Chapter 41: Watch Your Image at Work

Seventeen-year-old Meng Weiyu did not like physical contact with Shen Zhoudu.

But twenty-year-old Meng Weiyu did!

The cause was that when Meng Weiyu was nineteen, after watching a fitness program, he suddenly got excited and sent a message to his friend who was still in another country.

Meng Weiyu: From today onward, I’m going to start working out. When you return to China, you’ll be able to see me with the perfect body!

At that point in time, Shen Zhoudu still did not understand Meng Weiyu’s terrible habits, so he innocently replied to his message.

Shen Zhoudu: Then I’ll accompany you.

The result was that Meng Weiyu very quickly forgot about the matter, but Shen Zhoudu persisted.

The moment they met again, the two of them only needed one look to know exactly what the other had been doing that year.

“Wah!” Meng Weiyu rushed into Shen Zhoudu’s arms with satisfaction. Ignoring Shen Zhoudu’s faint movement of refusal, he directly buried himself in his chest. “This is the body I wanted before.”

“Then why didn’t you go exercise?” Shen Zhoudu reached out, pressed his forehead, and tried to push him away, wanting to pursue his personality of saying things that did not count.

“I went, I went.” Meng Weiyu frowned, his head forced to move away from Shen Zhoudu’s chest.

“Did the time you went add up to ten days?” Shen Zhoudu had already seen through this person’s nature.

Hearing his question, Meng Weiyu instantly revealed a pained expression. Then he raised his head and deliberately showed an innocent, brilliant smile before throwing himself into Shen Zhoudu’s arms again.

“I like it.” Meng Weiyu was very satisfied with Shen Zhoudu’s body, which had a bit of muscle but was not exaggerated. Wasn’t that exactly the type he had been obsessed with when watching that program?

While Meng Weiyu was expressing meaningless thoughts, Shen Zhoudu’s heartbeat suddenly sped up.

“Shen Zhoudu, I’m about to hear your heartbeat,” Meng Weiyu joked.

Shen Zhoudu reached out, grabbed his shoulders, and pulled him away at once.

“Hahahaha.” Meng Weiyu laughed heartlessly.

In this way, Meng Weiyu spent a period immersed in the fantasy that if he had worked out with Shen Zhoudu from the beginning, he would definitely also have a fit figure. So from time to time, he looked at Shen Zhoudu with envious eyes and, unable to control his movements, hugged him.

“Can you not be so frivolous?” Although Shen Zhoudu was happy when he was hugged, he was also sincerely troubled.

“It’s not like I hug everyone.” Meng Weiyu felt that Shen Zhoudu had too many worries.

Just as that conversation ended, Ning Wu happened to come in from the doorway. In the summer heat, he had gone out to buy drinks for them.

“Ning Wu!” Meng Weiyu pounced over to welcome his brave and self-sacrificing friend.

Ning Wu caught Meng Weiyu and, used to it yet helpless, hugged him while carrying the drinks and dragging him toward the refrigerator.

Shen Zhoudu silently stared at Meng Weiyu, who was being dragged away by Ning Wu like a hanging accessory, and felt that his conclusion was not wrong. Meng Weiyu really was frivolous, and his words truly had no credibility.

Even now, Shen Zhoudu still had not changed his opinion of this person.

A frivolous man.

With Shen Zhoudu’s tacit permission, Meng Weiyu stretched out his hands and hugged Shen Zhoudu’s back. He buried his face in his chest and said with satisfaction, “I also want to work out!”

“Really?” Shen Zhoudu supported himself on the sofa with his hands, slightly propping up his body as he looked at him.

Hearing the question, Meng Weiyu’s expression stiffened, and he could not help falling into thought.

If he casually nodded, Shen Zhoudu would definitely supervise him strictly afterward and make him exercise.

“If you have it, that equals me having it.” Meng Weiyu found his logic. “So I don’t need to work out.”

“Why?” Shen Zhoudu found it funny.

Meng Weiyu’s hands, which were originally hugging his back, slid bit by bit down along his spine.

His movement was extremely erotic. It was enough to make Shen Zhoudu, who had practically delivered himself to the door, suddenly shiver, his mind going blank.

Meng Weiyu groped around and hugged Shen Zhoudu’s waist tightly. He looked up with an innocent smile and said, “Aren’t we married? What’s yours is mine.”

