Chapter 18: Old Flame
Fang Jingzhen tried her best to suppress her laughter. Wei Xun pressed a fist to his lips, and after a long moment, he finally spoke, “We’re going to be late for work. Jingzhen, we’re heading out.”
Fang Jingzhen said with a smile, “Go ahead. See you later!”
Mu Jia Shu gave her a nod and followed behind Wei Xun with a dignified air, acting as if nothing had happened.
Today seemed to have an exceptionally large amount of work to handle. Not long after Mu Jia Shu arrived at the company, Liang Pingzhao walked in hurriedly. He scanned left and right, finding that everyone was currently being run ragged and simply couldn’t keep up. Only Mu Jia Shu was sitting in the exclusive extra seat Wei Xun had given him, staring blankly at Children’s Pictorial, appearing like a breath of fresh air in the busy office.
Liang Pingzhao stepped forward and placed a stack of documents in front of him.
Mu Jia Shu looked up at him.
“Can you recognize the words on here?” Liang Pingzhao asked solemnly.
Mu Jia Shu finally felt it was truly necessary to clarify one thing to the boss and employees of this company: “Assistant Liang, I may not have had much schooling, but it’s not as if I haven’t attended any. My educational background is a high school graduate.”
Liang Pingzhao, whose head was spinning from work, didn’t sense his irritation. He only said with great relief, “That’s good then. Come, please help me transcribe the underlined sentences on this page onto this sheet. Don’t use a computer; is that okay?”
Mu Jia Shu agreed. After a slight pause, he switched to his left hand to pick up the pen.
Liang Pingzhao turned to leave, but his peripheral vision caught the movement. He said in surprise, “Eh? You write with your left hand?”
Mu Jia Shu replied without a single flaw, “Mm, I was a lefty when I was little. Later, my mom corrected me a few times, so I switched to my right hand for things like eating. However, my handwriting is still a bit more neat with my left hand.”
Liang Pingzhao knew that some families, worried about a child’s hands “clashing” while eating at the dinner table, would intentionally correct left-handedness. Thus, he didn’t suspect anything. Instead, he became interested and stood beside him to watch him write a few words. He said with satisfaction, “I didn’t expect your handwriting to be quite good… Hmm, your French is also written quite fluently. How is your French?”
Mu Jia Shu said, “I learned it in my spare time.”
Liang Pingzhao asked, “You guys even learn French in your spare time? Which high school did you go to?”
Mu Jia Shu simply decided to lay everything out at once, “The City’s First Public High School. I was in the French-English preparatory class. Later, I was accepted into the French Department of the Kyoto University of Foreign Studies, but the tuition for minor languages was too expensive, so I didn’t attend.”
He really couldn’t tell. Liang Pingzhao felt a bit of regret and a hint of doubt, thinking the kid might be bragging. However, he was likely so busy he wished he could split himself in two. Seeing that Mu Jia Shu’s French transcription was very fluent and looked like he actually knew it, he brought over a French contract and pointed to the middle: “Can you translate this?”
Mu Jia Shu took a look and said casually, “Article Two: Quality and Technical Standards of Goods, Party B’s After-Sales Service and Compensation for Damages. One: The quality and technical standards of the goods shall be in accordance with national regulations…”
“Excellent.” Liang Pingzhao was pleasantly surprised. “Then translate this contract too. I’ll come to get it in a while. Thanks a lot; I’ll help you fight for some benefits in front of the boss when I get back.”
After he left, Mu Jia Shu breathed a sigh of relief imperceptibly.
He could use both hands, but his right hand was still more flexible. Fortunately, in the past, he had almost never had a reason to use his left hand in front of Wei Xun. Using a disguise like this could hide the truth; otherwise, if his handwriting were recognized, it would be truly difficult to explain.
Mu Jia Shu also spent the morning busy. He had originally put the previous night’s fight to the back of his mind. It wasn’t until noon when he finished transcribing the documents and went out to give them to Liang Pingzhao that a passing female colleague said casually, “Hey, isn’t this Xiao Shen? It seems someone is looking for you downstairs and was stopped outside by the security. Didn’t you know?”
Mu Jia Shu truly didn’t know: “Really? Then I’ll go take a look. Thank you, Big Sister Zhao.”
Time was tight after work at noon. Everyone was either rushing home or hurrying to eat. He didn’t want to keep the other person waiting, so he didn’t ask for specifics. On the contrary, the colleagues all liked this polite young man, and the female colleague added, “It’s a young man about your age, very clean-looking. I don’t know if he’s your friend. Go have a look.”
Mu Jia Shu thanked her and went downstairs, thinking about who it could be. Unfortunately, Shen Shu had been a small-time thug since his school days, and the people he contacted were too many and too varied. His residual memories were also chaotic, making it hard to guess.
As a result, he didn’t see anyone when he reached the first floor. Wei Xun’s company was strictly managed. He asked the front desk, and they said the person was unwilling to leave a name and couldn’t get through to the phone of the person he was looking for, so they hadn’t allowed him in. He had just left.
Mu Jia Shu then stepped out of the main entrance to look around. Before he could find a similar silhouette, his arm suddenly tightened as he was dragged behind a marble pillar by the entrance.
