KC | Chapter 27

Chapter 28, Hidden from the Light

The summer night breeze carried away the heat of the day and brought some coolness. Chen Xi sat in the Cadillac’s front passenger seat and rolled down the window.

The old men under the trees by the roadside were playing chess, a few couples were strolling along the street, and the noisy city had turned quiet at this moment. The starry sky was deep and peaceful. Yu City shed its restless outer shell, beautiful and real.

With his arm propped on the window edge, only half of Chen Xi’s pale face showed through the car window. The breeze stirred the stray hairs on his forehead, and his eyelashes were long.

Lin Yiran glanced at the fragile figure in the passenger seat from the corner of his eye, turned off the air conditioner, and opened the window. The air outside was not as refreshing as the air conditioner, but the gentle breeze swept across his face.

Half a year ago, when Li Hua rode in his car, he had asked, “Why are you still running the air conditioner in spring?”

Lin Yiran had answered, “The ones who open the windows in spring are all poor bastards who can’t afford the air conditioner and want to save gas for the car.”

Now Lin Yiran had become that poor bastard, just to breathe the same air as Chen Xi.

When Chen Xi finished revising the contract template, Lin Yiran had just finished his proposal. He had originally wanted to eat with Chen Xi, but unexpectedly he took a phone call from a client invitation at the last minute, so he had to give it up.

The meeting place was in the north of Yu City. You could come straight from Lihua Building onto the Second Ring Road. Chen Xi’s home was a 7-minute walk from the company, and Lin Yiran insisted that he was on the way and would give him a ride. Of course Lin Yiran knew where Chen Xi lived, he could recite all the home addresses of the KAs by heart.

Excitement and exercise were Lin Yiran’s ways of venting his high-pressure life. When socializing, if a client wanted extra people to fill out the scene, he would bring them upstairs. If there were people, he would do it. If there were none, he would not take the initiative to look for them either. He had strong desires, but he was not addicted.

Up to now, Lin Yiran had not especially longed for anyone, but just now, after accidentally catching a glimpse of the edge of gray underwear, he wanted Chen Xi.

He instinctively rubbed Chen Xi’s head in the elevator lobby, instinctively bumped Chen Xi with his knee in the fish restaurant, instinctively locked the office door… A rational person should not have so many “instinctive” actions, but when facing Chen Xi, Lin Yiran was always not calm enough.

His actions came before thought. By the time he reacted and wanted to stop, wanted to pull back his leg, wanted to unlock the door, it was already too late.

The car was only moving at 40 miles an hour, yet Lin Yiran felt it was still not slow enough. He wanted this short trip to get stuck in traffic, preferably like the morning rush hour, blocked for an hour would be best. But midnight would not cause traffic jams, and the distance of less than 1 KM flashed by in less than 3 minutes, and Chen Xi’s residential compound had arrived.

The run-down compound had no public parking lot, so Lin Yiran could only park the car by the crowded roadside.

“You’re just going home like this?” Lin Yiran said, finding something to say. He wanted Chen Xi to invite him “upstairs to sit for a bit.”

“Ah.” Chen Xi unfastened his seat belt and did not look at him. “Brother Lin wants to treat me to dinner?”

After Chen Xi finished the contract template, he had thought Lin Yiran would ask him to eat, and he had even been struggling over whether to go. Although Lin Yiran had not done anything excessive to him again after that night, he often did things he could not avoid and could not escape.

After a year of working together, plus the continuously deepening contact recently, Chen Xi had mostly figured out Lin Yiran’s character. Chen Xi could not make sense of Lin Yiran, and he was afraid that Lin Yiran would suddenly do something else.

Chen Xi had not expected Lin Yiran to send him straight home, and just as his heart had settled down, Lin Yiran wanted to treat him to dinner again?

Your tastes change fast, and your thoughts change fast too. You really are fickle.

Lin Yiran rubbed his temples, then looked closely at the collarbone exposed at Chen Xi’s shirt neckline. A strange thought suddenly popped into his mind. For the first time, he put the client behind Chen Xi: If you invite me upstairs, I’ll turn the client down.

Lin Yiran’s Cadillac had not been changed for these 3 years. For a KA expert with a yearly salary of a million, this car was indeed not in line with his status.

Li Hua had once joked with Lin Yiran, “Why are you so attached to this car?”

Lin Yiran had answered, “Because it matches my status as someone who does leisure, fashion, and premium wellness services.”

But Chen Xi knew it was not like that.

He had ridden in Lin Yiran’s car 3 years ago, and by chance learned the origin of this car from Wang Jingjing’s mouth.

At the end of a quarter 3 years ago, Chen Xi was working overtime at Lanhai. It was raining heavily outside. On her way home after work, Wang Jingjing passed by Chen Xi’s workstation and asked, “Did Xiao Chen bring an umbrella?”

