Mu Bai didn’t know how big a stir his message had caused. After sending it, he kept waiting for Gu Yan to reply, but Gu Yan, whether because he hadn’t seen it or didn’t care, didn’t respond at all.

Even when Mu Bai walked into the office, Gu Yan still didn’t reply, which made Mu Bai’s mood, which had just started to improve, drop again.

When Mu Bai angrily looked up, he saw his colleagues gathered together, whispering about something. The atmosphere seemed unusually lively.

Curious, he moved closer and overheard them gossiping about the company’s big and little Pei executives.

“……Have you seen their social media posts? It seems Big Pei and Little Pei recently started a romantic connection,” one colleague said excitedly, eyes glinting with gossip.

“Really? Isn’t Big Pei always single? And Little Pei too? He hardly talks to anyone. How could something suddenly happen?” another colleague asked in confusion.

“It’s true! I saw Big Pei post a photo of a lunchbox on social media at noon today, captioned ‘Heartfelt lunch, tastes great.’ Don’t you think this shows something is happening?” the first colleague continued, full of excitement.

“Yes, yes! Little Pei also posted. He hardly ever posts, but today he even shared a video of a lunchbox,” another colleague added, eyes sparkling with gossip.

Hearing this, Mu Bai felt a stir in his heart. He remembered seeing Ye Wangxing in the cafeteria earlier and felt that these two events might be connected.

“Have you ever seen Big Pei and Little Pei in person?” a new colleague asked, curious.

“Of course!” an experienced employee immediately replied. “Big Pei is our company’s CEO. Though he acts like a tyrant at work, he is really handsome! Whenever he attends a party, all the men and women surround him the entire evening.”

“Yes, yes, Big Pei’s golden eyes are especially charming. He looks sunny and handsome, but he’s ruthless at work,” another colleague agreed.

“What about Little Pei?” the new colleague continued.

“Little Pei…” the experienced employee thought for a moment. “Little Pei looks a bit like Big Pei, both have black hair, but Little Pei’s hair is straighter and longer. He hardly talks and just codes all day. He feels like a robot.”

“But today was different,” a colleague whispered. “I saw Little Pei holding a lunchbox, and that normally expressionless face was smiling. I even wondered if I saw it wrong.”

“Yes, yes, I saw it too!” another colleague interrupted excitedly. “I even saw a boy delivering the lunch to Little Pei.”

“It’s a pity. I only glimpsed briefly. I don’t know who it was.”

The colleague said regretfully.

Hearing this, Mu Bai’s heart skipped a beat. He recalled the Ye Wangxing he had just seen and suspected that the young man delivering the lunch might be him.

But when had Ye Wangxing met Little Pei? They were close in age, so maybe they were friends.

As Mu Bai pondered this, the new colleague asked again: “Who was that young man? Do you know him?”

“No, but he looked young, didn’t wear a company badge, yet had access permissions. He should be someone the bosses know,” the experienced employee replied, shaking his head.

“But you have to admit, even from afar, you could see he had a good figure,” the other colleague said, clicking his tongue.

“Also, he was skillful—didn’t expect a drama plot to happen in real life. I really want to know who those two are. The tension was terrifying.”

The colleagues laughed and chatted, while Mu Bai stood aside, feeling complicated.

Listening to other people’s perfect romance, he thought of his cold war with Gu Yan and felt Gu Yan was too much—he was clearly his boyfriend!

Why did even people in a mere flirtation period get better treatment?

Wasn’t he better looking and considerate than Ye Wangxing? Didn’t it bring face to go out with him? Why did Ye Wangxing get treated so well that even sending a lunchbox got posted online, while Gu Yan couldn’t even remember that he didn’t like cilantro?

Tears welled up in Mu Bai’s eyes, about to fall.

“Mu Bai, why aren’t you saying anything?” A new colleague, unaware of Mu Bai’s situation, noticed him standing silently and thought something had happened. They asked hurriedly.

“Ah, I… I was just thinking,” Mu Bai replied, coming back to himself and forcing a small smile.

The new colleague wanted to ask further but was pulled back by a nearby colleague. Though a bit confused, the new colleague wasn’t completely naive and stopped, realizing that Mu Bai probably had some issue.

Mu Bai didn’t notice the new colleague’s reaction. Seeing them trying to show concern, he almost wanted to vent. At that moment, a senior colleague, who had brought the new one, suddenly stepped forward.

