During the entry check, Mu Yan was looked up and down by the security guards several times.
He had arrived a full two hours earlier than the time stated on his temporary access pass, and his temporary entry qualifications had not yet taken effect. Consequently, Mu Yan was stopped at the door by the strict security guards.
Mu Yan had no choice but to casually make up an excuse, saying that he had misremembered the time, whereupon the security guards suspiciously withdrew their scrutinizing gazes.
Mu Yan parked his flyer by the flower bed at the entrance. He did not get out, but instead opened his optical computer.
There was a hint of hesitation as his fingers moved, but in the end, he clicked into the StarBlog interface that he had downloaded not long ago.
Mu Yan was very unfamiliar with StarBlog. He had never used it before. Following the prompts to register an account and complete identity verification, his ID was a randomly generated string of English characters, and finally, he was able to use it normally.
He directly bypassed the messy trending news automatically recommended by the system, clicked into the search box, and typed in “Sticky Rice.”
Before he could even press confirm, the search system had already automatically displayed the answer Mu Yan wanted.
Inside the circular avatar was a ragdoll cat with a white coat and black markings, with only its eyes specially highlighted with a touch of blue. Behind the black characters “Sticky Rice” were two lines of small gray text:
Followers: 10.72 million.
Verification: Illustrator.
Mu Yan pursed his lips.
The profile mentioned Ruan Nian’s current profession, but never mentioned whether he had ever won any awards in the field of painting. He hadn’t expected the young man to have such a massive number of followers tracking him on StarBlog.
Perhaps the person who gathered the information was not meticulous enough. While he might not have won major professional awards in the field of painting, he could certainly not be summed up by the ordinary title of “illustrator.”
At the very least, he should be a “popular illustrator.”
He would have to notify Tang Xian to deduct this month’s performance bonus from the Information Department and arrange training to improve their work capability.
Thinking this, Mu Yan expressionlessly clicked follow.
“Sticky Rice’s” latest StarBlog post still remained from several days ago, which was a simple four-panel comic.
A book, a water cup, a cat, flowers.
Mu Yan could not see any logical connection between these four images at all.
He looked through it seriously once more to ensure he hadn’t missed a single detail in the pictures.
Yet, aside from the harmonious composition, he still couldn’t see any other connection.
Mu Yan frowned.
Before he had time to dwell on the growing irritation in his heart, he accidentally clicked into the comment section.
Several top-voted comments had long strings of ahhhhh and exclamation marks, interspersed with some symbols Mu Yan couldn’t understand.
“Wife-sama”? Why did these people address the young man as “wife-sama”? QwQ? XD? Was it an abbreviation for some organization?
Mu Yan searched carefully through his mind, from humanities and social sciences to finance and politics.
To no avail.
The “Blogger Sticky Rice liked this” beneath the comments appeared even more glaring.
His world was completely incompatible with Ruan Nian’s.
Mu Yan silently exited the StarBlog interface and took a deep breath.
He clicked into the latest issue of financial news and stock market reports.
The contents within were all familiar and well-mastered domains. His furrowed brows slowly smoothed out, and Mu Yan returned to his expressionless state.
Mu Yan read through the new issue from beginning to end without missing a word. However, he didn’t close his optical computer, choosing instead to stay on the main interface, remaining motionless for a long time.
After a moment, he suddenly took another deep breath.
With deliberate caution, he clicked back into StarBlog.
Over the next two hours, Mu Yan carefully browsed through all the content Ruan Nian had posted in the past six months, as well as all the replies labeled “Blogger Sticky Rice liked this” in the comments.
If Tang Xian had been present, he probably would have thought Mu Yan was reviewing the company’s production plan for the next quarter.
Because his expression was that solemn and serious.
When Mu Yan actually arrived, he was only 20 minutes early for the agreed time.
His flyer slowed down from a great distance away and finally landed silently in front of a villa.
Mu Yan had spotted Ruan Nian early on.
He wasn’t sitting obediently inside the house, but was instead outside in the small courtyard garden.
Ruan Nian had his back to the path and was sitting directly on the grass. He held a sketchpad in one hand and a pen in the other, occasionally raising his head to observe closely for a moment before quickly lowering his head again to draw a few strokes in his notebook.
Mu Yan didn’t know what he was drawing. But it must have been something beautiful.
Because the profile glimpsed from a distance was calm and serene, and his gaze when raising his head to observe was focused and earnest.
The sunlight filtered past the young man’s ears, and a few strands of black hair gleamed faintly in the inadvertent light.
Ruan Nian’s eyes were full of twinkling stars. Mu Yan gazed at his back from afar, as if separated by a distance, politely admiring a piece of art.
Before Mu Yan was merely the lawn. Not far away stood a large tree with a wooden swing tied to it.
The swing was very crude, consisting of just two ropes and a piece of wood. Relying on an alpha’s excellent eyesight, Mu Yan could see the frizzy barbs and uneven dull color on the ropes, which suggested it had been there for a very long time, enduring plenty of wind, sun, and rain.
To Mu Yan, these were nothing more than utterly mundane sights.
What could he be drawing?
Mu Yan suddenly grew curious and began to ponder.
Ruan Shi was the first to spot Mu Yan.
He had walked over to the balcony window to call his younger brother, who was drawing in the yard, inside. The sun outside wasn’t very harsh, but Ruan Nian had been in poor health since childhood, and since he had already been drawing for a while, he should take a rest.
Just as he called out Ruan Nian’s name, he noticed an unfamiliar black flyer parked outside the front door.
Ruan Shi’s already decent mood instantly turned gloomy again.
