Ye Qiqi quickly called the doctor, and after Mu Qingyan obediently completed the examination and the medical staff left, he asked, “Did Ji Liyun get injured and lose consciousness in order to save me? What happened that day? How did I come back? How long was I unconscious?”

Shen Huai and Ye Qiqi glanced at each other, then said, “It’s a long story…”

“Don’t beat around the bush, tell me quickly!” Mu Qingyan urged.

It turned out that Ji Liyun knew that Mu Qingyan planned to catch Xing Hao trading drugs in Antarctica and was very worried, always afraid that Mu Qingyan would get into trouble.

He had planned to surprise Mu Qingyan in Antarctica and bring him back to the country, but he did not expect to lose contact with Mu Qingyan as soon as he arrived in Antarctica.

The moment Mu Qingyan uploaded the video of Xing Hao’s crime to the cloud, Ji Liyun immediately called the police and handed the video over to the authorities.

“According to Wen Ye, Mr. Ji’s first reaction was to find Xing Hao when he knew he couldn’t reach you. When he found out that Xing Hao was nowhere to be found, he knew something was wrong. Mr. Ji and Wen Ye used both black and white channels to force one of Xing Hao’s subordinates to reveal their plan to kidnap, torture, and kill you, then dump your body in Antarctica, as well as the location where Xing Hao had kidnapped you.”

“Hmph, I knew it. Xing Hao didn’t plan on letting me go after kidnapping me,” Mu Qingyan sneered.

“Later, Mr. Ji and Wen Ye found you and fought Xing Hao and his hired thugs. They managed to save you in the end.”

Although Ye Qiqi’s words were simple, Mu Qingyan knew that Xing Hao must have had more than two thugs with him, and it must have been very difficult for Ji Liyun and Wen Ye to fight against them.

Seeing Ye Qiqi become silent while speaking, Shen Huai patted her shoulder and continued, “Xing Hao hit Mr. Ji’s head several times with a heavy object, nearly killing him. Fortunately, they had informed Guo Rong before going to save you. Guo Rong immediately sent the security guards in the base to the location Mr. Ji had sent, and they managed to save Mr. Ji, Wen Ye, and you.”

Unexpectedly, although Guo Rong often opposed him, he stood on his side in a critical moment.

Mu Qingyan asked, “Did Guo Rong send us back later?”

“We are still in the top hospital in Q country near Antarctica,” Shen Huai showed the medical manual in his hand and said, “Because you and Mr. Ji were seriously injured, Guo Rong arranged for you to be admitted to this most advanced and best medical hospital, and then called your godfather and godmother, and called Ye Qiqi to take care of you.”

“Uncle Guo… he’s quite thoughtful,” Mu Qingyan said.

“I couldn’t reach you for several days, so I asked your godfather and godmother about what happened and rushed over here. After calculating, you’ve been in a coma for more than half a month,” said Shen Huai.

“What about Xing Hao?” Ye Qiqi angrily asked, “Although that scum was finally beaten by CEO Ji until his bones were broken and was sent to a domestic police station due to extradition clauses, I still think it’s too easy for him!”

“Let’s wait for the court to announce the verdict.”

---

Mu Qingyan had a good physical condition and recovered in the hospital after more than half a month of recuperation. However, because Ji Liyun remained unconscious, he still refused to return to China and took care of Ji Liyun in the ward every day while working remotely.

Three months later, Xing Hao was sentenced to life imprisonment for many crimes such as nurturing killers, three attempts to murder Mu Qingyan (unsuccessful), tax evasion, drug trafficking, and dark web transactions. Xie Ming’s charges were also confirmed, and the two were both sent to prison.

Mu Qingyan read the court’s verdict to the comatose Ji Liyun and said, “Ah Yun, we did it. Wake up quickly, and let’s celebrate together.”

After a moment of silence, he held Ji Liyun’s slightly cold hand and said again, “Can you wake up? I miss you so much.”

---

For almost half a year, Mu Qingyan stayed by Ji Liyun’s side almost every day, from nine in the morning to nine in the evening, talking to him and using his laptop to deal with the affairs of Mu’s Group and MU Corporation.

Until one day, when he walked into Ji Liyun’s hospital bed, he found that he was gone.

Anxious Mu Qingyan called Ji Liyun, “Hello, when did you wake up? Where did you go?!”

Unexpectedly, it was Wen Ye who answered the phone, “Mr. Mu, Mr. Ji woke up in the early hours of the morning and is now on his way back to China.”

“What? Back to China?”

“Yes, a private doctor is coming to pick him up, please rest assured. Also, Mr. Ji has arranged a private plane, which is already at the airport and ready at any time,” Wen said.

“Oh.”

Mu Qingyan could guess that Ji Liyun did this because he didn’t want Mu Qingyan to spend more time on him. After all, he had been unconscious for half a year, and even if he woke up, his body would still need a long time to recover.

“Wen Ye, let Ji Liyun answer the phone,” Mu Qingyan said.

“I’m sorry, Mr. Mu, Mr. Ji is not available to answer the phone at the moment. If there’s nothing else, I’ll hang up,” Wen replied.

As expected.

Mu Qingyan knew that Ji Liyun was doing this for his own good, but he couldn’t help but feel angry. After all, his life was saved by Ji Liyun, and it was only right for him to spend time and effort on Ji Liyun, right?

But Ji Liyun didn’t think so. He was reluctant and didn’t want Mu Qingyan to see him in a messy state during his recovery period.

After hanging up the phone, Mu Qingyan immediately took Ji Liyun’s other private plane back to China. He pretended to work every day and didn’t contact Ji Liyun, but in reality, he called Wen Ye every day to ask about the situation.

Days went by, and seasons changed.

During this period, Mu Qingyan successfully took over the Mu Group and became the new president, thanks to his outstanding abilities. He also helped Shen Huai avoid the trap set by his elder brother in the original book, firmly grasping his own shares and power.

Unconsciously, it was already August 28th again. It had been exactly two years since he transmigrated into the book.

This day happened to be a Tuesday, and Mu Qingyan went to the Mu Group as usual.

After 8 pm in the evening, the power suddenly went out on his office floor, and everything was pitch black.

“Qi Qi, let the security guards take a look. Why did this floor lose power?” Mu Qingyan shouted outside his office.

After a long time without a response, Mu Qingyan turned on the flashlight on his phone and walked out of the office, shouting again, “Ye Qiqi?”

Suddenly, many fireflies flew past in front of him, as if he were in the midst of a galaxy of stars.

Ye Qiqi stood nearby and asked playfully, “Boss, are you ready?”

Mu Qingyan was a little angry, “Ready for what? Hurry up and get the security to restore the power!”

Suddenly, his eyes lit up with a sea of candles, which formed a huge heart shape. On either side of the heart, candles spelled out the initials of Mu Qingyan and Ji Liyun’s names, “MQY” and “JLY”.

Mu Qingyan’s heart pounded when he saw this scene, and he thought to himself, could it be…

Sure enough, several beams of colorful lights lit up, all shining on Ji Liyun, who was wearing a white designer suit. Ji Liyun knelt on one knee, holding a bouquet of red roses in front of him.

“Ah Yan, will you marry me?”

-The end–

ry’s note :

Finished~ ✧°˖✧◝(⁰▿⁰)◜✧˖°

I deeply apologize for the discomfort caused to the readers due to many errors in the use of ‘he’ and ‘she,’ or other mistakes. However, I hope you can still enjoy this story.

See you in another translation (^‿^)

---

Five minutes later, Ye Qiqi replied with a message: “The private plane has been arranged, and the driver will pick you up at 10 o’clock sharp to take you to the private airport. After arriving in Peng City, you are expected to wait for half an hour before boarding the ship.”

Mu Qingyan looked at the time and saw that he had an hour to spare. He simply packed his luggage and sent a message to Ji Liyun: “I’m going to Antarctica.”

Ji Liyun had always been very disciplined. He would stay up late but never oversleep, so at this time, he had already finished breakfast and was watching the morning news.

“Why do you suddenly want to go to Antarctica?” Ji Liyun asked on the phone.

Mu Qingyan replied as he sorted out what he needed to bring: “Xing Hao has taken the bait. He will go to the base in Antarctica to make the deal the day after tomorrow. I want to go there and catch him in the act.”

Ji Liyun immediately tried to stop him: “That’s too dangerous. Let the bodyguards do it, or I’ll ask Wen to help you.”

“I’m not at ease. I want to go there in person,” Mu Qingyan said.

“But…”

Mu Qingyan stopped what he was doing and said seriously, “Don’t try to dissuade me. I’ve already arranged a private plane and a ship. I have to go. I want to personally send him to prison.”

“Okay.”

Based on the information he received the day before, Xie Ming told Zhao Shuiming, the new lawyer in charge of his case, that Xing Hao would not give up on him because they had many interests linked together.

Digging deeper, Zhao Shuiming found that Xing Hao used Xie Ming’s identity to launder money in foreign banks.

Following the trail, he also found out that Xing Hao’s company was not only laundering money but also engaging in underground trading and drug trafficking. They even forged documents and claimed that they were authorized by the Mu Group to purchase drugs.

Mu Qingyan came up with a plan and had Shen Huai find a bodyguard with a criminal record to deliberately buy drugs from Xing Hao. To his surprise, Xing Hao requested to make the trade in Antarctica.

Because Xing Hao was involved in the Polar Plan, he had the authority to move freely in the Mu Group’s Antarctic research base.

Mu Qingyan guessed that Xing Hao wanted to make the deal in the Mu Group’s Antarctic research base and then deliberately sell fake goods to anger the buyer. Alternatively, he might have someone else make the trade and then report it himself, accusing the Mu Group of using the Polar Plan to traffic drugs.

