Translated by Eve

Edited by Kara

Xiao Yuanmu had been in a meeting when the call from China had come in. He had been discussing the direction they were going to be taking with regards to their future business acquisitions and cooperation agreements with the company shareholders and executives. On top of that, they were also discussing the agreement letter that the American government had sent over.

This had been an extremely important meeting. The secretary had knocked on the conference room door with the phone in hand. The meeting had already lasted almost five hours. The current topic was the next acquisition. The debate was heated, everyone adamant on their own opinion. The debate had been going on forever.

When they had heard the knock on the door, everyone in the conference room straightened up and ceased their debate as they all turned to look at the blonde secretary as she walked in. Even the man at the head of the table, who hadn't spoken since this topic had been raised, cast his gaze towards her.

Everyone in the room thought,

“Tragic. This s.e.xy secretary will likely become the fifth one to be fired by Mu.”

The graceful woman walked over to Xiao Yuanmu. She turned slightly to the side, revealing her eye-catching, impressive cleavage. She came in close and whispered into Xiao Yuanmu's ear. The people in the room then saw the eyes of their typically expressionless “Supreme Commander” light up.

This subtle change would have been hard to notice on an average person. However, when it came to Xiao Yuanmu, who usually hid his emotions well, even the slightest change like this was noticeable and shocking. After all, this man had always seemed unfazed by everything in the past. Even while they had all been arguing, he had remained unruffled as if everything was still in the palm of his hand.

The people sitting at the table wanted to know what the secretary had said to their Supreme Commander —this was Xiao Yuanmu's nickname amongst the company executives—really badly.

Actually, RE had been jointly founded by Xiao Yuanmu and Louis. They were technically on equal standing. However, Xiao Yuanmu had the most shares within the company. Furthermore, he had a dictators.h.i.+p-like style, and his methods were ruthless and decisive. He would frequently, single-handedly veto their proposals that many of them had approved of. Moreover, Louis followed his orders without any complaints. Therefore, in the beginning, everyone had privately given him the nickname, “Dictator.”

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But as time went on, “Dictator” was mentioned less and less. This was because time and time again, they would see that Xiao Yuanmu's decision had been the correct one without exception. Every proposal he accepted would be successful. Every proposal he rejected would not turn out well, thus proving that his decision had been correct.

Over and over, they had witnessed his ability to make miraculously precise judgements. Under his leaders.h.i.+p, in less than one year, RE had risen to heights that countless companies wouldn't be able to reach even after ten years. RE's most expensive R&D team for the new energy source had been single-handedly cultivated by him. He had even suggested ideas that had garnered the amazement and respect of the research team. He had been crucial in the development of this new energy extraction method.

The people, who had been firmly against the research and development of this new energy source and had thought that this was a big waste of money, all shut up once RE's market value had shot up by more than a hundred million dollars after the new energy source had been announced.

From then on, Xiao Yuanmu's nickname of “Dictator” had unwittingly become “Supreme Commander.”

No one knew who had been the first person to mention “Supreme Commander” as a nickname first. But after everyone had ruminated over it, they realized that this nickname suited Xiao Yuanmu very well. Therefore, the usage of this nickname had spread out widely.

Compared to Xiao Yuanmu's astonis.h.i.+ngly precise judgement ability or his dictators.h.i.+p-style leaders.h.i.+p that would occasionally arouse complaints, what people gossiped about the most were actually his eyes. They always seemed perpetually calm and seemed like they could see through you.

Sixty percent of RE's executives and shareholders were white men. Black and Asian men made up the rest of them. To the Caucasians and African Americans, it was rare for them to see the Asian male build as s.e.xy. Furthermore, compared to Western beauty standards, Asians preferred a more humble approach. Their humble, gentle auras weren't much in terms of offensive ability. They were typically far from imposing.

Moreover, the people sitting here were all well-known figures in the business. The confidence of successful figures like this was typically high. Of the Asians they had encountered in the business world, no matter how formidable their auras were, they could only be considered their equals at most. Of course, this only applied to the people in the business world and didn't include military people or those with special ident.i.ties.

