Chapter 18, The 18th Ray of Light: "So Assistant Song likes me?"...

Song Xingyun was puzzled by the subtle joy hidden in his words, but she still honestly replied, "Yes, there was no dog in the room last night."

Ying Qi and Uncle Lin exchanged a glance, then their gazes darted back and forth between the two men's faces.

With a question in mind, Song Xingyun lowered her head and typed a message on her phone, then secretly pushed the phone to Ying Qi's side, gesturing for him to look.

Ying Qi was just thinking about having a good gossip session with Uncle Lin later when she interrupted him. He looked down at Song Xingyun's phone screen and, as if he had a reading disability, read the words aloud: "The boss doesn't allow dogs in the room? Is he a germaphobe?"

Song Xingyun froze, and the heat rushed to her face.

Ying Qi didn't notice and was seriously answering the question, "The boss doesn't have this kind of germaphobia. Bai Sui slept in his room when he was a child. You can ask him if you don't believe me."

Song Xingyun: ...

Why would I ask you secretly if I could just ask him directly?

She glanced up at Yu Mushang's face, and sure enough, it had darkened again. She clenched her fists, wanting to punch Ying Qi, her incompetent teammate. "Um..."

Just as she was about to follow up Ying Qi's words and ask the person in question again, the person in question interrupted her and asked, "Is Assistant Song taking advantage of the fact that the boss can't see?"

Song Xingyun looked like she was about to cry, and even Uncle Lin lowered his head, indicating that he couldn't help. Ying Qi belatedly realized what he had done and was slowly moving his plate away from the chair, trying to escape.

“I was just too embarrassed to ask you directly, that’s why…” Song Xingyun tried to explain, but the man wouldn’t accept it. He sneered, “Assistant Song wasn’t embarrassed when she touched me and pounced on me.”

Upon hearing this, Uncle Lin looked up. Ying Qi, who was about to make his escape, stopped and shouted, "What? Assistant Song touched you? Where? Tell me!"

Song Xingyun: ...

Yu Mushang: ...

They were starting to seriously wonder if Ying Qi had been a loudspeaker in his past life.

Seeing that the two remained silent, Ying Qi pretended to humph and began to complain to Uncle Lin, "Look, they all ostracize me, I have no status anymore."

Uncle Lin took a sip of tea and said slowly, "Knowing this, why don't you stay away?"

Ying Qi said with a long face, "Uncle Lin, even you despise me. If you had moved in with us, I definitely wouldn't be in such a miserable state."

Uncle Lin worked for the Yu family his whole life and never married. After the Yu couple passed away, he stayed to look after the Yu family. Now he is the only one left in the old house, but he has politely declined their repeated requests to move into Villa No. 9.

He used to say that a house will quickly fall apart if no one lives there and there's no life in it, and it can't be repaired.

The Yu family had been kind to him, and he wanted to preserve the traces of their lives.

Hearing Ying Qi say this now, he just smiled and said, "I'm an old man, there's a generation gap between me and you young people, we can't live together."

The conversation between the two eased the atmosphere at the table a bit. Song Xingyun quickly finished her breakfast and slipped away, saying, "I'm going to work now. You guys take your time eating."

As Song Xingyun left, she could still hear the conversation continuing behind her: "You know you're an old man, and we don't feel comfortable letting you live in the old house. We wouldn't even know if you fell one day, and we wouldn't know how to save you."

"You little rascal, don't jinx it."

Yu Mushang's cold words followed, "If Uncle Lin isn't coming, then you can move into the old house today."

Yingqi: ...

Uncle Lin refused, saying, "I'm an old man, I can't take care of him."

Once Song Xingyun entered the room, she could no longer hear the conversation between the three people. She prayed in her heart that Yu Mushang would forget the little incident from before and not bring it up again.

*

In Yu Mushang's bedroom, Uncle Lin was tidying up his walk-in closet with concern. "It will get colder in a few days, then I'll come and pack some warm clothes for you."

Yu Mushang leaned against the door frame of the dressing room and said helplessly, "I'm so old now, why do I need you, an old man, to worry about me?"

Although the words were harsh, Uncle Lin understood his character and naturally sensed his concern. "No matter how old you are, you're still a child in my eyes."

Lin had watched Yu Mushang grow up since he was a child, so naturally he doted on him like a grandson. Their relationship was no longer as simple as an employer-employee relationship. After the Yu family couple passed away, Uncle Lin took care of him for a long time. They were family.

After Uncle Lin finished tidying up the dressing room, the first thing he saw was the painting that had been knocked over on the small bar. He went over and put the fallen framed painting back in its place.

Seeing this painting, he couldn't help but think of Song Xingyun again, and couldn't help but mention, "I thought you would never choose to see her again in this lifetime."

After all, he was right beside Yu Mushang when Yu Mushang decided to stop replying to his letters.

Over the years, Uncle Lin has been the one who handled all the correspondence and communication between Yu Mushang and Song Xingyun, including this painting, which he also bought. He is the one who understands the little girl's place in Yu Mushang's heart the most.

Thinking of this, he sighed again. If it weren't for that incident back then...

After a moment of silence, Yu Mushang sat down on the sofa. He remembered his conversation with Song Xingyun here last night perfectly. "Maybe it really is fate."