Anticipating Xing Hao’s plan, Mu Qingyan decided to enter the base early and not let Xing Hao know. He planned to take advantage of their trade and strike first.

---

After Mu Qingyan successfully arrived at the Antarctic base, he only let the subordinates who were involved in this plan know, and he hid in his father’s exclusive room.

He also asked Ye Qiqi to pretend that he was just going on a business trip to another city in the MU company, and not reveal to the outside world that he had already arrived in Antarctica.

Time passed quickly, and in the blink of an eye, it was the day of Xing Hao’s transaction.

Xing Hao was very cautious and only mentioned the transaction at the Antarctic research base of the Mu Corporation but did not give the exact location.

It was not until just before the transaction that Mu Qingyan received a message that Xing Hao would be conducting the transaction in the underground warehouse of the Mu Corporation base.

Mu Qingyan didn’t want to alert Xing Hao, so he entered the warehouse ahead of time and personally placed miniature cameras in several locations, which were then connected to his phone via Bluetooth.

Just as he was about to leave the warehouse, he heard some noise outside the door and immediately hid.

Sure enough, Xing Hao and two of his subordinates walked into the warehouse not long after. And within ten minutes, the bodyguard pretending to be a trader of Shen Huai’s had also arrived.

Mu Qingyan quietly opened his phone and recorded their transaction through the miniature cameras.

Everything went smoothly, and Mu Qingyan saved the video to the cloud, intending to hand it over to the police once he returned to the country.

Little did he know, just as he left the base and boarded a ship to Peng City, preparing to take a private plane back home, someone suddenly approached him and knocked him out.

---

A chill hit his face and body.

When Mu Qingyan was splashed with ice-cold water and woke up, he found himself unable to move – he was tied up in a dimly lit room, facing a masked man.

“Awake?” A lazy voice came from nearby.

Just by hearing the voice, Mu Qingyan knew it was Xing Hao.

Mu Qingyan turned his head and saw Xing Hao sitting on a nearby chair with his legs crossed.

“Xing Hao, you have quite the nerve to tie me up like this.” Mu Qingyan looked at him coldly, his eyes like sharp knives.

“Master Mu, my ex-husband, it’s been a long time since we last met,” Xing Hao stood up and walked leisurely to Mu Qingyan, waving a knife in front of him that gleamed with cold light. “I really didn’t expect that we would meet under these circumstances.”

Mu Qingyan snorted, “Yeah, I thought I would visit you in prison instead.”

“Dream on!” Xing Hao turned his wrist and plunged the knife into Mu Qingyan’s right chest.

Suddenly, blood gushed out and Mu Qingyan’s face turned pale from the pain.

Xing Hao leaned in close to Mu Qingyan’s face and threatened, “You’re already in my hands. If you want to live, give me the video.”

The moment Mu Qingyan realized he was tied up by Xing Hao, he knew that Xing Hao had come for the video of him trading drugs.

Mu Qingyan laughed, “I see you’re really stupid. Even if you get the video, what can you do? I already uploaded it to the cloud. Ji Liyun and Ye Qiqi both know the password. Drug trafficking, money laundering, kidnapping… you can just wait to go to jail!”

“You’re really annoying, Mu Qingyan.” Xing Hao waved his hand and a masked man next to him handed him a syringe filled with a drug.

“Even if I die, I want to watch you die in agony first!” Xing Hao said viciously as he forcefully injected the substance into Mu Qingyan’s body.

Suddenly, Mu Qingyan felt an unbearable pain throughout his body, as if his organs were being crushed by a hand.

His head felt like it was about to explode.

Gradually, his vision became blurry and his body began to convulse uncontrollably…

For a moment, Mu Qingyan felt like he was going to die.

He felt a little regretful because he didn’t get to see Xing Hao and Xie Ming go to jail with his own eyes.

He was also saddened because he knew his parents and Ji Liyun would be devastated by his death.

There were still many things he wanted to do.

“Bang!”

It sounded like a door had been kicked open.

Someone rushed over, untied him, and held him, shouting anxiously, “Ah Yan! Ah Yan! Pull yourself together!”

It was Ji Liyun’s voice…

Later, it was unknown what happened to Mu Qingyan while he was in a coma. When he woke up again, he was already lying on a hospital bed.

“Ji Liyun!” Mu Qingyan opened his eyes and blurted out Ji Liyun’s name, but his voice was barely audible due to his weakened condition.

Shen Huai and Ye Qiqi, who were guarding him by his bedside, were overjoyed when they saw him wake up. “Great, you finally woke up!”

Ye Qiqi hurriedly ran out to tell the doctor, while Shen Huai called Mu Yuchen and Shen Xiaoxiao on the phone, excitedly saying, “Qingyan woke up! Yes, just now. Ye Qiqi went to call the doctor to examine him. Hmm, I’m here with him. He’s okay now… Okay, I’ll wait for you.”

Mu Qingyan weakly reached out and tugged on Shen Huai’s clothes.

Shen Huai immediately bent down and asked, “What’s wrong? Are you feeling uncomfortable anywhere?”

“How’s Ji Liyun?” Mu Qingyan asked in a hoarse voice.

“He’s not doing too well,” Shen Huai pursed his lips and said, “You should rest and take care of your health first.”

Mu Qingyan became anxious, “What’s wrong with him?”

Shen Huai knew Mu Qingyan’s personality. If he didn’t tell him, he would immediately get out of bed and go find Ji Liyun.

So he had to tell him the truth, “He has a concussion and fractures. He is still in danger and in the intensive care unit.”

---

When Mu Qingyan woke up, he recalled what had happened the night before and felt like it was all just a dream.

For 24 years of being single, he had unexpectedly fallen in love. The moment they made their relationship official, they kissed for so long that he lost track of time. It was an incredibly sweet and lingering moment.

Without realizing it, he blushed again.

Mu Qingyan got up and walked to the sink to splash cold water on his face. He thought to himself, “You’re a man, why do you blush so easily?”

Because it was a workday, he washed up, had breakfast, and went to work at the MU Company as usual.

As soon as Ye Qiqi saw him, she smiled and said, “Boss, you’re beaming today. Did something good happen?”

“Did it?” Mu Qingyan cleared his throat intentionally and said, “It seems you guys are used to seeing me with no expression or an icy face.”

“How could that be!” Ye Qiqi giggled and said, “But I just received some good news that can make the boss happy.”

“What good news?”

“The prosecutor has already charged Xie Ming. I contacted Fang Fang, Zhang Long’s assistant lawyer, a few times and gained her trust,” Ye Qiqi said.

“Well done,” Mu Qingyan said.

“I hinted at it a few times and found that Lawyer Zhang didn’t seem to care much about this case. He just treated it like an ordinary lawsuit, leaving everything except the court hearing to Fang Fang,” Ye Qiqi added.

“It seems that Xing Hao paid a lot of money to hire the big lawyer, but didn’t spend any effort to make him take care of Xie Ming,” Mu Qingyan sneered.

“Xie Ming has also had a tough time recently. According to Fang Fang, Xing Hao refused his requests to see him several times,” Ye Qiqi said, “It seems their relationship is nothing more than this. They both fly away in a disaster.”

“Qiqi, keep in touch with Fang Fang and give her some of the evidence we’ve collected about 20 days before the trial,” Mu Qingyan ordered.

“No problem!”

As soon as he entered the office and sat down, Mu Qingyan received a message from Ji Liyun: “Are you awake?”

Mu Qingyan rolled his eyes and replied, “I’m already in the MU office!”

Ji Liyun on the other end couldn’t help but laugh.

He found Mu Qingyan more and more adorable, so he replied, “Okay, to reward Ah Yan, who is so career-minded, I bought two tickets for the concert of Zhou Tianwang on Saturday night and Sunday.”

Zhou Tianwang is a giant star in the Asian music industry, and his concert tickets are hard to come by.

After reading many of his songs through a book, Mu Qingyan had mentioned to Ji Liyun that he liked this talented singer.

When he heard that there were tickets for Zhou Tianwang’s concert, he naturally wouldn’t refuse: “Great!”

After confirming their romantic relationship, Ji Liyun came to have dinner with Mu Qingyan or pick him up from work more often. Even though they hadn’t made their relationship public yet, everyone at the MU company knew about their relationship with Xiao Mu and President Ji’s interactions.

There were even further expectations, such as:

“When did Xiao Mu and President Ji start dating?”

“It should be recently, right? I haven’t seen them holding hands before.”

“And the way they look at each other is different now.”

“Guess who pursued who?”

“It’s definitely President Ji!”

“Absolutely President Ji!”

“Regardless, President Ji is a thousand times better than Xing Hao, in terms of appearance, ability, and background, he’s the perfect match for Xiao Mu.”

“Our Xiao Mu is a beautiful person of the times, and has great abilities.”

“Oh, I can’t wait for their wedding.”

“Yeah, before Xiao Mu and Xing Hao only registered their marriage, but didn’t have a wedding. Xiao Mu didn’t like Xing Hao, he just registered for the sake of the child. So he never wanted a wedding. But this time with President Ji, hehehe, we can look forward to it.”

As expected, a few days later, Lawyer Zhang refused to defend Mu Qingyan by canceling their appointment because he believed that Xie Ming was the culprit who harmed Mu Qingyan.

A criminal litigation lawyer from the law firm where Lawyer Hu worked, Zhao Shuiming, took on the case. As arranged by Lawyer Hu, Zhao Shuiming frequently contacted Xie Ming under the pretext of representing the case, trying to extract information from him.

Soon, on Saturday, Mu Qingyan and Ji Liyun went to watch Zhou Tianwang’s concert as planned. Since they planned to make their relationship public sooner or later, they didn’t disguise themselves with caps and masks, and walked hand in hand into the concert openly.

