Mu Nanqiao was the sort of company leader who was vigorous and resolute. He seldom spoke flatteringly, and although he couldn’t be described as cold-faced, he rarely smiled. He always gave people a sense of ease and calmness, and sometimes caused people under him to inadvertently ignore his age. 

But on this morning, Boss Mu walked through the company’s reception room with a smile on his face. That pleased as punch smile, coupled with the haute couture clothing that looked like he had rolled in ashes gave him a sense of picking up rags and still maintaining his dignity after going bankrupt.

The problem was, in everyone’s imagination, this kind of image should appear on Mr. Lin next door, right?

Everyone exchanged glances, but nobody spoke of this matter, all of them busy with the work at hand. Only Mu Chuanbai specially took the elevator to go up two floors and see what kind of fool his son was making of himself.

When he entered the general manager’s office, Mu Nanqiao was changing clothes in the lounge. When his son pushed open the door and came out with his dirty clothes, Mu Chuanbai saw joy on his face like he had picked up money on the street. 

The issue was that Mu Nanqiao was not short of money, so he could only be smiling like this because…..

“Xiao Lu has agreed to date you?” Mu Nanqiao leaned forward, unable to hide his anticipation.

Mu Nanqiao’s smile froze. He frowned and said: “No.”

Mu Chuanbai was in disbelief: “Then why are you smiling like a peacock that successfully courted a mate?”

“I’m smiling?” Mu Nanqiao touched his face.

When he opened his eyes that morning, he saw Lu Qi sleeping in his arms. When two people slept together, it was inevitable that they would feel a little hot. Lu Qi’s cheeks were pink, his eyelashes drooping quietly, and his hands were tightly clenched against his chest as he curled up like a small animal.

He couldn’t describe what he felt at that moment. His chest was filled with a warm, soft sweetness, but there was also some dark malevolence.

He wanted to hold the little deer tightly in his arms, run his fingers along that slender back inch by inch, and check whether there was really a short, fluffy tail.

He wanted to feel the resulting shivers, and kiss the tips of his eyes that were red with trepidation.

But in the end, he only hugged him through the quilt and placed a gentle kiss on his hair.

When the surging, parched impatience gradually died down, he woke Lu Qi up with a hoarse voice. The two of them cleaned up and set off back to Shanghai together.

“I originally wanted to propose a formal relationship.” Mu Nanqiao adjusted his tie in the mirror. “But today isn’t the right day. There are too many people and things to deal with.”

Mu Chuanbai scoffed: “Son, you know that there is no perfectly right time. One should seize every opportunity. You have implemented this very well in business, so why, when it comes to Xiao Lu…..”

“Oh.” Mu Nanqiao had already adjusted his facial expression. He quickly walked Mu Chuanbai and pushed his wheelchair out while whispering: “I heard you delayed your confession for a year because you found someone to calculate an auspicious day.”

Mu Chuanbai: ……

The person he heard say this was self-evident.

. . . . . . .

Xiao Sanhua hadn’t seen her father for several days, so she went up to show her affection for a while. Before Lu Qi could change into his home clothes, cat hair was rubbed all over him. Her whining little coquettish chirps made his heart melt.

Lu Qi and the little cat spent time together for a long while, then Lu Qi stood up and opened the window for ventilation. After sending a WeChat message to his dad to report that he was safe, he also gave him the information on the bank card with his living expenses. Lin Chunhe said a few words, feeling distressed and guilty, and finally told him not to worry about his family and just to take care of himself.

Putting down his mobile phone, Lu Qi began to clean the house.

He liked to think about some problems while cleaning the room, and now while mopping the floor, he thought about how he should reply the next time Mu Nanqiao brought up their relationship. 

There seemed to be no hesitation at all. His heart beat happily like a little deer’s, telling him the answer with excitement and expectation. 

Of course he would agree!

Lu Qi laughed, his eyes curving.

It turned out he really liked someone, accepting his hugs and kisses willingly. There was such a feeling of excitement and anticipation.

After tidying up the apartment, half the day had passed. Lu Qi ordered fried chicken takeout, and while Mu Nanqiao was away, he indulged in junk food. When he finished eating, he sat down on the small sofa and opened Weibo.