That bastard was coming to snatch his younger brother away; no matter how he thought about it, it was thoroughly irritating.
Perhaps he really should find some time to personally teach this fellow a lesson. Ruan Shi thought to himself.
Expressionless, he nodded in the direction of Mu Yan and walked back inside.
Ruan Nian heard his older brother’s voice. Turning his head, he quickly replied that he would be right there, and the speed of his pen movements noticeably accelerated by a few fractions.
After hastily sketching a few more strokes, Ruan Nian put away his pen, closed his sketchbook, and pushed himself up from the grass with his hands.
Perhaps he had been sitting for a bit too long, as his legs felt slightly numb; Ruan Nian wobbled a little upon standing before steadying himself.
Mu Yan, who had been staring fixedly at Ruan Nian, saw his swaying body and felt his brow twitch. By the time he came to his senses, the alpha had already quickly opened the door, exited the pilot seat, and even taken a few strides toward the young man.
Hearing the sound, Ruan Nian instinctively looked toward Mu Yan.
Their gazes intersected in mid-air for a brief moment, touching and parting instantly.
Ruan Nian didn’t know what was wrong with him; every time he saw Mu Yan, he always felt a bit nervous.
The pheromone gland mark, which had been completely dormant these past few days, suddenly perked up, and Ruan Nian felt the back of his neck start to grow slightly warm again.
He nodded haphazardly in Mu Yan’s direction and hurried back into the house from the balcony.
He was afraid his disobedient pheromones would spill over in the yard.
It wasn’t until the Omega closed the balcony glass door with a soft click that Mu Yan finally snapped out of it.
For some reason, the young man’s retreat back into the house looked to him like a child who had done something wrong yet pretended to be calm, fleeing in panic.
Without even realizing it himself, the corners of his mouth curved upward into a very slight arc.
Both parties were entirely clear on the purpose of this visit. Mu Yan knocked politely on the door, and it was soon opened by Ruan Shi.
Mu Yan immediately smelled the lingering scent of food inside.
It was like the cookies that company employees occasionally shared during their lunch break; there was a faint, buttery fragrance hanging in the house. Mu Yan did not look around at the interior furnishings, simply following Ruan Shi into the house and taking a seat on the living room sofa.
Dropping a casual remark for President Mu to make himself at home, Ruan Shi began communicating with Ruan Nian as if no one else was there.
Ruan Nian’s luggage was actually very, very sparse, and he had already packed it and set it aside. Originally, Ruan Nian had only intended to bring the suitcase he brought back home from Meng Star, but having stayed at home for just a few short days, Ruan Shi had prepared a whole lot of miscellaneous things for him.
Everything was prepared, and the moment of parting had arrived, but suddenly Ruan Shi didn’t want to let his younger brother leave home anymore.
“Did you bring your pens and things?”
“I brought them. They were all packed and placed in the compartment of the suitcase.”
“What about those books?”
“It’s fine even if I don’t bring them; I’ve saved the ones I haven’t finished reading on my optical computer.”
“Did you bring enough clothes?”
“Enough to change into. Why is my brother so talkative today?”
“Do you want to bring Nuomi’s body pillow?”
“Brother!”
Ruan Nian interrupted Ruan Shi’s endless questioning with a hint of annoyance, glaring at him.
He had no idea where his brother had bought fan-made Nuomi merchandise; when Ruan Nian came home, he found his room piled high with various Nuomi body pillows, plush toys, and mugs.
Yet he never needed a body pillow when sleeping!
Under Ruan Nian’s warning glare, Ruan Shi silently shut his mouth.
He simply didn’t want his younger brother to leave home so soon, wishing he could keep him for even a fraction longer.
Recalling that he still had some suppressants left in his room, Ruan Nian decided to take them all down and carry them with him just in case.
As he walked up the stairs, the two alphas sat in the living room, sharing a silent moment.
Ruan Shi abruptly broke the peace first.
“Ruan Nian is a bit afraid of the dark, especially on stormy nights. He is very good at hiding it, so you can’t really tell.”
Ruan Shi didn’t care whether Mu Yan was listening or not, speaking on his own accord.
“Sometimes he forgets the time when he’s painting, but his health isn’t great, so you must remind him to eat and sleep.”
“The kitchen utensils need to be fully equipped. Sometimes Ruan Nian doesn’t want to eat things made by machines and prefers to cook for himself.”
At this point, Ruan Shi suddenly stopped.
He stood up from the sofa, walked over to Mu Yan, and looked down, scrutinizing the man who was about to live with his younger brother.
“You had better make sure you can keep yourself in check and stay away from my brother. If you hurt him, I will pay you back a thousandfold, no matter the cost.”
His tone was cold, hard, and unyielding.
Mu Yan slowly stood up and met Ruan Shi’s gaze head-on.
Ruan Shi hid his emotions well. But as fellow top-tier alphas, Mu Yan could still catch the fleeting trace of disgust lurking in the depths of Ruan Shi’s eyes.
As if disgusted with him, or perhaps disgusted with himself.
Mu Yan replied seriously:
“Of course. I give you my word as an alpha.”
Ruan Shi wanted to say something more, but the faint sound of footsteps came from the stairs.
The two of them fell silent in unison and returned to their respective original seats.
“I’ve got everything packed, we can go now?”
Ruan Nian said as he walked down from the top of the stairs. Entering the living room, he suddenly felt that the atmosphere inside was a bit strange, and his ending tone involuntarily carried a hint of hesitation and probing.
Mu Yan pretended nothing had happened and naturally picked up the luggage beside him.
“Let’s go.”
Taking him home.