The next morning, Song Xuanhe went directly to the company. He was unable to have lunch with Xiao Yuanmu at noon because of the arrival of Song's mother. It was not until the two of them were sitting in a car that Song Xuanhe realized that Xiao Yuanmu was a little abnormal.
Although Xiao Yuanmu usually had no expression and maintained a style of silence is golden - no one would say a word to him unless it was necessary - but even so, he looked calm and harmless, not like now, with his eyes downcast as if thinking about something, the air pressure around him was extremely low, and the occasional glance in his eyes was full of melancholy.
The former's quietness makes people feel that he is a melancholy and beautiful young man with a cool aura, and his every move makes people admire and indulge in him. However, the latter seems like a meticulous and intelligent antisocial element, and a glance from him can make people's hair stand on end.
If the system in his mind had not told him with certainty that Xiao Yuanmu had definitely not been reborn at this moment, Song Xuanhe felt that he might have dropped the steering wheel and run away.
It was not a good idea to remain silent like this. Thinking about the pool party later, Song Xuanhe started to make small talk: "Can you swim?"
Hearing his voice, Xiao Yuanmu raised his eyes slightly, his long straight eyelashes pointed in his direction, and then dropped again: "No."
Thinking of what will happen later, Song Xuanhe pursed his lips and frowned unconsciously: "Then try not to get close to the swimming pool later."
Hearing this, Xiao Yuanmu raised his eyes and looked straight at Song Xuanhe, his pupils calm: "Why?"
"I'm afraid you'll fall."
[Even if you say that, the boss will still fall. This is the main storyline and cannot be changed. 】
"Can you swim?"
Just as Song Xuanhe was about to talk to the system, he heard Xiao Yuanmu's voice. He turned around and looked at Xiao Yuanmu in surprise. This was the first time he asked a question and the big guy threw the topic back in a tone as if he wanted to continue the conversation.
"Yes, but I'm not very good at swimming." Song Xuanhe said, "I don't like water very much."
Xiao Yuanmu looked away. The neon lights outside the car window quickly passed through his eyes. He couldn't see the expression in his eyes. He asked casually, "Where did you go last night?"
"The old house." After answering, Song Xuanhe remembered that he left directly after answering the phone yesterday. He did not tell Xiao Yuanmu where he was going, and he didn't know how he got back.
"How did you get home yesterday? By taxi?"
"walk."
Song Xuanhe pursed his lips. Although they lived not far from the company, the dinner place was some distance away from the company. If they wanted to walk back from there, it would take about half an hour even if they walked fast.
Thinking of this, for some reason, he suddenly felt that it was wrong to leave Xiao Yuanmu alone.
…
The location of the pool party was in a villa area in the western suburbs. Because this group of villas had just been put on sale not long ago, there were not many residents at this time. The night was dark and the road was silent. Apart from the street lamps and the ornamental lights in the garden, there were few houses with lights on on both sides.
Therefore, in the silence, the modern two-story building in front of him with bright lights and deafening rock music was particularly eye-catching, and made Xiao Yuanmu, who usually liked quietness, frown.
Song Xuanhe had just opened the car door when groups of people came over from the lawn. There were both men and women. One of them, a man in a white bathrobe, walked up to him, smiled and put his arm around him, saying, "I asked you out several times before but you didn't show up. This time you showed up when Lin Zi called you. This is unfair treatment!"
"I just love differential treatment." Song Xuanhe smiled and pulled the man's hand away, holding Xiao Yuanmu beside him, and introduced them to each other: "Let me introduce you, Xiao Yuanmu. This is Zhou Nan, my friend."
Zhou Nan's eyes swept across Xiao Yuanmu, then quickly moved away, and said with a click of the tongue: "Sure, this is the one you've been chasing after for a while? It turns out it's not discrimination, it's about valuing women over friendship."
