The smooth metal spoon—
Scraped across the surface of Qi Mu’s tongue with neither too much nor too little pressure.
Qi Mu’s entire mind went blank.
He immediately realized something was wrong and tried to open his mouth and spit the spoon out, but Jiang Shao moved first, pressing a large hand firmly against the back of his neck.
He would not allow Qi Mu to retreat.
With his other hand, he slowly rotated the spoon as though he were a doctor examining a patient’s mouth, moving it up, down, left, and right. The smooth edge could not injure him, but the stimulation against his tongue and palate instantly filled his mouth with saliva, which spilled from the corners because he could not close his lips.
Jiang Shao seemed to have discovered another fascinating new toy.
Enthusiastically, he used the spoon to prod Qi Mu’s tongue.
When Qi Mu refused to cooperate, Jiang Shao forcibly lifted it, scraping along the inside of his lower jaw and the inner surfaces of his teeth.
The metal occasionally touched his teeth, producing such an unpleasant sour sensation that tears nearly sprang from Qi Mu’s eyes.
The spoon handle pressed against his lips.
He tried to speak but could not form complete words because Jiang Shao kept interfering and refused to give him any chance.
Tears filled Qi Mu’s eyes. “Mm…”
Both hands gripped his own knees tightly. He had to exert every bit of self-control not to reach out and knock Jiang Shao’s hand away.
First, he was no match for Jiang Shao. He could not beat him.
Second, that would anger Jiang Shao, making the attempt not worth the cost.
It might even provoke something worse.
After weighing the advantages and disadvantages—
Resistance offered him absolutely nothing.
So Qi Mu endured with all his strength, wrinkling his trousers beneath his fingers while his body trembled faintly.
He could only desperately evade the spoon, but his mouth was too small to escape. Instead, his efforts merely made the game more entertaining for Jiang Shao, who pursued him even more excitedly. When the spoon accidentally scraped the base of Qi Mu’s tongue, he nearly gagged.
Only then did Jiang Shao finally restrain himself a little.
He grasped Qi Mu’s chin and studied him.
Qi Mu’s lips and chin were wet with saliva, glistening brightly. Through his slightly parted lips, Jiang Shao could see the tip of his tongue, red and faintly swollen, looking extraordinarily beautiful and enticing.
Jiang Shao’s mouth abruptly went dry, and he licked his own lips.
At last, he removed the spoon from Qi Mu’s mouth.
Qi Mu sucked in a sharp breath.
But the next second—
Jiang Shao picked up the bowl, took a mouthful of congee, then lowered his head and kissed Qi Mu directly.
He passed the congee from his own mouth into Qi Mu’s.
Caught completely off guard, Qi Mu swallowed what Jiang Shao had given him.
His entire brain crashed.
Are you insane…?
Isn’t this disgusting?!
No matter what Jiang Shao had done to him before, Qi Mu had only ever felt embarrassed and uncomfortable, sometimes angry or furious. He had never once felt disgusted before. This was the first time he had genuinely felt disgusted.
I actually ate food from somebody else’s mouth!
He really could not tolerate this!
When Jiang Shao prepared to feed him a second mouthful, Qi Mu’s face turned pale. Risking Jiang Shao’s anger, he reached out to push him away.
But Jiang Shao did not budge.
When Qi Mu realized pushing him was useless, he tried striking Jiang Shao’s hand instead, hoping to knock the bowl over.
His refusal to behave finally disrupted Jiang Shao enough to keep him from proceeding smoothly. Jiang Shao let out a cold laugh, pulled Qi Mu’s tie free, and used it to bind both his hands.
Now Qi Mu could no longer interfere.
Then Jiang Shao took another mouthful of congee and kissed him again.
Qi Mu clamped his mouth shut and stubbornly refused to open it. Jiang Shao raised an amused eyebrow, pinched both his cheeks, and forced his mouth open with a squeeze.
Qi Mu desperately twisted his head aside.
Jiang Shao held his face firmly so he could not evade him. His cheeks hurt beneath Jiang Shao’s grip. Because Qi Mu fought him so fiercely, feeding him this mouthful proved difficult. Some of the congee leaked from the corner of his lips, but Jiang Shao ultimately managed to get most of it into his mouth.
Qi Mu made furious muffled noises. Congee dripped from the corner of his mouth, staining his collar and shirt.
But Jiang Shao showed absolutely no intention of stopping.
It was as though he had discovered something even more entertaining than before.
