Jiang Shao looked at Qi Mu’s eyes, reddened from emotion, and for a rare moment seemed at a loss. When he had rushed over earlier, he had not thought that much about it.
Nor had he expected—
Qi Mu to react like this.
A gentle warmth slowly flowed through Jiang Shao’s heart, and his gaze softened. He stepped closer, lowered his eyes, and straightened Qi Mu’s slightly disheveled collar before murmuring beside his ear with a faint smile in his voice, “President Qi… are you worried about me?”
The man had suddenly moved so close.
The distance between them was ambiguous.
Qi Mu heard Jiang Shao’s deep, magnetic voice, the laughter in it seeming to slip into his ear like a feather. A tingling sensation spread from the skin beside his ear.
Qi Mu abruptly stepped back, composed his expression, and said coldly, “You’re on a business trip with me. If something happened to you, it would count as a work-related injury, and I’d have to pay compensation.”
Jiang Shao’s gaze swept over the reddened tips of Qi Mu’s ears. Pretending to be disappointed, he sighed. “Oh? So you were only worried about having to pay compensation.”
Qi Mu looked away and coughed lightly. “Yes.”
The corner of Jiang Shao’s mouth curved with teasing amusement. He shrugged. “Then what is there to worry about? Even if I really died, you’d only have to pay a few million at most. It’s not as though President Qi can’t afford that. Buying my life wouldn’t cost you much. Besides, I have no parents, no relatives, no one close to me, no sons or daughters. Don’t worry—no one will come after you demanding money…”
A vein at Qi Mu’s temple began throbbing. Finally unable to bear it anymore, he reached out and covered Jiang Shao’s mouth.
Will you just shut up already?!
Jiang Shao’s voice stopped abruptly.
Qi Mu met Jiang Shao’s deep black eyes. Several breaths later, he seemed to finally realize what he had done. Two soft lips moved faintly against his palm, and the warm sensation shot through his entire body like an electric current.
Qi Mu hastily and awkwardly snatched his hand back, thoroughly annoyed with himself. Jiang Shao must have irritated him so badly that he had lost his head and done something that rude…
Qi Mu quietly hid his right hand behind his back.
Reason told him not to pay attention to Jiang Shao. This man was like this every day, spouting nonsense nonstop—either infuriating people to death or talking complete rubbish, with hardly a truthful sentence ever leaving his mouth.
Don’t take him seriously. Don’t pay attention.
The moment you argue seriously with him, you lose.
Yet when Qi Mu remembered the danger just now and Jiang Shao’s utterly indifferent words afterward, he ultimately could not remain unmoved.
Steadying himself, Qi Mu finally stopped avoiding Jiang Shao’s gaze. Looking directly into his eyes, he said seriously, one word at a time, “A life cannot be measured in money. Don’t say things like that again.”
After Qi Mu finished speaking—
Jiang Shao did not answer for a long time. He merely stood there silently looking at him.
Those black eyes were darker than the night, like a boundless, turbulent deep sea surging toward Qi Mu and threatening to drown him completely. Instinctively, Qi Mu sensed danger, as though he had accidentally provoked something terrifying…
Something that might bring consequences he could never predict.
But this time, Qi Mu did not regret it.
Because beneath Jiang Shao’s careless words, Qi Mu could sense a complete disregard for life—even Jiang Shao’s own.
Qi Mu did not agree with that.
In his eyes, every person’s life was equally precious, whether they were a passerby, cannon fodder, a villain, a supporting character, or the protagonist standing before him, blessed by fate itself.
They were all the same.
Qi Mu had merely said what he wanted to say. Whether Jiang Shao listened was no longer his concern.
Qi Mu drew a deep breath, turned around, and walked away.
Jiang Shao watched Qi Mu’s retreating back for a moment before suddenly starting after him.
With his height and long legs, he caught up within a few strides.
Jiang Shao followed closely beside Qi Mu and turned his head with a smile. “I’ll remember. I won’t say anything like that again.”
Qi Mu had no desire to respond to him for the moment.
Jiang Shao did not care whether Qi Mu answered. He continued talking to himself. “If I run into something like that again, I’ll definitely pay more attention to my safety.”
People streamed past them.
Yet Jiang Shao remained at Qi Mu’s side.
