The August sun in Yangcheng is still a blazing midsummer heat.
Four-thirty in the afternoon.
The sun is strong, hot, with a slight breeze.
Pei Sheng hugs the climbing frame in the rooftop machine room, shivering, refusing to take a step closer to the wall of the rooftop.
Not far away, the young man sits leisurely on the rooftop wall, leaning against the second-floor railing, seemingly smiling but not quite as he watches Pei Sheng steadfastly refuse to come over.
"Boss, don't get excited..."
Pei Sheng's voice trembles as he says, "I just went out to play for a bit, and look, I came back early, ready to stay overnight at the company to work overtime. I haven't neglected my work."
Xu Shuo, with his leg propped up, says lazily, "Oh, so you came back especially to work overtime?"
Pei Sheng nods his head eagerly, like a pecking chicken.
