translator: Eve
editor: xiin
After staying in Xiao Yuanmu’s apartment for about a week, Song Xuanhe had mostly recovered.
But Xiao Yuanmu seemed to have gotten accustomed to working from home. It didn’t matter how often Louis complained. Unless Song Xuanhe wanted to go out or it was absolutely necessary for work, he never left the apartment. This caused Louis to invite Song Xuanhe to visit the company over and over again.
It was difficult to decline his offer. Song Xuanhe was also a bit curious about RE. Therefore, when his injuries scabbed over, he went to RE with Xiao Yuanmu.
Louis spread his arms open enthusiastically in RE’s lobby. He shouted excitedly, “Song, you’re finally here!”
Song Xuanhe paused and Xiao Yuanmu lifted an arm to block Louis. He looked at him coldly, “What are you doing?”
“A welcoming hug.” Louis shrugged. “Forget it. I know that you don’t like me hugging Song. Whatever. Let’s go upstairs. I’ll take you around.”
“I’ll take him around,” Xiao Yuanmu said. “You can go back to work.”
“I didn’t expect you to treat me like this.” Louis said, incredulous, “We’re both at the company but you’re going to make me work while you go on a date with your beloved?”
“Yes.” Xiao Yuanmu grabbed Song Xuanhe’s hand, brushed past Louis and ignored the shocked gazes from all around them as he led Song Xuanhe into the elevator.
Song Xuanhe looked at Louis, who looked like he wanted to run into the elevator as well. He leaned against the wall. “It wouldn’t be good to trap him outside.”
“There’s another elevator.”
“That’s not what I meant…” Song Xuanhe stopped midway. When he saw how Xiao Yuanmu didn’t care in the least, he swallowed the rest of his sentence. “Nevermind.”
Xiao Yuanmu, however, pressed on. “Do you want Louis to interrupt our date?”
“I just came to visit.” Song Xuanhe corrected, “This isn’t really a date.”
Xiao Yuanmu asked him, “Then what would be considered a date?”
Song Xuanhe was taken aback by this question. He mulled over it. He hadn’t dated seriously in his previous world so he didn’t have any experience. Meanwhile, when it came to the original host, aside from the innocent dates that consisted of watching movies and eating together during his school days, the rest of his dates included attending parties together. In Song Xuanhe’s opinion, those didn’t seem like dates. It was like they were just drinking buddies.
What truly constituted a date? This question stumped Song Xuanhe.
But he wouldn’t let Xiao Yuanmu know that he had no dating experience. He pretended to consider the question before calmly saying, “Watching movies, eating together, going on walks—those are all dates.”
“What kind of movie do you like?”
Song Xuanhe: “Ones like Star Trek.”
“What?”
Song Xuanhe paused and then shook his head. “I like sci-fi movies.”
“Sci-fi….”
The elevator door opened. Yang Jie was waiting on the other side.
The first thing Xiao Yuanmu did was ask: “Do you know if there are any new science fiction movies playing?”
Yang Jie was stunned. He then shook his head hesitantly. “I don’t know.”
Xiao Yuanmu nodded and pulled out his phone. Song Xuanhe followed after him, their fingers still entwined. Under the countless gazes of the executive staff, they headed over to Xiao Yuanmu’s office.
Xiao Yuanmu finally finished his search after Song Xuanhe took a seat in the rest area. “There aren’t any science fiction movies airing right now, but….”
“I don’t want to watch a movie.” Song Xuanhe tugged Xiao Yuanmu down to sit with him. “We can do anything on a date. It’s fine as long as we’re together. We can count today as a date.”
Xiao Yuanmu’s lips pursed. “What’s Star Trek?”
【There’s a sci-fi book in this world that’s also called Star Trek.】
The System’s voice came in just in time. Song Xuanhe thus said, “A book. I really like it.”
Something flashed through Xiao Yuanmu’s eyes. “What do you want to eat for lunch.”
“Your home cooking.”
Xiao Yuanmu smiled. “Okay.”
Joe knocked on the door. At first, he was taken aback from seeing Song Xuanhe. He had heard that Xiao Yuanmu had brought his boyfriend to work, but he had been skeptical. Although Xiao Yuanmu had rarely come to the office these days, he still attended all the mandatory meetings. Furthermore, he had just returned to the Xiao Family. It was reasonable for him to come less frequently to the company since he had to visit the companies under the Xiao Family as well. That’s why he had never thought that Xiao Yuanmu was actually dating.
He had thought that his coworkers had been joking when he overheard their conversation. Now that he had seen Song Xuanhe, he was astonished.
“This is Joe.” Xiao Yuanmu said to Song Xuanhe, “My assistant.”
Song Xuanhe got up and extended a hand, “Hi.”
“My partner, Song Xuanhe.” Xiao Yuanmu introduced him.
Joe finally came back to himself. He promptly shook Song Xuanhe’s hand. “Nice to meet you, Mr. Song.”
“Were you looking for me?”
“Yes.” Joe snapped out of his surprise and pushed his glasses up. “Mrs. Xiao just called. She didn’t see you at your apartment and she wasn’t able to catch you by phone so she asked me to tell you to call her back.”
Xiao Yuanmu nodded. “Anything else.”
“Just a reminder that you have a meeting at ten. There is nothing else.” Joe was very tactful. After saying this, he finished with, “If you don’t have any instructions, I will take my leave.”
“Okay.”
Joe smiled at Song Xuanhe and then left.
Two minutes later, he came back and told Xiao Yuanmu: “Mrs. Xiao has called again. She sounded very anxious. She asks that you head to the Xiao residence as soon as possible. It seems like something’s happened.”
