“Even if something happened, your workplace is right next to our lab. They’d notify you immediately,” Su Huanliu added promptly.

Hearing this, Fa Muzhi knew he couldn’t press the topic further. Glancing at his wristwatch—a gift from Su Huanliu years ago—he stood up. “It’s almost time. I should head to work.”

Seeing Su Huanliu still seated, Fa Muzhi frowned. “If you’re going to work, try not to be late.”

Su Huanliu gave a faint smile, leaving his half-eaten meal on the table as he rose.

Only then did he notice that, though Su Huanliu looked frail and pale, with a slender frame, he was surprisingly tall—a full half-head taller than the 178 cm-tall Fa Muzhi standing beside him.

As he rose, Fa Muzhi caught that familiar scent again.

It seemed to permeate Su Huanliu’s entire being, faintly wafting with every movement he made.

Then, the scent surged toward him—

Su Huanliu reached out a hand and pressed down on his collar.

“It’s a bit stiff.”

Realizing he couldn’t smooth the stiff collar with his hands, he produced an exquisitely crafted spray bottle from somewhere. He gave the unruly collar a distant spritz—the same fragrance emanating from Su Huanliu now clung to him. Before releasing his grip, Su Huanliu retrieved a slender, clip-like object from nearby and pressed it firmly against the collar.

By the time he withdrew, the corner lay perfectly smooth.

It clung to his form with flawless precision, mirroring every meticulously tailored edge on Su Huanliu’s own suit.

Only then did Su Huanliu begin putting on his own jacket.

Unlike the Western-style suit jacket worn by Fa Muzhi, his was a Chinese-style blazer—a stand-up collar and wide sleeves designed for ease of movement without bulk or cumbersomeness. As Su Huanliu’s slender arms emerged from the sleeves, they revealed about ten centimeters of snow-white shirt cuffs adorned with exquisite cufflinks.

This was a popular suit style in these parts, worn by many, yet Su Huanliu was the most impeccably suited individual he’d ever seen in such attire.

But then again, it was no surprise. Others simply couldn’t maintain it as he did.

Of course! Many women carry curling irons, but how many men carry portable irons?!

And this guy didn’t just groom himself—he groomed everyone around him, too, like him.

Influenced by Su Huanliu, he’d developed the habit of hanging and ironing his suit daily upon returning home. He considered himself quite particular, though his standards still couldn’t compare to Su Huanliu’s.

Meanwhile, Su Huanliu, who dressed himself, had even redirected his extra attention toward Fa Muzhi.

Staring at the black-clad youth who always urged him to hurry yet never failed to wait patiently, Su Huanliu smiled and said, “Your mother’s tailoring skills keep improving. This new outfit she made for Zhizhi fits perfectly—the waistline is subtly cinched, not too obvious, just right.”

Hey… I never mentioned I was wearing new clothes, did I? How did he notice? And he stated it so confidently…

Fa Muzhi stared at him speechless. “Marrying you would be terrifying.”

“Why?”

“Because even a single missing hair would be noticed. That’s terrifying.”

“Isn’t that a good thing? Those are the little details only a loving gaze would notice~” Smiling as he fastened the last button, Su Huanliu finally finished dressing. He didn’t even need to pick up the basket of eggs himself—Fa Muzhi had already snatched it away before he could reach for it, handing it directly to the bodyguard waiting nearby. Only then did the three of them walk out, two in front and one behind.

The moment the door opened, the fragrance of blooming cherry blossoms outside the restaurant instantly dispersed the coffee scent lingering on them.

Like every corner of the city this season, vibrant cherry blossoms bloomed everywhere here. Beneath the trees, hurried office workers streamed by, their destination the gleaming glass office towers ahead—tall and short, each with its own architectural style. For those getting off at this stop, their workstations were almost certainly housed within one of these buildings.

Su Huanliu and Fa Muzhi were no exception.

However, neither of their workplaces was in the tallest glass skyscraper. Instead, they were housed in two shorter office buildings at its base.

The building on the right, though shorter, appeared more elegant and modern than the tallest office tower. Not only did its materials look more expensive, but its security seemed noticeably stricter and higher-grade. The people entering and exiting wore less formal attire than other office workers, appearing quite casual instead.

This was the research institute where Su Huanliu worked.

Its full name is Sunshine Life Research Institute, housing several large and small laboratories. Su Huanliu worked in one of the smaller labs, specializing in rare diseases.

That’s right—Su Huanliu’s main job was as a rare disease researcher. Surprising, isn’t it?

Yet it was the job he considered most suited to him.

“Rare diseases, you know~ Some conditions have barely any patients. With fewer samples, the work is way easier than in other labs. Besides, this is exactly where I’m needed most.”

Need your money—as Su Huanliu said this, Fa Muzhi silently added the missing words in his head.

True enough. Fewer patients, fewer samples—the rarer the disease, the harder it is to research, and the tighter the funding.

Few patients meant a small market, and no market meant no commercial value. Few labs ever volunteered for such projects. No wonder Su Huanliu found a job immediately upon arriving.

He joined the “group” with his own funding.

“Work hard. Those kids with rare diseases need you.” Before parting, Fa Muzhi told him. But the words felt off as soon as they left his mouth, so he added, “Don’t work too hard though—let your strong, healthy colleagues put in more effort.”