When Shen Zhoudu heard him say this, his mind was struck by tremendous joy. For a moment, he forgot that he had come here with the purpose of investigating. He lowered his head and met Meng Weiyu’s gaze, his cold blue eyes shattering into warm droplets of water.

“So are you coming back for dinner tomorrow?” Meng Weiyu felt that eating together was livelier.

“For Sunday overtime, I’ll leave later and come back earlier,” Shen Zhoudu promised him. “Is there anything you want?”

Meng Weiyu gripped Shen Zhoudu’s clothes, his fingers tracing back and forth over Shen Zhoudu’s silk pajamas. He decided that in this moment, he would bravely create some ambiguity, so he said especially loudly, “You!”

His original intention was good, but because he shouted too loudly, it did not look like he was teasing Shen Zhoudu’s heart. It looked like he was provoking him to fight.

Shen Zhoudu pressed his face with a look of disgust. His ears were almost deaf.

The more he refused to let Meng Weiyu come closer, the more excited Meng Weiyu became.

“When you come home, do you want to shower first or eat first?” Shen Zhoudu touched his face, first very gently, then suddenly used force, pinching his mouth into a duck-bill shape.

“Mmph mmph mmph.” Meng Weiyu could no longer speak.

His deflated appearance excited Shen Zhoudu. He brought his face closer.

His light brown hair slid downward with his movement, forming a shadow that covered part of his skin. He approached Meng Weiyu’s face, his mouth stopping above Meng Weiyu’s lips.

Meng Weiyu was scared silly.

“Hahahaha.” Shen Zhoudu could not help laughing, his face stopping right in front of his eyes.

Meng Weiyu did not dare move, because the position and distance between the two of them were now far too dangerous. Shen Zhoudu had already laughed to the point where he could not control his movements. If Meng Weiyu struggled even slightly, the two of them would really kiss.

“I really want to kiss you.” Shen Zhoudu leaned even closer. The light in his eyes darkened, and he could not help saying what was in his heart.

“Mmph mmph mmph,” Meng Weiyu replied.

“I don’t understand. If you agree to let me kiss you, say ‘mmph’ once. If you disagree, say ‘mmph’ twice.” Shen Zhoudu wickedly pinched his face.

Meng Weiyu’s answer was, “Mmph mmph mmph.”

Shen Zhoudu frowned and said unhappily, “Why do you always not listen to what I say?”

Meng Weiyu rolled his eyes.

As someone who had once been Meng Weiyu’s little teacher, Shen Zhoudu tirelessly taught him, “One is one. Two is two. I gave you two options. Why did you make a third one?”

Meng Weiyu turned his head away and ignored him.

Shen Zhoudu was pressing down on him, his legs tangled with Meng Weiyu’s body. His person himself was upright and honorable, but in Meng Weiyu’s view, his lower body was a little debauched.

“I’m going to sue you for sexual harassment.” Meng Weiyu finally broke free from his hand, and his first sentence was astonishing.

“If I wanted to sexually harass you, on the first day you woke up and offended me, I would have harassed you from head to toe in the hospital.” Shen Zhoudu snorted coldly. “You really don’t know what you’re talking about.”

Meng Weiyu hummed and muttered.

“What else do you want to say?” Shen Zhoudu narrowed his eyes. He felt Meng Weiyu had better confess and be treated leniently. Otherwise, if Shen Zhoudu discovered that he was doing something messy again, it would be difficult to end things.

“Yes.” Meng Weiyu awkwardly reminded him, “You have a reaction.”

Shen Zhoudu froze. Then he withdrew his leg from pressing Meng Weiyu down, lowered his head, and bit his neck hard.

“Hey!” Meng Weiyu kicked his legs from the pain.

“Don’t move around…”

Not long after, Shen Zhoudu took advantage of Meng Weiyu’s lack of attention, got up, and ran back to his own room. He did not come out again.

Meng Weiyu climbed up from the sofa without caring at all and continued sitting in the living room. As a result, until he went back upstairs to sleep, Shen Zhoudu did not appear again.

With that little courage, he actually dared to tease him?

Meng Weiyu was disdainful.

Early the next morning, Meng Weiyu did not wake up too late, but Shen Zhoudu, who had said he could go to the company later on Sunday, was already not at home.

“How is this any different from before?” Meng Weiyu spread his hands.

There was more or less still a difference, because this time, when dinner came, Shen Zhoudu honestly arrived home.

