Brian Carter straightened up, tossing his bag onto the sofa. Samuel Bennett sat down and picked it up. The clasp on the designer bag was practically useless—one touch and it popped open, with half a notebook falling out.

Samuel Bennett picked it up, pretending to flip through it.

Brian Carter stopped him—"Don't."

Samuel Bennett looked up, but didn't let go. Brian Carter's reaction made him a bit curious, so he asked, "Are you nervous?"

Brian Carter said, "This is my personal property."

"This is a company-issued, standardized notebook, required for meetings. It's not for you to write a personal diary in," Samuel Bennett retorted. "Or did you write something you don't want anyone to see?"

Brian Carter replied seriously, "Of course not, it's all work-related."

Samuel Bennett said, "Then I have even more reason to check. What if you're hiding company trade secrets?"

After being isolated for a week, Brian Carter had already digested all his frustration. Now, Samuel Bennett's words lit a fuse. He shot back, "Mr. Xiang, have you forgotten? I still don't have an employee account—I can't even access the company's internal system."

Samuel Bennett picked up on the restrained emotion. "You've been so calm these days, I thought you didn't care. Looks like you're actually pretty dissatisfied."

Brian Carter said, "I'm just a temp—ignored when nothing's needed, called in as a translator when something comes up. What right do I have to be dissatisfied?"

Suddenly, Samuel Bennett laughed, mercilessly saying, "Don't forget, you were the one who volunteered in the first place. But I'm not exactly bending over backwards to recruit talent. If you feel wronged, you can leave."

"I won't leave unless I've made a mistake," Brian Carter forced himself to hold back, then changed the subject. "I heard Yisi is moving into the campus—is that true?"

Samuel Bennett understood. The bag was just a pretense; Brian Carter had come late at night just to confirm this. He replied, "You're pretty well-informed."

Brian Carter asked, "If Yisi moves in, can I work with them?"

Samuel Bennett countered, "If I open this notebook, are you going to rush over and hit me?"

Brian Carter was at a loss for words. Under someone else's roof, he had no choice but to bow his head. Right now, he was the deer, and this big bad wolf was the one he had to obey.

"Sit down, I read slowly," Samuel Bennett said as he opened the notebook.

The notebook was thick, and in just one leisurely week, Brian Carter had already filled half of it. So at first, Samuel Bennett just wanted to check if the name on the title page was his.

But as he flipped through it now, he hesitated.

The pages were filled with neat, bold handwriting—strong strokes, clear black and white, showing impressive calligraphy skills.

What stood out was... everything was written in traditional Chinese characters.

Samuel Bennett looked closely. Brian Carter had recorded departmental tasks, division of responsibilities, project details, and even an "evaluation of his superior" aimed at him.

In a nutshell: sharp-tongued, needs patience to work with, tolerate three parts, the sky is high and the sea is wide.

No wonder he didn't want anyone to see it. Samuel Bennett asked, "Is this your evaluation of me?"

Brian Carter sat on the single sofa, replying coolly, "There's another line after that."

Samuel Bennett flipped the page, and sure enough, there was another line: highly skilled and knowledgeable, truly capable—if handled properly, could be a great mentor and friend.

Samuel Bennett really wanted to ask Brian Carter whether his earlier attitude was treating him as a mentor or as a friend.

Looking up, he saw Brian Carter sitting upright, unsmiling, probably still quite angry.

Samuel Bennett suddenly felt much better, stuffed the notebook back into the bag, and said, "There's still room for another file."

Brian Carter's expression changed. "What do you mean?"

Samuel Bennett went to the study and brought out a file. "This is a project Yisi just took on. When they move in, you'll work on it with them. If you don't know how, just observe—don't make trouble."

Brian Carter was momentarily stunned, took the file and put it in his bag. After talking back, saying thanks now felt a bit hypocritical.

He pressed his thin lips together and said nothing, struggling for a moment before saying, in a reserved tone, "The soup should still be hot. Remember to drink it."

Samuel Bennett replied with a simple "Mm." Adults are best at keeping score—and even better at moving on.

After seeing Brian Carter out, Samuel Bennett went to the kitchen, opened the thermos, and poured himself a full bowl.

After drinking it, he went to bed.

Not long after, Samuel Bennett felt unbearably hot, getting up three times in the night to take cold showers.

He seriously suspected that Brian Carter had drugged him.

Chapter 8

Brian Carter read through the file word by word, several times, and looked up some information.

This project was about enterprise application integration. The client was a large pharmaceutical company hoping to integrate multiple systems—customer resource management, insurance, billing, and more.

The challenge with integration projects is their "complexity"—they're much more troublesome than working on a single system. There aren't many similar cases on the market, so there's little to reference.

The advantage is that if this project succeeds, the potential for expansion is huge. If the pilot rollout increases coverage, the company will have a strong competitive edge.

Brian Carter weighed it in his mind. The pharmaceutical industry was a field Yisi had cultivated for years, so the technical foundation was solid. But in recent years, the steady loss of old clients showed there were some management issues.

He spent the night writing and thinking. At dawn, his phone beeped, pulling him out of his thoughts.

Samuel Bennett sent a message: What kind of soup did you bring?

It was just five thirty. Brian Carter couldn't ask Sister Xiu at this hour. He wondered, so early in the morning, did Samuel Bennett really wake up and immediately have to ask?