He was so weary.

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Shen Zhi opened his eyes, still feeling somewhat unwell, his brow furrowing slightly. He sat up a little straighter and lowered the hand that had been pressing against his abdomen.

“Or is there something you want to say?”

He Si was already overwhelmed, his mind filled with countless question marks and exclamation points. He couldn’t even control his expression, his mouth slightly open as he stared fixedly at Shen Zhi.

Shen Zhi sat on the railing, his meticulously groomed black hair tousled by the night breeze. A strand of hair brushed lightly across his thin eyelids.

He said nothing, quietly watching He Si with a calm expression.

After a long moment of eye contact, He Si finally managed to calm the storm raging in his chest and asked, “When did you recognize me?”

Shen Zhi pondered briefly before delivering an answer that caught He Si off guard.

“That night.”

“That night?” He Si frowned. “What do you mean?”

Shen Zhi said, “That night, I recognized you.”

The weight of those words sank in slowly. He Si was stunned, “You knew who I was all along?”

Shen Zhi didn’t deny it.

At that moment, He Si’s mind nearly overloaded. “When did you get to know me?”

“Sometimes I go back to the Marriott. You work under Yang Heyan, so naturally I had chances to run into you. You just never noticed me,” Shen Zhi explained.

In truth, he had encountered He Si more than once. He Si’s appearance was striking, and he conducted himself with swift decisiveness. Every time, he would rush past Shen Zhi’s path—hard not to notice.

At first, Shen Zhi only glanced a few extra times, not giving much thought to such an intern. It was Yang Heyan who mentioned He Si’s name multiple times in front of him, which finally made him remember that Marriott had someone like He Si.

That night, he recognized the intern standing by the roadside staring at him. Whether it was youth or drunkenness, the intern couldn’t hide his emotions; his gaze was almost fixed.

Shen Zhi had tentatively beckoned with a finger, only to be met by the intern eagerly approaching like a wagging puppy.

He Si was speechless.

No wonder the boss had initiated conversation that night—he had known who he was all along.

So the boss knew about He Si’s frequent visits to Jiayi?

As if guessing his thoughts, Shen Zhi clarified, “But I didn’t know Yang Heyan had you in charge of the annual meeting. Before, when Xiaocen and others called you ‘Xiao He,’ I didn’t think much of it. It wasn’t until I saw you at the door tonight that I realized.”

He Si let out a low “oh.”

His head was spinning, almost itching as if a new brain was about to grow.

After another pause, Shen Zhi asked again, “Anything else you want to say?”

He Si shook his head.

In just those few seconds, he had come to understand.

After all, it was just that matter. To be frank, the boss was a man, and men don’t get pregnant. Even if they did, that night he had used protection. Sleeping together would hardly have any consequences for either of them.

He had even considered going to the hospital for a checkup before, but now knowing he had slept with the boss, he might as well save the checkup money.

A boss that big surely took better care of himself—probably had a thorough checkup from head to toe already.

And since the boss had said so, what more could an intern like him say?

Just carry on with whatever needed to be done.

With that lax realization, He Si suddenly felt enlightened, as if a heavy burden had been lifted, and he felt an unprecedented lightness.

Just as he was about to speak, urgent footsteps suddenly sounded.

He Si turned toward the noise, seeing Assistant Bi rushing over.

Assistant Bi came running, panting heavily, his face full of worry. He called out to President Shen, then quickly assessed Shen Zhi’s condition. Seeing him was alright, he relaxed.

“President Shen, I didn’t see you at your seat just now—I was quite startled,” Assistant Bi said, then asked, “Are you alright?”

Shen Zhi replied calmly, “I’m fine.”

He Si returned to the banquet hall first. The annual meeting was just reaching the segment before the prize drawing, where the manager took a rare break to come over.

“Make sure to arrange the order of the leaders going on stage properly. I wrote the scripts for their speeches tailored to them. If they read the order wrong, it’ll be a huge embarrassment.”

