Chapter 42- The Red Packet

Relating to Episode 25 of Love O2O Series.

When Hao Mei and KO made it in to work the next morning, the office no longer looked like a scene from a historical drama and apart from a bright red box left on Mei's desk, had returned to its usual muted hues. KO and Mei stood behind his computer chair, eyeing the box with great suspicion. Around them, conversation was hushed, as if their peers were waiting for their reaction. Which only made Mei even more reluctant to open the mysterious present. He nudged it with a ruler and when it didn't explode, gave it a harder shove. It slid sideways... then nothing. Picking it up, he frowned at the weight and gave it a shake. Something inside rustled? Or rattled? And was there a crinkle too? What the hell is in this thing?

"Open it."

"You open it."

"It wasn't on my desk."

"That's because they're all too scared of whatever you would do to their computers." Mei scowled at the package on his desk. "It's red. It's obviously for both of us. Why don't you open it?"

KO folded his arms. "I don't care."

"Huh?"

"You'll open it. Because you want to know what it is. I don't care."

"Ungrateful."

"Who do you trust to give you a red packet that you appreciate?"

"Ah...."

"This is not from him."

Mei had to acknowledge that KO had a good point. Xiao Nai's red packet was already in his desk drawer, waiting for him to file them away at home. Which meant that this box was from someone in the office... He looked around and noticed all the heads suddenly duck behind computer screens. Or maybe from everyone in the office. He wrinkled his nose at KO.

"Fine. But if anything jumps out at me, sicc 'em."

KO grunted agreement and watched over Mei's shoulder as he peeled the red wrapping paper off and used a key to slice open the tape keeping the box closed. Peeling the flaps back, they both peered inside.

"Nuts?" Confused, Mei pulled several packets of nuts out of the box. Some were cashews, some almonds, some mixed. Some were raw while others were roasted. The only thing they all had in common was that they were all salted. "Eh? Why salted nuts? I like the sweet snacks... why would they give me salty nuts?"

KO choked on air and, shaking his head, left his naïve furen to work it out himself.

"Hao.... Laosan is bringing me food but he's still not back. I'm starving," Yu Ban Shan sat on the edge of Mei's desk and whined. "Do you have anything to eat?"

"There are nuts in the drawer." And he still couldn't work out what that present had been about. The way everyone kept asking him for snacks and sniggering was really starting to get on his nerves. "Help yourself."

"Thank you!" Ban Shan dropped a kiss on the top of Mei's head, making the younger man rub his hair and scowl at him.

"Hurry up."

Rummaging through the drawer, Ban Shan pulled out a bag of nuts before something else caught his eye. While Mei concentrated on recoding a particular section of the game, Ban Shan snuck the files out of his drawer and ducked away. Mei continued working, oblivious to the drama that was about to unfold.

The first he knew of impending trouble, was when his screen went black.

"What are you doing?" He tried to turn his computer screen back on but Qui Yong Hou stopped him.

Ban Shan waved the files in front of Mei's face. "What's this?"

"That's mine!" He tried to rise out of his chair to grab the files but Qui Yong Hou pushed his shoulders back down while Ban Shan continued brandishing the files. "Give it back to me."

"Everybody! Come and look at this cunning boy!" Ban Shan's trumpeting caught the attention of several others and they crowded around Mei's desk. Mei covered Ban Shan's mouth with his hands, so Yong Hou picked up the narrative.

"Hao Mei has something to say to everyone!"

I do not. Bastards.

"What's that?"

"And there are two!"

"There are two!"

Mei's stomach flipped as everyone close enough to read the front of the files recognised them as House Purchase Agreements. Ban Shan sat on the edge of Mei's desk and rested his chin on his hand in a classic 'thinking' pose.

"Cunning Boy..." His voice was soft and Mei was shocked when his eldest brother abruptly leaned forward and grabbed him by the shoulders. "Why didn't you tell me when you went to rob a bank?"

Ban Shan's words were punctuated with sharp shakes and Mei's head felt like it was about to fly off his neck.

"Exactly, Mei. How much money do you have left from winning the lottery?" Yong Hou's grin encouraged others to pipe up.

"Buy houses for all of us!" Wang Wei's suggestion was met with cheers and Mei tried to escape but Ban Shan grabbed his tie, anchoring him to his chair.

"Mei... You're a wealthy man who has been hiding among us working class men." Li Qiang tsked and shook his head at the hapless Mei. "Why is that."

Letting go of Mei's tie, Ban Shan clapped a hand onto his shoulder instead and Mei almost wished he'd go back to pulling the tie.