Zhou Nan's voice was smiling as he spoke, but his teasing did not conceal his indifference to Xiao Yuanmu. He didn't even look at him more than once while speaking, let alone say hello to him. It couldn't be said that he looked down on him, but he definitely had no respect for him.
Most people would be annoyed when faced with such an attitude of near disregard, but Xiao Yuanmu's expression did not change at all, remaining calm and indifferent from beginning to end.
Seeing this, Zhou Nan chuckled and said, "This one looks better than the ones you had before."
Song Xuanhe shrugged and walked inside with Zhou Nan.
Walking into the living room, Zhou Nan saw a group of people sitting inside and talking. He winked at Song Xuanhe, with an ambiguous expression and eyes, which made Song Xuanhe very puzzled.
His eyes swept over the people sitting in the living room, and then reviewed them in his memory. The original owner knew all of them, but they didn't have any special relationship. He didn't understand why Zhou Nan winked at him.
"Mr. Song."
The people sitting inside also saw them, and someone stood up and said, "Xuanhe, I haven't seen you for a long time."
Zhou Nan echoed, "Since he joined their company, he has never appeared in public. People who know him think he went to work, but people who don't think he went undercover. He can't even be found."
The person who spoke smiled, his handsome features showing gentleness: "I thought you wouldn't come today, I was planning to have dinner with you in a few days."
Song Xuanhe smiled and said, "I just joined the company, and there are a lot of things to do."
The man nodded in understanding, and when he saw the person behind him, he paused with a puzzled expression: "Who is this?"
Song Xuanhe glanced at Xiao Yuanmu and introduced him again: "Xiao Yuanmu."
He only said the name, not the identity or the relationship, which made several people look at each other in confusion. They couldn't figure out the relationship between Xiao Yuanmu and Song Xuanhe. Only one person knocked his head, frowned and thought for a long time before he suddenly realized: "This is the one you were chasing some time ago, what a speed, he got the knife so quickly!"
After that person finished speaking, everyone's eyes were on Xiao Yuanmu. Only the person who started asking the question looked at Xiao Yuanmu apologetically, then stepped forward and stretched out his hand, saying, "Xiao Shenglin, nice to meet you."
Xiao Yuanmu glanced at his eyes that were filled with a kind smile and extended his hand: "Xiao Yuanmu."
Xiao Shenglin's smile was very pure, and there was a sense of comfort that made people want to get close to him. He asked, "Which Xiao are you? The Xiao with the grass radical?"
Xiao Yuanmu nodded slightly, "Yes."
"Then we are destined to be together. I am also like this Xiao."
Xiao Shenglin easily resolved Xiao Yuanmu's embarrassment. While speaking, he also secretly glanced at Song Xuanhe, obviously expressing his disapproval of his informal introduction.
Song Xuan and Wanyan smiled, and there was more genuine smile in their eyes.
In fact, before coming here, he had already analyzed the people who might appear here today based on the original owner's memory and the plot in the book, so he had an impression of everyone here, and even two of the people sitting on the sofa were the friends who stabbed the original owner in the back.
It should be said that most of the people at this party will be the ones who will harm Song Xuan and take advantage of his misfortune in the future.
The only two exceptions were Zhou Nan and Xiao Shenglin. They both treated the original owner sincerely, but compared to those followers who were very good at flattering, the original owner's relationship with these two people was not that good.
Zhou Nan can be considered a good friend who grew up together and often contacts and meets up, while Xiao Shenglin, who went abroad after graduating from junior high school, can only be said to be an ordinary friend who occasionally contacts.
Xiao Yuanmu's eyes swept over Song Xuan and looked at Xiao Shenglin's expression, which seemed to be no different from others. He suddenly said, "I'm a little thirsty."
Xiao Shenglin: "We have juice and drinks here. They are right over there at the bar. There are also some outside by the swimming pool. Do you need me to take you there?"
Xiao Yuanmu did not answer, but just looked at Song Xuanhe quietly.
Song Xuanhe smiled at Xiao Shenglin and said, "I'll take him there."
