Translated by Eve

Edited by Kara

At the entrance to the penthouse apartment, which was situated in a garden in Y City's downtown, Xiao Yuanmu looked at the madam who stood two steps away from him. Her clothes were elegant, and she had a refined aura. Xiao Yuanmu's tone was flat and estranged as he spoke, “How can I help you?”

Mrs. Xiao held her purse tightly in her hands, feeling ill-at-ease. Her well-maintained, pale, and tender fingertips pressed tightly against the pet.i.te jewels embedded on her purse's border and turned slightly white from the pressure. Her usual elegant poise was nowhere to be seen, and her eyes were slightly red.

Her eldest son, who had been lost and then found, had been “busy” for so long. She already realized how he felt towards the Xiao Family, herself, and his father. He didn't feel close to them at all. He didn't seem to like them very much. He even seemed to be on guard against them.

This knowledge upset Mrs. Xiao so much that she would wake up crying in the middle of the night. But no matter how many times she was given the cold shoulder, she couldn't help but want to get a little closer to her eldest son, who she hadn't seen for over twenty years.

Mrs. Xiao cautiously sized Xiao Yuanmu up. Xiao Yuanmu looked very alike to her younger brother who had died young. The moment she had laid eyes on Xiao Yuanmu, she had known that he was her son. There was no one except for her eldest son who could possibly look so much alike to her deceased younger brother.

Faced with Mrs. Xiao's fervent gaze, Xiao Yuanmu remained calm. A flicker of impatience flashed through his eyes. His Adam's apple bobbed once, and he asked again, “Mrs. Xiao, how can I help you?”

Mrs. Xiao was pulled out of her thoughts by Xiao Yuanmu's voice. Her fingers, which were already slightly white from how tightly she was holding her purse, turned even whiter. However, she still forced herself to smile. “Yuanmu, I'm your mom. You don't have to address me so distantly.”

Xiao Yuanmu nodded, but he didn't change his words. For the third time, he asked, “How may I help you?”

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“I heard that you didn't eat breakfast this morning.” Mrs. Xiao bent down slightly and lifted up the basket that was on the ground beside her. She held it in front of Xiao Yuanmu and said, “You're so busy at work every day. Your body won't be able to take it if you don't eat breakfast. Therefore, Mom made some food and came to deliver it.”

Xiao Yuanmu's gaze fell on the exquisitely woven basket as she spoke. He then looked back at her face. When he saw the antic.i.p.ation in her eyes, he accepted the basket. “Thank you.”

A delighted expression graced Mrs. Xiao's face upon seeing him accept it. Her smile became much more relaxed. Her tone also became a lot smoother. “You might want to heat up the congee inside. How about Mom heats it up for you while you go wash up?”

“No need,” Xiao Yuanmu declined in a flat voice, “I have something to do right now. I'll just eat a bit quickly.”

“Now that won't do.” Mrs. Xiao's pretty brows scrunched up slightly. “Cold food is bad for your stomach.”

“It's fine, Mrs. Xiao.” Louis, who could feel Xiao Yuanmu's gaze flicker over to him a few times, felt the hairs on his arm stand up. He took a step forward and smiled. “We, young people, like to eat cold food. Since you've managed to give it to him, how about I see you out?”

Mrs. Xiao glanced at Louis, who had brought her over. She then looked at Xiao Yuanmu, whose expression hadn't changed all this time. She seemed like she was hoping for him to say something.

“Louis.” Under Mrs. Xiao's gaze, Xiao Yuanmu finally parted his lips. “See Mrs. Xiao out.”

Louis nodded at once. He hadn't been able to refuse when Mrs. Xiao had asked him to bring her to Xiao Yuanmu's home because of the relations.h.i.+p between his own father and the Xiao Family. Therefore, he had originally felt very nervous. Now that he saw Xiao Yuanmu's stormy expression, that sense of unease only intensified. He would immediately take away Mrs. Xiao from there and hoped that Xiao Yuanmu would be merciful when he came for him later.

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“Mrs. Xiao, this way.” Louis pressed the elevator b.u.t.ton and very chivalrously held the elevator door open for her. His face was covered by a smile.

Mrs. Xiao nodded gracefully. She smiled at Xiao Yuanmu and said, “Then, Mom will come see you again tomorrow.”

“You don't have to do that,” Xiao Yuanmu glanced at Louis and said, “I can make my own breakfast.”

Mrs. Xiao paused. Her smile stiffened. “Then next time, Mom will….”

Before she could finish, she was interrupted by someone's ringtone.

She had been slightly taken aback. Soon after though, a look of glee emerged within her eyes. She hadn't finished what she was going to say, but Xiao Yuanmu had an incoming call. This meant that she could stay for a little bit longer.

Xiao Yuanmu didn't notice Mrs. Xiao's expression. All of his attention had been pulled towards the familiar ringtone of the phone sitting in his living room.

“Go pick up the call.” Mrs. Xiao smiled understandingly. “Mom will wait for you here.”

Xiao Yuanmu paused. He then quickly walked over to the phone laying on the sofa. When he saw the familiar contact name, a smile flashed through his eyes. He picked up the call and quietly said, “Give me one second.”

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He then turned around and headed back to the door. “I have something very important to handle right now. You….”

“It's fine. Mom's free. Mom will wait until you're done to speak with you.”

Xiao Yuanmu looked at Louis. Louis actually really wanted to hear Xiao Yuanmu's phone call. Ever since he had found out about Xiao Yuanmu's boyfriend from Yang Jie, he had been very curious. When he saw Xiao Yuanmu's excited expression just now, he knew that the person calling had to be his rumoured lover. However, no matter how much he wanted to hear this piece of gossip, his desire couldn't win over his fear of Xiao Yuanmu.

