It must be said that Lu Qi did have the intuition of a small animal. After that day, he never mentioned showing his belly to Mu Nanqiao again.

Mu Nanqiao felt it was a pity, but wasn’t particularly disappointed. He was always patient when doing things, and his patience for Lu Qi was endless. Fortunately, Lu Qi happened to like men, which was one of the few blessings in his life. Otherwise, it would have been an unimaginably long road.

He knew that he should plan the matter slowly.

For him, Lu Qi was the warm sunshine that he had longed to catch when he was a boy, the prayer he could not forget despite wandering astray for many years. He originally had no intention of finding that little butterfly that flitted by back then. If he couldn’t extract himself from the past, he shouldn’t drag another person into the quagmire with him.

But Lu Qi happened to appear. Even though Mu Nanqiao didn’t know at first that he was the butterfly that flew through the broken window, he was still drawn to him, chasing the sunlight like a wild plant.

Those turbulent emotions were as strong as wine that had been brewing for many years. Within them fermented many unknown yet unforgettable dreams, gradually flowing throughout his chest. 

But to Lu Qi, he was just a friend he had known for less than a year. Of course Lu Qi liked him and appreciated him as a friend, like a gentle breeze with drizzle. If not for Lin Yuan, this level of liking might have made Lu Qi accept a relationship, but after stepping into Lin Yuan’s snare, the reckless little deer learned to be cautious, and wanted to be more sure of his heart before accepting his love.

There was nothing wrong with this.

But Mu Nanqiao had to restrain himself. Those turbulent emotions, once released from their shackles, would be like a wild beast breaking out of a cage, scaring the deer into hiding far away.

This couldn’t happen. As soon as a few hints were revealed, he would begin to shrink his head.

. . . . . . . 

Mu Nanqiao’s birthday was on Monday. Although it was a working day, everyone who was invited could freely decide their working hours, so this was no problem.

Lu Qi got up very early that day, waking up even before the alarm rang. He had something on his mind, so he couldn’t sleep well. After he got out of bed and washed up, he caught Xiao Sanhua, dewormed her, and then tied a big bow on her.

“Meow?” Xiao Sanhua had not yet woken up and didn’t know what this was for.

“He can be considered half your master.” Lu Qi grasped Xiao Sanhua’s paws and rubbed the warm little pads. “He even sent you an invitation. It’s his birthday today, so how about you dress up nicely?”

There were two invitations in total, one with a deer and one with a kitten, both hand-drawn by Boss Mu.

The drawings were a bit ugly, but the calligraphy was beautiful, flowing but not messy, the writing sharp and elegant. Lu Qi clipped them into a small magnetic photo frame.

Xiao Sanhua didn’t understand, and just accepted the bow. Otherwise, she wouldn’t have worn a bow for that canine. That canine didn’t really mean to be nice to her. It simply had other motives, she could tell by smelling it.

After cleaning up Xiao Sanhua and putting her into the carrier, Lu Qi changed out of his cat hair-covered clothes and took out the shirt he had ironed the day before.

Lu Qi was a little nervous about going to Mu Nanqiao’s house today.

He felt it would be perfect if Mu Nanqiao had family and friends on his birthday, and he was the only friend who received an invitation.

Thinking about it, Shanghai hadn’t left Mu Nanqiao with any good memories. His only friend here might be Lu Qi.

So even though he was a little uncomfortable, Lu Qi still agreed. He was visiting someone else’s home, and there would be elders there, so he couldn’t dress too casually. Bright colors were excluded first, and he finally chose a loose casual shirt which was neither too formal nor too lively and frivolous.

Finally, he brought a gift and prepared to leave, cat in hand. He had bought a bouquet of sunflowers in perfect bloom at the flower shop downstairs to give to Mu Nanqiao’s parents.

When he went downstairs, he saw the Maybach again. This time, Boss Mu no longer had to pretend to be the driver. Coincidentally, he was also wearing a casual white shirt with vertical striped sleeves rolled up to his elbows. He raised his eyes and smiled when he saw Lu Qi coming over. “Are the flowers for me?”

Lu Qi was a little embarrassed: “They’re for your parents…..”

“Oh.” Mu Nanqiao went with the flow and smiled. He turned around and opened the door for Lu Qi. “They’ll like them.”

