the workplace.

A little taken aback, the assistant subconsciously asked Lin Zhong, who had the same status, “Assistant Lin, who is this?”

As soon as she spoke, Bo Yueming took the initiative to say, “He is my……family member.”

The term “family member” was very special.

Not only the two assistants, but even Pei Yi himself was surprised for a moment. But when he thought about it, this term was indeed more appropriate than “marriage partner,” “companion,” and so on.

Pei Yi seemed to want to prove his identity, so he called out in a well-behaved manner, “Er-ge.”

The assistant had a good sense of propriety. Although she was bewildered, she didn’t ask any more questions.

Bo Yueming changed the subject. “Where is Yan Cen? Is he here?”

The assistant replied, “I just called to inquire. Boss Yan is already in the underground parking lot, and will be here soon.”

Speak of the devil and he will arrive.

The elevator doors opened again, and Yan Cen took the lead to step through them. In addition, there were two other people in the elevator—

They were Li Yuan, who had come to participate in the competition, and an unfamiliar woman with short hair.

Pei Yi stared slightly, secretly observing everything.

Yan Cen had not changed much since the previous two meetings. Superior and refined, he wore the familiar gold-rimmed glasses on his face, but compared to the previous two occasions, with his “working status” today, he had the extra calm aura of a boss.

Li Yuan, who was standing diagonally behind, had donned a new blue suit with a gray pattern for today’s official selection. He also seemed to have taken extra care of his hairstyle, and the wolf tail was cut a bit shorter, the little fluff on the upper part curling.

With his deliberately indifferent expression, there was a faint sense of lovely contrast.

As for the short-haired woman next to Li Yuan, she was dressed even more simply, with a plain white T-shirt and jeans and a black bag over one shoulder.

It looked as if she had followed the wrong person and strayed into this area, but she was calm and without stage fright.

Pei Yi stared at her for a moment, and then his lips curved indistinctly.

“Hello, Boss Yan.”

Yan Cen’s assistant was the first to react, and at the same time recognized Li Yuan from the competition materials. “And Mr. Li, did you come here together?”

“N-no.”

Li Yuan got stuck for a moment, and his voice was slightly tense. “I happened to meet Boss Yan in the elevator.”

“En, I came up from the underground parking lot, and when the elevator stopped on the first floor, I met Mr. Li and……” Yan Cen glanced sideways at the relatively unfamiliar woman, and inquired politely with his eyes.

“Lou Yang.”

The woman met his gaze and introduced herself calmly and naturally. “I came here with Mr. Li, and can be regarded as one of the staff participating in the competition for “The Last Fog.”

Li Yuan was silent for a moment. “En.”

He had just picked up Lou Yang at the airport an hour ago. As for the complicated relationship, it was not easy to explain for the time being.

Yan Cen looked at Pei Yi, who was following along, and teased for a rare moment, “Mr. Bo, you really brought a “family member” to the company? Violation of company regulations will result in fines.”

“As you say.” Bo Yueming answered lightly, “I’ll watch him, he won’t cause trouble.”

Yan Cen nodded slightly, and asked his assistant, “It starts at two o’clock?”

“Yes, there is still another half hour, and the other group of investment competitors hasn’t arrived yet.” The assistant accurately reported the current situation and asked, “Do I need to call to confirm their situation?”

Bo Yueming was decisive. “No need. If they don’t show up at the end, it will be regarded as an automatic waiver. Our G.M. never seeks out cooperation from project parties.”

Yan Cen agreed.

As soon as his voice fell, the elevator opened for the third time.

Everyone from Youming Studios had arrived. Ke Ming looked at the group of people gathered at the front desk, and after some brief surprise, showed a polite smile. “What a coincidence, why is everyone gathered here?”

Ke Ming identified Yan Cen and took the initiative to greet him. “Boss Yan, I am Ke Ming, the head of Youming Studios. I’ve admired you for a long time.”