The paparazzi had already caught on to their love affair and were taking pictures and posting them online, which caused Mu Qingyan’s fans to become greatly interested and excited.

“Mu Mu and Ji Liyun are in love! That’s great!”

“Yes! They’re so compatible, I ship this CP so hard!”

“I found out that Lin Shuangshuang had already shipped them a long time ago. She posted many hints on her Weibo that she was a fan of the Mu Ji CP!

“Could it have started when they were filming <Lost in the Stars>?”

“I want to see Mu Ji’s interaction! Paparazzi, entertainment reporters, more, more!”

Ji Liyun bought tickets for the indoor area, in the second row directly facing the stage, because he said the first row was too close and the second row was more comfortable to watch.

Mu Qingyan smiled and said, “You’ve been here before?”

“How could I? This is the first concert I’ve ever been to in my life. Before, I only knew work,” Ji Liyun said.

Mu Qingyan felt the same way. In his memory and the original text’s description of this overbearing president, the former Ji Liyun had no special interests or hobbies besides work, let alone watching a concert for leisure.

Ji Liyun took Mu Qingyan’s hand and said, “I had Wenya do market research specifically to find the most comfortable spot to watch a concert in this stadium. Wenya did the research and data analysis, and came up with the results.”

“Is it the spot we’re in now?”

Ji Liyun proudly said, “Yes.”

Mu Qingyan thought to himself, “You’re really something.”

After a night of revelry, when Ji Liyun sent him home, it was already past 11:30 at night. After Mu Qingyan finished washing up, he went to bed.

He thought it was Sunday the next day, and he could sleep in, but he was awakened early by his phone vibrating.

He perked up when he saw the caller ID.

“Hello.”

“President Mu,” a deep voice came from the other end, “The fish is already on the hook.”

“I know.”

Mu Qingyan’s lips curved up, and after hanging up the phone, he immediately sent a text message to Ye Qiqi: “I’m going to Antarctica. Contact me immediately if there are any issues with the MU company or the projects I’m working on.”

He thought Ye Qiqi would sleep until noon on her day off, but in less than a minute, he received a call from her.

“Boss, you’re going to Antarctica? How are you going? Do you want me to contact a private plane for you?”

Seemingly just waking up, Ye Qiqi spoke softly, but still clearly.

Mu Qingyan decided to tell her, “Okay, please arrange a private plane and a ship for me. I’m going to Mu’s research base in Antarctica.”

“No problem.”

---

Mu Qingyan was stunned by this gentle yet oppressive kiss.

Before he transmigrated into the book, he had devoted himself solely to his career in the entertainment industry. He had never been in love nor had he ever been kissed. Even the kissing scenes in his work were acted out with a stand-in.

So this was what it felt like to be kissed.

Soft and gentle, it tickled his heart.

Mu Qingyan felt the unfamiliar tenderness and responded awkwardly. When he responded, Ji Liyun was slightly startled, then cupped the back of Mu Qingyan’s head and kissed him more passionately.

This fiery and intense kiss made Mu Qingyan feel like his heart was slowly being filled by the person in front of him, magically and uncontrollably.

Suddenly, he realized something and pushed Ji Liyun away.

“Why are you doing this?” Mu Qingyan whispered.

“You just confessed your feelings, and I haven’t even agreed yet.”

“I feel so confused, but why did I follow my instincts and respond?”

“Or maybe there’s something wrong with me…”

Ji Liyun looked at him gently, his eyes full of overflowing affection. Mu Qingyan only met his gaze for a moment before quickly looking away.

“Ah Yan,” Ji Liyun took a step forward and still tightly held onto him.

He slightly lowered his head and rested his chin on Mu Qingyan’s shoulder, speaking in a warm voice. “I’ve wanted to tell you for a long time that I like you.”

“Before, it was a restrained kind of like, but now it’s an uncontrollable love.”

Ji Liyun spoke slowly, as if waiting for Mu Qingyan to slowly accept this fact from his words.

Mu Qingyan was half a head shorter than Ji Liyun. At this moment, the two were tightly pressed against each other, and he could feel Ji Liyun’s heartbeat clearly.

Thump, thump, thump.

Heartbeats in sync with him.

Ji Liyun saw that he was still silent and said again, “I really felt jealous about Luo Wenzhe. Whenever I thought about someone always being around you, it made me feel sour. I wondered if I ignored you on purpose, would you feel that I am more important, and would you develop the same feelings for me?”

“But I was wrong,” Ji Liyun laughed at himself, “The week I didn’t contact you felt like an eternity. Every day I woke up thinking of you, thought of you at work, and even thought of you when I slept. I was going crazy.”

“But you still didn’t contact me,” Mu Qingyan grumbled.

Ji Liyun raised his left hand and affectionately rubbed Mu Qingyan’s head. He smiled and said, “Yes, I wanted to wait for you to make the first move. But I couldn’t help it in the end, so I came to see you today.”

He stood up straight, held Mu Qingyan’s face in his warm hands, and gently kissed him on the forehead. The tender feeling made Mu Qingyan unable to resist.

“Don’t be angry with me anymore, okay?” Ji Liyun’s eyes full of love never left Mu Qingyan’s body.

He half coaxed and half begged, “I don’t need you to respond to my feelings for you right away. I just hope you can forgive me for being emotional those days.”

The President finally admitted his own emotional tendencies, which made Mu Qingyan unable to help but laugh out loud, “Okay.”

Although the disagreement between them had been resolved, a question had been weighing on Mu Qingyan’s mind. He wanted to know the answer, “Do you like me because we grew up together?”

Ji Liyun: “?”

“This answer is important to me,” Mu Qingyan finally looked back at Ji Liyun and spoke with conviction.

“Okay,” Ji Liyun answered very seriously. “I did gradually start to like you after getting to know you. Although I didn’t keep in touch for a long time after going abroad, the first thing I wanted to do when I came back was to confess my feelings to you.”

“I just didn’t expect that I was too late, and you were already engaged. So I kept this feeling hidden in my heart.”

Mu Qingyan sighed quietly. He thought to himself that he was right. Ji Liyun liked him only because he liked the original host.

Ji Liyun: “This kind of liking can be for a lover, but it can also be transformed into a brotherly love. It’s the kind of liking that wishes for your happiness silently. But later, it became different.”

“Different?” Mu Qingyan was curious. How could it be different?

“After your divorce, it’s like you’ve become a different person. It makes me feel both familiar and unfamiliar, and I constantly want to get closer to you, to understand you,” Ji Liyun gently caressed Mu Qingyan’s cheek, “The closer I get to you, the more I am attracted to you. Gradually, I realized that I am falling for you more and more.”

“This kind of love has already surpassed the love I had before. It has become a selfish but pure love, where I only want you to stay by my side, and I don’t want anyone else to take you away from me.”

Ji Liyun chuckled softly, “It’s a selfish yet pure love. I love you, Ah Yan.”

Beep beep beep –

The sound of a notification from Ji Liyun’s phone interrupted them. He took a look and said, “The driver is here. Do you still want to go for a drive or should I send you home?”

“Send me home,” Mu Qingyan accepted Ji Liyun’s explanation, but the alcohol was still affecting him, and his mind was in disarray. He wanted to go home, take a shower, and sleep.

When they arrived at the hotel’s entrance, the driver had already left. Mu Qingyan saw Ji Liyun sitting in the driver’s seat and said, “You can’t drink and drive.”

“I had planned to send you home today, so I didn’t drink,” Ji Liyun smiled.

Okay, so he had planned everything in advance.

Mu Qingyan didn’t say anything during the ride. He kept thinking about Ji Liyun’s confession. He wanted to sort out his thoughts and find reasons to reject him, but he couldn’t come up with any.

He thought Ji Liyun liked the original owner of the body he was in. But now, Ji Liyun not only liked the original owner, but also liked him. This kind of feeling was too complicated for Mu Qingyan, who had no experience in love.

Mu Qingyan couldn’t help but roar in his heart, love was just too complicated!

It was late at night, and the road conditions were good. After forty or fifty minutes, they arrived at Mu Qingyan’s villa.

“We’re here,” Ji Liyun helped Mu Qingyan unbuckle his seatbelt. Seeing that Mu Qingyan didn’t make a move to get out of the car, he asked, “Do you want to talk some more?”

“Okay,” Mu Qingyan answered softly.

Ji Liyun didn’t rush him, he just waited quietly.

Finally, Mu Qingyan spoke up and decided to tell this devoted person the truth, “I came here from a transmigration novel. I’m not originally from this world, and I’m not the Mu Qingyan you knew before you went abroad.”

He thought Ji Liyun would be shocked and think that he was just talking nonsense under the influence of alcohol.

But in fact, Ji Liyun remained calm and only fell silent for a few seconds before asking, “Was it on the day of your divorce?”

“Yes,” Mu Qingyan nodded and asked, “Do you believe that we are in a world from a novel, and that I am a transmigrant?”

“I believe it,” Ji Liyun muttered, “because I was reborn on the day you divorced.”

Mu Qingyan was surprised, “What? Reborn?” It turned out that it wasn’t just strange things happening to him.

“That day, I saw the news of his suicide by jumping off a building, and investigated the cause of his death. I was so sad that I was reborn. It seems that he really did die,” Ji Liyun sighed lightly. “I should have realized it earlier. His personality is completely different from yours. He’s not as smart and capable as you. He must have been bullied and insulted by Xing Hao and Xie Ming before he was overburdened, suffered from mental illness, and had to jump off the building.”

Mu Qingyan thought that since they were talking about it, he might as well explain the cause and effect of transmigration to Ji Liyun.

“I’ve dreamed of the original owner many times. The most memorable one was when I dreamed of him jumping off the building, as if he was pushed by someone,” he said.

