The Overbearing CEO Boss is my Childhood Sweetheart - Chapter 5

Chapter 5

I don’t know how long I slept, but when I woke up, the woody scent in my nasal passages was gone, replaced by the pungent smell of alcohol and disinfectant.

Everything in sight was plain white, and an IV was inserted into my hand.

He Wenqi’s brain was momentarily dazed, but he immediately realized he was in a hospital.

He reached out and felt around near the pillow for a while but couldn’t find his phone. Half-propping up his body, he found it was a two-person ward; the bed next to him was empty, and the sound of splashing water came from the bathroom.

He Wenqi took a breath and called out softly: “Qiao Yuan, Qiao Yuan—”

The water sound stopped, the door opened, and a tall man came out.

He Wenqi froze: “Why are you here?” He turned his head left and right but saw no one else in the room. “Where’s Qiao Yuan?”

“His leg is inconvenient; I had him stay at home.” Han Ji walked around the bed to his side and reached out, intending to feel his forehead, but He Wenqi blocked him with one hand.

“What are you doing?” His eyes were full of wariness.

Han Ji withdrew his hand, pulling at the corner of his mouth helplessly: “Do you feel any better? You were burning at forty degrees earlier.”

“I won’t die.”

Han Ji pressed the bell to call the nurse. After measuring his temperature, the fever had completely subsided.

The nurse flipped through the records at the head of the bed and adjusted the IV: “You can leave after this bottle is finished; just rest well after that. The anti-inflammatory medicine is prepared and placed at the consultation desk; remember to pick it up when you leave.”

The nurse stole several glances at Han Ji and said to He Wenqi: “This friend of yours is really good to you; he stayed by you all night for just a fever.”

Han Ji politely saw her to the door: “Many thanks.”

He closed the door behind her.

“What time is it?” He Wenqi suddenly snapped back to his senses.

“A quarter to eight.” Han Ji pulled open the tightly drawn curtains; the light outside was bright.

Oh no, the new CEO arrives at the company today.

He Wenqi reached out to pull the needle from his hand, but Han Ji was quick and stopped him.

“What are you doing?” Han Ji pushed his shoulders and forcibly pressed him back onto the bed.

“What are you doing?” He Wenqi asked back, struggling to resist, but he remained motionless under Han Ji’s strength. “Let go of me, I have to go to work.”

“No, the IV isn’t finished yet.” Han Ji’s tone was forceful, showing no sign of yielding.

“What exactly do you want to do?”

“Your fever just broke; you need rest. You can’t go to work today.”

He Wenqi’s anger flared up instantly: “Han Ji, I’ve said it—we aren’t close. Stop f***ing meddling with me.”

Han Ji stared at him and stopped speaking, but his hands didn’t loosen their grip at all.

The two were at a stalemate for a moment before He Wenqi lost his strength and lay back down: “Where’s my phone? Give it to me.”

“I left in a hurry and forgot to bring it for you.”

“Lend me your phone.”

“For what?”

He Wenqi held back his frustration: “To request leave from the company.”

“No need, I’ll request it for you.”

Before He Wenqi could react, he saw Han Ji take out his phone and dial.

“Assistant Chen, tell Fang Zhenkang that He Wenqi is taking leave today. Yes, he’ll submit the formal application when he returns. Also…” He glanced at the person lying on the bed, “Change the time; I’ll arrive at the company in the afternoon.”

He Wenqi: …

The new CEO—

Han Ji?!

He Wenqi lay back on the bed and didn’t say another word.

After a while, someone brought Han Ji a laptop. He sat leaning against a chair by the window to browse, occasionally making a phone call. When it was time, he put it down to tell him to eat or take medicine.

He Wenqi followed every instruction, appearing submissive. However, he glared while swallowing pills, drank water as if he had a grudge against the cup, and poked at his food with his chopsticks…

Han Ji acted as if he saw none of it; as long as the person was okay, it was fine.

Until the IV bottle was finally empty and the nurse cleared everything away, He Wenqi rolled over and stood on the floor: “How much longer are you going to watch me? I can go home now, right? President—Han!”

Han Ji gently closed his laptop: “Alright, I’ll take you back.”

“Heh, I wouldn’t dare trouble you. Even a leave request disturbed the big boss into calling personally.” He Wenqi got up too quickly and didn’t dare walk immediately; he leaned against the edge of the bed to steady himself for a moment. “My hands and feet work fine; I’ll take a taxi back myself.”

Han Ji ignored his words, made a phone call, and then stood up: “Let’s go.” His tone was soft but his attitude was firm; he wasn’t intending to consult him at all.

He Wenqi brushed past him and opened the door to leave on his own. Han Ji followed two steps behind him at a steady pace, silent the whole way.

In the parking lot, the driver opened the back door: “President Han.”

Bam— He Wenqi slammed the front passenger door shut himself.

Han Ji sighed silently in his heart and lowered his head to sit in the back seat.

The car was filled with low pressure. He Wenqi kept his head turned toward the window the whole time, a feeling of unpleasantness stifling his heart.

How did this person suddenly pop up? It was one thing to bump into each other repeatedly, but how did he become his new boss?

It was fine when he didn’t know, but since he was the boss, he had to be more careful. He had only been at the company for three months; although this job didn’t matter much, he hadn’t joined for the sake of the work itself. He had a reason why he had to stay.

“Why did you apply to be a receptionist?” Han Ji stared at the back of the other man’s head, his gaze tracing along the contours of his ear and jawline.