Chen Xi shook his head.

“Let’s study the client’s matter tomorrow. There are still two days before the end of the month,” Wang Jingjing said with concern. “This rain won’t stop for a while. You can’t get home without an umbrella, and our car is downstairs, we’ll give you a ride.”

Lin Yiran walked over, very naturally taking Wang Jingjing’s bag into his hand, and called to Chen Xi, “Hurry up, the elevator is coming, what are you still dawdling for.”

Chen Xi turned off the computer and trotted into the elevator.

Her long black hair slanted down from the top of her head like a waterfall, and the loose hair almost completely covered her slender waist. Wang Jingjing’s figure was like that of a girl in her late teens, while the corners of her eyes carried the mature poise left by time.

Lin Yiran wore a sharp suit, his shirt of excellent quality, fitting his perfect inverted-triangle build, broad shoulders and long frame. The metallic sheen of the tie clip reflected with the belt and wristwatch, every detail impeccable.

In the elevator, Lin Yiran held Wang Jingjing’s bag and his own briefcase with one hand, while the other hand was wrapped by Wang Jingjing.

At that time, Chen Xi thought: They matched so well, they were such a good pair.

There were many luxury cars in Lihua’s underground parking garage. Chen Xi saw the Cadillac and walked straight past it, not expecting Lin Yiran to suddenly stop and take out the car key. This inexperienced young man asked a really annoying question: “Why does President Lin drive this car?”

Chen Xi paid close attention to KA’s movements at all times, and knew that Lin Yiran had signed many key clients, with a yearly salary of at least several hundred thousand. At the time, he was puzzled, so he simply asked. If it were now, he would absolutely not ask such a stupid question that poked at someone’s weak spot.

Lin Yiran smiled but did not speak, opened the car door and got in, left hand driving, right hand holding a cigarette. Wang Jingjing snatched the cigarette from his hand and told him to “smoke a little less.”

Wang Jingjing said, “This car was allocated by Manager Zhang.”

Zhang Guangming valued talent. When Lin Yiran had just formed the KA team, he gave him this car. So Lin Yiran sold the Mercedes and drove the Cadillac every day.

The Cadillac was Zhang Guangming’s reward to Lin Yiran. Lin Yiran drove it every day to tell Zhang Guangming that he had not forgotten his identity, and no matter how much money he earned, he still remembered Lanhai. He did not tell others the origin of the car because he did not want to attract envy or cause extra trouble.

Besides Chen Xi, no one in KA knew how this car had come about.

Lin Yiran’s guard was very heavy, and it was too hard to pry two honest words out of his mouth.

So, if he directly asked things like “Why do you always flirt with me” or “What exactly do you want,” Lin Yiran would definitely avoid answering, just like last time when he ran off directly at the fish restaurant.

Then what were they?

Chen Xi carefully sorted through the relationship between the two of them, and the more he sorted, the more chaotic it became.

At the beginning, with Lin Yiran’s help, he passed the probation and training assessment, and then with Lin Yiran’s help, he found the breakthrough point for the face-to-face visit. His feelings toward Lin Yiran had already changed.

Chen Xi was very thick-skinned when it came to emotions. He had never liked boys, so he had not even thought of it in terms of “liking” at all.

Before he clearly understood his own feelings, he was always unconsciously drawn to Lin Yiran. After he had gone through countless hot nights and clearly understood his feelings, his “wrong feelings” toward Lin Yiran had already become a habit, and it was no longer fixable.

During those 2 years doing business work, Chen Xi had only interacted with Lin Yiran 3 times in total, and there was 1 more time Lin Yiran did not know about. To develop “liking” from just a few brief contacts, that “liking” did seem far too frivolous. He thought his feelings toward Lin Yiran were admiration, reverence, and admiration with affection, like a fan toward a celebrity.

After Wang Jingjing resigned, Lin Yiran came to the company even less often. Chen Xi thought: Fortunately, they were not in the same system, and there was little overlap in daily work.

Until later, when Chen Xi, by some twist of fate, transferred into KA, everything changed again.

Chen Xi was just an ordinary, unremarkable salesperson, doing this job only because he had to make a living. He had gotten through the rookie period smoothly only because Lin Yiran praised his name, helped him complete the assessment, and taught him negotiation skills. Because Lin Yiran said, “Come work for me,” he jumped into the KA pit of fire.

If not for Lin Yiran’s “active approach,” they would never have had any more contact.

Their relationship, after that chaotic night, completely changed.

The car had stopped, and Lin Yiran had not left for a long time, he was waiting for me to speak.

He wanted me to invite him upstairs?

It was impossible to invite him upstairs, absolutely impossible.

He had a wife!

How could I possibly fall for this morally corrupt beast!

