Chapter 39: Dating

Zong Wei’s plan was sharp; the next day at work, he handed in his resignation.

Once the resignation was submitted, it went straight into Fang Huaiyue’s hands.

Following company procedure, Fang Huaiyue arranged a meeting with him, but after a brief talk, he didn’t say much and just sent him off to wait for further notice, mentioning only that once approved, he could complete the departure procedures with HR.

Zong Wei scrutinized his expression carefully.

Seeing no unusual signs, he breathed a sigh of relief and cautiously left the meeting room.

Fang Huaiyue squinted slightly at the relaxed figure as he exited the room, then headed straight to the President’s Office.

“Zong Wei is preparing to resign,” Fang Huaiyue reported the latest developments with a slight bow.

“And the secretary Li Changmin, whom you had me approach about He Xing, also responded last night.”

“Oh?” He Yu raised an eyebrow.

He Xing had often thrown obstacles their way before, and Li Changmin was his most capable and shrewd subordinate, naturally privy to the most information.

He Yu had asked Fang Huaiyue to use Li Changmin as the breakthrough point, but Li Changmin had been unresponsive until now—suddenly, his attitude had softened.

“Li Changmin said he has He Xing’s financial records from over the years, but he has a condition…” Fang Huaiyue said.

“What condition?”

“He wants my position,” Fang Huaiyue said bluntly.

“He was refused,” He Yu narrowed his eyes.

“Right now, we’re the ones negotiating terms with him. He has no other options.”

Fang Huaiyue looked puzzled, “Then what about the records he holds…?”

He Yu replied, “Have someone investigate Li Changmin. After working with He Xing for so many years, there’s no way he’s clean. Once we find something, send a copy of the evidence to his home. He’ll know what to do.”

“Yes, understood.” Fang Huaiyue nodded.

“What about Zong Wei?”

“Let HR process it, but don’t rush it,” He Yu instructed.

Fang Huaiyue caught on immediately.

After finishing his report, he left to begin handling matters.

Meanwhile, He Yu found himself distracted more often than usual since his birthday.

He pulled up a folder from the encrypted files on his computer.

Inside were just a few photos—all of the same person.

Opening the photos full screen, He Yu browsed through each one.

The screen displayed various images of Xie Xiaobao, mostly screenshots from his livestreams.

Some were clear, others just blurry outlines… all saved by He Yu after seeing them.

He transferred the latest photos from his phone to the computer, added them to the folder, then thoroughly cleared all traces from the desktop before finally standing and walking to the window.

Standing before the bright floor-to-ceiling window, the sunlight warmed He Yu’s shoulders.

He squinted slightly and took out his phone to call Xie Xiaobao.

The weather today was nice—perfect for meeting someone for dinner.

Xie Xiaobao was livestreaming.

After a series of hectic events, he hadn’t streamed for a while, and many fans on Weibo were clamoring for updates.

So after He Yu’s birthday, Xie Xiaobao had tidied up and returned to his own home.

The livestream was still about crafting, but this time it was rushed and unprepared.

To make up for the wait, fans voted on what he should make.

The fans were ecstatic, throwing all sorts of wild requests in the voting comments.

Xie Xiaobao scrolled through them, amazed at their creativity.

Luckily, the most liked and popular comment was to make a large Orange Bao.

That wasn’t too difficult.

Xie Xiaobao rummaged through his materials and decided on wool felt.

Wool felt crafting was time-consuming and not really suited for livestreaming, but since Xie Xiaobao worked quickly, he could manage a smaller size in time.

When He Yu’s call came, Xie Xiaobao had just started on Orange Bao’s head.

The orange wool was formed into a ball and placed on a foam stand.

Xie Xiaobao held a needle in his right hand, swiftly stabbing the wool.

His expression was focused, occasionally glancing at the live chat to interact.

The phone rang for quite some time, the barrage of comments nearly flooding the screen before he finally noticed.

[No way, am I seeing things??]

[President He’s call!!! Bao, snap out of it!!]

[Suddenly excited.jpg, this can’t just be my imagination XD]

The chat exploded with excitement.

Only then did Xie Xiaobao come to his senses and answered the call.

“Busy?” He Yu’s voice sounded especially gentle.

