Chapter 7

Chapter 7

A "baby" with a rising inflection, uttered with a hint of playfulness, ambiguity, and carelessness, made Jiang Mo instantly hold the phone away. His face twisted with disgust and anger—who wanted to hear such a creep call him "baby"?

He angrily hung up the phone.

Hearing the other person's voice made him nauseated. Anyway, the other party wouldn’t say anything he wanted to hear. Glancing up, he saw that the camera was still there, with no intention of removing it. He refused to believe that someone who held such big leverage against him would only demand the removal of the camera.

Jiang Mo went back to his bedroom.

Chen Zui gave a soft chuckle: "Quite the temper."

—

Chen Xiu, ready for work, stepped out and saw a box at his doorstep. His face instantly turned pale. Without even looking, he knew what would be inside—a dead rat, or maybe a dead cat or dog. He had initially thought that the pervert had been lying low lately, but it seemed he was wrong. The creep still had no intention of letting him off.

Chen Xiu picked up the box with disgust and headed downstairs. Without a second glance, he tossed it into the trash bin. Jiang Mo, from across the way, saw everything. It was Jiang Mo who had placed the box at Chen Xiu’s doorstep again in the middle of the night.

But lately, Chen Xiu had become braver and more careful.

Such tricks no longer frightened him.

He had to do something more to make Chen Xiu afraid, to make him do what he says. Jiang Mo thought with dark intent. Having barely slept again, the dark circles under his eyes had worsened, giving his handsome face a somewhat sickly appearance.

When he reached the entrance of the complex, he was surprised to see that Chen Xiu hadn’t left yet. What’s more, Chen Xiu initiated a greeting: "Jiang Mo?"

Jiang Mo nervously stopped in his tracks, his fingers gripping the strap of his backpack so tightly that his knuckles turned white. His dark eyes fixed on Chen Xiu, unable to even manage a simple greeting.

Chen Xiu smiled and walked over to him: "It really is you. I had no idea we lived in the same complex."

The corners of Jiang Mo’s mouth twitched almost spasmodically. In the end, he managed only a stiff "Mhm" through his nose.

Having been colleagues for so long, Chen Xiu had a rough idea of his personality. Thinking back, in the two years they had worked at the same company, they might not have exchanged even ten words. After this brief interaction, he realized Jiang Mo was far more awkward than he appeared.

"Since we live nearby, why don’t we walk together? It’s nice to have company." Chen Xiu unconsciously stressed the last four words.

Jiang Mo stared at him. Since he couldn’t respond, Chen Xiu took his silence as agreement. The two walked toward the subway station together, and in the crowded train, their arms pressed together.

Chen Xiu occasionally glanced around, wondering if the stalker was following him.

Jiang Mo nervously swallowed, unable to believe he was actually having physical contact with Chen Xiu. The corners of his mouth stiffly twitched upward in a slight spasm—it was his attempt to smile.

—

Chen Zui leisurely enjoyed the lavish breakfast prepared by his housekeeper. The collaboration with Xiao Hang had been settled, and today, the other party was sending a team to his company for a meeting.

Although Jiang Mo was a bit odd, his professional skills were very strong. Otherwise, the company probably wouldn’t have tolerated him. And their collaboration project "happened to" require exactly this type of talent.

This was his first collaboration with Xiao Hang, and he believed the other company would value it—they would surely send their most useful talent.

After breakfast, Chen Zui slowly sipped a cup of coffee. He enjoyed this time of the morning, using relaxation to clear his mind.

Chen Zui took the CEO’s private elevator up to the 78th floor, where his office was located. The entire floor consisted of his office, the executive assistants' area, along with several reception rooms and meeting rooms.

Unless there were guests or meetings, not many people would be here.

The modern, all-glass design exuded efficiency and stylish taste. The marble floor was highly polished. He entered his office, and soon his assistant quietly entered with a cup of hot tea.

She placed the teacup on the desk almost soundlessly, waited about five seconds, and when Chen Zui gave no further instructions, she left just as quietly.

Chen Zui picked up the tea. The temperature was perfect, and the aroma was rich.

The second assistant entered to report: "President Chen, the people from Jiayi Manufacturing have arrived."

She didn’t quite understand why her boss would personally pay attention to a collaboration of this level. After all, this was only a preliminary exploratory collaboration between the two companies, and Jiayi was just a Xiao Group subsidiary. But since the boss had instructed it, she had to comply.

"Here are the profiles of the personnel sent by the company." The second assistant handed over the file folder.

Chen Zui picked it up and quickly flipped to Jiang Mo’s page. The file included a small photo of the man without a hat. His hair was jet black, styled in a textured, layered cut, and paired with eyes that hadn’t yet developed dark circles, he looked like a college student.

This was probably taken right after he graduated from university.

"Was he already a pervert who stalked and watched others back then?"

