Good Night, Liang Xiao

…No way.

 The expression on Ye Ji’an’s face did not change. Retracting his hand, he said sincerely, “Okay, I will take note.”

Liang Xiao put down the cigarette holder. With a light, bitterly minty scent on his body, he nodded. 

“I’ll listen to Senior’s words about not slacking. I’ll head back now.”

He spoke in a very obedient tone, seeming to have taken Ye Ji’an’s previous words to heart. 

Ye Ji’an was neither someone in a particularly high position, nor was he someone highly experienced. 

In the past few years, he had struggled a lot, having to take on heavy responsibility as a manager while also maintaining his own drive to learn.

Sometimes, he felt that the only difference between him and ordinary employees was his individual private office.

The truth was, in this company, making money was the only top priority. Office politics did not matter much in the face of money.

For example, Liang Xiao, who was an overseas graduate with outstanding ability, often did not truly take others seriously.

Therefore, when he followed Ye Ji’an like a child and went back to the office muttering about work-related problems under his breath, Ye Ji’an gave a colleague he bumped into a nod full of meaning. He felt inexplicably happy in his heart.

Even the dread that came from having his tattoos brought up again was eased significantly.

Am I showing off? Ye Ji’an thought to himself.

No, It was more similar to how he used to flaunt his little brother’s awards and certificates to their neighbours when he was younger.

On this day, Ye Ji’an was, as usual, busy during his lunch break.

Firstly, while most of his colleagues were still eating, he headed to another floor to find a remote bathroom and carefully observed himself and his clothing.

Standing two or three metres away from the mirror, he stared at himself until his eyes went dry, but still did not see any tattoos peeking out from under his shirt. His dress shirt was not particularly tight around him, and it was also of a thick material.

He took a few steps closer. 

Now that he was almost sticking to the mirror, he seemed to be able to see a hint of tattoos. For example, the area around his shoulder had a tint of blue underneath.

His vision seemed to be a little blurry.

Grumpily, Ye Ji’an returned to the office, grabbing Liang Xiao’s resume to read. 

Liang Xiao was a local who had been studying abroad ever since high school1Different school grades in China. High school for them corresponds to 15-16 years old. He also had a lot of experience in extracurriculars. 

After graduating from an Ivy League school with a bachelor’s degree, he worked in a venture capital firm in New York for a year and a half before coming back for further development.

 Ye Ji’an already had an impression of these details a long time ago. What he wanted to check was Liang Xiao’s age.

As expected, Liang Xiao was not old. He was seven years his junior.

Ye Ji’an remembered that when Liang Xiao was being interviewed, he had sat in as a consultant. 

That was slightly more than two months ago. Liang Xiao’s chinese2Referring to the language was mediocre, but he spoke in a clear and well-organised manner. 

His confidence and the way he carried himself, comfortable in his own skin, left Ye Ji’an with a deep impression.

In the days that followed, Liang Xiao would always quietly work and never looked for trouble. He did not request any vacation days from Ye Ji’an either. 

As a result, interactions between the two of them were limited to discussions during meetings and debriefings after meetings. 

They did not speak much to each other even when working overtime and would only exchange polite greetings when turning off the lights.

During the few times they had a company meal together, they would also be sitting rather far apart.

The two seats on Ye Ji’an’s left and right had been fixed for a long time. Liang Xiao himself also had a group of friends crowding around him, most of them being young girls. There were also quite a few young men who were on good terms with him.

When he was unable to peel crabs, someone even stepped in to help. Ye Ji’an subconsciously glanced at him a few times, coming to the conclusion that smart and handsome guys were loved by everyone.

Looking down, the Liang Xiao in the two-inch photo seemed to return his gaze. It was almost as if his bright, glorious future was also listed down in this resume. 

On the other hand, Ye Ji’an at that age had no achievements to speak of. The seven years he had on Liang Xiao did not amount to anything. 

Ye Ji’an shut the laptop.

Well, well, he said to himself. Today, you want to die too.

He then put his head on the table, getting a quick fifteen-minute nap in before continuing with the afternoon’s work.

Ye Ji’an reported to the boss twice a month. His report this time went rather smoothly. It was just that there was a lot more work that required overtime added to his schedule.

By the time Ye Ji’an returned to the department, it was already slightly past four. He rushed to split work and assign tasks to his team. 

Thinking about the year-end bonus in his heart, he prepared himself for another late day, taking advantage of his newfound determination to smooth out some documents.

