Shine on Me

Lin Yusen...

He seemed quite composed.

Several days had passed. We went about our usual routines—working, eating meals, shopping, watching movies... Everything felt natural, as if nothing had happened. Several times I wanted to ask Lin Yusen myself—wasn't he curious about what I'd experienced during university? But each time the words reached my lips, I hesitated.

Until one day, Lin Yusen suddenly invited me to go house-hunting with him.

What kind of development was this?

And the location of this property was way too remote.

As we drove, the surroundings grew increasingly deserted. I pulled out the property brochure to check: "Where exactly is this place you're taking me to see?"

"We're almost there."

Sure enough, after turning a corner and driving a few more kilometers down a brand-new straight road, we arrived at a villa complex—a newly completed development. The community was built along a lake with beautiful surroundings, and the exterior looked quite nice. Lin Yusen must have contacted someone beforehand, because as soon as we got out of the car, a sales agent came to greet us and enthusiastically led us to the sales center.

Inside, the agent took us to the scale model and began explaining the property details. After listening for a while, I tugged at Lin Yusen's sleeve and whispered, "Are you sure you want to buy here?"

Our company was already in a remote corner of the industrial park, but this place was even more out of the way. Why would Lin Yusen, who had a perfectly good apartment in the center of the park, want to move here?

"Is this for investment? But will prices even rise here?" I continued in hushed tones.

"Not for investment. To live in." Lin Yusen lowered his voice to match mine.

"To live in?"

"Yes. It's remote, but how long did it take us to drive here from your office just now?"

I checked my phone: "Twenty minutes."

"About that. The other day I mentioned that by year-end, I'll likely be working at the new neurosurgery research center in Shanghai."

"Right." Back in May, Lin Yusen had made two solo trips to Shanghai and eventually decided on this new research center—reportedly the largest in East China with several academicians on staff, making it quite prestigious.

"The research center is in Songjiang. It's a fifty-minute drive from here." Lin Yusen smiled at me. "So even though I'll be working in Shanghai, I can live in Suzhou and commute daily. And it won't be too far for you to get to work from here either."

I froze. Convenient for my commute and his—so the place he was showing me was... our future home?

The sales agent had been eavesdropping intently. Seizing the opportunity, he jumped in with enthusiastic sales pitch: "Then this property is absolutely perfect for you two! It's right between both your workplaces—I guarantee you won't find a more suitable location along this route!"

Excitedly, he pulled out his phone to show us a map. "Let me show you."

"We're not married yet, but she makes all the decisions anyway." Lin Yusen gestured toward me. "You can just show her."

The agent immediately abandoned Lin Yusen and bounded over to me: "Miss, you see, our location is the best in Suzhou. There are other nice developments closer to Shanghai, but they'd be much farther from your workplace. Your fiancé definitely wouldn't want your commute to be longer."I couldn't help but glance at my "fiancé." He was standing leisurely with his hands behind his back, listening to our conversation. When our eyes met, he smiled faintly, nodded at me, and affirmed, "He's right."

He's right.

He couldn't bear to part with it...

For a moment, my face actually felt warm. How strange—even after being together for so long, I still sometimes find myself captivated by his unintentionally reserved and understated demeanor.

Lin Yusen added, "But today is just to bring you here for a look. Don’t feel pressured."

"Mm." I steadied myself and turned to the eager sales agent. "Then could you take us to see the actual property?"

The agent enthusiastically showed us around the neighborhood. To my surprise, both the house and the community environment matched my preferences perfectly—it was the Suzhou-style garden aesthetic I had long dreamed of. And because the location was relatively remote, the total price wasn’t too high. So Lin Yusen paid a deposit on the spot...

On the way back, I began to reflect on whether I had been too impulsive. How had I ended up agreeing so quickly under the sales agent’s encouragement? Lin Yusen, however, responded, "Not impulsive at all. It’s a rough unit, after all. Renovations will take one or two years—time is tight."

...So, what exactly are you counting down to?

Is there some plan I don’t know about, something that hasn’t been shared with me yet?

And just like that, we settled on a house. A few days later, after discussing work in his office, he handed me a stack of resumes.

"What’s this?"

"The company has been restructuring its management team. Some people have left, so we need to bring in new talent. These are their resumes—take a look."

Sitting across from his desk, I flipped through the resumes, skimming the photos first. A few faces seemed vaguely familiar. "These people look a bit familiar?"

"You ran into them at my place last year."

Ah—that time I went to "confront" him, when Xiao Dai was also there.

If they were all his acquaintances, what was there to worry about? I closed the folder and said lightly, "If you think they’re suitable, that’s fine."

"No."

Huh?

My hand, which had been returning the resumes to him, froze mid-air.

"Don’t slack off. You’ll be working with them in the future."

...Alright.

I pulled my hand back and started reading carefully.

As I went through them, Lin Yusen filled me in on details beyond the resumes. "Some of them I met in university, others after joining Shengyuan. Those from Shengyuan weren’t particularly successful there, but they’re actually highly capable, each with their own strengths. After I considered returning to the medical field, I discussed it with them and made arrangements—I have other investments, and after years in medicine, I’ve built some connections. It wasn’t difficult. But I didn’t expect my grandfather to give me shares in Guangyu, and everyone’s perspectives shifted again. You can meet them first—whether we hire them or not is another matter."

I nodded as I listened. After finishing the resumes, I asked Lin Yusen, "They all seem good, but are they willing to come to Suzhou? After all, big companies in Shanghai sound much more glamorous. Even if they’re not at Shengyuan, the companies you referred them to are decent, right?"

"These are the ones more interested in Guangyu. Of course, I painted a picture of the future for them."

...Got it.

"Then schedule a time for them to come to Suzhou for interviews. I’ll be there.""Alright." Lin Yusen smiled faintly. "But Xiguang, these are all mid-level management talents. Even Xiao Dai isn't capable of handling everything independently yet. What we're missing is someone who can oversee the entire operation."

"I'm definitely not ready for that yet!" I immediately raised my hand with self-awareness.

Lin Yusen: "...Then why did you raise your hand?"

I silently lowered my hand. "Just emphasizing the point."

After a brief pause, Lin Yusen continued, "I have the perfect candidate in mind—someone with both experience and reputation, a master of production management and capital operations. And as far as I know, they're currently free."

"Who?" I pressed immediately.

"Your mother." In one swift exchange, he dropped those two words crisply.

As I stood there stunned, Lin Yusen asked with utmost composure, "Xiguang, when do you think would be a good time for me to visit General Manager Jiang?"

I: "..."

Who could have guessed? Lin Yusen's first visit to meet my mom was actually for a recruitment pitch?