MAPF Chapter 31

Chapter 31: Shower Gel, Shared Bathroom

Monday, 6:30 AM.

The alarm had just rung for the third time when Xie Shiwei got out of bed right on time. He finished washing up, put on a black suit with straight-leg pants and pointed leather shoes, and went downstairs.

Xie Shiwei sat down for breakfast, his eyes flitting around. He saw He Qin jogging downstairs in a white tracksuit, his posture relaxed. His face didn’t tense up while running, which was quite pleasing to the eye. He ate his egg custard while asking, “Uncle Wang, does He Qin jog every morning?”

Butler Wang poured milk for Xie Shiwei: “Yes, young master. Have you forgotten? When you were in university, you used to get up early to run with him.”

As he spoke, He Qin finished his run and came back, a towel draped over his broad shoulders, half of his hair wet with sweat and hanging loosely over his forehead, like a college student who had just finished exercising.

Xie Shiwei once again fearlessly admired He Qin’s figure, hearing He Qin say, “I’m going upstairs to change. We’ll leave for the company in twenty minutes.”

“Okay.”

He Qin returned to his room and went into the bathroom to shower.

The bathroom was shared by the two, filled with a strong rose fragrance.

This was the scent of Xie Shiwei’s usual shower gel.

Xie Shiwei had taken a shower in the morning and had forgotten to turn on the exhaust fan and open the window.

The pink shower gel was in a frosted glass bottle. A drop accidentally fell, leaving a thin, winding trail on the carved bottle.

He Qin used to dislike the fragrance, finding it too strong and uncomfortable, but now, he didn’t find the sweetness annoying. He was even tempted by the scent, starting to imagine how the owner of the shower gel used a bath ball to lather the rose-scented foam all over his body.

The showerhead was wide open, and streams of water constantly slid across He Qin’s eyebrows and eyes.

The sound of water trickling, the steam rising, He Qin’s thoughts slowed down, and desire surged. After a long while, he swallowed, closed his eyes, and frowned, forcibly driving away a certain thought, and quickly left the bathroom.

When he came downstairs again, He Qin put on his thin-rimmed glasses, buttoned his shirt to the top, and wore a neat diamond-patterned tie. He was still the aloof business elite.

No one would know the kind of alluring images that had flashed through his mind a few minutes ago.

.

Xie Shiwei went to work with He Qin for the first time, excitedly telling He Qin about his work plans in the car.

But He Qin didn’t pay much attention to him, as if returning to the first few days after he transmigrated, cold and chilling.

Xie Shiwei sang a one-man show for a while, finding it boring. He simply put on his headphones to listen to music and sent a WeChat message to Zhang Yingjun to complain that He Qin was too unpredictable, always in a low mood for no reason these days, scaring him so much that he didn’t dare to speak.

Zhang Yingjun actually got up too, replying instantly: [Is he going through menopause?]

Xie Shiwei knew that Zhang Yingjun was serious and patiently explained that although men also have menopause, it generally only happens around the age of fifty. He Qin was so young, it was purely because of his bad temper.

Yingjun Xiao Zhang: [You’re too knowledgeable! He has no class!]

Xie Shiwei sighed and replied with an emoji.

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Technology Port is a high-tech zone in Jiangcheng supported by government policies, full of futuristic technology. The port is full of cargo ships, while the park has wide roads and modern technology companies.

Xie Shi Group’s branch and He Xin Technology are on opposite sides of an intersection. He Qin dropped off Xie Shiwei first, driving the car to the gate of Xie Shi Group’s branch.

Xie Shiwei reached out to unfasten his seatbelt, distracted by thinking about why He Qin was ignoring him. He accidentally pressed the wrong button, adding an extra lock to the seatbelt.

He Qin silently leaned over to help, unfastening the upper buckle, smelling the faint rose fragrance on Xie Shiwei’s body, and said sparingly, “Get out of the car.”

Xie Shiwei said thank you softly, opened the car door, and just before getting out, slammed the door shut with a “bang”. He didn’t want to silently endure He Qin’s capricious bad temper, and directly asked: “He Qin, did I do something to make you unhappy?”

He Qin didn’t say a word.

Xie Shiwei was getting a headache, trying to reason with him: “We’re going to work together soon, your emotions will also affect me. I’m not your subordinate, I don’t have the obligation to guess your thoughts. If I really did something wrong, you can say it directly. But if I didn’t provoke you, and you’re just in a bad mood, please adjust yourself before work, and don’t take your anger out on me because of personal reasons.”

Of course, He Qin knew that Xie Shiwei had done nothing wrong.

Not only did he do nothing wrong, but what he said was right.

He was the one who was muddleheaded, losing his usual self-control and composure, but taking his anger out on the innocent Xie Shiwei, using ignoring and indifference as punishment for Xie Shiwei making him lose his mind.

But the current Xie Shiwei was not the same as before. The person in front of him would argue with him, analyze things logically, and easily make him feel guilty and helpless.

“Sorry,” He Qin apologized, finding a somewhat appropriate excuse, “I might just be a little nervous, the company is going public, and there’s a lot of pressure.”

Xie Shiwei was surprised: “I can’t see at all that you would be anxious about work.”

He Qin said meaningfully, “You don’t know me as well as you think you do.”

Xie Shiwei looked at He Qin silently for a while, didn’t say anything else, said goodbye and left.

.

Xie Shiwei went to the branch office, and Secretary Huang, one of Xie Tian’an’s confidantes, greeted him.

Secretary Huang is an experienced woman, wearing a professional skirt suit and a neat ponytail.

