His Venomous Former Boss Chased Him And Beat Him Fiercely Chapter 8
byThe Appointment—[What does it mean when your crush replies with just “Good night”?]
The setting sun filtered through the bamboo leaves into the room, light and airy like a thin layer of sheer gauze, cut into fragments that printed themselves on the paintings in the room and draped over the young man.
The young man lay on his side, the light and shadow flowing across his tranquil face.
This tranquility was soon broken by the man himself.
Kong Xunwen furrowed his brow, opening his eyes. Spring light was always faint and soft on the eyes; he lowered his gaze to avoid it.
He had heard Qiu Zhijie’s car leave, then prepared for his stream, ate lunch, and started broadcasting, continuing until now.
Glancing at the time beside him, it was now past five, nearly six o’clock.
Perhaps because it was his first time streaming a painting session, he wasn’t used to it, so he hadn’t been able to get into the zone all afternoon. He had only managed a rough draft.
Which he had just deleted.
Because he wasn’t satisfied.
Kong Xunwen sat up. The stream had been closed before he lay down. Not many people had watched the entire broadcast; those who occasionally stumbled upon it quickly left.
Forget it, he’d deal with it later. The most important thing now was preparing dinner.
As he got up and walked through the living room toward the kitchen, he subconsciously glanced at the courtyard.
He hadn’t deliberately opened the door after Qiu Zhijie left, so it was still closed. His steps paused slightly, and Kong Xunwen walked over and opened the door again.
For dinner tonight, he obediently followed a tutorial. It was a bowl of fried rice, which looked pretty good in the end. Holding the bowl, Kong Xunwen sat down and took a bite.
The taste was also quite good.
His mood, which had been a little low because he hadn’t made any progress on his painting all afternoon, suddenly lifted.
At the courtyard gate, Liu Tingfang made her little followers hide behind her while she quietly poked her head out. She had tied her hair into a small bun today, so there were no braids swinging around.
She had been punished for coming yesterday, but she still brought her little followers today.
Pulling her head back, Liu Tingfang looked at her little companions with a serious expression.
Pangpang, the chubby one beside her, blinked and was about to say something when he suddenly widened his eyes, looking past Liu Tingfang.
The other three also widened their eyes, staring at the courtyard gate.
Little Boss felt something was wrong when she saw this. She slowly turned her head and looked up.
Sure enough, she met a familiar gaze.
She instinctively wanted to call her companions to run.
Kong Xunwen spoke first: “Don’t run. Come in.”
After saying that, he turned and went back inside.
Liu Tingfang turned around, putting down the leg she had raised to flee. Her little companions all looked at her, waiting for her decision.
Letting out a deep breath, the little girl, who looked much tidier today with her bun, clenched her fist: “Let’s go.”
With that, she marched with firm steps into the courtyard, followed by the pattering footsteps of her companions.
Kong Xunwen heard the tapping sounds coming from behind him, and a smile appeared in his eyes.
He knew why. For children, this strange older brother who suddenly appeared was very novel, and it was only natural for them to be curious.
Perhaps… it was also because of the bowl of noodles from yesterday.
Opposite him were the stools that had been brought over yesterday and hadn’t been put away today. Led by their boss, the children sat down in the same spots as yesterday.
Kong Xunwen finally looked up at them: “This is our…”
He thought for a moment, counting the first meeting when he returned: “The third time we’ve met.”
“Let’s get acquainted. What are all your names?”
Pangpang swallowed, looking at the fried rice in front of Kong Xunwen. He put a finger to his mouth and said eagerly, “I’m Pangpang.”
As soon as he said this, the four children beside him immediately looked over.
Liu Tingfang sighed like a little adult, seemingly used to this situation. She turned and seriously added to Kong Xunwen, “His nickname is Pangpang. His full name is Liu Yunhe.”
She spoke very fluently, every word clear.
Following that, Kong Xunwen learned the names of the other children from the Little Boss.
The boss was Liu Tingfang, whom the children all called Boss. The girl in the white dress who looked like a little fox yesterday was He Wanbai, nickname Little Bai. The round-faced girl was Yun Xiuni, nickname Ni’er. The skinny boy was Liu Chengye, nickname Yezi.
Before Kong Xunwen could announce to the children that there was no “punishment” for them to eat today, Liu Tingfang spoke again.
“Will you go to the mountain with us tomorrow?”
Kong Xunwen looked at the little girl with some surprise. Her small face was taut, her cheeks round, and her expression was very serious, but her hidden fingers were twisting nervously.
The four other children beside her raised their innocent faces together. This was probably something they had discussed beforehand, and now five pairs of eyes looked at him with great anticipation.
Not getting an answer, as if afraid Kong Xunwen wouldn’t go, Liu Tingfang added, “We’re going to pick honeysuckle. Grandma and Grandpa only pick the ones nearby.”
She continued, “Will you go?”
In front of him were the children, trying hard to hide their excitement, which was still tinged with anticipation and a hint of creeping disappointment. Kong Xunwen recalled the unsatisfactory draft he had deleted this afternoon, and for a moment, he glimpsed that somewhat frustrated face that felt like his own imagination.
It quickly vanished.
Perhaps going out for a walk would be a good thing. Maybe he could find some inspiration.
He nodded.
Then he asked, “What time tomorrow?”
The Little Boss, who had been maintaining a serious face, couldn’t hold back a smile when she got an affirmative answer, and a small dimple appeared on her cheek.
Oh, so the Little Boss actually had such a sweet dimple, but perhaps feeling it undermined her authority as boss, she quickly hid it away.
The skinny boy named Liu Chengye, or Yezi, spoke up, his voice still carrying a childish lilt: “Tomorrow morning.”