“Pushed by someone…” Ji Liyun pondered for a moment and said, “You transmigrated, and I was reborn. This may be a coincidence, or perhaps, it is a destiny that wants us to work together to avenge him.”

“Maybe,” Mu Qingyan murmured with his head down.

Suddenly, he seemed to have thought of something and asked, “You said you investigated the cause of the original owner’s death before you were reborn? What was the result of the investigation?”

“The tragedy of jumping off a building was caused by Xing Hao and Xie Ming,” Ji Liyun gritted his teeth with unutterable anger every time he mentioned their names. “Later, I found out that Uncle Mu and Aunt Shen’s death was also related to them, but I didn’t have time to investigate it clearly, and then I was reborn.”

“In fact, I guessed that if someone didn’t do something, our family of three wouldn’t have died one after another within a year. I will protect my parents and never let them succeed again,” Mu Qingyan said.

The two of them sat in the car, silent for a few minutes.

Ji Liyun wanted to hold Mu Qingyan’s hand, but he dodged it. Mu Qingyan smiled faintly and said, “You already know that I am not the person you liked.”

“I have also said that I love you, the current you,” Ji Liyun held Mu Qingyan’s hand again and didn’t allow him to escape.

“…” Mu Qingyan tried several times but couldn’t pull his hand back, so he let him hold it.

Ji Liyun leaned in his ear and whispered, “So, do you have a little bit of liking for me?”

“I…” Mu Qingyan didn’t know what to say.

He didn’t feel any aversion or rejection towards Ji Liyun, and he even felt ecstatic when Ji Liyun confessed his feelings on Saint Island. He would get angry when Ji Liyun ignored him and would respond to his kisses without thinking.

Therefore, he also liked him.

Mu Qingyan didn’t want to deny it: “I kind of like you…”

Before he could finish his sentence, Ji Liyun happily hugged him and said, “That’s great, really great.”

“What?” Mu Qingyan didn’t understand.

Ji Liyun brought his face closer to Mu Qingyan and said in a soft voice, “It’s really great to have you.”

For some reason, after that night, Mu Qingyan felt relieved and sweet in his heart.

Seeing the faint smile on his face, Ji Liyun asked solemnly, “Can you be my lover?”

“Okay.”

Before getting off the car, Mu Qingyan still felt moved by the sweet kiss they shared on the terrace. He wanted to taste it again, so he took the initiative to kiss Ji Liyun’s lips.

---

When butler Li heard the sound of a car roaring outside the courtyard and was about to open the door to welcome the young master, he was stunned by what he saw – what? The young master and Mr. Ji were kissing!

Are they together?!

---

Author’s note:

Butler Li: What did I just see? Can I really see this? Should I prepare for the next happy event?

---

Upon hearing the voice, Mu Qingyan knew that the person who came to pester him was Luo Wenzhe.

The breath that came out of Luo Wenzhe’s mouth as he spoke, mixed with alcohol and the strong smell of tobacco, made Mu Qingyan feel nauseous.

“Get lost.” Mu Qingyan disgustedly pried away Luo Wenzhe’s hand that was holding onto him.

Luo Wenzhe hugged him tighter and flattered, “I booked a presidential suite in this hotel. I’ll take you there so you can sleep comfortably.”

Although Mu Qingyan was drunk, his mind was not muddled, and he naturally knew why Luo Wenzhe wanted to take him away. He also knew it was not as simple as just sleeping.

This made him even more repulsed.

“Let’s go.” Luo Wenzhe held onto Mu Qingyan’s body and led him towards a less crowded aisle.

He wanted to take advantage of Mu Qingyan and if successful, he could hook up with the young master of the Mu Group, and gain more wealth and resources. Even if it wasn’t successful, he could use the photos he took secretly in the room to extort a sum of money.

This perfect plan resounded loudly in Luo Wenzhe’s mind.

Previously, he had tried several times to invite Mu Qingyan to a bar when they were on the set, but it was not successful. This opportunity was rare, and he had to firmly grasp it!

“I said, get lost!”

Under the influence of alcohol, Mu Qingyan was particularly irritable. He saw Luo Wenzhe taking advantage of him, turned around and threw a punch, heavily hitting Luo Wenzhe’s face!

“Uh!”

Luo Wenzhe did not expect Mu Qingyan’s strength to be so strong. He stumbled back several steps and blood oozed from the corner of his mouth.

He wiped the blood from his mouth with the back of his hand, thinking that after suffering this loss, he must take down Mu Qingyan. But before he could stand up, he saw a man with a crazy and menacing look appear behind Mu Qingyan.

Ji Liyun’s expression was cold and terrifying, as if he was so angry that he wanted to kill someone. Luo Wenzhe was scared and kept backing away.

“What do you want to do?” He lifted Luo Wenzhe’s collar like holding a chick.

“I… I saw Mr. Mu was drunk and wanted to help him back,” Luo Wenzhe explained hastily.

“Oh?” Ji Liyun turned his head to look at the drunkard Mu Qingyan leaning against the wall and asked in a gentle voice, “Did he say that?”

Mu Qingyan narrowed his eyes and said slowly, “No, he wanted to take me to a hotel.”

Luo Wenzhe: “…”

Upon hearing this, Ji Liyun turned his head back and looked at Luo Wenzhe with a smile that was more terrifying than his usual icy expression. To Luo Wenzhe, this expression was a hundred times scarier and made him so scared that he broke out in a cold sweat.

“I was wrong, President Ji. I will never have such disgusting thoughts again.” Luo Wenzhe pleaded repeatedly.

Ji Liyun had no intention of letting him go. Instead, he lifted his hand and choked Luo Wenzhe’s collar so tightly that he could hardly breathe. He said, “I already hinted to you not to have any crooked ideas about him. I didn’t expect you to be so bold.”

“I…” Luo Wenzhe’s mouth was full of blood and his face was red, completely different from his elegant appearance on the screen.

At this time, another customer walked by, and Ji Liyun, mindful of his identity, didn’t want to do anything more. So, he threw Luo Wenzhe to the ground and said coldly, “Don’t appear in front of me again.”

While Ji Liyun was still not changing his mind, Luo Wenzhe quickly got up from the ground and ran away in a sorry state.

“Hey? Isn’t that Luo Wenzhe?”

“Yes, why is he disheveled?”

“It looks like he was beaten…”

“It seems like there’s going to be some gossip. Let’s wait for tonight’s entertainment news.”

In the lobby of the first floor, the onlookers saw Luo Wenzhe running out of the hotel and started talking.

Ji Liyun opened his phone and directly called Wen Ye, “Suppress the news about Luo Wenzhe being beaten tonight. Yes, I punched him…”

Mu Qingyan looked at Ji Liyun and thought, “I was the one who hit him, but how did it become you who hit him? Why do you have to take the blame for me?”

“Ah Yan got drunk, I’ll take him home. Can you handle the wrap-up work for the wrap party here? Alright, that’s settled.”

After saying that, Ji Liyun hung up the phone and helped Mu Qingyan, who was leaning against the wall like a pile of mud, and said, “Let’s go, I’ll take you home.”

“I’m not going,” Mu Qingyan said, struggling like a spoiled child, “why do you always have to arrange things for me? I’m not going this time!”

Ji Liyun knew he was just drunk and throwing a tantrum, and couldn’t help but laugh. But he gently persuaded, “Do you want to stand by this wall all night? Waiting for fans to come and ask for your autograph?”

“I want to feel the northwest wind!” Mu Qingyan said unhappily.

“Okay, okay,” Ji Liyun signaled the security guard nearby to prevent strangers from taking pictures, and continued to coax, “how about we go somewhere else to feel the northwest wind?”

When Mu Qingyan didn’t answer, he said again, “There’s a rooftop coffee bar on the 20th floor here. Although it’s already past business hours, I can have the manager come and open it. Or I can have the driver bring the DB11 over and take you for a ride?”

The DB11 was Ji Liyun’s new car. He didn’t particularly like sports cars, but he bought it after hearing Mu Qingyan say it was cool and had yet to drive it.

Mu Qingyan thought for a long time, but because he was drunk, his brain wasn’t working properly and it took him a while to spit out two words stiffly: “Whatever.”

“Okay,” Ji Liyun smiled and took Mu Qingyan’s hand, saying, “I’ll have the driver bring the car over. Before he arrives, let’s go to the rooftop and feel the breeze.”

“Oh,” Mu Qingyan obediently followed Ji Liyun to the 20th floor. When the hotel manager heard that Mr. Ji wanted to go to the coffee bar, he quickly led a few waiters to reopen it for them.

Because it was already November, the night wind was chilly and made Mu Qingyan regret saying he wanted to feel the northwest wind.

Seeing this, Ji Liyun smiled and said, “How about we don’t do that. It’s quite cold tonight.”

Mu Qingyan was still unhappy and didn’t respond.

“Let me tell you, stay away from Luo Wenzhe…” Ji Liyun stood side by side with Mu Qingyan, his arm touching his, although he said it like that, there was no hint of blame.

Mu Qingyan was already holding back some anger, and now it was instantly ignited by the alcohol in his body. “I know, I’m already trying to stay away as much as possible. And as a friend, are you caring too much?”

He looked at Ji Liyun’s surprised expression and couldn’t help but say, “Why do you care so much about me?”

Although he was clearly throwing a tantrum, Ji Liyun just found him cute and, looking into his eyes, said confidently, “Because I like you. I don’t just want to be your friend.”

“I already said this on the Holy Island, but you passed out and fell asleep before you could hear me. I don’t know if you remember,” said Ji Liyun.

“So he really likes me?”

“But…,” Mu Qingyan was about to blurt out something that didn’t concern him personally, but Ji Liyun didn’t give him the chance.