“Ah, right, I forgot to mention something earlier. I think I heard Big Pei speaking with the person who delivered his lunch.”

Everyone’s attention immediately focused on him. The office went silent.

Even Mu Bai, about to let his tears fall, held them back and turned to look at the colleague.

“You saw him? When? Where?” other colleagues asked, ignoring Mu Bai now. Even the new colleague forgot about Mu Bai’s odd behavior, eyes shining with curiosity as they eagerly questioned their senior.

The senior breathed out and rubbed his chin as he recalled.

“Actually, it was just today at noon. I overheard some conversation near Big Pei’s office. Big Pei was talking alone, but I didn’t catch exactly who it was, only that it was a man,” the senior colleague said.

The others pondered, while Mu Bai suddenly had a thought—could the person delivering lunch to Big Pei also be Ye Wangxing?

But then Mu Bai felt the idea was absurd.

What kind of people were Big and Little Pei? They were the rising elites of City A, with countless companies under them. How could they possibly be interested in the same person?

And Ye Wangxing was just an ordinary college student, not even shining with Gu Yan’s aura.

Mu Bai laughed and dismissed the thought from his mind. At that moment, another colleague couldn’t hold back and asked eagerly,

“What did they say?”

“The voice of Big Pei sounded very gentle, like casual chatting. Anyway, it was much more gentle than he is with us. Someone who didn’t know might have thought he was talking to a little kid—though the questions were particularly detailed,” the senior colleague frowned and continued.

“He asked the young man what he did yesterday, where he went, who he met, and even what he ate. Although the tone sounded relaxed, that sense of control… you know, it was like he wanted to know every move the other person made.”

“Wow, Big Pei is already strict at work, I didn’t expect him to be so… meticulous in private,” a colleague exclaimed, a note of surprise in their voice.

Another colleague whispered: “Are you sure that’s meticulous and not creepy?”

All the colleagues looked at him—actually, they all agreed.

But no one had ever spoken out like this colleague did.

“How did that person respond?” Mu Bai couldn’t help asking. He still cared about that person.

“The young man was very at ease, not caught off guard at all, not even angry,” the senior colleague recalled, counting the young man’s words on his fingers.

“He casually said he went to the library yesterday, visited a newly opened café, and even mentioned where he bought the ingredients for the lunchbox he brought to Big Pei.”

The senior colleague spoke, still recalling the gentle tone of the young man’s voice.

“That figure gave off a bright, sunny feeling. Even when asked like this, he didn’t panic. He answered everything Big Pei asked.”

“In the end, he even promised to go to that café with Big Pei next time. It sounded like he naturally accepted this kind of ‘interrogation,’ and Big Pei really liked it.”

As the senior colleague spoke, his expression gradually turned admiring.

No wonder he could deliver a lunchbox to Pei—he even handled this kind of questioning so easily.

“Tsk tsk tsk, this young man is really not simple. Look at his skills, his patience,” another colleague marveled. “If it were me, I would have flipped the table. I’m not a criminal, how can I be interrogated like this?”

Other colleagues nodded in agreement, lamenting that they didn’t have this kind of luck.

A shocked new colleague said: “How can Big Pei do that? In this, he’s no match for Little Pei.”

Other colleagues: —?!

“How do you know?” a colleague hurriedly asked, gossiping eyes wide.

“I just went to Little Pei’s office to get his signature and unexpectedly ran into a young man with him.”

“What? What did you see?” The office became lively again.

The new colleague, seeing the attention, got nervous and quickly explained what he had seen.

“I saw that young man with Little Pei in the office. The young man leaned against Little Pei, holding his phone playing games, while Little Pei finished his meal and rested beside him.”

“You know what Little Pei is usually like, right? Cold, hardly speaking a word. But today, he let that young man lean on him, and his gaze was so gentle—it was like a completely different person. I was stunned.”

The new colleague said incredulously, and the others weren’t much better.

“My god, could Little Pei have been possessed by someone, or did he suddenly get hit by love-brain?” a colleague exclaimed, disbelief in their tone.

“Probably love-brain. People in love have no rationality at all,” the senior colleague said, twitching his mouth.

All the colleagues collectively turned to look at Mu Bai and nodded in unison.

Mu Bai: “…” Why are you looking at me?

Before he could speak, the new colleague quickly nodded: “And that young man looked very natural, like they were already used to this kind of intimacy.”

