ATMAWTPM Chapter 23

Chapter 23: Shen Jun, Hug Me.

Ye Tingtong was very surprised to see Shen Jun’s like.

He thought Shen Jun was the type who didn’t really look at WeChat unless it was necessary, let alone the kind of daily sharing like Moments. He didn’t expect that he would actually like the Moment he just posted.

Ye Tingtong remembered the “half an hour” he had boasted about and felt a little guilty, but since Shen Jun had liked it, it was affirmation of his strength!

After Shen Jun liked it, the number of likes on Ye Tingtong’s Moment skyrocketed. Soon, it was 99+.

The comments below were also all praise. Unlike before, when he posted a Moment, he would be met with ridicule and sarcasm. Now, everyone was admiring him and teasing him kindly.

Ye Tingtong didn’t expect that he had become so amazing. He curled the corners of his mouth and replied to the messages.

[No, no, I’m not that great.]

[Half an hour is very simple. As long as you work hard, you can do it too! [Thumbs up]]

[Advanced Mathematics isn’t that difficult. It’s the current students exaggerating the difficulty. Doing Advanced Mathematics is just mental relaxation for me, a piece of cake!]

[I’ve been doing pretty well lately, thanks for your concern~]

Amidst the praises, Ye Tingtong felt lightheaded, and he even wanted to cross his legs in a smug manner.

But as soon as he raised his leg, the person opposite him glanced at him quietly.

Ye Tingtong’s wavering spirit immediately dissipated. He sheepishly put down his leg, muted his phone and stuffed it into his pocket, grabbed a pen, sat properly, and buried himself in solving problems.

Perhaps because recent projects were progressing smoothly, Shen Jun would come home even if he worked overtime. Sometimes it was too late, and Ye Tingtong was dead asleep and didn’t hear him. Then, he would see Shen Jun at the dining table in the morning. Occasionally, when he had an early class, Shen Jun would even drive him to school on the way.

The days passed peacefully like this for almost a week. One day, Ye Tingtong had class at school. After class, he was just about to contact the driver when he received a call from his grandfather.

Ye Chengliang asked him to meet him at a coffee shop near A University, saying that he had something to discuss with him.

Ye Tingtong hesitated for a while and agreed.

After arriving at the shop, he turned his head and saw the old man sitting by the window.

Ye Chengliang’s hair was mostly white, and his face was covered with the traces of time. His gaze towards him was very gentle.

“Grandpa,” Ye Tingtong called out and sat down opposite him.

There was already a drink ordered on his seat. As soon as he sat down, he smelled a strong coffee aroma.

“Just brought up,” Ye Chengliang said with a kind face. “Knowing you like espresso, I specifically ordered it.”

Ye Tingtong’s hand, which was about to pick up the coffee, slowly retracted. “I’m not thirsty right now. I’ll drink it later, thank you, Grandpa.”

Espresso was very bitter. He didn’t like it at all.

However, he had shared photos of espresso many times on his Moments. At that time, he thought drinking unsweetened bitter coffee was very cool.

At the time, Shen Minghuai had also teased him for being pretentious, but every time they went to a coffee shop, Shen Minghuai would know to order him coffee with sugar and milk.

Ye Tingtong felt a little strange. How did Ye Chengliang know his preferences? He clearly didn’t have the other’s WeChat, and his scum father was even less likely to remember such a small thing.

Ye Chengliang wasn’t stupid and quickly saw that Ye Tingtong didn’t like coffee. “Grandpa is old and doesn’t know the preferences of young people. Order whatever you want. Grandpa will treat.”

After speaking, he was about to call a waiter, but Ye Tingtong stopped him. “No need, Grandpa, let’s talk about the real matter!”

He specifically inquired about his class schedule and actively came to talk to him near the school. It couldn’t just be to treat him to coffee.

Ye Chengliang didn’t expect him to be so direct. His cloudy eyes moved slightly. “You’ve been getting along well with Shen Jun recently?”

Ye Tingtong’s Moments were not a secret. Although the focus of the camera was on the Advanced Mathematics exam papers, a hand was accidentally captured at the edge. The wrist was wearing a limited edition Patek Philippe watch, which few people possessed.

Moreover, the handwriting on that paper was vigorous and powerful, making it easy to guess who had corrected Ye Tingtong’s paper.

Plus, Shen Jun’s undisguised like…

All the signs indicated that Ye Tingtong and Shen Jun had a good relationship, even revealing the sweetness of a newly married couple.

Ye Tingtong looked at the kind-faced old man opposite him and quickly understood that Ye Chengliang had come to try and take advantage of Shen Jun. “Grandpa, I can’t interfere with any of Shen Jun’s matters. If you have anything, you can talk to him personally.”