In the North, during early autumn, the days would darken rather fast. 

The wind was howling outside the layer of glass walls, and the thirty-storey buildings looked as if they were shaking slightly.

All these details went unnoticed by Ye Ji’an. He only came back to his senses when he heard a knock on the door. Looking at the time, it was already past nine o’clock.

The office was basically empty.

Only Liang Xiao stood outside his glass door.

“Please come in.” 

Ye Ji’an clicked save and rubbed his eyes.

Liang Xiao still carried some chill on his body. There was a plastic bag in his hand.

“Senior hasn’t had dinner yet, right?” 

Liang Xiao placed the bag on the table and pulled out two boxes.

“A thank you gift for that morning. Please choose a box.”

It was an instant bento from the convenience store downstairs. Sichuan-flavoured beef with peppers and American-style baked rice.

“No need,” Ye Ji’an carefully maintained a polite tone.

“Aren’t you going home yet?”

 “I don’t want to go back.” 

Liang Xiao’s reason was simple and crude.

“Pick one,” he insisted.

 Ye Ji’an thought for a while. Thinking that Liang Xiao probably preferred Western-style foods more, he chose the Sichuan-flavoured beef.

“Thank you, let’s eat together.”

“No need.” 

Liang Xiao left him with a carton of yoghurt and left by himself. 

Ye Ji’an’s scalp was a little tight—was it so easy to guess that the juice and sandwich from a couple of days ago was from him? 

He didn’t understand what Liang Xiao was thinking. 

After that day, he did not tell anyone else about his tattoos, yet he brought the topic up again today, giving Ye Ji’an a big fright… Was it possible that Liang Xiao was only mentioning it in passing?

Ye Ji’an felt that he was thinking too much and paying too much attention to something trivial, as if he was a middle-aged aunt3This is just chinese slang. Somewhat similar to the term “karen”, just without the ridiculous behaviour associated with them. 

It was better to stop thinking and eat something instead,  to take the edge off his hunger.

Raising his hand, he touched the bento and realised it was cold. Looking up, the person who had delivered food was already eating at his desk, seemingly enjoying the food. 

Ye Ji’an walked out of his office with the lunch box in his hands.

“Did you heat it up?” 

He walked up to Liang Xiao.

“No,” Liang Xiao looked up at him and put down his spoon.

“Convenience stores have microwave ovens, and we also have them. Xiao Li from the general department didn’t tell you, did he?” 

Ye Ji’an pointed to the direction of the pantry. 

“Remember to heat it up in the future. You won’t be able to eat the cheese and meat sauce otherwise.”

While speaking, Ye Ji’an picked up the box of baked rice and brought it to the pantry together with his Sichuan beef bento, Liang Xiao following behind.

“I don’t really know how to use microwave ovens.”

 “What?” 

Ye Ji’an turned around.

Liang Xiao’s eyelids twitched. Looking uncomfortable, he muttered, “I thought that this type of box would explode if I put it in the microwave.”

“It won’t, this is microwave food.” 

Ye Ji’an smiled. 

What did this person usually eat? He didn’t seem to be the type who would cook himself. What were the instant meals in America like?

Thinking about it again, Ye Ji’an recalled that the boxes were filled densely with Chinese characters. 

Liang Xiao’s life experience and work could only guarantee his English proficiency. 

During normal conversations, his speech was still on the slow side. Ye Ji’an felt that Liang Xiao struggling with the microwave was understandable.

“Select this option. Usually, ninety seconds is enough,” he taught patiently.

Liang Xiao nodded seriously.

90 seconds later, both of them picked up their steaming bentos. Ye Ji’an turned off the light in the pantry and went back to the office. 

This time, Liang Xiao took the initiative to follow, seemingly wanting to eat with him.

Ye Ji’an looked at the chair on the other side of the desk and motioned at Liang Xiao.

“Sit down.”

However, Liang Xiao did not move. 

“The matter about the tattoos, does Senior mind it a lot?”

Ye Ji’an was stunned for a moment, then immediately recovered his zen state.  

“Thank you for keeping the secret for me,” Ye Ji’an said, leaning back against the cushioned chair, smiling wearily. 

“Others would be frightened when they find out—it’s too abnormal.”

“I don’t feel that way. I think it’s beautiful.” 

Liang Xiao put down his lunch box and rested his fingertips on the table.

