Li Mochan raised his hand and rubbed her head lightly, saying breezily, "Maybe it’s just a matter of interest, like you."

A matter of interest?

Ye Jiuliang touched her chin, deep in thought.

"Not buying anymore?" Li Mochan glanced at the model figures in the display case, a faint but appealing curve forming at the corner of his lips.

Ye Jiuliang, uncharacteristically decisive when it came to buying a motorcycle figure, said, "Let’s go, time to eat."

Free things usually aren’t really free, especially if they’re from the Mo Family.

Li Mochan couldn’t help but chuckle and let her pull him away.

...

S state

After a night of heavy drinking, Ji Mingqian woke up with a throbbing headache.

Squinting, he met two pairs of smiling eyes and was startled out of wits, rolling off the bed in a panic.

A dull thud resounded.

Muffled laughter came from across the room, growing louder by the second.

Ji Mingqian sat up from the floor, rubbing the back of his head, and hissed, "Are you two sick, standing by my bed like that, don’t you know scaring someone could literally scare them to death?"

"Hahaha."

Gu Xinuo bent over laughing.

"When did you become such a scaredy-cat?"

Ji Mingqian rolled his eyes and slowly got up, "You try it next time and see if you’re any braver than I am."

"Here," Chu Chen handed him a cup, "Drink this quickly. Being drunk as a lord and you don’t feel embarrassed."

Ji Mingqian took the cup and, seeing that he had made the sobering tea for him, decided not to bicker with him.

After too much alcohol, his throat burned as if on fire. Ji Mingqian guzzled down the sobering tea and soon the cup was empty.

"Now that you’re sober, it’s time to talk about what happened last night, isn’t it?" Gu Xinuo leaned against the bed, arms folded, watching him with an air of leisure.

"Achen, when did you get here? Who’s in charge at headquarters?" Ji Mingqian asked, his expression stiffening as he tried to change the subject.

"Came yesterday," Chu Chen said, lips curling slightly, "Aqian, dodging the issue won’t work with us."

"Who’s dodging the issue?" Ji Mingqian retorted stubbornly.

"Who is the heartless bastard?" Gu Xinuo held back a laugh and spoke in a low voice, "And who deceived you out of your candied haws?"

Chu Chen followed up on her line, "Or perhaps you’re not planning to deal with someone’s mess anymore, huh?"

The two of them interacted perfectly in sync.

Ji Mingqian, "..."

Who is he, where is he?

He doesn’t know.

His gaze shifting evasively, he buried himself in the bed, "What are you two babbling about? I don’t understand a word."

As he spoke, he pulled the blanket over his head to block their teasing eyes.

This is the end, alcohol really is the devil’s brew.

Exchanging a glance with Chu Chen, Gu Xinuo spoke unhurriedly, "Ji Mingqian, so you’re playing dumb, huh?"

Seeing the person hidden under the blanket still silent, she continued, "I just remembered, I haven’t told Ajiu about this yet. She’d be delighted to hear it."

Before she had even finished, Ji Mingqian abruptly threw off the blanket and sat up with his hair in a disheveled mess.

He glared at Gu Xinuo irritably, "Can’t you be a bit kinder?"

"If I weren’t kind, who would have dragged you back here?" Gu Xinuo retorted with a scoff.

Ji Mingqian, "..."

"Come clean—who dumped you?" Gu Xinuo pressed on.

"Who told you I got dumped? Please, when has Ji Mingqian ever been dumped by someone else?" As if his tail had been stepped on, Ji Mingqian bristled immediately.

"Achen, the way you looked last night, it’s very possible it was all because of a romantic issue," Gu Xinuo quickly passed the buck.

Ji Mingqian’s lips twitched slightly, his gaze shifting towards Chu Chen as he gritted his teeth and said, "I wasn’t aware your imagination had become so fanciful."

Nonsense about relationship troubles?

He might as well fly to the sky.

"So, was it or wasn’t it?" Gu Xinuo persisted.

Ji Mingqian replied, enunciating every word, "No, it wasn’t."

"Then what was it about?"

"I just had a drink; why does there have to be a reason for everything?"

"You did more than drink—you were insulting people all the way home last night. Does that sound like nothing to you?"

"Did I insult anyone?" Ji Mingqian flatly denied, "When did that happen? I don’t remember."

"Forget it, if you won’t say, so be it. With that nasty temper of yours, you’ll scare off any girl sooner or later." Unable to pry a word from him, Gu Xinuo lost interest.

"Hey, hey, hey, make yourself clear, where exactly is my temper nasty?" Still smarting from the setback he’d suffered at Jiang Yisheng’s, Ji Mingqian was like a lion with its fur standing on end, extra sensitive.

Gu Xinuo made a face at him, "Lalala."

Then, hooking her arm through Chu Chen’s, she left with springy steps.

When the bedroom door closed, the room’s light dimmed even further.

Ji Mingqian raked his hands through his hair, feeling inexplicably annoyed.

"Jiang Yisheng, you troublemaker." He put on his slippers, cursing Jiang Yisheng as he headed to the bathroom.

Downstairs in the living room, Chu Chen and Gu Xinuo were both engrossed in their laptops, working on documents, the tapping sounds of their keyboards echoing intermittently.

Hearing the footsteps behind her, Gu Xinuo said without turning her head, "Breakfast is on the dining table."

Ji Mingqian hmmed in response and walked into the dining room. In no time, he came back with a piece of bread in his mouth.

"Where are the car keys? Lend them to me."

Chu Chen paused, lifting his gaze to look at him, "Where are you heading?"

"The auction is starting in a couple of days; I need to keep an eye on the final preparations to prevent any mistakes." Ji Mingqian’s hair was slightly damp, messily hanging over his forehead, rebellious and flamboyant,

"Not going to get your candied hawthorns back?" Gu Xinuo teased.

Ji Mingqian bared his teeth, "Boring."

Chu Chen opened a drawer, took out the car keys, and tossed them to him, "If you see Ajiu, give her a message by the way. Tell her Mo Lingling’s matter has been settled."

Ji Mingqian caught the car keys, grunted in acknowledgment, then walked to the door, nibbling on his bread.

As the sound of the door closing came from the hallway, Gu Xinuo couldn’t help but chuckle, "So quick to recover, looks like he probably didn’t get dumped after all."

"Are you that curious?" Chu Chen glanced at her sideways, with an amused expression.

Gu Xinuo huffed, "Don’t tell me you’re not curious."

Chu Chen chuckled guiltily; alright, he was a tiny bit curious too.

＊＊

As dusk fell, the sparse twinkle of stars became faintly visible.

Coincidentally, just after Jiang Yisheng had come home, Li Mochan followed suit; all three of them had returned, delighting Mrs. Jiang immensely.

After dinner, Ye Jiuliang took out all the souvenirs he had bought; Mrs. Jiang and Veya busied themselves with opening gifts.

To the side, Jiang Yisheng seemed a bit preoccupied, and even though he was smiling, he couldn’t escape Li Mochan’s sharp eyes.

His eyebrows raised slightly, and his crisp voice emerged, "Asheng."

Jiang Yisheng looked up at him, "Hmm?"