Chapter 16 Looking for Friends

Translated by Eve

Edited by Kara

After the pool party, Song Xuanhe and Xiao Yuanmu’s relationship had become a little bit abstruse.

The two of them lived under the same roof, worked at the same company—they met frequently. Outside, they were each other’s nominal lovers, but when they met with each other, Song Xuanhe’s attitude was always indifferent and irreverent. Meanwhile, Xiao Yuanmu was no longer as detached as he was before. Although he still didn’t speak much, everyday, he would stand at the company doors with a distant expression at lunch and after work. It was like he was silently declaring his possession of the other.

This behaviour, which was neither eager nor aloof, made Song Xuanhe feel a bit helpless.

Right now, it was time for lunch again. Song Xuanhe kicked the footstool, a bit agitated, scaring the assistant, who had just finished his report, into trembling. The assistant thought that there was something wrong in his report just now and promptly turned around, saying, “Young Mr. Song, if you aren’t satisfied with this plan, if you think that it’s not good, I will immediately have them come up with a new one.”

Song Xuanhe was startled. Suddenly, a smile appeared on his face. He hooked his finger and said to the assistant, “Right. Immediately gather everyone for a meeting in the small conference room. Prepare lunch for all attendees while you’re at it.”

The assistant nodded and left the office in haste.

Song Xuanhe called via the company’s internal line and had his secretary go tell Xiao Yuanmu that he would be in a meeting, so they would not be eating together. When Song Xuanhe looked at his empty office, he suddenly felt that he was especially wise.

When the meeting was over, it was already 12:30. Because he had silenced his phone for the meeting, Song Xuanhe discovered that he had two missed calls upon entering his office. One was from Xiao Yuanmu, and the other was from an unknown number.

He skipped past Xiao Yuanmu’s name and called back the unknown number.

The other party received the call very quickly and went straight to business: “Mr. Song, the person you’ve asked us to keep an eye on has moved. Recently, she’s gone to Zijing villa. It seems that she has bumped into that person.”

The corner of Song Xuanhe’s lips rose. He was already in a fairly good mood, but it just got better. He said, “Carefully watch over it.”

After hanging up, Song Xuanhe heard someone knock on his door. His mood right now was quite good, so he let the person in.

It was just that when he saw who it was, his good mood diminished.

“Xuanhe gege.”

Song Jiani walked in with red eyes. She was biting down on her bottom lip, and her makeup was light today—it was not as gorgeous and charming as it was usually. She looked lovely and pitiful.

“Are you really going to treat me like this over that man?” Song Jiani’s tears fell. She walked over to Song Xuanhe’s desk and sobbed, “I just wanted Lu Chao to teach him a lesson, that’s all. Song Xuanhe, you and I have grown up together. It was me who was by your side all this time. You’re going to fire me because of that b*tch you’ve just met?”

Song Xuanhe frowned. With a stern expression, he said, “You should know that you’re getting fired because you messed up at work. This has nothing to do with Xiao Yuanmu.”

“How could this not have anything to do with him?!” Song Jiani’s body trembled, albeit it was unknown whether it was from anger or from crying. She walked around the desk, headed towards Song Xuanhe, and interrogated him, “Before, you would only say a few things if I made a mistake. And before Xiao Yuanmu came, you have never treated me so coldly before, let alone try to fire me. Everything is because of him. It couldn’t be that you actually like him that much?! Because of him, you dislike me now?”

Song Xuanhe used his toe to push his chair back a bit. The perfume on her body made his nose uncomfortable. Because he was getting agitated, his tone became impatient, “I’ve always disliked you. It has nothing to do with Xiao Yuanmu. Also, since you’ve been fired, don’t stay here at the company….”

“I don’t believe it!”

Song Jiani pounced forward and sat on Song Xuanhe’s legs. Before he could push her off, she wrapped her arms around his neck. An impressive, softness pressed against his chest, and a pair of red lips approached him.

Song Xuanhe turned his head away. Without any mercy, he pushed Song Jiani off of him. Then, his gaze froze. He saw that someone had come in.

Song Jiani also saw Xiao Yuanmu. She could feel Song Xuanhe’s pushing action pause. She smiled, feeling proud. She hugged Song Xuanhe even tighter and looked up to give Xiao Yuanmu an askance glance, “This is a Vice President’s office. Is this somewhere you can come in as you wish? And, you’re still not leaving?”

