Chapter 51

“No.”

I laughed and said, “We’ve been studying together from elementary school to university, haven’t we? You should know whether I’ve had a crush on any of my female classmates.”

“Really?” My cousin pulled my hand under her head and said with a sly smile, “Back in freshman year, I remember you wrote a love letter. It was so vivid and moving that it touched me. Who was that love letter for?”

I never expected my cousin to bring this up. I did write a love letter back then, but I didn’t write a recipient’s name. Instead, I hid it in a book, but I never thought my cousin would find it.

What’s worse, I wrote it all in the form of acrostic poems, and that person’s name was naturally…

I couldn’t help but ask, “Sis, how did you know?”

“Is there anything else I don’t know?” My cousin chuckled. “Tell me who that love letter was for. I’m suddenly getting curious.”

“I just made that up,” I laughed, though I secretly hoped my cousin would understand what I meant.

“Really? You can write so well even when you’re just making things up.” My cousin rolled her eyes at me and said with some dissatisfaction, “Idiot, you’re not telling the truth.”

Although my cousin’s tone was somewhat reproachful, I noticed a tenderness and an indescribable sweetness deep in her eyes.

“It’s late, let’s go to sleep.” My cousin yawned. “I want to hold you while I sleep.”

Before I could answer, she wrapped her arms tightly around me, making it impossible for me to move an inch, displaying an extremely domineering manner.

I gave a wry smile, but I also felt quite pleased. I immediately wrapped my arms around my cousin and closed my eyes.

Every time I hug my cousin, I feel like I’m hugging the whole world.

That night, my cousin didn’t do the same thing as last night; instead, she quietly fell asleep in my arms.

I took a deep breath and tried to clear my mind of all distractions.

…

Nothing happened that night. When I woke up the next day, my cousin was still sleeping soundly in my arms, and I noticed that she had the same satisfied smile on her pretty face as she had the day before.

I don’t know if I dreamt of something good.

I looked at my cousin quietly for a while, and instead of feeling restless, I felt a kind of indescribable warmth. Actually, waking up with her in my arms every morning is a kind of happiness.

I took my cousin’s hand off me, then got up and went to the bathroom to wash up.

However, Wang Qin was still not seen coming out of the room, and it was unknown whether she had not returned last night.

After getting dressed, I went outside and bought breakfast.

My cousin is still in bed, like a little lazy pig.

I couldn’t help but chuckle to myself. After putting the things down, I went up and nudged her, “Little lazybones, get up! The sun’s already high in the sky.”

“Silly boy…” my cousin murmured, then opened her still sleepy eyes and glanced at me before stretching. “I’m on vacation today.”

“Really?” I was taken aback. “Then you can go back to sleep. I thought you were going to work today.”

“I’m not going to sleep anymore.” My cousin sat up in bed and said, “You should eat breakfast and then go to work. I’ll tidy up the house a bit.”

I thought for a moment, then said, “Sis, wait for me at home for a while, I’ll go out and buy you something.”

Honestly, I’m worried about my cousin being home alone. What if Li Qiang comes back, or someone else comes in? My cousin is a frail woman.

“What should I buy?” my cousin asked curiously.

I laughed and said, “You’ll find out soon enough.”

I left my room and quickly went to the nearby electronics market to buy my cousin a stun gun. After testing its effectiveness, I rushed back.

When I got back, my cousin was already up and having breakfast. When she saw me, she smiled and asked, “What did you buy this time?”

I took out the new stun gun I bought and said, “Sis, I was worried about you being home alone, so I bought you this.”

My cousin, who was referring to the “stun gun,” paused for a moment, then giggled, “How about I use you as a test subject first?”

“Stop fooling around.”

As I demonstrated how to use it to my cousin, I earnestly said, “In short, be careful when you’re home alone. If anything happens, call me immediately or call the police. No matter how far away I am, I’ll come back as soon as possible.”

My cousin listened carefully, nodding gently as she said, “I know how to use it. Don’t worry, I’ll take good care of myself at home. I’ll protect myself if anything happens. You go to work now.”

I finally felt relieved and went straight to the company.

As soon as I arrived at the office, I saw Yang Yi and Zhao Qian smoking at the entrance. When they saw me, Zhao Qian tossed me a cigarette and said with a smile, “Xiao Tang, I heard the manager wanted to talk to you about something.”

As he spoke, he gestured to me with his eyes.

Yang Yi must have told Zhao Qian about Chen Hui looking for me, otherwise Zhao Qian wouldn’t have given me that look.

I nodded knowingly and said with a smile, “They just asked if I was single, saying they wanted to find me a partner.”

“Keep bragging.” Zhao Qian rolled his eyes at me.

Yang Yi exhaled a smoke ring, then said with a fake smile, “If that’s really the case, then we’ll have to give you a big red envelope. But we didn’t talk to you about work-related matters.”

Zhao Qian secretly gave me a helpless look.

I shrugged, somewhat speechless. “What could she possibly tell me? If it’s work-related, she should talk to you, the team leader, first, and then you should relay it to us.”

