Gu Yuanting stood motionless for a long time, holding his phone.

After a while, he opened his pinned chat window with Su Yiran. The latest chat messages were still:

[Monday 6:23 PM]

He: [Hmm.]

My Ranran: [It’s past midnight here at home, I’m super sleepy, going to bed now. You should rest soon too, goodnight.]

[Hugging and nuzzling bunny]

He hadn’t replied.

There were no new messages after that.

Now, like last night, it was past 1 AM in D Countary, and only 7 AM in China. Su Yiran should still be asleep, surely sleeping soundly, so of course he wouldn’t text him at this hour.

Gu Yuanting thought, looking at his phone screen, and slowly sat down.

His thumb hovered over the chat box for a moment. He tapped it, paused again, and typed a few words. He typed, then deleted. Typed again, deleted again. He repeatedly edited a single message for half an hour.

His thumb hovered over the green send button. He checked the time, then waited until 8 AM in China before pressing send.

He: [Ranran, good morning. Are you angry? I didn’t mean to ignore your message yesterday, I was really too busy and forgot.]

Gu Yuanting held his phone, waiting.

Su Yiran still didn’t reply.

Not awake yet?

Gu Yuanting tapped the plus icon in the chat box, then tapped video call, and options popped up: video call/voice call.

He paused again.

Finally, he moved his thumb away and returned to the chat page.

Gu Yuanting waited until 4 AM in D Country, which was 10 AM in China.

Su Yiran still didn’t reply.

He just sat there, holding his phone, waiting blankly.

---

Xiao Zhu felt like he had made a mistake.

When President Gu went on a business trip to D Country, as his special assistant, Xiao Zhu naturally had to follow. However, he had some things to arrange at home, so he arrived a day later than President Gu. Today, he landed in D Country. Wanting to appear proactive to his boss, as soon as he reached the hotel and connected to the Wi-Fi, he immediately sent a WeChat message to President Gu saying he had arrived, and at the same time, sent the documents President Gu needed, showing that he never forgot about work.

Only after sending it did he realize that it was 1 AM in D Country, not 7 AM in China. He seemed to have disturbed his boss’s rest in the middle of the night…

Xiao Zhu thought about it uneasily again, then decided it probably wasn’t a big deal. President Gu should be sleeping now and wouldn’t hear the WeChat notification, so he wouldn’t be disturbed.

With a nervous heart, the next day, Xiao Zhu took a taxi to the Gu family residence at the address President Gu had given him. In the car, Xiao Zhu looked at the address in his hand, still finding it unbelievable.

He, as a member of the business world who was doing quite well, had of course heard of the Gu family, a prestigious clan with its headquarters in D Country.

Ten years ago, a nationwide human trafficking case that shocked the country was solved, and among the revelations was the scandal of the Gu Group chairman’s wife kidnapping her stepson. At that time, the Gu family had already entered China and established a foothold for several years, wielding immense influence in the domestic business circle, and had even planned to transfer its headquarters from D Country to China.

However, after this scandal broke, the Gu Group’s stock price plummeted overnight, a cliff-like drop. The incident caused a huge uproar in the business world at the time. Not only was the plan to transfer headquarters forced to stop, but the Gu family even struggled to survive in China for a period.

Of course, Xiao Zhu didn’t know about this old news at the time; he was still in college, drifting through life playing games and waiting to die, completely uninterested in such matters. Later, after graduating from college, he was severely hit by reality, then reformed and worked hard, gradually thriving in the business world, and only then did he hear about it from industry insiders.

Xiao Zhu speculated that the Gu family’s business in China plummeted back then not just because of a scandal. Business competition was so fierce; there must have been many underhanded moves by competitors. After that, the Gu family’s capital in China was severely damaged, and most of it was transferred back to D Country.

After years of development, the Gu family’s headquarters are still in D Country. Its domestic business has gradually recovered and redeveloped, and the Gu family still has significant influence in China, though it is far from its peak period.

No matter how the Gu family rose and fell, it originally had nothing to do with Xiao Zhu. Although he was doing well in the A City business circle, he originally thought he would never have any connection with such a colossal wealthy family in his entire life.

Xiao Zhu never expected that President Gu, his new boss whom he had recently joined, was actually a core executive of the Gu family. He didn’t know his exact identity yet, but considering President Gu’s age and past resume, and connecting it with the old news, he had a particularly melodramatic suspicion that he himself couldn’t believe.