Yan Cen pushed his glasses up lightly and gave a polite, “Mr. Ke.”

Compared with Li Yuan’s indifference and restraint, Ke Ming obviously knew how to make friends with others. He took the initiative to move to the side and introduce two people, “Boss Yan, this is the program technical director of our “Alien Beasts” project, Xiang Nansheng.”

“And our project operator, Pei Huan.”

When the name of the latter person was mentioned, aside from Bo Yueming, who was pretending to be blind, everyone looked toward the back in unison.

“…….”

Only then did Pei Huan, who was blocked by Xiang Nansheng, come forward. When he saw Bo Yueming and Pei Yi standing in front of him, the smile on his face froze slightly, but it quickly returned to normal.

Yan Cen glanced at Bo Yueming and Pei Yi beside him and asked in surprise, “Pei Huan? You’re involved in Youming Studios’ project? Why wasn’t this mentioned in the prior information?”

“Boss Yan, you don’t know that Pei Huan is a newcomer, but I have been lobbying him since the beginning of the project and finally managed to persuade him two days ago.”

Hearing Ke Ming’s false claims, Pei Huan smiled and did not refute.

In fact, he had no substantive relationship with the “Alien Beasts” project, and the so-called “project operator” was just a temporary name.

Pei Huan and Ke Ming had met at an “excellent student exchange meeting” organized during university. Although they came from different schools, they became friends over time due to having the same hobbies and interests.

A week ago, Ke Ming suddenly contacted Pei Huan and put the “Alien Beasts” project in front of his eyes, saying—

If Pei Huan was interested in the project, he could transfer part of his personal equity to the other party. Although it took a long time to wait for the initial investment, once the follow-up game was successfully released, they would definitely earn a lot of money back.

The real power of the Pei family was still in the hands of Pei Ruzhang for the time being. With the failure of the partnership project with the Bo family, Pei Huan had originally planned to start an investment on the side, and Ke Ming’s invitation was very warm.

After some consideration, Pei Huan accepted the idea.

Ke Ming invited him to participate in today’s competition as a chance for him to learn more about the project, but he didn’t expect to meet so many acquaintances here.

Ke Ming’s voice continued, “Boss Yan, Pei Huan and I met in college. The original concept of “Alien Beasts,” including the biological prototypes, were also discussed by us over drinks.”

When fabricating this layer of lies, Ke Ming’s pupils flickered momentarily.

It was just that these calculations couldn’t escape the notice of Bo Yueming and Pei Yi. The former was inwardly suspicious, while the latter saw through everything directly—

Ke Ming must have learned about the relationship between Pei Huan and Yan Cen in university, so he pulled this trick on purpose.

After all was said and done, wasn’t this just counting on Yan Cen seeing the face of a “student from the same school” so that in the competition between the two parties, they would be favored and given preferential treatment?

Pei Huan already realized the true purpose of Ke Ming’s invitation for him to join him, but didn’t have hard feelings about being “used” at all.

To be honest, Yan Cen was indeed the only person he had a crush on during university, but there were few opportunities to meet him at school.

So long after graduation, the two could still meet again. If he could use this opportunity to gain impression points in front of the other party and improve their relationship and communication a bit, then he was perfectly willing.

“Senior, that’s not right…..” Pei Huan paused slightly, and then changed his words with a smile, “Boss Yan, I look forward to future exchanges with your company.”

“…….”

Exchanges?

Was the result of this competition already confirmed?

Li Yuan, who had remained silent the whole time, heard this term of address and involuntarily took half a step back.

Pei Yi noticed the other party’s retreat, and his disdain for Pei Huan and Ke Ming rose to another level.

He was thinking about how to “play the fool” to frustrate the other party’s inexplicable confidence and drive, but Bo Yueming beside him spoke in a resonating voice—

“G.M. has always valued capability. As for things other than work, there is no need to communicate more about them.”

In a word, he pretty much shoved those hidden words onto the surface.

