Yang Jie stood expressionlessly to the side, while the other bodyguards, who ‘hadn’t yet seen the world’, all looked like they’d bitten into something sour. He looked at them out of the corner of his eyes and briefly sneered at them in his heart, unable to help feeling a little proud. At the end of the day, those people still hadn’t seen enough; he’d been immune to this level of displays for a long time.
At this time, the most correct attitude to take was to not disturb them.
“Brother Yang.” The driver came up to Yang Jie and spoke quietly, “The car is ready, and the area nearby has already been checked for safety. There’s no problem.”
Yang Jie nodded but didn’t move.
The driver was puzzled and thought that he hadn’t made things clear enough. He repeated himself again, adding, “The sky’s getting dark, and it’s getting late. You can call President Xiao and Mister Song to get into the car first.”
Yang Jie frowned and was about to teach the driver to learn to look at the situation before he acted. However, the cell phone in his pocket rang before he could speak.
He took it out and looked at it. It was the same phone call from before.
“Hello, Madame Xiao. This is Yang Jie.” Yang Jie lowered his voice and retreated back a few steps, patting the driver who was beside him and asking him to go and call for Xiao Yuanmu.
The young driver nodded repeatedly, emphatically, then trotted over and interrupted Song Xuanhe and Xiao Yuanmu’s conversation, “President Xiao, Brother Yang asked me to get you.”
Yang Jie, who was talking with Madame Xiao, didn’t know that he’d been thoroughly betrayed. At this time, he’d sensed that there was something off with Madame Xiao, who hadn’t stopped calling. It could be that something had happened to the Xiao Family, or that something was the matter with Madame Xiao herself. No matter what the reason was, as an assistant to a boss who wasn’t close to the family, he had to shoulder the burden of appeasing her.
“Madame Xiao, Brother Xiao still isn’t here, but I think he’ll be here soon.” Yang Jie spoke in a gentle tone, “I’ll let him know as soon as possible when I see him, and ask him to call you back.”
Madame Xiao was unable to calm down from the other side of the call. Her voice wasn’t as elegant and soft as it was before, and instead, she seemed to be trying her best to suppress something. Even so, she was able to maintain her composure and calm in front of outsiders, “Alright. If you see Yuanmu, please tell him immediately and ask him to call me back. Tell him that it’s a very urgent matter.”
“Okay, Madame Xiao, I understand.” Yang Jie replied quietly. He saw that Xiao Yuanmu was coming over when he lifted his gaze, and noiselessly pointed to his cell phone before making a hand gesture.
Xiao Yuanmu nodded lightly, and Yang Jie made a surprised sound into the cell phone, “Madame Xiao, I see President Xiao coming back! I’ll give him the cell phone right away!”
Yang Jie trotted over and handed the cell phone over to Xiao Yuanmu, then whispered quietly into his ear, “It seems that there’s something urgent.”
Xiao Yuanmu’s expression was calm as he accepted the cell phone and called out lightly, “Mother.”
“Yuanmu!”
Madame Xiao lost the calm that she’d maintained to outsiders when she heard her eldest son’s voice. The crying sounds she’d suppressed in her throat instantly poured out, and for a moment, it became difficult for her to speak.
Xiao Yuanmu lowered his eyes and listened indifferently to her muffled crying. During this period, he offered neither comfort nor urging. He seemed to be offering patient, silent comfort, but it was also like the indifference of a bystander.
Seeing that Xiao Yuanmu had answered the phone, Yang Jie skillfully left the area and walked over to where he’d been standing earlier. He saw that Song Xuanhe was speaking with the young driver who’d wanted to call them over before, and it was unknown what was said, but his laughter was very cheerful and caused the driver to shyly laugh in return.
Yang Jie’s mental alarm bells rang as he watched the young driver look at Song Xuanhe with crystal bright eyes. Compared with the other people present, he had the most understanding of Song Xuanhe’s charm. Although he didn’t like Song Xuanhe much before, he couldn’t deny that while this person wasn’t as good looking in comparison to Brother Xiao, he held a great attraction to both the same and opposite sex.
He appeared handsome and gentle, with a pair of clear and clean eyes that were unable to hold any dirt. Just looking at him made people feel that he was friendly and easy to get along with, and it was easy for people to relax their guard around him. This meant that people would subconsciously relax their guard very quickly, and those who liked this type advanced forward wave after wave, filling the breach left by fallen comrades.
Likely due to how much he read normally, Song Xuanhe was able to speak with everyone, and was always able to casually find the topic that interested the other party the most. He wasn’t a top beauty, but it was difficult to resist his charm after spending time with him.
Xiao Yuanmu might love Song Xuanhe because of how long they’d spent together and common hardships, and perhaps it also had to do with Song Xuanhe’s appearance and inexplicably comfortable temperament, but Yang Jie believed that more of it was due to feelings that had settled in over time.
However, others liked Song Xuanhe because of his attractive outer appearance and his temperament, which was rarely seen in the average person. In other words, it was related to the charm of his personality.
Previously, Yang Jie had seen Song Xuanhe chatting with a young supervisor. It only took a short time for the young supervisor to forget that he was his immediate boss’ lover, and his eyes would shine whenever he looked at Song Xuanhe.
In short, Yang Jie had seen too many such gazes directed at Song Xuanhe from the people around him.