Yun Xiuni rested her elbows on the table, cupping her round face in her small hands, smiling until her eyes narrowed into crescent moons: “We’ll come find Brother Kong~”
Little Bai and Pangpang nodded repeatedly beside her.
Kong Xunwen was a little surprised: “How did you know my surname is Kong?”
The children all looked at Liu Tingfang with clear eyes.
Liu Tingfang lifted her chin, a little proud: “I heard it!”
Kong Xunwen didn’t quite understand, but he didn’t press the issue. He nodded: “My full name is Kong Xunwen. Then you can call me Brother Kong.”
“But there are no noodles for you to eat today.”
In the children’s disappointed gaze, Kong Xunwen brought out a plate of fruit.
After eating the fruit, the children hurriedly lined up and left, like Cinderella whose magic was about to disappear at midnight.
Kong Xunwen watched the little team leave, hearing the chirping sounds of the children outside, as cheerful as little birds.
And like students who had escaped the teacher’s sight.
Outside, Pangpang smacked his lips: “It was sweet.”
“All you know is eating,” the Little Boss said. “When I recruit him as… my strategist, I’ll have him help us scare away that mean auntie!”
“Mhm, mhm!” Skinny Yezi nodded repeatedly, his eyes sparkling: “When we help him pick lots and lots of honeysuckle tomorrow, he won’t be able to refuse us after accepting our stuff.”
Yezi spoke a little indistinctly, but his companions were used to it and understood immediately.
Little Bai looked very composed, nodding in agreement with Yezi’s idea, and smoothing her little dress with her small hand: “I’m going to wear my pretty new dress tomorrow. We’ll have a new member tomorrow.”
Ni’er intimately linked arms with Little Bai, and hearing this, she skipped along, her two small ponytails swinging: “Then I’ll wear new clothes too, but my grandma and grandpa aren’t good at tying pretty hair. Little Bai, tell your grandma, I’ll come find you to tie my hair tomorrow.”
Little Bai nodded: “Okay, but remember to wear pants when you come, or you’ll get dirty.”
Ni’er nodded repeatedly. Pangpang, hearing this, looked down at himself and leaned over: “Then I’ll go get my hair tied too.”
Little Bai waved her small hand: “All of you come tomorrow!”
*
On this side, Kong Xunwen cleaned up the dishes and walked out to the living room, glancing at the cluster of tall and short chairs by the dining table against the wall. He didn’t restore the chairs to their usual positions.
Perhaps they would be put to good use tomorrow.
Thinking this, he took his phone and returned to his room. After washing up and lying in bed, he habitually opened his phone.
The first thing that appeared was a message from Qiu Zhijie.
CEO Qiu: [I’m sorry.]
Kong Xunwen stared at it for a while, then tapped to open the chat. As soon as he entered, he saw “typing” displayed at the top.
It disappeared and reappeared, but no message was sent for a long time. This “I’m sorry” had been sent shortly after Qiu Zhijie left this morning.
What was he up to now? In his impression, this person wasn’t so indecisive.
But Kong Xunwen quickly realized that passively waiting for the other party wasn’t his style either. Too lazy to guess further, he simply sent a question mark.
Then he saw the other side hesitate again, sending a question mark, which was quickly retracted and replaced with an emoji of a puppy holding a question mark.
Kong Xunwen scrolled his finger. The concise and clear instruction messages from before appeared.
That’s right, this was indeed Qiu Zhijie, but… this emoji…
He sent a very cautious message: [Account hacked? Not you?]
On the other side, Qiu Zhijie sat on his bed, looking at his phone screen with a serious expression, never having been so earnest. But seeing that message, he couldn’t help but feel a little defeated.
He somewhat doubted what kind of image he had in the other person’s eyes.
He recalled, and fell silent.
It was his problem.
He pondered for a moment, typing and deleting text. Finally, seeing that nearly a minute had passed, he pressed the send button on the screen with some force.
Kong Xunwen closed his eyes and looked at the sentence on his phone, suspecting he had misread it, yet the words were still perfectly clear.
CEO Qiu: [Is it convenient for a video or voice call?]
A few seconds later, as if afraid he might misunderstand something, another message was sent, proving the sender’s input method was fine.
CEO Qiu: [It’s because I can explain things more clearly that way.]
But these two sentences were quickly retracted.
CEO Qiu: [Sorry, did you see that? It doesn’t matter whether you saw it or not, I apologize for bothering you.]
A few more seconds, like a tentative probe.
CEO Qiu: [Can I come see you tomorrow?]
Retracted.
CEO Qiu: [Sorry, don’t mind me.]
After another round of typing and canceling, a final message appeared.
CEO Qiu: [Good night, sweet dreams.]
[Little Bear Good Night.jpg]
Finally, silence.
Kong Xunwen watched this entire… performance from the other side in silence. From beginning to end, he had only sent one question mark and one sentence, but the other side had sent a whole string.
He really couldn’t help but wonder if this person… liked him?
But that thought connected to the man in his mind.
And their past interactions.
Kong Xunwen sighed, his mind a mess.
He still couldn’t help but wonder, was his account really not hacked? Was he trying to chat him up and then scam him out of money?
If that were the case, it would be simple. But then it wouldn’t explain Qiu Zhijie coming to see him in person today.
Finally, Kong Xunwen typed out two words as well.
[Heart Emoji] [Heart Emoji]: [Good night]
Qiu Zhijie looked at the two words on the screen, pursed his lips, long-pressed them, saved them, exited, and typed a few words into the search bar.
[What does it mean when your crush replies with just “Good night”?]