ATMAWTPM Chapter 27

Chapter 27: This is the New Year’s money from Shen Jun and I…

Chapter 27: This is the New Year’s money from Shen Jun and I…

With the final exam over, Ye Tingtong officially welcomed the winter vacation.

Looking at Shen Jun, who still went out early and returned late every day, he decided to find something to do.

He wandered around the streets for a while and successfully found a part-time job at a dessert shop. It didn’t include room and board, but paid 2,000 yuan for half a month, which would take him right up to the New Year.

When Ye Tingtong told Shen Jun about this, he was a little worried that the other party would be unhappy.

After all, they were already married, even if it was a contractual marriage. To the outside world, they were still a couple, and he was afraid of embarrassing Shen Jun.

Today, he got up especially early to have breakfast with Shen Jun, and when he brought up the matter, he carefully observed Shen Jun’s expression.

Shen Jun’s expression was normal, “Where is the job location? Have you personally been to the store?”

“I have, it’s on Baihua Road,” Ye Tingtong quickly replied. “I went to the store for the interview.”

When Shen Jun heard the location, he put down the cup in his hand, “Baihua Road?”

The Shen Group building was the most iconic landmark on Baihua Road.

Ye Tingtong lowered his head and stirred the porridge in his bowl with a spoon, and hummed in agreement.

He didn’t know why he had wandered near Shen Jun’s company that day, and it was a coincidence that the first place he interviewed at hired him.

Fortunately, Shen Jun didn’t delve into it, nor did he object to him working at the dessert shop. “Remember to tell the driver your working hours, and have him drive you.”

Ye Tingtong happily nodded in agreement.

He didn’t act pretentious and say he would take public transportation. After all, Taizi Bay was a certain distance from the subway station. Moreover, the driver could ensure his safety to a certain extent.

He had already blacklisted the contact information of everyone in the Ye family. He didn’t know what their situation was now, and he hadn’t deliberately paid attention to them. But it was inevitable that they would become desperate and come looking for him.

After Shen Jun finished breakfast, he left. Ye Tingtong took a bun and quietly walked to the window, watching the familiar car drive away from the gate of the complex, before slowly going back to continue eating.

Although their workplaces were together, their work hours were very different. He started work at ten o’clock, while Shen Jun left before eight o’clock.

No matter how you calculated it, they couldn’t be together.

The shop where Ye Tingtong worked was called Forest Bear. It didn’t have a lot of foot traffic, but it often received a large number of takeout orders from nearby companies, so there wasn’t much free time throughout the day.

As a newcomer, and because he looked young and well-behaved, his colleagues took good care of him. Although deliveries earned extra money, they were a lot of hard work. Ye Tingtong was new, and he wasn’t familiar with the surrounding area, so they didn’t let him do deliveries.

Ye Tingtong had seen the afternoon tea order from the Shen Group several times, but everyone was so considerate to him that he couldn’t bring himself to say anything.

One Friday afternoon, it began to snow, and the ground was slippery. There weren’t enough delivery people, and the Shen Group placed an order for 15 coffees. They finished making the order, but there weren’t any extra people in the store who could deliver it.

Ye Tingtong volunteered, “I can, I know where Shen Group is.”

The manager saw that there was really no one else, “Okay, Little Liu will go with you. There will be a blizzard tonight, so you can go home after you deliver it.”

With this kind of weather, there weren’t many customers in the store, and the Shen Group was their last delivery.

Ye Tingtong’s eyes lit up. He packed his things and picked up the takeout coffees and desserts. He went with Little Liu to the Shen Group on an electric bike.

Halfway there, the snow became heavier, and the ground was quickly covered with a layer of white snow.

At the entrance of the Shen Group, Ye Tingtong took all of the things down. “Brother Liu, I can deliver them upstairs by myself. I’m afraid the road will freeze later and it will be dangerous for you to ride the electric bike.”

The other person looked at the things he was holding, and hesitated, “Can you carry all that? Or I can come with you.”

There were 15 cups of coffee alone, plus all sorts of breads and cakes, which didn’t weigh very little.

“It’s okay,” Ye Tingtong smiled. “I’m going home after I deliver them, so don’t worry.”