This had nothing to do with racism. It was just a widespread, common belief that people had based on what they'd seen. It was like when one saw a tall, st.u.r.dy man fighting a skinny, feeble man. One's first instinct would be to bet on the tall, st.u.r.dy guy. This was the natural a.s.sumption that one would make if they didn't know anything else about the two combatants.

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But when it came to Xiao Yuanmu, the other's aura was genuinely intense. It wasn't because of Xiao Yuanmu's height. It came from the powerful, calm aura that emitted out of him and made them want to trust him.

This kind of feeling was really hard to describe, but it did help bring them together. No matter how firm they were in their own beliefs or how fierce the debates became, they would all acquiesce that Xiao Yuanmu's final decision would be the best course of action. They wholeheartedly trusted his judgement.

Therefore, even if this was a partners.h.i.+p raised by the American government itself, none of the RE executives dared to rudely and impetuously raise the topic. Instead, they had all calmly continued to discuss the main topic for today—their future acquisitions.

Honestly, Xiao Yuanmu's lack of expression upon hearing about the government's proposal had calmed them down from their originally vigilant, excited, and nervous states. They had regained their composure, because he had kept his.

However!

Xiao Yuanmu, who hadn't even blinked upon receiving the government's partners.h.i.+p request, had actually reacted to whatever the secretary had said!

How could they not be curious?!

Moreover, as soon as the secretary had finished, Xiao Yuanmu stood up. He said to the rest of the attendees, “Let's take a half-hour break. We'll continue after having some food.”

After he had said this, he took the phone from the secretary and rushed out. This was an unprecedented situation!

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As the sounds of Xiao Yuanmu's footsteps grew faint, everyone's scorching gazes turned towards the only two people who would know about what had just happened—Louis and Yang Jie.

“I have to give my darling a call.” Louis stood up lazily and stretched. He then headed outside with his phone. “See you later.”

Yang Jie also stood up. He naturally knew who Xiao Yuanmu had paused the meeting for. However, he didn't want to tell these people at all. He quickly left the conference room without saying a word.

The people remaining in the room, who just knew that there was something to gossip about here but weren't able to hear about it, were heartbroken.

After leaving the conference room, Xiao Yuanmu entered his own office with his phone. The other side had already hung up because of the delay. Therefore, Xiao Yuanmu dialed back.

Only two people had this number. One person was the Director. The other was Song Xuanhe.

The Director had always been economical. She would never make a long-distance call of her own accord. Even when he was the one making the call, she would end the call short. Therefore, it likely wasn't the Director. Furthermore, he had chatted with the Director within the last two days. As such, the probability that it was her decreased even more. That was why, without even thinking, Xiao Yuanmu knew who had been calling him.

As he listened to the dial tone, Xiao Yuanmu's lips slowly curled up into a smile. His serene eyes seemed to glow. There was a hint of antic.i.p.ation and joy in his eyes.

Xiao Yuanmu walked towards the French windows. After taking a few steps, he suddenly thought that the quiet, nearly inaudible sounds of his leather shoes against the carpet could affect how clearly he would hear the other person's voice when it came through. Thus, he stopped walking and simply froze in place. His lowered eyelids concealed his bright eyes as the light from the other high-rises shone through the window and illuminated his softened features.

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The call had yet to go through. Xiao Yuanmu stood in place, quietly waiting.

Since Fortune had released their list, Xiao Yuanmu had been waiting for Song Xuanhe's call. Song Xuanhe had indeed called him that same day. However, the other hadn't seemed to know about the announcement. He had only chatted with him quickly before hanging up. He knew that Song Xuanhe was busy. Furthermore, Xiao Yuanmu himself was also swamped. Therefore, he hadn't called the other back to tell him about it.

Later on, after the worldwide ranking list had been published, Xiao Yuanmu heard news that Song Xuanhe had heard about it. As such, he had started to antic.i.p.ate the other's call again. But no matter how long he waited, Song Xuanhe never called him, even after the magazine interview had been leaked online.

Xiao Yuanmu was a bit angry. There was also an indistinct sense of frustration. Despite that, he hadn't called Song Xuanhe first. He knew that this was extremely juvenile of him and that rationally speaking, this would benefit him in no way. However, he still couldn't help himself from doing this.

