A Broken Mirror Never Mends - Chapter 34

At exactly 9:00 AM, Ji Yuanlin returned to the office.

After drinking the black coffee sent by his new assistant and doing thirty minutes of cardio in the office gym, he sat down at his desk, connected his Bluetooth headset, and dove into a full day of work.

The employees at the company had all noticed something unusual. The chairman usually didn’t need to work in the office every day, but since the high-level management underwent a major reshuffle and after several people were taken away by the police last week for a brawl at the Fengyu building—Ji began returning to the company punctually every day.

In a short two-hour meeting, Ji Yuanlin listened to the supply chain reports for the entire upcoming quarter. Since the lawsuit began, he had stopped appearing at large public events like quarterly launches, and most internal meetings were attended only online.

In the online meeting room, the man behind the camera was still dressed in a suit, looking elegant and poised. His words were logical and clear, and his advice was sharp and professional, showing the charm of a top-tier tech expert. It was hard to imagine that not long ago, he had forced the other founder of the company to leave, resulting in a situation where both sides were hurt and buried in lawsuits.

As the meeting was coming to an end, the new assistant entered Ji Yuanlin’s office and whispered something in his ear.

Hearing the assistant’s words, Ji Yuanlin’s expression did not change. He simply looked up and nodded slightly toward everyone in the meeting room. “That will be all for today. Thank you for your hard work lately.”

Hanging up the conference call, Ji Yuanlin leaned back in his chair and slowly took off his suit jacket. “Let him come up. Push the afternoon meeting back to 3:00 PM.”

“Yes, President Ji!”

A few minutes later, the elevator doors outside the chairman’s office opened. A figure walked out, wearing a student shirt with his face hidden behind sunglasses and a mask, making it impossible to see his features.

The assistant pushed open the office door and nodded to the newcomer. “Mr. Xiao Xi, President Ji is waiting for you inside.”

The visitor nodded back. “Thanks, Brother Li.”

Before the door could even be closed from the outside, the boy who had just entered tossed his backpack onto the office sofa. He propped his arms on the edge of the desk and flipped himself up to sit flexibly on the spacious chairman’s desk.

Removing his mask to reveal handsome features, the boy swung his long legs in the air, his eyes curving into crescents. “Yuanlin, did you miss me these past few days?”

“The filming in Liucheng was delayed for several days. We just finished in the early morning, and I took the earliest flight back.” Closing his eyes lazily in the sunlight, the boy couldn’t help but ramble, “I really want to eat the food you cook. Let’s not go out tonight; let’s eat at home, okay?”

Watching the person acting up in front of him, Ji Yuanlin didn’t seem angry. He kept typing on his keyboard without looking up, but his voice was full of affection. “I’m handling business right now. Be good.”

Hearing the sweet conversation between the two in the office, the assistant didn’t dare stay at the door any longer. He quickly closed the door and tiptoed away down the hallway.

He knew exactly what would happen next, and he knew why President Ji had specifically pushed the afternoon meeting to 3:00 PM.

Whenever the boy appeared at the company, he would use his work card to lock the elevator access for the entire floor to prevent any employees from accidentally coming up and disturbing them.

Sure enough, before the elevator doors even fully closed, he heard faint sounds of heavy breathing coming from inside the glass doors of the office.

With a sobbing intake of breath, a trembling, pitiful voice escaped the boy’s throat:

“Ji Yuanlin, you jerk…”

At 2:50 PM, ten minutes before the meeting, the assistant called Ji Yuanlin on time.

Knowing when to turn a blind eye and when to remind the boss not to delay business was something every responsible assistant had to learn.

He heard his predecessor was fired by the board because he didn’t do well in this area.

President Ji didn’t answer his call but sent a text message telling him to come up and get the files for the meeting.

Carefully pushing the door open, the assistant was about to greet Ji Yuanlin when he saw the boss put a finger to his lips, signaling for him to be quiet.

