Chapter 70#

Wandering Photos 16#

Shen Xuanyi said he needed a moment to calm down, and he really did just sit there for a while.

He Ziyue sat across from him, holding her teacup and staring at him for a long time. In the end, she couldn’t detect any change in his mood.

Even from the beginning, she had never been good at reading others’ thoughts, especially someone like Shen Xuanyi, who was always so inscrutable. So she didn’t overthink it. When she got tired of staring, she lowered her head to drink tea, blinking her dry eyes.

That was when Shen Xuanyi briefly told her what had happened in the meeting earlier.

Calling her over was simply to remind her of the areas that needed special attention. People would likely be watching her closely recently, so it was best not to give them any easy leverage.

“But don’t be too nervous either.” Shen Xuanyi took a sip of tea, his tone calm. “If something really does go wrong, I’ll handle it.”

Although He Ziyue hadn’t been particularly tense to begin with, hearing that still made her feel relieved.

“Thanks, Captain.” Realizing that didn’t sound quite right, she quickly added, “I’ll be extra cautious from now on!”

Shen Xuanyi gave her a gentle smile and then began to signal the end of the conversation. “Alright. You should go back and rest early. I have another meeting soon.”

He Ziyue had absolutely no interest in meetings, so she wouldn’t dream of asking about it. But her gaze kept drifting involuntarily toward the center of the target on the wall.

Wasn’t the Captain going to explain anything?

She tried to convey her confusion with her eyes, but it failed.

“Your eyes bothering you? Do you need to see another doctor?” Shen Xuanyi asked with concern.

“No, no, I’m fine.” He Ziyue shook her head quickly. After hesitating for a moment, she sighed in defeat. “I’ll be going now.”

Shen Xuanyi gave her a small wave.

He Ziyue pouted but didn’t press further.

Usually, if they so much as twitched an eyelid, Shen Xuanyi could guess what they were thinking. So there was no way he didn’t know the question on her mind.

He just didn’t want to say.

He Ziyue didn’t want to force him either. Muttering to herself, she turned and left.

After returning, she learned from Hua Jin that Mu Yanshen had confessed to Chu Chenli.

—The truth was out.

“No wonder the boss was so mad…” He Ziyue muttered to herself.

“The Captain knows too?” Hua Jin’s first reaction was surprise. “And he just let Xiao Mu and the others come back?”

He had thought Shen Xuanyi would at least stir up some trouble to delay things.

After all, ever since they first met in the game, Shen Xuanyi had treated Chu Chenli like a protective father watching over his cub.

They didn’t yet know that Shen Xuanyi and Chu Chenli had known each other in the past. They just guessed that A Li happened to catch the Captain’s eye.

But later on, such trivial details became irrelevant. Basically, the whole team saw A Li as a younger brother.

Hua Jin and He Ziyue had partnered with Mu Yanshen more often than others, so they had a deeper understanding and a better relationship with him. That’s why they weren’t too opposed.

If the other teammates were still around, Xiao Mu would definitely have been put through the wringer.

Hua Jin wisely stopped his train of thought at the edge of painful memories.

Heard that Xiao Mu and A Li had returned a while ago, He Ziyue grabbed Hua Jin and dragged him upstairs.

Stumbling along, Hua Jin asked, “Why are you so excited? It’s not like he confessed to you…”

He Ziyue couldn’t help but knock on his forehead. “Aren’t you even a little curious?! After all these years of acting out a one-sided love tragedy, don’t you want to know how it ends?”

They’d find out eventually anyway.

Hua Jin grumbled inwardly, but he didn’t pull away from He Ziyue’s grip.

To say he wasn’t at all curious would be a lie.

Anyway, they were just outside the door. Worst case, if those two started fighting, they could step in and mediate…

As they clomped upstairs, someone standing at the stairwell hesitated, then turned to leave.

But as soon as they turned around, a face filled their entire field of vision.

Even the prettiest face couldn’t withstand such a deadly angle.

Fang Xiyu clutched his chest and stepped back, only to hit the wall. With a dull thump, the back of his head smacked against it.

“Siyue…” Fang Xiyu wasn’t sure whether to keep holding his chest or rub his head. Looking at her wooden expression, he sighed helplessly. “Have I done something to offend you lately?”

April shook her head, took a step back, and said calmly, “Curious.”

Fang Xiyu scratched his hair. “They were just talking about Xiao Mu confessing to A Li. But I was worried that if we all swarmed over there, they’d get mad…”

Before he finished, April’s eyes brightened noticeably.

So she was curious about Xiao Mu and A Li.

Fang Xiyu: “…”

After two seconds of internal struggle, he gave up trying to dissuade her and pointed upstairs. “Ziyue and the others are already up there.”

No one else was around anyway. The two of them sneaking around and pressing their ears to someone’s door should be pretty conspicuous.

April walked lightly up the stairs, making no sound at all.

Fang Xiyu sighed softly at her retreating back, then turned and went downstairs.

