Love O2O- Beyond a Beautiful Smile

Chapter 46- Countdown

    "It's geek. Not nerd." Wang Wei smacked Li Qiang on the back of the head. "You work for a gaming company and you can't even get the basics right."

   "Mr J..."

    "Yes. Mr J. It was a joke. Don't worry about it... even if you smile like the Joker you're still this company's most handsome man apart from laoda."

    "Mr J... J! It's a J! Not a 7 or a T! It's J!" Ignoring the food being passed around the conference table, Mei scrambled into his chair and typed furiously on his keyboard. "J... J... ah!" 

1 day, 8 hours, 59 minutes. 

His bones ached and Mei wasn't sure he had the strength left to bring his chopsticks to his mouth. He was contemplating simply putting his face in the bowl and eating while he slept, but that would ruin his hair and damnit... his hair was finally tamed. No more E.T style antenna. As he ate, he watched the Super Pair through Xiao Nai's office window. Mei and Wei Wei had claimed the two chairs directly opposite the window and after the last three weeks, not even Ban Shan had given them grief about stalking their loves. 

   "Laosan has been holed up in his office for two days. He hasn't even slept." Ban Shan shook his head at the obsessive dedication of their younger brother. 

   "When I left yesterday, they weren't sleeping yet. When I came in this morning, they were already working. But Da Shen did sleep for half an hour through lunch today." Wei Wei sighed, watching her partner turn to address KO; their conversation inaudible through the window but the concentration on their faces was clear. 

    "If this continues, will he be able to keep up physically?" Waving his chopsticks at Xiao Nai, Qui Yong Hou tsked at the hardworking man. 

    "What is there to worry about?" Mei struggled to hide his worry from his friends. "Now I finally understand. The difference between me and them isn't in our intelligence. It's in our focus and strength. Look at those two crazy people. They only sleep three hours a day but they're still so energetic. They're not human." 

     "But it's already the 30th," Ban Shan pointed out the obvious as if the bright red numerals ticking down on the blasted clock weren't clear enough. "We're flying to Shanghai tomorrow night. They're still stuck. Will we make it in time?"

    "Don't worry about them. I've taken a look. The optimization hasn't reached our objective but it is pretty good. So, they're just masochistic." Mei choked on his rice. KO? Masochistic? When he could wield infinite patience like a fine edged sword? Oblivious, Yong Hou continued. "We can't help it if they like to torture themselves. We can just bring our current version. We can't lose."

    Wei Wei sighed, her attention obviously elsewhere. "Should we tell them to come out and eat?"

    "No need to, Junior Wei Wei. Just leave the food here. They'll come out to scavenge for food when they're hungry." As he spoke, Ban Shan reached over and pinched some meat from Mei's container. 

   Too busy worrying about how long KO was going without food or sleep, Mei barely noticed and Ban Shan took full advantage of his distraction. When he'd picked Mei's bowl clean of meat, Ban Shan started eyeing off the container of ginger chicken that Mei had put aside for KO. The crack of Mei's chopsticks across Ban Shan's knuckles echoed throughout the entire office and his howls of pain only drew laughter from their peers. 

The atmosphere of the office relaxed considerably when Xiao Nai disappeared- with Wei Wei and without a word. His exit was the cue for everyone to start yawning, and as soon as people completed what they were working on, everyone drifted off to bed. After only a few hours, Mei was the last one left awake, and the office floor looked like it had sprouted strange blue aphids. He yawned, stretching his arms over his head until his back cracked. He couldn't wait until tomorrow night when he could sleep in a real bed again. A bed with pillows. And a real mattress. And a fluffy doona that he could roll around in to his heart's content. He was so caught up in fantasising about the bed he'd be sleeping in in Shanghai, that it came as a surprise to realise someone else was already in his bed.