Chapter 58: Qian Heng, this is a man’s last youth and his final madness!

The next morning, Cheng Yao, as usual, only got up when the alarm went off.

Since the weather turned cold, she had been having trouble “starting up.” So at this moment, standing in the living room and looking at Qian Heng who was sitting on the sofa, she was still a bit slow to react.

Cheng Yao instinctively checked her phone again—it was 8:15, that was correct.

Normally, if she got up at this time, Qian Heng would absolutely not still be here. He would probably have already arrived at the firm long ago. Why hadn’t he left today?

Full of questions, Cheng Yao finished washing up, then picked up the breakfast bento she had prepared the day before. At that point, Qian Heng, who had been sitting motionless like a mountain, finally stood up.

His expression was calm, and he was concise: “Let’s go.”

Cheng Yao: ???

Qian Heng glanced at her: “Hurry up, what are you standing there for? Don’t want the ride anymore?”

Cheng Yao snapped out of it and said joyfully, “I do! I do! Thank you, boss!”

Qian Heng looked so confidently righteous—righteous to the point that Cheng Yao felt everything he did or said was perfectly reasonable and beyond question. For a moment, she even forgot to wonder why her esteemed boss was actually waiting to give her a ride today.

***

When the car reached an intersection not far from Jun Heng’s office building, Cheng Yao proactively and sensibly said, “Boss, pull over here—I’ll just get off right at this spot!”

Qian Heng paused for a moment, then said awkwardly, “You don’t necessarily have to get off. It’s foggy outside today anyway, so no one can see clearly.”

“How could that work!” Cheng Yao turned the tables and patiently persuaded Qian Heng, “Boss, as you’ve taught me, many things fail at the last step because of that one tiny oversight—leaving everything to come to nothing. We especially can’t let our guard down on the small details. Don’t think that just because it’s foggy today, no one will see me getting out of your car. What if some version of this gets spread around and causes misunderstandings? That would really be no good.”

“…”

Cheng Yao didn’t wait for Qian Heng to respond. She quickly opened the car door at the intersection, thanked him, and hopped out at top speed.

The whole process was seamless for Cheng Yao—like flowing water—and Qian Heng didn’t even have time to stop her before he saw her bounce away from his car like a nimble little rabbit.

…

For some reason, he felt a twinge of displeasure.

***

Qian Heng’s lingering displeasure reached its peak after arriving at Jun Heng.

“Qian Heng, this Saturday is your twenty-eighth birthday!” Wu Jun had been sitting in his office since early morning, legs crossed, grinning with a scheming look on his face. “For a man, twenty-eight is a milestone. After twenty-eight, all your physical and mental metrics start declining. What used to be three times a night… from now on, you’ll be lucky to manage once.”

Wu Jun stared at Qian Heng, his expression utterly punchable. “So, twenty-eight is a man’s last burst of youth, his final chance to go wild. As your friend of so many years, I can’t let you waste your final prime years like this—spending your birthday buried in overtime.”

Qian Heng didn’t even lift his head. “No need. Spending it with you would be the real waste of my youth.”

Wu Jun wasn’t fazed in the slightest. He cleared his throat, completely unfazed by Qian Heng’s death glare, and announced on his own—

“I’ve decided. This Saturday, at your villa, we’ll invite all our colleagues from Jun Heng and throw you a one-of-a-kind birthday party. Even though you don’t have a girlfriend, at least you’ll be surrounded by the love of your coworkers as you tearfully bid farewell to your vigorous twenty-eight and step prematurely into middle age, marching toward thirty. That way, it won’t be too lonely.”

“I object to this event,” Qian Heng said expressionlessly. “Everyone here is a lawyer; we’re all very busy. On Saturday, people just want to rest at home. Don’t force them to attend some birthday party.”

“No one’s being forced!” Wu Jun said excitedly. “I already sent out the group email this morning announcing the party, and the response has been overwhelmingly enthusiastic!”

“…”

Qian Heng paused for a moment before asking casually, “Oh? So who exactly signed up?”

“Wang Lu, Li Minglei, Chen Cheng, plus everyone from admin, everyone from finance…”

“And?”

“Oh, also Bao Rui, Tan Ying, Zhang Qiang…”

Qian Heng continued naturally, “No one else?”

“Oh, right—there’s also Cheng Yao.” Wu Jun glanced at his phone. “She just replied to the email and signed up.”

Oh.

“See? So many people have signed up. Are you really still going to stubbornly cancel the birthday party?” Although Wu Jun had pulled this move of acting first and reporting later, he wasn’t entirely confident. With Qian Heng’s personality, he never cared about other people’s feelings—ghosts would show up first. Even if the entire universe signed up for his birthday party, if he wasn’t in the mood, the entire universe could get lost.

Yet today, Qian Heng was clearly in a good mood.

Though he still didn’t spare Wu Jun so much as a glance, and his expression remained unchanged as usual, Wu Jun could distinctly detect a note of pleasure in that otherwise flat tone.

“Oh, fine. Since so many colleagues want to come, I suppose I can reluctantly agree to host a birthday party.”

***

As soon as Cheng Yao arrived at the office today, she was immediately surrounded by Bao Rui and Tan Ying. The two of them looked somewhat anxious and uneasy.

Bao Rui clutched his chest, twisting his face in exaggerated worry: “I’m so worried.”

Tan Ying rubbed her forehead, her brows furrowed in distress: “I’m worried too.”

