After returning to his residence, Ruan Nian felt somewhat absent-minded. His hands casually sketched on the paper, and when he finally came to his senses, he realized the scene from the Information Bureau had already leaped onto the page.
Pairs of lovers appeared either sweet or shy. Sunlight filtered through the glass windows, casting dreamy light and shadows on the steps, and the cat in the corner was also witnessing these beautiful moments together with them.
Ruan Nian pressed his lips together, irritably tossing the drawing paper to the side. Slipping into his slippers, he ran back to his room and, as if venting his frustration, rummaged through the remaining patch of suppressants in the lining of his suitcase, tossing them all into the previously empty trash can.
He threw himself onto the bed, rolled himself up in the quilt, and curled into a ball in the corner of the bed, with only a fuzzy head exposed.
After a long while, a sigh echoed in the room.
Ruan Nian crawled out from under the covers, picked up the brand-new suppressant patches from the trash can one by one, and threw them into the bedside table drawer.
After finishing all this, he returned to the studio, took photos of the artwork he had completed last night and this morning, and uploaded them to Xingbo.
There was still a long time left of the one-month leave he had requested when returning to the capital planet, but Ruan Nian desperately wanted to do something to distract himself. He simply opened his work email and began dealing with the backlog of commercial commissions.
With something that required his full focus, Ruan Nian’s mood gradually calmed down, and he once again picked up his paintbrush with undivided attention.
Inside Boyu Group’s top-floor conference room, Mu Yan had just concluded a two-hour planning meeting. Boyu Group and the Ruan family had recently been contending for the development rights of a tourist planet, and both sides had been locked in a tug-of-war for a month without any resolution in sight.
Mu Yan was an exceptional leader. He would never let personal matters cause any bias in his work.
Returning to his office, Mu Yan took a sip of water to soothe the dryness in his throat and opened his smart brain to check the remaining schedule for the day.
Just as he was about to close the smart brain, a new message suddenly popped up at the top.
From Xingbo: The blogger you follow has a new update. [Picture] [Picture] [Picture]
Mu Yan frowned and paused for a moment before recalling the existence of Xingbo. His fingertips hesitated for a second, but he finally clicked on the notification.
He was very familiar with the things Ruan Nian had drawn this time.
The courtyard filled with bizarrely shaped gardening creations, the study bathed in sunlight, and the steaming dishes on the dining table.
Yet every drawing contained the young man’s hidden, subtle thoughts: besides shrubs, the courtyard featured a sunlit glasshouse draped in flowering branches; in the study, amidst books scattered all over the floor, a tatami mat had been added in the corner; and on the table, alongside steaming soup, there were slightly browned cookies, cream cakes decorated with assorted fruits, and cat-shaped mini-breads.
Mundane scenes took on a completely new look under the young man’s watercolor strokes. Comparing them with the impressions in his mind to find the minute differences, Mu Yan found this experience quite interesting.
Unconsciously, his brow softened, his tense nerves relaxed, and even his physical fatigue lessened a bit.
Could he take this to mean that Ruan Nian was quite satisfied with his home?
He ought to be satisfied, right? When drawing these pictures, his eyes must have been brimming with stars, the corners of his mouth curving into a pleasant arc as he hid his longing for a new life stroke by stroke.
Mu Yan did not notice that his own lips had also curled into a smile.
The numbers for comments, reposts, and likes were jumping rapidly. Mu Yan tapped into the comment section and found that Ruan Nian had left a note in the comments.
[Accidentally changed maps, feeling a bit unaccustomed to it.]
Not long after the comment was posted, the follow-up comments underneath were multiplying at lightning speed.
[Nian Gao TA-ta, did you move to a new place? The new home is so gorgeous!]
[Hahahaha what on earth are these gardening creations! So, so, so many books! Is TA-ta really from a wealthy background QAQ! I want to…]
[The person above is dreaming of peaches! P.S. The cat mini-bread is Sticky Rice! Woohoo, when can I ever have a cat!]
Only then did Mu Yan connect the variously shaped cat-shaped breads in the corner with the contents of the Xingbo he had seen before. It was the Ragdoll cat raised by the young man, named Sticky Rice.
Seeming to think of something, the depths of Mu Yan’s eyes sank bit by bit.
When Mu Yan returned home, dinner was already being prepared. The previous batch of pork rib soup had been consumed down to the last drop, so Uncle Rong simply boiled another large pot today. The ribs had been stewed until tender after simmering for a long time, and the aroma could be smelled from far away at the entrance.
Uncle Rong was cutting side dishes and immediately looked up with a smile upon hearing the door open, greeting Mu Yan and signaling from afar that he had something to tell him.
Mu Yan took off his suit jacket, loosened his tie, casually placed them together on the sofa, and walked toward the kitchen area. Seeing him approach, Uncle Rong hurriedly wiped his hands on his apron and poured him a glass of water.
The moment the water touched his lips, Mu Yan detected something unusual: it was sweet upon entry, and after drinking, a hint of slight acidity lingered. The taste was clearly not the purified water Mu Yan had been accustomed to drinking since childhood.
Mu Yan had not planned to say anything, but Uncle Rong said pointedly, “Niannian didn’t seem very happy when he came back today. I saw that the child likes sweet flavors, so I prepared some honey lemonade for him.”