It looked like there was ice shooting out of Xiao Yuanmu’s eyes. His gaze shifted from Song Jiani’s face to Song Xuanhe’s. He then said in a dull tone, “What’s going on?”

Before Song Xuanhe could speak, Song Jiani laughed in a cold voice. Her tone was soft but full of contempt, “Who do you think you are? You’re nothing but a little lover, that’s all. And, you dare ask about me and Xuanhe gege? Seducing men and selling yourself because you’ve got a pretty face—suits your lowly background.”

Xiao Yuanmu’s expression became increasingly cold. His lips pressed even tighter into a straight line. His eyes were chilly. It looked like there was a storm gathering in them. His gaze was fixed on Song Xuanhe, not budging an inch.

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He asked again, “What’s going on?”

Song Xuanhe frowned slightly. He felt that Xiao Yuanmu’s expression right now was really off. There was a foul air all around him as if he would separate him—the “adulterous man”— and Song Jiani—the lascivious woman— and dismember or beat them both to death in the next second.

Indeed, when he saw that Song Xuanhe wasn’t speaking, Xiao Yuanmu directly came over and pulled Song Jiani off, causing her to tumble to the floor. He then pulled Song Xuanhe up. His gaze fell on the kiss mark on the other’s face. The light in his eyes completely extinguished and became cold to the bone.

“You actually dare to push me!”

Song Jiani hadn’t thought that Xiao Yuanmu would actually dare to do anything to her. She crawled up. Before she had even bothered to tidy up her clothes, she brandished her claws, heading towards Xiao Yuanmu. She raised her hand, wanting to give him a slap.

However, her hands were stopped in mid-air. She met with Song Xuanhe’s gaze. Her eyes were red, and she looked aggrieved.

Song Xuanhe couldn’t be bothered with what Song Jiani was thinking. He told her, “Leave. Now.”

Song Jiani bit her bottom lip and gave Xiao Yuanmu a fierce glare. She then left.

Song Xuanhe’s eyes went back to Xiao Yuanmu. He did his best to continue looking calm and asked, “Did you need something?”

Song Xuanhe protecting him just now made quite a bit of the cold in Xiao Yuanmu’s eyes dissipate. When he heard the other ask him this, he looked away from the kiss mark and pulled out a tissue, handing it to Song Xuanhe. He then said, “Wipe it.”

Song Xuanhe was a bit baffled. He pulled out his phone and looked at his own face. Only then did he notice the kiss mark. He subconsciously glanced at Xiao Yuanmu’s expression. Seeing that the other looked indifferent again, no longer as stormy as before, he wiped the kiss mark right off in a relaxed fashion.

Xiao Yuanmu placed the bag in his hand onto the office desk. He said in an insipid tone, “I heard that you had a meeting during lunch, so I brought you something to eat.”

Song Xuanhe opened the bag and saw that it was dimsum from his favourite place. That restaurant was twenty minutes away by car and didn’t do delivery. He didn’t even have to think to know that Xiao Yuanmu had gone out at lunch to buy this.

“Thank you.”

Song Xuanhe felt a bit guilty. He took a box out and asked, “Are you eating?”

“No.”

It was already getting late. The lunch break would soon be over, and it would be time for employees to get back to work. After taking out the dimsum, Xiao Yuanmu was about to leave. He deliberately slowed down his pace while heading towards the door. However, he didn’t hear any voices from behind him even when he had reached the door.

He smiled a bit self-deprecatingly, opened the door, and left.

The author has something to say:

You guys actually forgot about the important supporting female lead that is supposed to cause our son Xuan to lose his male thingy in the future! Demented! Do cannonfodder not have rights?! Do you not feel guilty?!

Eve: LOOL That AN. Also poor ML. MC has a really, really long way to go before he reciprocates ML’s feelings (although at this point ML isn’t actually in love yet).

Kara: I am aggrieved!!! I HAVE BEEN WRONGED!!! ˚‧º·(˚ ˃̣̣̥⌓˂̣̣̥ )‧º·˚Sweet Mumu, you little brat! Xuanhe isn’t going to know what you mean if you don’t start being more honest! Ah, these two…the road to love is long…（ー△ー；）