Passion Raga Novel (Completed) - Chapter 78

Ling Tangyun quietly sighed, rubbing his wrinkled forehead. Just like him, Yuri remained silent on the other end of the phone for a while. He seemed to know what absurd conditions he had just listed—of course, he couldn’t not know.

“Yuri.”

“Yes.”

“Why are the conditions like that?”

“… “

“Does Xinlu really want an assistant with those conditions?”

“Yes. It’s not necessary to meet all of them, but he said it would be good if they matched in as many aspects as possible.” Hearing Yuri’s stiff reply, Ling Tangyun was silent for a long time, then finally grumbled, “Ugh,” and groaned, “Alright, I’ll try to find someone.”

The bar was too high. It seemed truly difficult to find someone who matched those conditions. Of course, he had said it wasn’t necessary to meet all conditions, so there would be some flexibility, but each condition was extraordinary. Ling Tangyun, who had always thought his youngest brother had his eyes fixed on the sky, and therefore had diligently searched his personnel registry, believing that even highly capable individuals wouldn’t be enough for him, was now filled with an inexplicable sense of emptiness.

They say there’s no perfect person in the world, and he had thought his youngest brother, aside from his picky personality, was perfect in every aspect—appearance, ability, background. He never imagined he would have such unexpected preferences.

But still, it wouldn’t do. Ling Tangyun had massaged his forehead for a while, trying hard to understand his youngest brother, but in the end, before hanging up with Yuri, he burst out.

“No, seriously, why would he want an assistant who’s ugly, short, fat, uncultured, mean, married, and has hydrophobia?!”

“Where in the world am I supposed to find someone like that?!” Ling Tangyun fumed, and Yuri could only remain silent.

“Is the older Brother angry?”

When Yuri silently hung up the phone, Ling Xinlu, who was looking through the previous year’s sales records next to him, asked casually. Yuri replied bluntly, “Yes, a little.”

“If it’s hard to find someone, he should just say it’s hard. Why does Older Brother have to get angry? Honestly.”

Ling Xinlu let out a light chuckle and shrugged his shoulders. Yuri didn’t say anything as he stacked the files Ling Xinlu would need to review after the records next to him, but he could fully understand Ling Tangyun’s reaction. He himself would have first thought it was a joke.

However, unfortunately, what Yuri had said was not a joke but the truth—and since Yuri had said it, Ling Tangyun would have known it was sincere—and all those conditions were exactly what Ling Xinlu had stated.

If it were simply a matter of competence to assist Ling Xinlu with his work, finding an assistant wouldn’t be so difficult. If it were someone on James’s level, it would be quite challenging, but even someone comparable would not be difficult to hire as an assistant given the Ling family’s wealth. So, Ling Tangyun would naturally consider those abilities, but the problem lay in the other aspects.

Assuming they possessed the basic work abilities Ling Xinlu required, it was impossible to say how many people would actually satisfy those other conditions he desired. No, putting all that aside, the conditions themselves were utterly baffling. Although he had merely relayed Ling Xinlu’s exact words, Yuri couldn’t help but feel embarrassed while listing them to Ling Tangyun.

“Well, he said it’s not necessary for the person to meet every single condition exactly, so Older Brother will probably pick a few suitable people and recommend them. Among those, you can choose the one you like best, Mr. Gable,” he said, shaking his head bluntly.

At that, Ling Xinlu looked up from the record sheet at Yuri, then let out a snicker, as if amused.

“It’s your assistant anyway, you should choose.”

But then Ling Xinlu added, “But when you meet them, I’ll come along too,” and Yuri didn’t reply.

Actually, perhaps he should have told Ling Tangyun that from the beginning. That he was looking for someone to help Ling Xinlu, but more accurately, someone to help Yuri who was helping Ling Xinlu. The actual work would be essentially the same, so he hadn’t bothered to distinguish it. Or rather, it was awkward for Yuri to say he was looking for someone to help with his own work.

Soon after signing the lifetime contract, when Yuri told Ling Xinlu that he needed a more capable and suitable person to help him with his work, Ling Xinlu didn’t look pleased. He wasn’t the type who liked to have many people around anyway, and if they hired a new assistant, it would mostly be the three of them moving together, which he explicitly said he didn’t like.

However, Ling Xinlu did understand one of Yuri’s reasons for being hesitant about the lifetime contract—the inappropriate allocation of key work abilities. He also conceded that after a few more years, as Ling Xinlu’s position moved closer to the center, it might become a bit overwhelming for Yuri.

As a result, Ling Xinlu’s conclusion was, “Then we should find someone to assist Mr. Gable.” He reasoned that there wouldn’t be much difference in the work whether they helped Ling Xinlu directly or helped Yuri who was helping Ling Xinlu, and so Ling Xinlu concluded this and did not reconsider the matter.

However, he did attach conditions. Someone with a significantly below-average appearance, a bad personality, married and unlikely to look at others, and on top of that, hydrophobia.

Everything was fine, but the hydrophobia was too blatant.

Yuri gazed at Ling Xinlu with narrowed eyes. Ling Xinlu, who had been looking at his records, seemed to notice his gaze and looked up. He smiled brightly when his eyes met Yuri’s. But despite his radiant smile, when Yuri didn’t smile back, he gradually erased the smile from his face and tilted his head.