He Si took careful notes.

When the prize drawing began, he busied himself for over half an hour. By the time he finished, the annual meeting was nearing its end.

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Shen Zhi had returned to the banquet hall at some point, seated back in his place, chatting with a woman beside him. He hadn’t participated in the prize drawing or speech segments until the final minutes of the event, when the host invited him on stage.

The speech was the manager’s pre-written script: reflecting on the past and looking forward to the future, inspiring the employees, and subtly encouraging on-site investment.

Shen Zhi wore a light gray suit. All the lights in the hall were off except for a spotlight shining down on him. Bathed in the glow, his features were indistinct yet carried a sacred aura.

His voice was slightly hoarse but slow and clear, echoing through the hall via the sound system.

It was a very pleasant voice.

Shutter clicks echoed incessantly from the audience.

He Si stood with the manager in the shadows beneath the stage. In front of them, a cluster of employees had gathered deliberately to get a closer look at their boss, whispering nonstop.

“President Shen is so handsome! I thought he’d be middle-aged, but he’s so young!”

“I think President Shen is over thirty. Not exactly young, but definitely handsome. I never met him before, now I finally see the real deal.”

“No way, over thirty? Can’t tell at all. Has President Shen gotten married?”

“No, I don’t think so.”

“Surely he has a girlfriend.”

“Isn’t that obvious? Over thirty without a girlfriend would be strange.”

The manager cleared his throat loudly.

The chatter promptly ceased.

The manager sighed and lowered his voice to He Si, “They really overestimate the boss. A workaholic like him doesn’t have time for girlfriends. If anything, he should look to his own ‘Five Finger Mountain’ for trouble.”

He Si was speechless.

Their manager was something else, even daring to make such crude jokes about the boss.

After recent events, He Si felt quite at ease and could finally focus on Shen Zhi’s speech.

He looked at Shen Zhi on stage.

That was their boss.

No doubt, an exceptionally outstanding man.

Though, why did he keep touching his stomach while speaking?

He glanced at the manager, who didn’t seem to notice, so he kept quiet.

At ten o’clock, the annual meeting began to wind down. As the head of two companies, Shen Zhi was naturally among the first to leave. After personally seeing off several important guests onto their cars, he finally got into his own car.

Today, the driver was Old Deng. After Shen Zhi got in, Old Deng parked the car in an open space and waited inside.

Seeing Shen Zhi get in, Old Deng started the engine. “Sir, heading straight home?”

Shen Zhi said nothing.

He actually wanted to find a hospital for a checkup. He felt nauseous tonight, but then thought about how routine physicals could only be scheduled during the day, requiring fasting beforehand.

Last time, he went to the hospital for a specific check that didn’t need fasting, involving blood and urine tests. The comprehensive checkup had been arranged by Assistant Ma earlier; he only needed to spare a morning, fasting, and go to the hospital.

Obviously, this was not a convenient time.

He also didn’t meet the fasting requirements.

“Go home,” Shen Zhi said.

Old Deng set the navigation and smoothly drove the car out of the hotel.

On the road, Shen Zhi called Assistant Ma.

Ma was still handling follow-up work in the banquet hall but answered quickly, “President Shen?”

“Check my schedule for tomorrow.”

“Please wait a moment.” Assistant Ma seemed to be scrolling through the phone, tapping sounds followed. Soon, he said, “There’s a meeting in the morning with people from other companies attending. No special plans for noon and afternoon. In the evening, there’s a dinner at APC, organized by Leo, who sat next to you tonight. It’s an important event; Ms. Zhang and Mr. Chen, who also sat nearby, have accepted the invitation. It’s hard to decline.”

Assistant Ma had worked with Shen Zhi for a year or two—not exactly a mind reader, but hearing the question, he had some idea of what the boss was thinking.

Shen Zhi was silent for a few seconds, then said, “Clear my afternoon schedule. I want to go to the hospital for a checkup. Skip breakfast and lunch too.”

