Shine on Me

Lin Yusen carried my backpack while I swung his hand as we walked toward the parking lot together.

“You still have to socialize with them tonight, right? It might be a bit odd if I suddenly show up… I’ll just rest at the hotel. Don’t worry about me.”

“Forget about them. I’ll take you around Chengdu.”

Huh?

Even though my purpose here was to travel, I didn’t want to interfere with his work. I couldn’t help but guess, “Has it already been settled?”

“Not yet.”

Then how could he just ignore it? He must be joking.

But then Lin Yusen took out his phone and made a call. “President Qi, my apologies, but I have something to attend to tonight and won’t be joining dinner… My girlfriend came to Chengdu to visit, and I have to accompany her, or she’ll get upset… Let’s discuss work matters when we’re back in the office. It’s the May Day holiday—wouldn’t want to impose…”

I stood there dumbfounded as he casually ended the call after a few words and continued walking toward the parking lot. I quickly caught up and grabbed his arm.

“Hey, you really don’t have to accompany me. Getting the production line sorted is important—the new factory’s already been inspected and can’t just sit idle… Wait, no, this is way too irresponsible of you!”

Lin Yusen burst into laughter, cupped my face, and kissed me. “How are you this adorable?”

“Mmph… Shtop it.” My face was squished to the point of slurring.

“We already got a good grasp of the situation yesterday,” Lin Yusen explained, letting go. “Sister Chen helped connect me with two former colleagues. While I was drinking with President Qi, Xiao Xie went to gather intel from others. We already know who’s interfering. So we can afford to leave President Qi hanging for now.”

I was puzzled. “Leave him hanging?”

“Yeah, let him stew. Meanwhile, we’ll drop hints to the other party that there are issues with the equipment—ones their tech team can’t resolve. It’s not exactly a lie, of course. But the info can’t come directly from us—they have to ‘accidentally’ find out. President Qi will come to us on his own soon enough.”

Oh…

“Alright.” I started walking again. “Hurry up and take me to eat. I’m starving.”

When we reached the private car parking area at the airport, Lin Yusen took out the car keys and unlocked a vehicle.

I glanced at it. “Is this the car you rented in Chengdu? No driver?” A company executive traveling for business should at least maintain some semblance of professionalism.

“No.” Lin Yusen shook his head. “We returned the business van as soon as I got your text. I rented this one myself just now—it’ll be more convenient for the next few days.”

That made sense.

I turned to get in the car, but Lin Yusen suddenly pulled me back, his gaze intense. “Aren’t you going to ask what it’s convenient for?”

What else could it be for?

“Obviously for getting around and sightseeing.”

“Wrong.” Lin Yusen shook his head with a look of disappointment, as if I were a hopeless student, then leaned in to peck my lips. He cheerfully revealed the correct answer: “It’s convenient for being irresponsible.”

Me: “……”

Satisfied with the kiss, he happily went to take the driver’s seat. I didn’t say anything, waiting until the car had left the parking lot and entered the airport expressway—where it was visibly impossible to pull over—before calling out calmly, “Lin Yusen.”

“Hmm?” He kept his eyes on the road, focused on driving.

“Your irresponsibility was a bit too short-lived.”

…Miscalculation.

Who knew the drive from Shuangliu Airport to the restaurant would be this short?

So at the next parking lot, we stayed in the car for nearly ten minutes before finally getting out…

Next time, I’ll have to assess the terrain before making bold claims!Of course, the first meal in Chengdu had to be hot pot. Lin Yusen said he had already done his research while waiting for me at the airport, ensuring that every meal we had from then on would be top-tier local delicacies only the locals knew about.

“So, can you handle spicy food?”

On the way to the hot pot restaurant, the two of us, both originally from the Jiangnan region, couldn’t help but discuss our tolerance for spice.

“Of course.”

“I’m really good at it too!” I immediately boasted. “Actually, I didn’t used to eat spicy food at all. But when I went to school in Nanjing, so many dishes there were spicy. The pickled fish at the school gate was insanely spicy, but so delicious that I was forced to learn how to handle it.”

“I never had to train myself, but these past couple of days have been fine. I occasionally go to Sichuan restaurants too. Your senior Fang, though—he’s completely hopeless in this regard.”

“He’s that weak? Then next time, let’s treat him to Sichuan food!”

During the short walk from the parking lot to the hot pot restaurant, we spent the time disdainfully mocking Senior Fang, who was far away, and bragging about our spice tolerance as if we could handle ten pounds of chili peppers. But the moment we stepped into the restaurant, where even the air was thick with the scent of spice, and took our first bite from the medium-spicy broth, we each immediately called for three bottles of water.

One bottle for rinsing, two for drinking—and we could always ask for more if needed.

“Should we have gone for mild spice or a split pot?” I glanced around and whispered to Lin Yusen.

“I heard that if you ask for a split pot, the waiter announces it loudly to the whole restaurant. Maybe you should be the one to ask next time? They might go easier on a girl to save face.”

…And what if they still announced it to the entire restaurant? Did I not have any dignity left?