"No... wait... Brothers... this is a harmonious society. We must be reasonable!" Feeling slightly panicked, Mei looked at the men looming over his chair and his throat went dry. "You guys... you guys can't get physical!"

Taking advantage of Ban Shan's momentary distraction, Mei ducked under outstretched arms and fled. "KO! KO! KO! Help! KO! Save me!"

He scurried between KO's legs and hid underneath his partner's desk. KO immediately swivelled around, arms stretched along his desk; the dragon guarding the gate. His glare gave the crowd pause, and Ban Shan attempted to reason with him.

"KO, we're in the same social class. You can't stand against the people."

"Exactly!"

"Let's get him out of the way!"

"Come on!"

It took a concerted effort for the group to pull KO away from the desk and the wheels on his computer chair hampered his attempt to stay protecting Mei. When Qui Yong Hou and Yu Ban Shan reached under the now exposed desk, Mei slid further underneath, popping up on the opposite side and brandishing a keyboard as a weapon.

"You damn Beauty!"

Ban Shan advanced on Mei then jumped back as he swung the keyboard at him. "Hao Mei, how could you do this to me? When we were in school, a rich boy like you was borrowing money from a poor student like me? You borrowed dozens at a time! Have you given me a cent back?"

"Do you think I wanted to?" Mei knew he owed his brothers an explanation but he still didn't want to face their teasing and he really didn't want his private affairs being bandied around the office. Just look at the wedding the pair of them held! No way would they be able to keep their mouths shut about either his part-time work or his hobby. "I really was poor at that time. I applied to Qing University behind my dad's back. I only got 600 yuan a month! If I knew Bejing had laosan and sandstorms, I wouldn't have come!"

"Who cares whether you'd come? Catch him!" At Ban Shan's words, the crowed surged forward once more and Mei fended them off with the keyboard.

"I'll treat you to dinner!"

It was like his words had been the cue for a new scene, and Mei found himself sitting in his computer chair, shoulders slumped, as his peers argued over where he was going to take them for dinner.

"I found a hotpot place nearby that's really good. The food is great and it's cheap."

"Ha! Eating such inexpensive hotpot is an insult to Mei's two houses." Ban Shan scoffed from his perch on Mei's desk. Mei hugged his files close to his chest.

"That's right!"

"We need to eat the most expensive food. Junior Wei Wei, what do you want to eat?"

"It's fine, as long as it's expensive." When directly entreated, Wei Wei joined their teasing but shuffled closer to KO. They'd both been exiled to the outskirts of the conversation with the men claiming that KO and Wei Wei were too sympathetic towards Hao Mei to be allowed any closer.

"You guys... you're all terrible." Mei turned wide eyes towards his partner and saosan, silently begging them for help.

Li Qiang's face brightened. "Let's have seafood. Seafood is pricey and easily racks up to a few thousand yuan. It completely matches up with the image of a rich boy."

"It's seafood then. How about the late-night stall nearby?" He wasn't sure who suggested it but for a brief moment Mei had a glimmer of hope. The late-night stall wasn't very expensive compared to a restaurant.

"Look at you guys." When Ban Shan spoke up, Mei hung his head, his bubble of hope popped on his eldest brother's sharp tongue. "Do you know what 'high end' means? Is a seafood stall classy enough? Right, Mei?"

"Isn't that right?"

"Absolutely."

As the comments began to turn towards expensive restaurants, Mei noticed Xiao Nai approaching. Laosan! Save me!

Ban Shan noticed him too. "Laosan, you've been to many places. Pick a place. Let's get something out of Mei."

The rowdy group quietened as they looked at Xiao Nai's solemn expression.

"Everybody to the conference room in five minutes for a meeting."

Mei gave a sigh of relief as everyone's attention diverted away from the issue of seafood. As everyone headed towards the conference room, he tucked his files into KO's drawer. No nosy brothers would dare to go looking in there for them. As he shut the drawer, KO leaned over him from behind, arms going around his waist and hot breath on the nape of his neck.

"They don't know. Otherwise they wouldn't go so far."

"I don't care."

"Yes you do."

"I don't want to care right now."

KO nodded at that more accurate statement. "Hmm."

A rumbling stomach interrupted Mei's pouting. "Hungry?"

"Hmm."

"Want some salty nuts?"

"Only if they're yours?" Mei blinked at KO who openly laughed at the utter confusion written across the younger man's face. "Mei... never change."

He scowled. "Whatever you're laughing at... it's not my fault!"