“Understood, President Shen.” Assistant Ma made a note. “Same hospital as last time?”

“Mm.”

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“Will you still attend the dinner tomorrow night?”

“Yes,” Shen Zhi said, “Arrange it.”

“Got it.”

After hanging up, silence returned to the car.

Shen Zhi put the phone aside and closed his eyes, contemplating the tasks ahead. The end of the annual meeting didn’t mean the end of work but rather the start of a new phase. After this, a series of dinners would follow, and he had to attend each one.

The employees were about to have New Year’s Day off, but he would be working overtime.

Leaning back in his seat, Shen Zhi felt inexplicably exhausted, his eyelids growing heavy. Though he had rested only a few minutes, he felt as if he could drift off at any moment.

The heater was on, and Old Deng’s driving skills surpassed Assistant Ma’s by far, steering the car smoothly. Outside, shifting lights flowed over Shen Zhi like water.

Wrapped tightly in his coat, his head gradually tilted to the side. He folded his arms and began to drift between sleep and wakefulness.

Half-awake, Old Deng called to him, asking if the temperature inside the car was comfortable.

He didn’t respond.

He didn’t even have the strength to open his mouth.

Before his consciousness slipped completely into darkness, he suddenly remembered that Xu Lin had sent many messages today. He had been busy then, planning to reply after the annual meeting ended, but now, free of tasks, he felt too drained to respond.

He was so tired.

This never happened before. Even after working nonstop for over ten days, he never felt this exhausted. Now, something was wrong. He couldn’t stay up late, couldn’t get up in the morning, inexplicably sleepy.

He really needed to see a doctor.

*

The next day, Shen Zhi overslept again.

He sat quietly on the bed for several minutes before slowly getting up. Fortunately, there were no morning appointments, and the meeting didn’t start until ten o’clock. Arriving an hour late wouldn’t be a problem.

In the large office, assistants were already busy. Seeing Shen Zhi, they all froze for a moment, then quickly greeted him.

Shen Zhi nodded and headed to his office.

The office door opened and closed.

Assistant Bi stopped Assistant Cen, who was about to leave, and whispered, “Geez, President Shen even wore a down jacket. I thought I was seeing things!”

Then he added, “I think President Shen is really sick. He used to always be on time even if he left late. But now he’s been late three days in a row. Have you noticed he’s looking more and more drained? Yesterday morning, when I was reporting to him, he actually nodded off with his chin in his hand.”

Assistant Bi’s expression was one of disbelief.

This was completely unlike their President Shen.

Assistant Cen glanced at the office door and said, “Assistant Ma already scheduled a physical for President Shen. We’ll know what’s wrong after he goes this afternoon. But I still think it’s just lack of rest—he’s been too busy and hasn’t had enough sleep.”

Assistant Bi sighed, “Hope it’s nothing serious.”

In the office, Shen Zhi unusually rested his head on the desk, dozing for half an hour before mustering the energy to start work.

After struggling through the morning meeting, at noon, when Assistant Ma returned from lunch, Shen Zhi asked someone to bring the car from the underground garage to accompany him to the hospital.

Shen Zhi was a bit late putting on his coat, then waited at their usual spot by the roadside.

Today was not sunny; the sky was overcast, hinting at snow. The wind was sharper than the past few days.

Reluctantly, Shen Zhi gave up wearing his usual coat and wrapped himself in a thick, long, dark down jacket zipped up to his chin. Hands stuffed in the pockets, he was bundled up tightly, revealing only a cold, indifferent face.

Just as Assistant Ma’s car came into view, the phone in his pocket suddenly rang.

Shen Zhi had forgotten when he last wore a down jacket. He found it so comfortable to have his hands in the pockets that he didn’t want to move.

But the phone kept ringing.

Shen Zhi pursed his lips and pulled out the phone, seeing an unfamiliar number on the screen. Behind him, a male voice exclaimed joyfully, “Shen Zhi? Is that really you?”