Chapter 64 Deliberation

"I remember your internship has come to an end. Are you heading back to school next?"

Yu Yuchu shook her head and began packing her luggage.

"Then have you received your official job offer?"

"I have. As soon as I get my diploma, I'll go to the company to complete the formal onboarding procedures."

Pei Jiayin walked over to help Yu Yuchu organize the spoils she had gathered from the duty-free shop.

"Good."

As if suddenly remembering something, Yu Yuchu straightened her previously relaxed expression.

"Right, there's something I've been wanting to discuss with you."

"What is it?"

Pei Jiayin continued his movements without missing a beat, his expression entirely unruffled.

The words at the tip of Yu Yuchu's tongue took a detour, turning into a more tactful phrasing: "Although we work at the same company, I've never actually seen you around the office..."

Pei Jiayin's expression remained indifferent, save for his actions. "That's probably because we're on different floors."

Yu Yuchu wore a look of sudden realization.

That made sense. He was on a high floor while she was on a low one; it was normal that they wouldn't run into each other on a regular basis.

"Is something the matter?" Pei Jiayin placed a bottle from his hands onto Yu Yuchu's desk.

"N—no."

Yu Yuchu gripped the hem of the clothes in her hands tighter.

Pei Jiayin said nothing more, simply standing up in silence and walking out of the room.

Yu Yuchu let out a quiet sigh of relief, plotting in her mind how to broach the topic of her idea with Pei Jiayin, while her hands kept busy sorting out the laundry that needed to be washed.

"Chuchu, juice."

Pei Jiayin returned quickly, appearing before the daydreaming Yu Yuchu with two glasses of freshly poured orange juice.

"Thank you."

Yu Yuchu accepted the glass and took small, delicate sips.

The juice tasted very fresh; it must have been freshly squeezed by the housekeeper and kept chilled in the refrigerator.

"Don't drink too much of it. The weather here isn't like Haishi—be careful not to catch a cold."

Pei Jiayin hadn't poured very much to begin with.

Yu Yuchu nodded, her entire body relaxing considerably.

"I could tell you weren't quite sure how to bring it up. Can you tell me what's on your mind now?"

So her inner thoughts had been completely transparent to him all along.

Yu Yuchu let out a helpless sigh. "Wasn't I just talking to you a moment ago about my official onboarding?"

Pei Jiayin set down his glass of orange juice and looked at her with undivided attention.

Yu Yuchu glanced at the serious Pei Jiayin and continued, "Once my status is made official later on, the chances of us running into each other at work are definitely going to increase... If you don't object, I'd rather not let our colleagues know that we're in a relationship."

"The reasons... you probably understand them yourself."

Pei Jiayin calmly picked up his glass of orange juice and took a sip.

After a brief pause, he answered:

"Alright, I agree."

Indeed, the chances of bumping into each other at the company were practically zero. Agreeing to Yu Yuchu's request would actually help him conceal his true identity even better.

Yet, deep down, there was still a lingering sense of discomfort.

Yu Yuchu felt a wave of relief, her tone turning much lighter.

She had even mentally rehearsed how she would reason with Pei Jiayin and appeal to his emotions if he got angry.

Now it seemed Pei Jiayin was still much steadier than she had imagined.

Still, choosing a clandestine relationship had to feel at least a little bit unpleasing to him, right?

"Actually, I've never even asked what your position in the company is. You never brought it up, and I never really pressed."

Pei Jiayin's expression stiffened, a few possible answers flashing rapidly through his mind.

"General Manager."

He took another sip of the orange juice, which had nearly warmed to room temperature, to mask his rigid expression.

Tomorrow, he would have Tang Qingli officially register a title for him under his name.

Yu Yuchu counted on her fingers, trying to figure out how many levels above her Pei Jiayin's position likely was.

After finishing her count, her eyes lit up, only to dim again immediately.

"What's wrong?"

Pei Jiayin's gentle voice sounded.

"Nothing. I was just thinking about how many years of hard work I probably have ahead of me before I can stand shoulder to shoulder with you, and I felt a little defeated."

Yu Yuchu drooped her head like an injured little animal.

Before Pei Jiayin could offer a couple of words of comfort, Yu Yuchu lifted her face.

"From now on at the company, we absolutely must keep our distance!" she said, looking as spirited as if she'd been injected with chicken blood. "Don't let anyone find out we're a couple, under any circumstances."

She was determined to climb her way up step by step entirely through her own capabilities.

Pei Jiayin placed a hand atop Yu Yuchu's head and ruffled her hair.

"How cruel... Doesn't Miss Yu Yuchu have any compensation to offer her underground lover in this office romance?"

Pei Jiayin collected the two empty glass cups.

A hazy layer of pale orange pulp clung to the frosted-texture glass.

The next instant, Yu Yuchu's lips pressed precisely against Pei Jiayin's.

Pei Jiayin tightened his grip on the glass in his hand.

The kiss was very brief, yet Yu Yuchu found herself slightly out of breath.

"How's that for compensation?"

"Not enough."

Pei Jiayin stood up, deliberately avoiding looking at Yu Yuchu's bewildered expression.

"At least one a day."

"Fine."

By the time Pei Jiayin finished washing the glasses and returned, Yu Yuchu had already packed all her luggage.

"I haven't asked you yet—why did your family arrange for you to work at Huasheng?"

"Probably because they wanted me to go through some tempering and gain experience."

"I see."

Then Pei Jiayin's family must belong to some major, prominent household, right...?

Yu Yuchu bit her lower lip.

"Still, I practically ran away from home. Family is family, and I am myself. In the future... things will likely stay that way."

"Then can your current salary cover the rent for a place like this?"

Yu Yuchu furrowed her brow as she did the math. A general manager's salary renting a villa of this scale was simply too extravagant.

Wasn't the current Pei Jiayin living beyond his means, renting the place by burning through his own savings? Wasn't that just eating away at his stash until it ran dry?

"You can rest easy about that. Aside from one job, I have other sources of income." Pei Jiayin sat down close to Yu Yuchu. "Your boyfriend isn't a fool."

You shouldn't put all your eggs in one basket; she understood that much.

Even though Pei Jiayin was sitting right beside her, and his woody-scented perfume washed over her so gently, Yu Yuchu still had a persistent feeling that he had somehow drifted a little further away.

She forcefully suppressed this strange sensation. "I'm sorry, putting up with an underground romance and all... I suppose you're the one getting the short end of the stick."

Thinking about how Pei Jiayin even had to wait for her in the car during work commutes, she suddenly felt that he was rather pitiful.

"Yu Yuchu."

Pei Jiayin mostly called her Chuchu these days; hearing him suddenly use her full name caught Yu Yuchu off guard.

"What?"

"Listen to me carefully." Pei Jiayin cupped Yu Yuchu's face in both hands, turning her head so she was forced to look directly into his eyes.

Their gazes locked in that moment.

"This matter was a decision we made together. Since I agreed to it, it means I am willing to shoulder this responsibility... I won't hold this against you or demand anything from you in the future. Don't carry any burden over this, alright?"

Yu Yuchu blinked her eyes.

Pei Jiayin did not stop, his speech slow yet crystal clear.