Wow, this time he skipped straight over the “cool” and went straight to “beautiful”. This was definitely the first time Ye Ji’an has been described in this way.

“Honestly, I regret it quite a lot,” Ye Ji’an said, looking up.

He just happened to meet Liang Xiao’s line of sight. Under the bright white lights, Liang Xiao’s thin single eyelids made him seem full of energy.4This isn’t slang as far as I know, the author just chose a very unique description 

Liang Xiao continued speaking. 

“Senior, don’t worry. I’m not someone who likes to disclose others’ secrets. I know you’ve been working hard to hide this. I seem to recall you wearing long sleeves even in the heat of August?”

“Well, it’s not that bad.”

Liang Xiao spoke again, “I also want to get a tattoo.” 

Sighing, he continued, “But I haven’t thought about the content.”

“You’d better think it through carefully, or you’ll end up wanting to get rid of it every day.” 

Ye Ji’an didn’t want to see the young man make the same rudimentary mistakes as himself.

“Just like me now.”

 Liang Xiao raised his eyebrows.

 “I’m going to remove part of it during my annual leave,” Ye Ji’an said.

“Won’t  it be very painful? With such a large area, you won’t be able to guarantee that all the tattoos will come off cleanly. If not done well, accidents may occur.”

Frowning and pursing his lips, Liang Xiao sifted through his memory.

“I think it was last year’s news. It happened in Korea. Someone’s skin ended up rotting. The areas where the tattoo removal was done ended up swollen and there were black-yellow blisters.”

“The pus made their skin swell up to a translucent state, and the blisters would burst the moment they were touched. It looked almost like they were poisoned by an alien in a sci-fi movie.”

This description was just too real and graphic. Ye Ji’an felt chills down his spine, and felt that his current expression was probably not very good either.

“You’re right, but what you said before is also right.”

Twisting his stiff knees secretly, Ye Ji’an spoke, “It’s not a big problem from a distance, but when I took a closer look, I realised that the areas that were close to my skin indeed looked a little different.”

 Ye Ji’an wasn’t sure if he was clear in his explanation, but Liang Xiao seemed to have understood immediately.

“Then you should stop others from getting so close to you,” he said with a serious face. “Except me.”

“Sorry, I’m just kidding, please relax.” 

Liang Xiao picked up his baked rice and bowed slightly. 

“I still have some data to analyse, I’ll leave Senior to your work.”

Ye Ji’an looked at him silently, his two legs under the desk already clamped together unconsciously. 

It was a nervous tic—for example, whenever the president of his company mentioned his department in a vague tone during meetings, he would display such behaviour.

Why did this brat always give off the same pressure as his boss? He was obviously polite. Sometimes, he was so polite, it was almost as if he was following a manual for good behaviour.

Ye Ji’an felt that he was too cowardly. Even if the whole company knew about how many metal bands he had tattooed on his body, so what?

Alright, so he would want to die more.

“Okay, you got this, don’t go home too late,” Ye Ji’an encouraged Liang Xiao, maintaining the aura of a dignified superior.

Liang Xiao had just reached the doorway. Hearing these words, he turned around and asked, “By the way, how does Senior usually settle your year-end physical examination?”

“I’ll go to the hospital near my home by myself, then bring the medical report back for submission.”

“I want to go with Senior.”

“With me?”

“Because I also have a secret that will be discovered by others if I go for the physical examination. But if Senior knows my secret, then you won’t be so afraid of me anymore, right?”

Leaving behind these words, Liang Xiao smiled brightly, pushed the door open and left.

TN: Liang Xiao is so smooth wth. 

Also, just a heads up that my updates for GNLX won’t be following a specific schedule (though I’ll ensure 2 chapters/week)! I tend to change the phrasing of my words 19238741023 times so I thought I might as well just publish it straight after completing the chapter to avoid wasting time since it’s always gonna sound weird to me anyways _(:3」∠)

Oh yeah, I decided to do away with the dropdowns for TWs too, cause I didn’t really notice it when I was reading the previous chapter. Felt it was better to just write it out in bold at the top :3 If you guys have any suggestions (bold+italics+caps to draw more attention?) do let me know~

1

Different school grades in China. High school for them corresponds to 15-16 years old

2

Referring to the language

3

This is just chinese slang. Somewhat similar to the term “karen”, just without the ridiculous behaviour associated with them

4

This isn’t slang as far as I know, the author just chose a very unique description