Shine on Me

I slept the entire day in my dorm.

By nightfall, I couldn’t sleep at all. After tossing and turning for a long time, I simply got up and played handheld games all night. On Monday morning, I dragged myself to work in a daze. Walking there, I even thought Lin Yusen might sneer at me again if he saw me like this. But as soon as I stepped into the office, I heard terrifying news.

"Vice President Lin seems to have been in a car accident."

No way? Instantly, all my drowsiness vanished as I recalled the wish I’d made at the temple… Could it be…?

I grabbed Jiang Ya, the one spreading the news, and asked nervously, "Is he okay?"

Jiang Ya gave me a suspicious look, her tone instantly turning sour. "Nie Xiguang, why are you so worried? I never knew you cared so much about Vice President Lin."

With that, she turned and walked away, leaving me with no useful information.

Fortunately, a department meeting was called soon after, presided over by General Manager Zhang, who usually didn’t handle day-to-day operations. General Manager Zhang announced that Vice President Lin had indeed been in a car accident, but thankfully, it wasn’t serious. However, he would need several weeks of rest to recover.

"I’ll be taking over Vice President Lin’s duties this month, but with the factory expansion underway, we still need his input from time to time. So, we need someone to deliver documents to his home—not too frequently, maybe once or twice a week. Who’s willing?"

General Manager Zhang scanned the room. Before anyone else could react, I stood up. "General Manager Zhang, I’ll go."

Everyone turned to look at me. I coughed and explained, "First, because I’ve been following the expansion project closely. And second, as everyone knows, Vice President Lin doesn’t have the best impression of me."

Thinking back to the usual dynamics, some of my colleagues’ gazes softened slightly.

I continued, "So I’d like to take this opportunity to improve his opinion of me."

And, more importantly, to ease my own guilt That was the real key.

I stared at General Manager Zhang with shining eyes. Perhaps overwhelmed by my enthusiasm, he immediately made the decision. "You’ll go."

So the next afternoon, I found myself carrying a stack of documents to Vice President Lin’s home. The door was answered by a woman in her fifties, who seemed to be expecting someone from the company and was extremely polite.

"Hello, ma’am. Is this Mr. Lin Yusen’s home?"

"Yes, yes! You’re from Mr. Lin’s company, right? He’s waiting in the study. Please come in."

I changed into slippers and followed her toward Lin Yusen’s study, clutching the files. But as I stood outside the study door, I suddenly lost my nerve, feeling like a criminal about to face their victim.

I tugged at the woman’s sleeve. "Ma’am, how is Vice President Lin? Is he okay? What did the doctor say?"

"He’s fine, it’s nothing serious. It just aggravated some old injuries! He needs rest—shouldn’t walk too much right now or stand for long periods."

He can’t even walk?

I had no idea my wish would be so effective—gone just like that, and in such a brutal way… A few days ago, I’d been furious with Lin Yusen, but now all I felt was guilt.

Hesitantly, I asked the woman, "...Would it be inconvenient for me to go in? Maybe you could deliver the documents to Vice President Lin for me?"

She replied, "Oh, let me ask Mr. Lin first. Wait here, young lady."

Just as she was about to knock, Vice President Lin’s deep voice came from inside. "Who’s out there?""Mr. Lin, it's an employee from your company. A rather clever young girl delivering documents. Should I let her in or shall I bring them to you myself?"

The study fell silent for a moment.

"Let her in."

Pushing open the study door, my gaze immediately sought out Lin Yusen.

Sure enough, he was seated in a chair.

Bathed in the perfect light from the floor-to-ceiling windows, he wore a light gray sweater with a thin blanket draped over his knees, engrossed in a magazine.

Though there wasn't the slightest hint of discomfort or disarray about him, I couldn't shake the impression that he appeared somehow impaired in mobility.

"Vice President Lin." Nervously, I approached and handed him the documents.

His eyes met mine.

"It's you?"

Guiltily, I replied, "Yes, everyone else was busy."

I couldn't very well admit I'd come to assess the extent of my supposed curse on him, so I offered this flimsy excuse instead. His scrutinizing gaze made me feel like a thief caught red-handed, and I quickly lowered my eyes.

Closing the magazine and setting it aside, he took the documents and instructed the housekeeper nearby, "Aunt Chen, please show her to the living room."

That "short sit" turned into over an hour. I nearly dozed off on the sofa before resorting to playing games on my phone to stay awake...

When it was time to leave, I didn't see Lin Yusen again. Aunt Chen handed me the reviewed documents along with a list.

"The master asked you to bring the contracts on this list tomorrow."

I was taken aback—wasn't it supposed to be once or twice a week? Why again tomorrow? Looking down at the list, the familiar, unrestrained cursive handwriting was unmistakably Lin Yusen's.

The next afternoon, I delivered the documents right on schedule and prepared to wait in the living room again.