He never could quite understand how Song Xuanhe had changed from a not quite famous dandy who nevertheless didn’t have a good reputation to this kind of person who was clearly taken, yet could touch other people’s hearts and even have them all say good things about him.
However, it would really be wronging him to say that Song Xuanhe was deliberately exuding charm to seduce others. Even Yang Jie, who’d been biased against him before, had to admit that Song Xuanhe really spoke to normal people in an ordinary manner. But, some people just felt that he was treating them differently. It was likely because his pair of eyes were too clean, and it always gave people the feeling that they were really all those pair of eyes saw when he looked at them.
Sometimes, when Yang Jie spoke to Song Xuanhe, he would also find himself unable to help being attracted to him. Occasionally, when he saw that pair of eyes which only held his own appearance, he would understand Brother Xiao’s vigilance every time he saw Song Xuanhe talking and laughing with others.
However, he knew his own boss very well. Song Xuanhe was right no matter what he did, and if he did anything wrong, then it was because the people around him had corrupted him.
Regarding this point, Yang Jie believed that Louis and Zhou Nan had deeply experienced Xiao Yuanmu’s cold gaze.
Now, Yang Jie felt that the driver was going to have the same deep experience if he didn’t leave, while he absolutely didn’t want to experience it for himself.
“Cough, cough cough.”
When Song Xuanhe looked up, he saw Yang Jie standing to the side, covering his mouth with one hand, coughing even as he said, “Young Master Song, I’ve suddenly started coughing. You should stay further away from me so that I won’t infect you.”
The driver also noticed Yang Jie and his tone was puzzled as he said, “Brother Yang, since you’re coughing, you shouldn’t come over here.”
Yang Jie paused for a moment, his temples throbbing briefly. He then took time to glance at Xiao Yuanmu, who was still on the phone, and said, “My throat is itchy. Help me get a bottle of water from the car trunk. I want to talk a bit with Young Master Song.”
Only then did the driver nod. He smiled shyly at Song Xuanhe before turning to leave.
“What?” Song Xuanhe raised his eyebrows with a smile that wasn’t quite a smile, “What were you looking for me for?”
“Something might have happened with the Xiao Family.” Yang Jie spoke seriously.
This wasn’t an excuse he’d come up with casually. When he heard Madame Xiao’s voice, he could tell that something had definitely happened in the Xiao Family. Additionally, since Xiao Yuanmu was a member of the Xiao Family and it’s current temporary family head, he would have to involve himself in the midst of it. Earlier, he’d thought about it for a while, unsure if he should speak to Song Xuanhe about it, but just now when he saw Song Xuanhe’s cheerful smile, he’d suddenly felt like he should tell him.
If something had really happened, regardless of whether it was good or bad, Yang Jie felt that Brother Xiao would probably only be willing to, and would likely only think to share the news with Song Xuanhe. Since that was the case, it would be better for Brother Xiao if he knew a bit more.
Song Xuanhe raised his eyebrows when he heard this, thinking about the plot in his mind. He confirmed that nothing had happened in the Xiao Family prior to the original body owner’s death and said, “What happened?”
“It’s not very clear.” Yang Jie shook his head, but his expression was a little tense as he said, “I’ve never heard such urgency in Madame Xiao’s tone before. Although I haven’t had much contact with her, that madame has always paid great attention to propriety. If it wasn’t really urgent, it would be absolutely impossible for me to hear a hint of it.”
Song Xuanhe also placed importance on this matter after hearing Yang Jie say this.
Compared to Yang Jie, he had had even less contact with Madame Xiao. If he really counted, then there was only that one, not very pleasant, encounter. But he also acknowledged Yang Jie’s words that a worldly madame like Madame Xiao would generally never show any performance that was lacking in elegance and propriety to outsiders under most circumstances.
Just like back then, when he’d tried his best to restrain himself and barely kept from pointing a finger at Madame Xiao’s nose and scolding her. His emotions had still brought out a lot of indignation and feeling of responsibility, but she’d been as elegant and gentle as ever. The change in her expression had only happened after Xiao Yuanmu appeared, and even then, while it was perceptible, the change was extremely small. It could be seen from this that she still tried to control her emotions during such times.
For a person who could exercise restraint in front of their own son to show emotions in front of outsiders, then it meant that something absolutely uncontrollable had occurred.
Song Xuanhe was very curious about what it was that could make Madame Xiao go out of control.
Additionally, there was clearly no major plotline related to the Xiao Family at this point in time in the original plot. Was this difference because of the changes he’d made?
[ If it’s really a big event, then it’s definitely related to you. ] The system said, [ Although you can’t go so far as to affect the Xiao Family, you can still affect Xiao Yuanmu. Changes in Xiao Yuanmu will affect the Xiao Family, and since Xiao Yuanmu and the Xiao Family have changed, it wouldn’t be surprising if the plot has been moved forward or delayed, or even changed directly. ]
After hearing the system’s words, Song Xuanhe replied, [ If there’s a change in the main plotline, it shouldn’t have anything to do with me, right? ]
[ It has nothing to do with you. ] The system was certain, [ Right now, your plot has already been completed. Today’s plot in the Nan City forest was the last plot point. Although the hunter failed to arrive, Xiao Yuanmu, as the only protagonist who is controlled by the plot, is also the only one who can completely change the plot without taking responsibility for it. He can be forgiven for disturbing any matter, and there’s also a reasonable way to explain it. ]
Song Xuanhe raised his eyebrows, [ The son of destiny. ]
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