Zhao Muqing’s brain momentarily failed to process this. After pondering for a long while to no avail, he turned his face and asked Shen Guanzhi with an awkward smile, “What are you referring to?”
“The matter of you climbing into a designer’s bed.” Shen Guanzhi’s tone was cold, as if he minded the matter very much and felt that saying a few more words would dirty his mouth.
Only then did Zhao Muqing remember that he was not only an obscure model but also a notorious one. When he had just transmigrated and signed the contract, Shen Guanzhi claimed to have heard the rumor of him being kicked out of bed.
As for the truth or falsehood of the rumors, Zhao Muqing naturally had no way to verify them at the moment, so his only option was to bluff his way through it. “If the designer you are talking about refers to yourself, then it should be considered true.”
Shen Guanzhi gripped his hand a fraction tighter than before. “You know I am not asking about this.”
“Since you care so much, you surely have your own ways to find out, right?” Zhao Muqing feigned calmness and wiggled his captured wrist, attempting to break free from Shen Guanzhi’s grasp. If he continued to be pressed with questions, he would soon run out of lines to bluff with.
Shen Guanzhi was clearly dissatisfied with his reaction and abruptly let go. Zhao Muqing then realized that faint red marks had been left on his hand from the grip. “Go to sleep.”
Zhao Muqing hurriedly lay down obediently on one side of the bed, lifting the blanket to wrap himself inside.
The flight back to Dongyuan City was booked for the afternoon, so Zhao Muqing simply slept until he naturally woke up. Even with the curtains drawn, he could still feel the sunlight seeping in from outside the window, likely sneaking in through the edges and corners.
Shen Guanzhi sat at the desk, drawing something on his tablet. Zhao Muqing did not even need to guess to know it was a design draft.
Zhao Muqing was not in a hurry to change out of his short sleeves and shorts, but instead sat directly beside Shen Guanzhi’s desk. A bookshelf sat on the top left corner of the desk. Zhao Muqing lowered his gaze to look closely and found that they were all professional books related to gemology and jewelry design, mixed with a few high school supplementary textbooks.
Knowing that Shen Guanzhi was keeping an eye on him, Zhao Muqing placed his finger on a college entrance examination workbook. Only after confirming that the other man had no intention of stopping him did he take it down to examine.
The workbook was a thick stack. It appeared that Shen Guanzhi had studied the science track, as it contained past college entrance exam questions for all six subjects. It even came with different colored bookmarks to distinguish the subjects, and at a glance, the price was certainly not cheap.
Flipping through casually, the questions Shen Guanzhi got wrong were extremely few, and there were barely any notes. Only a few finale questions had some red ink. Zhao Muqing was certain that Shen Guanzhi must have been a very pretentious academic god in high school, considering the man still looked quite arrogant now.
According to Zhao Muqing’s understanding of art majors, studying jewelry design required participating in the joint art examination. In other words, Shen Guanzhi had probably decided to pursue this industry while he was still in high school.
“Shen Guanzhi,” Zhao Muqing moved his chair and scooted closer to the other man. “What made you decide to study this?”
“My mother loved jewelry very much.” Shen Guanzhi’s pen tip paused. “She believed that every accessory held a different meaning.”
“Right, did you not say your grandfather left her a gemstone? Was it very important to her?” Zhao Muqing inexplicably recalled what Shen Guanzhi had said yesterday about his mother gifting a gemstone to her husband. “I mean.”
“It used to be very important. When my grandfather was still alive, he told me that my mother hoped to one day stand on stage wearing this gemstone.” Shen Guanzhi finished his final stroke before finally lifting his gaze to rest on Zhao Muqing’s face.
“Saying this all of a sudden,” Zhao Muqing stroked his chin, a hypothesis naturally surfacing in his mind, “you would not happen to be drawing a design for your mother, would you?”
“Do you want to see it?” Shen Guanzhi withdrew his hand, leaving only the tablet on the desk.
“I do.” Zhao Muqing immediately stretched his neck until his line of sight could fall properly onto the design draft. Above the gemstone was a wing-like design, reminding him of a light, graceful bird perched on a stage, undoubtedly serving as the visual focal point.
“I hope she becomes a free bird on stage in her next life,” Shen Guanzhi suddenly spoke.
“She definitely will.” Zhao Muqing really liked the design and the meaning behind it, unable to resist looking at it a while longer. “Are you going to bring it to her grave?”
Shen Guanzhi paused. “I am afraid it is not convenient. It is not a gemstone that can easily see the light of day right now.”
Zhao Muqing originally wanted to press further, but suddenly a few connection points in his brain clicked together. He recalled that when Zhou Ling was confronting Shen Guanzhi on the rooftop, he had mentioned a name: Dryad. Judging from the conversation, Dryad was clearly a gemstone, and an extremely valuable one at that; otherwise, there would have been no need for Zhou Ling to fixate on it.
In his memory, Shen Guanzhi had personally admitted that Dryad was not a smuggled good, but something belonging to his mother.
“Why this sudden expression?” Shen Guanzhi evidently noticed the change in Zhao Muqing. After putting the tablet away, he asked with feigned casualness, “Figured it out?”
“I suppose so.”
“Do not leak anything regarding the gemstone,” Shen Guanzhi put on the suit jacket draped over the back of the chair. “Otherwise, you will be in trouble.”
“I know. I do not enjoy courting death anyway.” Zhao Muqing made a zipping motion over his mouth.
