“Because I told you I would meet him in two days. Can he hear me?”

“I’m here,” said Weiran’s voice.

“What time is good for you tomorrow?”

“Um—any time? I’m not exactly busy.”

“Fine. I have work for a good portion of the day, but I’ll leave earlier and go to the hotel at around two. Is that fine?”

“I—yes, that’s fine.”

“Good. I’ll let you go then.” He hung up before Xingyu could ask him any more questions.

“ARE YOU REALLY planning on just…diving in?”

Liu Xiaokai looked up from behind a handful of papers. “Yes? I thought we were in agreement about getting this done as quickly as possible.”

Zhang Weiran wrestled with that for a long minute. He hadn’t been alone with Liu Xiaokai since their appointment. What was he supposed to say? How was he supposed to act? “No, I mean…didn’t you want to talk about…what happened?”

Liu Xiaokai raised an eyebrow, but he’d returned to sifting through the papers and didn’t seem to be planning to look back up. “And what happened?”

“Seriously?”

“Ah…you mean the appointment with the sex worker that turned out to be me.”

Weiran sputtered. “Y—aren’t you worried I told Xingyu?”

“I already told you that you can tell Xingyu anything you want. As soon as he inherits the company—which he will, if everything goes according to plan—he’ll know everything.” He glanced up at Weiran, just for a moment. “Is that really bothering you so much?”

“Of course it’s bothering me!”

“Why?”

“Why?” How the hell was Weiran supposed to answer that? “Why wouldn’t I be surprised? You’re a part time director at a huge company and a part time sex worker?”

“Full time director, part time sex worker,” said Xiaokai. “I would be thrilled if the directorial job was just part time, believe me.”

“But why?”

Xiaokai looked a little bewildered, which was the most expression Weiran had ever seen on his face. “Because it’s a pain in my ass?”