Meng Weiyu sat on the single sofa. Hearing the sound of the door opening, he put down the book in his hand, turned his head to look at him, and said coldly, “You still dare come back?”

“This is my home. If I don’t come home after work, where should I go?” Shen Zhoudu asked in confusion, then walked quickly toward Meng Weiyu.

Meng Weiyu had already thought of an excuse to make trouble. He opened his mouth and was about to speak.

But before he could make a sound, Shen Zhoudu had already walked beside him, bent down, and kissed his face.

Soft lips left a clear warmth on his cheek. Meng Weiyu’s head tilted slightly to the side, and the afterglow of the setting sun shone on his fair face.

“Ah… ahhhhh…” Meng Weiyu completely turned into a machine, his mind blank as he helplessly touched his own face.

“I’ll go change clothes, then cook.” Shen Zhoudu informed him, then turned and returned to his room.

In the spacious living room, silence remained.

“Meow.” Only the little cat happily scratched at its toy.

Because of their respective awkwardness, neither of them said a word during dinner.

When Shen Zhoudu finished cleaning up the dishes and clearly breathed a sigh of relief, Meng Weiyu finally realized he had been tricked.

“You actually used such a despicable method to make me too afraid to speak!” Meng Weiyu was shocked. What kind of person was this?

“Learning from you.” Shen Zhoudu did not think there was any problem. “Wasn’t this how you made me shut up last time?”

At the time, Shen Zhoudu had been stunned by his kiss. Only afterward did he taste the trick behind his method.

That was indeed true.

Meng Weiyu covered his mouth, then lowered his hand and continued arguing with him. “When I kissed you, you stopped talking because you were happy.”

“Yes.” Shen Zhoudu admitted it.

“And when you kissed me?”

“I was also very happy, so I didn’t speak.” Shen Zhoudu’s feelings were exactly like that.

“What about me?” Meng Weiyu was dumbstruck. Between the two of them, did his feelings not matter?

“You were frightened, so you wouldn’t speak.” That was the effect Shen Zhoudu wanted.

Meng Weiyu touched his own face. His complexion turned both blue and red. In the end, he discovered that his skin was not as thick as he had imagined, so he cursed and ran away. “You’re too awful.”

Hearing this, Shen Zhoudu forgot to put the plate in his hand into the dishwasher and directly turned on the water to wash it.

“Who exactly is the awful one?”

Shen Zhoudu thought of the night before he flew to England. Meng Weiyu, who had just rolled around in bed with him, wriggled around under the quilt, then turned over and pressed down on him. With his finger tapping Shen Zhoudu’s mouth, he acted spoiled for no reason and demanded, “While you’re in England, you’re not allowed to masturbate. This is an order. You have to endure it. When you come back, I’ll give you a reward.”

Although Shen Zhoudu knew this was just an ordinary game between the two of them, the hook Meng Weiyu threw out had caught him firmly.

Even though Meng Weiyu did not remember this matter now, Shen Zhoudu still followed the rules of the game with him.

“You actually toyed with me. Who exactly is the bad one?”

After Shen Zhoudu finished washing dishes and came out to the living room, he discovered Meng Weiyu hiding behind the sofa, sneakily watching him.

“Wake up early tomorrow. You haven’t gone to the company for too long. Don’t be late.” Shen Zhoudu automatically jumped to the topic of work to reduce Meng Weiyu’s wariness.

“Okay,” Meng Weiyu agreed.

“Good.” Shen Zhoudu expressionlessly pulled out a tissue to wipe his hands.

“You don’t sound sincere at all.” Meng Weiyu criticized him.

Shen Zhoudu smiled helplessly. Then he threw the tissue into the trash and walked toward Meng Weiyu.

Seeing his footsteps become faster and faster, Meng Weiyu stood up, turned, and ran.

His movements were still too slow. By the time he ran to the bottom of the stairs, Shen Zhoudu had already caught up behind him, grabbed his arm, turned his body around, and pressed him against the side of the stairs.

When Shen Zhoudu blocked him, he also placed a hand on Meng Weiyu’s waist, lifted him slightly, and took another step forward, making it so Meng Weiyu could only stand by tiptoeing.

“What counts as sincere?” Shen Zhoudu asked him.

“Not perfunctory.” This question was too difficult for Meng Weiyu, because he was not a sincere person to begin with.