Since he married Shen Jun, it wasn’t the first time that the Ye family had contacted him, especially his cheap father. He would call to harass him from time to time, wanting to get benefits from Shen Jun, all of which he had refused.

In the end, he was so annoyed that he blacklisted all of Ye Guodong’s contact methods.

He would never have dared to do this before, but now that Shen Jun was around, Ye Guodong could only suppress his anger.

However, he didn’t expect that Ye Chengliang, at such an old age, would have to come and play the role of a lobbyist.

“Tingtong, you must have heard about the current situation of the Ye family. It’s precarious,” Ye Chengliang sighed. “If it weren’t absolutely necessary, I wouldn’t have come to trouble you. After all, the Ye family does owe you, and I’m ashamed to ask you.”

“But, I really can’t bear to see the company that I built with my own hands collapse like this,” Ye Chengliang said bitterly. “At least, when I’m buried in the ground, I won’t see it, and my heart won’t hurt either.”

Ye Tingtong’s hands, hanging by his side, tightened into fists. He pursed his lips and didn’t say a word.

Ye Chengliang scanned the clenched fist. “I also talked with Shen Jun about whether the Ye family can be involved in the government bidding this time. After all, the Ye family has a lot of experience in bridge construction.”

It was just that the Ye family had several problems in the past few years, which led to a sharp decline in their reputation. They had gradually been replaced by some emerging companies, including Shen’s.

It wouldn’t be entirely disadvantageous for Shen’s to cooperate with them. They would provide experience and technology, and Shen’s would take charge, creating a win-win situation.

However, Shen Jun hadn’t answered his calls, and only an assistant had answered, saying that President Shen didn’t have any plans for now, which had made his blood pressure spike.

Despite the anger in his heart, Ye Chengliang didn’t show it at all. “Shen Jun refused to cooperate with us and wants to solely take on such a large government project. He’s young and impetuous. I’m not just doing this for the Ye family, but for his own good too.”

Ye Tingtong picked up a spoon and stirred the coffee in front of him. “Grandpa, I don’t understand what you’re saying.”

He wouldn’t interfere with Shen Jun’s work, and he didn’t want to let Shen Jun lose money.

Since Shen Jun wanted to take it all, he must have the ability and confidence to do so.

Ye Chengliang’s heart choked, and his voice became stern. “I know you hate the Ye family, but after all, you have the same blood flowing through your veins as us. If it weren’t for being forced to, I wouldn’t want to lower myself to beg a junior at such an old age.”

“That kid, Ye Guodong, did a lot of wrong things before. If you help the Ye family this time, I promise I won’t let him near you again.”

Ye Tingtong’s movement of stirring the coffee stopped. He didn’t control his strength well, and he almost knocked over the cup.

He put down the spoon and looked at the coffee stain on the table in a daze.

Ye Chengliang thought that his words had moved him and continued, “If Shen Jun still refuses, it doesn’t matter. See if you can find the bidding documents from his study. That way, we can cater to his preferences, and Shen Jun will definitely consider cooperating with the Ye family.”

“I’m leaving this matter to you. Don’t let Grandpa down.”

*

When the driver picked up Ye Tingtong to return to Taizi Bay, the person in the back seat was clearly distracted. Even after they arrived, he was still sitting there blankly, with no intention of getting out of the car.

“Young Master, we’ve arrived,” the driver reminded. “Did something happen? You’re also much later leaving school than usual today.”

Ye Tingtong came back to his senses. “The teacher kept me behind, and I was planning my revision schedule due to the heavy exam workload.”

After speaking, he opened the car door and got out.

It was Friday, and Shen Jun came back not long after work. After they had dinner, they stayed in the study together as usual.

Shen Jun handled official business, and Ye Tingtong reviewed.

Usually, before officially reviewing, Ye Tingtong would make a lot of small movements.

Occasionally he would shake his leg, or complain that the scratch paper wasn’t good-looking and go back to the bedroom to change a new stack, or feel thirsty and drink all the water on the table in one go, then go out and dawdle to pour a cup.

He would toss around for almost half an hour. After getting a suppressing look from Shen Jun, or getting bored, he would calm down and study.

This time, Ye Tingtong was unusually quiet, looking down at his book the whole time. However, the hand holding the pen hadn’t moved for a long time, and he would glance at Shen Jun from time to time.

Coincidentally, the bidding documents were in the study, and they were placed boldly next to his exercise book, within reach.

