Chapter 22 Did he look at other men like that too...?

If this scene were played in slow motion like a movie, it would be absolutely hilarious.

Qian Yanlan's face went from anger to stiffness, gradually transforming into deep disbelief and wide-eyed stare. Then, a hint of conscience and reason clashed between her and Shan Qi, wondering if such a good thing was real, and finally, she seemed to realize that Xiaoxue's brother was still here, feeling guilty and ashamed.

Yu Dannan's delicate eyebrows shot up. Her first thought was, "Holy crap, is Shan Qi crazy? Is this for real?... Come to think of it, I remember seeing them getting close back in school..."

The waiter who followed seemed to have heard a shocking piece of gossip. He immediately covered his mouth with his hand to stifle half of his exclamation, glancing left and right before exchanging glances with his only two colleagues present, looking as if to say: "We're doomed, are we going to be silenced?"

Si Chengjun subconsciously looked at Song Mingli, and Song Mingli,

Song Mingli wished he were deaf.

The age-old truth that the pain is only felt when the knife falls on oneself has been proven once again. When he first arrived, he was helping to keep order and discipline the disobedient juniors, but now all the detached and carefree expression on his face has disappeared.

"What did you say?"

Dan Qi's calves were trembling, and he screamed inwardly with his eyes closed:

Heavens above, earth below, it's all that damned Jiang Liuyang's fault! He chose a game name like "The Cat Who Picks the Moon" and even used a female character. For the first time in his eighteen years, he experienced the first stirrings of young love and formed a romantic relationship with someone, playing the game for over half a year. He was so nervous and excited before meeting the person in person that he couldn't sleep for several nights. But when he got to the internet cafe, he found out—damn it, it was actually a guy!

That would have been one thing, but the other guy insisted that he hadn't clearly stated his sexual orientation. He felt like he was about to vomit blood. Did all gay men see every man as gay? He was a straight man, 24k pure straight, and since middle school, all the actresses he'd seen in porn were slim-waisted and long-legged. It was pitiful that he'd never even held a girl's hand before being deceived by a gay man, who then insisted that he take responsibility.

What responsibility? They were both grown men, 185 cm tall. After drinking, they started arguing and decided to settle their differences in a game. They also said that the internet cafe was too noisy, so they should go to a hotel to play. As luck would have it, they ran into a prostitution raid that day!

When the police asked, he didn't know his name, couldn't give his home address, and had no information about photos or mutual friends. To make matters worse, the hotel only had a double room available that day, decorated with romantic rose petals.

Unable to defend himself, he was taken back to the police station for a lecture, told that he shouldn't develop relationships indiscriminately as a young adult, and that it's easy to get diseases if same-sex relationships aren't properly protected. In the end, after finally managing to explain himself, the story somehow got back to his mother, who is also a police officer, and he became the one who had an unprotected sex encounter with his boyfriend at a hotel!

Half an hour ago, Ms. Qian received a message on her phone. Her temper flared, and she immediately called him. Mingli and Chengjun happened to be nearby when they arrived. He absolutely couldn't let his mother know he'd been dating a shady guy for so long—well, that doesn't quite fit either. Anyway, he had to appease his mother first...

Dan Qi grasped Ying Shixue's hand, trembling, "With...with Xiaoxue..."

It's really over.

He was so focused on not getting beaten to death by his mother that he forgot to mention that Brother Li would also beat him to death.

The atmosphere around them was almost frozen, so oppressive that even breathing was difficult.

Song Mingli slowly, very slowly, shifted his gaze from Shan Qi to Ying Shixue's face, almost uttering each word with deliberation:

"Xiaoxue, is he right?"

In an instant, all eyes were on them. Qian Yanlan looked on incredulously and doubtfully, Yu Dannan looked on with a clear and questioning expression, the waiter was excited but dared not speak and fidgeted, and Si Chengjun seemed to be deep in thought...

Dan Qi, with his back half-turned away, desperately tried to signal to him, trying to hide from the people around him. "Please, please, help me! Please, please, please, my survival today depends entirely on you!"