"Gold Fizz." After sitting down at the bar and telling him what he wanted to drink, Song Xuanhe turned to look at Xiao Yuanmu: "What do you want to drink?"
"Same."
Song Xuanhe raised his eyebrows and looked at the bartender, who nodded.
In just a moment, two glasses of cocktails garnished with lemon slices were placed in front of the two.
Xiao Yuanmu picked it up and took a sip, then put it back on the table. Song Xuanhe supported his chin with one hand and held the cup with the other, looking meaningfully at the people playing ambiguously in the swimming pool outside the floor-to-ceiling window opposite.
No one wanted to drink, so the bartender went to the swimming pool. Maybe it was because of the wine, or maybe it was because of the noisy sounds from the swimming pool. Although no one spoke, the atmosphere was not awkward, but a relaxed and leisurely one.
Zhou Nan on the other side retracted his gaze, crossed his legs and said to Xiao Shenglin: "Do you think Song Er and his boyfriend are a little strange? There is no atmosphere of love between the two of them. If I didn't know that the one Song Er pursued before was him, I wouldn't have realized that they were a couple."
Hearing this, Xiao Shenglin glanced at the direction of Song Xuan and the other two, and smiled helplessly: "What kind of atmosphere is needed between lovers? I think they are pretty good."
Zhou Nan sighed, "What can you, a straight man who has been single all his life, see? Song Er and his lovers used to hug each other's waists and kiss each other wherever they went. But this couple has to sit half a meter apart. Have you ever seen a couple like this?"
Xiao Shenglin frowned when he heard this, and his smile faded slightly: "This shows that he knows how to respect others and has decided to be serious about love. What's wrong with that?"
Zhou Nan rolled his eyes, stopped talking nonsense, and stood up and said, "I'm going to find Song Er to go to the pond. You can sit here by yourself."
Xiao Shenglin looked at Zhou Nan's back as he walked quickly towards that direction and swallowed the words that were about to come out of his mouth.
Zhou Nan walked behind Song Xuanhe, put his elbow on his shoulder, stretched his head and asked, "Let's go swimming?"
Song Xuan didn't even move his eyes away, and said lazily: "I don't want to go."
"It's so boring sitting here. If you don't want to go swimming, go upstairs. There's someone I want you to meet."
Knowing that this was an irresistible force of the plot, Song Xuanhe could only look up and ask, "Who is it?"
"You'll know when you see it." Zhou Nan glanced at Xiao Yuanmu and said, "Let's go."
Song Xuanhe looked at Xiao Yuanmu and was about to say something when Zhou Nan said, "Are you afraid that they will eat him? This is my territory, so don't worry, go up."
After that, he smiled at Xiao Yuanmu and said, “We have something to do up there, so have fun.”
Xiao Yuanmu looked at him steadily for two seconds before nodding slightly.
Song Xuanhe was dragged up to the second floor by Zhou Nan, and heard him say, "You and the guy downstairs, are you serious?"
"What do you mean by not taking it seriously?"
"Tsk, why are you pretending?" Zhou Nan glanced at him and said, "I've never seen you take any boyfriend so seriously before. Although I always feel that something is wrong, I can't put my finger on it. You are not really planning to have a serious relationship like you said to Lin Zi, right?"
"Xiao Shenglin?"
"Who else?" Zhou Nan walked to a door, put his hand on the door handle and said, "I think you and the guy downstairs are not suitable. You can have a relationship, but don't really fall into it. If nothing else, your family will be a big trouble."
Seeing the seriousness in Zhou Nan's eyes, Song Xuanhe couldn't help but sigh. How badly did the original owner fail to judge people? He treated a bunch of ruthless people as his close friends, but ignored the friends who really cared about him.
Song Xuanhe has a shortcoming, that is, when others are truly doing good for him, it is difficult for him to say harsh words. He will soften unconsciously after a few words. Therefore, he is quite easy to talk to people he truly identifies with and likes. Even if that person gives him expectations that exceed his ability, he will grit his teeth and hold on, for fear of disappointing others.