Inside the summer night car, the two of them were silent, each with their own thoughts. Neither of them spoke, and neither of them moved.

Since getting in the car, Chen Xi had been turning his head to look out the window, never once facing Lin Yiran directly. From Lin Yiran’s angle, he could only see Chen Xi’s thick eyelashes, and could not see the face hidden behind them.

After about 10 seconds, seeing that Chen Xi had no intention of inviting him upstairs, Lin Yiran spoke first to break the silence: “I have an appointment later, so I can’t eat together with you today. I’ll make it up another day.”

Chen Xi nodded, got out of the car, and walked to the entrance. He paused there, and after less than two seconds, he coughed to wake the motion-sensor light, then went upstairs.

He only coughed until the 3rd floor, and climbed the 4th and 5th floors in the dark. After entering the room, he did not dare turn on the light. He used the curtains to block himself by the window and peeked out with a pair of eyes, looking toward the roadside.

The Cadillac was gone.

Chen Xi let out a breath of relief and collapsed onto the bed. Lin Yiran had not chased him upstairs like in a TV drama, and most likely had left as soon as he got out of the car.

He had said “I have an appointment,” not “I’m going home,” so it seemed he was not accompanying his wife. Who was making an appointment with him so late?

What were they meeting for?

His wife didn’t care, so why should I care what he’s doing?

His chest felt stuffy, like a lump of lead was blocking it. Chen Xi unfastened the buttons of his shirt and loosened his breath a little, but the effect was minimal.

It was a heart problem, not the shirt being too tight.

Chen Xi turned on the light and, not giving up, walked to the window again to confirm that the Cadillac really was gone.

Since the belt had not been unbuckled and the pants had just been kicked off with one foot, Chen Xi touched his flat stomach. It looked like he had gotten thinner again. During this half month, Chen Xi had not slept well or eaten well, if he didn’t lose weight, that would be strange.

Chen Xi had no special skills, unlike the other KAs who were glamorous and outstanding, signing clients only to complete assessments. He wanted his own key clients, and had been silently and unremarkably working hard. He had originally thought the pie of key clients would not fall on his head, and that his efforts would not bear fruit, but today Shining was signed.

No one knew Shining better than he did, no one knew Sun Xingshun better, and no one understood Lanhai’s operational advantages better. Shining really was something only he could sign.

Lin Yiran’s “not bad,” affirmed his effort, and was a form of recognition to him.

Chen Xi had always chased after Lin Yiran’s figure, wanting to become someone like him. Although there was still a big gap now, being acknowledged by the person he looked up to was extremely important to Chen Xi.

It was like a fan receiving a celebrity’s to-signed message, saying he wasn’t excited would be a lie.

The key client had been signed, and the person he looked up to had recognized him. His mood should have been good.

Chen Xi opened the food delivery app wanting to order a big meal to reward himself, but after looking left and right he found that he didn’t want to eat anything at all. He even lacked the mood to cook instant noodles now, and only wanted to lie dead on the bed.

Lin Yiran could push him up into the clouds, and of course he could also pull him back down into the abyss.

Thinking of Wang Jingjing, thinking of how well she matched Lin Yiran, thinking of her standing with her belly in the middle of the night waiting for her husband to come home, Chen Xi only felt sad. An unspeakable, huge sadness.

I can’t cross the red line of morality, interfere in their marriage, destroy their family, and hurt such a good person.

Whether 3 years ago or now, Chen Xi knew that his feelings would not be returned, and he accepted that.

Let it go, don’t think about it anymore.

Fortunately, Lin Yiran didn’t know I liked him.

It’s still not too late to stop now.

That little bit of liking mixed with unfaithfulness should not be seen in the light, it should be swallowed by the darkness.

Lin Yiran knew the top-floor apartment Chen Xi rented, but he only saw the first two motion-sensor lights come on.

In the office, Chen Xi shoved the door open, in the elevator lobby he let go and ran, even when he went home he only lit up two motion-sensor lights… His deliberate distance made it clear that he wanted to draw a line between us.

Lin Yiran did not want to draw a line between him and Chen Xi, but he did not know how to improve things.

Before this month, Chen Xi clearly was not like this. I had frozen our relationship to zero, and gradually made it rigid. I could sense Chen Xi’s wariness, and if you like someone, it should not be like this.

Most likely, Chen Xi’s feelings toward me had changed. After that night, Chen Xi saw me clearly and no longer liked me.

It felt as if someone had punched him in the chest, sour and swollen.

“He doesn’t like you, don’t keep thinking about these useless things.”

When it was time to cut off, Lin Yiran stepped on the gas without the slightest hesitation. If he had left 10 seconds later, Chen Xi would have seen his car.

Feelings that could not be seen in the light were swallowed by the night.