Chapter 12

It was 8am and his Dad wasn't awake yet. Although it was not a weekday, his dad generally always got up before 7:30, so being a whole thirty minutes late was unusual but not rare.

Li Yuchen guessed that he must not have slept early the night before. He usually felt sorry for his dad and would never wake him up normally, knowing he needed to rest, but today, he was feeling very vengeful. Who asked his "dear dad" to threaten him with his beloved game accessories? Humph!

So Li Yuchen tiptoed to Li Chuanmo's bedside and called out in a whisper, "Dad, wake up". Of course Li Chuanmo didn't wake up —he didn't even stir. After putting his fingers to his father's nose and feeling the warm air, he went to the vanity and took out three sticks of cotton bud. He smiled mischievously.

Li Chuanmo was having a silly dream in which he was still at his study table, looking over the study documents. He came across a contract he needed to sign, so he called over his newly appointed Personal Assistant and asked for a pen. Instead the PA gave him a giant feather.

Suddenly, he began to float upwards, heading for the ceiling. As his head was about to collide with the ceiling, he suddenly felt a sensation in his ears, as if there was something stuck in them. It was a very ticklish feeling. He struggled to stop it, unconsciously trying to swat the thing off. As he did so, his fingers came in contact with something that fell off. He then slowly opened his eyes.

After taking some moments to adjust his eyes to the light, he noticed someone bent over on his right side. The ticklish feeling was now coming from the sole of his right foot. As he focused on that side, he saw Li Yuchen, bent over and moving something across his foot.

"What are you doing?"

"Ah, Dad, you're awake. How was your night?"

"Come here"

"Haha, let me go get your breakfast ready. See you Dad." Li Yuchen then raced away at the speed of light.

Li Chuanmo shook his head, trying to clear the last vestiges of sleep away. He habitually raised his hand to rub the back of his head. His left hand swept past something stuck in his left ear.

He took it out and saw it was a stick of cotton bud. Looking down, he saw another stick that had dropped on the bed, from his right ear. Remembering the one he saw Li Yuchen holding, he growled.

"LI. YU. CHEN!!!!!"

*****

After that morning fiasco, Li Chuanmo freshened up and had breakfast with Li Yuchen. He then went back to the study to continue his work. The office of the chairman had already sent his schedule for the first week in office ahead, and he had the first lesson with the Retired Chairman on Wednesday morning.

He had already compiled a list of questions pertaining to the management model the Retired Chairman used. He had to say he was personally impressed. It wasn't that it was rare, but that he managed to make it work so well, especially over a large group of people. It had elements of different management models, and he was interested in the skilful blending that produced such efficient results.

True to his workaholic nature, he began to look forward to Wednesday. He then called his PA, Gong Anwei for the meeting they agreed on to discuss the specifics of his schedule and to get the reports he had earlier requested. They didn't finish the video meeting until about six o'clock in the evening.

*****

Pei Yueran also received her schedule for the first week from her new secretary, Min Shiyi. They had yet to officially meet, but they had been communicating through emails and video calls.

Su Meilan, her former secretary had been made her personal assistant, and she was also going to work with her in City M.

She was going through the schedule Min Shiyi sent when she noticed that she had two meetings with the Retired Chairman, one on Tuesday, where she was to go alone, and another on Wednesday, when she would go with the new Chairman.

The Tuesday meeting was designated "Briefing by the Retired Chairman", and the Wednesday meeting was termed "First management lesson with the Retired Chairman".

She briefly wondered why, but concluded that there were additional instructions she needed to get in order to be a more efficient assistant to the new chairman.

She also asked questions about the various top projects at the headquarters that she would be working on once she resumed. They then discussed the details of her trip to City M. Min Shiyi informed her that her flight had already been booked for the next morning, and that her chauffeur would be waiting for her at the airport.

The flight would take about one and a half hours, so she would be in City M and settled by early afternoon with plenty of time to rest before going to the company. She was very satisfied with the arrangements.

After the ended the meeting, Pei Yueran went to prepare lunch. Since it was going to be her last meal for a while with Han Yichen, she went all out.

Since he could not eat spicy food, she ordered his favorites - honey sesame chicken, fried squid, sweet and sour pork chops. She also ordered hot and sour fish and spicy Mapo tofu for herself. While waiting for the delivery, she made fresh white rice, corn mushroom soup and eight treasure vegetables.

Han Yichen came to keep her company and also help her prepare the vegetables. By the time the rice was ready, the delivery man rang the doorbell. She thanked him politely and paid.

It was a massive spread. Both of them ate till they were stuffed. After lunch, they took a walk around the neighborhood to digest the meal and spend time together, holding hands.

Han Yichen was a mostly quiet kid, so he hardly talked. He gave one word answers and comments to the advice and words that Pei Yueran said. After about an hour of walking, they went back to the house.

They then loaded Han Yichen's two boxes into the trunk of Pei Yueran's car and drove to the orphanage. They had agreed that he wasn't going to see her to the airport, so the mood was quite somber as they drove along, each busy with their own thoughts.