Perhaps it was because he experienced too much malice after his parents passed away, so he always wanted to give something back, even if it was just a little bit of kindness, even if it was just the concern of a stranger.
So when he saw Zhou Nan's serious worry, even though he knew he was not the original owner, he couldn't help but respond seriously: "I know, you don't have to worry."
Zhou Nan touched his nose when he was looked at and sneered: "Who cares about you? Go in."
This was a study room, where a young man wearing black-framed glasses was already sitting. When he saw them open the door, he stood up as well.
"Mr. Zhou, is this the Mr. Song you mentioned?"
Song Xuanhe followed Zhou Nan and sat down opposite the man with black-framed glasses. He raised his eyebrows when he heard his words.
Zhou Nan introduced: "Yes, this is the friend I told you about, Song Xuanhe."
"Hello, Mr. Song, my name is Zhao Si, Si means temple. Nice to meet you."
Song Xuanhe stood up, shook his outstretched hand, and said with a smirk, "Hello, your name is quite interesting."
Zhao Si smiled shyly and said, "Many people say so."
After they sat down, Zhou Nan got down to business: "I asked you to come here today because I want to work with you on a project. The information is on the table, you can take a look."
Song Xuanhe had expected this when he entered the room, so he didn't look surprised when he picked up the document. He flipped through it and found that it was a project brief for the production and design of intelligent robots. The content was detailed, and everything from budget to goals was very clear, and the prospects were also very good.
However, in the original plot, it only wrote that Song Xuan was called away, but it did not specify where he went. He should have been pulled up by Zhou Nan to discuss investment, but this matter was not mentioned later in the book, so the original owner should have refused, and he did not want to cause trouble.
Song Xuanhe paused while flipping through the documents, and moved his gaze to the slightly nervous Zhao Si across from him. Just as he was about to speak, he caught a glimpse of a very difficult place name out of the corner of his eye: "The address your company has chosen is... Ji'ao City? Where is that?"
This world is not much different from his original world in terms of technology or history. Even the plates of each country are not much different. So even though the name of the city is different, he can still guess where it is.
However, when Song Xuanhe saw this Ji'ao City, he really had no idea where it was.
Zhao Si, who was standing opposite, smiled and said, "That place is near the border of Yun City, which is very remote. Although it is a city, it is actually no different from a small town. Moreover, our company is located in a mountain village in the town, which makes it even more inconvenient to go in and out. However, we chose to locate our company there because there is a very rare mineral there, which happens to be what the robots we manufacture need. If the factory and the company are together, it will be more convenient for us to improve and supervise the production process at any time in the future. Moreover, we can concentrate on research and development by staying there."
Song Xuanhe nodded thoughtfully. In fact, he only heard four words - very remote.
This was simply like sending a pillow when he was sleepy. He just wanted to find a place like this that was deserted but still habitable, with people to take care of him but hard to find, as his place to stay when he escapes in the future.
"Is that place particularly remote?"
Zhao Si nodded nervously. He thought Song Xuan was not satisfied with the company's remote location. In fact, he had attracted several investors before, and most of the investors gave up because of the location. However, he had his own reasons for choosing that place and was not willing to change it.
However, he was unwilling to miss any opportunity to attract investment.
Therefore, Zhao Si said anxiously: "Although the address is very remote, I can guarantee that it will not affect the development of our company. Whether it is recruitment or cooperation, we have a fixed team and it is not..."
"I agree." Song Xuanhe interrupted him and said with a smile: "But I have one condition."
Zhao Si hadn't recovered from the surprise of Song Xuanhe's sudden agreement. He became nervous again when he heard that he had conditions. "You said."
"I hope my investment will be kept completely confidential. No one else will know about this except the three of us present. Even to the rest of your team, I hope you can keep the statement that there is only one investor, and that investor is Zhou Nan."