Bored out of my mind but tragically having forgotten my phone in the office in my rush, I cautiously asked as I was leaving the study, "Vice President, may I read some magazines in the living room?"

After all, they weren't mine to rummage through.

Without looking up, he said, "You wouldn't understand them."

"Huh?"

"They're all foreign medical journals."

"Oh, then I'll wait outside." Embarrassed, I made to slip away.

"Wait."

I turned back to him.

"Stay here," he said impassively. "I may have questions for you at any time."

...

Delivering documents now comes with pop quizzes? Silently, I sat down on the sofa. Over an hour passed with him acting as if I didn't exist, asking me nothing—until finally, as we finished, he said, "Aunt Chen has business in Shanghai tomorrow afternoon. You'll need to let yourself in."

Calling Aunt Chen over, he instructed, "Give her the key."

"What?" What was happening?

"Would you prefer I answer the door?"

"Oh."

Slowly, I took the key from Aunt Chen, feeling utterly bewildered. All I'd done was deliver documents—how had I suddenly ended up with a key to his home?

It wasn't until I was outside that it hit me: I had to come back tomorrow! That meant three consecutive days at his place?

I couldn't even imagine what my colleagues would think.

Maybe I should pretend to take leave tomorrow and sneak over? No, no—that would only fuel more speculation.Before I could come up with a perfect solution, the time to visit Vice President Lin's home had arrived. This time, even Yin Jie's eyes were clearly asking—have you and Vice President Lin developed a □ relationship? Forget about Jiang Ya and the others.

Well, since everyone was so suspicious, I decided to... stop being nervous!

I confidently carried the documents to Lin Yusen's home.

Apart from him opening the door himself, everything else seemed the same as usual.

Except it felt unusually quiet.

On that late autumn afternoon, Lin Yusen was, as usual, reviewing documents, while I sat idly on the sofa as always. My gaze wandered from the trees outside the window to the books on the shelf, then to the vase on the table, and finally settled on the empty glass beside the vase.

Out of concern for the patient, I took the initiative to ask, "Vice President, would you like me to pour you some water?"

His fingers paused briefly on the document before slowly turning the page. He didn’t speak, and just as I thought I might have overstepped, he gave an almost imperceptible nod.

I quickly grabbed the glass and hurried to the kitchen, only to find the kettle empty when I lifted it.

Peeking into the study, I called out, "Vice President, it might take a few minutes. There’s no hot water left—I’ll need to boil some."

He glanced up at me briefly before lowering his head again. I scratched my head, taking his silence as consent, and ran back to the kitchen to wait for the water to boil.

Once the water was ready, I poured it, carried the glass to the bedroom, and carefully handed it to him.

"I added some ice from the fridge, so it’s not too hot. You can drink it now."

But he didn’t take it. His gaze lingered on the glass in my hand for a moment before slowly shifting to my face.

"Nie Xiguang, why do you feel guilty?"

"Wh-what?"

"Your face can’t hide your thoughts," he said coolly. "From the first day you came, I sensed your guilt. Why?"

"I—"

His stare made me extremely uncomfortable. I thought to myself, I didn’t mean to curse you... And how am I supposed to answer you? Should I say I cursed you at the temple, and that’s why you got into a car accident? That doesn’t even sound logical...

He didn’t wait for me to finish stammering.

"Nie Xiguang, this is my second car accident," he said, his voice low and deliberate.

"The first one ended my career."

Career? I froze for a second before realizing he was referring to his original profession—a surgeon who wielded a scalpel.

The most important thing for a surgeon...

My eyes involuntarily fell on his hands. They were exceptionally beautiful—slender, strong, and well-defined. I imagined how they must have looked holding a scalpel, surely a sight to behold.

"Your..." I stopped myself just in time, feeling a pang of regret.

"My hands," he nodded, his eyes fixed intently on me. "If this car accident has stirred any distant memories for Miss Nie, I would be very pleased."

Distant memories?

I stared at him, utterly confused. "What are you talking about?"

He didn’t answer.

His gaze seemed to freeze over in an instant. He withdrew his eyes, and the slow, measured tone from earlier quickly turned cold.

"You may leave now."

The next day, I was informed that I no longer needed to deliver documents to Vice President Lin. It dawned on me belatedly—had I offended him again?

This Mr. Lin is way too easy to offend!

I racked my brain, trying to figure out what I could have possibly said wrong, but came up empty."Oh no," I said gloomily to Yin Jie. "When he comes back, I'll be facing an even more miserable overtime hell."

But this time I was wrong. Two weeks later when Lin Yusen returned, it was as if he'd completely forgotten my existence in the management department, leaving me utterly idle. Once when I was browsing the internet during work hours, he even walked right past me without a glance.

Yin Jie congratulated me: "Xiguang, looks like delivering those documents worked. See, Vice President Lin isn't making you work overtime anymore."

Is that so?

Or is it just me? Why do I feel like Lin Yusen's attitude toward me has gotten even worse?