Hearing this, Shen Zhoudu reached out and touched the back of Meng Weiyu’s head. Smiling faintly, he emphasized every word as he said, “Then, you, have, to, be, good. Wake, up, early, tomorrow.”

“Fine.” Meng Weiyu nodded, sensing the smell of being threatened.

Shen Zhoudu did not really trust him, so the next morning, he woke up early and prepared extra time to wake Meng Weiyu.

After changing clothes, he immediately went upstairs.

Without thinking much, Shen Zhoudu opened the door and walked straight in.

“Wah.” The person inside made a surprised sound.

Shen Zhoudu froze.

Meng Weiyu had already taken off his pajamas and was sitting on the bed putting on clothes. He had only just put his head through when he discovered Shen Zhoudu entering, and in his panic, he could not pull the clothes down.

“Stop shrieking. What part of your body have I not seen? I don’t want to see it at all.” As Shen Zhoudu said this, his eyes did not blink.

Meng Weiyu did not care what he said. He hurriedly pulled his shirt down and awkwardly put on his pants. When he lifted his pants, he almost failed to button them because of his panic.

“Did you gain weight?” That was what Shen Zhoudu thought.

“Being with you, two out of three meals are chaotic and dramatic. I haven’t eaten much at all.” Meng Weiyu felt his dignity had been insulted.

Shen Zhoudu’s hand rested on the door.

“Don’t close the door,” Meng Weiyu noticed his movement.

Hearing this, Shen Zhoudu let go.

“I’m dressed. We can go.” Meng Weiyu hurriedly hopped in place, tidying his clothes.

Shen Zhoudu looked him up and down, discovered that the neckline of his clothes was a little wide, and asked uncertainly, “Are you sure you want to dress like that?”

“It’s summer, so of course I should wear something comfortable.” Meng Weiyu looked disapprovingly at Shen Zhoudu, who was wearing a long-sleeved shirt. “Aren’t you hot?”

Shen Zhoudu nodded and told him, “I am.”

He had already decided today that he would not leave an air-conditioned room.

“Then go change into short sleeves.” Meng Weiyu remembered that when Shen Zhoudu came home yesterday evening, he had also been wearing long sleeves. He was truly strange.

Helpless, Shen Zhoudu rolled up his cuff and let Meng Weiyu see his wrist. There were still clearly visible rope marks on it. He said, “I don’t want to make public what you and I did.”

Meng Weiyu’s movement of putting on socks paused. He had completely forgotten this matter.

Shen Zhoudu was actually trying to use this action to remind Meng Weiyu of certain things.

“Then keep wearing that.” Meng Weiyu heartlessly finished putting on his socks.

Shen Zhoudu ignored him.

Meng Weiyu put on his shoes and prepared to walk out. When he passed beside Shen Zhoudu, he suddenly said arrogantly, “Then today, you’re my secretary.”

“Yes, President Meng. Please go ahead. Would you like breakfast at home, or should we buy something on the road?” Shen Zhoudu opened the door for him, mimicking what Meng Weiyu had done before.

“Let’s buy something on the road.”

The two of them bought ordinary sandwiches on the road. Lin Xiao drove the car steadily, and they ate breakfast inside.

“Then today, you have to listen to me, just like how I listened to you before,” Meng Weiyu demanded in the car.

“Okay.” Shen Zhoudu nodded.

Meng Weiyu did not doubt Shen Zhoudu’s promise until they reached their destination and Shen Zhoudu opened the door and left.

After taking two steps, Shen Zhoudu realized no one was following him, so he frowned and turned back.

Meng Weiyu was pressed against the car window, looking at him pitifully.

Shen Zhoudu instantly understood. He quickly ran back and opened the car door for Meng Weiyu.

“Deduct your pay.” Meng Weiyu stepped out, preparing to leave.

When Shen Zhoudu heard his vicious words, he deliberately acted as if he was about to close the door.

“Hey!”

Shen Zhoudu’s walking pace was faster than most people’s. In order to avoid being nagged by Meng Weiyu, this time he walked even faster.

“What do you mean? With your work attitude, I won’t continue employing you.” Meng Weiyu ran to catch up and linked arms with Shen Zhoudu.

“President Meng!” Hearing his voice, an employee who was swiping their card to enter immediately discovered him. “You took leave for quite some time. I haven’t seen you in ages.”

