After three consecutive nights of poor sleep, Yan Luji’s temples hurt as if someone were stabbing needles into them. His brain was reacting slower than usual, and even speaking felt exhausting.
“President Yan, Mr Li Qiu, the general manager of Orange Hotel, wants to discuss the design issues regarding the hotel-management system their hotel independently developed.” Assistant Zhang began reporting his schedule for the day. “I’ve arranged it for two o’clock this afternoon. General Manager Li will personally come to our company then.”
“Got it.” Yan Luji nodded.
“At three-thirty, you need to discuss the public beta time for the new game with the person in charge of the Games Department.”
“Anything else?” Yan Luji asked with a headache.
“Aside from the documents on your desk that need your attention, there’s nothing else for today for the time being,” Assistant Zhang said.
“All right. Don’t transfer any calls to me today, and don’t let anyone enter my office,” Yan Luji instructed.
“President Yan, are you feeling unwell again?” Assistant Zhang asked tentatively.
“I’m fine.” Yan Luji waved his hand. “Go back to work.”
Assistant Zhang looked at his boss with some concern, but in the end, he said nothing and turned to leave the office, closing the door behind him.
Yan Luji forced himself to stay alert and managed to sign three documents before he really could not hold on anymore. If he did not sleep for a while, he would have no energy to meet the general manager of Orange Hotel in the afternoon.
Yan Luji pushed open the office door and said to Assistant Zhang outside, “If anything comes up, find me in the infirmary.”
“Yes.” Assistant Zhang stood up and replied.
Yan Luji rubbed his aching temples, his brows tightly furrowed. When he reached the eighth floor, his feet, which should have been walking toward the Western Medicine Health Room, were drawn in by the scent of traditional Chinese medicine. Before he knew it, he had entered the Traditional Chinese Medicine Health Room.
“Is… is something wrong?” Lin Yao suddenly saw Yan Luji and remembered that this man was the park god she had been obsessing over for more than a month. She immediately felt somewhat awkward.
Yan Luji did not know if it was just his imagination, but after being surrounded by the roomful of medicinal fragrance, his headache seemed to ease a little.
“Are you feeling unwell?” Lin Yao noticed that Yan Luji’s complexion was not right and stood up, about to walk over.
“Sorry, can I borrow a place to sleep for a while?” Yan Luji suddenly asked.
“I’ll check you over first,” Lin Yao said, unable to stop herself from worrying when she saw how terrible his complexion was.
“No need, thank you.” Yan Luji took that as agreement. He walked straight past Lin Yao, headed behind the folding screen toward the folding bed, lifted the blanket, and lay down.
From the first day she met Yan Luji, Lin Yao had known that this man did not sleep well. She had reminded him several times, but perhaps because their first impression of each other had been too poor, Yan Luji did not seem to trust her.
People who were light sleepers could not tolerate even the slightest noise. Fortunately, the Traditional Chinese Medicine Health Room had always been quiet and deserted. Lin Yao gently closed the door of the health room, then deliberately lightened her footsteps as she returned to her seat.
Yan Luji lay on the bed, breathing in the medicinal fragrance. He tossed and turned for half an hour before he gradually fell asleep.
When Lin Yao noticed that the movement behind the folding screen had finally quietened, she unconsciously frowned. When Yan Luji came in, he had looked extremely exhausted, clearly already tired to the limit. Yet even like this, it still took him half an hour before he could barely fall asleep.
“You’re just too soft-hearted.” Lin Yao stood up as if resigning herself to fate, quietly walked behind the folding screen, and planned to check Yan Luji’s complexion.
People who slept poorly were very easily awakened again after falling asleep. Lin Yao did not dare look for too long, so she only hurriedly checked him before retreating from behind the screen.
Lin Yao walked to the medicine cabinet, casually pulled out a sheet of paper used for wrapping medicine, and spread it on the table. Then she reached into the medicine cabinet and picked out around twenty different medicinal herbs, placing them onto the wrapping paper.
This was a simple calming prescription. Boiled in water and taken orally, it had a sleep-aiding effect. Its medicinal fragrance itself could also soothe the nerves, though the effect was a little weaker. Seeing that Yan Luji was not sleeping soundly, Lin Yao’s heart softened for a moment, so she decided to prepare a packet of medicine, hoping it would help him sleep more peacefully.
Lin Yao carefully walked behind the folding screen, opened the packet of medicine in her hand, and placed it on the movable cabinet by the man’s bedside. A faint medicinal fragrance spread through the air, and the man’s tightly furrowed brows loosened slightly. Seeing that the medicinal packet was working, Lin Yao unconsciously curved her lips.
Yan Luji could not say that this sleep was deep and sweet, but he truly had not slept this peacefully in a long time. When he woke up in a daze and raised his hand to check the time, he saw that it was already one-thirty in the afternoon.