“Tsk tsk tsk, I have a feeling the office will be lively from now on. Maybe we’re going to have more boss ladies.”

The colleagues returned to their workstations and began the afternoon’s tasks.

Mu Bai followed the crowd back to his desk, but in reality, he had suffered the greatest emotional blow today.

His fingers tapped the keyboard unconsciously, but his mind had already wandered far away.

In the office, colleagues continued to discuss CEO Pei’s and young CEO Pei’s affairs, laughter and exclamations occasionally filling the room. Yet, these sounds sounded especially grating to Mu Bai.

In his mind, he kept replaying what he had heard earlier—the older CEO Pei’s meticulous care, the younger CEO Pei’s gentle gestures toward the young man, and even the colleagues’ envy at how specially that young man was treated.

Meanwhile, Gu Yan had given him the cold shoulder over a cilantro bun. Even when Mu Bai needed care, Gu Yan had actively tried to reconcile, without a single comforting word!

A pang of bitterness rose in Mu Bai’s chest, and his eyes reddened. He lowered his head, trying not to cry, but the feeling of grievance surged like a tide that he couldn’t suppress.

Finally, Mu Bai couldn’t hold back. He hurriedly stood up, grabbed his phone, and walked quickly to the restroom.

He didn’t notice that the colleagues behind him all let out a sigh of relief after he left.

Once inside the restroom, Mu Bai closed the stall door and finally allowed tears to fall. Leaning against the wall, he trembled as he opened his phone and navigated to Gu Yan’s chat. The last message was the one he sent at noon—Gu Yan hadn’t replied.

“Gu Yan, why can you treat me like this?” Mu Mu Baittered, his grievance and anger finally exploding. He immediately dialed Gu Yan’s number.

After a few rings, Gu Yan picked up, his tone carrying a hint of impatience: “Hello, Mu Bai? What is it? I’m about to attend a lecture, my phone is on silent.”

“Lecture? What else do you do besides attending lectures?” Mu Bai’s voice trembled with tears, yet sounded sharp. “Do you think I’m not important at all? You don’t even have time to reply?”

Gu Yan was taken aback, clearly not expecting Mu Bai to suddenly explode: “Mu Bai, what’s wrong? I already said I’m busy. Do you have to be this angry?”

“Busy? You’re always busy!” Mu Bai’s voice grew louder, tears streaming down. “Do you know how miserable I felt today? Everyone else was taken care of, and you? You didn’t even say a word of concern! Do you think I’m not worth your time?”

Gu Yan was stunned by Mu Bai’s words. His tone grew increasingly impatient: “Mu Bai, can you stop making a scene? I’m not giving you the silent treatment. I’m just busy. Can you not be so sensitive?”

“Sensitive? Gu Yan, you don’t understand my feelings at all!” Mu Bai nearly shouted. “You’re always like this, never considering my feelings! I’ve had enough!”

After speaking, Mu Bai hung up directly and, trembling, blocked Gu Yan’s number. He leaned against the wall, tears streaming, feeling as if a heavy stone crushed his chest, leaving him breathless.

Meanwhile, Gu Yan looked at the disconnected call, feeling a wave of annoyance. He didn’t notice that his roommates had all stopped what they were doing when he answered the call, and when his call ended and he checked Mu Bai’s social media, they stepped back in unison.

—More orderly than military training in freshman year.

Li Qing initially wanted to ask Ye Wangxing about his fiancé and betrothal partner, but seeing Gu Yan’s situation, he immediately dropped the idea.

It was better to keep some distance from Gu Yan, one never knew when the young master would go crazy again—and then buy 9,999 roses, asking the few workers to help make flower arches.

Even though the young master’s payment was generous enough to cover three months’ living expenses, no old-time laborer would need to deal with their employer’s romantic problems!

Once bitten, twice shy!

Li Qing thought this and quickly moved everyone behind him.

Meanwhile, the second brother twitched his mouth and said: “Wait, what happened with Mu Bai again? And Gu Yan? Didn’t they just reconcile yesterday?”

Li Qing helplessly explained the cilantro bun incident and Mu Bai’s anger again.

The second brother rolled his eyes: “I knew it. Day after day, it’s all the same stuff. No originality at all.”

Li Qing sneaked a glance at the handsome young man nodding along, sighing deeply.

‘Actually, something original happened in the dorm today—just afraid you can’t handle it, second brother.’

Gu Yan didn’t know what his roommates were thinking. He frowned and muttered: “Here we go again, always acting like this.”