Ye Tingtong didn’t take in a single word from the book. Instead, the bidding documents were constantly flickering in front of his eyes, making him feel extremely anxious. Just as he was about to find an excuse to leave the study to get some fresh air, Shen Jun’s phone rang. Shen Jun left first to answer the call.

“Congratulations on winning the bid in advance,” Yu Mo’s lazy voice came from the receiver. “Remember to treat me to a big meal for such a big deal.”

Shen Jun stood in front of the floor-to-ceiling window in the living room, looking at the distant flickering neon lights, and said indifferently, “It’s not even confirmed yet, and you’re already starting to blackmail me?”

“Tsk, what blackmail? That’s not nice of you to say. It’s called wanting to share the joy of victory with you, got it?” Yu Mo huffed. “Besides, who are you pretending with? Can anyone else win this bid?”

Shen’s was undoubtedly the most outstanding among all the bidders. Plus, Shen Jun wanted to connect with the government, and he had put in a lot of effort, so it was impossible to fail.

Shen Jun was noncommittal.

Yu Mo noticed something was wrong. “What? Is there a problem with this bid?”

Shen Jun was not the kind of person who was humble and restrained. If it had been before, he would have already agreed to prepare the champagne.

Shen Jun remained silent.

Lowering his eyes, he suddenly saw two pots of lush succulents by the floor-to-ceiling window, placed in the corner, hidden tightly as if afraid of being seen.

To the right, there was a simple snack cabinet next to the wine cabinet, packed full. The puffed potato chips were too big, and the drawer couldn’t close tightly.

There was a pillow with a cartoon pattern on the sofa, which didn’t match his leather sofa at all. But, although it was something he saw every day, he had only just noticed it now.

Shen Jun suddenly asked a seemingly unrelated question, “If I build a high wall, but the other party bypasses it and leaves from the other side, what should I do?”

Ye Tingtong’s concern about the bidding documents was written all over his face.

Yu Mo looked confused. “What are you talking about?”

Shen Jun didn’t expect him to give him an answer. “Never mind, I’m hanging up.”

After hanging up the phone, Shen Jun didn’t return to the study immediately. He glanced at the time, and it was almost twenty minutes later that he walked back.

When the study door opened, Shen Jun saw Ye Tingtong tremble in surprise. His shoulders were straight, stiff and awkward.

Shen Jun sat back in his seat, pretending not to see the crooked bidding documents, and pulled out the Advanced Mathematics exercise book that Ye Tingtong had pressed under his hand. It was clean, except that the corner was filled with messy lines, some of which were so forceful that they had torn the paper.

“Are there more problems you don’t know how to solve?” Shen Jun put the exercise book back and looked at Ye Tingtong, who was deeply lowering his head. “You can ask me.”

Ye Tingtong didn’t react for a long time. Finally, he very slowly raised his head, his eyes were red. “Shen Jun, I’m sorry.”

Shen Jun looked at him silently. “What are you sorry for?”

“After class today, my grandfather came to find me. He said he wanted me to steal your bidding documents. After they looked at them, they would cooperate with you.”

Ye Tingtong rubbed his eyes hard like a child who had done something wrong. His voice was a little choked as he spoke. “I didn’t refuse at the time.”

Shen Jun picked up the document on the table. “So, you showed it to him?”

Ye Tingtong’s eyes landed on the document, and he moved them away as if burned. After a moment of silence, he whispered, “I didn’t give it to him.”

“I think he’s lying to me. He doesn’t want to cooperate with you. He wants to steal your documents for free.”

Shen Jun paused almost imperceptibly.

Ye Tingtong spoke very seriously and was very careful not to look at the bidding documents. All his expressions and body language conveyed one piece of information—

Ye Tingtong had not betrayed him.

Shen Jun slowly loosened his grip on the document. “You did the right thing. He indeed has bad intentions.”

Ye Chengliang’s plan was definitely not that simple. If he really got his bidding documents, he would leak them to competitors immediately in order to seek greater profits for himself.

If the scandal were exposed, Ye Tingtong would be the one to take the blame.

The crime of leaking trade secrets…

Shen Jun glanced at Ye Tingtong’s red eyes. He guessed that if he told him, the other party might be so frightened that he would cry.

However, he didn’t tell Ye Tingtong that the plan placed in the study was a discarded version. The real one had long been encrypted and stored safely. How could it possibly appear here?

Ye Tingtong looked at Shen Jun’s calm expression and also realized that something was wrong. “You knew that I wanted to steal the plan a long time ago?”

Shen Jun hummed in agreement.