He did not seem bothered by Qi Mu’s coldness or lack of response. One moment he was saying, “President Qi, don’t be angry,” and the next, “President Qi, slow down,” followed by, “President Qi, wait for me.” He kept talking without pause the entire way.
The two returned to the hotel.
Qi Mu finally could not stand Jiang Shao’s chatter anymore and was about to turn around and tell him to shut up. But the moment he looked back, he saw Jiang Shao turn pale and stagger, lowering his head as he clutched his abdomen with an expression of discomfort.
Qi Mu’s heart immediately leapt into his throat.
He had been so angry with Jiang Shao that he had nearly forgotten the man had just fought an armed attacker. He had no idea whether Jiang Shao might actually have been injured.
Qi Mu’s expression turned grave, and he immediately reached out to check him. “Are you hurt?”
But Jiang Shao suddenly caught his wrist.
Qi Mu froze.
Jiang Shao raised his head, his eyes gleaming with teasing amusement as he shamelessly said, “And you still say you aren’t worried about me?”
Qi Mu: …You really should just die.
This time, he genuinely wanted nothing more to do with the bastard. Qi Mu forcefully shook Jiang Shao’s hand off and slammed his hotel-room door shut with a heavy bang.
Jiang Shao looked at the tightly closed door. His fingers curled faintly, his palm seeming to still retain the sensation of Qi Mu’s wrist from moments ago…
He remained there staring for a very, very long time before finally turning and walking back to the other room.
…
Because he was angry, Qi Mu ignored Jiang Shao throughout the journey the following day.
He was not angry that Jiang Shao had saved someone. In fact, Jiang Shao doing something like that had genuinely surprised him.
What angered him was Jiang Shao’s flippant, indifferent attitude afterward.
This man always had some way of making him unhappy.
And there was another reason that was much harder to put into words…
What had happened last night should not happen again.
Qi Mu tried to make himself forget those brief, dangerously captivating moments and return his life to its proper course. He could accept Jiang Shao remaining at his company, but he had always clearly remembered that Jiang Shao would not stay there forever.
Jiang Shao and his life should be like two parallel lines. Having no point of intersection would be the best outcome for both of them.
After returning to the company—
Jiang Shao continued working seriously just as he had before.
Qi Mu, meanwhile, treated him strictly according to business.
Everything seemed to have returned to normal, exactly as Qi Mu wished.
Yet small changes were quietly taking place without a sound.
For example, Qi Mu ran into Jiang Shao every morning and evening when coming to and leaving work. When he went out for business dinners, Jiang Shao would drive him and take him home. Whenever problems arose at work, Jiang Shao would proactively report them to him. And whenever Qi Mu worked late at night, the lights in the office opposite his would always remain on…
Jiang Shao seemed to be everywhere.
He was no longer as reckless and unpredictable as before, no longer constantly putting Qi Mu on edge. Yet these quiet, steady little things made his presence feel even stronger than before, impossible to ignore.
Qi Mu had not expected Jiang Shao to persist for this long.
One evening, Qi Mu was working late at the company again.
As he prepared to leave, he saw the light still glowing in the office opposite his.
He could no longer remember when it had begun.
In the long, dark corridor, whenever the light in Qi Mu’s office remained on, the one opposite would always be lit as well. It was like a silent understanding, a quiet companionship and vigil.
But… why am I thinking of it that way?
Qi Mu found his own groundless imagination amusing.
The door to the opposite office stood half-open, light spilling through it and casting a bright patch across the floor of the corridor. All Qi Mu had to do was reach out and gently push—
And he would see the person inside.
Qi Mu had already raised his hand, but hesitated just as he was about to push the door open. He remained silent for a moment before finally lowering his hand, turning away, and leaving the office alone.
Jiang Shao listened to the gradually receding footsteps.
He knew that if he walked out now, Qi Mu would no longer be able to avoid him. But even after the footsteps disappeared completely, Jiang Shao did not move.
He walked to the window instead and lowered his eyes toward the street below.
Before long, he watched Qi Mu’s car drive away.
Only then did he switch off the light and leave.
…
Saturday.
Lu Jin Wen asked Jiang Shao to meet him.
As he brewed tea, he said, “Old Feng said everything’s settled. It all went smoothly. So why are you still walking around with that long face every day?”