Before he had left China and Song Xuanhe, he had thought that his feelings for Song Xuanhe had been uncontrollable because of the influence of his memories. He had thought that these feelings would disappear after they separated. He had even drawn a line between his pre-rebirth self and his current self. He had thought that it was only his pre-rebirth self who had liked Song Xuanhe. Meanwhile, his post-rebirth self simply felt goodwill towards Song Xuanhe because of the influence his memories had on him.

However, not even the daily onslaught of increasingly intense work in America could stop his longing for Song Xuanhe from growing. Sometimes, that longing would influence his thoughts. He would suddenly recall their every interaction while in the middle of work.

Some of the memories were from before his rebirth while others were after. They constantly rooted themselves into his brain and would interrupt him during work whenever they could. He couldn't help but reminisce. No matter how he had tried to force himself to think rationally or force himself to try and focus on work, they would always appear whenever his concentration slipped.

Xiao Yuanmu knew that Song Xuanhe was not beneficial to his future plans at all. Actually, his presence might even mess up his plans. That was why his reasoning had tried to forcibly sever his feelings for the other all this time.

But, all of this had come to an end on the tenth day after Lunar New Year.

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On that day, Xiao Yuanmu had suffered stomach cramps again for the second time since his rebirth.

Back then, his new energy source had attracted too much attention. Several branch families of the eight major financial groups had also contacted him. As expected, the Xiao Family had also sent someone.

Xiao Yuanmu had a faint memory of the person who had come from the Xiao Family. Therefore, he had dealt with the other with ease. He had not given them any promises. Actually, he hadn't expressed his inclinations at all. It had probably been because he had been too calm, but the Xiao Family representative had started to get anxious. He had worked extra hard to highlight and explain the benefits the Xiao Family could bring him.

When he had seen that Xiao Yuanmu had remained unmoved, he had tried to awe him with the Xiao Family's wealth. He had mentioned that the Xiao Family's successor, Xiao Baicong's coming-of-age ceremony was supposed to take place soon. He had talked about how Xiao Baicong was intelligent and wise from a young age and that he would surely take the Xiao Family to higher heights. He had also said that the future was in the hands of the youth and that if Xiao Yuanmu were to cooperate with the Xiao Family, he would have a chance to work with this proud son of Heaven.

Xiao Yuanmu had still refrained from expressing an opinion. He cool-headedly and politely sent the Xiao Family representative away. He hadn't made any mistakes in his work afterwards either. He had continued to work overtime deep into the night before leaving the company that day. After was.h.i.+ng up, he had held a short meeting with Louis before heading to bed.

But on the next day, after having received another call from that Xiao Family representative, who had once again mentioned Xiao Baicong's ceremony, Xiao Yuanmu's stomach cramps returned.

In the beginning, it had only been a slight ache. To a normal person, it might have been considered an excruciating pain, but because it hadn't affected his ability to work, it had only been considered a “slight ache.” Therefore, he had continued to work as usual and had even headed a meeting that lasted two consecutive hours. After he had returned to his s.p.a.cious and empty office, however, the memories of his interactions with Song Xuanhe in his equally empty and s.p.a.cious apartment in China, which also had French windows, had suddenly appeared in his mind.

The image of Song Xuanhe tilting his head up as he looked at him appeared in his mind. His expression of confusion a moment prior had changed. Song Xuanhe had obviously appeared completely harmless while sitting on the sofa, but now, he was looking at him with an indifferent expression as if he was just a player playing a game. He had asked him, “Do you not know your place?”

His voice in his memories had been cold and full of loathing. He had asked back, “What does someone in my place have to do?”

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Song Xuanhe had then stood up, putting on airs. He had tried to act suggestive as he tilted Xiao Yuanmu's chin up. “What do you think? Wait for me in the room after was.h.i.+ng up.”

He had acted very imposing while standing in front of the sofa. However, the sight of him escaping after having said this had made it seem a bit like he had run away fl.u.s.tered.

Back then, he had thought that Song

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wasn't as fickle as rumoured. After all, what kind of playboy would be able to say such a thing with such pure eyes devoid of any and all l.u.s.t?

But he had also thought, so what? Regardless, he would one day pay back Song Xuanhe for all the humiliation he had given him.

