Chapter 68 – Love is Born in the Dark (Ergeng)
In order to stop himself from thinking wildly, before dawn the next day, Duan Shu Tong got up and went for a run.
If he got tired from running then he wouldn’t think about anything else.
He circled around the running track desperately not knowing that somewhere else Xi Duan was also using exercise to numb himself.
Bright and early in the morning, Uncle Sun saw Xi Duan exercising in the gym.
“…Sir, today is not a fitness day.”
Although Xi Duan was very busy with work, he had a fixed time for fitness every week. Otherwise, the overloaded workload that he had to deal with over the years would have taken him down long ago.
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There were only a few times when he had slacked off in his fitness because work was really busy. But Uncle Sun had never seen Xi Duan do an extra workout session like he was doing now.
Xi Duan wiped the sweat from his forehead. “From now on, I’m going to add another workout session to every week.”
Although he did not expect to develop further relations with Duan Shu Tong, just like how male animals liked to show off their abilities and plumage in front of female animals, he also hoped that he could look better to the young man’s eyes.
He was older than Duan Shu Tong by a few years. Before he had to sacrifice a part of his health while building up the Xi family alone. Moreover, as the president of the Xi family he has been donning a mask for a long time, and this gave his peers a sense of extraordinary distance.
In short, he was worried that the young man would think him old.
This little scheme of his was perfectly concealed by his ice-cold President Xi mask. Uncle Sun thought Xi Duan just wanted to work out more for his health, so he would only exhibit a supportive attitude.
Duan Shu Tong had a plentiful Sunday, and as expected, he did not dream that night. On Monday morning, he went to work in good spirits.
As soon as he entered the R&D Department, warm applause greeted him.
With He Run in the lead, all the researchers expressed great joy that Duan Shu Tong’s paper was included in JOC.
Translations by Vanilla Muse.
Previously, a couple of researchers were fired for their poor work ethics. In order to avoid being similarly dismissed, the remaining researchers all worked more seriously. Along with the Spring and Autumn Hall’s rising reputation, they now have a sense of belonging and naturally would not be satisfied just to get through* like before.
[*T/N: “satisfied just to get through” = to muddle through something without high ambitions, but getting by]
Nowadays, no one in the R&D Department thought of Duan Shu Tong with derision or suspicion. Moreover, they were all faintly looking to him as their leader.
He Run did not think it was inappropriate. He adhered to the principle of “the one who has the ability deserves the seat of power.” As long as there was an energetic and progressive R&D environment, then he was even willing to step down from his position as the director of this department.
Duan Shu Tong smiled and thanked them, and then he called out to He Run, “Director He, I have something to discuss with you.”
The other researchers tactfully departed.
He Run and Duan Shu Tong sat down.
“Go ahead,” He Run prompted Duan Shu Tong to speak.
“I heard from Manager Zhai that Laboratory No. 1 is currently developing eye cream.” Duan Shu Tong said politely. “Can you show me the ingredients report?”
Of course He Run would not refuse.
After receiving the document, Duan Shu Tong flipped through the pages and revealed a face of admiration, “The effect is good. How is your experiment process coming along?”
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When Duan Shu Tong brought this up, He Run shook his head and sighed, “We’ve encountered a bottleneck.”
Before Duan Shu Tong could speak, He Run took the initiative to bring him the experimental records.
Duan Shu Tong had more experience and knowledge than He Run, so after glancing through the papers, he immediately pointed out the key areas. After speaking for a long time, he asked: “What do you think?”
From the moment that Duan Shu Tong started explaining, He Run was like a dry sprout meeting rain. When Duan Shu Tong finished speaking, it was like He Run has been enlightened and he couldn’t help saying excitedly: “If we follow what you said, then the finished product should be even better than the original!”
Duan Shu Tong was also happy for him, and said, “I came here for this actually.”
Director He was now completely won over by Duan Shu Tong: “Say it.”
“Before, our products were aimed at female users. How about this time we make this eye cream into a couple’s product?”
Who said men didn’t need maintenance? It was very likely that making couple’s products would boost sales.
Of course, this single dog would not admit that he just wanted to earn money from young couples.
He Run was obviously a very straight guy. He said, “But the male users of skin care products are far less than female users.”
“That was in the past,” Duan Shu Tong smiled lightly like a breeze, “It’s not uncommon to see delicate boys now.”
He Run: “…” He looked at Duan Shu Tong carefully and understood a little.
The people who had a face like Duan Shu Tong’s probably wanted to be a delicate boy.
“All right, then I’ll write a new application for a couple’s product.” He Run then paused, a little confused, “Since you had this idea, why didn’t you do it yourself?”
Duan Shu Tong was embarrassed by He Run’s use of the honorific “you.”
[T/N: There are two ways of saying “you” in Chinese. One is the informal one 你, and one is the courteous one 您, which He Run uses for Duan Shu Tong. Informal you is pronounced “ni.” Courteous you is pronounced “nin.”]
“Director He does not have to use honorifics with me. We’re colleagues. Also, this idea is yours. Just now, we were only exchanging ideas.”
He Run’s own research was already good, and the suggestions that Duan Shu Tong gave were just icing on the cake.
To Duan Shu Tong it was just a trivial matter. But what He Run experienced was the broad mind of this young master that ordinary people could not reach.
“Thank you.”
Duan Shu Tong waved his hand and left. Spring Flower No. 2 was going to go on sale soon. He needed to sort out his future plans.
As for his illusory love, just let it run aground.
The author has something to say:
The reason why Xi Duan sent the original female lead flowers will be explained later. (*^▽^*)