“What’s wrong?”

“Do you distrust me?”

“Pardon?”

Ling Xinlu blinked and stared at Yuri, then countered, as Yuri, who had been deep in thought, suddenly asked that.

“Do I look like someone who would easily look at other people?”

Only after Yuri asked seriously again did Ling Xinlu seem to understand what he meant. “Ah,” he said, nodding, then suddenly smiled awkwardly. More awkward than difficult, he blinked and stared at Yuri for a long time, then finally sighed.

“No, it’s not your problem, Mr. Gable, it’s my problem. So you don’t need to think that way.”

“Mr. Ling Xinlu’s problem…”

“I don’t want to see anyone, regardless of gender or age, near you. Even an old grandfather, or a toddler toddling around, it’s the same. I dislike anyone you look at.”

Ling Xinlu said, raising his chin proudly, as if thinking that everything was already apparent. He then stared at Yuri, as if asking if Yuri disliked him for being this way.

Yuri looked back at him for a moment. He gazed at Ling Xinlu, who absolutely refused to avert his gaze as if in a staring contest, then let out a sigh.

At that, Ling Xinlu, who had been looking at Yuri, put down his record book and stood up, then approached Yuri. He bent down and kissed Yuri.

Ling Xinlu, who had slightly sucked on Yuri’s lips before pulling away, asked softly.

“So, you dislike it? Because I’m this kind of person?”

“…No, I don’t dislike it.”

After thinking for a moment, Yuri shook his head and said, and Ling Xinlu smiled. A truly happy, bright smile. And then he lowered his head again.

This time, their kiss lasted longer, and after a long while, Ling Xinlu pulled away, satisfied yet slightly regretful, and suddenly mumbled, “Ah.” Yuri rubbed his wet lips with his fingertip and looked at him curiously.

Ling Xinlu seemed a little embarrassed, smiling subtly, and after a moment of consideration, he gave Yuri a beautiful eye-smile.

“Come to think of it, I forgot to tell Older Brother about the most important condition to look for when finding someone to help with work.”

“Should I contact him again?”

Yuri picked up the phone, but looked at Ling Xinlu, asking what that condition was. Ling Xinlu smiled beautifully and said,

“Someone who wouldn’t mind an environment where same-sex kissing or more intimate relations are frequently seen.” But then he added, “But absolutely not if the man himself is homosexual,” and Yuri quietly put down the receiver.

No matter what, he simply couldn’t bring himself to relay that last condition to Ling Tangyun, who wasn’t entirely oblivious.

“The conditions I’ve already mentioned will be difficult enough for him. I don’t want to put any more burden on him,” Yuri muttered in apology, and Ling Xinlu finally burst into laughter. And for the third time, he bent his head towards Yuri.

A low humming sound was heard.

Yuri looked up from his documents. Ling Xinlu, sitting by the window, looking at his laptop, was unconsciously humming a tune. Behind him, dazzling sunlight shone brightly, enveloping him.

Yuri put his work aside and gazed at Ling Xinlu. He was beautiful, lovely, and radiant.

Soon, Ling Xinlu seemed to sense Yuri’s gaze and looked up. Even when he was deeply engrossed in his work and completely oblivious to his surroundings, if Yuri looked at him for a moment, he would uncannily sense the gaze and turn his head.

This time too, when his eyes met Yuri’s, Ling Xinlu smiled. He smiled with genuine joy, even though it was just their eyes meeting.

“Were you looking at me? Look at me more. More often. More frequently.” Ling Xinlu said with a beautiful smile, as if joking. But Yuri knew his words were not a joke.

He truly loved Yuri’s gaze. Especially when Yuri occasionally stared at him blankly—sometimes so intently that Ling Xinlu wouldn’t even notice for a while that he was staring back—he would be so delighted he wouldn’t know what to do.

Moreover, on the rare occasions they returned home separately, and even more rarely if Yuri called him, curious about where he was or when he would arrive, Ling Xinlu would be overjoyed. He would even intentionally linger outside his house after arriving, just to hear Yuri call and ask about him.

Although Yuri would occasionally—or rather, quite often—give Ling Xinlu a disapproving look whenever he learned such facts, it seemed that was probably closer to the “way of liking” that Ling Xinlu desired. So, recently, Yuri had been consciously trying to contact him often and ask him about trivial things.

“Ah—I want to go play.”

Ling Xinlu closed his laptop and stretched. Yuri gave a soft gaze to him, who spoke as if he was bored to death.

“Where should we go?”

“Hmm, now that you mention it, Mr. Gable, you were really engrossed in that ocean documentary the other day, weren’t you? Shall we go to the ocean?”

“We should go somewhere close for now, but when we have a long vacation, going to the South Pacific might be nice,” Ling Xinlu mumbled, and Yuri smiled quietly. In such everyday matters, Ling Xinlu always answered with what Yuri would want to do.

What would make Yuri happy, what Yuri would like, what Yuri would wish for. It was as if that was exactly what Ling Xinlu himself wanted. “Sounds good. But before that, we need to finish the work piled up in front of us.”