Mu Yan gave a light hum to acknowledge he had heard, pretending not to understand the hint in Uncle Rong’s words. He knew why Ruan Nian was unhappy, but he did not intend to follow up on Uncle Rong’s words or tell him what had happened today. An elderly person always hoped that children would settle down early, but things were somewhat complicated between him and Ruan Nian, and Uncle Rong’s hopes would likely fall through.
Seeing that he did not reply, Uncle Rong did not press further and instead compromised, “Niannian spent the whole day in the studio. Go upstairs, change your clothes, and call him down for dinner.”
With that, regardless of Mu Yan’s response, he turned back on his own to continue preparing the remaining dishes.
Mu Yan was rendered speechless. He had always been helpless against this quirky old fellow. His silence just now had caused Uncle Rong a slight displeasure, and he rubbed the bridge of his nose sheepishly. Still, Ruan Nian had spent the whole day in the studio?
Reason told him the young man might currently be reluctant to see him, but Mu Yan was unwilling to irritate Uncle Rong again either. He sighed, resignedly making his way toward the stairs.
Mu Yan did not go back to his bedroom to change clothes first; instead, he walked directly to the door of Ruan Nian’s studio. He subconsciously placed his hand on the doorknob, only to instantly realize something was amiss.
Mu Yan coughed unnaturally and raised his hand to knock on the door.
Inside the studio, Ruan Nian’s lines were only half-sketched, right at a crucial juncture. He had always lived alone on Mengxing, and his studio was forever vast and tranquil. The sudden knock on the door startled him; his hand shook, creating an abrupt black line across the drawing.
Ruan Nian thought: So angry, yet I still have to keep smiling.
He pressed his lips together, hurriedly added a few more strokes to both sides of the line, and the outline of a book began to take shape. Raising his volume, Ruan Nian called toward the door, “Please come in,” and then lowered his head to paint with concentration once more, filling in the details of the book.
Mu Yan heard Ruan Nian’s response through the door. For some reason, there seemed to be a hint of annoyance in the young man’s voice. Could it be that he still hasn’t gotten over what happened today? But a long time had already passed!
Mu Yan immediately felt awkward and pushed open the door rather apprehensively.
Seeing that the young man was utterly engrossed in painting, he tactfully stood by the doorway, quietly waiting for him to finish.
The young man’s clean profile looked like a work of art carved meticulously stroke by stroke by a deity. Those eyes that were once brimming with stars were now flowing with the moonlight at the bottom of a lake, tranquil and beautiful.
So this was what he looked like when he was focused. Mu Yan subconsciously recorded the scene before him into the depths of his heart, placing it alongside those past smiles.
Ruan Nian finished up without taking much longer. A half-opened book blended subtly into the background without looking out of place at all. He nodded in satisfaction at his work: Yup! Today I am also a dedicated contractor.
Seeing him about to put down his brush, Mu Yan quickly averted his gaze toward the window nearby and said, “Uncle Rong asked me to call you down for dinner.”
Ruan Nian had thought it was Uncle Rong, not expecting it to be Mu Yan. His voice was somewhat cold and rigid. Ruan Nian thought to himself: He was probably left hanging by me for a moment and feels a bit displeased. He smiled apologetically at Mu Yan and hurriedly stood up.
In reality, it was not as he thought.
It was Mu Yan’s first time calling someone for dinner, so it was inevitably a bit unpracticed. Coupled with the fact that he had been staring intently at the youth for a long time, though Ruan Nian seemed not to have noticed, he still felt somewhat guilty. The moment this thought arose, it made Mu Yan feel uncomfortable, and as if to cover something up, his tone unconsciously turned a bit stiffer.
Noticing that Mu Yan showed no intention of leaving and continued standing by the door, Ruan Nian assumed the other person was waiting for him to go down together. He subconsciously quickened his pace so as not to keep the other waiting.
His lower back ached slightly from sitting for too long. Ruan Nian was long used to it and paid it no mind. When he was still a few steps away from the door, he opened his mouth to explain why he hadn’t responded to the Alpha immediately.
“Sorry, I just…”
The Omega’s soft voice came to an abrupt halt.
A sharp pain suddenly struck the back of Ruan Nian’s neck. The pain arrived without warning, catching him completely off guard. His knees buckled, and he instantly lost his balance.
He instinctively reached his arm out to the side, wanting to grab something to steady himself, but the pain made his mind go entirely blank. His outstretched hand knocked over the easel in the center of the room, but he lacked the strength to hold onto it. The tall easel tilted toward Ruan Nian, about to crash down upon him.
Bang!
A deafening crash suddenly echoed through the room. This sound was so loud that even Uncle Rong downstairs heard it. The elderly man was startled, immediately dropping his bowl and rushing upstairs two steps at a time.
At the critical moment of imminent peril, the Alpha’s adrenaline surged. His powerful physical conditioning allowed him to lunge toward the Omega as if teleporting, slamming his fist to knock away the falling easel while his other hand swept down fiercely, scooping the Omega’s soft waist into his embrace.
The wooden easel flew backward, crashing into the wall. The Alpha had clearly used his entire strength. The sturdy easel wasn’t just knocked over, but shattered by the Alpha’s explosive burst of force. The room instantly became a complete mess, with sharp wooden fragments flying everywhere.