Pei Yi suppressed his smile for an instant, and raised his eyes to look at Bo Yueming who was much taller than himself. The more he looked at him, the more he felt that the other party was incredibly handsome, and he wished he could directly give this person a thumbs-up.

Exactly.

This game competition only depended on pure prowess, what were these dishonest means!

The atmosphere froze for a moment.

Ke Ming looked at Bo Yueming, who was “dressed up as a blind man,” with a hint of inner displeasure. “May I ask who this gentleman is?”

Yan Cen introduced the identity of his friend, “Mr. Bo is my partner, the highest-level shareholder of G.M., and one of the decision makers for today’s investment.”

“…….”

“…….”

When these words were spoken, the astonishment of Ke Ming and Pei Huan almost reached their faces.

Ke Ming’s inner displeasure suddenly dissipated, and he regretted at once the contempt in his question just now. When he researched the company before, why didn’t he know that there was such a person as Bo Yueming?

Thank goodness he was being polite when he spoke just now, otherwise he would have offended him terribly!

Pei Huan attempted to stabilize his complexion, but there was a sudden and indescribable panic in his heart.

Last time, he and Bo Guancheng had tried to send Pei Yi to Sun Yelong’s bed in exchange for greater cooperation, and as a result, Qin Yishun severely denounced and accused him first, and then he suffered a huge loss after the cooperation failed. If Bo Yueming knew about his shady business, would he still give him a fair chance in this competition?

What about Yan Cen?

Did he also know what he did to Pei Yi? Would his perception of him change?

The next moment, Yan Cen calmly spoke, “Shen Na, please take both parties to sit down in the lounge. We will start on time at two o’clock in the conference room.”

After speaking, he patted his friend on the shoulder lightly. “Yueming, let’s go.”

Bo Yueming gave a slight nod and accurately held Pei Yi’s wrist under the cover of the guide sunglasses in order to prevent the kitten beside him from running around. “Let’s go.”

Pei Yi had originally wanted to stay and take a look at Li Yuan’s situation, but then thought of how he had agreed to Bo Yueming’s request, so he had no choice but to honestly let the other party lead him away. The group of people left first.

Pei Huan looked after Yan Cen’s departing figure, and then at Pei Yi, who was always at Bo Yueming’s side on such occasions. His perpetually bright smile gradually stiffened and weakened, and finally disappeared.

. . . . . .

The lounge was fairly bright and spacious.

Each of the competing parties chose to sit on one side, and Li Yuan tried hard to break free from his subtle and complicated emotions.

He took out the documents and materials he had organized from his backpack, and planned to take the last bit of time to sort out the content of his speech and check for omissions and gaps.

Lou Yang next to him asked  in a whisper, “Young Boss Li, do you have any backup documents? Show me.”

“Sister Yang, you are older than me, you can just call me by name. You don’t need to be bound by that term of address.”

While speaking calmly, Li Yuan took out the documents belonging to Lou Yang and purposely tapped on a line above. “Will asked me to prepare this for you.”

— It was the character roles and NPC images for “The Last Fog 1.0.”

Lou Yang looked at his line of title text, and then at this thick stack of text settings, and a carefree smile flashed in her eyes. “This person didn’t come, but it is very clear that he wanted to.”

As soon as she spoke, there was a faint laugh from across the room. “Young Boss Li, I haven’t seen you for a few days, why is there an extra assistant by your side? Is this lady your partner?”

Li Yuan’s fingertips tightened as he held the documents, and his expression didn’t look very good.

Lou Yang heard the unkind “greeting,” and raised her eyes to look back at Ke Ming. “I’m just a staff member who came to observe, there’s no need for Boss Ke to trouble himself.”

“That’s true.”

Ke Ming examined Lou Yang from head to toe.

Wearing ordinary and unremarkable clothing, how could she look like a capable person in the workplace? He brought such trash to attend? Wasn’t this just putting the big characters “Dawn Company is incapable” on the table?

