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◎Exchange◎

Sunday.

Mu Heqing still couldn't sleep well; this time, she truly felt some resentment towards Li Shi, a typical working-class person.

If it weren't for him, would she be unable to sleep on Sundays?

Mu Heqing lay in bed and opened the chat app on her phone. The pinned group on the chat app was "AAA Ancheng Barbecue Fans Group". There were only three people in the group: one was her, and the other two were her friends.

There was no movement in the group. Mu and Qing knew that one was sleeping and the other was sleeping.

Mu Heqing turned over in bed when her mother sent her a message.

[Happiness Blossoms: Are you up yet, lazy pig?]

[Qingqing QAQ: Replying to Your Majesty, I've risen.]

[Happiness Blossoms: So early! The sun must have risen in the west today.]

[Qingqing QAQ: Feeling wronged.jpg]

[Happiness Blossoms: Your birthday is in a month. Your dad and I are planning to go to Ancheng to celebrate with you. You haven't had a home-cooked meal in so many days, so we'll cook for you there.]

[Qingqing QAQ: My little place might not be big enough for the two of you to show off your skills.]

[Happiness Blossoms: Go to your aunt's house and tell her she'll be back from her business trip soon.]

【QingqingQAQ: Okay.】

Mu Heqing rolled around on the bed happily; this was one of the few pieces of good news she had over the weekend.

Her parents are coming to Ancheng to celebrate her birthday! Her aunt is coming back too!

Mu and Qing have a career-oriented aunt who also lives in Ancheng, but she's currently away on a business trip and they haven't seen her.

She had a very good relationship with her aunt since childhood, so Mu and Qing were naturally happy to be able to celebrate their birthdays together.

Ignoring the eight messages from Li Shi greeting her, Mu and Qing got out of bed.

She finally had time to watch the movie she wanted to see today.

Mu and Qing opened the tablet, and the movie intro was only halfway through when their phone rang again.

A friend request popped up. The profile picture was of a sunset over the sea, and the chat name was "Mu".

Even a fool could figure out who it was.

This guy is so persistent! Didn't I verbally reject his friend request last night?

Also, how did he get her Changcha account?

Mu and Qing clicked on the friend request verification message, which read, "I can explain, let's talk."

She pretended not to see it.

A while later, Li Shi sent another message, asking, "Can I come to see you today?"

Mu and Qing replied "No," and then turned off their phones.

Nobody should bother her today!

Mu and Qing barely made it through the less-than-ideal weekend, and she stormed into the office on Monday in a huff.

Mondays are already a dreaded day at work, and as soon as she walked into the company, she saw Jiang Mu's smiling face, while her boss, Qian Li, was beaming with joy.

Mu and Qing were stunned. All that talk of a chance encounter and never seeing each other again was a lie.

She had forgotten that, given this person's sponsorship of the boss, he could freely enter and leave the company.

Jiang Mu waved to Mu Heqing with a smile on his face. While Qian Li was introducing the company to him, he secretly pointed to the phone in Mu Heqing's hand.

Mu Heqing understood what he meant. She greeted her boss and Jiang Mu and returned to her office. She opened her phone and, sure enough, Jiang Mu had sent another friend request.

There was no other way, so Mu and Qing agreed. They couldn't have Jiang Mu around every time she went to work.

Mu and Qing sent a message.

[Qingqing QAQ: Mr. Jiang, just ask me whatever you want. I give up.]

Jiang Mu replied to messages very quickly. Mu and Qing really didn't know how he could reply to messages while dealing with her boss at the same time.

[Mu: I'm sorry, I'll tell you everything from beginning to end, really.]

Is this about telling the truth?

Jiang Mu's next message came quickly.

[Mu: Can I come see you after you get off work tonight?]

Mu and Qing were annoyed. They took a deep breath and agreed anyway.

Hopefully this will be a complete end to it and will stop disrupting her peaceful daily life.

In the evening, Mu Heqing got into Jiang Mu's car again. He didn't park the car in front of her company, otherwise, if someone saw them, Mu Heqing really wouldn't be able to explain herself.

"Please feel free to ask me anything," Mu Heqing said.

She thought that Jiang Mu would at most ask about the Li family's business situation. She really didn't know anything about it. As long as she told the truth, Jiang Mu would probably give up.

Jiang Mu stepped on the gas.

"We can talk here." Mu Heqing watched the scenery outside the car window begin to change, knowing that Jiang Mu wanted to take her somewhere else.

"As compensation, please let me treat you to dinner," Jiang Mu said. "I'm sorry I made you feel uncomfortable. I just felt that if I approached you abruptly, you might not want to tell me anything. I just wanted to use a more tactful approach."

Jiang Mu's words were sincere.

Mu Heqing leaned back in her seat and sighed softly. So, she really couldn't handle someone like Jiang Mu.

Jiang Mu is adept at handling all situations and can navigate any situation with ease. She is definitely the mature person that parents expect.

If she gives him the information he wants, he'll stop bothering her, right?

Mu Heqing and Jiang Mu entered a high-end restaurant. The restaurant's decor was understated yet luxurious. The manager patted Jiang Mu on the shoulder warmly and then said that a table had been arranged for them.