She took Xie Shiwei to greet the company executives, and then took Xie Shiwei to different departments of the branch, finally stopping at the social responsibility department.

The employees heard that the boss’s son was coming, all poured out of the office, crowding in the common area, craning their necks to watch the fun.

Secretary Huang introduced Xie Shiwei to everyone. Xie Shiwei greeted them with a super friendly smile. The employees applauded with a clatter, and some bolder ones whistled, shouting welcome to Little CEO Xie.

Secretary Huang laughed: “Okay, stop making a fuss. Which group is responsible for the He Xin Technology cooperation case?”

A boy with black-rimmed glasses raised his hand: “Group three.”

“Shiwei, you will follow group three during this time, take on more work proactively. I’m afraid they won’t dare to give you work because of your status.”

Secretary Huang deliberately said it loudly. After she finished, the employees of group three understood. Someone made a gesture of assurance: “Please rest assured, organization! We will definitely give the most difficult tasks to Little CEO Xie!”

Secretary Huang completed her mission and left first.

As soon as the door closed, the young people were boiling, surrounding Xie Shiwei, asking questions, especially about him saving the little girl. Xie Shiwei patiently answered, telling everyone not to call him Little CEO Xie, but to call him by name.

The oldest group leader from group one clapped his hands: “Alright everyone, let’s disperse. It’s Monday, let’s get to work. Time is money, don’t delay Shiwei from making big money!”

Everyone laughed, pushing and shoving each other back to their offices. Xie Shiwei followed the people from group three into the first room on the left.

The boy with black-rimmed glasses introduced the situation to Xie Shiwei: “Our group three has few people. I’m Qiao Mu, I’ve only been working for a year, and I’m the leader of group three.”

Qiao Mu had a strong student air, wearing a white t-shirt and jeans, looking upright, fresh and clean, and very approachable. He held out his hand to Xie Shiwei. Xie Shiwei shook it back: “Please give me a lot of guidance.”

Group three also had two members, a girl with a bun called Amy, and a girl with a super short haircut called Qiu Chen. Both were very outgoing, pulling Xie Shiwei to talk about company gossip, like a river that had been unleashed.

Qiao Mu had a headache, and quickly pulled the topic back on track. He gave Xie Shiwei a general overview of the work arrangements. Xie Shiwei noted it down, saying that he would take them to He Xin for a meeting later.

Hearing this, Amy and Qiu Chen, who were facing away from Xie Shiwei, looked at each other and smiled, their eyes shining.

You understand, I understand, they were finally going to be shipping the couple in the front lines.

.

At noon, Xie Shiwei treated his team members to a big meal, becoming familiar with everyone. After the meal, he directly took the entire group three to He Xin Technology.

This time, the front desk really didn’t do that stupid welcome ceremony again. Only a little girl registered them and called the president’s office to prepare for the reception.

Xie Shiwei and Qiao Mu walked side by side in the front, the two girls were whispering behind, gossiping about the current relationship between Xie Shiwei and He Qin.

Amy: “I heard that Little CEO Xie and He Qin fell in love after marriage. The more President He looked down on him before, the more deeply he’s enjoying the situation now.”

Qiu Chen: “Understandable. Given Little CEO Xie’s previous behavior, if I were He Qin, I would have run away from the marriage. He actually got married, he’s really able to endure humiliation.”

Amy: “Then guess what stage they’re at now? Princess carry, yes. Kiss definitely happened. Next, hehehehe.”

He Qin came back from an outing, entering through the dedicated channel, happening to walk behind them.

The elevator arrived with a ding.

Xie Shiwei swiped his card and turned around to greet everyone. Seeing He Qin, he waved and shouted, “He Qin, you’re here too? Come on, get on the elevator.”

Amy and Qiu Chen looked back, their hearts suddenly half-cooled, they darted into the elevator and hid behind Xie Shiwei and Qiao Mu.

He Qin entered the elevator, immediately seeing the young man next to Xie Shiwei.

Xie Shiwei patted Qiao Mu’s shoulder, introducing: “This is my team leader Qiao Mu, young and promising, handsome.”

He Qin nodded.

“And two more, hey, why are you two hiding behind me?” Xie Shiwei dragged the two girls out from behind him, “Amy, Qiu Chen, our team members, please take care of them, President He.”

He Qin smiled at them: “I’m pretty able to endure humiliation?”

Qiu Chen’s face turned ashen, Amy trembled: “Those who achieve great things, are, are pretty able to endure humiliation.”

Qiao Mu understood his team members too well, immediately guessing what was going on, apologized to He Qin, and told the two of them to shut their mouths.

Xie Shiwei thought about it for a moment, then understood, and nonchalantly defended his team members: “He Qin, don’t scare the little girls, they’re just saying things casually, it doesn’t matter.”

“It doesn’t matter ah,” He Qin slowly nodded, “Then answer their question.”

Xie Shiwei suddenly had a bad feeling: “What question?”

Qiu Chen and Amy used their bags to protect their heads.

He Qin’s throat moved slightly: “What stage have we progressed to?”

The elevator fell into a silence where a pin could be heard dropping.

The floor arrived, and the group walked out of the elevator in silence.

Xie Shiwei’s ears were burning, seriously regretting defending the two of them, walked out several steps, couldn’t help but turn around and warned: “You two! Be serious during work hours, and don’t ship the couple recklessly even after work! Hear me?!”

“Hear, hear, heard!” The two girls trembled in the back.

Qiao Mu laughed: “Shiwei, these two just can’t be left alone, now you’ve seen it.”

He Qin glanced at Qiao Mu: “You call him Shiwei?”