Chapter 157: Late Night Arrangements

At 9 PM, Xu Chen dropped Xie Bingran off at the guesthouse near the Sports University.

After a simple goodbye, she tightened the straps on her backpack and headed toward the guesthouse door.

In the night air, Xu Chen yawned.

He’d stayed up late working on plans the night before, and now a wave of exhaustion hit him hard.

He pulled out his mobile phone and called his father, Xu Zhiquan.

The phone rang more than a dozen times before anyone picked up.

Xu Chen: “Dad, have you all finished eating?”

Xu Zhiquan: “We’ve eaten, but the night’s not over yet…”

Xu Zhiquan: “Director Yang’s had too much to drink and is throwing up on the roadside. Fang Jun’s tipsy too and turned into a nonstop talker— he’s been chattering all evening and now he’s drilling me on finance math problems…”

Xu Chen: “…”

Xu Zhiquan: “Son, is your thing wrapped up? Where are you? I’ll have Li Rui come pick you up so we can head home together after dinner.”

Xu Chen yawned again, thought for a moment, then said:

“Dad, I’m beat. I’ll just crash at the company tonight.

You guys keep going. Don’t overdo it with the drinks!”

Xu Zhiquan paused before replying over the phone:

“Alright, son. You’ve been working hard these past couple of days!

The two guys you lined up have already connected with Li Rui. I’m heading to the City Center for a meeting tomorrow afternoon, so I’ll meet them then and chat it over.”

Xu Chen smiled:

“You actually met them last time at the funeral in South River Village.”

Xu Zhiquan chuckled:

“Oh, right! That makes me feel even better about it!”

Xu Chen: “Dad, I’m off to rest. You head back soon too.

I’ll tag along with Xie Bingran tomorrow to shoot a promo video in the City Center, then come home in the afternoon…”

……

……

The Jinfeng Business Tower was just a short walk away, and Xu Chen yawned again, eager to get there and sleep.

Luckily, his father Xu Zhiquan had the foresight to set up a rest room in the office. Xu Chen had crashed there before when the school dormitory got too noisy.

Feeling thirsty, he glanced around and headed across the street to a small shop.

……

A few minutes later, Xu Chen stepped out of the shop with a bottle of mineral water.

He turned to head to the company but paused, staring in surprise.

Xie Bingran was standing at the guesthouse door again, her backpack still on her shoulders…

She glanced at her phone for a second, then tucked it into her pocket.

Bing Ge looked around and spotted Xu Chen across the street.

She hesitated, clearly surprised he hadn’t left yet.

Across the street, they locked eyes, and Xu Chen pulled out his phone to call her.

“What’s up? Why are you out again? And still with the backpack…”

Xie Bingran: “The hotel’s fully booked.”

Xu Chen: “Huh? Didn’t you book in advance?”

Xie Bingran: “We got here too late. The front desk said rooms are only held until 6 PM.”

Xu Chen frowned.

Xie Bingran had flown in at noon and taken a bus from the Provincial Capital.

After getting Xu Chen’s message, she rushed straight to the Mechanical Factory for the afternoon report to avoid delays, which meant she missed checking in…

Xu Chen said into the phone:

“Don’t worry, I’ll take you to find another hotel nearby.”

Xie Bingran: “They said a big Northern Home Expo is on, and all the hotels around here are booked solid…”

Xu Chen: “Then we’ll grab a cab and go a bit farther out. We can find a hotel or guesthouse somewhere.

If not, come with me to my dad’s office.

It’s spacious—there’s a bedroom, a reception room with a sofa…

I was planning to sleep there anyway.”

Xie Bingran hesitated across the street:

“Alright, let’s go straight there.”

Xu Chen: “Huh?”

……

……

Ten minutes later, they arrived at the base of the Jinfeng Business Tower.

They took the elevator to the 8th floor, where the hallway lights were on, but the place was deserted.

The 8th floor housed a few other small companies, but in a county town like this in 2006, nobody stuck around for overtime.

The past couple of days, Xu Zhiquan and Fang Jun had worked late on plans, but that was an exception.

Xu Chen entered the code to unlock the door and flipped on the office lights.

“Take a look around!”

Xu Chen said with a smile.

Xie Bingran, backpack still on, glanced around the room and studied the signs on the wall behind the reception desk.

Xu Chen explained:

“Chenxin Nurseries is my dad’s tree nursery company. Li Rui stays in the factory dorm there.

“Chenfeng Technology is our new venture for electric vehicles. The Chenfeng Ice Power you’re endorsing comes from them…

“And if things go well with the Mechanical Factory you visited today, it’ll become part of Chenfeng Technology too.

“East Morning Star Advertising is a side company I set up. We’ll go through them for any ads we need you to shoot…”

Xie Bingran looked indifferent and said quietly:

“So this is the company you and Fang Jun traveled for, and ended up sharing a hotel?”

“??”

Xu Chen froze…

Where did that come from?

How did she know all that?

……

Xu Chen showed Xie Bingran around the office quickly.

They checked out the rest room at the back—a cozy bedroom.

Xu Chen explained:

“I’ve slept here for days. The sheets are still the same.

“You can take the reception room. The sofa there is big and comfy!”

Xie Bingran: “Oh.”

Xu Chen: “Hang on, I think there’s a thin blanket around. I’ll grab one for you.”

He went into the room, opened the cabinet, and rummaged around until he found a light-colored printed thin blanket.

The weather was warm these days, so a thin blanket was all anyone needed at night without the AC.

“It’s new and clean.”

Xie Bingran looked at it but didn’t take it.

“I don’t like this color.”

Xu Chen: “…”

Xie Bingran glanced at the bed and pointed to the dark gray thin blanket on it:

“I’ll use that one.”

Without waiting for discussion, she wrapped herself in the blanket Xu Chen had used and headed out with it.

“…”

The office didn’t have a shower, so they just freshened up quickly and got ready to rest.

Xu Chen peeked into the reception room.

The large leather sofa looked plenty comfortable. Xie Bingran had spread out the blanket and was about to lie down.

“Goodnight, Bing Ge.”

“Goodnight…”

……

Xu Chen was so tired he hit the bed and fell asleep instantly.

In the reception room, Xie Bingran settled in, then stepped out to double-check the outer door was locked before returning.

She glanced toward the rest room down the hall, then turned back to the spacious reception room.

She switched off all the glowing lights and pulled open the window blinds.

Outside, the moon hung large in the night sky.

Moonlight streamed through the window, spilling onto the sofa behind her.

She lay down on the sofa, curling up and pulling the gray thin blanket over herself.

In the moonlight, Xie Bingran blinked her wide eyes.

She drew the blanket closer to her nose, memorizing Xu Chen’s scent on it.

Like a little dog.

……