Xiao Yuanmu’s brows furrowed. Song Xuanhe grabbed his hand.
Joe waited a few seconds. When he noticed their solemn expressions, he tactfully left once more.
“Could something have happened to Mr. Xiao?”
Song Xuanhe asked this after Joe left.
“Likely,” Xiao Yuanmu said in a mild tone.
Song Xuanhe asked, “Shouldn’t you head over then? I can go back on my own.”
“No need.” Xiao Yuanmu said, “I know what his condition is like. There shouldn’t be any serious complications right now. The doctor will resolve any issues he has. There’s no need for me to head over.”
“But…” Song Xuanhe frowned, “What if something serious has really happened?”
Even though he knew that Xiao Yuanmu’s relationship with his family wasn’t good, they were still the only living relatives he had in this world. If possible, Song Xuanhe hoped that there would be more people in this world who would care about and take care of Xiao Yuanmu.
“Nothing will happen.” Xiao Yuanmu sounded very calm and certain. “I know his body’s condition very well.”
When he saw Song Xuanhe was still frowning, Xiao Yuanmu shifted his hand that was currently in Song Xuanhe’s. “I’ll give her a call.”
Song Xuanhe nodded.
It seemed like the other party was very busy. No one picked up even after Xiao Yuanmu dialed the number three times. Just as Song Xuanhe thought that no one would pick up, a sob came through the receiver. “Yuanmu, where are you? Your father’s fainted and is currently in the operating room.”
Xiao Yuanmu looked at Song Xuanhe. “I’m at the company.”
“Can you come to the hospital?” Mrs. Xiao sounded powerless. “The doctor’s aren’t giving me a definitive answer. They wouldn’t even guarantee that he would be fine. I’m so worried about your father. Your brother is still at school so it’ll take him half a day to get here. Can you come over first?”
“I have something important to attend to right now.” Xiao Yuanmu turned to look at Song Xuanhe, who had elbowed his arm. He paused and then said, “I’ll come over once I wrap things up.”
“But….”
“I’ll send someone to pick up Xiao Baicong.” Xiao Yuanmu said, “He’s probably on his way. When he arrives, I’ll….”
“No need!”
Mrs. Xiao promptly interrupted him. A dark glint of derision flashed through Xiao Yuanmu’s eyes.
A few seconds later, Mrs. Xiao seemed to realize that she had rejected him too quickly. She explained, “The butler is going to pick up Baicong. It’s already conspicuous having the bodyguards and butler pick him up. If you go as well, you might get held up. You should just come on your own.”
“Okay.” Xiao Yuanmu’s lips curled up slightly. “I’ll come over once I’m finished with things here.”
This time, Mrs. Xiao didn’t insist on him coming earlier. She quickly agreed: “Okay. Come once you’re done with work.”
After hanging up, Xiao Yuanmu put his phone away and said, “I’ll have lunch with you, take you home and then head over.”
Song Xuanhe’s brows had been furrowed ever since he had heard Mrs. Xiao’s decisive refusal. After hearing her abrupt change in attitude, his lips pursed even more tightly. After hearing Xiao Yuanmu speak, he sucked in a deep breath. “Let’s watch a movie this afternoon. I suddenly want to see one.”
Xiao Yuanmu paused, his hand tightening around Song Xuanhe’s. He then nodded.
“It’ll be perfect.” Song Xuanhe said, “You can head over around the time Xiao Baicong is set to arrive.”
Xiao Yuanmu’s eyes lit up, a smile appearing in his eyes. He nodded again.
“What movies are playing right now?”
Xiao Yuanmu told him the titles that were currently airing. When he saw Song Xuanhe frown, he quickly skimmed over the descriptions and summarized it for him. He also told him the ratings for each movie.
“Let’s watch a light-hearted one.” Song Xuanhe said decisively. “Buy the tickets now. We’ll go after eating.”
Xiao Yuanmu wasted no time. He then took Song Xuanhe out of his office and brought him on a tour of the building.
They started with the top floor. Xiao Yuanmu held Song Xuanhe’s hand. He spoke to Joe and then introduced Song Xuanhe to every member of the secretarial division.
Song Xuanhe’s memory wasn’t as good as Xiao Yuanmu’s, but it was still outstanding. He was able to match more than ten names to their person after Xiao Yuanmu said it once. As he said each of their names, he also came up with something kind to say to each and every one of them.
Before the tour even started, Song Xuanhe had gained the favour of everyone in the secretarial division. One of the executives who had walked by had even said, “Song, I fell in love with your designs. I didn’t expect that you would also be such an interesting person. If possible, I’d love to have dinner with you sometime.”
Xiao Yuanmu’s gaze had darkened but he hadn’t answered on Song Xuanhe’s behalf.
Song Xuanhe had smiled. “Sorry, but I don’t really like eating out. If you don’t mind, you can come to our home. Xiao cooks very well.”
Xiao Yuanmu had been taken aback. He had then seen Song Xuanhe turn to him. The other asked, “Do you mind showing off your culinary skills?”
“Not at all.” Xiao Yuanmu had replied very quickly. He suppressed the curl of his lips and told the executive, “You are welcome in our home any time.”
Eve: THE DOMESTIC FLUFF. But also, things are going to get messy with the Xiao Family, it seems. Momma Xiao seems kind of sus.
xiin: there’s definitely weird things going on…
Visit and read more novel to help us update chapter quickly. Thank you so much!
Use arrow keys (or A / D) to PREV/NEXT chapter