And of course, Bo Yueming, one of the decision makers, was blind.

They really didn’t need to spend time on attire, and could really only speak through their capability.

Ke Ming slandered in his mind, his eyes still stained with contempt. “Mr. Li, did you really not think about what I said last time? It’s better to abstain now than to lose shamefully in the end.”

In public, they had the foundation, capability, and momentum of technology and development; in private, Pei Huan and Yan Cen, the Executive Director of G.M., were still university brothers.

Ke Ming didn’t know the relationship between Pei Huan, Bo Yueming, and Pei Yi for the time being, but he was still sure of victory and full of confidence.

Li Yuan looked at Ke Ming, who had a “victorious” expression. From the corner of his eye, he saw Pei Huan’s figure again, and a trace of indescribable uneasiness swayed in his heart.

He didn’t want to show timidity in front of the other party, and put up a front of cold arrogance. “Mr Ke, worry about yourself.”

Ke Ming gave a smug laugh. “Mr. Li, your stubborn temper really needs to be adjusted.”

Li Yuan ignored him. He glanced at the time on the phone and disclosed in a low voice, “Sister Yang, I’m going out to get some air.”

Lou Yang nodded, comforting him quietly, “Don’t lose confidence because of this villain. Don’t you remember my purpose for being here?”

Of course Li Yuan remembered. His eyes flickered slightly. “En.”

. . . . . .

Inside the Executive Director’s office.

In addition to Bo Yueming and Yan Cen, there was also Song Ci, who had just returned to China. The three of them would jointly come to a decision on one of the two game projects—

Whether in the overseas market or the Chinese market, this was the first time for G.M. to contact and invest in the game industry, so they were more cautious in making a choice.

Pei Yi listened to their analysis and discussion on the first four rounds of investment projects, and wanted to interrupt but was unable to speak. Bored, he could only cast his gaze on the glass door with anti-peeping protection.

Not long after, he glimpsed a person walking out of the nearby lounge. It was Li Yuan.

Pei Yi thought of Li Yuan’s silent reaction when they were at the front desk just now, and was still a little worried.

Most of the “Last Fog” project relied on Li Yuan to drive forward alone. The more critical the moment, the more he should find a way to stabilize the other party’s mind.

Pei Yi lowered his eyes and hesitated for a second, then turned his head and gently tugged twice at the corner of Bo Yueming’s clothes. “Er-ge.”

Bo Yueming was constantly paying attention to Pei Yi from the corner of his eyes hidden under the lenses, and knew something was up when he felt him tugging. “En?”

“I, I’m going to the bathroom.”

Pei Yi quickly glanced at the “outsiders” around him and spoke softly, a blush of embarrassment spreading across his cheeks.

A person in his twenties had to report when he went out to use the bathroom!

It was true that it was only an excuse, but his embarrassment was also real!

Bo Yueming saw through him but didn’t say anything, deliberately letting his gaze wander. “Alight, let Lin Zhong outside take you there.”

He wanted to follow personally and see what “bad things” this kitten was going to do behind his back, only it would be a bit of overkill for a dignified company executive to accompany him to the bathroom.

Before coming, Lin Zhong had already been notified—

Where he was unable to personally see, the other party had to help “supervise” Pei Yi’s every move.

Pei Yi was unaware of this, and after obtaining Bo Yueming’s consent with a blushing face, he maintained his cute appearance and slipped out.

It didn’t take one minute.

Under Lin Zhong’s considerate guidance, Pei Yi entered the restroom alone. Sure enough, he ran into Li Yuan standing silently at the outside washstand.

Li Yuan’s face was covered with a lot of water. He had likely washed his face just now, and the watery light gathered on his face magnified his exposed fragility and anxiety.

Glimpsing Pei Yi through the mirror, he hastily pulled out a tissue from the side and wiped his face, trying to restore that cold and arrogant outward appearance. “Little Young Master Pei, I didn’t expect to meet you here today.”