“Okay, then I’ll go first.”

After the other person left, Ye Tingtong struggled to lift the bags in his hands and walked into the Shen Group building.

After reaching the front desk, Ye Tingtong said, “Hello, I’m an employee of Forest Bear, here to deliver an order.”

Sun Meng glanced at the things the other person was carrying. After seeing the logo, she said, “Okay, I’ll swipe the elevator for you.”

She stood up, and unexpectedly met Ye Tingtong’s eyes.

The temperature outside was very low. Ye Tingtong was wearing a thick, long down jacket, a hat, and a scarf. The scarf covered his face tightly. Because he didn’t have his hands free, Ye Tingtong didn’t pull down his scarf when he spoke, only revealing his eyes.

Sun Meng looked at the other person several times, only finding him somewhat familiar, but she couldn’t remember where she had seen him.

Maybe he had delivered food here before!

Ye Tingtong stared at Sun Meng’s suspicious gaze, his heart pounding. He had only been to Shen Jun’s company once, and that was when this girl had taken him to the CEO’s office.

Both times were for delivering coffee, and both times were to the top floor, it was too similar. He thought he would be recognized.

When he came, he was only thinking about being closer to Shen Jun, and hadn’t thought about much else.

After arriving at the top floor, Ye Tingtong subconsciously glanced at Shen Jun’s office. It was empty.

Liu Hao frowned as he looked at the delivery person looking around, “Put the things down, then you can leave.”

His tone was a bit displeased and wary.

Ye Tingtong nodded, not daring to look around anymore. He carefully placed the things he was holding onto the table, one by one.

Just as he was about to turn around and leave, a familiar voice came from behind him.

“Why did you run all the way here?”

Shen Jun was holding a document in his hand, followed by several people. He had just come out of the meeting room when he saw the person at the door.

He looked at Ye Tingtong’s wet hat and scarf, and reached out to take them off. Only then did he notice that Ye Tingtong’s face was also wet, with the hair on his forehead limply sticking to his skin, and the tip of his nose was frozen red. He stood there looking at him dumbly.

Ye Tingtong hadn’t recovered from the shock of Shen Jun recognizing him at a glance. In the blink of an eye, his disguise had been taken off.

He looked at Liu Hao’s bewildered expression and subconsciously wanted to take back the scarf in Shen Jun’s hand, but Shen Jun pulled his hand back a bit, “It’s wet, you can’t wear it.”

The snow outside was too heavy, and when Ye Tingtong rode the electric bike, the snow had directly gone onto his face and collar. The scarf and hat were the worst-hit areas. After entering the room, the warmth made Ye Tingtong’s breath thick with moisture.

However, he hadn’t expected Shen Jun to be so decisive.

Ye Tingtong didn’t dare to publicly snatch anything from Shen Jun. Feeling everyone’s gaze, he quietly moved a step closer to Shen Jun, trying to block himself from view.

Shen Jun saw his discomfort and took a coffee and dessert from the table. “Regarding what was said at the meeting today, I need to see your revised plans tomorrow.”

After speaking, he turned and walked towards his office.

Ye Tingtong hesitated for a second, and then followed him in.

The floor-to-ceiling windows in the CEO’s office were very large. Through the clean and bright glass, you could see the heavy snow falling outside.

Shen Jun put the desserts and coffee on the coffee table, “Did you come here to deliver an order for the dessert shop?”

Ye Tingtong nodded, “It’s the last order, and then I’m off work.”

Shen Jun hummed in agreement and, looking at his face gradually regaining its rosy color, said, “Give me your hand, let me see.”

He had seen the densely packed bags of food outside. They should have all been carried upstairs by Ye Tingtong alone.

“I wore gloves…” Ye Tingtong stammered, but Shen Jun just looked at him quietly, and he couldn’t hold out for long before giving in. He took off his gloves and spread out his palm toward Shen Jun.

Several deep red marks were very noticeable on his fair palm.

Ye Tingtong explained, “Usually my colleagues think I’m young, so they generally don’t let me do deliveries. Besides, this is how work is, it’s okay, Shen Jun.”