“If you get the chance, have them study your condition too. Your frail body feels like it should hold the key to a solution.” After giving Su Huanliu these parting words and watching him swipe his card into the office building—bodyguard and eggs in tow—Fa Muzhi turned and headed toward the adjacent, slightly shorter office building.

Not only was this building low, but it looked old, too. Calling it the shabbiest structure in the neighborhood wouldn’t be an exaggeration, especially since it didn’t even have an elevator.

The trading company where Fa Muzhi worked occupied the top floor of this building.

Basic security was nonexistent. Every floor was a chaotic jumble of small companies, constantly changing tenants. Fa Muzhi had no idea how many businesses actually occupied the place.

Their floor, however, was occupied solely by their company. This wasn’t due to a generous boss or a large workforce, but rather because the rent was cheap, the location was prime, and it included an attic. Their boss had simply decided to store the warehouse here, too, right behind their office space. Most of the floor, plus the entire attic, was filled with the various products their company sold.

“Good morning,” Fa Muzhi greeted his colleagues inside the office after swiping his card at the entrance.

“G-o-o-d… m-o-n-i-n-g…” The young man sprawled across the first desk by the door was their company’s procurement officer, Zhu Fang. He didn’t know what other companies’ procurement staff looked like, but theirs all seemed to have a “sapped of vitality” appearance—ahem, Of course, such a description wasn’t something Fa Muzhi would utter; it came from another procurement officer at their company.

Just as she thought of Wei Shu, she arrived. Right after Zhu Fang gave his sluggish reply, the company’s other procurement officer—Wei Shu—showed up, dressed in a tracksuit. She didn’t look much better than her colleague; the fact that her eyelids were even open was probably thanks to the coffee in her hand.

“Morning,” Wei Shu greeted Fa Muzhi, sipping her coffee while setting another cup before the exhausted-looking Zhu Fang.

“You guys… pulled another all-nighter on a procurement trip?” Fa Muzhi asked hesitantly, observing their state.

“Uh-huh…” came the half-hearted, simultaneous response from both colleagues.

“Oh, right—yesterday we couldn’t buy tickets for part of the route, couldn’t hail a cab either, so we ended up biking the whole way. Can we get reimbursed for that?” Zhu Fang suddenly sat up, remembering the crucial question.

“Do you have receipts?” Fa Muzhi asked.

“Well… we… just borrowed bikes from random people on the street…” Zhu Fang’s voice trailed off.

After a moment’s thought, Fa Muzhi replied, “In principle, you’d need to find that person to issue you an official invoice for reimbursement.”

Watching Zhu Fang slump back onto the desk, utterly defeated by the answer, Fa Muzhi added, “I’ll call the boss later to confirm. For now, hand over the other invoices from both locations.”

“Alright!” Hope reignited, Zhu Fang hurriedly gathered his receipts. But when he handed over the crumpled stack of invoices and contracts to the desk—

“Organize all receipts by location and date before submitting them. Otherwise, they won’t be processed.” The same Fa Muzhi who’d just shown him leniency now turned stern and refused him again.

He did, however, hand Zhu Fang a glue stick.

“Thanks… How did you know I was out of glue sticks again…” Holding the stick, Zhu Fang reflexively thanked him.

“Because every time your receipts get rejected, the second thing you do is ask me for a glue stick,” Fa Muzhi said, raising an eyebrow. “This is the fifth glue stick you’ve borrowed from me this month. The previous four were never returned. Given that your glue stick usage this month is about to exceed a normal employee’s consumption, I’m reminding you: if you fail to return this one, I might need you to submit a stationery request form for your department.”

Wei Shu, idly sipping coffee beside them, immediately chimed in, “Not a department request form! I’m in the same department as him, but I never carelessly discard stationery!”

Fa Muzhi showed no intention of retracting his words. As Wei Shu’s gaze shifted from Fa Muzhi to Zhu Fang, he promptly added, “This time, I’ll keep a close eye on him sticking those receipts.”

With that, he plopped down beside his colleague.

A little while later, when Zhu Fang submitted the receipts and contracts again, the glue stick was indeed still there—though more than half of it was gone.

He must have been to quite a few places—Fa Muzhi thought, glancing over the thick stack of expense vouchers.

Next to arrive for work was the company’s warehouse manager, Xiao Zhang—he was coming to hand over the shift to the other warehouse manager, Lao He. The two worked alternating day and night shifts to ensure the warehouse was always staffed.

“Good morning, Brother Fa!” Xiao Zhang greeted him with youthful vigor.

“Good morning,” Fa Muzhi replied.

As this year’s university graduate, Xiao Zhang was now the youngest employee in the company, while Lao He was the oldest. Why the younger one worked the day shift and the older one the night shift… Fa Muzhi… Fa Muzhi didn’t know.

Internal department matters weren’t his concern.

These few were the earliest arrivals at the company. After greeting them, Fa Muzhi headed straight to his office. As the department responsible for safeguarding all company documents and invoices, Accounting was the only division with its own dedicated office—though he was the company’s sole accountant.

Closing the door, Fa Muzhi began tackling his tasks.

Yesterday’s tasks were already completed. What he needed to handle now were the two stacks of expense vouchers and contracts he’d just received. By the time he finished processing these, his colleagues from the sales department would have arrived, bringing new materials. He would then continue his busy routine.

This was the daily routine of Fa Muzhi.