There was no need for him to search for it. News about Lin Group was pouring in from all over the place, whether it was official announcements regarding their crimes or various rumors. It was everywhere.

Lin Yuan had once bought a hot search on Lu Qi, and now the number one hot search topic was a satirical article written by his illegitimate brother abroad, which mocked Lin Yuan for disregarding gender when it came to eating rotten cucumbers.

Comments below said that his father Lin Zhang was a rotten cucumber since he couldn’t control his lower body. He was promiscuous and not a good person. And he, an illegitimate child, still dared to come out and jump around? Lin Yuan was no good, and he wasn’t a good thing either.

Lu Qi really felt that there was something wrong with this family’s genes, this collection of weirdos and mentally impaired people. At this time, shouldn’t the illegitimate brother be more honest with his tail between his legs? Yet he actually made a fuss.

But Lin Yuan probably didn’t have time to deal with him either.

The time for eating melons always passed quickly. In the evening, Lu Qi rubbed his eyes and realized that it was time to eat his next meal.

People, ah, once they lay down and didn’t do anything, they would become a little rice bucket.

Little rice bucket Lu Qi went downstairs to the supermarket to buy some groceries. After being away for a week, the vegetables in the refrigerator had all wilted. He packed up the garbage, put on a coat, and went out.

As he turned around and locked the door, he heard heavy footsteps coming from downstairs, which sounded like an old man in his twilight years. Lu Qi knew that there was an old couple living upstairs, so he politely stepped aside to get out of his way.

When he turned to the side, he was stunned.

A few steps down stood a tall, thin man.

Even though he was well-dressed, with no wrinkles in his coat, an ironed undershirt, straight trousers, and spotless shoes, the red bloodshot eyes, pale face, and slightly stooped shoulders all revealed his weariness and disgrace.

He called out hoarsely: “Xiao Qi.”

Lu Qi looked at him in confusion, somewhat unable to recognize him as Lin Yuan.

But seeing him step upward again, Lu Qi immediately turned the key and went to go back inside the house.

Lin Yuan didn’t stop him. Only after he retracted inside and gained some sense of security did Lin Yuan interrupt his move to close the door.

He knew that Lu Qi would not give him a chance to speak more, so he went straight to the point. “I have some information related to Mu Nanqiao that I think you’ll be interested in.”

Sure enough, the door didn’t close.

Lu Qi looked at Lin Yuan suspiciously through the crack in the door. “I don’t believe you, and I won’t believe what you show me.”

“I understand.” Lin Yuan lowered his head, as if overwhelmed. “I…..may be going to prison, and I will never come to you again. Since it’s like this, can you stop being so afraid of me? I won’t hurt you again.”

Lu Qi did not deny that he was “afraid” of Lin Yuan. He was a bit like a mad dog to begin with, and now, at the end of his rope, he was even more of a mad dog.

Therefore, the best choice was to close the door to ensure his own safety. The words coming out of his mouth could not be trusted.

Lin Yuan noticed it as soon as the door moved, and stepped forward to stick his foot in the door. When Lu Qi reached out to shove him, he lowered his voice and said quickly: “Lu Qi, you are so ridiculous. You aren’t afraid of the twisted murderer sleeping next to your pillow, but you’re afraid of me?”

Lu Qi was dumbfounded, and then a small flame appeared in his eyes. “What are you talking about?!”

His defense of Mu Nanqiao stung Lin Yuan’s eyes. Lin Yuan handed the file bag in his hand to Lu Qi, then took a step back and removed his obstructing foot. He raised his hands and retreated step by step. “You can go inside and read this information slowly. I’ll wait outside for you to finish.”

When he was done speaking, he retreated to the platform under the stairs.

Lu Qi closed the door with a bang. Xiao Sanhua was so frightened by the noise that she ran onto the coffee table with a puffed-up tail and knocked a cup off. 

He had stopped using glass and ceramic cups a long time ago. The metal cup clinked on the floor and spun around a few times, safe and sound.

Lu Qi’s dazed eyes fell on the cup with its fox head print, and realized that he had chosen the wrong water cup. It belonged to Mu Nanqiao. 