Back to the present, Xiao Yuanmu's lips had pursed slightly. He had then turned around and headed for the sofa in his office.

After he had sat down, the image of Song Xuanhe jumping into the pool and swimming towards him clearly had started to replay in his mind. The other was obviously a weak swimmer—Xiao Yuanmu had even seen fear in the other's eyes—but, Song Xuanhe had still swam towards him without any hesitation. He had then reached out and….

He had still remembered it as if it had happened yesterday. As Xiao Yuanmu re-lived his memories, his stomach cramps had suddenly intensified. He hadn't been able to help himself from curling up. All the while, his gaze had been fixed onto the phone on the coffee table.

Xiao Yuanmu had known that he should and could endure the pain. However, he still hadn't been able to stop himself from calling Song Xuanhe.

It was probably because talking had helped distract him, but when he had heard Song Xuanhe's voice and chatted with him, Xiao Yuanmu had felt like his cramps had stopped hurting so much. Song Xuanhe had worked faster than his pain suppressors ever did. It had made him reluctant to hang up. Instead, he had started to talk about his life.

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In the end, he had asked Song Xuanhe, “Are you feeling better now?”

Song Xuanhe had asked back, “What about you?”

Although they had been separated by the Pacific Ocean, and their voices were distorted by the phone, they had both been able to sense that the other had been a bit different from usual. This had never happened to Xiao Yuanmu before.

At that moment, Xiao Yuanmu hadn't been able to tell what he was feeling. All he had felt was the longing in his chest and the racing of his heart. At that moment, he had become certain that he had truly fallen in love with Song Xuanhe.

It was also at that moment that he had realized that his stomach had stopped hurting.

During lunch that day, for the first time, Xiao Yuanmu had tossed Xiao Baicong and his work to the back of his head. Instead, he had thought about everything between Song Xuanhe and himself. He once again meticulously perused his pre-rebirth memories. After that, he had realized just how stupid he had been to forcibly suppress these memories and his feelings.

Back then, he had forgotten that, regardless of whether his pre-rebirth self's experiences were different from his, they were, from beginning to end, the same person.

Therefore, he was bound to also fall in love with the person his pre-rebirth self had loved.

Louis had said, “Love was the most greedy and unbridled emotion there was.” Once you got a taste, you would start to want more and more. Your reasoning would fail against all sorts of baffling, trivial matters.

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Xiao Yuanmu had originally thought that only the first one could possibly be true. But now, when no one picked up his call, he realized that he actually agreed with the second sentence he had once scoffed at.

His rational side told him that Song Xuanhe was probably busy. After all, he had just called him. Although it had been a different number than the one he usually used, this at least meant that he cared about him. Song Xuanhe had finally called him after he had heard the news about him.

But, there were a lot of other things that affected Xiao Yuanmu's rationality. He couldn't help but think that if Song Xuanhe really cared about him, shouldn't he have tried calling again after the first call had failed? Or even if he didn't, shouldn't he have kept his phone near him so that he could pick up as soon as Xiao Yuanmu returned his call?

When Xiao Yuanmu dialed the number again, his lips slowly started to purse as he listened to the seemingly endless dial tone. When it cut off again, his eyes filled with darkness.

His lips were drawn into a tight line. He dialed the number a third time. Again, no one picked up. Who knew how many times he had tried it, but no one had answered until ten minutes pa.s.sed.

“h.e.l.lo? Is this President Xiao?”

Originally, Xiao Yuanmu's expression had improved upon hearing the call connect. But upon hearing this unfamiliar voice, his face sunk once more. There were dregs of ice embedded in his inwardly angry voice. “Who are you?”

“Are you President Xiao? RE's Xiao Yuanmu?” Song Jiabao's father asked, ecstatic.

When Song Xuanhe had so casually given him this number, Song Jiabao's father had made several calls, but no one had picked up. When he had thought about Song Xuanhe's meaningful smile upon giving him this number, he had thought that this number was likely fake. He had thought that Song Xuanhe, that brat, must have tricked him. After all, everyone knew how popular RE's president was right now. How could he give him Xiao Yuanmu's number just like that?

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Moreover, Song Xuanhe had said that they had already broken up. He probably didn't even have Xiao Yuanmu's American number.