In the past few years, although he had been beaten a lot in the Ye family, he had never done manual labor. To a certain extent, he had been pampered for a few years. On his first day working at the dessert shop, he couldn’t actually handle it.

He had to stand all day and smile at the customers. Because of his looks, customers often took the initiative to talk to him. However, he wasn’t the kind of person who had a glib tongue. Once, he probably didn’t flatter the customer right and was even complained about.

Fortunately, the manager was reasonable and didn’t deduct his pay.

After working for a week, Ye Tingtong was very used to life there. He was very lucky, the work environment at Forest Bear was great, without any extra infighting.

Ye Tingtong thought that if he dissolved the contractual relationship with Shen Jun, he would come here to work after graduation.

After becoming a full-time employee, his monthly salary would be more than five thousand yuan, although rent in City A was very expensive, but since he lived alone, it shouldn’t cost much money.

Perhaps it was because he thought about his future life that Ye Tingtong was a bit distracted. It took him a moment to feel the warmth on his palm.

Shen Jun gently rubbed his fingertips over the marks on his hand.

Ye Tingtong was a little confused. Shen Jun’s eyes were lowered, and there was no extra emotion on his face. He didn’t know what the other person was thinking.

“It just looks a bit scary.” To reassure him, Ye Tingtong rubbed his palm hard, “Look, the redness fades very quickly. I’m not hurt, I can just wear thicker gloves next time.”

Shen Jun retracted his hand, “They also ordered an afternoon tea for me, I don’t need it, do you want to eat it?”

Ye Tingtong said in surprise, “Yes!”

He was hungry after working all day.

Besides, the desserts at Forest Bear were really delicious. Every time he wanted to buy some discounted ones to take home when he got off work, they were all bought up by customers.

The office became quiet.

Shen Jun sat at the table, but his mind wasn’t on the documents in front of him.

Ye Tingtong was probably afraid of disturbing his work, so he ate almost without making a sound, chewing slowly, taking a few bites and drinking a cup of coffee. Although it was silent, the corners of his eyes and eyebrows revealed his satisfaction.

Things were developing in a good direction. Ye Tingtong was working hard to live healthily. Shen Jun felt that he should feel gratified.

But the irritability in his heart couldn’t be dispelled.

Ye Tingtong’s snow-soaked face, the tip of his nose frozen red, the marks on his palm, all made Shen Jun question himself.

If he had followed what Yu Mo had said, Ye Tingtong wouldn’t have to suffer so much hardship. He should be at home in Taizi Bay right now, with the heating on, eating snacks, and living a happy and leisurely life.

Instead of going out to do these poorly paid jobs in the cold weather.

Ye Tingtong took a sip of coffee, and after turning the cup around to look at the label, he found that Shen Jun had actually gotten him his favorite caramel macchiato.

Was it a high-sugar coffee that he had specially gotten for him?

Ye Tingtong raised his head and quietly glanced at Shen Jun.

He found that the other person’s eyebrows were furrowed deeply. He was holding a pen but hadn’t moved for a long time.

Ye Tingtong blinked. Had he run into some difficulties?

After five minutes, Shen Jun was still looking gloomy, so he took the initiative to speak, “Shen Jun, I ran into something very funny this morning.”

“This morning, a company also placed an order with our store.” Ye Tingtong held out five fingers, “Fifty cups of coffee, they ordered almost every type, we were so busy we were about to explode.”

“There weren’t many customers in the morning. One girl saw us as if we were in the middle of a war. She was conflicted for a while, before coming over and saying something. Can you guess what she said?”

Shen Jun looked at Ye Tingtong’s mysterious expression, and after a moment said, “Did she ask if her coffee was ready?”

“Of course not, we had already made it for her!” Ye Tingtong chuckled, “She asked if we were going to close down after this order, haha…”

The scene was so chaotic at the time that it had probably scared the young lady. She thought that the store was going to close down and that they were having a clearance sale!

Ye Tingtong’s tone was exaggerated, “Our manager repeatedly guaranteed that we wouldn’t close down, and told the girl not to be afraid, and that the drinks were normal, before the girl left.”

Looking at the smile on Ye Tingtong’s face, Shen Jun suddenly realized that his concerns were very selfish.