Yu Mushang briefly recounted the events leading up to her reunion with Song Xingyun. After listening, Uncle Lin agreed with his assessment of "fate," saying, "You two are both unfortunate children. You've already weathered the toughest period, and now you must strive to live towards the light."

The two chatted in the room for quite a while, until it was almost lunchtime, when Song Xingyun saw Yu Mushang personally see Uncle Lin off from Villa No. 9. She murmured, "They have such a good relationship."

Ying Qi had just finished dealing with a difficult task and was playing with Changmingbaisui to relax his tense nerves. Naturally, he also heard Song Xingyun's mutterings to herself.

Ying Qi looked at the backs of the old man and the young man and said, "Although Uncle Lin is just a butler, in the boss's heart, he holds the same status as a grandfather."

Song Xingyun had never met her grandfather, nor did she have any experience spending a long time with elders. She had a vague understanding of this kind of feeling. "Fortunately, he hasn't been alone all these years. Fortunately, he still has people to talk to."

She spoke very softly, but Ying Qi had good hearing. "Are you talking about me? Yes, it's good that the boss has me by his side."

Song Xingyun: ...

Yes, yes, yes.

Ying Qi had been holding it in all morning. "Why don't you tell me how you touched the boss? It's okay, you can use 'I have a friend' as your subject, how about that?"

Song Xingyun hadn't expected him to still remember this "gossip," "It's nothing!"

When Yu Mushang came in, he heard what sounded like "playing around," and his good mood vanished instantly. "Song Xingyun, come in with me."

Ying Qi looked on with an air of anticipation, and Song Xingyun's heart pounded as she followed the expressionless man's footsteps.

When the office door closed, it startled Song Xingyun's already wildly beating heart. "Boss... Boss."

Yu Mushang stopped in his tracks. "Weren't you having a great time earlier? Why are you trembling when you talk to me now?" Indeed, even her voice was trembling, which made Yu Mushang even more annoyed.

Song Xingyun steadied her breathing. "Boss, is there something you need from me?" She wanted to play dumb!

The man's thin lips were tightly pursed, which made her think of the saying "a man with thin lips is heartless," but now she saw him as ruthless.

Yu Mushang mentally went through Song Xingyun's behavior since she entered Villa No. 9: laughter, praise, teasing...

He finally closed his eyes to suppress the discomfort. When he opened them again, Song Xingyun heard him say, "Office romances are forbidden here."

"Huh?" Song Xingyun was caught off guard by his sudden remark and was completely confused. "Okay."

But she realized what she meant a second later, and her lips twitched. "You don't think that Ying Qi and I... Impossible! Boss, I'm innocent!"

Yu Mushang's expression softened somewhat. "Oh?"

Song Xingyun paced anxiously, and in one swift step, Yu Mushang felt his hand being grasped by something warm and soft. She…

Then his hand was forced to be raised, and Song Xingyun's voice rang out in front of him, "I'll swear by your hand that if I've told any lies before, may I be struck by lightning."

Yu Mushang: ...So it wasn't you leading me.

"You swear you'll use my hand? You don't want to get struck by lightning, do you?"

Song Xingyun's lips curled down, "I swear on my own hand, you can't see it..."

She spoke softer and softer, afraid that her words would offend him. After all, wasn't she emphasizing his blindness? She really felt like she had eaten the heart of a bear and the gall of a leopard.

While Song Xingyun was still worried, the man's hand, which she had been holding, bent down and grabbed hers, and the "situation" was suddenly reversed.

Yu Mushang held her small hand in one hand and moved his white cane aside with the other, freeing his hand. Song Xingyun stared wide-eyed as he touched her fingers and picked up a few, saying, "This way, it counts as me seeing."

He grabbed her hand and swore an oath.

If Wen Ying were there, she would have to praise them for being really good at having fun.

Song Xingyun: ...

She steeled herself and swore again, "If I, Song Xingyun, were to have feelings for Ying Qi, may I be struck by lightning. I have absolutely never had any office romance, neither in the past nor in the future."

How childish.

This was Song Xingyun's first impression after she finished speaking.

Yu Mushang held her wrist and could still feel her throbbing pulse. "Hmm." Although what she said sounded strange, he was satisfied at that moment.

Song Xingyun thought that was the end of it, but to her surprise, Yu Mushang continued to ask, "Why don't you like Ying Qi?"

Song Xingyun subconsciously said, "Not handsome enough."

Judging others is bad behavior. After saying that, she apologized to Ying Qi ten times in her heart. Ying Qi is handsome, but she just doesn't like that kind of guy.

Yu Mushang was quite satisfied with her quick reaction. "What makes someone handsome enough?"

Holding him, Song Xingyun instinctively dared not speak nonsense. Her heart trembled, and she forced herself to say, "Someone like you?"

After she finished speaking, she prayed in her heart, "Boss, please don't take this seriously. Just think of it as me flattering you!"

She was prepared to be met with Yu Mushang's sharp tongue.

Unexpectedly, a smile spread across the man's lips. "Oh? You wouldn't like someone if they weren't handsome enough. Someone like me is handsome enough. So... Assistant Song likes me?"

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Author's Note: Is anyone reading this? If no one's reading, I'm starting to wonder if I should update every other day, waaaaaah!