Translated by Eve
Edited by Kara
Thank you Kofi Supporter and uhimgood for the kofi!
“It’s half-right.”
Xiao Yuanmu made a quiet sound of acknowledgement, his tone rising at the end as he hinted for Song Xuanhe to continue.
“The reason I hadn’t told you about the banquet has nothing to do with us breaking up. I just thought that there was no reason for you to come. You know about the relationship between Song Guochao and I. You’d have only ended up in a difficult situation if I were to have brought you.”
“Then, will we break up?”
There was a quiet sound outside. The door to the lounge opened, and Song Xuanhe smiled at the arriving person before looking away. He continued to lean against the sofa in a languid manner and made an ambiguous statement. “Can’t say. Even in marriage, there’s a possibility of divorce.”
Song Xuanlin paused while walking towards the window. He glanced at Song Xuanhe.
Song Xuanhe didn’t notice Song Xuanlin’s gaze. He shifted the conversation back to the original question. “Therefore, what he had said was half-right. As for the other half, I think that it’s up to me to decide who I want to be with. I don’t need the Song Family’s acknowledgement.”
Xiao Yuanmu chuckled quietly. A moment later, he said, “Got it.”
Song Xuanhe didn’t ask what he had “gotten” from that. Instead, he said, “You’ve been really busy lately. You looked like you’d gotten thinner last time I saw you. If you’re too busy, I won’t go eat at your place anymore. We’ll talk about it again when you’re less busy.”
A soft word came over from the other end. “Okay.”
Seeing that Song Xuanlin was coming over, Song Xuanhe said, “I have something else to attend to. I’ll be hanging up now.”
“Ge, you haven’t gone back yet?” Putting his phone down, Song Xuanhe continued to laze on the sofa under Song Xuanlin’s disapproving gaze. Padding the back of his head with his hands, he smiled at Song Xuanlin in a carefree manner. “Or, were you looking for me?”
“Is Xiao Yuanmu really behind what had happened to Song Jiabao?” Song Xuanlin walked over to Song Xuanhe’s side. He frowned at his younger brother’s posture before looking away. “If it really is him, Song Jiabao will not let this go. It would be best for him to leave the Capital and rest somewhere else for now.”
Song Xuanhe laughed. “To avoid Song Jiabao?”
“Grandpa doesn’t approve of your relationship with Xiao Yuanmu to begin with. Nothing good will come out of this for either you or your boyfriend if this matter were to blow up. Laying low is the best option right now. Don’t make Grandpa hate him in exchange for a moment of pride. It will be hard to patch things up later.”
Song Xuanhe straightened up, shocked. He asked, “Ge, are you worried about me?”
Song Xuanlin furrowed his brows. He looked at Song Xuanhe and said in a plain voice, “You are my younger brother.”
……
After he had hung up the phone, Xiao Yuanmu placed his hand on the railing. He stared into the dark apartment across from him. A chilly breeze blew over, causing his eyelashes to flutter. He then cast his eyes down, hiding the emotions in his eyes.
Yang Jie had come out of the study and stretched. When he saw Xiao Yuanmu standing on the balcony, he walked over to him while saying, “Xiao ge, Louis told me to tell you to meet with him. He’s found something from his investigation. It seems like Srpele’s real boss has a lot of influence. Also, about the hacker we haven’t been able to contact for the longest time…”
“Xiao ge?”
Yang Jie’s steps suddenly stopped. He stood two metres away from Xiao Yuanmu.
Xiao Yuanmu extinguished the cigarette in his hand, his gaze cool. When he saw Yang Jie frown, he said in an emotionless voice, “You were right.”
“Right about what…?” Yang Jie was confused. After thinking about it, he became even more puzzled. “Srpele’s real boss? Weren’t you the one who brought that up?”
Xiao Yuanmu looked away. He didn’t explain himself and simply walked past Yang Jie.
*
Eight-thirty in the morning, Yang Jie knocked on Xiao Yuanmu’s apartment door with breakfast in hand. After two knocks, the door opened.
When he saw the neatly-dressed man in front of him, whose hair was still dripping wet, Yang Jie frowned. “Xiao ge, did you stay up all night again?”
Xiao Yuanmu dried his hair with a towel as he turned around and gave a quiet sound of acknowledgement.
“You’d be less busy if you went to America.” Yang Jie put on some house slippers and placed the breakfast on the table. He looked at the wide-open glass door leading to the balcony. He stopped walking and pursed his lips. Upon thinking about his goal today, he didn’t say anything else about that in the end.
“I brought congee and noodles. They’re definitely not as good as the ones you make, but you should at least eat a bit.” Yang Jie pulled the food out of the bags, eyes downcast, as he casually said, “I saw Er Shao’s car leaving as I entered the building. He’s probably already eaten.”
Xiao Yuanmu threw his towel onto the sofa and sat on a chair in the dining room. His voice was cold. “Let’s eat.”
Yang Jie didn’t say anything else. He sat down across from Xiao Yuanmu and ate his breakfast quietly.
After breakfast, Yang Jie went to grab his notebook that he had left behind last night. He headed into the study while flipping through it. “Xiao ge, I managed to contact that hacker. You were right. He’s not willing to work for a company. He hung up the phone right after picking up. But, I did send him the software you gave me. I’ll continue with the follow-up.”
The two of them were used to switching into work mode right after eating. Xiao Yuanmu sat at his desk and began reading the documents in his hands while listening to Yang Jie. He then said, “There’s no rush.”
