Self-Inflicted Breakdown

Music was echoing in the classroom at this moment. The twilight of the evening, accompanied by the drifting curtains, dyed the walls orange.

“Stop.” With this voice, the music came to an abrupt halt. The girl sitting on the chair, holding drumsticks, pondered and said, “I think there were a few wrong notes just now. How about we start over?”

To prepare for the upcoming concert performance, the members of the Light Music Club were practicing their instruments intensively. Even Tang Keke was among them, the usually lazy girl holding an automatic guitar and following along.

“Sorry, I’m the one holding everyone back,” Taozi said. She was the last to join the Light Music Club and had no prior musical foundation. On top of that, she had limited personal time, so she could only get familiar with the instruments during club activities.

“It’s fine, take your time,” Bai Yuyou comforted her. “I didn’t know how to play either at first.”

“Mm, okay.”

Taozi then glanced around the activity room and asked, “Is Brother Ye not coming today? He seems to have been busy lately. I haven’t even seen him at the infirmary.”

“Brother’s super busy now! Sister Chen Qin is pregnant, so he has to take over the company’s affairs. With such a big corporation, he’s completely turned into a workaholic,” Tang Keke said.

“I see.” Taozi nodded. That explained it.

Back when Ye Shuang was around, he would also guide everyone on their instruments during club activities. Now that he wasn’t here, it felt like something was missing.

“After graduation, I can help Ye Shuang,” Bai Yuyou said softly. Her field of study happened to be something she could use to assist him.

“Would Brother Ye be happy if he knew that?”

“I don’t know…” Bai Yuyou wasn’t sure what she could do to make Ye Shuang happy. A lot of the time, she felt like she couldn’t help much and had always been relying on him.

That was why Yuyou had been working hard, making small progress every day, hoping that one day she could be of use to him.

“Alright, let’s keep practicing. We need to give it our all for the concert so we don’t embarrass ourselves,” Zhixiao said with a smile.

“How about a break?”

“Keke, you’ve got it the easiest—you never hit a wrong note.”

“Hehe.”

“How about one more song, then we’ll have some tea and snacks and take a break?”

“Oh yeah!”

The Light Music Club, which usually spent after-school time slacking off with tea, seemed to have summoned a bit of motivation.

…

…

On the other side, Ye Shuang had just signed a few contracts in the conference room. It was already past five, but he showed no sign of leaving; instead, he continued to bury himself in work. Watching this scene, Kou Kou couldn’t help but sigh to herself.

Had Mr. Ye changed? Normally, he’d clock out by this time.

Ye Shuang glanced at his watch and, noticing the time, stretched lazily. “Oh, it’s already past five? Time to clock out!”

Kou Kou: “…”

Well, some things never change.

But at the same time, having worked alongside both Ye Shuang and Chen Qin, Kou Kou noticed that Ye Shuang handled things much faster than Chen Qin. Chen Qin would agonize over certain proposals, but Ye Shuang could make quick decisions and pinpoint the problems within them.

Maybe President Chen wasn’t actually as capable as President Ye?

Kou Kou couldn’t help but think so. And with the help of those two assistants, Ye Shuang was like a tiger with wings added to its might.

“Kou Kou, you should head back and rest too. Thanks for sticking with me all day today,” Ye Shuang said.

“Huh? Hardly—it’s no trouble at all,” Kou Kou replied hastily.

“Here, take this red envelope as a token. You might need to help me keep an eye on Little Ye during this time.” Ye Shuang pulled an envelope from his drawer and handed it to Kou Kou.

“Oh, I really can’t accept this.”

“It’s just a little good-luck gift. Take it.” Ye Shuang didn’t want to argue about it, and Kou Kou awkwardly accepted it, feeling even more admiration for him.

She even started toying with the idea of working for Ye Shuang for the rest of her life.

After all, who wouldn’t like a boss like this? Going out for collaborations meant eating good food, working without overtime, and getting a few perks here and there.

Most importantly, he treated her with respect.

After finishing his work, Ye Shuang headed to Chen Qin’s office, where Little Ye was also staying. As he pushed open the door, he found Chen Qin lying on the sofa wearing a steam eye mask, while Little Ye, in a smaller version of the mask, lay beside her.

The sight of one big and one small figure was slightly amusing.

“Ah Ye, you’re here?” Chen Qin said, pulling off her eye mask when she heard the footsteps. Seeing Ye Shuang, she stood up and trotted over.

“Take it easy,” Ye Shuang said.

“It’s not that serious,” Chen Qin replied. “Tired today? Want me to give you a shoulder rub?”

“What’s there to be tired about? Isn’t this what you go through every day? If anything, I should be the one rubbing your shoulders, right?” Ye Shuang’s casual words made Chen Qin blush uncontrollably. “Where would you rub?”

“…”

“Dad, are you done with work?” Little Ye asked, taking off his eye mask.

“Yeah, I’m done. Were you getting bored waiting?”

“Not at all. I had a great time with Mom,” Little Ye said. “I wish it could always be this happy. It’s been a long time since it was.”

“Is that so?” Ye Shuang just patted Little Ye’s head and then turned to Chen Qin.

“Let’s go. It’s about time to head home.”

“Mm, okay. What’s for dinner tonight?” Chen Qin nodded.

“There’s still plenty of ingredients in the fridge.” Ye Shuang noticed Chen Qin picking up her laptop from the table and couldn’t help asking, “Are you still planning to work? What’s the laptop for? I have all the files on my computer.”

Chen Qin looked down at the laptop, hugged it a little tighter, and said sheepishly, “Hehe, force of habit.”

“Alright, I won’t take it.” Under Ye Shuang’s pointed gaze, Chen Qin stuck out her tongue and set the laptop aside, acting like she was being obedient.

“Let’s go.”

“Mm.”

…

In the car on the way home, Chen Qin asked how Ye Shuang’s collaboration talks had gone that day.

“Pretty much done. The contracts are all signed, except for the Meirong deal with Ruan Sheng,” Ye Shuang said slowly. “He seems to have a bit of a grudge against me.”

“Huh? A grudge?” Chen Qin was a little surprised. There shouldn’t have been any conflict between them.

“Yeah,” Ye Shuang said simply. “It seems he still sees me as his love rival.”

Chen Qin wasn’t dense. Once Ye Shuang said that, she immediately caught on. “Ah Ye, there’s nothing going on between him and me. He’s just an ordinary friend. We haven’t even kept in touch much since I came back from abroad.”

“Silly, it’s not that I don’t trust you.” Ye Shuang was amused by Chen Qin’s flustered explanation. He really hadn’t been bothered by this.

That guy named Ruan Qi had just wound himself up for no reason.

“Oh, by the way, he mentioned he wanted to get in touch with you,” Ye Shuang added.