Ying Shixue met Song Mingli's deep, inky gaze, which seemed to force his soul out of the void and dissect him to see what he was thinking, and uttered that word with difficulty:

"yes."

In an instant, the surrounding air relaxed. Qian Yanlan didn't know whether to feel relieved or worried. She let go of her sweaty hand and took a breath. Suddenly, a gust of wind swept past her ear—Song Mingli actually pulled Ying Shixue out of Shan Qi's hand!

A gasp rang out, and Shan Qi stumbled: "Brother Mingli!..."

Si Chengjun frowned: "Ali..."

Song Mingli ignored him and dragged Ying Shixue outside.

-

Song Mingli had immense strength. As a young, successful man who was over 1.9 meters tall and had a long-standing habit of working out, he could easily wrap both of Ying Shixue's wrists around with one hand and drag her into the private villa.

His strides were so large that Ying Shixue couldn't keep up several times. With both hands restrained, she was almost forced to walk, staggering along, and nearly fell to the ground several times.

"Ah!" Suddenly, a pebble appeared under his feet, and Ying Shixue tripped heavily before he could avoid it. Just as he was about to fall to the ground, a hand firmly lifted him up and made him stand up again.

Ying Shixue, panting, looked up at the person in front of her in surprise.

Song Mingli's pupils were extremely dark, and a chilling glint flashed across them in the dim light. Because of his height, he looked down at people with a natural air of superiority, and Ying Shixue only belatedly realized that she felt a little scared.

".....elder brother?"

"Actually, I..."

"Shhh."

Song Mingli cruelly raised his left index finger and pressed it against the soft, red lips of the person in front of him, silencing any possibility of him speaking.

Ying Shixue opened her eyes slightly, looking at him with a hint of helplessness.

The jog had already flushed his fair complexion, and when he looked at people like this, his eyes seemed to be filled with a watery sheen.

Has he looked at other men like that too?

Amidst his rage, Song Mingli thought to himself, his expression growing increasingly grim.

"Don't speak," he said, using a bit of force, as if he were crushing some newly opened, still tender petal, even having to restrain the pressure of his fingers to avoid damaging the petal, yet also wanting to crush it thoroughly to extract its juice:

"You'll be crying later."

What does this mean?

Before Ying Shixue could ponder the profound and hidden meaning behind those words, Song Mingli withdrew his hand from Ying's lips and forcefully pulled him deeper into the manor.

In fact, with so many things happening one after another tonight, he hadn't even had time to calm down and think things through, or rather, he hadn't expected Song Mingli to react so strongly and leave in such a hurry.

Finally, it stopped in front of a door on the second floor of the villa.

Song Mingli reached out and pushed open the door. Ying Shixue only had time to see that it was an uninhabited guest room before she was shoved against the door with great force.

Song Mingli still held his wrist with one hand, pulling it above his head, resisting the urge to squeeze his shoulder with his other hand. The words were almost squeezed out through his teeth:

Why him?

Ying Shixue looked up and saw that his eyes were already bloodshot.

He opened his mouth slightly in astonishment, and Song Mingli almost growled as he asked again:

"Why him!?"

......

From a very early time, for example, when someone started making jokes about Ying Shixue's love life, or just now at the banquet when someone intentionally or unintentionally mentioned Ying Shixue, he would feel this indescribable anxiety.

The person he liked, Song Mingli thought to himself.

Will Xiaoxue one day also have someone she likes?

He would treat that person as the only one in his life, smile at him with his peach blossom-like eyes, listen to him patiently, and on countless sweet mornings, stretch out his slender arms from under the covers, hook them around that person's neck in dependence, and then plant a tender kiss on his husband's cheek.

No.

Why? Why did this happen? Didn't their lives become intertwined many years ago? They grew up together, huddled together for warmth in a cold, lifeless villa. When Ying Shixue first came to Fancheng at the age of thirteen, the first words she uttered were his name.

Aren't they the most important people in each other's lives?

Song Mingli's breathing trembled painfully.

Even if one day he thinks about this fact in a terrible way, even if one day it really happens, there must be someone to spend the rest of his life with Xiaoxue.

—Then why is it a single odd number?

