Chapter 73

Chapter 73

Returning to the residential area "Rhine Ark" at eleven o'clock at night, Xi Siyan's second visit was as smooth as ever, from entering the elevator to asking for the door code, more familiar than Chen Mo, the owner.

Chen Mo collapsed onto the sofa upon entering.

After a busy afternoon and being on edge, he felt quite exhausted.

His phone still had messages from Old K inquiring about things, along with several pending matters from his company team. He glanced through them briefly, replied to Old K, then tossed the phone aside, no longer paying attention.

Until someone lifted his legs, he suddenly opened his eyes.

Xi Siyan had taken off his suit and rolled up his sleeves, bringing hot water from the bathroom at some point. Sitting on the edge of the sofa, he motioned for Chen Mo to roll up his pants.

"I can do it myself," Chen Mo said, getting up to take over.

Xi Siyan dodged, "If you do it yourself, you'll be sloppy. Will your leg even be walkable tomorrow?"

"It's embarrassing to have you do this," Chen Mo took the towel, "Besides, CM is now Huanshang's top priority. We're in a cooperative relationship, and if our employees find out, who knows what rumors will spread."

Xi Siyan looked at Chen Mo's serious face as he applied the towel to his knee.

He asked, "Do you mind?"

"Not that I mind," Chen Mo said straightforwardly, "Apart from you just returning from abroad, there's UA watching closely. R2D is the heart of the entire research department, and Phase Two is a core project for the next six months, always seen as a thorn in Chuanxing Technology's side. It wouldn't be wise to give them any leverage right now."

Chen Mo's kneecap felt cold.

The very hot towel, left on too long, soon turned red and started to hurt.

As Chen Mo began to frown, Xi Siyan took the towel away again.

He dipped it back into the hot water, wrung it out, and said, "Lunaer won't cause much trouble."

"How so?" This time, Chen Mo didn't resist, leaning back on the sofa, allowing Xi Siyan to lift his knee and place it on his own leg.

Xi Siyan tested the temperature on his arm before placing the towel on Chen Mo's leg, "Even though he has Chuanxing Technology as an informant, he underestimates the domestic market. Lunaer is quite arrogant; the likes of Ren Xiansen he placed domestically aren't much of a threat. According to my latest intelligence, UA's current cash flow can't sustain its operations. His market expansion is more for self-preservation, but self-preservation might lead to self-destruction."

Chen Mo thought for a moment, "What about Yang Shule?"

"More mutual exploitation," Xi Siyan said calmly, "Yang Shule wants to use Lunaer to get Yang family shares, while Lunaer needs the Yang family turmoil as a breakthrough into the domestic market."

Chen Mo's eyes were cold, his voice icy, "He shouldn't have made the first move against the old man."

"Are you going to help Yang Zhi?" Xi Siyan frowned.

Chen Mo looked at him, unsure whether it was mockery or indifference, "I'm not helping him."

He just hadn't expected that after a lifetime apart, the battle for Yang family shares would start again.

The only difference was probably their stance.

Because of his grandfather, he couldn't stand idly by. He knew the internal structure and business philosophy of the Yang family, understanding Yang Zhi's strengths and weaknesses. Whether as adversaries or allies, at least this time, he wasn't his primary enemy.

Xi Siyan didn't tell him not to get involved, nor how to handle it.

He understood Chen Mo's reasons for this.

This time, Chen Mo let him stay overnight.

"I'll get you a set of unworn pajamas. There are blankets in the guest room closet, new towels and toothbrushes under the sink. Help yourself." Seeing how casually Xi Siyan entered, Chen Mo wasn't worried about him feeling awkward. After giving instructions, he went to take a shower and went straight to bed.

He thought he would fall asleep quickly.

But he didn't.

He heard Xi Siyan's slippers moving across the living room, heard the sound of water as he washed up in the bathroom, and heard him speaking fluent English during a video conference that lasted half an hour.

Then he heard him go to the next room.