He had actually slept for three and a half hours? Yan Luji found it somewhat unbelievable.
He had a meeting at two, so Yan Luji had no choice but to get up. He tidied his messy hair and collar, then walked out from behind the folding screen. The man had originally planned to greet Lin Yao before leaving, but at a glance, he saw someone sleeping soundly with her head on the desk.
The man raised his hand to confirm the time again. Then he turned back behind the folding screen, picked up the blanket from the bed, walked over to her side, and carefully draped it over the sleeping Lin Yao.
She was even drooling in her sleep. How enviable.
Yan Luji moved the teacup by Lin Yao’s hand farther away to prevent her from accidentally knocking it over in her sleep. Then he picked up a sticky note from the desk and left a line of writing. Only then did he get up and leave. When he left the health room, he also adjusted the air conditioner temperature higher.
“Boss.” On the way back, Yan Luji happened to run into Assistant Zhang, who had come looking for him.
“Are the people from Orange Hotel here?” Yan Luji asked.
“They’re already in the meeting room,” Assistant Zhang said.
“Bring the materials to the meeting room.” After giving the instruction, Yan Luji turned and walked toward the meeting room.
…
After sleeping enough, Lin Yao woke up in a daze. As soon as she sat upright, the blanket on her back fell to the floor with a slap. Lin Yao blankly picked up the blanket from the floor, clearly not remembering when she had covered herself with it.
“Hm?” Lin Yao immediately saw the eye-catching sticky note on her computer screen.
**[Afternoon working hours begin at 13:00.]**
“You have the nerve to talk about me?” Lin Yao tore off the sticky note. “You came here to sleep at ten in the morning, and I haven’t even gone to HR to complain.”
After she finished being indignant, she glanced at the blanket in her hand and said in disbelief, “Could it be…”
“You clearly knew I overslept, but you didn’t wake me up, and you even covered me with a blanket?” Lin Yao seemed to have discovered a new continent. “This is classic saying-one-thing-but-meaning-another behaviour. Total warm-man style.”
Lin Yao smiled, folded the blanket neatly, and placed it back on the folding bed. Then she rewrapped the calming medicinal packet on the bedside cabinet and put it away.
“This packet of medicine wasn’t wasted after all.”
…
Ever since he had slept comfortably in the health room on Monday, Yan Luji had tasted the marrow and known the flavour. Every afternoon, he came to the health room to report for his nap. Lin Yao knew that he did not sleep well, and since their relationship had eased somewhat recently, she naturally did not stop him.
But after this back and forth, the two of them saw each other more often, and naturally, they interacted more too. As their relationship eased, Lin Yao’s maiden heart, which had fallen for her park god at first sight, began to beat restlessly again.
That day, after Yan Luji finished his afternoon nap and went back to work, Lin Yao truly could not hold herself back anymore. She called her male best friend, Student Xiao Ming.
“Tell me, isn’t he deliberately seducing me?” Lin Yao asked, clutching her chest.
“Don’t make excuses for your lust,” Yue Mingyuan retorted without mercy.
“He comes here every afternoon to sleep. If that’s not seduction, then what is…”
“He clearly has a sleep disorder, which is why he comes to the infirmary to rest. Don’t twist right and wrong. If he knew that just coming over to sleep made you set your sights on him, he’d probably be scared to death…”
“Whose side are you on?” Lin Yao questioned him.
“All right, all right. Continue…”
“I’ve been thinking about it recently. Actually, he’s not bad as a person. Look, when I fell asleep, he even covered me with a blanket. He smiles at me now, and he doesn’t snipe at me anymore.” Lin Yao counted them out one by one. “And last time when I was hit by the electric bike, he ran down from his car and carried me to the roadside, then after bringing me back, he carefully helped me apply medicine.”
“Have you forgotten the time he kicked you off the bed?”
“Wasn’t that a misunderstanding?” Lin Yao said.
“Then what exactly do you mean?”
“Xiao Ming, I feel like I’m about to lose control,” Lin Yao wailed.
“No one told you to control yourself,” Yue Mingyuan laughed loudly.
“Then can you ask your cousin about Yan Luji’s current personal situation for me?” Lin Yao picked at the table, acting shy and awkward.
“So that was the purpose of your call?” Yue Mingyuan rolled his eyes on the other end of the phone.
“Will you help or not?” Lin Yao asked.
“Do you really like him?” Yue Mingyuan asked, somewhat disbelieving.
“You help me ask around first. I’ll observe him a little more,” Lin Yao said.
“All right. Tomorrow is the weekend, so I’ll ask my cousin out. When the time comes, I’ll dig out even Yan Luji’s eighteenth generation ancestors for you,” Yue Mingyuan said readily.
“Xiao Ming, you’re loyal!”
**Author’s note:**
Yaobao is about to start taking action…
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