“So, you’re really planning to agree to his request and arrange a position for him in the studio?” Xie Yizhao asked.
Lu Xi sighed. “What else can I do? You didn’t see how his eyes lit up at that moment. I’m just afraid that if I don’t agree, he’ll actually go wash people’s hair for a job.”
Xie Yichao let out a chuckle, wrapping an arm around Lu Xi. “So what if he does? Work is work, there’s no dignity lost as long as it’s an honest way to make money. Letting him toughen up a bit over winter break isn’t a bad thing.”
Lu Xi shot him a glare.
Sometimes, she really couldn’t blame Xie Heng for always butting heads with his Dad. Honestly, even she sometimes wondered if Xie Yizhao was his real dad. Why did Xie Yizhao always act like a stepfather?
It wasn’t that she looked down on being a shampoo boy. Earning one’s own money was absolutely fine.
It was just…
She frowned slightly and said in a soft voice, “Have you ever seen the hands of a shampoo boy? They crack, wrinkle, and might even develop rashes. Don’t tell me you wouldn’t feel bad for your own son.”
Otherwise, he wouldn’t have stayed in the hospital room with Xie Heng that day.
Xie Yizhao fell silent at her words.
After a moment, he gently squeezed her shoulder, his tone softening as if negotiating, “Well then, I’ll trouble Madam to arrange something for our son. Anything will do.”
Lu Xi paused, then burst out laughing.
How rare. She had just been inwardly calling him a stepfather, and now here he was, playing the role of a devoted dad, speaking like some worried old father bribing someone with cigarettes and liquor to pull strings for his kid.
Lu Xi decided to put on airs as well. She sighed dramatically, sounding delicate, “My neck hurts, my shoulders hurt, and so does my waist. You’d better show some sincerity first.”
Xie Yizhao’s hand paused for a second before he chuckled, his cool breath brushing against her ear. “If CEO Lu is going to boss me around like this, shouldn’t you arrange something for me too?”
Lu Xi couldn’t help but laugh and played along. “Sure! How much do you want for a month? I’ll just buy you outright.”
The grip on her shoulder suddenly tightened slightly. Lu Xi laughed and dodged away.
Teasing Xie Yizhao was so much fun.
She ran out of the open-concept restaurant, heading down the corridor, but Xie Yichao had longer legs. It didn’t take long before he caught up with her near the courtyard’s hot spring pool.
Lu Xi glanced at the pool and immediately surrendered, showing her flexibility. “I was wrong. I won’t tease you anymore.”
Xie Yizhao pressed his lips together slightly.
But from her eyes, he could tell. There wasn’t the slightest bit of sincerity in her so-called apology. It was just a tactic.
He never thought of himself as particularly humorous, but when he was with her, he made an effort to be more easygoing. He wanted her to enjoy spending time with him. And besides, if she wanted to tease him like this more often, he wouldn’t mind.
Xie Yizhao narrowed his eyes slightly, resting one hand against the gray-green brick wall, trapping her in front of him. Amusement flickered in his voice. “Then, have you considered my request yet, CEO Lu?”
Lu Xi blinked at him. “Since dear old father Xie personally asked, of course I’ll consider it seriously.”
The man remained silent, internally replaying her words. He couldn’t help but recall how that ungrateful son of his had once said that she preferred younger men, and he suddenly felt a bit jealous.
Lu Xi sometimes spoke faster than she thought, and sometimes she was just bad at reading the situation yet still enjoyed provoking people.
She was already regretting it. Holding onto Xie Yichao’s tie, she blinked innocently, trying to change the subject. “I’m already designing clothes for you, remember? Want to see the sketches? Oh, and I need to take your measurements too.”
Xie Yizhao’s gaze darkened, blending into the deep night around them. “Hmm, measure them yourself.”
He picked Lu Xi up.
And carried her toward the hot spring pool.
Then, he thoroughly proved that he was still very much a young man.
Lu Xi: …Don’t ask. If you ask, she regrets teasing him. But she’ll do it again next time.
By the time Xie Yichao carried her back to the bedroom upstairs, it was already close to ten o’clock. Lu Xi, exhausted, decided on the spot that she wasn’t going home tonight. She’d just sleep here.
Ever since that one time, with their and Xie Heng’s right above and below, staying at home became inconvenient. After all, he was older now.
So, Xie Yizhao frequently took her out for the night.
This house—where he had once played piano—was his top choice.
At first, Lu Xi had been reluctant to come because of her Uncle and Aunt. She didn’t want to run into them and have an awkward encounter. But later, she thought, this is their home. Why should they avoid it because of those two? That’s just making things harder on themselves.
With that mindset shift, she stopped caring.
And as it turned out, she hadn’t run into them even once.