Seeing how familiar Jiang Mu was with the store manager, Mu Heqing wondered, "Could this restaurant be owned by one of his friends?"

How many friends does he actually have? How many people does he know? Surely he's not making friends every single moment of his life.

They sat in a quiet spot, with a view of Ancheng's mountain scenery at night outside the window.

"What would you like to eat? Would you like this?" Jiang Mu placed the menu in front of Mu Heqing, as if he really was treating her to a meal.

Mu and Qing didn't care what they ate; she said anything was fine.

Jiang Mu ordered the food, a smile on her face. Just as she was about to say something, she noticed that Mu and Qing were intently looking at the mountain scenery outside the window.

For some reason, when Jiang Mu looked at Mu Heqing at this moment, he vaguely felt that she was far away from him.

This made him feel a little uncomfortable.

Mu and Qing rarely paid attention to the scenery of Ancheng. After graduation, she spent most of her time going back and forth between her company and her rented apartment.

Ancheng has many mountains of varying sizes. The restaurant owner chose this location because he wanted his customers to have a view of the mountains while they were eating.

Mu Heqing rested her chin on her hand, her gaze fixed on the enormous creature in the darkness. She felt as if an invisible mountain was pressing down on her life.

The mountain was too big; no matter how she looked up, she couldn't see the whole thing. She had climbed the mountain and thought she had come down, but it seemed she was still on the mountain.

She began to waver; could she really make it down the mountain?

Jiang Mu said, "I'm so sorry to have called you out. You must be very tired after a long day of work."

Mu Heqing snapped out of her daze and shook her head. "It's alright, you've already come all the way to my company."

That doesn't sound like it's okay.

Jiang Mu looked guilty and apologetic, and said, "I'm sorry, this is the only clue I could get. I might have to tell you something about my family."

Mu and Qing nodded.

Jiang Mu: "My father owns a company, which he has always managed. He never lets me get involved, or rather, he doesn't let me participate in any of his business activities. But a month ago, my father told me that he had met a new business partner and asked me to go and get to know him."

This man, Mr. Yu, seemed very strange to me. It was the first time I'd ever met such an arrogant man. Not only did he never look me in the eye the entire time, but he also spoke as if issuing orders. Yet, my father obeyed him completely.

To be honest, my father is a company CEO, and even if he tries to please his business partners, he wouldn't act so humbly, treating this Mr. Yu like his own master.

Mr. Yu also asked if our family had any business dealings with the people at Kyushu Manor. My father naturally said no, since we had never even heard of Kyushu Manor.

Jiang Mu then privately asked "Dwarf Cabinet" to investigate President Yu and the Kyushu Manor, but they found nothing.

It's quite strange that even with "Dwarf Cabinet's" abilities, they couldn't find a single clue.

This was the first time he had encountered such a situation.

"You know what happened next. I investigated Kyushu Manor and saw your name on the invitation. I knew which company you worked for, and your boss and I happened to have some past relationship. I spread the word about my activities at 'Hai Cuo You Lang'."

Jiang Mu's plan was to bump into Qian Li by chance. He knew that Qian Li valued his kindness, but he did not expect that Qian Li would take Mu and Qing directly to the Hai Cuo Youlang, which saved him a lot of trouble.

However, a slip of the tongue later completely exposed his true intentions.

He underestimated Mu and Qing. Or rather, he was too confident, thinking he could completely control people's hearts.

Mu Heqing gently bit her lip, wondering how to talk to Jiang Mu in a way that would dissuade him from trying to get information from her.

She didn't care about Jiang Mu's family affairs, but she knew that this President Yu must be inextricably linked to "them".

This familiar arrogant attitude.

At this point, the more you know, the worse it is.

"If you don't want to talk about it, you don't have to. Maybe I'm just overthinking it." Jiang Mu used a retreat as a tactic to advance.

Mu Heqing shook his head, carefully choosing his words: "I only know that a family lives in the Kyushu Manor, and the manor owner's son is my high school classmate. I don't know much else."

She couldn't possibly tell the whole truth; those things were too unbelievable, and she felt that Jiang Mu hadn't told the whole truth either.

Jiang Mu chuckled and thanked him, saying, "It's so simple. I really shot myself in the foot."

At this moment, the restaurant served the dishes, and Jiang Mu told Mu and Qing to eat first.

"By the way, I have a favor to ask. Do you have the contact information for the manor owner's son? He's your high school classmate. I have some questions I'd like to ask him."

Mu and Qing suddenly looked up from their plates. Jiang Mu wanted Li Shi's contact information? Putting aside whether Li Shi was willing to communicate with him, people from these two worlds absolutely could not meet. The fewer people who came into contact with "them," the better.

Otherwise, anything could happen.

Jiang Mu noticed that Mu Heqing had that complicated expression again, one that he couldn't decipher.

This expression is the same as Mu Heqing's when he opened the invitation. The problem must lie with the son of the owner of Kyushu Manor.

What secret did he stumble upon? What is it that he cannot know? What is the relationship between Mu and Qing and the son of that manor owner?

Wasn't he married? Otherwise, he wouldn't have given the invitation to Mu and Qing.

Jiang Mu found that the inexplicable irritability had returned.