Straight Corporate Slave Accidentally Stumbles into the School's F4 - Chapter 11

Chapter 11

In the middle of winter, it’s actually a bit hot.

“Mr. Qiao, this is my uncle.” Harrison got out of the car and introduced Ferrio to Qiao Nai.

Qiao Nai had not yet recovered from his astonishment.

His head turned back and forth like a rattle between Ferrio and Harrison. “This… is your uncle??”

“Yes, Mr. Qiao.” The little guy thought the tattoo on his uncle’s hand had scared Qiao Nai, so he hurriedly reached out to cover the tattoo on the back of Ferrio’s hand. “Mr. Qiao, you don’t need to be afraid. My uncle… is a good person.”

It was Ferrio’s turn to be confused. “Do I not look like a good person?”

The little guy nodded honestly. “When you dropped me off at school last week, my classmates all said you were very scary.”

Ferrio: “…”

No wonder the little fellow stopped letting him drop him off after that.

Ferrio was wondering exactly how he was scary when he turned and heard a light chuckle. “Is it funny?” he asked Qiao Nai.

Qiao Nai was forced to stop laughing, nearly choking in the process. He shook his head. “It’s not funny, not funny at all.”

“Then what were you laughing at just now?” Ferrio put his hands in his pockets and walked forward.

Seeing Ferrio getting closer and closer to him, Qiao Nai had no choice but to step back. “I wasn’t laughing at you… I just suddenly thought of a cold joke I read this morning.” There was a wall behind him; after only a few steps, he had nowhere left to retreat.

Meeting Ferrio’s icy gaze, Qiao Nai hurriedly changed the subject. “And how is he scary? He’s clearly so handsome. Children have poor judgment; pay no mind to a child’s babble, pay no mind.”

Ferrio curled his lips slightly, yet he still didn’t withdraw his body, his gaze lingering on Qiao Nai’s wrist for a few seconds.

“Wha… what is it?” Seeing the look Ferrio was giving him, Qiao Nai thought there was something dirty on his wrist.

Ferrio didn’t move.

Qiao Nai frowned, not understanding what Ferrio meant. This was an overcoat he had just changed into this morning; there was nothing dirty on his sleeves at all.

“Open it.”

“Open what??” Qiao Nai suddenly thought of something and hurriedly reached out to cover his own body.

People were passing by, and several were looking over. Qiao Nai wanted to push Ferrio away, but instead, his wrist was grabbed.

“Don’t move.” Ferrio acted as if he didn’t notice the people around them. His knee pressed against Qiao Nai’s thigh, pinning him against the wall. The hand holding the wrist moved up to grasp Qiao Nai’s forearm, while the other hand pulled Qiao Nai’s coat sleeve up slightly until the wrist was exposed.

There was a small red mole next to Qiao Nai’s wrist bone. Set against his fair skin, it looked like a piece of jade bleeding outward—it was Qiao Nai’s exclusive secret mark, making one’s imagination wander.

Ferrio paused slightly, as if discovering this small red mole for the first time.

“You’re hurting me.” Qiao Nai tried to withdraw his wrist, but to no avail.

Ferrio was using too much force, and a thin layer of pink inevitably surfaced on Qiao Nai’s wrist.

Seeing that the marks on the wrist had mostly recovered and there were no new bruises, Ferrio finally let go, his hands returning to his pockets. “Let’s go.”

“Go where?” The thin pink on Qiao Nai’s wrist was quickly becoming more and more red. He shook his wrist and looked up to ask.

“Aren’t we having pizza?” Ferrio withdrew his gaze and turned to walk toward a fast-food restaurant nearby.

“You’re going too?” In the low winter temperature, exposing his wrist for just a few minutes had made it icy cold. Qiao Nai hastily pulled down his sleeve.

“Harrison isn’t allowed to eat this kind of fast food. I’m supervising,” Ferrio said.