He hesitated and struggled for a long time over whether to continue working for President Gu. The national conditions of D Country were different from China. First and foremost, carrying firearms was legal in D Country. In addition, within such wealthy families and large corporations, the struggles must be very intense, even dangerous. But at the same time, this was an unprecedented opportunity for him.

Danger or opportunity, advance or retreat—Xiao Zhu was ambitious, and he made his decision.

The car stopped in front of the address’s security post. Xiao Zhu paid and got out of the car. He looked up at the gigantic, castle-like manor ahead. After a check by the sentry and confirmation by a phone call to the butler, the iron gates of the Gu family residence slowly opened for him.

Xiao Zhu, full of ambition and not at all intimidated, walked inside.

After being led by a servant, Xiao Zhu finally met President Gu in a flower room in the manor’s annex. President Gu was on the phone, speaking a language Xiao Zhu didn’t understand. Seeing him approach, he gave him a cold, piercing glance.

Xiao Zhu: “…”

It seems that boss, President Gu, is becoming harder and harder to serve…

---

Su Yiran was very busy all day today.

He woke up at six in the morning, thinking about the pile of work he still had to do today. He got up with full energy, washed up, ate, and rushed out the door before seven.

Regarding the marketing company, they had already been following up yesterday. Moving forward, they needed to ensure that at least one trending topic would be on the hot search during one time slot each day.

At the same time, they began marketing pre-heating on major mainstream websites, platforms, WeChat official accounts, and local forums. They contacted well-regarded food influencers and veteran forum users with reasonable prices, asking them to review the shop’s specialty desserts.

In addition, Su Yiran contacted the recruitment website again, paying to have his shop’s recruitment information pinned with “Urgent” to quickly hire staff. He also contacted media and planning companies, scheduled meetings with two or three planners, communicated with them one by one, and had an in-person meeting with one. He planned to hold a dirty bun tasting event at the shop at the right time, after building up enough anticipation among passersby for the dirty buns, and then send out press releases.

According to his original plan, the tasting event wasn’t meant to be so urgent, so he hadn’t even started looking for planners yet. Now that the situation had changed, he just had to work harder.

Moreover, because the shop was on the hot search, business had been even better these past two days. When Su Yiran was at the shop, he was constantly busy. Fortunately, shop assistant Zhang Xiaohong could now make many desserts, helping him a lot.

Su Yiran thought that intensifying employee training was also very important. Previously, he had never deliberately trained them; he just taught them naturally as they worked, which was too inefficient and couldn’t keep up with the shop’s development.

Besides the shop’s business, Su Yiran also had to prepare for the upcoming Weibo lottery event, in-store lottery event, and the renovation of the shop’s functional area, to truly utilize this area and make it a unique feature of his shop.

---

After a day of busyness, as soon Yiran got home, he quickly showered and lay down on the bed. Before going to sleep, he habitually picked up his phone to check it.

He immediately saw the two WeChat messages from Ting-ge sent that morning.

Only then did Su Yiran realize that in his busyness, he had accidentally forgotten about Ting-ge…

…He remembered hearing a WeChat notification sound when he was on the phone with one of the planning companies today. The conversation hadn’t gone smoothly at the time, and after hanging up, he hadn’t looked closely. He just swiped away the messages in the status bar and then called the next company. He had even thought of replying immediately after finishing those two calls, but after hanging up, he completely forgot.

Su Yiran looked at the messages in the WeChat chat window, noticed the time, and frowned.

[8:03 AM]

[Ting-ge] Ranran, good morning.

Are you angry? I didn’t mean to ignore your message yesterday, I was really too busy and forgot.

8 AM in China, that would have been past 2 AM in D Country, right? Why wasn’t Ting-ge asleep yet? And why did he think Su Yiran was angry? Su Yiran was puzzled. He looked at the previous chat history. Ting-ge had just gotten off the plane two days ago and had to settle in, so he must have been busy and tired. His replies were spaced out and brief. Su Yiran put himself in his shoes and thought it was perfectly normal, so he hadn’t paid much attention at the time. Finally, he was too sleepy and said goodnight, and Ting-ge didn’t reply. He really hadn’t noticed that; he was indeed too sleepy and fell asleep. The next day, he was excited by the Weibo hot search and was busy with work all day.

Su Yiran didn’t guess anymore. He directly video called Gu Yuanting.

---

D Country, Gu Residence.

