Xiao Konglin lowered his voice unconsciously. He looked at Qin Ningyi's expressionless face and cautiously handed over the folder in his hand.
Qin Ningyi, seeing Xiao Konglin's apprehension, took the folder and let him leave.
In Yuchang City, winter days were short. When Qin Ningyi looked up again, it was already past midnight.
His gaze fell on the coat Xiao Konglin had neatly placed on the sofa.
"Arou, you said this coat looked good."
"Then, why didn't you come back to see me?"
His handsome phoenix eyes narrowed slightly, overwhelmed by longing and sorrow.
Qin Ningyi let out a bitter laugh. In the silent office, all sounds were amplified infinitely. He had been in this office for many years, and working overtime until late at night was a common occurrence for him.
He enjoyed this quiet, and he enjoyed the time spent working in the office. Since his dreams were unattainable, immersing himself in work was also a way of escape.
But today, for the first time, he felt that working overtime alone until late at night was lonely.
Qin Ningyi stood up, closed the folder, turned off the computer, took a slightly old, thick suit jacket from the lounge, put it on, and carrying his bag, walked out of the office step by step, locking the door as usual and heading towards the elevator.
"Sorry, I'm working overtime today." His voice reached Qin Ningyi's ears as he passed Xiao Konglin's office.
In the past, the moment the president's office door closed, Xiao Konglin would pack up and wait for him at the elevator entrance. Today, he was clearly delayed by a phone call.
"No, no, President Qin is back today, but I have to help out. Tomorrow, tomorrow I'll treat you, okay?"
Qin Ningyi, listening to Xiao Konglin's hesitant and extremely cautious voice, gently knocked on the door.
"President Qin?" Xiao Konglin called out tentatively, quickly hanging up the phone and opening the door. "President Qin, you're done? Then I'll pack up right away."
Qin Ningyi looked at the smile still on his face. "Are you dating?"
Xiao Konglin froze, his face visibly flushing. He lowered his head. "Not yet, we're just ordinary friends."
Qin Ningyi looked at the dark circles under Xiao Konglin's eyes and the streaks of silver in his hair that shimmered in the light.
He recalled An An's voice, "Dad, Mom said you were sent by heaven. Heaven never cuts off people's paths. Everyone finds a partner when they reach a certain age. Then why hasn't Uncle Assistant found one at his age?"
"Is he out of line? Dad." An An's innocent eyes looked at him and asked sincerely.
At the time, he was only focused on the first part of An An's sentence and turned to tease Huo Rou. Now, recalling it, his heart felt a pang of sadness.
"You should leave work early tomorrow," Qin Ningyi said softly, watching Xiao Konglin turn to close the computer and grab his bag.
"Huh?"
Xiao Konglin felt like he had heard something incredible. Having followed President Qin, a workaholic, he was used to being busy all year round. Why the sudden change...
"How early?"
Xiao Konglin tentatively asked in a low voice.
Qin Ningyi sighed, looking at Xiao Konglin's delighted expression. "On time."
Before Xiao Konglin could express his surprise, he turned and walked towards the elevator. "Let's go."
He walked away without looking back, into the darkness, the motion-sensor lights in the dark corridor illuminating one after another.
Moving forward with the light.
Xiao Konglin looked at the extremely business-like jacket on Qin Ningyi. This jacket seemed to be something Qin Ningyi often wore when he first took over the company.
He slowly closed the door behind him and followed the slightly lonely figure in the light, despite his upright posture.
At this moment, Xiao Konglin didn't know whether to be happy that President Qin was finally showing such humanity.
As Qin Ningyi and Xiao Konglin entered the underground parking lot, a dark figure stood up from the ground beside a car.
As the sensor light came on, a familiar female voice rang out, "Why are you so late?"