It reminded Chen Mo of the time they rented a place outside No.1 High School.

Back then, they lived separately yet knew each other's presence clearly.

This gave Chen Mo a sense of time standing still.

Until the light in the next room turned off, and everything became quiet.

Unfortunately, Chen Mo was suffering from insomnia.

Perhaps it was because the incident with the old man happened too suddenly, making him toss and turn until two in the morning without any sleep.

Chen Mo finally decided to take two sleeping pills.

The doctor had warned him to take them as little as possible.

He usually avoided them unless absolutely necessary, but since the R2D project began, his dosage had increased from one to two pills in the past six months.

Chen Mo moved quietly, stepping out into the living room in his slippers without turning on the lights.

Bathed in moonlight from the floor-to-ceiling window, he went to the open counter to boil some water.

While waiting, he leaned against the counter, lost in thought, gazing out the window.

When he heard the door opening behind him, he instinctively turned around.

Seeing Xi Siyan coming out.

"Did I wake you?" Chen Mo spoke.

Xi Siyan, wrapped in his oversized dark robe, didn't respond immediately.

Chen Mo found him strange—not just because he ignored him, but more so because of the intensity in his eyes. It was so heavy and deep that even from across the living room, Chen Mo could feel the constraining gaze as if it had captured him tightly.

Chen Mo assumed something had happened at his company and turned around fully, frowning. "What's wrong? What happened?"

"Nothing." As Xi Siyan stepped out of the shadows, it seemed like everything was just Chen Mo's imagination. He walked over and said, "I'm a light sleeper. I heard some noise and came to check. Thirsty?"

Xi Siyan asked this when he saw Chen Mo boiling water.

Everything seemed normal until he noticed the small medicine bottle on the counter.

Chen Mo couldn't figure out what was bothering him tonight.

Seeing the sleeping pill bottle, Xi Siyan reacted so strongly that Chen Mo thought he might crush the plastic bottle in his hand.

But when he spoke, he seemed to be restraining himself, frowning. "Can't sleep?"

"Yeah," Chen Mo admitted. "A bit of insomnia. Thinking about work tomorrow and needing to go to the hospital, staying up all night isn't realistic."

Then Xi Siyan turned off the water, walked over, and took Chen Mo's hand.

He led Chen Mo back to the bedroom.

Pushing him onto the bed, before Chen Mo could react, Xi Siyan covered him with the blanket and lay down, pressing his leg over him.

"Sleep," Xi Siyan said. "I'll watch you sleep."

Chen Mo, unable to move, looked at him. "Mr. Xi, don't tell me you're serious?"

"Hmm."

Chen Mo was speechless. "How about I press you down and see if you can sleep?"

Xi Siyan slightly loosened his grip, indicating, "Why don't you try?"

Chen Mo: "...You win."

He gave up.

With a resigned attitude.

Over the years, Xi Siyan had somehow built up strength. With only a thin robe on, the muscles on his chest and thighs were faintly visible, making Chen Mo struggle to breathe under the pressure.

Even through the blanket, their proximity was undeniable.

Chen Mo smelled the scent of the shower gel he bought, feeling a hint of embarrassment. He turned his head slightly and reminded, "I remember I was just being kind by letting you stay here. This is called biting the hand that feeds you."

"Is it?" Xi Siyan's voice was near his ear, seemingly looking down at him. "Then you can retaliate."

"How?" Chen Mo turned back.

Under the moonlight, Xi Siyan gazed into his eyes, his voice hoarse and restrained. "Get back together with me."

These four words.

For both of them, it was unexpected yet not surprising.

Chen Mo was stunned for a few seconds before coldly laughing. "What kind of retaliation is this? Giving you a legitimate reason to keep pressing me down every day?"

"Chen Mo." Xi Siyan seemed to deflate, chuckling softly against his neck before whispering, "If you really agree, do you think I'd just keep pressing you down without doing anything else?"

Chen Mo's face heated up, and he hit him lightly, gritting his teeth. "Shut up. No reunion."