Because his breath was getting closer and closer, and his warm lips had already covered Mu Qingyan’s.

Before he could react, Ji Liyun gently hugged Mu Qingyan.

The unique and light scent of his cologne enveloped Mu Qingyan’s entire body.

---

Author’s note:

Ji Liyun: Yes, we kissed. That’s right, I made the first move. (Proud.jpg)

---

The warm sunshine shone through the window and illuminated the smile on Ji Liyun’s face, which he only showed to Mu Qingyan, making his handsome face even more attractive.

Recalling all that Ji Liyun had done for him, Mu Qingyan felt that he would be too ungrateful if he didn’t follow the path that Ji Liyun had given him.

But he was fearless and wanted to play a little.

After all, it was Ji Liyun who said “I like you” and then acted as if nothing had happened, causing Mu Qingyan to keep thinking about that sentence, making him both thrilled and depressed.

“Mr. Ji,” Mu Qingyan deliberately used the name that Ji Liyun disliked the most and said sarcastically, “It was you who didn’t reply to my messages first. Why do you blame me for being cold?”

When Ji Liyun heard him say that, he not only didn’t think that Mu Qingyan was being ungrateful, but instead smiled even more happily. “So, Ah Yan cares so much about me not replying to your messages?”

“Hmph.” Mu Qingyan decided to ignore him and got up to return to his desk, but Ji Liyun grabbed his hand.

The warmth in his palm made Mu Qingyan tremble, and although he wanted to retract his hand, as soon as he moved a little, Ji Liyun’s hand firmly held it.

At this moment, Ji Liyun had hidden his smile, and his crimson lips were slightly parted, as if he wanted to say something, but Mu Qingyan preempted him, “I have to go to a meeting.”

“Oh.” Ji Liyun let go of his hand.

Mu Qingyan left the office with his tablet, while Ji Liyun remained in his seat, contemplating something.

Knowing that Mu Qingyan didn’t like smoking, Ji Liyun had quit smoking after returning to the country.

But at this moment, he was filled with indescribable confusion and frustration, and finally couldn’t help but walk out of the office and stand in front of Ye Qiqi’s desk, “Do you have a cigarette?”

Ye Qiqi’s desk faced Mu Qingyan’s office, and she had long since seen the strong emotional changes between Xiao Mu and Mr. Ji through the glass wall.

She opened a drawer and took out a flat wooden box, and asked after opening it, “Which brand does Mr. Ji like?”

The box contained eight packs of cigarettes with different brands and five brand-new cigars.

Ji Liyun casually took a pack of cigarettes with a light taste and asked with a smile, “Didn’t Ah Yan forbid anyone who visits for business talks to smoke? How did you prepare so much?”

Two months ago, Xiao Mu said, “I remember that you, President Ji, like to smoke, so I’ll keep some just in case,” as Ye Qiqi took out a brand new ashtray and said, “So all the cigarettes in this box are for you. I’m afraid you’ll get bored waiting for him and want to smoke.”

“Okay,” Ji Liyun’s face showed no emotion, but he felt happy inside.

He took a cigarette out and put it in his mouth, then walked to the window in the tea room with the ashtray and lighter before lighting the cigarette.

MU Company was very large, with 400 square meters on each floor. On the 16th floor, where Mu Qingyan’s office was located, there were only five people if there were no security guards or cleaning ladies. Besides the spacious President office, a large and a small conference room, a luxurious tea room, and a restroom, there were Ye Qiqi and three other secretaries’ desks.

Apart from Ye Qiqi, who was a personal secretary, the other three secretaries were her subordinates. They were very reserved because they had received instruction from Ye Qiqi. Even if they knew General Ji’s prominent identity, they would only politely greet him when they met, without deliberately trying to get close to him like others.

So Ji Liyun didn’t feel awkward or uncomfortable when he stayed on the 16th floor of MU Company with nothing to do.

He leaned against the window sill in the tea room, slowly exhaling smoke outside the window.

My confession is useless. How can I win Ah Yan’s heart?

Mu Qingyan, holding a tablet computer, stood in the elevator for a long time because he had no meeting, but he felt upset and didn’t want to be alone with Ji Liyun.

He was also confused about what he really wanted.

So he chose to escape.

The elevator stopped on the eighth floor. Several employees from the design department saw Mu Qingyan with a cold face in the elevator and were too scared to enter. They just politely said, “Hello, President Mu.”

Mu Qingyan nodded slightly in response.

The eighth floor was where the design director, design department supervisor, and several chief designers worked. He walked out of the elevator when he saw the employees hesitating outside and came to the design department supervisor’s door.

Sun Qian, the design department supervisor, saw Mu Qingyan walking towards him and immediately greeted him, “Xiao Mu, what brings you down here? Is there anything I can help you with?”

“Oh,” Mu Qingyan casually said, “I remember that the deadline for the final draft of the Spring Festival Special Edition is on the 10th of next month. I want to see how the design is progressing and what the theme will be.”

Sun Qian immediately said, “I think next year is the Year of the Rabbit. We can incorporate rabbit elements, which are cute and stylish. How about I bring in a few designers responsible for the Spring Festival edition to report directly to you?”

“Okay.” Mu Qingyan thought to himself that it was good enough to spend two hours on the eighth floor.

After receiving a call from Sun Qian, Fei Zhe led several designers into the conference room on the eighth floor.

Mu Qingyan looked at the initial designs and listened to Sun Qian, Fei Zhe, and other designers explain the design concepts for the Spring Festival special edition, but Ji Liyun’s hesitant face kept appearing in his mind.

He sense of career would not allow his to drift off during the meeting, but Ji Liyun’s face just wouldn’t go away.

In the past, he could sit through meetings for two or three hours without feeling the time pass by, but now even an hour felt unbearably long.

Sun Qian noticed Mu Qingyan rubbing his temples with closed eyes and asked with concern, “President Mu, what’s wrong? Do you have a headache?”

“Mm,” Mu Qingyan casually replied.

Sun Qian said, “Then maybe…”

“It’s alright, you guys keep talking, I’m listening,” Mu Qingyan’s sense of career would not allow him to quit the meeting halfway.

The meeting ended just before five o’clock, the peak hour for rush-hour traffic. It would take at least an hour and a half to get to the hotel for the wrap party.

Mu Qingyan went back to the sixteenth floor to get his handbag. He thought Ji Liyun might have left because of the awkwardness from over two hours ago, but he was still sitting on the couch.

Ji Liyun saw his coming and gave a faint smile, “Shall we go? I’ll take you there.”

As if the awkward conversation from earlier that day had never happened.

“Okay.”

On the way, Ji Liyun and Mu Qingyan talked and laughed, appearing to have recovered their past relationship, but they each had their own thoughts in their hearts.

---

Because of the large number of actors and crew members, Ji Group was exceptionally generous and provided ten tables for the wrap party.

Originally, Ji Liyun wanted Mu Qingyan to sit at the same table with him for his own reasons, but Mu Qingyan didn’t want to appear so special, so he went directly to the tables with the other lead actors.

When Lin Shuangshuang saw him, she warmly waved her hand, “Brother!”

Mu Qingyan sat down next to her and greeted her politely, exchanging a few pleasantries.

Ji Liyun didn’t know what to say when he saw this, so he went to the table with the director.

Luo Wenzhe arrived late and saw that Mu Qingyan was sitting on the left of Lin Shuangshuang and there was an empty seat on his right, so he thought to sit there. But Mu Qingyan was obviously unhappy, so when Luo Wenzhe approached, he waved to Mai Le An who was sitting nearby, inviting him to sit in the empty seat on his right.

Although Mai Le An didn’t have much of a relationship with Mu Qingyan, their only common ground was their dislike of Xie Ming, but when Mu Qingyan actively invited him over, he naturally wouldn’t refuse.

After all, he was the male lead, the general manager of MU Company, and the only heir of Mu Group.

“Having a good relationship is always right.”

Mai Le An sat generously next to Mu Qingyan and chatted with the male and female leads, Ye Qiqi.

Unconsciously, Luo Wenzhe was left out.

This scene was observed by Ji Liyun at another table, and he couldn’t help but let out a light laugh.

Sheng Guang Entertainment’s general manager, Zhou Xihang, caught Ji Liyun’s subtle expression change and smiled and said to him, “Mr. Ji, you seem to be in a good mood. Is there something happy?”

“No happy events, but there is one tiring thing,” Ji Liyun looked at Zhou Xihang and said, “I plan to buy the copyright of <Black Bone> and make it into a web drama. I’ll leave this matter to you.”

A producer at the same table said, “Black Bone? Isn’t that the hottest suspense novel on the internet this year? I heard the author is called Xu Yuan, he’s both stubborn and difficult to deal with. It’s not easy to get the film and TV rights from him.”

“Yes, when Flying Fish Entertainment wanted to buy the movie rights for Xu Yuan’s <Undying Soul> it took a year of negotiations to get it done. He has his own ideas about the adapted script and actor selection, and he must see the script and actors before he’s willing to sell the rights,” said assistant director Luo Yi.

Someone said, “But there’s no way, who made his novels so popular? There are so many original fans! Of course, including me. Haha.”

Zhou Xihang was full of confidence: “Don’t worry, Mr. Ji! The film and television rights of <Black Bone> are in my hands. Even if I have to negotiate with Xu Yuan every day, I will definitely get it.”

“I have faith in you. As for the lead actor, I have someone in mind. Come to the headquarters of Ji Group tomorrow, and I’ll tell you the details,” Ji Liyun said.

“Okay,” Zhou Xihang agreed.

While Ji Liyun was talking with the others at the table, his gaze remained on Mu Qingyan for a long time before moving away.

