Chapter 52: I Really Want to Go to Work

“Xiao Rou, wake up! It’s almost seven! If you don’t get up now, you’ll be late for work.”

Zhang Lan got up and noticed that Shen Rou, who usually woke up early for work, was still in bed. Worried that she’d be late, Zhang Lan hurried over to wake her up.

“Hmm? Xiao Lan, you’re up…”

Shen Rou groggily opened her eyes and murmured as she saw Zhang Lan standing by her bed.

“It doesn’t matter whether I’m up or not. Look at the time! If you don’t get up now, you’ll be late!”

Zhang Lan forcefully pulled Shen Rou up and held her phone in front of her.

“Seven o’clock?”

Shen Rou glanced at the time on the phone and replied.

“So you do know it’s seven! Do you not realize you’re about to be late?”

“Oh, I have the day off today. I don’t need to go to work.”

Shen Rou suddenly remembered—last night, she had taken on an extra shift for her part-time job, and by the time she got back, Zhang Lan was already asleep, so she hadn’t mentioned having the day off.

“You have the day off? Are you feeling unwell? Do you need to go to the hospital?”

Hearing this, Zhang Lan panicked and immediately placed her hand on Shen Rou’s forehead. In her impression, Shen Rou was a total workaholic. If she wasn’t feeling unwell, she would never take a day off.

“You don’t have a fever…”

“I’m fine. The company gave us a day off, I’m not sick.”

Shen Rou gently moved Zhang Lan’s hand away, feeling both touched and amused.

“Oh wow, your boss is feeling generous, huh?”

“No, the entire company has the day off.”

“Your boss is actually pretty decent. I’ve heard that getting a day off in a factory is tough.”

Zhang Lan couldn’t help but praise him. From what she had learned about Chen Mo through Shen Rou, whether it was salary increases, today’s break, or all sorts of benefits, it all pointed to him being a genuinely kind boss.

“President Chen has always been good to his employees.”

Shen Rou nodded as if it were only natural.

“Oh? Oh? You’re already defending the company? Are you falling for him?”

“You’re looking for trouble!”

Shen Rou’s face flushed red, and she smacked Zhang Lan in embarrassment.

“Ohhh, you’re blushing!”

Zhang Lan, seeing the red tint on Shen Rou’s cheeks, felt her gossiping instincts ignite.

She immediately pinned Shen Rou down onto the bed and started interrogating her.

Shen Rou resisted.

The two ended up playfully wrestling on the bed.

After a while—

Both of them lay there, clothes slightly disheveled, panting.

Zhang Lan turned her head, still out of breath, and smiled at Shen Rou.

“Shen Rou, have you noticed? Ever since you started working at that company, you’ve become a lot more cheerful. You never used to joke around with me like this.”

“Have I?”

Shen Rou thought about it and realized that she probably had changed a bit.

Maybe it was because, now that she was earning more, the pressure on her had lessened.

After all, in the past, she had to juggle up to three part-time jobs a day just to make ends meet, sometimes getting only two or three hours of sleep a night.

How could she have had time for things like sleeping in?

But all of this was thanks to Chen Mo.

“Of course you have. Since you finally have a day off, how about we go shopping?”

Zhang Lan excitedly sat up.

“Aren’t you working today?”

“I have single rest days, but I can swap my day off. I’ll just take today off and work tomorrow instead.”

Shen Rou thought for a moment before nodding.

“Alright, let’s go. I was planning to visit the orphanage tomorrow anyway. I can buy some gifts for Grandma Wu and the kids.”

She had sent 10,000 yuan to Grandma Wu the other day, but Grandma Wu had returned 5,000.

No matter how much she tried to persuade her, the old lady insisted on only taking half.

Since that was the case, she could take this opportunity to buy some gifts for the children instead.

“You have tomorrow off too?”

Zhang Lan looked at Shen Rou in surprise.

“Yeah, President Chen changed the company policy yesterday. From now on, we have Saturdays and Sundays off.”

“WHAT?!”

Zhang Lan’s jaw dropped.

A two-day weekend?

Even in her company, they only got one day off per week. And yet, a factory was already implementing a two-day weekend?

“Is your boss a saint? How is he this good to you all?”

Shen Rou smiled slightly, full of pride.

“How about you ask your boss out for a meal today? I’m super curious about him now.”

“I don’t think so… President Chen is really busy.”

Shen Rou hesitated. She knew that company bosses were always busy and rarely had free time to hang out.

“Just give him a call. Maybe he’s free.”

Zhang Lan clung to Shen Rou’s arm, unwilling to give up.

“Or, better yet, give me his number, and I’ll call him myself.”

“But…”

“No buts! Just call him!”

…

After a while, Shen Rou finally gave in to Zhang Lan’s pestering and pulled out her phone.

———

Old Town Apartments

Chen Mo lay bored on his bed.

He realized that giving his employees a day off had been a terrible mistake.

Otherwise, right now, he’d be sitting in his comfy gaming chair, playing on his high-performance computer.

If he got thirsty, his assistant would bring him coffee.

Even the air conditioning would be perfectly set to his liking.

But at home?

No air conditioning.

No coffee.

Not even Wi-Fi.

Compared to his office, this was like night and day.

What should he do?

He couldn’t just lie around at home all day. And he still had tomorrow off too.

Ring ring!

Just as he was trying to figure out what to do, his phone suddenly rang.

He glanced at the caller ID.

Shen Rou.

Why was she calling?

Did something happen at the company?

With a puzzled expression, he answered the call.

“President Chen, am I disturbing you?”

Shen Rou’s voice came through the phone, sounding a little nervous.

“No, you’re not. What’s up?”

“Well… um… are you free today? I… I’d like to invite you to a meal.”

“A meal? When?”

“Would lunch be okay? Or dinner, if you prefer.”

“Let’s do lunch. Send me the location, and I’ll navigate my way there.”

Chen Mo agreed without much thought. He was already feeling bored at home anyway.

Just as he was about to hang up, Shen Rou suddenly spoke again.

“Oh, um… President Chen, my friend will be coming too. Is that okay?”

“Sure, but just to be clear—you’re treating.”

“I am!”

“Then it’s fine.”

With that confirmation, Chen Mo finally relaxed.

He wasn’t worried about having an extra person at the meal. What he was really afraid of was being the one stuck with the bill.

After all, private expenses had to come from his own pocket.

With only two or three thousand yuan in his personal account, he couldn’t afford to be reckless.

He still needed to keep some money for emergencies.

“Alright then! I’ll send you the location soon.”

On the other end of the line, Shen Rou sounded excited.