Probably because of their schedules. Lu Xi and Xie Yizhao worked during the day and only came over at night, leaving in the morning, so they never crossed paths.
After a full night’s rest, Lu Xi woke up refreshed.
While brushing her teeth, she decided on a job for Xie Heng at her company.
Mingli’s final exams were over, and Xie Heng was officially on winter break. Other than playing basketball, he was free every day.
That day, Lu Xi was heading to the studio, so she caught a ride in Xie Yizhao’s car. On the way, she stopped by the house to pick up Xie Heng and bring him along.
Last night, Xie Heng had just realized that his Dad and Ms. Lu hadn’t come home.
Lately, he had been busy preparing for exams. After coming home, eating his late-night snack, and heading to bed, he never noticed. But now, he realized that for over a month, the third-floor bedroom had been empty at least half the time.
Last night, after getting his hair cut with Lu Xi, he went out to play basketball with Song Siyang and the others. When he returned at 9 PM, he even brought back a snack for Lu Xi, only to hear from the butler that neither she nor his Dad was home.
“Where did they go? Why didn’t they take me?”
The old butler was speechless. He didn’t have the heart to say it—how could they possibly take him along?
Xie Heng didn’t overthink it. He just assumed his Dad and Lu Xi had gone somewhere fun without him. Though he felt a bit left out, he didn’t dwell on it.
Now, hearing that Lu Xi was taking him to her studio, his eyes instantly lit up. His curiosity about last night’s whereabouts disappeared, and he eagerly hopped into the car.
Once he had calmed down a bit, he finally asked, “So, what important role do you have for me, Ms. Lu?”
Xie Yichao was driving today, no chauffeur.
He was already familiar with Xie Heng’s tone—arrogant and smug. He glanced at the boy’s neatly trimmed short hair in the rearview mirror.
Much better than that ridiculous blue hair from before.
He actually looked a little like a police officer now.
But he was still too immature. The moment he saw Lu Xi, all his childishness came spilling out.
Lu Xi sat in the passenger seat, applying lipstick in the mirror. Without even turning around, she said, “I haven’t decided yet. You’ll be a floater for now.”
Silence from the back seat.
Xie Heng didn’t understand what ‘floater’ meant, but it sounded impressive.
Curious, he asked, “What does that mean? Is it a high-ranking position?”
Suddenly, Xie Yizhao hit the brakes.
He had been driving smoothly to accommodate her makeup, but this sudden stop nearly made Lu Xi smudge her lipstick. She shot him a glare.
Xie Yzchao glanced at Xie Heng before calmly resuming driving as the light turned green. Since Lu Xi was busy applying lipstick, he took it upon himself to explain in a steady voice:
“It means you’ll go anywhere. Whichever department needs hand, you’ll go there.”
Xie Heng initially thought it sounded pretty good.
But after thinking about it again—wait, no. He frowned and asked, “Isn’t that just doing odd jobs?”
He realized it now—wasn’t this exactly the kind of workplace PUA tactics people talked about online? Calling a tiny, struggling company a ‘startup’ and disguising layoffs as ‘optimization.’
Lu Xi didn’t quite get his point. Yesterday, when he heard about being a shampoo boy, he seemed fine with it. So why was he looking down on doing odd jobs now?
She put away her lipstick and mirror, cleared her throat, and said, “Weren’t you the one who said you wanted to gain some work experience and explore your career path? I’m letting you rotate through different roles to gain experience. This is me helping you.”
Xie Heng lowered his eyes and said nothing.
Although he felt that Ms. Lu was trying to trick him, she kind of made sense.
Fine then, odd jobs it was. He could bend and adapt. But there was one thing he needed to clarify first.
Out of habit, he reached up to touch his hair, only to find that instead of the usual soft blue strands, his fingers brushed against his short, bristly buzz cut. He pursed his lips and asked, “Alright, so how much are you paying me per month?”
Lu Xi glanced at him. “Hourly wage. Let’s say thirty yuan an hour.”
Xie Heng was stunned. “That little? Are you ripping me off?”
Wasn’t this just algorithm-based price discrimination?
Before Lu Xi could respond, Xie Yizhao chimed in, “The other day, I was at a dinner, and I saw a recruitment notice at the hotel. They were hiring part-time dishwashers for the winter break at 22 yuan an hour.”
Xie Heng was speechless.
So technically, Ms. Lu was offering him a better deal.
He silently did the math in his head. If he worked eight hours a day, that would be 240 yuan per day. If he worked for a full month, he’d make over 7,000 yuan.
That calculation made him feel much better.
Alright then, he decided to take this job seriously.
Maybe by the end of the break, he’d gain something from it. And maybe, just maybe, he’d finally have an answer for his Dad’s question.
Before Lu Xi even stepped into the office, the whole workplace already knew she was bringing her son in for a part-time job.