He was the one who reassembled the shattered porcelain bear doll for Ying Shixue. When Ying Shixue had a fever and was sick, he took care of her day and night without taking off his clothes or closing his eyes. He also took care of every meal and every drop of water for Ying Shixue every day, making sure she was not hungry, cold, or in pain. Danqi wondered what he had done.

Even if Ying Shixue really had to choose, she should choose him!

This thought struck like a thunderbolt, and the thunder outside boomed, completely illuminating the unsavory situation that had been hidden between the two of them.

Song Mingli looked down and was shocked to see his unrecognizable reflection in Ying Shixue's eyes.

Why do I think that way?

Is this what I've always thought?

......

I'm really going crazy.

-

That night, a torrential downpour began, and most of the guests did not have time to leave and were settled in. Only a few braved the rain and hurriedly departed.

Ying Shixue sat on the short sill by the window, her thin, delicate arms resting on the window frame, her chin propped up as she looked down at the garden below.

That night, he thought Song Mingli would reprimand him severely or fly into a rage, but he didn't. With a willpower that was hard for an ordinary person to bear, the other party loosened his grip on his wrist, his eyes filled with a lot of indescribable emotions.

He did try to explain to Song Mingli later that he didn't have that kind of relationship with Shan Qi, but Song Mingli no longer believed him. Or rather, something akin to a belief that he had always held onto suddenly collapsed one day, plunging him into a state of temporary nihilism.

But one thing is certain.

Ying Shixue glanced around the room.

Since that day, he has been taken back to the Bauhinia Villa, and for the past three days, he has not been able to leave the room.

Ying Shixue rested her head on her curled-up knees, looking a bit like a pitiful kitten that had been abandoned, curling up and waiting for its mother to pick it up, blinking as she looked at all the facilities in the room.

How did he and his brother suddenly end up like this?

Suddenly, a noise came from the door. Ying Shixue straightened his legs and sat down normally. The next second after he sat down, the door opened and Song Mingli came in carrying a tray.

"Come and eat."

Ying Shixue's eyelashes fluttered: "...Oh."

He walked barefoot onto the stage, and before he even reached the table, his feet were suddenly lifted off the ground and he was picked up by one hand.

"Ah!" Ying Shixue exclaimed subconsciously and hugged Song Mingli's neck. Song Mingli held the tray in his left hand and held her firmly in his arms with his right.

After taking a few steps, I turned sideways and placed the food on the tray onto the small table. Then I put him on the soft sofa, found some socks in the closet, knelt down on one knee in front of the sofa, and held his ankle to put the socks on him.

Ying Shixue, tickled by the teasing, couldn't help but pull his foot inward. The moment he made that slight movement, Song Mingli's large hand gripped his tendon and pulled him back.

The sofa was so soft that he almost slipped off, barely managing to steady himself by grabbing the armrests.

"elder brother?"

Song Mingli put both socks on him and stood up: "Even if you lay out a carpet, remember to wear socks."

He went to the bathroom in the bedroom to wash his hands. When he came back, Ying Shixue was still sitting obediently on the stool at the table. The bowls and chopsticks had already been set out, but she hadn't started eating yet.

Her eyes lit up when she saw him return, but she casually looked away.

Song Mingli chuckled inwardly, thinking, "He's still acting like a child."

Made by Aunt He, this dish has been enjoyed since childhood. The silverfish are always carefully deboned and processed before being stewed with eggs into a soup. It is fresh, sweet, salty and fragrant. With just one spoonful, Ying Shixue's eyes crinkled into a smile.

The two did not speak, yet there was no awkwardness in the room. A tacit and tranquil atmosphere flowed between them, with only the clinking of bowls and chopsticks as the only sounds.

Ying Shixue put down her empty bowl: "...I'm done eating."

Song Mingli nodded, reached out and took the small bowl, stacked it with his own empty bowl, and prepared to take it out again with a spoon and chopsticks.

"elder brother."

Before Song Mingli stepped out of the room, Ying Shixue couldn't help but call out to him.

"The flowers downstairs are blooming; I want to go see them."