Mr. Lin’s moral character was truly in rapid decline!

I looked around. “Maybe you should at least try to hide the fact that you’re rinsing your food? A grown man eating spicy food like this is really not a good look.”

Lin Yusen didn’t mind at all. “A real man knows when to bend and when to stand firm.”

“How have you been eating these past couple of days? You couldn’t have asked for water to rinse your food in front of the locals, right?”

“Looking back now, it seems President Qi was taking care of me,” Lin Yusen mused. “There’s a really good place—I’ll take you there later. It doesn’t even have a name, just a few tables set up by the roadside with bamboo chairs. It’s quite charming.”

Business dinners were like that? This President Qi seemed like quite the character.

Mentioning President Qi reminded me of the production line, which in turn brought up the issue of the auxiliary materials contract.

Oh right, how had I forgotten about that?

I quickly put down my chopsticks and said excitedly, “Lin Yusen, I forgot to tell you—I think I just pulled off something huge!”

I quickly recounted the whole story and, as expected, received Lin Yusen’s surprise and praise.

“You handled it beautifully—far beyond what I expected.”

I beamed with pride.

“What made you think of doing it that way?” Lin Yusen asked.

“First, I realized one thing—if the Sheng family wronged me, then it’s on them to give me an explanation. It shouldn’t be my job to prove my innocence. So I needed to act a little more aggressively.” I picked up my chopsticks again and very solemnly dipped a spoonful of beef into the broth.

Lin Yusen corrected me, “The burden of proof lies with the accuser. That’s called standing firm on principle, not being aggressive.”

“You’re right.” I readily accepted his point—there was no need to make myself sound domineering. “And also because I got the short end of the stick this time!”"We've already suffered such a big loss, so we must find a way to recoup some of it elsewhere. Isn't there a saying that crisis breeds opportunity? So I kept thinking about where the opportunity might be, to at least recover some of our losses. Since it involved Uncle Sheng, it was easy to think of that contract. You once said to focus on the main contradiction, and I believe this is it."

Lin Yusen chuckled, "That's not quite what I meant back then."

"Close enough. I'm naturally brilliant at drawing inferences," I said proudly. "Anyway, on the way there, I wasn't upset at all. It felt like going into battle, and I was even a little excited."

Lin Yusen gazed at me intently, "Our Xiguang seems to be someone capable of great things."

"Really? Do tell."

"Of course. To set aside emotional distractions, turn crisis into opportunity, and adversity into advantage requires excellent adaptability and strong mental resilience."

Lin Yusen is so much better at compliments than my dad!

He even has theories, unlike my dad whose ultimate goal is still to praise himself.

Even though I knew Lin Yusen's words were exaggerated, I was overjoyed. Eagerly, I picked up an extremely spicy tofu skin for him, "Oh, it's nothing. All thanks to President Lin's guidance."

Meat becomes less spicy after rinsing in water, but tofu skin soaked in broth remains unbearably spicy.

Lin Yusen glanced at the tofu skin and thoughtfully picked up some vegetables for me, "Don't just eat meat. Have some vegetables too."

I looked at the vegetables covered in chili flakes...

President Lin clearly also excels at the adaptability of pranking people.

We must be the legendary type who can't handle spice but love it anyway, as we ended up eating everything despite the heat. When paying the bill, the waiter glanced at the mineral water we used to rinse the food and curiously asked, "Where are you from? Can't even handle this level of spice?"

"Shanghai," I immediately said.

"Jiangsu," Lin Yusen answered almost simultaneously. ???

Was this framing successful or not?

"Ah, from the Jiangsu-Zhejiang-Shanghai area," the waiter lumped us all together, dragging innocent Zhejiang into it. "I knew it. Next time, don't order medium spice. Just go for mild."

We left the restaurant in disgrace but quickly forgot the lesson and went to eat spicy grilled rabbit (with mineral water). By the time we got back to the hotel, my lips felt swollen from the heat.

As the car stopped in the hotel parking lot, I belatedly remembered a crucial question—tonight... uh, should I book another room? After all, we've only been together for a few months...

But would Lin Yusen think that's too distant?

I silently agonized over it, only to run into Xiao Xie, a colleague who had accompanied Lin Yusen to Chengdu, the moment we stepped into the hotel lobby.

Xiao Xie must have also returned from a late-night snack, reeking of spicy hotpot and humming cheerfully—until he saw us.

His song cut off abruptly, his face filled with shock as he looked back and forth between me and Lin Yusen, quickly turning into awkwardness at stumbling upon his boss's private affairs.

I felt a little embarrassed too... flying over to see my boyfriend during his business trip seemed so clingy. Only Lin Yusen remained unperturbed. "Xiao Xie, I was just about to look for you."

"Huh?" Xiao Xie was dumbfounded.

"Your room has twin beds, right? I'll sleep there tonight."

"Oh, right, sure. I'll go clean up right away."

Xiao Xie bolted.

Lin Yusen turned to me, "You'll sleep in my room tonight."I pursed my lips and smiled, "Alright, do you want to go get ready first?"