The wrap-up banquet lasted for more than three hours, with people drinking and toasting each other. Several people, including Mu Qingyan, who had a weak alcohol tolerance, were already drunk after just a few glasses.

Although Lin Shuangshuang was only 22 years old and looked petite and delicate, like a national goddess in the hearts of otaku, she had an amazing capacity for alcohol. Seeing Mu Qingyan getting drunk, she helped block several glasses for him.

Mai Le An, who was sitting on the other side, finally couldn’t stand it anymore and said to Luo Wenzhe, “Why do you keep making Mu Qingyan drink? Can’t you see he’s already drunk?”

Luo Wenzhe, as a film emperor, didn’t even consider Mai Le An, who was just a replacement for Xie Ming, and replied arrogantly, “I’ll do what I want!”

Feeling uncomfortable with the noise and secondhand smoke around him, Mu Qingyan stood up and said to Lin Shuangshuang, “I’m going out for some fresh air. I’ll be back soon.”

“Where are you going, brother?” Lin Shuangshuang asked.

“I just need some fresh air. I’ll be back soon,” Mu Qingyan replied, rubbing his head as he walked towards the lobby on the first floor.

However, as soon as he got to the waiting area and sat on the sofa, someone approached him from behind and wrapped their arm around his waist. They whispered in his ear, “Are you drunk? Come to my room and rest.”

---

After more than two months, the wrap party for <Lost in the Stars> finally arrived.

As Jishi Group was the producer and investor, the wrap party was naturally held at a hotel under Jishi Group’s umbrella, with Ji Liyun as the host.

Since all the filming was finished the day before, Mu Qingyan went to Jishi Group early in the morning to report on the progress of the real estate cooperation plan and the construction of the retirement apartment in the new development area.

After the meeting, he hurried to MU Company to deal with work, and even his lunch was packed by Ye Qiqi from the cafeteria.

But even when Ye Qiqi woke up from his nap, she found that Mu Qingyan had been working on the documents and hadn’t touched the lunch on his desk through the glass wall of the general manager’s office.

She walked into the office and opened the lunch box, urging in a commanding tone, “Boss, you have to eat even if you’re busy. If Mrs. Shen finds out you’ve lost weight, she’ll blame me for not taking care of you.”

Mu Qingyan didn’t lift his head and replied, “Right away.”

Ye Qiqi stood with her arms akimbo and said, “Don’t ‘right away’ me. If you keep doing this, I’m afraid I’ll lose my job.”

Seeing her pretending to be angry, Mu Qingyan stopped his work with a smile, picked up his chopsticks, and said, “Okay, for the sake of your job, I’ll finish this bowl of rice in front of me.”

“That’s more like it.”

Mu Qingyan savored his food slowly and meticulously, making it seem like he was enjoying the act of eating.

Ye Qiqi couldn’t help but ask, “Boss, your filming is over and the company’s affairs are not falling behind. Why aren’t you taking a break today? Are you not coming to work for the next few days?”

“No,” Mu Qingyan took a sip of soup and said, “this morning at the meeting, Old Guo finally agreed to let me join the Polar Plan. I want to finish up MU Company’s work today, so I can go see the internal progress of the Polar Plan with Lao Guo tomorrow.”

“Oh. By the way, is President Ji coming to pick you up for the wrap party tonight? Or should I contact the driver?”

Mu Qingyan’s expression sank slightly, then quickly returned to normal. “Contact the driver.”

According to convention, whenever there is a formal or private event that Ji Liyun participates in, he always personally comes to pick him up. Ye Qiqi was just casually asking, but she didn’t expect the opposite of her guess.

“Why isn’t President Ji coming to pick us up today? It’s so strange,” Ye Qiqi muttered to herself in a low voice.

Mu Qingyan shrugged his shoulders, “He’s been in a bad mood these past few days.”

Since Lu Wenzhe began to show frequent attentiveness to Mu Qingyan, Ji Liyun could always see him approaching Mu Qingyan when he visited the set, and even when Ji Liyun made it clear that he wanted him to leave, he still wouldn’t budge.

Mu Qingyan felt that everyone was in the same drama crew, and it was fine to chat together in their spare time.

But Ji Liyun was just unwilling to accept it, and gradually he became angry.

Before Mu Qingyan’s scenes were finished, he had not visited for a week, and did not contact him proactively.

Mu Qingyan instead thought that Ji Liyun was being inexplicable, thinking to himself, “If you don’t contact me, I won’t contact you either. I won’t pay attention if you won’t.”

Seeing that Mu Qingyan’s expression was getting worse and worse, with a cold look even when looking at the food, Ye Qiqi knew he must be angry. To avoid getting involved, she consciously stopped asking and said, “Then…I’ll go do something else!”

“Wait.”

Ye Qiqi was startled when called, and showed a professional smile, “Boss, is there anything else?”

Mu Qingyan pushed the lunch box and chopsticks forward, “I can’t eat anymore, ask Wenye how things are going with Ma Xiaofen and Xie Ming.”

“Okay.” Ye Qiqi ran out of Mu Qingyan’s office like a flying bird.

The more Mu Qingyan thought about how Ji Liyun could get angry over such a small matter, the angrier he became, and he simply left his desk and stood at the window to breathe.

He knew that the reason for this was that Ji Liyun wanted him to stay away from Lu Wenzhe, but he just treated it as if it were nothing. Although he could stay away, he did not actively approach him, so why should Ji Liyun be angry?

He really couldn’t figure it out.

Since he transmigrated, Ji Liyun had always taken care of him, and he remembered everything, but gradually their relationship became subtle.

Especially on Saint Island, before he got drunk and had blackouts, when Ji Liyun said “I like you,” he didn’t want to think about it, but he had to think about it. In Ji Liyun’s heart, were they really just pure friendship?

“Ah.” Mu Qingyan couldn’t help but let out a sigh.

He wasn’t afraid that Ji Liyun liked him. He was afraid that Ji Liyun liked the original owner, and treated him well only because he possessed the original owner’s body after transmigration.

Although, his physical appearance before and after transmigration was exactly the same.

But he still felt that the original owner was the original owner, and he was himself.

If Ji Liyun liked him because he liked the original owner, then he would rather Ji Liyun be angry forever before this, and never bother with him again.

He didn’t want to be a substitute.

Mu Qingyan, who was immersed in his own inner world, did not notice that someone was already standing behind him.

“Ahem.”

The person behind purposely cleared their throat, startling the “contemplator”.

“Who?” Mu Qingyan immediately turned around and saw that the person standing behind him was Ji Liyun, whom he hadn’t seen in a week. He said indifferently, “It’s you.”

There was no expression on Ji Liyun’s face, he just said, “Not welcome?”

“Sit down,” Mu Qingyan gestured to the long sofa, and then sat on the adjacent single sofa, saying, “I just didn’t expect you to come.”

“I’m here to pick you up to go to the wrap-up party of <Lost in Space.>”

Mu Qingyan thought to himself, wasn’t the wrap-up party at 6:30 in the evening? Why come so early?

Seeing that Mu Qingyan was still indifferent, Ji Liyun said again, “By the way, I came to tell you about the new developments regarding Xie Ming.”

Sure enough, when he said that, Mu Qingyan immediately became interested and asked, “What developments?”

“The police have collected all the evidence and found the person who provided the hallucinogenic drugs. They confirmed that it was Xie Ming who purchased the drugs from him, and provided transaction documents and recordings.” Ji Liyun said.

“Xie Ming actually bought it directly? Without going through Xing Hao?” Mu Qingyan was surprised.

Ji Liyun said, “I was surprised too, but it’s true. Even if Xing Hao was involved, he could only have acted as an intermediary and introduced the seller of the drugs to Xie Ming.”

“What did Xie Ming say?”

“He still denies it and claims that Ma Xiaofen framed him,” Ji Liyun skillfully poured himself a glass of water, took a sip, and said again, “When the police asked him whether Xing Hao was involved or acting as a go-between, he also denied it.”

Mu Qingyan rubbed his chin, “It seems that he believes the lawyer will defend him as not guilty, so he doesn’t admit to anything.”

“Not bad.”

“What about the follow-up?”

Ji Liyun suddenly smiled and teased, “Promise me that you won’t be cold to me, and I’ll tell you.”

---

Author’s note:

Ji Liyun: Hey! I’m just jealous! I just want Ah Yan to coax me!

Mu Qingyan: … Hmph.

Ji Liyun: Okay! Then I’ll just coax myself. QAQ”

---

On the second day, Mu Qingyan took advantage of the absence of filming tasks at night and arranged to meet with lawyer Huo Jun at the MU company.

Perhaps because they had dealt with each other a few months ago, Mu Qingyan was no longer seen by Huo Jun as the young master who used to act recklessly and do whatever he pleased a year ago.

Therefore, he did not sit anxiously like he did when he was called to Mu Qingyan’s villa last time, but instead relaxed a lot.

After Huo Jun took the elevator to the 16th floor of the MU company, he habitually straightened his clothes and followed Ye Qiqi into Mu Qingyan’s office.

After Ye Qiqi knocked on the office door, she opened it and said, “Mr. Mu, Lawyer Huo is here.”

Huo Jun nodded and said, “Hello, Mr. Mu.”

“Lawyer Huo,” Mu Qingyan walked up and shook his hand politely, “please have a seat.”

At Mu Qingyan’s invitation, Huo Jun sat on the sofa. Soon, Ye Qiqi brought a freshly brewed cup of Longjing tea and placed it on the coffee table in front of him.

Mu Qingyan smiled and said, “I heard that Lawyer Huo’s hometown produces Longjing tea. Try our newly purchased tea leaves and see how it tastes?”

Huo Jun thought to himself that he had never mentioned his hometown to anyone except when he submitted his resume, so it seemed that Young Master Mu had deliberately inquired about him.