Song Mingli slowly turned around, his tone casual: "It just rained outside, it's cold and slippery, let's wait a while."

Ying Shixue pursed her lips. Song Mingli had already pushed open the door and left.

-

It's clear that Song Mingli has significantly reduced the company's workload. He usually goes out to work early in the morning, comes back for lunch to have with me, takes a short nap, and then spends the afternoon with me in the room handling business online.

Often, Ying Shixue would sit on one side of the desk looking at books about her major, while Song Mingli would be on the other side having a video conference with someone. They would each do their own thing without disturbing each other, yet they would still live in harmony.

Once, Song Mingli was in a meeting discussing the details of the next project when he suddenly felt a kick under the table on his calf.

He turned around, and Ying Shixue was looking at him, mouthing:

computer.

I need to look up information.

The executive on the other end of the video call, who was reporting on the next quarter's budget, suddenly saw his boss make a pause gesture. He was anxiously wondering if he had done something wrong when Song Mingli suddenly turned off the camera and microphone.

Then a message popped up on my phone: Pause for half an hour.

Song Mingli took off his headphones and pushed the computer over: "What do you want to check?"

Ying Shixue clicked a few times on the computer: "A few experimental videos."

He's going to study at German University when school starts, and this is just a heads-up. He certainly didn't intentionally want to interrupt Song Mingli's work; after all...

On his first day back, Song Mingli disconnected the network cable from his electronic devices and the SIM card from his mobile phone.

However, such days are not bad. In the past few years, I have been under a lot of stress and it has been difficult to have such a relaxing time.

Until one evening, when someone knocked on the door and brought in dinner, it wasn't Song Mingli who came in, but Aunt He.

Ying Shixue looked at her, and Aunt He's previously cold face immediately broke down. She sighed and placed the tray on the table: "Young Master, come and have something to eat."

Ying Shixue got out of bed, walked to the chair, and scooped up a small sip of soup: "Where is he?"

"The young master said he still has some things to take care of tonight and will be back later."

Ying Shixue blinked and drank the soup: "...Oh."

-

Main house, study

The bottom of the teacup struck the ebony desk with a muffled thud in the silence. Song Qi lifted his eyelids and coldly looked at the grown-up man in front of him.

Two strikingly similar faces gazed at each other across twenty years. The alpha wolf of the pack was still young and strong, while the younger wolf had already revealed overly sharp fangs. Song Qi slowly spoke:

"I heard you've been working at Zijing these past few days?"

Song Mingli replied neither servilely nor arrogantly, "Yes."

Where is that child?

"He's not feeling well and needs to rest at home for a while."

"oh?"

Looking back, Song Mingli's brows already revealed a sharp and intimidating aura.

The tea was simmering on a small stove. Song Qi picked it up, and the clear tea poured out, filling the cup in an instant.

"It seems that three years in Haizhou still haven't calmed you down."

Song Mingli's fingers, hanging by his side, tightened for a moment, then straightened again, and he said calmly, "People change."

Song Qi took a sip: "Yunjian tea is only grown in the shady areas of Yunshan Mountain, and very few of them can survive to the point of budding. The entire Yunshan Mountain only produces such a small piece of it in a year."

"Song Mingli, he is not someone you can touch."

Song Mingli then revealed his first genuine smile of the day: "Even if the doors and windows are closed, releasing the bird rashly will still cause it harm."

“Father, this is what you taught me.”

The door slammed shut. Song Qi watched his departing figure for a while, then opened the drawer on the left side of the desk and took out a photograph.

The woman in the photo album is wearing a white floral dress, with her fluffy, soft black hair draped over her shoulders. She looks very young, and her eyes crinkle as she smiles at the camera.

The photo is quite old, but it is clearly well preserved. The edges of the frame show signs of being rubbed by fingers over the years, indicating that its owner must have taken it out to look at it many times when no one was around.

After a long pause, Song Qi sighed softly:

“Avi, our child has grown up.”

The woman in the photo frame smiled shyly, and on her shoulder, partially obscured by her black hair, was a faint mark identical to the one on Ying Shixue's body.