Song Jiabao's father had gotten increasingly more infuriated the more he had thought about it. He had thrown his phone onto a chair and gone looking for Song Xuanhe. He hadn't expected to overhear the Song brothers' conversation by accident.

When he had seen how confident Song Xuanlin had been about the love between Song Xuanhe and Xiao Yuanmu, Song Jiabao's father had wavered. He didn't trust Song Xuanhe, but Song Xuanlin had always been steady. He would rarely talk about anything he wasn't sure of. Usually, there was a high chance that anything he said was true.

If that was the case, he absolutely could not offend Song Xuanhe right now.

That was what Song Jiabao's father had thought. Nevertheless, he hadn't left. After all, he was really interested in the topic Song Xuanlin had raised. Song Xuanhe had both Xiao Yuanmu's a.s.sistance and the old sir's favour. If he wanted to inherit the Song Family, it would be very easy for him.

But in this family, except for the old sir, no one wanted Song Xuanhe to be the one to inherit the business. Moreover, Song Jiabao and Song Xuanhe didn't have a good relations.h.i.+p. If Song Xuanhe were to take over, it would not benefit Song Jiabao and his family at all.

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Therefore, he had p.r.i.c.ked his ears and eavesdropped while hidden behind a tree. He had then heard Song Xuanhe firmly express that he had no intention of succeeding the company. Song Xuanhe had then asked Song Xuanlin about his view on the Song Family.

Song Jiabao's father had wanted to hear more. However, Li Nianan had been walking in their direction. He had no choice but to leave from the other side. When he returned to the pool, he had grabbed his phone only to find out that he had more than ten missed calls. All the calls came from the number Song Xuanhe had given him. He had just missed the most recent call by a hair.

Song Jiabao's father had hesitated for a moment. Before he could decide whether to trust that the number from Song Xuanhe had been true, another call came in.

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He had promptly picked it up and cautiously asked if the other was Xiao Yuanmu. When he had heard the cold, young voice on the other end, he had realized that Song Xuanhe might have really given him the right number.

“Don't make me ask a second time. Who are you, and how did you get this number?”

“My name is Song Guohua. I'm Song Xuanhe's uncle.” Song Jiabao's father said in a flattering voice. “President Xiao is young and promising. I wanted to give you a call and get acquainted. I got this number from Xuanhe. After all, we're family. When he heard that my company really wanted to form a partners.h.i.+p with yours, he gave this number to me. He said that he wanted to let us talk about partnering over your new energy source.”

When he thought about how Song Xuanhe actually hadn't called him and had instead given his number to someone else, frost formed over Xiao Yuanmu's eyes. However, his voice was still very calm. “You're Song Jiabao's father?”

Song Guohua's expression changed slightly. He stammered for a while before saying, “Yes. It's all because my son isn't sensible. He had offended President Xiao in the past. I apologize on his behalf. I will compensate you however you wish.”

“You'll agree to anything?” The chill in Xiao Yuanmu's eyes was freezing. He walked over to the French windows and gazed down at the cars on the street that looked like insects from where he was, three hundred metres up in the air. His voice was flat without any hint of emotion.

However, when Song Guohua had heard Xiao Yuanmu's question, he didn't know why, but he s.h.i.+vered despite the fact that it was already May. He swallowed before saying, “As long as you're willing to let bygones be bygones and partner with my company, I will do my best to fulfill any condition.”

Who knew what he had thought of, but Xiao Yuanmu's lips curled up slightly. He said, “If that's the case, then there is one thing you can help me with.”

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Eve: Thank you to everyone for the sweet messages. I tried to respond back to all your warm, encouraging comments individually (I'm sure those with a CG account have already gotten the notifs. If you don't have a CG acc, I'm not sure if you get notifications when I comment but I did respond I promise!). I had been apprehensive in posting that comment but I'm blown away by the amount of understanding, empathy, and kindness there is in this community. As others have told me, I should learn to just ignore negative comments. So I'll work on that. Rather than focus on negativity, I'd rather enjoy this novel with you lovely readers who try to keep things positive~

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Checking the comments more infrequently helped a lot so I will continue to check once or twice a week on this novel~