His eyebrows drooped slightly in disappointment. He then beamed at Mrs. Xiao. “Mrs. Xiao, I—”

“You don't need to see me out.” Mrs. Xiao stared at Xiao Yuanmu's figure, which had already headed inside, a bit nervously. She was torn between leaving out of politeness and ignoring courtesy to stay. In the end, the temptation of getting to stay with her son for a bit longer won out. She gave Louis a gentle and elegant smile. “I'll wait for him here. Louis, if you have something else to do, you can leave first.”

“No, no, no, it's my honour to serve you.” If he left Mrs. Xiao by Xiao Yuanmu's door all alone, Xiao Yuanmu would probably skin him alive once he was done with his call. Louis smiled bitterly. “I'll wait with you.”

When Mrs. Xiao had heard this, her smile became much more sincere. “Thank you.”

On the other side, Xiao Yuanmu, who had left Louis to deal with Mrs. Xiao, walked into his room. He stood by the French windows and stared down at the garden and river below. When he heard the quiet breathing noises coming from the other side, a small smile seeped out of his eyes.

“Okay. You can speak now. Why did you call me at this time?”

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It was probably about eight o'clock at night in the Capital right now. Song Xuanhe rarely called him at such a time. That was why Xiao Yuanmu had been so pleasantly surprised upon receiving this call.

When Song Xuanhe heard Xiao Yuanmu's cool voice, the jittery feeling he had eased up a lot. He glanced at Song Jiabao and them before looking away. “There's something I want to talk to you about.”

Xiao Yuanmu leaned against the transparent gla.s.s, relaxed. His gaze softened. “What's up?”

Song Xuanhe smiled. His lips then pressed into a straight line upon seeing Song Jiabao and his family's pleading gazes. Lowering his gaze, he asked, “Have you been busy?”

“No.” Xiao Yuanmu glanced at his watch and then at the huge pile of doc.u.ments on his desk. With a straight face, he said, “I've been really free these last two days and got to rest a bit.”

Song Xuanhe had something else on his mind, so he didn't notice Xiao Yuanmu's tone. He only gave the other a quiet “mn.” He then glanced at Song Jiabao, whose face was white as a sheet of paper, and then went upstairs.

“What's with that interview?”

Song Xuanhe asked while walking upstairs. When the Song Family members heard his question, they all craned their necks, trying to eavesdrop on their conversation. However, Song Xuanhe was too quick. He took four-five steps at a time. In the blink of an eye, he disappeared. A second later, they heard the sound of a door closing.

Xiao Yuanmu: “Which interview?”

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After shutting his door, Song Xuanhe went to sit down. “How many interviews have you done?”

Xiao Yuanmu turned around and headed towards the large bed in the centre of his room. “One.”

Song Xuanhe rested his legs on his coffee table. “Then, which one do you think I'm referring to?”

“What part of the interview are you asking about?”

Xiao Yuanmu sat down on the bed and placed his phone beside him after turning on speaker mode. He changed out of his home wear and put on a collared s.h.i.+rt. His slender fingers fiddled with his cuffs, and there was heedlessness effused in his tone.

Song Xuanhe listened to the rustling noises and noticed that Xiao Yuanmu's voice sounded farther away than before. He paused and then asked, “What are you doing?”

Xiao Yuanmu: “Changing clothes.”

Song Xuanhe put his legs back down. He pressed down on the edge of the coffee table closest to him, causing the hind legs of the table to lift up into the air. He then pushed the table a bit further away from him. He then asked, “You're changing clothes while talking to me?”

Xiao Yuanmu's voice was mild. “Louis is waiting for me outside. I can't see him in my pyjamas.”

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Song Xuanhe raised a brow but didn't continue to ask about this. He went back to the main topic. “So, what was that interview all about? We've already broken up. Why did you say that we're together?”

Xiao Yuanmu paused while b.u.t.toning his cuffs. In a flat voice, he said, “You said that we could believe in our own version of events regarding our relations.h.i.+p. You think that we've already broken up, but I believe that we haven't. I just said what I believe. If you don't agree with me, then by all means, you can publicly announce your stance.”

Song Xuanhe paused his action of slowly pus.h.i.+ng the coffee table away. His mind blanked for a few seconds before his eye twitched. “Who would believe me now if I said that we've already broken up?”

When Xiao Yuanmu had heard the suppressed anger in Song Xuanhe's voice, he smiled as he finished fastening his cuffs. His smile caused the end of his sentence to sound a bit husky. “That's your problem.”

Song Xuanhe was a bit astonished by Xiao Yuanmu's shamelessness. For a moment, he couldn't say anything. He felt like a donkey must have kicked him in the head just now for him to have given up his chance of directly freeing himself of Song Jiabao and his family over that hint of surprised delight in Xiao Yuanmu's voice, which had been so slight that he might have just imagined it.

When he had first heard Xiao Yuanmu speak, he had thought that the other sounded very tired. That was why Song Xuanhe hadn't wanted to bring it up. He hadn't wanted to make the other unhappy so early in the morning.

Song Xuanhe finally shoved the table far away with one kick, and his foot fell to the ground. He didn't know why, but when he imagined the other's eyes curved and filled with happiness upon hearing the smile in Xiao Yuanmu's voice, the unhappiness he had felt just now disappeared. He didn't like having his emotions influenced by Xiao Yuanmu like this. Therefore, he pursed his lips and asked in a constrained voice, “Then, what's with the invitation?”

The smile in Xiao Yuanmu's eyes froze. His jaw then tightened. “The Xiao Family sent it to you?”

Song Xuanhe was slightly surprised. “You didn't know about it?”

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Xiao Yuanmu gazed at the door. His voice, which had originally held a smile, grew cold. “Don't come.”

Eve: Xuanhe ah, you've already started to fall. You care and he affects you so~