Cheng Yao: ???

Bao Rui shook his head dramatically: “I barely slept last night. I’ve been thinking nonstop—why did Qian Par suddenly start live streaming? Does he feel that making money through professional expertise is too hard and exhausting, and there’s no crowd worshiping him? But with live streaming, just selling his face, the gifts raining in one night could easily split into tens of thousands, right?”

Tan Ying pretended to wipe away tears: “Our Qian Par wouldn’t abandon us and debut as a center, would he?”

Bao Rui: “If Qian Par debuts as center, I wonder if he could get me an autograph from my favorite group, 18Girls.”

Tan Ying: “If Qian Par debuts as center, I’ll quit my job and follow him into the industry. That way, in maybe two years, I could finally get to ‘unspoken rule’ some fresh young idols.”

“…”

Cheng Yao was utterly speechless, torn between laughter and tears at these two drama queens performing their duet.

In the end, it was Bao Rui who broke character first: “By the way, for Qian Par’s birthday party this Saturday, have you all decided what gifts you’re preparing?”

Cheng Yao looked blank: “Birthday party???”

Tan Ying nodded: “Check your email. Wu Par organized it—it’s being held at Qian Par’s big villa. Last week, the Bar Association notified us to submit some materials and photos for Jun Heng’s party member activities. Wu Par said this counts as Jun Heng’s party activity this time, with the theme ‘Emancipating the Mind.'”

Bao Rui grinned mischievously: “Yeah, that night we’re definitely going to emancipate ourselves real good.”

Cheng Yao couldn’t help screaming in her head: Bao Rui! With thoughts like yours, if we don’t emancipate them, they’re already dangerously unrestrained!

But while the speakers meant it casually, the listener took it to heart. After Cheng Yao replied to confirm her attendance at the birthday party, she immediately started fretting over what gift to give Qian Heng.

Both sentimentally and rationally, she felt she ought to give something a bit more upscale.

All along, Cheng Yao had been full of gratitude toward Qian Heng. He was an excellent boss and a highly competent mentor.

Beyond that—setting all those aside—deep down, Cheng Yao also wanted to give him something nice. She thought about it without any burden: after all, with their roommate friendship from living together, this mindset of mine is perfectly normal.

During her lunch break, she couldn’t resist calling Qin Qin.

“It’s just… my boss’s birthday is coming up, and I’m planning to give him a gift. What do you think would be good?”

Qin Qin, being in public relations and marketing, was very knowledgeable about luxury goods. Upon hearing Cheng Yao, she was quite surprised: “A gift for that toxic boss of yours?”

“Yeah!”

“Well, true, you should butter up the boss a bit more.” Qin Qin thought for a moment. “I have a client here who has a gift box that’s perfect for you.”

“My client handles both established luxury brands and light-luxury custom items. With Christmas coming up soon, they’ve launched two gift box sets: one is Gift Box A targeted at couples; the other is Gift Box B targeted at elders or workplace superiors and subordinates.” As soon as the topic turned to work, Qin Qin’s voice became very professional. “I’ve seen the samples—they’re excellent. There’s nothing on the market right now that can compare in terms of homogenization; it’s extremely high-end. Do you want to get Gift Box B through me? I can have my client give you the internal price.”

“What’s inside Gift Box B?”

“That’s the gimmick— the contents are like blind boxes; every set is different. Since you’re choosing the men’s version, it could include limited-edition scarves, ties, red wine, men’s cologne, rare vintage vinyl records, or even paintings by somewhat well-known artists, and there’s usually a small playful surprise egg. It’s very interesting, and because of that, each box is unique and full of novelty.”

Cheng Yao’s eyes lit up! This sounded quite classy—exactly the kind of thing Qian Heng would like!

“Great! I’ll order one of these gift boxes. But I need it by this Saturday—can it be shipped to me in time?”

Qin Qin thought about it: “Should be no problem. I’ll send you the contact info of the person in charge—I’ve already put in a good word for you. Just reach out to them directly.”

Cheng Yao quickly added the contact.

The other party was straightforward: “Little miss, is this for a woman or a man?”

“A man! Gift Box B!”

“Do you need anything printed on the little card?”

“Yes, yes! Print this for me: ‘Wishing Boss happiness as vast as the East Sea and longevity greater than the South Mountain.'” Cheng Yao thought for a second, then shyly added, “Also write ‘Take me to riches and help me soar.'”

Since she was spending a lot of money on the gift, while flattering him, she might as well subtly hint at her own little selfish wish, right?

After all, even with Qin Qin’s connection, the final price was basically at cost—but given the level of this gift, it still cost Cheng Yao over two thousand yuan.

Still, once Qian Heng’s gift was settled, Cheng Yao was pretty happy about it.

The contact person on the other end grumbled a bit. With the year-end approaching, every industry was hectic and tough. They complained that far too many people were ordering this gift box—the factory couldn’t keep up with shipping, orders were piling up in heaps, and the staff in charge of fulfillment weren’t having an easy time either. Occasionally, wrong items got sent out, leading to complaints and arguments. Cheng Yao comforted them kindly for a while and thanked them profusely before finally hanging up.

In addition to this gift, she thought it over and decided to personally bake a cake for Qian Heng as well. It might not be worth much money, and the taste probably wouldn’t compare to one from a branded cake shop, but it would still carry her sincere heartfelt intentions.