Chapter 43: Ai Xiaomei Goes Out

It took twenty minutes to get home. Yang Fan instructed the third brother and the others to get some proper rest today, but the third brother refused outright. For them, staying up all night didn’t affect their work during the day at all.

Their enthusiasm for work at the company was always high.

Yang Fan, on the other hand, was exhausted. He really envied their energy. After buying breakfast, he headed upstairs; the corridor was silent. After opening the door, he set the breakfast on the table.

He’d intended to drag Ai Xiaomei out of bed, but after what happened yesterday morning, he truly had no idea which bedroom she was sleeping in. The Eye of Skynet had no effect on their floor.

That was, of course, Ai Xiaomei’s doing. Besides, he’d gotten less than an hour of sleep the previous night. It was better to catch up on sleep now—breakfast was already taken care of.

Taking advantage of the darkness, he slipped into the bedroom and locked the door. As for why he didn’t turn on the light—wasn’t it obvious?

He knew his own room so well he could find the bed with his eyes closed. But just because the light was off…

He’d just lifted the blanket and was about to lie down when a voice called out.

“What are you doing?”

“I…” Yang Fan was on the verge of collapse. Why was it Lin Ruo again?

“Why are you in my bedroom?” he demanded.

“You weren’t here last night. The four of us girls each took a bedroom. Is that a problem?”

“So, you’ve split up?” Yang Fan couldn’t help asking.

“You’re the one who’s split up! And you’ve learned to stay out all night, haven’t you? Get out!” Lin Ruo snapped.

Yang Fan, thoroughly disgruntled, opened the door, and just then saw Ai Xiaomei and Xu Zihan coming in.

“Well? Well? Fooled again, haven’t you? Walked right into another trap, didn’t you?”

“I…” Yang Fan was completely speechless. So it was a chain of traps!

“You really are something!” they teased.

“That’s what you get for not coming home last night—this is your punishment!” Ai Xiaomei huffed.

Yang Fan shot Ai Xiaomei a glare. If it weren’t for you, I’d have come home!

“Can you all keep it down in the mornings?” he grumbled. “It’s always so noisy upstairs at this hour!”

Zhang Chen and the others got up in a bad mood too. Every morning, there was noise from the floor above—shouting, quarreling, or the sound of people running around.

“Uncle, what are you doing up there?”

“All right, enough, let’s eat,” Yang Fan said irritably.

At the breakfast table, he was so tired he could barely eat.

“Yang Fan, I have something to tell you,” Xu Zihan said suddenly.

“Go ahead,” Yang Fan replied, instantly more alert.

“It’s like this. Next week, I need to go to Lake City to film a few scenes.”

“That’s my hometown!”

“Yes, so we’ve talked it over. I’m leaving this afternoon.”

“I thought it was next week?”

“Yes, but I want to go home first before heading to Lake City. Ai Xiaomei is coming with me, and Lin Xi will come home with me as well. Lin Ruo will stay here to look after you.”

When Yang Fan heard Ai Xiaomei was leaving, his mood improved—until he realized Lin Ruo would be left behind. Why not take Lin Ruo with you too! But seeing Lin Ruo’s gaze fixed on him, he dared not voice that thought. He had no say in the matter now.

“Aren’t you going home too? We’ll see you in Lake City next week!”

“Brother, don’t miss me too much while I’m gone. I’m just going for a bit of fun.”

“I promise I won’t. Go on, I won’t see you out!”

I’ll probably be delighted once you’re gone!

Ai Xiaomei shook her head indifferently, then leaned over and whispered something in Yang Fan’s ear.

His expression changed dramatically…

“Go, leave now!” he said.

“Who are you to tell me what to do?” she retorted.

Yang Fan was at his wit’s end. What a troublesome kid!

“Idol, are you really leaving?” someone asked.

“Yes, I’m going home,” Xu Zihan replied.

They agreed to be back for lunch, then in the afternoon, they’d see Xu Zihan, Ai Xiaomei, and Lin Xi off, before heading out on their own errands.

“Xiaomei, what did you do this time?” Xu Zihan couldn’t help asking.

“I didn’t do anything! I just told him I’ve mastered a new ability—I’m going to mess with him from afar.”

Xu Zihan’s eyelids twitched violently.

At the company, Yang Fan was so tired he was listless all morning. When he saw the third brother come in, he waved him over, and Liu Haoyu joined them as well.

“Uncle!”

“Director Yang!”

…

“Go buy me a kitten and two dogs. The cat should be small and adorable. The dogs—big, the bigger the better!”

“How about mastiffs?” suggested Liu Haoyu.

“That’ll do. Just use your judgment. Once you’ve bought them, find a place to keep them for now.”

Liu Haoyu and the third brother exchanged a knowing look and went to handle it.

“Director Yang, you don’t look so well,” Li Jingyi observed.

“Yes, Director Yang, are you ill?” Zhang Meng asked with concern.

After the morning meeting, everyone left with their secretaries. For them, it was a status symbol. Yang Fan, meanwhile, sat behind his desk, barely speaking.

Wu Qian noticed and brought him a cup of hot water.

“It’s nothing, just insomnia last night. By the way, Wu Qian, could you go to the courier downstairs and pick up Ai Xiaomei’s packages?”

“Of course!” Wu Qian left at once. The courier was downstairs, and Ai Xiaomei had been shopping online like mad.

“By the way, Director Yang, my little sister wants to work here,” Li Jingyi said.

“Sure!” Yang Fan agreed immediately. They were all his people, after all.

“I was thinking of having her be my husband’s secretary.”

Yang Fan nearly spat out his hot water. Only now did he realize how shrewd Li Jingyi was—bringing her sister in to keep an eye on her husband.

“Everyone else has a secretary, so my husband should have one too. After thinking it over, my sister is the best choice.”

“All right, settled. What about you, Zhang Meng? Anyone in mind?”

“I don’t have a sister, but I do have a best friend.”

“Sister-in-law, you should be more wary of best friends than fire or thieves!”

“Then I’ll have my cousin come!”

“Fine, just let them know when to start,” Yang Fan said. Honestly, he wanted to find secretaries for Wang Xin and Qin Jun as well, but with those two women keeping watch, they wouldn’t dare.

Wu Qian brought up the packages, and as Yang Fan was leaving, he ran into Liu Haoyu and the third brother returning from their errand.

Not only had they bought the animals, but they’d also taken pictures. Yang Fan was very pleased.

“Haoyu, let’s head back.”

As they left, Yang Fan thought for a moment and said, “Haoyu, in the next few days, look around for another place to buy.”

“Uncle, are we moving?”

“No, it’s for Wu Qian,” Yang Fan replied. It could be for her, after all. Even if it wasn’t, as his secretary, she deserved such treatment. As Zhang Chen put it, Wu Qian was deeply devoted to him.