Ye Tingtong’s thoughts were all written on his face. Plus, the driver had told him that Ye Tingtong’s mood was off that day and that he had seen the Ye family’s car at the school gate. Afraid that the Ye family’s people would come and harm Ye Tingtong again, he had mentioned it to Shen Jun.

Combining the two, the facts were obvious.

Ye Tingtong couldn’t describe what he was feeling. He was somewhat confused and also felt a terrible tightness. He murmured, “Shen Jun, Grandpa doesn’t seem to be the Grandpa I imagined.”

He had always thought that Ye Chengliang was different from Ye Guodong. It was only because he was old that he couldn’t stop the dirty things that the Ye family did. Perhaps, Grandpa was kept in the dark.

But the other party’s guessing of his coffee preferences and knowing that he could freely enter Shen Jun’s study made Ye Tingtong clearly realize that Grandpa was not ignorant.

In fact, Grandpa was also one of the Ye family members who was monitoring and coercing him.

This realization made Ye Tingtong’s heart feel like it was being pressed down by an invisible but huge rock, so heavy that it made it difficult for him to breathe.

Ye Tingtong looked at Shen Jun helplessly.

He thought that Shen Jun would comfort him, but Shen Jun picked up his phone and dialed the driver’s number. “Some things, you should get a definite answer to.”

The moment he had asked Yu Mo, Shen Jun already had an answer in his heart.

Since the high wall he had built was useless, then he would build a cage, a cage with no way out.

The call connected quickly, and the driver asked in confusion, “President Shen?”

Ye Tingtong quickly answered, “Driver, it’s me.”

Because of the distortion in the phone’s audio, the driver didn’t hear anything wrong with Ye Tingtong’s voice. “Ah, Young Master! Do you need to go somewhere? I’ll pick you up now.”

“No.” Ye Tingtong bit his lip and looked at Shen Jun uncertainly.

Shen Jun wasn’t handling official business anymore. He just quietly accompanied him. Ye Tingtong originally wanted to escape, but when he saw Shen Jun, he felt that he shouldn’t be so cowardly.

He took a long breath and asked the doubts that had been buried deep in his heart, “Driver, did you give the photos I sent you earlier to Ye Guodong? Did you contact anyone else?”

Every time Shen Minghuai gave him expensive things, if he didn’t post them on his Moments, the driver would take pictures and send them.

But when he submitted the photos on time, Ye Guodong would still call to scold him occasionally. After he explained, he would seem to realize something, say a few simple words to him and then hang up the phone.

At that time, Ye Tingtong sensed that something was wrong, but he didn’t think deeply about it.

The driver didn’t expect Ye Tingtong to bring this up. “Usually they are given to your father, but I will make a summary every Sunday and send it to the old family head.”

Ye Tingtong was silent for a long time before he spoke with difficulty, “I understand.”

That faint possibility was completely extinguished.

Ye Chengliang had always known about it, knowing that his little grandson, who admired and respected him, was locked in the basement, starved, whipped, punched, and kicked.

Perhaps, these were the orders that Ye Chengliang had given.

After hanging up the phone, Ye Tingtong opened his eyes, and a teardrop suddenly fell on his exercise book, then one after another, falling silently.

He just wanted to have a family member in this world, a family member who wouldn’t be so harsh on him, a family member who was connected to him by blood.

It turned out that this was also a luxury.

Shen Jun didn’t know when he had walked over to him. He raised his chin, wiped the wet tears from his face with his thumb, and frowned. “He’s not worth your sadness.”

Shen Jun originally thought that after such a long buffer, Ye Tingtong would be a little stronger.

Ye Tingtong listened to Shen Jun’s unsympathetic and cold tone. He also wanted to stop crying, but he just couldn’t help it.

Shen Jun felt the little puddle that was about to accumulate in the palm of his hand and suddenly felt a little regretful.

He couldn’t use his own standards to demand Ye Tingtong.

Ye Tingtong sensed Shen Jun’s predicament. He sniffed heavily. “I’m not very sad either. I just can’t stop it.”

He tried very hard not to make a sound.

Shen Jun looked at Ye Tingtong’s restrained appearance, and his heart churned. He said in a deep voice, “What do you want?”

Cake, milk tea, or expensive luxury goods.

Even if Ye Tingtong wanted the bidding documents, he might have been so muddled that he would have handed them over.

Ye Tingtong’s eyelashes trembled slightly. After a long time, he spoke, his voice full of nasal tones and a hint of pleading, “Shen Jun, hug me.”

As soon as the words fell, he was pulled into a warm embrace.

Ye Tingtong closed his eyes and slowly raised his hand to grab Shen Jun’s clothes. His shoulders trembled a few times, and he burst into tears.