-

8 o'clock

The door was quietly pushed open, and Ying Shixue peeked out. After confirming that no one was in the corridor and that Song Mingli had not returned, she breathed a sigh of relief and finally squeezed out through the crack in the door.

Aunt He said that although she didn't know where the young master had put his SIM card, there should be a spare phone with a SIM card inserted in the small study. If he wanted to contact someone, he could go there and look for it while Song Mingli was away.

The floor inside the house was mostly carpeted, supposedly to keep him warm... Ying Shixue pursed her lips and walked towards the small study, following the direction she remembered.

Fortunately, the door wasn't locked, so he got in without a problem. Not daring to turn on the light, he used the dim light from the hallway to search through the desk.

Aunt He only said it was in a drawer, but didn't specify which one. This desk was 2.5 meters long and had over a dozen drawers. Ying Shixue searched through them one by one, finally opening the bottom drawer to look...

—I was stunned.

The year he took the high school entrance exam was also the year Song Mingli graduated from St. Francis High School and went to university. In the sweltering summer, even in the morning, the heat was already intense. Like countless other mornings, he washed up and went downstairs to eat.

Then I saw Song Mingli's departing figure.

He was almost immediately stunned and grabbed Feng Bo's hand, asking what was going on, but Feng Liang'an just shook his head, just shook his head.

The maid silently carried her brother's luggage piece by piece onto the car, as if trying to erase all traces of his past.

For the next three years, he never received a single message from Song Mingli.

But now, in this drawer, Ying Shixue's breathing trembled violently as she turned over the items one by one.

Magazines featuring his interview as the top scorer in the high school entrance exam, photos taken on the podium after winning awards at the high school sports meet, original videos of his piano solo at the year-end arts festival... even photocopies of his weekly and monthly test rankings were neatly arranged by year, month, and date.

What is this? Ying Shixue covered her mouth tightly to keep from bursting into tears.

If you've always cared about him and been concerned about him, why did every message he sent for those three years sink without a trace and never receive a response? In the second and third years, there wasn't even a simple holiday greeting. The chat window remained blank for hundreds of days and nights.

After returning, she arrogantly took him to her company, as if nothing had happened between them in those three years. She calmly fed and watered him and revised his application forms for the school project again and again.

Song Mingli.

His fingers curled up so tightly that his knuckles turned bluish-white.

What are you really thinking?

Ying wiped the tears from her eyes, closed the drawer, and searched downwards again until she finally found the spare machine.

Phew, Ying Shixue watched the screen light up and waited patiently.

Thankfully, there's still electricity.

He quickly logged into his social media app, and a multitude of messages popped up as soon as he opened it.

He ignored all the unimportant notifications and announcements sent out by the central government. After that, Aunt Qian, Yu Dannan, Si Chengjun, and even Shan Yan, who was on a mission, all sent him messages.

The content was largely the same, but what relieved him was that not many people probably knew about it, possibly because the information was blocked later.

He opened Shan Qi's chat window. Over the past three or four days, the other party had sent him 99+ messages, explaining the whole story, apologizing and confessing with a bunch of crying emojis, and promising to go through fire and water for him, and never do anything against his will.

Ying Shixue's lips twitched: What did you tell Aunt Qian later?

Dan Qi replied instantly: I said we really didn't book a room, we just went to play computer games. It was a misunderstanding in the heat of the moment, a complete misunderstanding.

Ying Shixue: Didn't they check your ID cards when you went to the police station?

Shan Qi: We did investigate, but my mom doesn't know much yet. She only knows that it's a young man who's about my age.

Ying Shixue: What happened after that? My brother took it seriously.

Shan Qi: I called him over to explain to your brother in person. I'll accept whatever Mingli wants to do, I really know I was wrong. I didn't expect him to react so strongly.

It was followed by a crying emoji.

Ying Shixue thought for a moment: It's impossible to keep this from Aunt Qian forever.

Dan Qi: My mom... um... my mom, actually I think my mom might find out the truth soon...

I followed a meme of a despairing, collapsed maniac.

Ying Shixue couldn't help but laugh: When are you coming? My brother is probably furious.