Jiang Shao suddenly remembered the dramas and movies he had watched as a child.
They always seemed to contain scenes like this. When the protagonist was injured, sick, or unconscious and unable to take medicine or food, another person would inevitably feed it to them mouth-to-mouth.
Even when he had been little, Jiang Shao had scoffed at scenes like that.
If somebody was unconscious and could not eat or swallow anything, why would something impossible to feed with a spoon suddenly go down just because it was passed through somebody’s mouth? Was a mouth somehow more effective than a spoon?
Those brainless scenes—
Possessed no logic whatsoever beyond forcibly advancing two characters’ relationship and giving them an excuse for intimate contact.
Clichéd and ridiculous.
But now Jiang Shao finally understood the appeal and had thoroughly eaten his words.
Because he genuinely wanted to kiss Qi Mu. He genuinely wanted to feed him this way, even though Qi Mu was not unconscious at all and was actively resisting while completely awake.
Even this sort of interaction made Jiang Shao’s blood flow faster.
He never tired of it.
Of course someone who liked another person would want to feed him with his mouth, wouldn’t he?
Jiang Shao only regretted not thinking of it sooner. There was only half a bowl left. Although every mouthful was difficult to feed Qi Mu, it still took barely an hour to finish.
Far too little.
Next time, he should buy more.
Qi Mu was on the verge of completely falling apart.
Even though he had fought with all his strength, Jiang Shao still finished feeding him the remaining half bowl. A small portion had spilled, but he had swallowed most of it.
His entire shirtfront was stained with congee.
Qi Mu had never been this disheveled before, never allowed himself to become this filthy.
Someone who did not know better might think he was an incapacitated patient!
Qi Mu stared hollowly ahead. Completely drained, he no longer had any desire to struggle. The bowl was empty anyway…
Jiang Shao looked at him gently and wiped a thumb across his lips. “Are you full?”
Qi Mu did not want to answer.
He only wanted this bastard to get the hell out.
Jiang Shao clearly had no intention of doing that. He stroked Qi Mu’s face and asked, “Not full? Want some more?”
Qi Mu’s eyes slowly moved.
Didn’t we already finish it?
How could there be more?
Wait. He isn’t planning to buy another bowl, is he?!
If Jiang Shao ordered another one now, waited for delivery, and then fed him the entire thing again, Qi Mu would accomplish absolutely nothing else tonight.
And Jiang Shao truly was capable of doing something like that.
What wouldn’t this bastard do?
Humiliated, Qi Mu moved his lips and said in a very low, aggrieved voice, “I—I’m full.”
After receiving that answer—
Jiang Shao could only abandon the idea with regret.
He really had wanted to buy another bowl.
But looking at Qi Mu now, he supposed he could spare him for today. They had plenty of time ahead of them.
Jiang Shao cleaned the desk, gathered the bowls and utensils, untied Qi Mu’s hands, and left carrying the takeout bag.
Qi Mu had completely lost the desire to continue working overtime.
While Jiang Shao went to throw away the trash—
Qi Mu fled the company at top speed.
＊
For the next several days—
Every day felt like a year to Qi Mu.
During the day, Jiang Shao would come looking for him whenever he found an opening. Like a child fascinated by everything, he was curious about every part of Qi Mu—his hair, ears, eyelashes, mouth, nose… Jiang Shao could find endless amusement in touching absolutely anything.
Although those little movements were not conspicuous and Jiang Shao always stopped in time so nobody actually discovered anything, Qi Mu remained on edge every second.
In front of outsiders, he still had to maintain his dignified, composed appearance.
Once night fell and nobody remained around them, Jiang Shao became even more unrestrained. He always had countless strange ideas and invariably tormented Qi Mu until he was exhausted.
Going to work had become torture for Qi Mu.
He used to work overtime constantly, but now he left the instant office hours ended, fleeing faster than anyone else. Whatever he could not finish, he took home.
He avoided Jiang Shao whenever possible.
If Qi Mu had not known Jiang Shao would refuse to allow it, he would have switched to working from home!
Jiang Shao, however, was the complete opposite.
He was now filled with enthusiasm for work. Every morning, he arrived exceptionally early, and every evening, he was the last to leave, always waiting until Qi Mu had gone home before departing.
His mood had also visibly improved.
Everyone in the President’s Office noticed.
In the slacking-off group chat—
Xiaoxiao the Gluttonous Fish: Did Jiang Shao win the lottery recently?