Yet his fingers unconsciously opened another WeChat account—a small account he used to secretly check Mu Bai’s posts. He skillfully switched accounts and opened Mu Bai’s social feed.

The latest post was a photo of Mu Bai’s hand, long and fair, against sunlight streaming through the window, warm and soft. But the caption made Gu Yan’s heart tighten: “Today’s sunlight is so warm, but your cold heart makes me feel so cold.”

At this moment, seeing Gu Yan frozen, the three roommates, assuming the alert was over, peeked—and immediately saw the photo.

“……”

While Li Qing and the second brother were stunned, Ye Wangxing twitched the corner of his mouth.

‘Two years from now, when he sees this post, he’s definitely going to feel mortified…’

Gu Yan, unaware whether Mu Bai would feel humiliated, suppressed his emotions and sat at his desk, waiting for the lecture to begin.

Still feeling uneasy, he decided to distract himself during the lecture break.

He swiped his phone for a while, hesitated, and finally messaged his mom: “Mom, I want to ask, what exactly happened between uncle and cousin back then? What were the traumas in their hearts?”

He had been curious about this for a long time. After Ye Wangxing left, he processed what had happened with Ye Wangxing and the family secrets about his uncle and cousin. Their parents were gone, and only his family could have hidden things from them.

Gu Yan frowned, still puzzled why his mother had kept this from his uncle and cousin.

Finally, his mother sent a news article, and Gu Yan realized the truth.

Back then, his eldest uncle—his cousin’s biological father—and eldest aunt were deeply in love, appearing to be a devoted couple. But his aunt died of illness, and soon after, his uncle passed away as well.

At that time, his younger uncle and cousin were still minors, immature, facing the sudden loss of their family with fear and helplessness. Their once-happy family collapsed instantly. Without care, their future seemed bleak.

“…At this critical moment, family relatives and company veterans stepped in, taking over the management of the group. They worked tirelessly day and night in a complex and changing market environment, maintaining operations to give the Pei brothers hope for a new beginning.”

“…After returning from studying abroad, Pei Yi didn’t rely on his family name to enter the company’s upper management. He chose to start from the ground up, humbly learning from colleagues, deeply understanding each business segment, and demonstrating exceptional leadership and innovative thinking through practice. By participating in multiple major projects, he used precise market insight and decisive action to drive breakthroughs, bringing significant economic benefits and earning recognition and respect.”

Gu Yan felt deeply moved, completely absorbed, unaware that his mom was typing another message.

He immediately typed back: “—Uncle and cousin really went through so much. I thought they were just pretending. Now I understand why… I don’t even want my New Year red envelope this year, sob sob sob.”

His mother, who intended to tell her naive son not to bother his uncle, thought, …fine, foolish people have their luck.

She quickly adjusted and sent:“At that time, family and friends helped, allowing them to barely find a mental support to survive. Otherwise, with their mental state, who knows what could have happened.”

“Later, your uncle took your cousin abroad to study, and life gradually improved. But the experience left a deep impact, especially on your cousin, who lost his parents young and became somewhat introverted.”

Gu Yan’s mother spoke sincerely, tinged with sadness—though back then the kids just played together for a while and eventually recovered.

Now these two were stickier than little monkeys.

But her foolish son didn’t need to know this.

Gu Yan, now heavier in heart, spoke seriously: “Mom, I understand. Uncle and cousin really had it tough. I’ll go along with them more in the future—I’ll personally take care of them for life.”

His mother replied: “…Not necessary to that extent.”

But she quickly added: “It’s good that you think this way. Your uncle and cousin had a hard life. Be more understanding when you can.”

Gu Yan made a gesture of agreement and put down his phone. Mu Bai’s situation was now completely off his mind, his mind focused entirely on his uncle and cousin’s difficult yet resilient lives.

They suffered so much, and all they did was love the same person?

—He also helped keep the secret!

Thinking this, when the lecture ended, Gu Yan grabbed the handsome young man’s arm and said seriously: “You need to treat my uncle and cousin well—you three living well is more important than anything else.”

He said this to the handsome young man abruptly.

The young man, caught off guard, said: “…Huh?” The other two roommates: “—Huh?”

Before anyone could react, a slightly imposing voice rang out: “Excuse me, student—”

Everyone turned to see the senior who had just spoken on the podium standing beside them, smiling: “Who do you expect my benefactor to live with?”

 

 

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