Shan Qi: The day after tomorrow—no, tomorrow! I'll fly there tonight and bring Jiang Liuyang back from Liancheng. At the latest, I'll apologize and explain everything by tomorrow afternoon!

Ying Shixue gave an "okay" gesture, logged out, turned off her phone, gently closed the drawer, stood up, turned around, and prepared to go back to her room.

In that instant, his movements froze.

At the door of the small study, Song Mingli leaned against the door frame with one arm crossed, watching him for who knows how long.

Ying Shixue closed her eyes.

Dan Qi harmed me.

The corridor lights were dim, casting a slanted beam from the side, making Song Mingli's features appear particularly striking and defined under the light, his gaze sweeping down from above.

"Hand it over."

Ying Shixue took a step back, her lower back resting on the edge of the table: "I really don't have that kind of relationship with Shan Qi."

Song Mingli's gaze remained unchanged: "You contacted him again."

declarative sentence.

Ying Shixue was speechless: "No, he'll be bringing his real boyfriend to apologize tomorrow. If you check the police records from that day, you'll see that the person with Shan Qi that day wasn't me at all!"

Song Mingli shifted his body and began to walk into the study.

Even though she hadn't really done anything, the fact that her older brother, who had raised her from childhood, had come through such a process was still very oppressive. Ying Shixue gripped the edge of the table tightly, and then Song Mingli pried it open one by one and held it in her palm.

He couldn't help but blurt out, "You can't keep me locked up like this for the rest of my life!"

Song Mingli didn't speak, but turned his head and stared intently at him with his dark eyes.

Why not?

-

That night, Song Mingli didn't have the heart to force him too much. The next afternoon, as promised, Shan Qi brought his so-called online boyfriend to apologize.

Downstairs in the living room, Song Mingli sat on the sofa, leaning back slightly, legs crossed, hands resting naturally on his knees, coldly staring at the awkwardly standing person in front of him.

Shan Qi blushed and said, "...Mingli-ge, that's how it is."

The man standing next to him, dressed in all black and about the same height, had maintained a cool expression ever since he came in.

Ying Shixue looked at him suspiciously. Was this the person who had been relentlessly pursuing Shan Qi in the game, whose online name was "The Cat Who Picks the Moon"?

The other person probably felt a little embarrassed by his gaze, coughed, stood up straighter, and said stiffly, "Sorry, you misunderstood."

Song Mingli gave them a few final, deep looks, nodded, and looked away.

Phew, a huge weight was lifted from Shan Qi's heart.

We finally got through this hurdle.

It was dinnertime, and the younger generation from another family had arrived so politely; there was no reason to send them away after explaining ourselves.

Aunt He had laid out a dazzling array of dishes on the table. While Song Mingli got up to go upstairs to get something, Shan Qi leaned close to Ying Shixue and whispered in his ear, "Sorry, Xue, your brother didn't do anything to you after he came back that day, did he?"

Ying Shixue recalled for a moment, then slowly shook her head.

Dan Qi breathed a sigh of relief: "That's good, that's good. I thought your brother had locked you up after sending so many messages without you replying."

He was so engrossed in his own thoughts that he didn't see the complex emotions that flashed across Ying Shixue's face when he said "close."

Dan Qi was in high spirits: "If you ever have anything to hide from your brother in the future, I'll go to great lengths for you!"

Ying Shixue chuckled lightly, glancing teasingly at Jiang Liuyang, who had been glancing this way frequently ever since Shan Qi and he got together. She then unusually put her arm around Shan Qi's shoulder and said, "Okay."

Then, to my satisfaction, I saw Jiang Liuyang tense up and purse his lips tightly.

Before a smile could even appear on his face, he saw Song Mingli, who had just come down the stairs after getting his coat, looking at him in the same direction.

"......"

"......??"

Ying Shixue abruptly withdrew her arm from Shan Qi's shoulder as if she had been electrocuted. Shan Qi turned her head in confusion, and when their eyes met, she jumped as well: "Brother Mingli!"

Song Mingli looked away: "Come and eat."

"Holy crap," Shan Qi whispered, turning around, "Why does your brother walk so quietly?"

