AGRCIW CH8

Chapter 8: CEO Lin has his ways.

The rings were colorful, and Tang Huhu was almost covered like a Christmas tree.

Two yuan per ring, and Huhu could still catch them.

The little rascal was having a blast.

Xie Zhuo closed his eyes. If he viewed Tang Huhu as child labor, it would be unforgivable. But from another perspective, seeing the customers as paid playmates offered a little comfort.

Regardless of whether they managed to loop a ring around him, the little rascal inside the ring laughed loudly, unlike his feigned attentiveness at academic conferences.

He had only taken Tang Huhu to play ring toss once, and Tang Huhu returned saying he wanted to set up a stall to sell toys too.

The second time, he took him to a night market, where Tang Huhu saw a ring toss stall with live animals, making him realize, “Baby can toss too!”

Xie Zhuo deliberately didn’t pick up the rings on the ground, so he had none to sell, hoping the little rascal would take a break.

But… some customers actually stepped inside to pick them up themselves, counted them, scanned the code to pay, and continued playing.

Xie Zhuo: “…” The little rascal was simply too popular.

The little rascal noticed fewer customers, and let out a soft “mm.” It must be that the rings were all on the ground and not enough were available.

The little rascal tried to squat down to pick up the rings, but he was top-heavy and plopped onto the ground, like an overturned astronaut figurine.

Xie Zhuo went over and picked him up. Tang Huhu immediately struggled, eager to continue “working.”

“Tang Huhu.”

The little rascal was engrossed in picking up rings.

“Xie Yuanxi.”

The little rascal put down the rings, rubbed his hands on himself, indicating he hadn’t done anything.

Calling him by his full name was truly intimidating.

Xie Zhuo opened his goggles and met a pair of round, eager eyes: “Take a break, drink some water. Daddy will pick them up.”

Tang Huhu: “Okay, Daddy.”

Xie Zhuo took off his helmet, pulled out the straw from the cup, and put it in his mouth. He then went into the “field” to tidy up the rings and arrange the displaced toys.

Tang Huhu sat on the ground drinking milk, taking a halftime break. The big sisters around him actually didn’t leave, as if they were truly watching an astronaut from the Shenzhou spacecraft return to Earth and reveal his true face to greet everyone.

Xie Zhuo tried to politely suggest they leave: “Sorry, my child—”

Passerby: “Your child could be a child model!”

Xie Zhuo: “…”

“Daddy, I’m rested.” Tang Huhu requested.

“Daddy, I’m fee-ling good, oh.” Tang Huhu imitated an astronaut, speaking with exaggerated intonation.

What could Xie Zhuo do? He could only indulge the little one who wanted to go to space.

Tang Huhu sat back in the center of the stall. “Baby can toss too!”

Tang Huhu asked Daddy to write this sentence on a cardboard sign, but his Ph.D. father refused to comply. Tang Huhu couldn’t write, so he could only broadcast it verbally.

[WeChat Pay collection, two hundred yuan.]

A long, fair hand pressed down on a large stack of rings beside Xie Zhuo’s foot.

Xie Zhuo sensed the incoming trouble upon hearing the number. Buying too many at once—what if they all piled onto the little rascal?

He quickly pressed down on the other side of the rings. Two equally beautiful and strong hands held firm.

Xie Zhuo looked up at the newcomer and paused.

Lin Songyu leaned slightly, his gaze clear as he looked at the man sitting on the folding stool. At such close range, he could clearly see the loose thread on the cotton jacket.

He somewhat forcefully dragged the rings over.

Xie Zhuo somehow let go.

Lin Songyu straightened up, clutching a stack of rings, and stood directly in front of the little rascal.

Tang Huhu’s eyes lit up when he saw it was Uncle: “Uncle, toss me!”

Lin Songyu weighed them, then lightly tossed a ring. The first ring gently hit the little rascal’s backside, the second touched his arm.

A Tsinghua Ph.D. setting up a street stall, huh.

A single father selling his son, huh.

“Can I take him home if I get a ring around him?”

Tang Huhu: “You can take him home!”

The little rascal sat on the ground, spreading his boots apart to make it easier for Uncle to ring him. Noticing that Uncle’s technique wasn’t very good, he used both hands to support his large helmet, preventing it from shaking along with his gaze, so Uncle wouldn’t miss.

But he was being overly considerate of Uncle.

Rings flew from Lin Songyu’s hand, landing perfectly on the little rascal’s head like angels’ halos, falling in a colorful cascade, each one bouncing the last away, like a vibrant fireworks display.

“Wow!” Tang Huhu looked up into the colorful world from inside his helmet. Uncle was amazing.

If Xie Zhuo had this skill, the father and son wouldn’t have lost money with ring toss and decided to start their own business instead.

The onlookers were also impressed by Lin Songyu’s skill and started to jeer: “Don’t just ring the little rascal, ringing a person only gets you candy. Ring all his toys, see if he cries.”

“What a terrible idea… I want to see too.”

“So handsome, his hands are so beautiful.”

His hands were so beautiful that it was certain the two-yuan ring was the smallest chip he had ever handled.

