The next day, Ye Qin Fan skipped class altogether. Bai Shijin restrained himself from overthinking what on earth he had done last night that made him need to skip class today.
When they were walking along the beach with Mu Nian, the atmosphere had been so wonderful. Was it really just holding hands? Would they have kissed somewhere out of sight?
Bai Shijin was disgusted by his own thoughts.
After class, Bai Shijin grabbed his work badge. Without even planning to eat, he headed straight to Mu Nian’s company to clock in.
Today, he would find the right moment to tell Mu Nian in person about the disgusting things Ye Qin Fan had done. He couldn’t hold it in for even a single second longer.
Just as Bai Shijin picked up his books and stood up, a girl blocked his path.
It was yet another love letter delivery scene that played out every day. After accepting it politely, Bai Shijin said softly, “I’m sorry.”
He could neither give the girl hope nor cause her to lose face in public. Accepting the love letter and softly turning her down was, in his opinion, the most appropriate way to handle it.
However, this behavior took on a completely different meaning in the eyes of others, who accused him of putting on airs, leading girls on, and being sanctimonious.
Bai Shijin was used to walking alone, so he didn’t care about these things.
He put his textbooks back in the dorm and took a taxi straight to DEW.
At the mere thought of seeing Mu Nian shortly, ripples of excitement stirred faintly in Bai Shijin’s heart.
Upon arriving at the destination, Bai Shijin awkwardly clocked in at the time clock. Just as it beeped, Su Yi suddenly appeared behind him and greeted him with a smile, “Shijin, you’re here so early.”
Bai Shijin nodded, “I don’t have afternoon classes, so I came over early.”
“Then you should go straight to find the Emperor. Your work has to be arranged by him personally.”
“The Emperor?” Bai Shijin repeated, puzzled. “Who is the Emperor?”
“Ah, sorry, it just slipped out,” Su Yi leaned in close to Bai Shijin and whispered, “In private, we all call President Mu ‘the Emperor.’ Encrypted language like this makes it convenient for us to gossip without getting caught.”
“Since it’s encrypted language, is it really okay to tell me this?”
“You’re part of the company now too!” Su Yi patted Bai Shijin’s shoulder. “Sister trusts you.”
Bai Shijin curved the corners of his mouth slightly. “But I am the Emperor’s close attendant.”
“So?”
“So of course I have to go report to the Emperor as an informant.”
With that, Bai Shijin turned around and headed straight toward Mu Nian’s office.
“Hey! Hey, Bai Shijin!” Su Yi was startled and hurriedly chased after him. “Don’t tear down the bridge after crossing it! You’re the one who asked me, that’s why I told you! Don’t be a traitor!”
Mu Nian stepped out of his office and, seeing this chase scene of one fleeing and one pursuing, asked, “What traitor? Does the company have a traitor?”
Cold sweat broke out on Su Yi’s back. “I was just joking around with Shijin. Right, Shijin? Say something.”
Bai Shijin gave a soft hum. “That’s right.”
“You two are already this familiar?” Mu Nian looked at Bai Shijin with a gratified expression. “Then Shijin, come with me. I’ll take you to the tailoring room to take your measurements.”
Before Bai Shijin could take a step, Su Yi hurriedly blocked him. “Brother Mu, you go ahead first. I need to brief Shijin on a few things.”
“Alright, then I’ll go get ready.”
Seeing Mu Nian walk away, Su Yi finally said, “Little brother Shijin, later when you’re alone with President Mu, make sure you don’t talk nonsense!”
Bai Shijin asked, “Then can I ask Sister Su a question?”
“As long as you don’t bring up the words ‘the Emperor’ in front of Brother Mu, ask away to your heart’s content!”
“Deal.”
“What do you want to ask?”
Bai Shijin thought for a moment before saying, “I want to know how President Mu and Ye Qin Fan met.”
One was a college student while the other was a company boss, separated by vast mountains and seas. How on earth did they come to know and fall in love with each other?
“Why are you suddenly asking about this?”
“Curiosity. Doesn’t Sister Su know?”
“Well,” Su Yi pursed her lips in thought, “I do know a little bit, but not much.”
“Let’s hear it.”
Su Yi explained, “DEW has three bosses, and their surnames are Qin, Mu, and Ye respectively.”
Bai Shijin frowned.
“Boss Ye is Qin Fan’s older brother and also President Mu’s college classmate. It’s normal to know your classmate’s younger brother, right? As for how they actually got together, that I don’t know.”
A classmate’s younger brother…
Bai Shijin asked again, “Then where is this Boss Ye now? Is he in the company?”
Su Yi shook her head. “No. I’ve been at the company for three years and have never seen Boss Ye in person. I’ve only ever seen him on the photo wall in the hallway.”
“Photo wall?”
Noticing Bai Shijin’s curiosity, Su Yi led him over to take a look.
Heading up to the second floor, the cultural corridor was right at the corner. The walls on both sides were designed with great texture, introducing DEW’s founding and development in just a few short lines, along with the designers’ award-winning works.
Bai Shijin skipped past those and, following Su Yi, found the mysterious “Boss Ye.”
It was a photo of three people against the light, with Mu Nian in the middle and the people on either side affectionately embracing Mu Nian as they smiled at the camera.
Bai Shijin could tell at a glance who Boss Ye was. The one on Mu Nian’s left, holding the phone to take the picture, shared a thirty-percent resemblance with Ye Qin Fan.
However, his brows, eyes, and smile were mixed with gentleness, and his facial features were softer than Ye Qin Fan’s.
For some reason, three words popped into Bai Shijin’s head:
White Moonlight.
Could Mu Nian’s unconditional indulgence toward Ye Qin Fan have something to do with Ye Qin Fan’s older brother?
“Shijin!” Su Yi yelled out, calling Bai Shijin’s soul back to reality. “Done looking? Time to work now. What you’re doing right now is called slacking off.”
Bai Shijin had no choice but to dismiss his absurd thoughts and head to the tailoring room to find Mu Nian.
The tailoring room was the brightest place in the entire company, facing directly toward the sun. When Bai Shijin pushed the door open, Mu Nian was leaning over a table drawing a life-size design draft. The warm sunlight cast a layer of golden halo over him, and his waist was so slender it seemed as though it could be tightly grasped with just one hand.
“Brother Mu, I’ve brought him here.”
Mu Nian was too engrossed in his work. It was only when Su Yi spoke that he stopped what he was doing. “Close the door and go out to busy yourself with your own tasks.”
“You got it.”
Su Yi left, leaving only Bai Shijin and Mu Nian in the spacious tailoring room.
Seeing that Bai Shijin seemed a bit nervous, Mu Nian wanted to put him at ease and teased, “What were you and that girl Su Yi chatting about for so long?”
“Sister Su gave me a brief tour of the company.”
Mu Nian chuckled. “Usually, when new employees arrive, I never see her being that proactive. She didn’t say anything strange to you, did she?”
Bai Shijin asked, “What does Brother Mu mean?”
“Like, calling me the Emperor or something?”
Bai Shijin pursed his lips and smiled secretly. “So, Brother Mu knew.”
“Working right under my nose, how could I not know? This silly girl still thought she was hiding it well.” Mu Nian took out a tape measure and walked closer to Bai Shijin. “Alright, enough about her. Take off your clothes.”
“Take off my clothes?”
Seeing Bai Shijin’s earlobes turn red, Mu Nian felt as though he were bullying a child.
Was Bai Shijin really this pure? How come, within the same age group, he had never seen Ye Qin Fan blush?