Zhao Si was stunned for a moment and subconsciously looked at Zhou Nan.
Zhou Nan frowned and asked, "Why do you have to do this?"
"I have my own considerations." Although they had only been together for less than an hour, Song Xuanhe decided to trust his own feelings through the original owner's memories and the description in the book. He said to Zhou Nan: "This matter is very important to me, not only now, but also in the future. Don't tell anyone that I participated in this investment."
Seeing his serious expression, Zhou Nan thought for a while and nodded, saying, "I understand. No fourth person will know about this."
Song Xuanhe finally started to laugh, stood up, extended his hand, and said, "Happy cooperation."
As soon as I stepped out of the study, the system's voice rang in my mind: [The plot begins. 】
[Didn’t it start from the moment we came in?] Big brother. 】
Having just decided on the location for his escape in the future, Song Xuanhe felt relieved and in a very good mood. He had a smile on his face when communicating with the system in his mind.
[That’s not what I’m talking about.] 】Ergou's voice sounded a little anxious, [The boss fell into the water, he really can't swim! 】
Song Xuanhe paused, a little confused: [Isn’t this also a plot? 】
[The problem is that the person who was supposed to save him didn't show up in the plot! In a little while, he would really drown! Once the protagonist dies, your mission fails! 】
Zhou Nan pushed the door open and saw Song Xuanhe standing at the stairs. Just as he was about to call him, he saw him run into the next room.
Zhou Nan was stunned, and just at this moment he heard the noise downstairs. He quickly walked to the window on the stairs, and looked down to see the somewhat panicked crowd by the swimming pool, and Song Xuanhe who was preparing to jump into the water at the window next to him.
"Fuck! Song Er, come down!"
Song Xuanhe was also a little nervous. He was not very good at swimming, let alone diving. However, if he jumped out of the system analysis window, he would fall into the swimming pool, and it was very close to the place where Xiao Yuanmu choked on water. Now there was no time, and if Xiao Yuanmu died, he would also die. Even if he was nervous, he had to jump.
Plop——
There were big splashes of water in the swimming pool, and Song Xuanhe quickly floated up, frowning at the screams on the shore. He hadn't swum for too long, and his posture was not very skillful. He struggled a few times before finding the feeling, and then swam quickly in the direction of Xiao Yuanmu.
Xiao Yuanmu felt water choking his nasal cavity, and then choking his lungs. The strength in his body was gradually drained away. Thinking of the force of the man who had just pushed him down and caused pain in his ribs, he felt more strength in his body. He gritted his teeth and tried to float up. However, no matter how he moved, water from all directions still poured into his mouth and nose.
The muscles in his calves twitched violently, and the heat from his body seemed to be drained away along with his strength. Even his eyes felt a little bloodshot. The shrill screams and voices in his ears gradually disappeared, and Xiao Yuanmu slowly closed his eyes.
Actually, there is nothing wrong with dying.
In a life like this, how much difference can it make if it ends earlier or later?
The dean's kind smile flashed through his mind, and his expression slowly calmed down. In this world, the only person who made him feel warm and the only person who could make him care about her was the dean. He hoped that in the next life, he could be filial to her.
"Xiao Yuanmu!"
In a trance, a familiar voice seemed to sound vaguely. Xiao Yuanmu opened his eyes a little and then widened them little by little, his expression could be described as surprised.
The light from the top of the swimming pool shone into the water. The man who was swimming towards him with all his might was right in the circle of light. The azure water floated around the circle of light. The light of the water was dim and scattered on his sliding hands and anxious face, forming the most beautiful picture Xiao Yuanmu had ever seen in his life.
The author has something to say: Xiao Yuanmu: The person I love is a mermaid. One day he will come to save me, spitting bubbles and surrounded by a white halo.
Song Xuanhe: Is the aperture you are talking about the kind that appears on a dead person’s head?
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