Ye Tingtong was not a canary that he was raising in a cage, and should not be restricted to that small world, letting his mood revolve around a single person.

A lively life and rich interpersonal relationships were a very important part of Ye Tingtong’s self.

Seeing that Shen Jun’s mouth finally curved into a smile, Ye Tingtong took a big gulp of coffee to celebrate.

It seemed that his eloquence had made great progress in the past few days, as he had actually made Shen Jun laugh.

After Ye Tingtong finished his food, he waited for half an hour, and Shen Jun was also off work.

He glanced at the time, and it was two hours earlier than when Shen Jun usually got off work.

Ye Tingtong’s eyes curved into crescents. He hoped that there would be more orders like this, so that he could deliver them every day!

*

The half month of part-time work passed quickly. On the evening of the twenty-eighth day of the first lunar month, Ye Tingtong worked together with his colleagues to clean up Forest Bear, before closing the shop.

Before the holiday, the manager gave everyone a red envelope, telling everyone to go home and have a good new year. Ye Tingtong also got one.

Sitting in the driver’s car, Ye Tingtong secretly glanced at the red envelope. There were six of them!

Ye Tingtong was so touched that he almost cried. You had to know that in the past in the Ye family, Ye Chengliang only gave 500 yuan in red envelopes to the younger generation…

However, he suddenly remembered something. He had gotten his marriage certificate with Shen Jun, so wouldn’t he have to give red envelopes to the younger generation in the Shen family during the new year?

Shen Jun seemed to have quite a high seniority.

Ye Tingtong looked at the balance in his bank card and, without hesitation, told Shen Jun about his concerns.

Shen Jun couldn’t help but laugh when he saw his serious expression, “It’s okay, I’ll prepare them.”

On New Year’s Eve, Ye Tingtong, carrying a stack of red envelopes, went to the Shen family’s old house with Shen Jun.

After entering the door, he looked at the people in the living room and the children running around the room. He asked Shen Jun, “Do we have to give them to all of these children?”

By a rough count, there were more than ten of them.

Shen Jun gave an affirmative answer.

As expected, many children saw Ye Tingtong and came over to ask for New Year’s money. Ye Tingtong handed out the red envelopes he had prepared earlier, and put on a stern expression, acting all high and mighty.

The children, seeing this, didn’t want to play with him either. They took the red envelopes and ran away.

Ye Tingtong had gone around and handed out all the envelopes, confirming that all of his juniors had gotten one. However, there was still one left in his hand. He didn’t know if it was his imagination, but the last red envelope was especially thick and bulging.

He couldn’t help but praise Shen Jun’s generosity.

Just as Ye Tingtong was about to take a peek at the amount in the red envelope, someone entered the door who he hadn’t expected.

Shen Minghuai.

He hadn’t seen him for over half a month. Shen Minghuai had lost a lot of weight. He had previously clearly been a clothes hanger, but now, even though he was wearing a glamorous suit, it looked a bit too big on him, and his whole body was exuding a sense of desolation.

The two made eye contact. Shen Minghuai looked at him for a while, before taking the initiative to walk over, “Tongzai, long time no see.”

During the time he spent drowning his sorrows, Ye Tingtong seemed to be living very well. His cheeks, which were previously hard to fatten up, had become a little plumper, his complexion was rosy, and under the light, even the strands of his hair were glowing.

It had indeed been a long time since they had met. Ye Tingtong had almost forgotten about this person.

It was mainly because Shen Minghuai had been too quiet recently. From the time they finished the final exam at school, the two hadn’t had any interaction. He hadn’t received any harassment from the other person on WeChat or by phone. Ye Tingtong hadn’t even realized that the two would meet in the Shen family’s old house.

Seeing that Ye Tingtong wasn’t speaking, Shen Minghuai’s Adam’s apple bobbed. He took a step forward and took the initiative to speak, “I’ve broken off the engagement with the Liang family.”

Despite the shock, Ye Tingtong still took two steps backward and put some distance between them.

“You don’t have to be so afraid of me,” Shen Minghuai said, “There are so many people here, am I really going to grab you away? Besides, isn’t my little uncle also here?”