Whether the flowers or the person, they would like them.

Xiao Sanhua was placed in the familiar back seat, and Lu Qi sat in the passenger seat. He was surprised to find a small deer neck pillow. The Christmas deer was wearing a red scarf and had a chubby body. It had a unique cuteness and an exaggerated expression, its four hooves running wildly.

When he looked around, he saw that only the passenger seat had one, which really made him think further.

Lu Qi was too embarrassed to ask. His ears turned slightly red, and he turned to Mu Nanqiao and said: “Your birthday gift is in a bag in Xiao Sanhua’s carry case. It’s…..”

“Shh…..” Mu Nanqiao took out a hawthorn fruit stick with the outer packaging peeled off the side and handed it to Lu Qi’s mouth. “Don’t tell me, I want to see for myself. Eat this first to whet your appetite, there is lots of delicious food prepared at home.”

“Oh.” Lu Qi ate obediently and thought it tasted good. He spread out the wrapping paper to take a look: high-end food supplement.

Lu Qi: …..

It was difficult to imagine Mu Nanqiao’s mental state when he bought this.

Midway through, Mu Nanqiao answered a call and was summoned back to the office first to pick up a document.

Mu Nanqiao didn’t quite understand what his old father was doing at first. As far as he knew, the contract was neither urgent nor important, and it was completely possible for an assistant to deliver it. It wasn’t until he took Lu Qi into the lobby on the first floor that he had a sudden realization.

On a Monday morning, everyone but the boss was dressed appropriately and ready to work. And the boss, holding sunflowers in his arms and carrying a little kitten, was truly eye-catching and hateful as he walked through the hall.

Behind the boss was a little beauty. It was suspected that they were wearing couple’s clothing, and they had come through the special elevator together.

The group of melon-eaters practically exploded.

But everyone was of professional quality, didn’t want to lose their jobs, and wouldn’t just send out photos of the boss’s life. There was only one person of this sort – a person arranged by the Lins – who secretly took photos and sent them to Lin Yuan.

It couldn’t be helped. The upper floors were airtight after being purged by Mu Chuanbai and his son, and he couldn’t get close at all. He was a small leader at the mid-lower level and couldn’t even see Mu Nanqiao, let alone have access to company secrets.

But he was being urged anxiously by the Lins, so he panicked a little. Finally having caught something new, he immediately took a photo and sent it to Lin Yuan, also sending along a complacent message. 

[Boss Lin, take a look at this boy. He looks outstanding and noble, is he the young master of some family? Could it be that he’s here to discuss cooperation with Mr. Mu? Do you want me to try digging it out?]

It was difficult to say what happened to surnamed Lin that day, but according to people familiar with the matter, strange howls came from the CEO’s office in the middle of the night. The Lin family was haunted by bad feng shui, so rumors of a recent stock price plunge intensified.

Lu Qi was unaware of this. He was immersed in the confusion of “who am I, where am I?” Next to him were an extremely good-looking exotic couple and their handsome son.

And the four of them were standing in a pavilion halfway up a mountain. The beautiful Mrs. Talia was communicating with the engineers holding the diagrams.

When Lu Qi first met Mu Nanqiao’s parents, he was immediately impressed by how good-looking this family was. 

At that time, Mu Nanqiao had parked his car on the main driveway of the manor. Holding the flowers, Lu Qi got out of the car and saw a woman in a mint green skirt in the distance. She was standing beside a wheelchair, leaning forward to say something to a refined man.

When Lu Qi and Mu Nanqiao approached side by side, the woman raised her head.

She had long golden-brown hair that draped over her shoulders, and her face was small and delicate. She wasn’t tall, but her body proportions were excellent, and even though her son was so grown, she still had a girlish charm about her.

And as for the man next to her, the more Lu Qi looked at him, the more familiar his features were. When he finally remembered where he’d seen him before, he hit Mu Nanqiao in the waist with his elbow and gave a low harrumph, “Isn’t this your boss?”

“He’s indeed my boss.” Mu Nanqiao lowered his head and asked softly, “He’s the chairman, so isn’t that my boss?”

Lu Qi: ……

This was true, but he still felt that this person was twisting his words to force the logic.