“Ah, Uncle, didn’t you say you wouldn’t tell my parents?” Harrison followed closely behind Ferrio’s heels.

“That’s why I said I’m supervising.” Ferrio opened the door and walked in.

“Mr. Qiao…” Harrison looked at Qiao Nai with pleading eyes, indicating he didn’t know Ferrio was coming with them either.

“It’s okay.” Qiao Nai patted the little guy’s head and made up a reason: “The more the merrier.”

Calming down to think about it, this wasn’t a bad thing. He could take this opportunity to start his journey of pursuing the man!

He had been so busy with part-time jobs these past few days that Qiao Nai hadn’t figured out how to create an opportunity to chase the original uke. Who would have thought the opportunity would be delivered to his doorstep today?

“Uncle, what flavor do you like? Cheese durian or something else?”

There weren’t many people in the shop at this hour. When Ferrio entered, he found a seat against the wall. Qiao Nai and Harrison followed him and sat down.

“I don’t like it.” As an athlete, Ferrio usually had to be mindful of his dietary management at all times. Except for a couple of bites at parties to be polite, he rarely ate this kind of fast food.

“Okay.” Harrison turned to ask Qiao Nai, “Mr. Qiao, is there a flavor you want to eat?”

“Let me see.” Qiao Nai glanced at the menu on the table and frowned slightly. There were all kinds of pizza types listed—a quick count showed over a dozen. It was a dizzying sight.

“Let’s have one of each.” Seeing this, Ferrio took the menu and selected one of every flavor, then flipped the page to choose a few drinks as well.

Huh?

One of each??

Qiao Nai felt his wallet beginning to ache.

“Fruit juice any dietary restrictions?” Ferrio’s voice came from the side.

“Me?” Qiao Nai was still mourning his wallet and thought Ferrio was talking to Harrison. When he didn’t hear the kid answer for a long while, he realized Ferrio was asking him. “None.”

“Mm.” Ferrio stood up, seemingly wanting to go out.

“Uncle, aren’t you going to eat?” Harrison asked.

Ferrio originally intended to say he had things to do and had to leave first, but the words had just left his mouth when Qiao Nai looked up. The sunlight through the window sparkled in Qiao Nai’s eyes. Ferrio was dazed for an instant and changed his tune: “I’m going out to take a call. I’ll be back in a bit.”

“What is it?” There were several missed calls on his phone. As soon as he stepped out, Ferrio called back.

“Boss, the Ruby Cocktail shipment arrived today. It’s at the bar entrance now, but…”

“Speak plainly.” Ferrio rubbed the bridge of his nose. He could least stand it when people were wishy-washy when talking to him.

“It’s just that a small mistake was made.” Hearing Ferrio’s tone, the bar employee’s voice began to tremble. “While moving the goods, we accidentally hit a drunk guest. They… they insist on you coming over.”

The Ferrio family had made their fortune in the winery business. It was the largest and most famous industry in the area, with many related outlets under its banner. Before Ferrio was even an adult, he had been forced to start managing several of the subsidiary bars.

More than half of the fast-food restaurant was glass, so one could see inside from the outside. Ferrio cast his gaze and saw Qiao Nai smiling at his nephew.

“Is the person alright?” Ferrio asked.

The bar employee quickly replied, “The person is fine, it’s just a scratch.”

“Don’t call me about this kind of thing again in the future. Call the manager.” Ferrio really wanted to hang up the phone at this moment.

“But the manager said he… hey, Boss!”

Since managing these bars, Ferrio had endless phone calls every day, all regarding trivial matters.

Ferrio hung up the phone and went to the front desk to pay the bill. After paying, he turned his phone off directly.

Ferrio had ordered too much. Only Qiao Nai and Harrison were eating, and neither had a large appetite; they didn’t eat much.

He really couldn’t eat any more. Qiao Nai found an excuse to leave his seat to pay the bill, only to be told it had already been settled.

Outside the restaurant, Qiao Nai called out to Ferrio. “Lio?”