Furthermore, he had always loved drinking tea, was keen on tea tasting, and enjoyed collecting rare high-quality tea leaves.

Mu Qingyan expressed his respect for him by inviting him to taste the tea from his hometown, which was very helpful to Huo Jun.

He took a sip and praised, “Good tea! It’s already difficult to find such good Longjing tea. It must not be easy to obtain it.”

Seeing that Huo Jun liked it, Mu Qingyan smiled and took out an unopened new tea can from the cabinet, saying, “I happen to have one here. You can take it back later.”

“No, I couldn’t do that,” Huo Jun quickly declined.

Mu Qingyan said, “Good tea can only fulfill its real purpose when it is appreciated by someone who knows tea. It’s a waste to leave it with me, who only loves drinking coffee.”

Huo Jun thought for a moment and nodded, “Okay, thank you, Mr. Mu.”

He put down his tea cup and asked, “Did Mr. Mu invite me here tonight to ask about my senior brother, Zhang Long?”

“Yes.”

“Is it related to the case where he is currently representing Xie Ming in intentionally harming you?” Huo Jun asked directly.

Mu Qingyan nodded and said, “Since you’re already prepared, I’ll be direct. Although Ma Xiaofen is the one who cut the Wei Ya steel rope and hid the hallucinogenic drugs, I’m certain that someone instructed her to do so.”

“Indeed, based on what we currently know, you have no grievances with Ma Xiaofen, and she had no reason to harm you just because you frequently insulted and slapped her as her employer,” said Huo Jun, noticing the slight smirk at the corner of Mu Qingyan’s lips.

“As far as I know, Ma Xiaofen later became a witness and claimed that she was instructed by Xie Ming. After Xie Ming was detained by the police, my senior brother Zhang Long became his defense lawyer,” Huo Jun continued.

Mu Qingyan sighed softly, “You and Zhang Long are from the same school and are both part of S City’s top circles. I assume that Zhang’s ability as a litigation agent is also strong.”

“Indeed, my senior brother has a 100% success rate in the criminal cases he represents,” Huo Jun drank some tea before adding, “However, based on what I know of him, he has a strong sense of justice. If he finds out that Xie Ming was truly the mastermind, he would either give up representing the case or hand it over to other colleagues.”

Mu Qingyan asked, “Is that even possible? Don’t they sign a representation agreement before taking on the case?”

Huo Jun mysteriously smiled and said, “He’s afraid of breaching the contract, so his representation agreement states that he can transfer the case to a lawyer of the same level or refund the breach penalty unconditionally within the half month prior to the trial.”

Mu Qingyan couldn’t help but think that people like Xie Ming and Xing Hao, who were outsiders and in urgent need of the best criminal litigation lawyer’s help, would probably sign the agreement without even looking at it.

“Even so, many people are willing to risk breaching the contract to ask my senior brother for help in winning their case, given his strong ability and high success rate,” Huo Jun said.

Mu Qingyan tapped the armrest of the sofa with his fingertips, pondered for a moment, and asked, “After the police have gathered evidence, does the prosecutor immediately file charges?”

“S City has many cases, so the prosecutor takes about 20 to 30 days to review the charges after the public security organs have transferred the case for prosecution. After the prosecutor files charges, the trial begins one month later,” Huo Jun replied.

“So that means it’ll take at least two months,” Mu Qingyan said.

“Time is neither long nor short,” Mu Qingyan looked at Huo Jun and asked, “Would your master, like in TV dramas, go beyond the evidence provided by the police and search for evidence himself?”

Huo Jun shook his head with a smile, “If it’s a new lawyer with few cases, it’s possible, but my master has too many cases to handle. He doesn’t have time to find evidence himself, at most, he lets his legal assistants or two apprentices help find evidence.”

“Do you know his legal assistants and apprentices?” Mu Qingyan asked.

Huo Jun thought for a moment and said, “Although I haven’t met his assistant, I’ve heard of her. She’s a very honest girl. His two apprentices are our younger brothers. They’ve been preparing to graduate after a few years, so they’ve been trying to handle cases independently lately and don’t go to our master as often.”

“Does Lawyer Zhang only have one assistant?” In Mu Qingyan’s understanding, gold medal lawyers have at least three assistant lawyers to help, like Lawyer Huo.

“My master has a more solitary personality and doesn’t like too many assistants, so he chooses the best. He’s now only kept that girl.”

Mu Qingyan’s eyes rolled and he said, “So this girl could be a good breakthrough.”

“What do you want to do, Mr. Mu?” Huo Jun asked.

“About twenty days before the trial, I’ll send the evidence that proves Xie Ming framed me to this lucky girl.”

Huo Jun understood, “After my master knows that Xie Ming is indeed the culprit, he will definitely cancel the appointment immediately. With only half a month left, it’s difficult for Xie Ming to find a lawyer to replace my master immediately.”

Mu Qingyan nodded with satisfaction, stroking his chin and squinting his eyes slightly, “Even if she finds one, with only half a month left, it’s hard for Xie Ming to turn the tide.”

“I’ll have the litigation lawyers in my law firm prepare, take over Xie Ming’s case after my master cancels the appointment.”

“What do you want to do?” Mu Qingyan raised an eyebrow.

Huo Jun gave him a look that he knew his well and said, “Take over the case, slack off, let Xie Ming be convicted, with no parole or probation. And by the way, find out if Xing Hao was also involved.”

Mu Qingyan was even more satisfied, feeling that this young lawyer in front of him was very much in line with his intentions. His father’s vision was indeed good.

He leaned back comfortably on the sofa, then said, “I’ll give you another direction for your litigation lawyers to consider.”

---

For the next half month, besides attending routine meetings of the Mu Group and MU Company, Mu Qingyan spent every day on the set.

Sometimes, in order to catch up with the schedule, they filmed until dawn, and Mu Qingyan had to continue filming after quickly taking a nap on the recliner.

Unconsciously, Mu Qingyan found that the male lead Luo Wenzhe began to stick to him.

When he was thirsty, Luo Wenzhe handed him water; when he was hungry, Luo Wenzhe ordered various types of takeout for him; when he had free time, Luo Wenzhe would chat with him. Occasionally, Luo Wenzhe would even send him some gifts.

Although Mu Qingyan refused to accept them, Luo Wenzhe still persisted.

Even Ji Liyun, who came to visit the set, would occasionally act as a third wheel.

Lin Shuangshuang was not calm: “No one is allowed to break up the Ji Mu CP! Don’t interfere with me shipping them!”

Ji Liyun became jealous: “Are you trying to steal him away from me?”

Only Mu Qingyan was single-minded about his career, occasionally paying attention to the progress of the police investigation.

One day, Ji Liyun came to visit the set as usual. As soon as he arrived, he saw Luo Wenzhe sticking to Mu Qingyan, seemingly telling a joke while Mu Qingyan was memorizing his lines.

Ji Liyun walked over with a black face, while Luo Wenzhe acted like nothing was wrong and greeted him casually, “Hello, President Ji.”

“Okay,” Ji Liyun replied expressionlessly and then turned to Mu Qingyan and said, “Wen Ye went to the police station today and there’s new information.”

As soon as Mu Qingyan heard this, he immediately put down his script and said to Luo Wenzhe, “I have some private matters to discuss with Ji Liyun.”

Luo Wenzhe shrugged and said, “Okay, I won’t disturb you.” Then he left.

At this point, Ji Liyun finally smiled with satisfaction and sat down next to Mu Qingyan. “I heard you haven’t slept well for three days. I brought some soup to replenish your energy.”

As he opened the thermos in his hand and scooped out the soup for Mu Qingyan to drink, he said, “I learned this from Aunt Shen. She said you like this soup. How does it taste?”

“Aunt Shen” referred to Mu Qingyan’s mother, Shen Xiaoxiao.

Mu Qingyan blew away the steam from the surface of the soup and slowly took a sip, praising, “Not bad, it’s almost as good as my mom’s cooking.”

Ji Liyun was immediately pleased to hear this. “That’s great. I’ll bring it to you whenever I have time.”

After finishing two bowls of soup, Mu Qingyan asked, “By the way, you said there’s new information about Wen Ye. Is it related to Xie Ming and Xing Hao?”

“Yeah, Xie Ming still refuses to admit that he cut off the wire rope that caused Ma Xiaofen’s fall, and Ma Xiaofen has no audio or video evidence or relevant chat records, so it’s difficult to hold Xie Ming responsible for this matter.”

“…I see,” Mu Qingyan guessed.

Ji Liyun continued to ladle a bowl of soup for Mu Qingyan and said, “However, there is another piece of not-so-bad news.”

Mu Qingyan asked, “What is it?”

“Previously, Ma Xiaofen said that Xie Ming asked her to poison you, but she was too scared to do it and didn’t go through with it.”

“I remember,” Mu Qingyan replied.

“Ma Xiaofen finally had a change of heart and hid the medicine that Xie Ming gave her. The police found the medicine based on the clues she provided. Xie Ming’s fingerprints were indeed found on the packaging,” said Ji Liyun.

Mu Qingyan frowned and asked, “What kind of medicine was it?”

“The police analyzed it and found that it was a hallucinogen that can cause mental confusion,” Ji Liyun replied with a cold expression and a chilling look in his eyes.

A hallucinogen…

Mu Qingyan remembered that the original owner of the body died because he frequently experienced hallucinations, and Xie Ming and Xing Hao sent him for psychiatric evaluations several times. They even made his case public, claiming that he had a mental illness.

The original owner was perfectly fine, with no family history of mental illness. How could he suddenly start experiencing hallucinations and become mentally ill?

It must have been because he was drugged.

It was very likely this kind of medicine!

Mu Qingyan asked, “What does Xie Ming have to say about this?”