"So heartless." Xi Siyan sighed, patting him. "Sleep. Tomorrow, throw away those pills. If I see them again, I'll find another way to make you sleep."

Chen Mo: "..."

His fingertips tingled, partly because he understood the threat.

Honestly, Chen Mo couldn't figure out what their current relationship meant.

It wasn't quite reconciliation, nor was it outright rejection.

Thinking about how their current situation would look in the news—former lovers secretly reuniting—would it be a moral decline or a twist of fate?

Chen Mo was speechless at his own thoughts.

Eventually, he fell asleep in this uncomfortable position, unaware that Xi Siyan watched him for a long time.

Finally, he whispered in his ear, "I'm increasingly convinced it wasn't just a premonitory dream. Premonitions predict outcomes, but they don't judge the past, right?"

The sleeping pills weren't the focus.

The focus was his light sleep tonight, where the deceased Chen Mo was a frequent user of medication.

Painkillers, sleeping pills, even psychiatric drugs.

When the police, wearing gloves, searched the house, they took everything as evidence and said, "According to information provided by his brother Yang Shule, Chen Mo was irritable and unreasonable during his tenure as the General Manager of the Yang Group, making it possible he offended someone at work who might have assassinated him..."

In reality, Chen Mo had long severed ties with the Yang family.

Now a rising star, he was not only a leader in smart technology; Xi Siyan never doubted that the future of this field would come from people like him.

He had never worked for the Yang Group.

Xi Siyan had seen him interact with subordinates; strictness was a given, but being unreasonable was a complete fabrication.

So, what did he dream about?

What role did he play in all of this? Each time he woke up, he found the slightest overlap between reality and his dreams unbearable.

Chen Mo didn't understand the motive behind Xi Siyan's strong reaction.

Even when he woke up early the next morning, he discovered that his alarm had been turned off by him, leaving less than half an hour before work.

"I find it hard to believe that as the boss of a company, you can tolerate being so unpunctual." Chen Mo quickly went to the bathroom to wash up, then calmly remarked to Xi Siyan, who was pouring milk in the kitchen: "I remember how much you hated people who were late in high school. If I dared to be ten minutes late during our tutoring sessions, there would definitely be ten extra practice papers waiting for me."

Xi Siyan placed breakfast on the table, "I also remember that you used to love sleeping in back then. Your punctuality now is quite surprising to me."

Chen Mo, with a toothbrush in his mouth, poked his head out of the bathroom and sneered, "Because you're now a capitalist, while I prefer to see myself as just an ordinary leader, or even a student since I haven't graduated yet."

Xi Siyan gestured towards the food, "Alright, you decide. Breakfast is ready."

Ten minutes later, Chen Mo left the house carrying his briefcase, dressed in formal attire.

Just as he opened the door.

"Huh!"

"Ah!"

Chen Mo frowned, looking at Yuan Hao, who was equally startled, and asked, "Why are you here?"

"Master." Yuan Hao, still holding his phone to his ear, smiled and held up a file bag, "I heard you took yesterday off. The boss asked me to bring these documents that need your signature first thing this morning."

The loud voice of Old K came through the speakerphone.

"Yuan Hao, you've seen Chen Mo, right? I'll give you half a day off today too. Stay with your master. He's probably been up all night and will have a low fever tomorrow."

Yuan Hao started to respond, "Understood..."

But his words were cut short.

Because behind his master appeared a tall man who seemed very familiar.

The man ignored him, frowning as he touched Chen Mo's forehead from behind, "Low fever?"

"No," his master said irritably, swatting away the hand, "I slept well last night."

Old K's voice continued through the phone, "Yuan Hao? Yuan Hao?! What's going on? Who was speaking just now?"

Yuan Hao looked up into the eyes of CM's boss and shrank back slightly.

He felt a chill run down his spine.

He had a premonition that if he dared to reveal anything about this, not only would his relationship with his master be over, but he might lose his job too...