Meng Weiyu did not know this employee at all, but he still smiled and waved, saying, “Now I’m back at work, aren’t I?”

If one person greeting him was an accident, Meng Weiyu soon discovered that as he walked along the way, anyone who saw him had to greet him and chat a few words, as if they had known each other for a long time.

Meng Weiyu could say a few words to anyone he met, even if he did not know them at all.

After receiving Meng Weiyu’s response, even more people came to greet him.

In an instant, the entire hall became noisy.

Seeing this, Shen Zhoudu quickly walked forward, dragging Meng Weiyu, who was holding his arm, along with him.

“Why are you walking so fast?” Meng Weiyu was confused. He was still waving at the people greeting him, sending out smiles without hesitation.

Making other people like him was truly enjoyable.

“President Meng, I’m hurrying to press the elevator for you.” Shen Zhoudu’s reason was flawless.

Clearly, the people in Meng Weiyu’s company had more service spirit and reaction speed than Shen Zhoudu’s employees. When they discovered the hall had become noisy, someone had already realized who had arrived and pressed the elevator button in advance. By the time Meng Weiyu walked over, the elevator had already arrived.

Expressionless, Shen Zhoudu brought Meng Weiyu into the elevator and told him, “You should prepare yourself.”

“Prepare for what?” Meng Weiyu did not understand.

“You have an assistant. His current appearance is probably very frightening.”

Meng Weiyu still could not understand what “frightening” meant. Then the elevator rose vertically, the doors opened, and a person appeared in front of them before directly collapsing onto the floor.

“Are you all right?” Meng Weiyu was startled and hurriedly ran over. “Should I call a funeral home?”

Why was there a corpse at the door of his office?

The moment his words fell, the corpse moved. It suddenly stretched out a hand and grabbed Meng Weiyu’s arm.

Meng Weiyu’s soul almost flew away.

“Bo… boss… you… you finally came back. I-I-I… have already worked overtime for half a month.” The corpse raised his head. His eyes were surrounded by dark circles, his face was bloodless, and he tightly gripped Meng Weiyu’s arm. A crazed look appeared on his refined face. “How did this happen? During the interview, didn’t we agree there would be no overtime and no adjusted days off?”

“An Yang, you’ve worked hard.” Shen Zhoudu snapped his fingers at him to attract his attention. “Meng Weiyu doesn’t know you right now. Let go.”

An Yang released the madam’s hand and slowly stood up while supporting himself against the wall.

“Today, hand over your work to me. When it’s time this afternoon, go back and rest. You don’t need to work overtime today.” Shen Zhoudu explained his arrangement to him.

“I’ll go… move the documents over now.” An Yang supported himself against the wall. His staggering back looked even more like a patient than Meng Weiyu.

Meng Weiyu had never seen such a scene before. At a loss, he watched An Yang leave, hesitating whether he should go over and help him.

“No need to mind him.” Shen Zhoudu brought Meng Weiyu into the office. “An Yang has the same virtue as you. He has a performing personality.”

“I do not have a performing personality,” Meng Weiyu said unhappily.

An Yang quickly finished organizing things and appeared once again in front of Meng Weiyu, wearing bright and polished clothes but with a listless face. He introduced himself, “Boss, I’m your assistant. My name is An Yang. I’m specifically responsible for your daily schedule and work. The most important part is arranging a day’s workload for you within the required time and making sure we can both get off work on time. Ever since you were hospitalized, I’ve been handling the basic work. For more important matters, I synchronized them with the Old Master and President Shen. For today’s work, President Shen and I will handle most of it. You can first look at the materials I organized to understand your work, then sign a few documents.”

Meng Weiyu sat on the spacious sofa, sighing at the environment around him. He had not seriously listened to him at all.

Shen Zhoudu took the folder from An Yang and placed it in front of Meng Weiyu.

“Boss!” An Yang suddenly braced his hands on the table and brought his face closer. “Please, you must quickly recover your ability to work!”

Otherwise, he was going to die.

Meng Weiyu leaned his head back and smiled guiltily.

“Also!” As a reliable assistant, An Yang dutifully reminded him of one matter. “The hickey on your neck is too obvious. I think it would be better to cover it while at work.”

Meng Weiyu finally remembered this matter and hurriedly covered his neck.

“I’ll go make coffee for President Meng.” Shen Zhoudu leisurely walked away.

Meng Weiyu’s face instantly turned red.