Jiang Shao remained gloomy and said nothing.
Lu Jin Wen raised an eyebrow thoughtfully. “Don’t tell me you made Qi Mu angry again. Seriously? You still haven’t managed to win your boss over even after all that? And here I went out of my way to put in a good word for you.”
Jiang Shao gave a cold snort. “Mind your own business.”
Lu Jin Wen thought, With a personality like yours, you deserve to be single for the rest of your life. Outwardly, he smiled insincerely. “Fine, fine. I’m the one meddling.”
Jiang Shao: “…”
His lips moved as though he wanted to say something, but when he remembered that he might still need this old fox’s help in the future, he forcibly swallowed the words.
Jiang Shao himself did not know what he was so frustrated about. Qi Mu clearly cared about him and worried about him, didn’t he?
During this period, Qi Mu had not rejected him either. He had allowed Jiang Shao to remain beside him, and they had been getting along perfectly well…
And that night, while Qi Mu had been with him, Jiang Shao could sense that Qi Mu had been affected too.
He had clearly already brushed against one corner of the truth…
So why had Qi Mu become so cold and distant again after they returned?
Is it because I made him angry? But it’s not like I only started acting like this yesterday…
Jiang Shao did not want to admit that he regretted it a little.
Just then, noisy voices suddenly sounded from across the table.
Lu Jin Wen was playing an online video.
It was footage of Jiang Shao fighting the knife-wielding attacker that night. The whole confrontation had lasted barely more than ten seconds and Jiang Shao had left soon afterward, but someone quick with their phone had still managed to record it. The footage was not particularly clear, but anyone familiar with Jiang Shao could recognize him at a glance.
Because Jiang Shao was handsome and his movements had been clean and efficient, the video quickly spread online and accumulated countless likes.
Lu Jin Wen watched it with great interest and clicked his tongue in amazement. “So you really do step in to help people in danger! When Qi Mu first told me, I didn’t believe him. Now I’ve seen it with my own eyes, so I have no choice but to believe it.”
The corner of Jiang Shao’s mouth twitched. Through gritted teeth, he said, “Have someone delete those videos.”
Lu Jin Wen continued watching with relish and put on a genuinely puzzled expression. “Why delete them? This is one of the few positive sides of you anyone ever gets to see. For someone as obnoxious as you, if we don’t dig up at least one redeeming quality, how do you expect Qi Mu to change his opinion of you? We should leave them up so he can watch them every day. Maybe one day he’ll go blind enough to like you…”
Jiang Shao felt his hands beginning to itch.
His knife-like gaze landed on Lu Jin Wen, and he said coldly, one word at a time, “I. Said. Delete. Them.”
Lu Jin Wen met Jiang Shao’s icy gaze and fell silent for several seconds. He hurriedly downloaded the video onto his phone for safekeeping first, then raised both hands. “All right, all right, all right. I’ll have someone delete them immediately, okay?”
Reluctantly, Lu Jin Wen arranged to have the videos removed.
Only then did Jiang Shao coolly withdraw his gaze.
He picked up his teacup and took a sip. The tea had already gone cold, but that suited him perfectly. It could help cool his temper.
Inside the quiet tea room—
A phone suddenly began ringing urgently.
Jiang Shao glanced at the caller ID. After a brief pause, he answered.
Yu Yue Ning’s panicked voice immediately burst through the phone. “Jiang Shao! Bad news, bad news!”
Jiang Shao frowned in annoyance. It was not as though the sky had fallen. What was there to make such a fuss about? If not for Qi Mu, he never would have added an idiot like this in the first place.
Jiang Shao asked indifferently, “What happened?”
Yu Yue Ning shouted, “Qi Mu’s white moonlight has come back to the country!”
Elio’s Notes: “White moonlight” (白月光) is Chinese internet and web-fiction slang for an idealized, unforgettable love, often a first love who remains especially significant in someone’s memory. Here, it reflects Yu Yue Ning’s assumption about Qi Mu’s feelings rather than an established fact.
With a sudden clatter—
The teacup beside Jiang Shao was accidentally knocked over, tea and broken porcelain scattering across the table.
Jiang Shao’s voice instantly turned sharp and icy, losing every trace of his earlier composure. “What did you say?!”
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