Mu Jia Shu shook off the hand clutching him and turned around. In front of him was a clean-looking boy who looked bewildered after being shaken off: “Shen Shu, has your head gone bad?”
In a certain sense, it really had. Mu Jia Shu originally had no clue, but hearing the tone of this sentence, the name “Li Qing” that the Feather Duster from the previous night’s fight had mentioned immediately floated into his mind.
He had heard the name for a long time; today he finally saw the person. He smiled inconspicuously, “How did you know? I really did bump it during the fight with Huo Cheng and the others yesterday. What did you come looking for me for?”
“You still dare mention Huo Cheng to me!” Li Qing’s eyes widened, his heart filled with anger. He didn’t care about the injuries at all. “I haven’t even asked you yet! What exactly did you say to those people yesterday? My house was smashed this morning! They even said if I don’t pay back the money, they’ll chop off one of my hands! Also, why did you change your phone number!”
Mu Jia Shu crossed his arms and looked at him, his expression innocent and calm.
When one is anxious and angry, the person they can stand the least is someone like this. Li Qing was so angry he practically wanted to jump up and down, “Hey! Speak up! Think of something!”
Mu Jia Shu followed the suggestion and thought seriously for a moment before answering slowly, “Oh, then you should just pay it back.”
Li Qing: “…”
He sized Mu Jia Shu up for a moment, and suddenly it seemed like he had an epiphany. The anger faded, and he instead revealed a meaningful smile. He stepped forward a couple of paces, closing the distance between them, “I understand, Shen Shu. You’re making all these excuses today because you’re sincerely trying to string me along, right?”
Pretending to know everything in front of Shen Shu’s former acquaintances was not an easy task. Adhering to the principle that “the more you say, the more mistakes you make,” Mu Jia Shu asked succinctly in return, “Stringing you along for what?”
Li Qing brought his face close to him and laughed ambiguously, “Yo, you’re going to keep up the act to the end today? Fine, since you definitely want me to say it, then I’ll say it. Aren’t you just wanting me to top you? I didn’t agree the many times you mentioned it before; this time I’ll satisfy you, okay?”
Mu Jia Shu: “…”
As Li Qing spoke, he even blew air into his ear. Mu Jia Shu indeed had relatively little experience in matters of the heart, but even in his own circle of second-generation heirs back then, he was a top figure in terms of IQ and EQ. Whether with the same or opposite sex, he had learned a lot through osmosis. Now, he finally understood.
With this understanding, he was practically between laughter and tears.
WTF?
Consider it his failure to recognize a “hero.” He didn’t expect such a “pretty boy” to actually be a top—or rather, to actually have the heart of a top.
Fortunately, based on the meaning in Li Qing’s words, the two hadn’t had a sexual relationship before. Otherwise, Mu Jia Shu would have been shocked to death. What kind of logic was this?
With a faint smile, he raised a hand to block between them and said leisurely, “You top me, and then I give you money? I don’t think that’s very good.”
Li Qing froze for a moment and gave him a contemptuous look, “Then don’t tell me you want to be on top? Are you even worthy?! Shen Shu, I advise you not to be ungrateful when you’re being shown respect. My patience is limited.”
Mu Jia Shu: “…”
It was truly a huge misunderstanding. He didn’t want that at all.
Just as he was about to speak, a hand suddenly patted his shoulder from behind. Wei Xun’s voice, carrying a hint of irritation, came over, “Shen Shu, what are you doing? Stop dawdling!”
After bickering with Li Qing for so long, he was truly fed up. To be able to hear Wei Xun’s voice at this moment was simply invigorating.
Mu Jia Shu ignored his harsh tone and turned around with a bit of joy. Fearing Li Qing would still be troublesome, he deliberately used a more intimidating form of address, “Boss.”
Li Qing originally didn’t know who Wei Xun was. After hearing Mu Jia Shu’s address, he froze and looked at Wei Xun with an incredible gaze, then turned to look at Mu Jia Shu.
Wei Xun only stared at Mu Jia Shu, his heroic long brows slightly furrowed as he ordered, “Go back right now to eat lunch! After you eat, you still have to work this afternoon! I’ve been looking for you for ages. What are you running around for?”
Mu Jia Shu very happily accepted Wei Xun’s scolding, “Sorry, I’ll go in right now.”
Wei Xun said nothing more. With one hand in his trouser pocket, he turned coolly and walked back. From beginning to end, he didn’t even give Li Qing a proper glance. Mu Jia Shu followed behind him and entered the company’s main entrance.
Li Qing watched their retreating backs, not moving for a long time. He was both shocked and resentful, unable to figure out for a while how the Shen Shu who used to follow him like a dog had become so assertive—and it looked like he was doing quite well!
As expected, his wings had grown strong, and he actually dared to ignore him!
But soon, he could no longer maintain this stunned pose to express his surprise—the security guard walked over and politely asked him to leave.
Recommended Reads
![[ABO] After Accidental Marking, I Became Everyone’s Darling](https://beereads.space/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/ABO-225x300.jpeg)
![Accidentally Turned a Tragic Romance Plotline into a Sweet and Pampering One [Transmigration]](https://beereads.space/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/ACCIDENTALLY.png)