He looked at the smiling fox head, and Lin Yuan’s words, “twisted murderer,” echoed in his ears. Then he looked down at the file bag in his hand. The bag’s string was open, and there was a stack of papers inside.

After standing against the door for a while, Lu Qi’s eyes grew firm. He took the file bag and opened the door again.

“I’m giving this back to you!” Lu Qi stuck his head out. “Thank you for the warning, but I’ll ask him about it myself. I don’t want to look at the information you gave me.”

“You don’t believe it?” Lin Yuan raised his head incredulously. “Do you know what is written in this? Those people who had problems with Mu Nanqiao in secondary school are all dead. Zheng Shize was racing a motorcycle and hit his head on a guard rail. There wasn’t even a complete skull in the end. Zuo Fanghai took a woman to Yellowstone Park in the middle of the night and fell into a sulfuric acid pool. He died of burns all over his body. Mu Rui went to Myanmar and had his blood drained and his kidneys dug out…..”

He took a step forward, staring at Lu Qi as he asked: “There are two more I haven’t mentioned. One is an accident, and two is a coincidence. Did those five people really receive divine punishment?! Lu Qi, you go and ask him. Aren’t you afraid that he will reveal his true nature and kill you?”

The fate of those people was too appalling. At that moment, Lu Qi gripped the door handle in a daze and couldn’t help but shudder.

“Let me tell you, right next door to you, in the bedroom of 502, he has been playing those news reports on his computer. Do you dare say that this was not his revenge?!” Lin Yuan pointed to the door of 502 and said impassionedly: “Or does he fuck you so good that you like this kind of stimulation?!”

Bam—!

The punch caused Lin Yuan to fall backward. Lu Qi tried to make another move, but Lin Yuan had come to his senses and grabbed his wrist. During the struggle, the file bag slipped from Lu Qi’s hand and fell through the gap in the stairwell. 

The stairwell window was open, and a gust of wind blew in. White papers blew away, falling onto the shoulders of the man standing below, and one fell onto his foot. 

There was a news article printed on that piece of paper. The main message was to remind tourists not to cross the guard rail. There were cavities in many places under the fragile surface structure, and underneath were boiling pools of strong acid.

Mu Nanqiao lowered his head. His tall, straight figure cast a long black shadow. He stood against the light, his features hidden in the shadows, and Lu Qi couldn’t see his expression from above.

He didn’t know where he got the strength, but he pushed Lin Yuan away and shouted anxiously: “Mu Nanqiao!”

Mu Nanqiao raised his head and gazed at Lu Qi across half a flight of stairs. The expression on his handsome face was calm, but there was a biting, empty coldness in his beautiful narrow eyes.

Lu Qi had never seen such an emotion in his eyes. At this moment, the calm surface of the sea became turbulent at last, but under the turbulent sea water was not a deeper sea, but a frozen abyss.

His heart throbbed, and he quickly went down a few steps. But Mu Nanqiao withdrew his gaze, looked deeply at Lin Yuan, and then turned to go down the stairs.

Lu Qi was incredibly anxious and was about to speak, but Lin Yuan pulled him from behind. He nearly fell down, and bit his tongue, the faint taste of blood spreading in his mouth.

So the sentence, “I’ll listen to you” didn’t have time to be uttered, and turned into a pained groan.

“You’re still going after him?!” Lin Yuan held onto him. “You’re really not afraid…..”

“Damn you…..” Lu Qi actually cursed. He bent down, picked up the bag of garbage on the ground, and hit Lin Yuan in the head with it. 

In an instant, red and green garbage covered Lin Yuan’s face. The soupy mixture exuded a strange smell.

“You’re just trash!” Lu Qi pointed at Lin Yuan with reddened eyes, his fingertip trembling. “How do you know what’s in the bedroom of 502?! You came and picked the lock when we weren’t here! I’m telling you I’m not afraid! He’s never hurt anyone else, you’re the one who’s actually guilty and scared!”

He picked up another color-printed picture of an accident scene and slapped Lin Yuan hard in the face. “Go and have nightmares, you idiot!”

He turned around and quickly ran downstairs.