Xiao Zhu stiffened, holding documents and reporting on work to President Gu. All day, President Gu’s aura had been icy and low, making him constantly feel on edge, wondering if his text message from yesterday had really disturbed President Gu’s rest. The first day working at a wealthy family’s corporation was truly difficult! Xiao Zhu felt a lot of pressure thinking about having to endure this going forward…

After reporting, Xiao Zhu breathed a sigh of relief and was about to take his leave when suddenly, a phone rang. He jumped, then relaxed when he realized it wasn’t his own phone. Then he saw President Gu pull out his phone from his chest pocket, and upon seeing the screen, his expression changed, and he nearly dropped the phone in a flurry. Moreover, that cold, low aura was suddenly broken. Xiao Zhu felt like he could breathe easily again…

Since work was done, it wasn’t good to stay and grumble about the boss. Xiao Zhu bowed and left.

---

Gu Yuanting took out his phone. As soon as he saw “[My Ranran] is inviting you to a video call” on the screen, his breathing hitched. He hurriedly tried to tap the green answer button, almost dropping the phone in his clumsiness.

He steadied the phone, and the ringtone had already sounded a second time. Gu Yuanting went to tap “Answer,” but his finger paused just as it was about to touch the screen. He looked at the phone screen, unable to see anything on the dark video call invitation page.

But he suddenly felt a nervousness, like someone nearing home after a long journey.

The ringtone sounded a third time. Gu Yuanting, afraid that Su Yiran would hang up, quickly pressed answer.

Su Yiran appeared on the screen.

Gu Yuanting unconsciously held his breath, staring at him without blinking.

Su Yiran said from the other side, “Ting-ge, are you busy?”

Hearing Su Yiran’s voice, Gu Yuanting finally came to his senses. He said, “No, I’m not busy.”

Su Yiran said, “It should be around 5 PM there, right? Have you had dinner yet?”

Gu Yuanting said, “Not yet.”

Su Yiran said, “No matter how busy you are with work, you should eat on time. And yesterday, why did you send me a message at 2 AM? Why weren’t you asleep so late?” His tone carried a hint of reproach.

Gu Yuanting slowly relaxed under his reproach: “…Time difference. I haven’t adjusted yet, still slowly getting used to it.”

Su Yiran understood when he heard him say this: “Then you need to adjust your body clock soon. Don’t stay up so late at night, it’s not good for your health.”

Gu Yuanting said, “Okay.”

Su Yiran asked him, “Why did it seem like I was angry on WeChat? I wasn’t angry. It’s normal for you to be busy and tired when you just arrived in D Country the day before yesterday. Don’t overthink it.”

Gu Yuanting looked at him: “Okay.”

Su Yiran said, “I’ve been busy with the shop these past two days…” He recounted in detail how the shop got on the hot search and the things he had to plan ahead to Gu Yuanting. Gu Yuanting listened attentively to his voice, responding occasionally or asking about the situation.

Su Yiran then asked about Gu Yuanting’s situation, and Gu Yuanting answered each question.

The two chatted about everyday things for over an hour without realizing it. Su Yiran started to feel sleepy: “I’m so sleepy. I have to wake up early tomorrow. Let’s hang up for now.”

Gu Yuanting saw the sleepiness on his small face, his eyes almost too tired to open. He quickly said, “Okay, you should rest soon.”

Su Yiran hummed, “You should go to bed early today too. Goodnight.”

Gu Yuanting looked at him and said, “Goodnight.”

With a “beep,” Gu Yuanting’s phone screen displayed a line of white text: [The other party has hung up, chat ended], then it flashed back to the WeChat chat screen.

The call had ended.

Gu Yuanting looked at his phone screen for a long, long time.

Finally, he put his phone in his chest pocket, close to his heart, and continued his work.

---

The day’s busyness quickly ended. Gu Yuanting felt that today passed unusually slowly, yet also unusually quickly.

He returned to his room at night, and the door closed behind him with a “click.”

Gu Yuanting turned on the light. The room was bright and empty. Gu Yuanting froze. That empty feeling returned.

He stood by the door, staring straight into the room. He took out his phone and opened WeChat. But he had already seen Ranran today; there was no reason to call again.

Gu Yuanting held his phone motionless. He stood for a long time.

Finally, he walked to his desk. He opened his laptop, and after some operations, several surveillance camera feeds appeared on the computer screen. These were installed at his home, the shop, and the parking lot to protect Su Yiran.

Gu Yuanting clicked to enlarge the surveillance feed of the bedroom at home. In the night vision monitor, Su Yiran was wrapped in a quilt, sleeping soundly on the bed, only a small part of his face visible, eyes closed.

Gu Yuanting stared at Su Yiran in the monitor for a long, long time. Just watching him like that.

Like a pervert.