Pei Yi saw through him but said nothing.

He knew that Li Yuan still needed time to “organize himself,” and wouldn’t leave here for a while, so he slowly advanced into a private stall.

The small door was tightly locked.

Li Yuan let out a sigh of relief when he heard the sound.

He grabbed the cigarette case he carried with him from his pocket and took one out to hold at the tip of his nose and inhaled lightly, trying to calm down his inner restlessness.

Footsteps from outside sounded again, and another tall figure walked in.

Li Yuan automatically opened his eyes and turned around, and unexpectedly caught Yan Cen’s gaze. “M-Mr. Yan.”

“Young Boss Li.”

Yan Cen’s gaze rested on the cigarette for a moment.

Li Yuan noticed and subconsciously held the cigarette in his palm. “I……I know you can’t smoke indoors. I was just picking it up to sniff it.”

After speaking, he felt that he sounded stupid, and went silent again.

“It’s fine.”

Yan Cen raised his right hand. “I got some ink on my hand, I came to wash it.”

He walked to the sink and rinsed his hands slowly.

Li Yuan glanced at Yan Cen, who was only a short distance away, from the corner of his eye. He didn’t know whether to stay or leave for a moment.

“Young Boss Li, are you nervous, or are you not confident?”

“Ah?”

Yan Cen rubbed some hand sanitizer onto his hands and offered, “I’ve read the basic information of Dawn Games and the game “The Last Fog.” In fact, your plot settings are very good, and the structure is incredibly complete.”

“G.M. has always valued the capability of its partners, and no ‘back doors’ or ‘sentimentality’ will be found here.”

Li Yuan was stunned. “I……”

“I thought you might be worried that Youming would take advantage of my and Pei Huan’s relationship as university brothers to pull ahead.”

Yan Cen smiled lightly at him through the reflection in the mirror. “If that is the case, then shouldn’t you and I also be regarded as brothers who are directly affiliated through university?”

“…….”

Li Yuan held the cigarette tightly in his palm, not knowing how to answer.

Be regarded as university brothers?

The two had little extraneous contact in university.

Yan Cen wiped his hands clean, then motioned to him from the side. “Open your hand.”

“What?”

Li Yuan was a beat slow. His bodily instincts were greater than his rationality, and he spread his right hand uncertainly.

“You’re right, it is G.M.’s policy that no smoking is allowed inside the company. So I’ll take that on the company’s behalf.”

Yan Cen took the crumpled cigarette and instead placed a toffee in his palm. “It looks like your lips are a little pale. If you have low blood sugar, it is better to eat one.”

“Pay attention to the time, you can’t be late for the meeting.”

After speaking, Yan Cen neatly left the bathroom.

The footsteps gradually faded away.

Li Yuan looked at the toffee in his palm and couldn’t recover for a while. 

Then there was a noise in a stall and Pei Yi, who had secretly heard the entire process, came out.

He observed Li Yuan’s expression again and suddenly felt that he didn’t need to rack his brains for a way to persuade him, so he only let out a profound—

“Oh~”

This sudden sound made Li Yuan feel awkward for a moment. “L-Little Young Master Pei, what did you see me doing?”

In order to completely suppress Li Yuan’s anxiety that might make a comeback, Pei Yi deliberately reached out to tease him. “Candy, give me. Kid stuff.”

“…….”

Li Yuan’s ears gradually turned red.

He used this term to “rebuke” Pei Yi in the coffee shop, but the other party used it to “laugh” at him.

Li Yuan quickly placed the toffee into his suit pocket and pretended to dislike and avoid him, “What’s the point of one candy? If you like it, have your Boss Bo buy it for you.”

Pei Yi hummed. He took out a package of small bread from his pocket that he had just bought at the company’s snack bar and handed it to the other party.