Having not seen him for years, he had completely grown up, and his temper had grown along with him. He was no longer that little guy who followed him around and called him “Brother Ji” at every turn.

He Wenqi turned his head slightly: “Are you asking me now in your capacity as President Han?”

“What do you mean?”

“Nothing. It’s just that if the boss asks, I have to think carefully about how to answer. If it’s an unrelated person… there’s no need to answer.”

Han Ji: …

“I remember back then you studied animation design. Now that you’ve entered an animation company, why would you do receptionist work that has nothing to do with animation?” Han Ji was referring to the university major He Wenqi was supposed to have taken.

Another long silence.

In fact, even if He Wenqi didn’t answer, Han Ji wouldn’t continue to press him; he would use his own methods to clear up the doubts in his heart.

To his surprise, He Wenqi said: “You remembered wrong.”

Four short words that kept the man a thousand miles away.

“President Han, I’ve arrived.” The car stopped steadily, and He Wenqi opened the door to get out. “Thank you, President Han, for taking me home. I will be at the company to work on time tomorrow.”

Han Ji originally wanted to see him inside before leaving, but seeing this posture, he finally gave up.

He handed the medicine to He Wenqi: “No rush. Go to work after your body has fully recovered; take a few more days off and rest well.”

“Thank you for your concern, President Han. Have a safe trip.” He Wenqi was polite but distant, eager to see him off.

Han Ji turned to get into the car and said to the driver: “To the company.”

When he entered the door, Qiao Yuan was on the sofa answering the phone.

“I know, don’t worry, okay Mr. Han…”

He Wenqi snatched the phone from his ear and hung up: “Why are you calling Han Ji?”

“He called me to remind you to take your medicine on time.”

“I mean last night.”

“Last night? Ha, a coincidence. I was dragging you to the hospital and the phone fell out of my pocket and got bumped.”

“Such a coincidence?”

“Exactly such a coincidence. It’s lucky it was; you passed out from the fever last night. Luckily he rushed over; I couldn’t move you at all.”

He Wenqi went to his room to find his phone. Seeing Han Ji’s WeChat friend request, he ignored it directly.

Qiao Yuan followed behind him, nagging: “Hey, Brother Qi, I think Han Ji is a good guy. He’s quite worried about you. Looking at his clothes and speech, his situation certainly isn’t bad. As for the person, it goes without saying—anyone with eyes can see he’s a total hottie. By the way, don’t you think he also has that ‘overbearing CEO’ vibe? The way he carried you out, I could even smell the CEO-flavored hormones…”

As he spoke, he sniffed the air exaggeratedly.

“Yes, you’re right. He is my boss, the company’s new president.”

“What?! He really is a president!”

“Also, don’t fantasize too much. He isn’t gay; he’s a straight man with a girlfriend.”

Two heavy pieces of news in a row made Qiao Yuan’s pupils shake in shock: “Then he to you, you, you…”

“I told you not to think too much. It wouldn’t be good to cause a misunderstanding.”

Was the misunderstanding back then not enough?

Since he had taken leave anyway, He Wenqi stayed home all afternoon and went nowhere. However, he couldn’t stay idle and started a sketch for the follow-up design for Mr. Qin.

He then remembered that while he had given the painting to the person, he hadn’t sent the electronic version yet.

Opening his email, he sent the electronic version of the draft. He then logged into Weibo as well.

He Wenqi used Weibo mostly to look for information, mainly related to painting. Sometimes when he browsed and found a painting technique useful, he would repost it to his homepage and find time to learn from it. He would also upload drawings he created for practice.

He Wenqi preferred traditional and classical elements; no matter the style of the work, he liked to include them as a mix. Over time, people who liked this style of painting gradually gathered, and he had accumulated over ten thousand followers, allowing him to take commissions to earn a little extra money.

Mr. Qin had seen the paintings he posted online and found him through that. Mr. Qin’s requirements for details were numerous and specific; He Wenqi patiently revised them repeatedly. Although it took a lot of energy, he learned a lot from it, and the price Mr. Qin paid was very considerable, leading to a second collaboration.

Just as he logged onto Weibo, notifications started popping out, the vibration making his hand nearly go numb.

He Wenqi tossed the phone onto the sofa and covered it with a soft cushion until he no longer heard frequent vibrations before picking it up to look again.

With this look, he was startled; his follower count had doubled.

In less than a day, what had happened?

Reading through, he realized a director had posted a Weibo and @-ed him, calling him a “surprise” in the text, with the accompanying image being the painting he sold to Mr. Qin.

He Wenqi took a screenshot of the Weibo and sent a text to Mr. Qin. Mr. Qin called to explain, and only then did he understand the whole story.

An animated movie was being released recently, and this animation director had been dissatisfied with the promotional posters and was in a bad mood. Mr. Qin was a friend of the director; having inadvertently discovered He Wenqi’s painting style, he commissioned such a painting to give to his friend as a comfort.

Who knew the director friend would take a liking to it instantly and couldn’t resist posting it to Weibo. His action unintentionally changed the nature of the piece; the painting became a promotional image to build hype for the animated movie.

Mr. Qin expressed his apologies and hadn’t expected his friend to directly @ He Wenqi himself. If it caused trouble, he would compensate him and have his friend delete the post.

He Wenqi wasn’t angry; he only asked if he could go see the movie premiere. Mr. Qin naturally invited him on behalf of his friend.

As a creator, to have more people see your work and gain recognition and love is a great comfort.