Chicken

"Off we go."

"Mm, have a safe trip."

After the three girls finished breakfast and left for school, Ye Shuang quietly watched them walk off together. He chuckled softly, then turned and went back inside to change clothes and get ready for work.

Arriving at the garage, Ye Shuang once again saw the corgi lying beside the car. It seemed to be in much better spirits—after all, Ye Shuang had been feeding it a little something every day for the past few days.

"Wangcai, don't hang around the garage if there's nothing going on. There's nothing here for you," Ye Shuang said as he opened the car door. The corgi was much calmer around this person who often fed it, even losing its initial wariness.

"Here, have this to eat."

Ye Shuang rummaged through Bai Yuyou's snack bag again and finally pulled out a large piece of jerky.

The corgi took it in its mouth and scurried off to a corner to eat.

Ye Shuang didn't mind. He opened the car door and got in.

"Morning." The short-haired girl in the passenger seat greeted him.

"Morning."

Ye Shuang buckled his seatbelt, but the next second he froze. He turned his head towards the passenger seat in disbelief, only to find An Shiyu already sitting there, legs slightly crossed, playing on her phone.

Ye Shuang: "..."

"Hm?"

"When did you get in?" Ye Shuang asked, almost dumbfounded.

Upon hearing this, An Shiyu simply said,

"Teleportation. Pretty amazing, right?"

"..."

Never mind, no point dwelling on it.

Ye Shuang drove the car out of the garage and then asked, "Why aren't you going to the academy? Haven't you gotten tired of this assistant game these past few days?"

"That's a rude way to put it. I work diligently and conscientiously every single day," An Shiyu said.

Diligently and conscientiously...

Thinking about how An Shiyu spent most of her time playing games, Ye Shuang wasn't sure if that counted as a different kind of hard work.

...

Arriving at the company, Ye Shuang handled work as usual, but just before noon, he received a voice message from Chen Qin—

"Ye, Ye, want to get some exercise this afternoon?"

"What kind of exercise?" Ye Shuang replied after seeing the message.

Chen Qin: "Hehe, the gym, of course."

The group's building had several floors dedicated to leisure areas, one of which was a gym. The gym was further divided into two types based on employee rank: one for regular staff and one for senior management.

Ye Shuang initially wanted to refuse, but considering today's workload wasn't heavy, he eventually agreed.

Hearing they were going to exercise, An Shiyu very decisively settled in to play games in the office.

In the afternoon, Ye Shuang arrived at the gym.

He changed into a clean t-shirt and shorts. Even though it was nearly winter, the constant-temperature central air conditioning meant he didn't have to worry about catching a cold.

He swiped his card and entered the gym, quickly spotting Chen Qin—

She was dressed lightly too, wearing a cropped tank top and yoga pants, seemingly stretching at the moment.

"Ye." Seeing Ye Shuang, Chen Qin couldn't help but smile. "Over here."

"Is your gym always this empty?"

Ye Shuang asked, looking around. Although there seemed to be plenty of equipment, besides him and Chen Qin, there didn't appear to be anyone else.

"At this time, the executives won't be here," Chen Qin said with a smile. Then she linked her arm with Ye Shuang's, pressing her warmth against him.

"Kiss me."

"There are cameras here."

"It's fine, I turned them off."

Ye Shuang gave her a light kiss. Chen Qin's face immediately flushed red.

Perhaps afraid Ye Shuang would attack the slimes, she hopped away like a rabbit and walked over to a nearby exercise machine to start her workout. "Alright, let's start exercising!"

Chen Qin used the squat machine. After resting the pad on her shoulders, she began doing squats.

Because of the particular angle, Ye Shuang could hardly tear his eyes away from that perfectly round peach.

Ahem, isn't that a bit against the rules?

"I'll go for a run," Ye Shuang said, walking over to a treadmill to do some light jogging.

After running for a few minutes, Chen Qin spoke up, "Ye—"

"Hm?"

"Are you free on Christmas?" she asked.

Christmas?

Ye Shuang thought for a moment, then said, "Yeah, I should be free. Why?"

"Just reserving some time. Come with me to Daming Square on Christmas, okay?" Chen Qin smiled.

"That's not a problem at all," Ye Shuang agreed with a nod.

After a while, Chen Qin finished several sets of squats and walked over to Ye Shuang's treadmill. "Ye, I'm a bit tired."

"Then rest for a bit," Ye Shuang said.

"Look, I'm all sweaty," Chen Qin said, pulling down the neckline of her shirt. The abyss almost sucked Ye Shuang's eyes right in.

"Hehe." Chen Qin mischievously pulled it back up. Propping her cheek with one hand on the treadmill's handlebar, she smiled and said,

"Was it nice?"

"You did that on purpose," Ye Shuang said helplessly.

"Yep, totally on purpose," Chen Qin said, then turned and walked away with light steps.

After about an hour or so of exercise, it was time to wrap up. It wasn't break time anyway; they needed to relax a bit but then get back to work.

After showering separately, the two of them, wearing white bathrobes, went to the dedicated massage area and lay face down on the beds.

Behind them were two masseurs, skillfully helping them relax their muscles.

"Your group really has everything, doesn't it? Even five or six masseurs," Ye Shuang couldn't help but remark.

"You're a vice president too, you know. Don't call it 'your group'," Chen Qin said. She was wearing a face mask, enjoying the masseur's shoulder rub, but her tone was faintly melancholic.

"It seems you don't see this place as your own."

"I originally just came to be a temporary worker," Ye Shuang said.

Chen Qin seemed quiet for a moment, then asked the masseur to leave before speaking. "Ye, you still want to be a school doctor after all, don't you?"

"Although I like that job too, it's only until Yuyou graduates," Ye Shuang said. Once Yuyou graduated, there would be no need for him to continue working as a school doctor.

"So, how do you plan to handle things with Yuyou?" Chen Qin suddenly asked.

Ye Shuang fell silent for a moment.

"Actually, my dad talked to me about it," Chen Qin said. "..."

"If Yuyou is willing..."

Chen Qin didn't finish. With the face mask on, her expression was unreadable. She seemed to smile silently.

"Actually... being happy is what matters."

Ye Shuang looked at her. "What do you think?"

"I don't know..." Chen Qin said softly. "I'm scared. Scared that if I refuse, I won't get another chance."

"I... don't seem to have much confidence."

"Even after losing your memory, I don't feel like Ye would truly fall in love with me, enough to abandon everything for me."

Her voice was strained. "Actually, I'm just a coward who's afraid of getting hurt."