Others may not know, but Pei Yi, who was Will, knew very well—

Li Yuan had been re-examining all the documents and materials early in the morning, and had taken time to pick up Lou Yang at noon. He likely hadn’t had time to eat, otherwise his lip color wouldn’t have faded like this.

“Give. Not hungry.”

“……..”

Li Yuan stared at the bread delivered to him, and his affection for Pei Yi rose rapidly.

He slowly accepted this kindness and then gave an awkward cough, changing his words, “How about this, ba. If I succeed in the competition today, how about I treat you to cake?”

Anyhow, last time in the coffee shop, the other party listened quietly to his distress and even bought him a glass of juice and a piece of cake when he was on his deathbed.

Li Yuan had a good impression of Pei Yi, and also didn’t want to owe him such a small favor.

Pei Yi raised his outstretched palm, and with real affection for cake and this ally, he gave a real smile, “Wish you success.”

Li Yuan’s heart was no longer anxious now, and knowing that the other party was a “little fool,” he was still willing to treat him as a friend.

He stretched out his hand to shake it back, and gave a rare smile. “It’s a deal. I’ll borrow your blessing.”

. . . . . . .

In a flash, it was two o’clock.

Pei Yi obediently followed Bo Yueming to the exclusive conference room and sat down.

Relevant personnel came in one after another, carrying notebooks and materials.

Then assistant Lin Zhong opened the door and entered the room, walking up to Pei Yi with three exquisite bags of food. “Little Sir, look! Juice, pudding, and egg tarts—”

As Lin Zhong spoke, he placed the desserts in front of Pei Yi one by one like treasures, and didn’t forget to say a sentence at the end.

“Boss Bo asked me to buy it for you.”

“…….”

Pei Yi looked at the row of his favored desserts before him and was ready to make a move on them, but was at the same time in disbelief—

Such a serious occasion?

Messed up by a bunch of food for him to eat?

Was this appropriate? This was not appropriate, ba!

While thinking about it, Pei Yi looked at Bo Yueming beside him and blinked in confusion. “Er-ge?”

Bo Yueming took in this cute look and pretended to be serious, “Eat quietly later, and don’t make trouble when you shouldn’t talk.”

“…….”

Fine, ba.

It turned out that he was afraid his “little fool” would talk nonsense, so he stuffed his mouth with sweets in advance.

Pei Yi accepted the order, and deliberately didn’t react for a long time before behaving well. “Oh.”

Bo Yueming motioned and said in a low voice, “Stretch out your hand.”

“Ah?”

Bo Yueming repeated, “Stretch out your hand.”

Pei Yi was unclear, so he glanced at the gradually arriving staff and slowly spread his hand under the cover of the table.

Bo Yueming reached over with his clenched right hand and pretended that he couldn’t find the location of his palm. “You come over here.”

“……”

Becoming increasingly puzzled, Pei Yi spread his palm toward Bo Yueming’s fist like a kitten probing with its claws, and lightly touched it with his fingertips.

Rustle.

Seven or eight toffees fell heavily into his palm.

“…….”

Pei Yi was dumbfounded. He had no idea how Bo Yueming had conjured up these candies.

Bo Yueming looked at Pei Yi’s small head with a “question mark” on top, and his eyes hidden under the glasses smiled a little more.

He seemed to relax, and closed his hand, explaining in a low voice, “Put them away. If you want to eat them in the future, don’t ask for them from others.”

Ah?

Had he said he wanted candy?

Pei Yi forgot his casual teasing in the bathroom for a moment, but still honestly put these toffees in his pocket. He wouldn’t turn away candies given for free.

Lin Zhong, who was sitting in the back as an assistant, watched this scene and silently shook his head—

As he was “supervising” outside the bathroom just now, he heard Pei Yi fail in his request for toffee from Li Yuan, so he secretly reported the matter to Bo Yueming when he returned. 

As a result?

When Mr. Bo heard about this, he went directly to Mr. Yan’s water bar and took away all the toffee used for coffee!

Yes! There was not one left!