Duan Zhi Hao didn’t give too many details about how Li Ming and he had met. Anyway, part of that was Li Ming’s private matter, and regardless of that, he didn’t want to tell Zhu Yi too much.

Who knew if things would even work out? It could very well be that the two of them would meet later on and find out that they weren’t able to get along in person at all. And that time, it would really be awkward having told a stranger that much about a friend of his. Especially since he would still need to work with that stranger in the future.

So, he would prefer it if these two could meet first and then get to know each other a little better on their own. This way, no matter how things finally turned out regarding the job, it would be between them. It would strain neither his friendship with Li Ming nor his business relationship with Zhu Yi.

Still, he also couldn’t keep completely mum so he did take the time to tell Zhu Yi the gist of it. He also talked Li Ming up while he was at it. Anyway, nothing of what he said was a lie and he was pretty sure that Zhu Yi would also realize as much when they finally met. It really couldn’t be helped. Li Ming was exactly the type of guy Zhu Yi was looking for. Just casually mentioning a few things would make him seem perfect, even if he had his flaws.

By the time Li Ming and Zhao Chen arrived at the building and knocked on the door, Zhu Yi had managed to get the story of their first encounter, as well as some more information about Li Ming’s current job and even the previous one out of Duan Zhi Hao. As a result, he was even more eager to meet Li Ming and turned to the door with excitement.

Duan Zhi Hao leaped to his feet and rushed over to the door himself, opening it with a smile. Seeing Li Ming and Zhao Chen, he nodded at the two of them and then motioned inside. “I’m glad that you could make it on such short notice. Come on in then.”

The two of them walked in and Li Ming gave Zhu Yi who had come over to greet them as well a smile.

Duan Zhi Hao introduced the three of them before awkwardly standing to the side. Zhu Yi was clearly not the type of person who needed somebody to help him start a conversation so he couldn’t help but feel that he was in his way. At the very least, Zhu Yi hadn’t even given him a second glance since the moment Li Ming stepped inside. Well, he hadn’t looked much at Zhao Chen either, although he had paid a bit more attention to him.

After a moment, Duan Zhi Hao awkwardly cleared his throat. “Well, do you want to sit down and have a cup of tea or something first, or do you want to head out immediately?”

Li Ming felt that considering that he was going to be the one to be employed, he couldn’t call the shots, so he looked at Zhu Yi for whatever it was that he wanted.

Zhu Yi pursed his lips in thought for a moment, feeling that actually, both were a good idea. But then, what he wanted the most part was to have some time alone with Li Ming so that they could get to know each other.

Currently, his impression of Li Ming had indeed gone up a notch just as Duan Zhi Hao had promised it would, but there were still two unrelated people at the side. And in his opinion, with other people around, there was always some interference that would make a person behave differently. But he wanted to see how Li Ming was when it was just the two of them or even how he interacted with strangers. So he naturally couldn’t stay here. “Well, if you wouldn’t mind, I’d love to go over immediately so we can test how well the two of us can work together. If you don’t like it, then I don’t have to take up too much of your time.”

Li Ming nodded, feeling that this was sensible. He turned to Zhao Chen and rubbed his leg, feeling awkward that he would just leave him there. “So … you’re going to stay?”

Zhao Chen nodded and then vaguely glanced at Zhu Yi before leaning in for a hug. He didn’t like how this guy was staring at his boyfriend, but he also knew that Li Ming wasn’t too fond of showing off his relationship so he didn’t dare to do anything else. “Sure, Zhi Hao and I haven’t seen each other in a while. It’s a good opportunity to catch up. You go and take your time.”

“Alright, then I’ll see you later then!” He also nodded at Duan Zhi Hao and then followed Zhu Yi out of the office, feeling a bit nervous.

Come to think of it, this was almost like having a job interview. And it was even one that he was completely unprepared for. He didn’t know who this man was or what exactly he was doing. So he wasn’t sure how to go about all of this and could only hope that Zhu Yi would take the lead. But even if he did, he had this worry that maybe the things he was saying might not be the right ones. And while this was an opportunity that he had gotten suddenly and that he hadn’t even gone looking for, he was reluctant to give it up.

He had thought about it a bit more on the way here and he had to admit that this was precisely the kind of thing he would want to do. So to fall just one step short … that really would be vexing. But then, he could only do his best and see how it went.

If they really weren’t able to get along, then well, there might be other opportunities in the future. Anyway, after being reminded of this idea, this was even something he could go and look for himself in the future.

And anyway, so far, he did have a pretty good feeling about Zhu Yi. He seemed nice, like the kind of person that you could easily get along with. If that impression held up, then he really didn’t see a reason to worry.