Lin Songyu ignored them. When only five rings remained in his hand, he stopped.

The field suddenly fell silent. The little rascal swayed slightly from side to side. Was Uncle not playing anymore?

Lin Songyu held a red ring between his thumb and forefinger, then casually raised his gaze to re-evaluate the angle.

Everyone around thought he had taken their advice and was going to ring the little rascal’s toys—the little rascal’s toys hadn’t disappeared much all morning, which was truly a no-cost, high-profit venture.

Whoosh.

The ring flew over the little rascal’s head, over the toy stall, and landed precisely on the silent man’s head.

His fluffy, coarse black hair wasn’t flattened by the ring. Instead, the ring wobbled and bounced, rolling down from his head, past his shoulders.

Xie Zhuo’s gaze followed the rolling ring, then returned to Lin Songyu’s feet.

Lin Songyu returned his gaze, undisguised, with coldness and challenge in his raised eyebrow.

“Hiss—” The onlookers let out low gasps of surprise, then looked at Lin Songyu with admiration. As expected of an elite beauty, his expression looked like he’d just come from a negotiation table. He immediately did what they wouldn’t dare—

“I want to ring the handsome guy too!”

“Don’t even think about it, they clearly know each other.”

“Damn, doesn’t that ring look like a coat hanger? Hit the kid, then hit the husband.”

“If you insist on seeing it that way… just now, the beauty’s first hit was the little rascal’s butt.”

“The little rascal has no idea he’s being hit.”

“But his dad does.”

Xie Zhuo stood motionless, like a silent statue, even looking a little guilty.

Well, bearing it for his son, he must have been quite willing.

“Mmm! Ring Daddy too!” The little rascal spoke as if he wanted to sell everything, pulling off his helmet and moving closer to Lin Songyu to see better.

Xie Zhuo glanced at his “filial” son, silently enduring Lin Songyu’s provocation.

Lin Songyu raised his chin, deciding to perform for the little rascal.

Every time he hit, the little rascal cheered.

The ring fell from the top of his head, bouncing along Xie Zhuo’s high nose bridge, just like its arrogant temporary owner.

Xie Zhuo: “…” He knew it wasn’t a good day to open for business. Business was over. Time to take the child home for dinner.

After throwing five rings, Lin Songyu clapped his hands, pulled a handkerchief from his pocket, and wiped the excited sweat from Tang Huhu’s forehead.

Xie Zhuo unfolded his suitcase and started packing up the toys.

Everyone dispersed, a bit disappointed. Why didn’t the handsome man say anything after breaking up the stall? By rights, both sides should have argued and explained the reasons.

Tang Huhu: “Daddy, the toys haven’t been sold yet!”

Xie Zhuo: “Let’s go home and eat first.” If you keep hogging the spotlight like this, you’ll never sell them all.

Tang Huhu picked up a basket of candies. “Uncle, all the candies are yours.”

Lin Songyu picked one: “Who said just now that if I get a ring around Baby, I can take him home?”

Tang Huhu thought for a moment: “You can take him for a little while.”

As Xie Zhuo was packing up, Tang Huhu held his father’s phone, seriously checking the day’s income.

A total of six hundred yuan.

“Give Uncle back two hundred yuan,” Tang Huhu muttered. “Huhu let Uncle play for free.”

Lin Songyu stood with his hands in his pockets, thinking that the younger one understood human etiquette much better than the older one.

“Which one is Uncle?” Tang Huhu pointed at many contacts in the chat history, asking in an illiterate manner.

Lin Songyu sat grandly on the folding chair Xie Zhuo had used, pulling Tang Huhu into his arms, his chin lightly resting on his shoulder as he openly read Xie Zhuo’s WeChat interface.

Hmm?

He was actually in Xie Zhuo’s pinned chats? Although he was after Zhou Yong, the daycare teacher, the lab group, the daycare parent group, and the seafood wholesale supplier.

Wait? Seafood wholesale supplier? Didn’t he say he didn’t eat sea fish? Could he have guessed wrong about Tang Huhu’s birth mother’s cause of death?

Lin Songyu extended his slender index finger, pointing at the dark starry sky avatar: “This is Uncle.”

“This is Uncle!” Tang Huhu clicked on it and saw a row of red exclamation marks. “What’s this red thing?”

Chatting with Uncle Yang He only showed green.

Lin Songyu froze slightly. That belated message, “Thank you for the longevity lock, Tang Huhu likes it very much,” had been blocked by the blacklist system. Xie Zhuo actually copied and sent the same message every day, receiving an exclamation mark each time.

What psychological state was Xie Zhuo in to try every day to see if he had been unblocked? Was being owed money as uncomfortable as being bitten by a dog?

Who told him that Lin Songyu would unblock someone after two days?

Lin Songyu took out his phone from behind Tang Huhu, unblocked Xie Zhuo, and thought about sending Tang Huhu a cute emoji.

But then he remembered it was Xie Zhuo’s WeChat, so he changed it to the default WeChat smiling emoji.

Ding-dong.

