Ho Qijun smiled, “You’re understanding! So… do you want to make this official?”
“…” Lin Wei suddenly fell silent.
He realized he had spoken too hastily.
Lin Wei originally thought Ho Qijun would get angry, but to his surprise, Ho Qijun just let out a gentle sigh and didn’t press further, as if he wasn’t surprised by Lin Wei’s silence.
“What kind of look is that?” Ho Qijun turned to him. “I’m not as childish as you think!”
It was unrealistic to expect Lin Wei to meet all his wishes. Perhaps Lin Wei liked him enough to give him everything else, but when it came to trying to be together, it had nothing to do with trust or feelings; Ho Qijun understood why Lin Wei was hesitating.
He could certainly empathize and no longer demand unreasonable answers from Lin Wei, not wanting him to feel burdened because of him.
The difference between love and indifference was vividly highlighted at that moment, yet the parties involved remained unaware, simply taking for granted that Lin Wei’s surprised gaze was just some overreaction.
“I don’t think you’re childish,” Lin Wei replied with a smile. “It’s just rare to see you be so patient with someone else; it caught me off guard.”
“You’re not someone else!” Ho Qijun muttered under his breath, making sure Lin Wei didn’t hear.
As they left the restaurant, Lin Wei glanced at the time and asked, “Do you still need to go back to the company?”
Ho Qijun actually wanted to spend more time with him; the atmosphere between them was just right compared to yesterday. But he had just resolved to clear away obstacles, and now, appearing distracted would be somewhat embarrassing.
When he hesitated to answer, Lin Wei noticed what he was thinking and said, “I have nothing to do this afternoon; if you want to go back to the company, I can accompany you?”
“…Okay.” Ho Qijun’s ears turned red as he consented without hesitation.
The entire afternoon, the two spent slowly passing time in Ho Qijun’s office. Lin Wei recounted what Yu Yu had said when he invited him out today—Old Madam Ho had learned about the change in stock rights and realized her son wanted to undermine her authority, so she planned to pressure Ho Qijun during the year-end shareholders’ meeting.
With Ho Qijun’s current shareholding exceeding her expectations, achieving her goal would require some management errors on Ho Qijun’s side. Being her own son, she wouldn’t go too far, so she contacted Yu Yu to hint at coordinating his actions carefully.
This scenario didn’t exist in the original plot, as Old Madam Ho had always managed to control Ho Qijun without resistance. However, with Lin Wei’s intervention, the situation was entirely different.
“She really seems to be regressing!” Ho Qijun didn’t express too many thoughts on this; he wasn’t so naive as to only realize what his mother was like in his twenties.
But after thinking for a moment, he laughed: “What if she regrets treating Xiao Qing that way when she finds out I’m with you at the end?”
Lin Wei shook his head: “People do tend to find comfort in comparisons and retreat because of them. However, I think she would prefer to view this surprise as part of your rebellion against her. She knows you well enough not to believe you would truly like the same sex.”
Ho Qijun’s laughter faded as he listened: “Don’t tell me you think so too?”
Lin Wei didn’t mind his sudden change in expression and simply smiled: “Unfortunately, I know you better than she does. For something like this, it shouldn’t cost you your innocence.”
Ho Qijun was speechless; it made it sound as if he was on the verge of selling himself!
Bah bah bah!
He disliked the analogy in his mind, but another question from Fang Yueyue resurfaced. It indeed seemed he and Lin Wei lacked a mutual understanding regarding their position in their relationship. But before they reached that stage, rashly asking about it might lead Lin Wei to misunderstand his eagerness.
He figured it was best to leave it for now; the atmosphere between them was finally not so difficult to articulate, and he didn’t want to make things uncomfortable for himself.
Lin Wei had no idea what messy thoughts were running through Ho Qijun’s head as he earnestly read through the documents. Otherwise, he would have teased him a bit.
Even though he sometimes knew he shouldn’t make flirtatious jokes with Ho Qijun, adding fuel to the fire of their relationship, Lin Wei would rather admit that his self-control was far from perfect; there were moments when he couldn’t help himself.
That evening, as they were about to drive directly into Lin Wei’s garage, they suddenly sensed something was off. The lights in the living room on the first floor of Ho Qijun’s house were on.
After exchanging glances, Lin Wei raised an eyebrow and said, “The only person who can come and go freely in your house, besides me, should be Old Madam Ho.”
It seemed like a final concerned check before striking down on her precious son. If Ho Qijun could soften a bit, perhaps the coming storm could dissipate.
“You go ahead and get out; I’ll park and come find you,” Lin Wei said calmly.
Ho Qijun hesitated, his hand pausing on the seatbelt: “You better not go over; I don’t want her to mistreat you by mistake.”
Lin Wei laughed: “I don’t have a criminal record with her, and she still doesn’t know her son has been sleeping in my bed these past few days. You don’t need to be nervous on my behalf.”
“Did you forget about giving me those shares?” The moment Ho Qijun heard Lin Wei describe their relationship that way, he felt his face heat up, and he snapped: “It’s just strange if you openly oppose her while standing on my side, and she behaves nicely towards you!”
“You guessed wrong on that.” Lin Wei analyzed: “The opposition between you and her is only temporary; fundamentally, it’s about her trying to be good to you in her own way. Therefore, she would never be hostile towards a friend who unconditionally supports her son.”
“… Fine!” Ho Qijun got out of the car half-convinced.
As Lin Wei was parking in the garage, he took the opportunity to ask the system where Old Madam Ho’s current script was.
[Still searching for Fu Xiao Qing everywhere!] The system was genuinely perplexed by the old lady’s obsession; it seemed she had been programmed to break apart Fu Xiao Qing and Ho Qijun without considering the actual developments of the situation.