The first floor had no residents; it was set up as a storage area from the start. There was a small management office by the entrance, where Luo Yunshu handled their daily affairs and sometimes brought electronic devices to slack off.

As Fang Xiyu passed the management office, he glanced inside and saw Luo Yunshu had brought a desktop computer this time and was playing a game. The screen was a riot of colors.

Whether it was an old single-player game or one of the internal online games He Ziyue had recently tinkered with in her spare time, he wasn’t sure.

Fang Xiyu hesitated, then tapped on the glass door.

Luo Yunshu took off his headphones, turned around, and automatically wore a professional smile. “Is there something you need help with?”

Fang Xiyu asked, “Is President Shen in his office now?”

Luo Yunshu thought for a moment. “He just went to a meeting when I came over. Based on past experience, he should be done in about twenty minutes.”

It would take about that long to walk there from here.

Fang Xiyu nodded, said “Thanks,” and considerately closed the door for him.

But Luo Yunshu didn’t return to his game. Instead, he watched until Fang Xiyu walked out of the dormitory gate.

Meanwhile, Chu Chenli and Mu Yanshen, deep in conversation, were completely unaware of their teammates’ commotion.

Chu Chenli set down two glasses of water and sat on the sofa, ready for a long talk.

“Why have you been avoiding me?” Chu Chenli asked.

“I haven’t.” Mu Yanshen defended himself.

“Then why did you disappear first thing in the morning with such heavy dark circles?” Chu Chenli pressed.

“Did you come looking for me this morning?” Mu Yanshen latched onto that fact alone.

“Yeah. I thought you seemed a bit upset when you left yesterday,” Chu Chenli said. “I was a little worried.”

To be honest, such straightforward concern did touch Mu Yanshen.

But even Mu Yanshen had to admit that sometimes his brother Li was just a blockhead.

“Isn’t it natural to keep my distance a bit after a failed confession…” Mu Yanshen didn’t dare say it too loudly.

But with only the two of them in the room, and Chu Chenli’s sharp hearing, he heard it clearly anyway.

“Failed confession?” Chu Chenli found the phrasing odd. “Didn’t I say that if Xiao Mu really wanted it—”

“That’s different!” Mu Yanshen couldn’t help interrupting. The moment the words left his mouth, he realized he had spoken too hastily and instinctively lowered his head. “Sorry.”

Chu Chenli held his glass of water and made a gesture of listening attentively.

His eyes were clear and bright, like a mountain spring, untainted by dust, but also devoid of any emotional shift.

Not angry, not annoyed. Stare too long, and they seemed as vast as the ocean, leaving no room for anger.

Mu Yanshen couldn’t be angry with him anyway. He was just struggling with an overwhelming sense of defeat.

Chu Chenli had indeed said that if Mu Yanshen truly wanted to be together, he wouldn’t refuse.

Maybe love could be cultivated over time.

Maybe not.

But if it made Mu Yanshen happy, he didn’t see it as a hardship.

What he hadn’t realized was that starting with the phrase “If you want” was already a blow to Mu Yanshen’s feelings.

Because it was Xiao Mu, because he was his partner, because he was a trusted and surviving teammate.

So whatever wish he had, A Li would try his best to fulfill it.

Even matters of the heart.

There were many reasons he could give, but none of them included “love.”

In the end, Mu Yanshen didn’t dare ask if it would be the same with anyone else.

If it were Hua Jin or He Ziyue—of course they wouldn’t do that.

What about Fang Xiyu?

If Fang Xiyu said “I want” or “I hope,” would Chu Chenli be just as indulgent and compliant with all his requests?

Mu Yanshen could never blame Chu Chenli. So for the first time, he began to wonder if he had been asking for too much, if he had been too willful all along.

Chu Chenli rarely delved into things that required multiple layers of interpretation. Seeing Mu Yanshen’s troubled expression, he almost found it amusing.

Simply because it was such a rare look on Mu Yanshen’s face.

“I can’t yet fully grasp what you really want,” Chu Chenli said bluntly. “But I don’t want you to avoid me over this. I know that for ordinary people, after a failed confession, it’s best to part ways forever to avoid being seen as keeping a backup. But that’s not the case between us.”

Mu Yanshen chuckled at that, then couldn’t help sighing. “Of course that’s not an issue.”

A failed confession wouldn’t ever truly shake their relationship.

The same would go for any one of them.

They were first and foremost comrades, brothers in arms who had faced life and death together.

Besides, it couldn’t even be called a “failure.” In Chu Chenli’s heart, he would always occupy a special place—special enough to stay firmly on the other side of that personal boundary.

Even if he made an excessive request, he wouldn’t get a beating; instead, he might actually have it granted.

Such indulgence might even surpass worldly “love.”

“Even without the kissing and all that follows, your importance to me is still unmatched,” Chu Chenli said.

Author’s note:

For A Li, Xiao Mu is still the most special one. But without comparison, he hasn’t realized it yet himself.