Only then did he notice, through the corner of his eye, someone sleeping on the leather sofa with his back to the door.

The boy was sleeping deeply with his eyes closed, covered by a warm blanket. However, a large area of exposed skin on his neck and bright red hickey marks on his collarbone were still visible.

He had seen similar scenes several times and was already used to it. Steadying himself, the assistant walked lightly to the desk and began organizing the files for Ji Yuanlin.

Before they left the office together, he saw President Ji pick up the remote to raise the air conditioner temperature by two degrees. He even walked over to the sofa to pull up the blanket that was trailing on the floor for the boy.

Various rumors had been circulating in the company. According to some seniors, although President Ji was going through a divorce, he had not officially divorced his spouse yet.

Before he was even finished with the old flame, he was already this close with a new person. Sometimes, the assistant really didn’t understand what these rich people were thinking.

The small meeting for the R&D department in the afternoon didn’t last long, ending after only thirty minutes. Leaving the R&D floor, the assistant reported to Ji Yuanlin in the elevator: “President Ji, Director Zhang from HR asked me to check if you have time today to meet the new batch of campus recruits and give a short speech.”

Ji Yuanlin glanced at his watch. “Will Old Zhai be there?”

“President Zhai will be there, along with several department heads—”

“Since the CEO is going, I don’t need to attend,” Ji Yuanlin interrupted. “Help me reserve seasonal ingredients from Maxtric and have them deliver some fresh food to my house.”

Maxtric was an imported green vegetable supplier that shipped directly from overseas. Hearing Ji Yuanlin’s order, the assistant understood immediately. The reason President Ji was in such a hurry to get home was to personally cook a candlelight dinner for the person still sleeping in the office.

As they rode the elevator up, it stopped at a middle floor.

The elevator doors opened slowly, revealing a dense crowd of people outside.

Seven or eight young people wearing company T-shirts and brand-new badges were waiting for the elevator, led by a deputy manager from the administration department.

The young men and women were chatting away outside. Just as they were about to step in, the manager leading them paused and spoke to the person in the elevator in a very respectful tone: “Good afternoon, President Ji.”

“It’s President Ji…”

“The brochure says he’s the big boss of Fengyu!”

“He’s even more handsome in person than in the photos—”

The manager quickly gestured for the newcomers to make a path and not block the elevator entrance.

Seeing a bunch of recent college graduates whispering about him while looking over with respect and admiration, Ji Yuanlin thought for a moment and stepped out of the elevator.

The outside world didn’t know much about the internal conflicts at Fengyu. With the company’s good reputation in recent years, many students still submitted resumes and fought to join the group during this autumn recruitment.

Ji Yuanlin knew this well.

After several rounds of changes over the past two months, the company was in dire need of fresh blood. These new employees might become his capable assistants in the future.

Walking out of the elevator, Ji Yuanlin nodded slightly to the deputy manager. “These are—”

“President Ji, these eight are all new recruits for our department this year, four boys and four girls.” The deputy manager smiled brightly and waved at the people behind him. “Quickly, all of you come over and give a brief self-introduction to President Ji.”

The young people blushed and nudged each other. Finally, a girl was brave enough to step out first. “Hello, President Ji. I am Jiang Qiu, a new recruit in the administration department. I graduated from Huaibei University of Science and Technology with a major in Human Resources—”

The newcomers went forward one by one to shake hands with Ji Yuanlin. After a few minutes, it was finally the last person’s turn.

The young man straightened the badge on his chest and pursed his lips in front of Ji Yuanlin, looking a bit nervous. “…Hello, President Ji. My name is Bai Ran. I graduated from Beijing University with a degree in Business Administration.”

Seeing the young man’s face, the hand Ji Yuanlin had extended paused, freezing in mid-air.

Under the light, the boy kept his eyes slightly lowered, his eyelashes casting a faint shadow over his eyes. His lips were somewhat thin and pale, giving him a gentle and refined aura. The whole person felt soft, without any sharp edges.