“Louis is probably resting right now.” Yang Jie glanced at his watch. “According to his time zone, he should have already left the company and had dinner by now. We can have a teleconference with him in a bit and discuss….”
“No need.” Xiao Yuanmu interrupted Yang Jie. “He just left the company. Let him rest today.”
“But, the negotiations with Srpele will begin the day after tomorrow. Time is tight. We don’t know what cards Srpele may have in their hands. If Louis rests….”
Yang Jie fell silent. He knew very well how busy all of them had been these days. Among the three of them, Louis, who was operating on a thirteen-hour time difference, was actually the busiest of the three. Because their days and nights were opposite, Louis would have to lead their company’s executives during the day while teleconferencing with Yang Jie and Xiao Yuanmu at night. He had not been able to rest for a long time.
For the sake of accommodating the time differences and their pressing cooperative projects, Xiao Yuanmu had only been sleeping one or two hours a day for several nights in a row. Because Yang Jie had to go home and take care of his mother, he was at least able to rest for a few hours every night. He was probably the one who had it the easiest right now.
“Then, we’ll let him rest.” Although Yang Jie was still worried about the negotiation, he still laughed. “A few days ago, he was complaining about not having time to go out on dates. He’ll probably be ecstatic today.”
“Since Louis won’t be present, I’ll collate the meeting material and do my best to send it over to Louis before he goes to work. After he’s looked over it, we’ll discuss. And about today’s trading day, the stocks you have previously bought….”
Yang Jie then reported the day’s agenda and included his own summary as per usual. He then placed his notebook down and looked at Xiao Yuanmu.
Time ticked on, but he didn’t hear Xiao Yuanmu’s voice. Yang Jie saw that Xiao Yuanmu was still looking down at the document in his hands. His long, straight eyelashes hid the emotions in his eyes, but his tense jaw seemed to emit a feeling of loneliness and coldness.
“Xiao ge?”
Xiao Yuanmu looked up. His eyes were serene and clear now, making it seem like what Yang Jie had seen just now had only been an illusion. He said calmly, “You don’t need to collate the materials. I’ll personally attend the negotiations with Srpele.”
Yang Jie was taken aback at first. Afterwards, he widened his eyes in disbelief. He couldn’t hide the look of delight on his face. “Really? You’re going to personally go? Then, will we be heading to America now? Should we leave today or tomorrow?”
“Tonight after midnight.” Xiao Yuanmu looked at his pristine phone screen. “Arrange for a flight after midnight. I have something to do after six. I’ll meet you at the airport.”
“Isn’t that a bit too rushed?” Yang Jie began canceling the things he had planned for tonight and said, “The negotiations aren’t until the day after tomorrow. We can head to the airport tomorrow morning and still make it.”
“Book the first flight after midnight.”
Xiao Yuanmu’s voice was mild but left no room for argument.
Yang Jie simply nodded. He started to look up flights. Upon finding the earliest one, he said, “There’s one at 1:50 am. It’s the earliest flight from Y City. There’s three spots left in business class.”
Xiao Yuanmu’s hand tightened around his pen. He looked down and said, “Let’s do that one.”
Yang Jie promptly bought the tickets. When he saw that it went through, he laughed, feeling relieved. He looked up and said, “Luckily, we’ve already got our passports done. Otherwise….”
Midway through his sentence, Yang Jie suddenly thought of Song Xuanhe. His lips opened and closed as he hesitated. In the end, he still asked, “Xiao ge, have you told Song shao yet?”
Xiao Yuanmu placed his fountain pen down. He turned to Yang Jie as if asking for his advice, “How should I tell him?”
So, he didn’t tell him yet.
Yang Jie touched his nose. He hesitated. “Although I’ve never dated before—this is just my opinion—I think that if my boyfriend were to tell me that he was going to leave just after midnight that same day, I’d be really mad.”
Xiao Yuanmu looked away, the corner of his lips rising slightly. His voice was faint, nearly inaudible. “I hope that he gets mad.”
Yang Jie didn’t hear what he had said. He craned his head over and asked, “What did you say?”
Xiao Yuanmu didn’t respond. His gaze fell back onto the documents. When Yang Jie saw this, he didn’t ask anything more. He just suddenly felt a bit sympathetic towards Song Xuanhe. Regardless of what prejudice he may have against him, no one would feel good to find out that their partner would be suddenly leaving them.
But, they could no longer put off moving to America. Moreover, it would be good for Xiao ge and Song Xuanhe to be separated for a while. After Xiao ge had met other people, and they had spent more time apart, maybe Xiao ge’s feelings for Song Xuanhe would gradually grow fainter. In any case, Song Xuanhe didn’t like Xiao ge. When the time came, they’d be able to naturally break up.
When he thought of this, he added, “Since things have already been settled, maybe you should explain it to him. Maybe he’ll understand?”
Xiao Yuanmu’s gaze was fixed on some point on his desk. There was a hint of a smile in his voice, but his eyes were dark and unreadable. “Rather than angry, he might even be overjoyed to hear this.”
The author has something to say:
Song Xuanhe: Baby, you truly get me.
Eve: Mumu’s finally leaving. Do not fret. Oddly enough, I actually found it to get sweeter after this.
Kara: These two frustrate me to no end, but all that frustration is worth it, because from what I’ve sneakily read ahead, they are indeed so sweet after this. (*´艸`*) So, look forward to their future dog food, my fellow readers!!
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