"The book doesn’t say. It only mentions he’s been a loner since childhood and didn’t make many friends in school."

"Did he experience some traumatic event?"

"The book says it’s just his nature."

Ao Tian answered each question one by one. As partners, he held nothing back from his teammate—they were in this together, working toward their goal!

The second assistant left the office.

—

Jiang Mo listened and took notes in the meeting room. As he was responsible for the technical side, he didn’t need to speak. Even if he did, others might not understand him. Besides, this meeting wasn’t focused on technical aspects.

He was somewhat surprised to see that Chen Xiu was also participating in this project.

His role wasn’t really suited for this, but the entire company saw this collaboration as a great opportunity, with substantial bonuses upon completion.

He suddenly thought of Xiao Hang. Could this be him doing this behind the scenes?

Jiang Mo nearly snapped the pen in his hand. It was time to show him. Occasionally, Jiang Mo’s mind wandered, remembering that this was Chen Zui’s company. That meant Chen Zui was probably here too, right?

He recalled Chen Zui’s eyes, the image of him holding an umbrella, and that amused remark: "Can’t fight the kitten for the umbrella."

The man’s voice resonated like the finest cello being played.

An hour later, the meeting went into a break. Jiang Mo went to the break room to make a cup of coffee to refresh himself for the next part of the meeting. He intentionally went when it was less crowded, but there was still one female employee from the company making some milk tea. The coffee he needed was near her, and standing there waiting would seem awkward.

So he walked over: "Excuse me…"

The female employee turned at the sound, and the milk tea in her hand splashed onto Jiang Mo. Instantly, his clothes were soaked, dripping milk tea.

"Oh no!" The female employee flusteredly, grabbing tissues to wipe him.

Jiang Mo uncomfortably blocked her and took a step back: "It’s fine, it’s fine, I…"

Before he could finish, his eyes lifted to see a tall figure enter. A white shirt was tucked into a double-breasted black vest, a golden pocket watch chain hinting at elegant taste, and two black armbands accentuated the strength of his arms with sharp efficiency.

The whole person appeared mature and refined.

Both Jiang Mo and the female employee froze. Chen Zui merely glanced at them casually before heading toward the other side of the break room, as if he didn’t recognize that Jiang Mo wasn’t an employee of his company. Chen Zui rolled up his shirt sleeves slightly, revealing sturdy arms and a cold, hard wristwatch, and began preparing water for tea.

Completely focused.

The female employee recovered first, softly apologizing to Jiang Mo.

Jiang Mo averted his gaze from Chen Zui, growing even more nervous than before. All he wanted now was to escape: "It's fine, I'll just—"

"What happened?"

The cello began playing, and Jiang Mo halted his steps.

Chen Zui looked at the two of them inquisitively.

The female employee replied, "Mr. Chen, this gentleman is from the Jiayi Company. I accidentally spilled milk tea on him."

She lowered her head, looking embarrassed.

Chen Zui glanced at the hem of Jiang Mo's clothes, where droplets were still visible—quite a mess.

He stepped out from behind the kitchen island: "No one got burned, I hope?"

His eyes were fixed on Jiang Mo.

Jiang Mo mutely shook his head.

Chen Zui: "My apologies. If you don’t mind, I have a change of clothes in my office. You can change into them."

Jiang Mo’s instinct was to refuse, but his words were clumsy and slow.

Chen Zui had already said with a smile, "I can’t let an employee from President Xiao's company be treated poorly here. Please, you must come with me."

With such an attitude, who could possibly refuse?

Jiang Mo could only nod blankly, and from then on, he never looked up again. He followed behind Chen Zui like a tail, led along, into an elevator where only the two of them remained.

Jiang Mo could barely even breathe properly, completely failing to process why Chen Zui would appear in the break room.

Seeing the two leave, the female employee blinked. Why had the boss asked her to do such a thing?

Still, her acting was pretty good~

She tossed her hair that resembled seaweed. The robot vacuum had already taken care of the mess, so she leisurely made herself another cup of milk tea.

In the elevator.

Chen Zui started talking: "What should I call you?"

Through the elevator wall, he saw Jiang Mo’s chest rise and fall—he must have taken a breath before speaking: "Jiang Mo, Mo as in 'silence'."

"Jiang Mo..." Chen Zui repeated clearly, then chuckled softly.

Hearing his laughter, Jiang Mo looked up, his eyes meeting Chen Zui’s in the elevator wall reflection. The gaze behind those glasses was too intense to meet, and he watched as the man curved his lips, teasing: "Your name sounds... tasty."

Jiang Mo stopped breathing altogether.

Ao Tian: "Favorability points increased to 10! He likes your joke!"

The system clearly didn’t understand humans. Was Jiang Mo really enjoying the joke? Or was it even a joke to begin with?