To be honest, I’m getting more and more disgusted with this guy. He always feels that Chen Hui is talking badly about him to me, and he’s always trying to subtly imply things.

Yang Yi gave an awkward smile. “Well, we’re all doing this for the company, right?”

Zhao Qian and I exchanged a glance and almost burst out laughing.

Then he tossed his cigarette butt aside and said, “Team Leader Yang, let’s get back to work.”

Without waiting for Yang Yi’s reply, Zhao Qian and I left on our own.

As soon as Zhao Qian and I entered the warehouse, we ran into Chen Hui. As soon as she saw me, she said, “You’ve come at the right time. I was just looking for you. Let’s go to the conference room and talk.”

Zhao Qian paused for a moment, then gave me a meaningful look.

I knew Chen Hui wanted to talk to me about my thoughts, but Zhao Qian must have misunderstood me. No wonder Yang Yi spoke to me in such a hypocritical tone.

But I am upright and have nothing to fear.

As Chen Hui and I walked toward the conference room, she said to me, “I read the suggestions you sent me last night, but there are some things I want to discuss with you, and I’d like to hear your thoughts.”

“Okay,” I nodded.

When we arrived at the conference room, Chen Hui pointed to the chairs and said, “Sit down.”

I nodded, sat down, and said, “Manager, last night I shared some personal insights based on our company’s current situation. Now that you’ve read them, I wonder if there’s anything I didn’t explain clearly?”

“Actually, you’ve explained it very clearly, and I understand it very well too,” Chen Hui said, turning on the projector. She continued, “Regarding this timeliness issue you mentioned, how did you come up with this plan?”

…

After talking with Chen Hui for about an hour, Chen Hui said to me, “That’s right, what you said is in line with the current situation of our unit, so I have decided to start the reforms as you suggested from the first of next month.”

It’s the 25th now, and I didn’t expect she’d be launching it next month.

“Isn’t this a bit hasty?” I didn’t expect Chen Hui to be so decisive. She had this idea right after listening to my explanation for almost an hour.

Chen Hui smiled slightly and shook her head. “No, my idea is to use our unit as a model for the experiment. Moreover, your idea is very suitable for our unit’s current situation. I believe it will definitely succeed.”

“If we encounter any uncooperative individuals during the reform process, we will replace them all.”

Chen Hui said casually, “Company reforms always involve sacrifices, but I hope you’ll maintain your current state until my plans are revealed. Otherwise, it will cause panic and affect your current work.”

I gave a wry smile. “Manager, I’m not a blabbermouth, but before we push this plan through, shouldn’t you reconsider?”

“No need to think about it anymore. I will improve upon your suggestions. If the reform is successful, you will be the one who makes the greatest contribution.”

Chen Hui said calmly, “Alright, we’ve already taken up almost an hour of your time. Let’s go out now.”

“OK.”

After Chen Hui and I came out of the meeting room, I saw Yang Yi pretending to be inspecting the warehouse.

As soon as he saw Chen Hui, he hurriedly greeted her with a smile, “Hello, Manager.”

Chen Hui nodded slightly. “What are you doing?”

“I’m checking how many packages are delayed, registering them, and trying to contact the recipients and senders so that we can reduce our current complaint rate and improve our unit’s performance.”

Yang Yi said respectfully.

Chen Hui nodded calmly, “Well done. Right now, we still need to find a way to solve our complaint rate and delivery time issues.”

“Yes.” Yang Yi nodded firmly.

“Then you go ahead and get busy,” Chen Hui said calmly, then strode towards the office.

I nodded slightly to Yang Yi and was about to get back to work when Yang Yi stopped me. “Xiao Tang, what did the manager talk to you about that took so long?”

I said somewhat helplessly, “Team Leader Yang, it’s my business what the manager and I talk about. If I tell you, wouldn’t I be acting a little immorally?”

“Well…” Yang Yi chuckled awkwardly, “I thought you two knew each other before…”

I said speechlessly, “I’m going to get back to work.”

This guy is really something. Instead of working properly, he’s so concerned about other people’s private affairs. No wonder he’s still just a team leader after three or four years.

Yang Yi’s expression flickered for a moment, then he waved his hand dismissively, “Then you can go ahead and get busy.”

After loading the car, I contacted my cousin and was relieved to find that she was fine at home.

After delivering one package, I rushed home as soon as I got off work.

Zhao Qian laughed and said, “So eager to go back? Do you have a beautiful bride hiding at home?”

“How did you know?” I laughed. “See you tomorrow.”

I had just gotten back downstairs when I subconsciously looked up and saw what looked like a figure standing on the balcony—it was a woman.

However, I couldn’t see clearly whether it was my cousin or Wang Qin. The figure stood on the balcony for a while and then went back inside.

I parked my car and was about to go upstairs when I saw Wang Qin rushing downstairs.

Upon seeing me, she suddenly smiled mysteriously, then took something out of her handbag and stuffed it into my hand…