Xie Xiaobao’s ears heated up.

He rubbed them and softly said he was livestreaming.

He Yu paused and said, “Am I disturbing you? If it’s inconvenient, I can call back later.”

“No, it’s fine.”

Covering the phone’s mouthpiece with his hand, Xie Xiaobao told the fans he was taking a call and then turned away from the study.

[Don’t leave! We won’t eavesdrop!]

[They’re definitely talking behind our backs, so let’s cut them some slack.]

[I don’t care, they’re obviously having a secret romance! Don’t wake me up if they are!!]

The chat buzzed with excitement while Xie Xiaobao hid in the room’s quiet corner.

“Phew… I’m out now, can talk,” Xie Xiaobao scratched his cheek and spoke to He Yu on the phone.

He Yu chuckled lowly, the deep, husky laugh coming through the receiver.

Xie Xiaobao pinched his ear again, stammering, “What are you laughing at?”

“Nothing,” He Yu reined in his laughter but kept the gentle smile in his voice.

“Just think you’re really cute.”

Xie Xiaobao’s ears flushed even hotter.

He fidgeted shyly and could only respond with a soft “Oh.”

Sensing his embarrassment, He Yu kindly didn’t tease him further and moved on to the main point.

“It’s nothing serious. I just want to invite you out to eat. I really liked the birthday gift.”

“Oh… okay,” Xie Xiaobao puffed his cheeks.

“No need to be so polite.”

He Yu smiled, “Then let’s just eat. The weather’s nice today.”

“Ah?” Xie Xiaobao was momentarily stunned but still agreed.

“O-okay, when?”

“How about six o’clock?” He Yu considered the timing.

Xie Xiaobao was still livestreaming; after finishing and factoring in travel time, six would be just right.

“That works.” Xie Xiaobao calculated the livestream would last just over an hour, so the timing was fine.

The livestream was still on.

They chatted for a bit more, then Xie Xiaobao hung up and hurried back to the study to continue streaming.

The chat room was lively, but when Xie Xiaobao sat back down, the comments suddenly froze oddly.

Xie Xiaobao smiled at the camera.

“Sorry, let’s continue.”

Once he hit the pause button, the chat burst back to life.

[I bet a cucumber his face is red! It’s definitely not the lighting.]

[I’ll add a banana, his eyes are watery too!]

[…]

Fans kept adding playful bets, while Xie Xiaobao focused on his crafting.

Wool felt was an incredibly patience-demanding skill.

After finishing the head, he moved on to the body.

His hands worked quickly, and after a burst of rapid stabbing, the shape gradually took form.

Next, he made the four limbs, tail, and triangular cat ears, assembling the parts together before starting to add the eyes and decorative patterns.

He crafted the cat in his own image: golden-yellow eyes, soft light orange fur all over, a lighter belly, and darker ringed patterns on the back and limbs.

After carefully dotting the fur patterns, Xie Xiaobao placed the wool felt cat on the workbench and spun it around, inspecting it thoroughly before sighing softly and lifting it up to the camera.

“Done.”

The chat, sugar-rushed from the excitement, finally caught on to the main event.

[My wool felt is still just a lump…]

[I just chatted a bit and he finished! Stunned.jpg]

[How about the streamer makes another? I didn’t get to see!]

Xie Xiaobao attached the keychain to the wool felt cat and shook it in front of the camera, smiling.

“I have plans tonight, so I’ll make a bigger one next time for a giveaway.”

[Wait!!!!! What plans tonight?]

[Obviously a date with President He, teehee.]

[Let’s do the keychain giveaway now!!! Bao’s skills are godlike, it looks just like Orange Bao!]

Xie Xiaobao chuckled but didn’t answer.

He said goodbye to everyone and ended the stream.

He went back to his room, changed into another outfit, checked himself in the mirror, spritzed some gel into his hair, tousled it a bit, and finally satisfied, packed his bag and prepared to go out.

Before leaving, he called He Yu to confirm the place.

“Finished streaming?” He Yu was also about to leave work, walking toward the elevator as he spoke.

“Yeah, all done. Where are we going for dinner?”

He Yu chuckled lightly and said, “I’ll come pick you up. Wait for me at home.”