A Good-for-Nothing

120. My Heart Aches (2)

Translator: Dragon Rider

He Zheng looked at Li Zong. Li Zong’s lips clamped tightly together, his face still expressionless, but He Zheng could feel that he was really unhappy. He Zheng was a shade perplexed but also found this fairly sweet. Eventually, he promised meekly, “Okay, I get it. I’ll be more careful.”

It was after hearing this that Li Zong’s face softened a little.

“I hope you’ll keep your word,” said Li Zong, petting He Zheng’s hair.

“Humph, I made you a promise. Of course I’ll keep it!” huffed He Zheng in annoyance. He was just about to lose his temper when someone gave him a gentle kiss, and with that he, like a deflated balloon, became obedient and adorable.

Li Zong’s kiss was so comfortable that He Zheng involuntarily indulged himself in it. Added to this the marathon sex they had the night before… An intoxicated look gradually appeared in He Zheng’s eyes. Had he not seen his wounded finger which reminded him of the serious matter, he might really forget what he had intended to do.

With great difficulty, he parted his lips with Li Zong’s, his eyes raking Li Zong’s handsome face back and forth. He didn’t dare look at Li Zong’s lips which had reddened due to his vigorous kiss. Subduing his desire, He Zheng started talking business in a husky voice. “Just now the Shadow Sword was a little strange.”

He Zheng told him what had happened a while ago. Li Zong uttered “Uh”. He also had no idea why a small portion of his primordial spirit would repel the Shadow Sword, but he remembered that the last time they’d been in the training ground, when he’d touched the Shadow Sword, it’d also resisted violently.

“I don’t have the answer to this for the moment. I need to do some investigating before I can tell you.”

He Zheng was surprised that Li Zong didn’t know either, but this was not really a big deal. “It’s okay. I was just wondering. Now that you also don’t know, let’s just drop this. It’s not that the answer is of great importance.”

Li Zong made no further remarks.

After making out with Li Zong for a little while longer, He Zheng recalled Chen Qianlin and squinted, gazing at Li Zong, something dangerous glinting in his eyes. “Incidentally, I saw Chen Qianlin walking out of your office.”

“You ran into him?”

He Zheng nodded and then recalled the gossip Zu Zhichong or somebody else had told him about, which said that Chen Qianlin seemed to have a thing for Li Zong.

“What was it that Chen Qianlin wanted to see you about? He squinted his eyes to look at Li Zong. “It’s said that he has dishonorable intentions towards you!”

“You jealous brat,” Li Zong smiled, giving him a pinch on the cheek. He really wanted to read He Zheng’s mind to find out what he had in there. “He just offered to stand me a meal. I didn’t accept.”

“Of course you cannot accept. Who does he think he is?!” He Zheng snorted. He knew very well that Li Zong didn’t have any feelings for Chen Qianlin. Even if he did, in no circumstances would He Zheng let anything happen between them. ‘This guy is mine now!’

He Zheng got off the desk, flicked a glance at the clock on the wall and saw that it was almost half past eleven.

“You want to go and grab a bite?”

Li Zong gave a nod and then took him out of the office.

It seemed that Li Zong had made a reservation beforehand. The two of them had just entered the restaurant when a waiter came and led them to their private room. Fate is probably the most curious thing in the world.

Of course, when fate is in a bad mood, it can be very mean.

As soon as they walked into the private room and sat down, while the door was still open, they saw Zu Zhichong show up behind the waiter, and Tun Shanhai was following in his wake. Both of the two were yawning repeatedly. Zu Zhichong, who was relatively sharp-eyed, instantly glimpsed He Zheng and Li Zong who were sitting in the private room.

“Chief! You are also here for lunch?” Zu Zhichong motioned to the waiter with a smile and then, in a quite natural manner, walked up to the table with the intention to scrounge a free meal from them.

As the saying goes, ‘A smiling face never gets slapped.’ Li Zong had the waiter bring another two dining set-ups. Tun Shanhai didn’t say anything, sipping at the plum tea that he’d just served himself.

“I’m so lucky to chance upon you when you’re giving Cutie a treat, Chief.”

“Try this.” Li Zong pushed a cup of plum tea to the front of He Zheng. “Their signature drink.”

He Zheng picked it up and took a sip. It’d probably been made with fresh plums, which was why it tasted very refreshing. He Zheng drank the cup of tea in one gulp. As if having a competition, he and Tun Shanhai drank one cup after another and soon finished the pot of plum tea.

As Zu Zhichong saw He Zheng’s leisurely bearing, his heart inexplicably brimmed over with envy.

“How’s your sleep last night, Cutie?”

He Zheng had finished more than half of the pot of tea. Li Zong put away his cup. After hearing Zu Zhichong’s question, he straightened himself and gave a hiccup.

“Not bad.” He flicked a glance at Li Zong. In fact, his sleep had been fine during the latter half of last night, but the first half of last night had been utterly sleepless.

Zu Zhichong’s face instantly fell distressed. “I envy you so much. At least you get to have some sleep.”

He gave a big yawn and continued, “I could use some sleep as well, but I have work to do. If I don’t work, I won’t get paid; if I don’t get paid, I won’t have enough money to buy equipment. It’s boring, so boring.”

He Zheng was amused. “Your family’s pretty rich. How did you come to end up like this?”

On hearing this, Tun Shanhai, who had been acting unapproachably all along, finally made a remark. “Him? His salary isn’t even enough to cover the fines. He’s the only one in SMB who goes to work yet has to pay fines instead of getting paid, which is so pathetic.”

He Zheng failed to refrain from laughing.

Zu Zhichong, face full of dejection, mumbled something in a muffled voice.

Soon the dishes were served. Because of the two unexpected guests, Li Zong had ordered another few courses. However, before He Zheng could get a piece of any of the dishes, Zu Zhichong and Tun Shanhai polished off all of them, cups and trays scattered around in disorder on the table.

He Zheng, chopsticks poised, twisted his head aside and asked Li Zong, “When’s the last time they had a meal?”

Li Zong, who hadn’t even touched his chopsticks, picked up his teacup and took a sip, leisurely and unhurried.

As if having precisely calculated the time, the waiter served some other dishes immediately after the previous ones were finished. Zu Zhichong was consumed with annoyance as his eye fell on these newly served dishes, which anybody could tell at a glance were of far higher quality than the first batch of courses.

Li Zong gracefully handed a pair of chopsticks to He Zheng and said, “Dig in.”

Hungry, He Zheng unhesitatingly started eating. Zu Zhichong hiccuping complained to Tun Shanhai who was gnawing a fish bone, “You see, I can tell at a glance that this is our Chief’s premeditated trick.”

Tun Shanhai finished the last bit of meat on the fish bone with a roll of his tongue, tossed the whole fish bone into his mouth and started chewing on it, babbling, “In the normal course of events Chief wouldn’t even let you sit down beside him, so stop complaining.”

Feeling that he’d got a point, Zu Zhichong gave a smirk.

But these exquisite dishes that He Zheng and Li Zong were enjoying still made him feel a trifle envious, so after giving another belch, he forced himself into eating again.