Xiao Linzi: Our office has finally seen clear skies after the storm. Sob sob, this wasn’t easy.
Professional Slacker: Grateful.jpg
Xiaoxiao the Gluttonous Fish: Speaking of which, President Qi must be dating lately, right? He leaves so early every day and doesn’t work overtime anymore. He has to be going on dates.
Hopelessly Addicted to Gossip: Definitely. President Qi used to be so dedicated to work. Now he’s like a completely different person.
Hot Guy Enthusiast: Male gods are just ordinary people once they fall in love too. Busy going on dates, hehehe.
Professional Slacker: Men in love are like that. Look at President Qi, glowing with happiness every day. Tsk tsk.
Xiao Linzi: Of course he’s glowing if he’s dating the goddess. Jealous.jpg
Xiaoxiao the Gluttonous Fish: …Come to think of it, Jiang Shao has also been glowing lately.
Xiao Linzi: Jiang Shao keeps running to President Qi. He’s basically the errand boy for our President’s Office now. Anything that needs to go to President Qi, he volunteers to deliver. I’m shocked by his initiative.
Professional Slacker: What else but the power of love could make someone like Jiang Shao fall in love with going to work?
Xiao Linzi: …I’ll ship it a tiny bit out of respect.
Hopelessly Addicted to Gossip: Hey! Stop breaking up my ship! I firmly support the goddess!
All About Money: Goddess +1.
Hot Guy Enthusiast: Can’t we have both the goddess and Jiang Shao? I think President Qi looks shippable with everyone.
The slacking-off group erupted into heated debate.
They had basically divided into three factions. The dominant group shipped Qi Mu and Xu Wei Ran and made up the majority. A handful shipped Qi Mu and Jiang Shao, mostly employees in the President’s Office. Then there were the multishippers who liked both pairings and thought all three of them could work in any combination, with President Qi perfectly capable of embracing one on either side.
In short, although they remained a minority, Zhan Xiao Hui was no longer fighting alone.
Qi Mu was already overwhelmed dealing with Jiang Shao every day and had no idea that his personal love life had become the entire company’s hottest topic.
To minimize Jiang Shao’s opportunities to take advantage of him, Qi Mu ordered Zhan Xiao Hui to fill his schedule completely. He arranged fifteen meetings across five workdays, ensuring everything that could be completed during daylight hours was finished before evening.
Watching Qi Mu work himself this hard, Zhan Xiao Hui thought President Qi was truly going all out for the sake of his after-work dates!
Qi Mu spent yet another entire day in meetings.
Afterward, he gathered the reports from the various departments. He had no intention of staying at the company to work overtime and planned to take them home to read instead.
He had successfully avoided Jiang Shao for another day.
Carrying the documents, Qi Mu prepared to head downstairs. It was currently the end-of-work rush, so Jiang Shao should not dare do anything reckless. Qi Mu planned to blend into the crowd and leave.
But the instant he reached his office door—
Jiang Shao suddenly took a long stride forward and blocked his way, driving him back into the office before shutting the door behind him.
Qi Mu’s expression stiffened. His gaze darted away as he said, “Work’s over.”
Jiang Shao folded his arms and looked down at him coolly. “President Qi isn’t working overtime tonight?”
Qi Mu grew nervous. Taking a deep breath, he cautiously asked, “I don’t want to. Is that okay?”
Jiang Shao raised an eyebrow.
Of course he would not force Qi Mu to stay late.
Not working overtime was a good thing.
In fact, Jiang Shao had long thought Qi Mu worked far too much overtime. He simply had not wanted to interfere excessively with Qi Mu’s affairs and had restrained himself from saying anything.
There was more to life than work. Why push himself so hard? Jiang Shao did not want Qi Mu exhausting himself, neglecting his health, or staying up late for work.
Jiang Shao nodded. “Of course.”
Qi Mu relaxed.
He picked up his briefcase and prepared to leave, but Jiang Shao did not move aside.
Wariness immediately appeared on Qi Mu’s face.
Jiang Shao’s gaze swept over the bag in his hand before fixing on him with cool amusement. “Not working overtime is fine… But taking your work home to do it there isn’t.”
Qi Mu immediately felt guilty. His voice weakened slightly. “I wasn’t…”
“Good.” Jiang Shao lifted Qi Mu’s chin and met his evasive eyes, his own gaze dark as he drawled, “But if I discover you lied to me, you can start thinking now about what kind of punishment you’d like.”