After Zhao Muqing returned to Dongyuan City, he went non-stop to Li Shuqiao’s office.
He had left his set of complimentary perfumes in the car. Having no other choice, Li Shuqiao had temporarily kept them for him, but as a result, he had not remembered to retrieve them even up until leaving Taoyu City.
Li Shuqiao complained about him for a bit, and Zhao Muqing was completely submissive, only daring to nod and say yes.
Having no other business, Zhao Muqing turned to leave the office, only to bump into Shen Guanzhi outside in the hallway.
It was clear the man was not here to look for him. Zhao Muqing offered a greeting and hurriedly disappeared around the corner of the hallway.
Shen Guanzhi swept a glance over Zhao Muqing’s back before stepping into Li Shuqiao’s office.
“How is he?” Shen Guanzhi cut straight to the chase the moment he entered.
“He has been doing quite well lately. The instructors all have good evaluations of him,” Li Shuqiao casually fiddled with the rose flower placed on her desk. “After some time, we can slowly arrange some events to help turn his public reputation around.”
Shen Guanzhi did not say much, tacitly agreeing with Li Shuqiao’s idea. “The rose, who gave it to you?”
“Muqing did. He bought a large bouquet in Taoyu and gave me one stem.” Before Li Shuqiao could even finish her sentence, Shen Guanzhi turned his head and left the office without a word.
“What is this about?” Li Shuqiao could not help but frown. “It is not like our studio forbids keeping flowers. Why does he look so awful?”
Even though Shen Guanzhi outwardly appeared no different from usual, when the man came to pick him up after class, Zhao Muqing still detected a hint of something unusual in his aura.
“Who provoked you?” Zhao Muqing cautiously sidled up to Shen Guanzhi, afraid of inadvertently touching one of the man’s reverse scales.
“It is nothing,” Shen Guanzhi feigned coldness. “Let us go back.”
“Did you not notice anything different about me today?” Zhao Muqing stepped in front of Shen Guanzhi, blocking his path.
Shen Guanzhi sized him up from head to toe. “What is it?”
“I put on some perfume, though the scent might have faded by now.” Having just gotten his perfume set back, Zhao Muqing could not wait to choose a favorite scent and spray it on himself. “Everyone else said it smells good. Do you want to take a sniff?”
Shen Guanzhi suddenly let out a soft laugh and reached out his hand toward Zhao Muqing. “Come here.”
Zhao Muqing had worn perfume to class, and his fellow model classmates beside him all agreed the fragrance smelled good, but it just did not quite match his aura.
He originally only wanted Shen Guanzhi’s opinion, asking if this perfume suited him, but he never expected Shen Guanzhi to rest one hand on his shoulder and support the back of his head with the other. Their gazes abruptly met, as if they were going to kiss in the very next second.
Zhao Muqing blinked his eyes sheepishly.
Shen Guanzhi turned his head slightly, his nose tip almost pressing against Zhao Muqing’s neck. His warm breath brushed against the skin, tickling Zhao Muqing and causing him to involuntarily dodge to the side.
“Do not move,” Shen Guanzhi gripped his shoulder harder. The hand supporting the back of his head gently stroked through Zhao Muqing’s soft hair as if in consolation. “You were the one who asked me to smell.”
He leaned close to Zhao Muqing’s neck and took a deep breath. Then, his nose tip slowly traveled upward along the curve of the neck until his lips were resting next to Zhao Muqing’s ear. “It smells very good, but it does not suit you.”
“Really? You think so too?” Zhao Muqing could not help but feel disappointed. He originally quite liked this scent profile, but it seemed he would have to give it away to someone else.
“Is that not what you wanted to hear me say?” Shen Guanzhi released his hands as if nothing had just happened. “I have seen this kind of tactic plenty of times, but this once, I will take the bait.”
“Huh?” Zhao Muqing practically froze in place. Every character Shen Guanzhi spoke was a Chinese character, but put together, he did not understand a single bit of it.
“Behave yourself, let us go back.” Shen Guanzhi walked out the door on his own, and Zhao Muqing followed after him with delayed realization.
When had he misbehaved? No matter how you looked at it, the one misbehaving just now was Shen Guanzhi himself.
Zhao Muqing stayed in his villa room over the weekend. It was a rare occasion that Shen Guanzhi was away dealing with sudden work matters, making eating alone all the more enjoyable for him.
A nanny knocked on his door. He hurriedly opened it to meet her, and she handed him a delicate little box, stating that Shen Guanzhi had instructed her to deliver it personally into his hands.
Zhao Muqing accepted the box. After seeing the nanny off, he sat at the desk and carefully tore open the packaging, only then discovering it was a bottle of perfume.
The outer packaging was so exquisite that it was unlikely to be anything cheap. He casually sprayed a small amount into the air; it was a very crisp and cool fragrance that Zhao Muqing quite liked.
So, in Shen Guanzhi’s eyes, this was the kind of fragrance that suited him.
Actually, classmates from the professional training had also evaluated him, saying his aura resembled that of a noble little young master, yet his personality was a world apart from that.
Zhao Muqing was just about to put the perfume back into the box when he happened to discover a note left inside.
Having seen the high school workbooks written by the man himself, Zhao Muqing could recognize at a glance that the handwriting on the note belonged to Shen Guanzhi.
A single line was written on the memo pad in black fountain pen ink:
[Before coming to my bedroom tonight, put on the perfume I gave you.]