Mrs. Talia showed great enthusiasm for his arrival. She no longer had an accent as she spoke with Lu Qi in Chinese. While they walked, she asked Lu Qi his age and the major he studied, acting like a traditional Chinese parent while Mu Nanqiao was relegated to the back, pushing Mu Chuanbai’s wheelchair.

Mu Chuanbai held out the bouquet and raised his phone to take photos in a satisfied manner. “These are the flowers I received for two bowls, I must post them on my Moments…..”

Mu Nanqiao: “Give them back to me after sending it, I want to take them.”

Mu Chuanbai: ……

This good child was stingy.

Lu Qi liked this kind of family very much. He thought that the next step would be to sit down and have a meal together, perhaps sing a birthday song for Mu Nanqiao, and he also planned to learn from Mrs. Talia how to say happy birthday in Russian.

This was the first time he had seen such a private house outside of TV dramas. The house covered a large area, and there was a courtyard and a scenic view in the back, even small hills. But the overall style was very confusing, with a bad combination of traditional and foreign styles, which Lu Qi didn’t like very much.

It was impolite to criticize other people’s homes. It wasn’t until led by Mama Mu to the viewing pavilion that he realized this wasn’t Mu Nanqiao’s home. This was the traditional old Mu family house that was about to be blown up.

Lu Qi: “S….Seriously?”

Mu Nanqiao put the helmet on him and lowered his head to tighten the strap with focused eyes, feeling a little helpless. “It seems they’re serious.”

On the other side, after discussing with the engineers, Talia finally confirmed everything and signed the consent form. She walked over gracefully, raised her hands, and hugged her tall son.

“Happy birthday, darling Леонид……” She kissed her son on the cheek. “You’re going to love this gift.”

Lu Qi vaguely felt that the Russian word sounded familiar. However, as the countdown began, he didn’t think about it carefully. He held his breath nervously and looked at the three-story villa not far away.

Mu Nanqiao stood beside him with a complicated expression. When the countdown reached three, he asked Lu Qi in a low voice, “Can I hold your hand?”

Lu Qi didn’t hesitate this time, and took the initiative to hold his slender hand.

“Three, two, one…..detonate!”

Boom—

The sound of the explosion was still a bit deafening even from such a distance, and then a large amount of dust spread with the wind. The majestic building collapsed into the dust, and the ground beneath their feet shook slightly.

That building was once so tall when Mu Nanqiao knelt at the door, shrouded in its shadow, as if he couldn’t escape no matter how far he ran. 

But now it had become a ruin, and in the settled dust, the deformed and broken reinforced concrete inside was exposed.

Mu Nanqiao just remained silent, and Talia couldn’t understand the emotion in his eyes.

When his arm was tugged, Mu Nanqiao returned to his senses and looked at Lu Qi, who was still holding his hand.

“I seem to understand that Russian…..” The little friend was slow to react, his eyes widening. He repeated with an accent, “Леонид…..Leon…..id?”

Mu Nanqiao: ……

His internet identity was discovered without warning. The birthday party was about to turn into a fan meetup.

As Mu Nanqiao had said himself, his skin was thick, but it wasn’t crocodile skin. It was still embarrassing to be exposed like this. He coughed with burning ears, and was about to say something when Wife Xiao Lu waved his hand and snorted softly. 

“Forget it, for the sake of your birthday, I won’t argue with you.” He took a small, dark blue box out of his pocket, handed it to Mu Nanqiao, and separated the hands they were holding.

Mu Nanqiao frowned, but before he could feel disappointed, Lu Qi smiled again and a slight dimple appeared on his left cheek.

“Happy birthday, Mu Nanqiao!” He pointed toward the ruins below, his eyes bright and curved: “When it’s your birthday next year, the ruins will be filled with wildflowers.”

Lu Qi had already taken off his helmet. His hair was so flattened that he looked particularly cute, like a marshmallow, sweet and soft, wrapping around Mu Nanqiao in strands.

He wanted to hug the marshmallow.

It was his birthday today, so he could be a little more unbridled.

Thus, Mu Nanqiao stepped forward and pulled the marshmallow into his arms.

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Chapter Twenty-Two << Table of Contents >> Chapter Twenty-Four