It was the first time Ferrio had heard Qiao Nai call him that. He was stunned for an instant, but only an instant. “Yeah?”

“I’ll transfer the pizza money to you.” Qiao Nai took out his phone, implying they should add each other’s contact info so he could transfer the money.

It happened to kill two birds with one stone: not only would he pay back the pizza money, but he’d also get his contact information.

“No need, it wasn’t much anyway.” Ferrio saw through Qiao Nai’s intentions, but…

“Don’t you already have my contact information? Why do you want to add it again?”

It was Qiao Nai’s turn to be stunned.

Ah!

Wait, I already have your contact info?

Qiao Nai checked the contacts screen in his chat app several times but didn’t see any entry for “Lio.”

“I… I accidentally dropped my phone a few days ago and it broke. After I got it fixed and logged back in, I couldn’t find your contact info.” Qiao Nai made up an excuse.

It didn’t seem like much when he said it, but after saying it, it felt very fake.

It was unclear if Ferrio believed him. He didn’t say anything; instead, he turned and walked back into the fast-food restaurant.

“What is your uncle doing?” Qiao Nai asked, watching Ferrio’s back.

“I don’t know.” Harrison shook his head, his mind clearly not on Qiao Nai’s question.

He carefully tugged at the corner of Qiao Nai’s clothes and looked up. “Mr. Qiao, can you promise me one thing?”

“What?” Qiao Nai looked at him. “More pizza?”

“No.” Harrison had a pitiful expression. “It’s just… can I go to your house to play for a while later? I don’t want to go home.”

Harrison’s expression was too sincere, his eyes filled with longing. Qiao Nai didn’t feel right refusing, but he had a part-time job in the afternoon. Moreover, the house he rented was small and dilapidated; a young master like Harrison probably wouldn’t adapt to it.

Just as Qiao Nai was wondering how to answer, Ferrio walked over. Qiao Nai looked sideways and found a pen in his hand.

“Hand.” Ferrio uncapped the pen, his eyes as deep as amber looking at Qiao Nai.

Not knowing why, Qiao Nai obediently held out his hand.

Qiao Nai’s eyes were beautiful; when he was confused, his eyes would unconsciously round out, appearing very bright, especially when he looked up.

Ferrio met his eyes and was stunned for a moment. He then withdrew his gaze, spread Qiao Nai’s fingers, and touched the tip of the pen to his palm. Suddenly thinking of something, he moved the pen up and finally wrote his contact information over the red mark on Qiao Nai’s wrist.

“The last time,” he said.

The residual warmth on his palm vanished. Qiao Nai belatedly realized that Ferrio had taken the pen to leave his contact information… it seemed he probably knew Qiao Nai had been lying.

“Let’s go, Harrison. I’m taking you home.” Ferrio glanced at the little fellow. “I have things to do later.”

Harrison hid behind Qiao Nai, tightly clutching the corner of his clothes, only half an eye showing as he said cautiously: “No.”

“I don’t want to go back,” he said. “I want to go to Teacher’s house.”

“You have Chinese class this afternoon.”

“I asked for leave.” Harrison resolutely refused to go back.

The closer Ferrio got to him, the tighter he grabbed the corner of Qiao Nai’s clothes, tighter and tighter.

For such a small person, his strength was quite great. He pulled so hard that Qiao Nai’s abdomen felt constricted.

He was wearing thin clothes to begin with; being pulled like this, the clothes were dragged straight down, clinging tightly to his skin. It not only revealed his slender waist but even his collarbones were exposed to the air.

Ferrio’s gaze suddenly lingered.

In the middle of winter, it was actually a bit hot.

He came to his senses, ran a hand through his hair, shifted his gaze, and looked back into Qiao Nai’s eyes.

At the same time, Harrison also looked at Qiao Nai.

Qiao Nai was thus caught in a pincer attack from both sides, unable to go left or right.

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