Ye Tingtong didn’t know what Shen Minghuai was up to. “What do you want to say?”

Shen Minghuai saw his indifferent appearance, and the grievances and bitterness that had accumulated over the past few days exploded. He gritted his teeth, “Ye Tingtong, I’ve broken off the engagement with Liang Yuting. Don’t you feel anything?”

Shen Minghuai pulled up his sleeve, “To break off the engagement, my mother hit me with a ruler until I bled, and we almost broke off our mother-son relationship. I only got to this step, and you just say, ‘What do you want to say?'”

Ye Tingtong looked at the scabs on his arm, and widened his eyes in shock.

He had heard many times in the news that the Shen family and the Liang family were a match made in heaven. Even Yu Huanhuan had said that Shen Minghuai was extremely lucky to be able to marry Liang Yuting. He didn’t understand, given Shen Minghuai’s character, how he could have broken up with her.

Shen Minghuai looked at his confused expression and, step by step, moved closer, “I don’t believe that you can’t see that I did this for you.”

Ye Tingtong retorted, “I didn’t sabotage your relationship, you don’t have to put the blame on me.”

“You know that I’m not blaming you.” Shen Minghuai twitched the corners of his mouth, “You are really heartless. However, I don’t believe that you can be so cruel to me.”

As long as he turned back, there was still room for change.

Ye Tingtong was about to say something, when a hand suddenly reached out and pulled him into an embrace. Ye Tingtong was already in a state of vigilance, and he subconsciously struggled with all his might, but the other person was holding him very tightly. His struggle was just like a little cub floundering around, not even making a ripple.

“What are you two chatting about?”

The familiar voice made Ye Tingtong immediately stop struggling. His whole body relaxed, and he obediently let himself be hugged.

He didn’t know when Shen Jun had arrived, nor how much he had heard.

Shen Minghuai took in the sight of Ye Tingtong’s compliance. He suppressed the displeasure in his heart and turned his attention to Shen Jun, “Little uncle, weren’t you talking with my father and the others? Why did you suddenly come over here? I was having a nice chat with Tongzai.”

“Is that so?” Shen Jun lowered his head, “Having a nice chat?”

Ye Tingtong shook his head like crazy, indicating that the other person was lying.

“It seems you misunderstood.” Shen Jun’s tone was indifferent, “He was simply being patient with you as an elder, you don’t need to try and take it any further.”

Ye Tingtong quickly nodded. He lifted his chin and looked at Shen Minghuai, “I already know about what happened between you and Miss Liang. It’s a pity for you. I hope you can have a good marriage.”

His words were quite elder-like. Shen Minghuai looked at him deeply, “I appreciate the well wishes.”

Shen Jun didn’t give him any more glances and asked Ye Tingtong, “Why did you run over here by yourself? Were you pestered by the kids?”

“I was afraid of missing anyone when giving out the New Year’s money.” Ye Tingtong coughed, “The kids are running all over the place, and some of them are hard to find.”

This was a euphemistic and polite way of saying it.

Some children didn’t care about New Year’s money at all, but Ye Tingtong was afraid of missing someone, and being rude, so he could only go and catch them one by one. These children were like monkeys. With a lot of effort, he finally managed to hand out all of the New Year’s money.

After chasing them, he wiped the sweat from his forehead. He hadn’t thought that he would ever have to chase after others to give out New Year’s money. But he was still quite happy to give them out. Every child would smile and say thank you after receiving one.

However, he had confirmed everywhere. All of the juniors present had already received their New Year’s money, so how was there still one left over?

Ye Tingtong remembered something and suddenly glanced at Shen Minghuai.

Shen Minghuai received his gaze, and his previously gloomy face instantly turned cheerful. He gave Shen Jun a smug look, and said with a gentle smile, “Tongzai, do you have something to say to me?”

Ye Tingtong thought that he shouldn’t have guessed wrong, and nodded. He took the last red envelope from his arms and handed it to Shen Minghuai, “This is the New Year’s money from Shen Jun and I.”

Just like with the other younger generation, Ye Tingtong’s tone was very serious, “I hope you will be healthy and happy in the new year.”

Shen Minghuai’s smile froze on his face.