Tang Huhu saw Uncle send him a smiley face: “Huhu wants to send Uncle a smiley face too!”

But he didn’t know how.

“Uncle, help me.”

So, three seconds later, their chat became—

Xie Zhuo: [Smiley face]

Lin Songyu: [Smiley face]

Passive-aggressive.

The little rascal initiated the WeChat transfer function more skillfully than accessing his father’s bank card. His tiny finger pressed 2-0-0, and when the payment password popped up, he completed it in one go.

Lin Songyu accidentally memorized Xie Zhuo’s password.

It was two hundred yuan for entertainment, and there was no reason for CEO Lin to not accept it, though he verbally said, “Thank you, Huhu.”

The pinned chats included Tang Huhu’s nursery name. Lin Songyu clicked into the class group, invited himself into the group before Tang Huhu could react, and then deleted the record.

“Huhu, you must never let anyone else play with Daddy’s phone, okay?”

Tang Huhu solemnly promised: “Understood!”

Lin Songyu pinched his cheek. It was a miracle that telecom fraudsters hadn’t found Tang Huhu to scam money from yet.

He noticed Xie Zhuo’s note in the group was “Xie Yuanxi’s Dad,” so Tang Huhu’s full name was Xie Yuanxi?

“Your name is Xie Yuanxi?” Lin Songyu asked.

Tang Huhu heard his full name for the second time today and answered cautiously: “Oh, because Daddy said Huhu’s birthday is on the Lantern Festival.”

That would make him exactly two years old after the New Year.

Lin Songyu saw Xie Zhuo approaching out of the corner of his eye: “Why isn’t your name Tang Yuan then?”

Didn’t he love his deceased wife very much? He wouldn’t even eat sea fish, so why didn’t his son take the surname Tang?

The little rascal remembered biting into a large, white tangyuan and burning his tongue on the black filling inside, saying: “Tangyuan is too hot, Huhu!”

Xie Zhuo actually answered him: “When registering a household, you can only use the father’s or mother’s surname.”

Tang Yu was missing, so naturally, his surname couldn’t be used.

On this point, Xie Zhuo didn’t insist, because he knew “Tang Yu” was just Tang Yu’s pseudonym.

After his car accident, Tang Yu suddenly appeared to be his caregiver. He had no phone or ID card, and many strange things about him. Xie Zhuo naturally suspected his origin, wondering if he was a spy, especially on the first day when he was suddenly called by his name or “Mr. Tang,” Tang Yu couldn’t react immediately.

Tang Yu never told him his real name.

Lin Songyu didn’t continue to pick fault and said, “Get in the car, I’ll take you back.”

He wouldn’t treat Xie Zhuo to dinner again; he would only drop the father and son off at their doorstep, and he wouldn’t even get out of the car.

Lin Songyu hardened his heart and had the driver stop outside Xie Zhuo’s residential complex: “We’re here, Huhu.”

“Thank you, Uncle.” Tang Huhu was tired from playing and sleepy from the car ride, clinging to his father and barely able to open his eyes.

Lin Songyu almost wanted to get out and help carry him upstairs, but he restrained himself: “Goodbye.”

“Thank you—”

Before Xie Zhuo could finish his sentence, Lin Songyu closed the car door.

Half an hour later, Lin Songyu’s phone dinged. He received a message from Xie Zhuo at the company.

Lin Songyu’s lips curled into a smile, but when he picked up his phone and looked, his face darkened.

Xie Zhuo had transferred two hundred yuan back to him, this time remembering to add a note during the transfer: “Thank you for specially getting out of the car to play with Huhu. This is for the parking ticket.”

He must have seen it when he got into the car earlier.

Knowing full well he wouldn’t accept it.

Stubborn as ever.

He played with Tang Huhu; what did that have to do with Xie Zhuo?

He hadn’t accepted the money the little rascal transferred last time. Both red packets were still sitting there. A crooked beam makes a crooked house.

CEO Lin had his ways.

So, as Xie Zhuo was making steamed eggs for Huhu, his phone suddenly announced, “WeChat Pay collection: two hundred yuan.”

He froze. Who transferred it by mistake?

Uh, it was Lin Songyu.

He transferred the money back, then went to wake Tang Huhu for dinner.

While feeding his son the steamed eggs, his phone rang again with a collection notification, as if it had a virus.

[WeChat Pay collection: two hundred yuan]

Tang Huhu was still groggy, but he clearly heard the number: “Daddy, two hundred yuan!”

Xie Zhuo: “…”

[WeChat Pay collection: two hundred yuan]

“Oh! Four hundred yuan! Daddy, where did this money come from?”

Xie Zhuo: “…Uncle Yang He returned the money.”

Turns out a payment QR code was also a weakness for some.

Lin Songyu’s lips were curled, occasionally showing his power online, even during meetings.

Li Xiuyu questioned his assistant with her eyes: What is your boss so engrossed in?

The assistant shook his head blankly, indicating he didn’t know or understand.

Li Xiuyu leaned over for a look, marveling. It turned out her cousin was harassing a poor widower with money.