Ying Shixue didn't want to answer his question, so she silently increased the distance between them. The two walked side by side to the dining table. Just as they were about to sit down, Song Mingli happened to walk to the table as well, blocking the seat that Shan Qi wanted to sit in next to Ying Shixue.

Without thinking much, Shan Qi changed direction and sat down opposite them, picking up a spoon and ladling out a bowl of soup.

Song Mingli draped a light jacket over Ying Shixue's shoulders: "It's cool at night, you'll easily catch a cold if you get chilled."

Wearing a coat makes it inconvenient to move around, and no one else there is wearing a coat, especially in front of other people. How old is he that he still needs his older brother to help him put on his clothes?

Ying Shixue tilted her head slightly, silently indicating her refusal.

Song Mingli, already quite adept at it, lifted one of his arms and slipped it into his sleeve: "Raise the other arm too."

Ying Shixue: "..."

He raised his hand somewhat resignedly, letting Song Mingli put the thin jacket on him.

Ying Shixue glanced at the person opposite her out of the corner of her eye. Shan Qi was happily burying his face in his rice bowl, completely absorbed in eating. Jiang Liuyang, on the other hand, slowed down his chewing, as if he had noticed something.

However, since he was in someone else's home, he wisely kept quiet and lowered his head to avoid eye contact.

Ying Shixue lowered her eyelashes and picked up a piece of preserved plum pork rib.

Song Mingli, on the other hand, glanced at Shan Qi with barely perceptible disdain as he ate ribs with sauce all over his mouth. He wondered how he could have ever thought that this dimwitted guy was a threat.

He also picked up his chopsticks, and as he turned his head, Ying Shixue was biting into the small piece of pork rib. The bone he had picked up was probably a bit oddly shaped, and it took him some effort to bite the meat off. Inevitably, some sauce got on the corner of his lips.

Song Mingli's gaze softened. Ying Shixue swallowed the meat in her mouth, her brows unconsciously relaxing with pleasure. Suddenly, her chin was grabbed, and her face was turned to face Song Mingli.

If thoughts could be visualized at this moment, a spinning question mark would probably appear above Ying Shixue's head.

Song Mingli pulled out a tissue and casually wiped the sauce off his lips: "You got some."

Jiang Liuyang finally couldn't hold back and accidentally choked on the rice. He covered his mouth with his hand and coughed incessantly.

Out of humanitarian spirit, Shan Qi brought him the soup he had served earlier. Jiang Liuyang took it, scooped up a few spoonfuls, and sipped it down. Looking into Shan Qi's innocent, naive, and clear eyes, a deep sense of powerlessness washed over him.

"...With your IQ and EQ, this is all you'll ever be."

Dan Qi immediately exploded: "Hey, what do you mean?!" "Wait, you just used my spoon to drink the soup!!!"

-

The next day, Song Mingli finally ran out of excuses and returned the SIM card and network card to him.

It may seem like a long time has passed, but in reality, it's been less than a week since Song Mingli brought him back to the Zijing Villa after the banquet.

When he returned to the company on Monday morning, half of his secretarial colleagues surrounded him, looking at him with concern: "Secretary Ying, are you feeling better?"

Ying Shixue then remembered that the reason she hadn't come to the company was sick leave. Wei Chao was the most enthusiastic among them, carrying a fruit basket weighing eight pounds and placing it on her desk with heartfelt words: "Secretary Ying, you must take care of yourself, even though you work hard!"

Secretary Ying blushed slightly: "Thank you, I understand."

It was rare to see him like this, since Ying Mi usually appeared cold and aloof in front of others. So when he was like this, several people were belatedly aroused and piled up cookies and cakes on his table.

The experience was so embarrassing that before lunch, Ying Shixue doodled on her book with a pen while telling Song Mingli about it.

Song Mingli was peeling an orange for him at the time. Upon hearing this, he gently said "Oh?" and handed a segment of fruit to him.

Ying Shixue subconsciously reached out to take it, but Song Mingli tilted his hand away, avoiding the hand that was being offered.

"You have ink on your hands." Song Mingli said casually, his palm flat, the fruit lying quietly in his palm: "Come and eat."