She had only casually mentioned it to Wei Ning in the morning.
But beyond that, even Wei Ning didn’t know much.
Still, while an office worker’s day often started with gossip, it didn’t revolve entirely around it. There was a meeting today, and more than ten people were busy with their own tasks, so they didn’t think too much about it. They simply assumed the boss was bringing her son over for some experience, just to play around.
Before long, Lu Xi arrived, with Xie Heng following behind her.
Everyone, led by Wei Ning, looked up and was briefly stunned.
The last time they saw this handsome young man, he had trendy, colorful hair. How had he turned into a buzz-cut little tough guy in such a short time?
Lu Xi kept it brief: “This is my son, Xie Heng. You’ve met him before. Starting today, he’ll be interning here for a month. If you have any miscellaneous tasks, feel free to assign them to him.”
Before the employees could fully process this, she turned to Xie Heng and said, “I’m heading into a meeting now. You can wait for me in my office.”
New to the job, Xie Heng nodded obediently.
Lu Xi didn’t bother with him further. She grabbed her documents and went straight to the conference room.
Xie Heng watched as everyone except the receptionist disappeared into the meeting.
Left with no choice, he headed to Lu Xi’s office.
He’d been here a few times before, but only briefly, usually just to pick up Ms. Lu and leave right away. This was the first time he was actually sitting down and taking a proper look.
The chair at her desk was adjusted too low. He decided to raise it a bit.
Bending down to check how to adjust it, he noticed a red button on the chair.
He had seen this type of chair at Song Siyang’s house. It had a heating function, making it comfortable to sit in during winter.
Xie Heng wasn’t interested in that; he wasn’t afraid of the cold. But Ms. Lu seemed to be.
Even though the office had heating, he thought about it for a moment and decided to turn it on for her. It would probably be more comfortable.
Then, he glanced at the control panel by the door, feeling that the room was a little too warm. He got up and adjusted the central air conditioning to the temperature she was used to at home.
Sitting back down, he recalled that it was now 9:30 AM. Normally at this time, Ms. Lu would still be asleep. After she woke up and had breakfast, she would usually have coffee.
He remembered her mentioning that she had already eaten…
When he walked in earlier, he seemed to have spotted a coffee machine, but he didn’t know how to use it.
Fortunately, there was a café downstairs. He didn’t feel like ordering delivery, so he decided to go buy it himself.
The receptionist, a fresh graduate, was playing on her phone since she had nothing to do. Suddenly, she noticed Xie Heng approaching and immediately straightened up, worried that he might report her to Lu Xi.
Xie Heng was already at the door, and the automatic sensor had triggered it open when he suddenly hesitated and turned back.
“Uh…” He touched his earlobe, frowning in hesitation.
He didn’t know her name, and calling her ‘Receptionist’ felt too impersonal. After thinking for a moment, he settled on:
“Sister, I’m heading out to buy something. If my Mom comes out, can you let her know?”
Xu Meng nodded quickly.
“Thanks.” Xie Heng turned and left.
Xu Meng blinked in surprise, feeling unexpectedly flattered.
Did the cool, aloof-looking boy just call her ‘Sister’?
So polite!
Xie Heng moved fast. He bought two cups of coffee downstairs, and while he was at it, the café staff convinced him to buy a heated coaster as well. The total came to over 200 yuan.
Thinking about his 30-yuan hourly wage, he felt a slight pang of pain.
But considering he had already spent over 200,000 yuan on pearls for Ms. Lu, this wasn’t really a big deal.
When he returned, Xu Meng beamed at him. “The meeting’s not over yet.”
He nodded and gave her a faint smile in return.
Back in the office, he sat for a few minutes before standing up again, scanning the room with a slight frown.
Ms. Lu’s office… was kind of messy. Did she not organize it regularly?
Xie Heng’s own bedroom was always tidy. He preferred to clean it himself rather than have the housekeeper do it. He was pretty experienced at this kind of thing.
Without tossing anything away, he simply sorted things out. Stacking what looked like waste papers to one side, tidying up the desk, hanging her bag on the coat rack, and folding the blanket she had left on the sofa.
Alright. That looked better.
An hour later, the meeting finally ended. Lu Xi returned to her office with Wei Ning, ready to assign some tasks.
However, when she opened the door—
She looked at her office, familiar yet somehow strange.
Something felt off.
Was this really her office? Or had she stepped into a parallel universe?
Then, the rich aroma of coffee hit her nose—it was her favorite latte.
The buzz-cut Xie Heng was sitting in her chair, his back to the door. When he heard the noise, he turned around immediately, flashing her a bright, clean smile.
He picked up the coffee from the heated coaster and held it up to her.
“CEO Lu, your latte.”
Lu Xi blinked and touched her face.
Huh.
Hiring this buzz-cut little intern might actually be worth it.