The hallway fell silent for a moment. Under the gaze of everyone, Ji Yuanlin seemed to react a beat late before finally shaking the hand the boy offered.

As his cold fingers touched Ji Yuanlin’s warm palm, the boy seemed unaccustomed to such physical contact. His fingers curled inward slightly, but out of respect for his boss, he didn’t dare pull away easily.

“President Ji, I’m sorry…” Bai Ran lowered his hand awkwardly. Before he could apologize, his ears had already turned red. “I’m not very used to physical contact with people.”

“It’s nothing,” Ji Yuanlin let go of his hand and smiled generously. “I was too abrupt.”

His gaze narrowed for a moment. He asked the boy standing before him, “You are also a graduate of Beijing University?”

“…Yes.”

Ji Yuanlin nodded. “Then I suppose I am your senior.”

Bai Ran nodded. He lowered his eyes, thought for a moment, and slightly pressed down the corners of his mouth. “Actually, I have known about you for a long time.”

“Oh?”

“Your photo is on the honorary alumni wall in the school library. I often saw it when I passed by,” Bai Ran said softly. “You won the gold medal in the YPT International Young Physicists Tournament. The school dedicated an entire wall to your photo.”

Ji Yuanlin raised an eyebrow and couldn’t help but laugh. “That’s the first time I’ve heard that. Is it really that exaggerated?”

Seeing the two still talking in the hallway with a very harmonious atmosphere, the deputy manager didn’t dare to interrupt. He simply waved the other newcomers along and continued down the hallway.

Following behind Ji Yuanlin, the assistant lowered his head to contact the restaurant on his tablet, only to find that the deadline for Maxtric’s food reservation was 5:00 PM.

He originally wanted to step forward and remind the boss, but he found that President Ji was looking at the boy’s face while listening intently to him speak. He had no chance to interrupt at all.

Finally, after an unknown amount of time, he heard the boy named Bai Ran say apologetically, “Senior, they are waiting for me downstairs. I should go now.”

After saying a polite goodbye to Ji Yuanlin, Bai Ran waved to the two in the hallway and ran down the stairs to join his colleagues.

After Bai Ran left, Ji Yuanlin did not return to his office immediately.

He lit a cigarette and walked slowly to the window. The group of people had just walked out of the first-floor lobby and were heading toward the gate of the park, chatting and laughing. It looked like they were going to have a meal together.

Because of his outstanding looks, the young man named Bai Ran was the most noticeable in the group. He seemed to be talking about something happy with a boy next to him, occasionally putting his arm around his companion’s shoulder and showing a smile like a spring breeze.

As a wisp of ash fell from his fingertip, Ji Yuanlin’s gaze followed the direction the person had left. His eyes were hidden in the smoke, and his expression was unreadable.

The moment he stepped out of the gate, Bai Ran suddenly paused and turned his head to the right.

Ji Yuanlin froze.

As if they were connected by some telepathy, the boy curled his lips into a smile under the warm afternoon sun, raised his eyes, and met his gaze.

—

“Bai Ran, what are you looking at?”

Seeing Bai Ran suddenly turn around, a girl asked curiously.

Bai Ran withdrew his gaze and waved his hand shyly. “Nothing, my eyes just played a trick on me.”

As soon as he finished speaking, the deputy manager, who had been leading the way, spoke up with a smile: “I’m telling you, Bai Ran, you look a lot like someone I know.”

Bai Ran’s eyes widened slightly, his expression curious. “Who?”

“The other big boss our company used to have. He already left. You’re like a younger version of him,” the deputy manager sighed. “The interviewers all felt that way during your interview. Especially when you smile—it’s too similar.”

Hearing the manager’s words, a pleasant smile appeared in Bai Ran’s eyes, but it didn’t reach his soul.

“It’s my honor,” he said.

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