Ji Liyun snorted coldly and said, “He claims he knows nothing and that having his fingerprints on the medicine doesn’t mean anything. He might have just taken a look out of curiosity when he accidentally found it in Ma Xiaofen’s bag.”

Mu Qingyan drank the soup Ji Liyun had given him and thought about his next course of action.

“He even turned things around and accused Ma Xiaofen of framing him,” Ji Liyun added.

“Hmph,” Mu Qingyan finished the soup and wiped his mouth. “I knew he would use all sorts of arguments to try to absolve himself of any responsibility.”

“Fortunately, the police have investigated and found that the water source here is safe. There were no traces of drugs found in the cups and kettle you used,” Ji Liyun reassured him.

“Yeah, Ye Qiqi is always careful. Everything I use is under her watchful eye. The assistant she arranged for me is just as diligent and meticulous as her,” Mu Qingyan said and cast a approving glance at the assistant who was standing not far away, guarding his belongings.

“Thank goodness,” Ji Liyun said, but in his heart, he vowed that even if Mu Qingyan was safe, he would never easily let Xie Ming and Xing Hao off the hook.

“The police should be able to handle this, right?” Mu Qingyan looked at Ji Liyun with certainty. “I don’t believe Xie Ming and Xing Hao can get away with this scot-free.”

Ji Liyun agreed, “Although Xing Hao had nothing to do with the rope cutting and poisoning incidents, I don’t believe he’s completely innocent either.”

Suddenly, Mu Qingyan remembered a small piece of gossip that Ye Qiqi had mentioned to him and asked, “I heard that Xing Hao found a lawyer for Xie Ming?”

“Yes, Zhang Long, who is Huo’s lawyer’s elder brother,” Ji Liyun confirmed.

Lawyer Huo is the chief external lawyer of the Mu Group. He has handled marriage and divorce agreements for Mu Qingyan and Xing Hao in the past.

After transmigrating, Mu Qingyan’s first encounter, besides the butler and servants, was with Lawyer Huo. He knew he was highly professional and reliable.

“Oh?” Mu Qingyan raised her eyebrows. “It seems like I need to have a good talk with Lawyer Huo.”

“Isn’t Lawyer Huo good at civil cases? This is attempted murder, a criminal case,” Ji Liyun reminded her.

But Mu Qingyan thought differently. “But they have the same teacher. I think Lawyer Huo must understand his teacher’s character well.”

“Indeed,” Ji Liyun understood his intention and smiled. “Maybe we can get some information or add some fuel to the fire.”

Mu Qingyan couldn’t help but smile when he realized that he had figured out his thoughts so well.

At that moment, the staff came running and shouted to Mu Qingyan, “The next scene is starting!”

“Okay,” Mu Qingyan nodded at the staff and then handed the bowl in his hand to Ji Liyun, saying, “I’m going over there. Thank you for the soup. It’s delicious.”

“Good,” Ji Liyun tidied up the pot and suddenly thought of something. He said, “Don’t get too close to Luo Wenzhe.”

“What?” Mu Qingyan thought he had misheard.

Ji Liyun whispered in his ear, “Don’t get too close to Luo Wenzhe.”

His breath blew into Mu Qingyan’s ear, making his feel itchy and causing his face to turn red.

Mu Qingyan smiled and said, “Not everyone is like Xie Ming and Xing Hao.”

Ji Liyun rolled his eyes. “I don’t like him.”

Mu Qingyan asked, “?”

Ji Liyun repeated in a serious tone, “I don’t like him!”

“Okay,” Mu Qingyan playfully blinked at him.

---

Author’s note:

Ji Liyun: Luo Wenzhe is my love rival, I don’t like him! Humph!

---

Mu Qingyan was amused by Ye Qiqi’s excitement, which was mixed with the excitement of revenge. He laughed and asked, “What’s the good news that’s making you so happy?”

Ye Qiqi said excitedly, “Just now Wen Ye sent me a message saying that Xie Ming’s assistant, Ma Xiaofen, who has been in custody for almost two weeks, finally couldn’t hold it in anymore and confessed everything!”

“Oh? What did she confess?” Mu Qingyan asked.

“Ma Xiaofen said that Xie Ming instructed her to cut the steel wire, and that she wanted to refuse at the time, but Xie Ming had some dirt on her, so she had to do it. She also said that Xie Ming asked her to poison your drinking water, but she was too scared, so she agreed but didn’t do it in the end.”

Mu Qingyan leaned back on the back of his leather chair and let out a soft sigh. He sneered, “I never expected Xie Ming to act like he was afraid of me and wanted to please me on the set, but secretly he wanted to kill me with such vicious methods.”

“That’s right! This kind of person should be caught and locked up forever!” Ye Qiqi clenched her fists and expressed her indignation.

Mu Qingyan thought for a moment and asked, “So all of these things were caused by Xie Ming, and Xing Hao didn’t participate?”

“According to Ma Xiaofen’s confession, that’s the case, but the police are still investigating,” Ye Qiqi took a few steps forward and lowered her voice, “Wen Ye’s friend said that Ma Xiaofen’s testimony alone is not enough. They now need evidence that Xie Ming instructed him and the unused poison.”

Indeed, with only testimonies, it would not be enough to convict Xie Ming. They needed physical evidence.

“I understand. Collecting evidence is not something that can be done in a day or two. Keep in touch with Wen Ye and let me know if there are any updates,” Mu Qingyan said.

Ye Qiqi made a gesture and said, “No problem!”

Mu Qingyan closed his eyes and spun in his leather chair, thinking about how Xie Ming had harmed him. He felt that when Ma Xiaofen was first arrested, the things she said, such as hating Mu Qingyan and seeking revenge for Xie Ming, were just excuses to mislead people. But her testimony as a key witness now seemed to be very genuine.

However, why was it only Xie Ming who caused Ma Xiaofen to do these things? Logically speaking, Xing Hao should hate her more.

Moreover, Xing Hao loved Xie Ming so much that, given his personality, he should have been the one to carry out these harmful acts.

Was it because Ma Xiaofen was Xie Ming’s assistant?

Or was it because Xie Ming hated him so much that he couldn’t resist taking action?

Things don’t seem to be that simple.

---

In the dimly lit room, Xie Ming hasn’t slept well for several nights, and Xing Hao has been out of contact for several days. When he received a call from the police asking him to cooperate with the investigation again, he emotions almost collapsed.

He sent another message to Xing Hao, changing the tone of the previous few days of begging for him pity and protection to a threat: “Aren’t you afraid that I’ll be taken away by the police for saying things I shouldn’t? Don’t forget where I got these drugs from.”

Finally, these words had the desired effect, and his phone rang. It was a call from Xing Hao.

“Hello.” Xie Ming’s voice was dry and hoarse.

“Baby, what were you saying just now? I love you so much, how could I bear to let you be taken away by the police?”

Although it was a voice that was familiar to the point of being overly familiar, it now became extremely disgusting.

Xie Ming’s thumbnail embedded in his flesh, wanting to make the pain wake him up. He suppressed his anger and pretended to be aggrieved, “You disappeared for so many days, I was afraid you had given up on me.”

“No, I wouldn’t…” Xing Hao’s voice weakened.

After a few seconds of silence, Xie Ming said again, “The police called me again just now, asking me to cooperate with the investigation… I’m afraid that Xiaofen has said something about us asking her to do things.”

There was silence on the other end of the phone, and Xing Hao didn’t say a word.

Xie Ming couldn’t stand the suffocating and hopeless feeling anymore, and couldn’t help but ask, “Brother Hao, can this situation still be salvaged?”

Finally, Xing Hao said, “Even if Ma Xiaofen says she was coerced, it won’t help because she doesn’t have any evidence. On the day we talked about the conditions with her, I deliberately took her phone away, so she didn’t have a chance to record it. So, as long as you insist that you didn’t know anything, it’ll be fine.”

“What about the drugging incident? What if she talks about it…”

Xing Hao was obviously a little impatient, “I’ve already told you not to let the same person do two things, and also not to do two things at the same time, but you didn’t listen.”

“Are you blaming me? Mu Qingyan bullied me so much, I hated him so much I wanted him dead. You also hired a hitman, didn’t you?” Xie Ming sobbed.

“When did I hire a hitman! Don’t talk nonsense!” Xing Hao raised his voice and scolded, “That thing is already in the past, don’t mention it again! I said I would find a way to keep you safe, don’t call me recently, so the police won’t find anything on me.”

It was the first time that Xie Ming was treated so sternly by him, and he was obviously a little scared, “Brother…”

“Okay, that’s it. If there’s any news, I’ll call you.” Xing Hao didn’t give Xie Ming a chance to speak and hung up directly.

Xie Ming sat on the edge of the bed, hands gripping his knees, and tears streaming down his face. “If this matter isn’t resolved, my life is ruined,” he thought.

He had always thought that Xing Hao was his rock, someone he could always rely on. But now he realized that he couldn’t count on him. When the going got tough, Xing Hao would prioritize self-preservation and only help him if he had spare capacity.

What should he do this time?

---

The next day, Mu Qingyan arrived on set to continue filming his scenes. He was greeted by his fellow actors and crew members, who asked about him and told him that Xie Ming had been arrested for allegedly ordering his assistant to kill someone.

During a break, Lin Shuangshuang still affectionately called him “brother,” and vividly recounted the events that had taken place on set after he and Ji Liyun had gone on vacation overseas.

“Brother, did you know that after Ma Xiaofen was taken away by the police, Xie Ming cried on set, saying he was implicated and didn’t know that Ma Xiaofen was going to cut the wire rope to kill you?”

Mu Qingyan raised an eyebrow and said, “I guessed as much.”

“But seriously, if he hadn’t been arrested again, I would have thought he was innocent.” Lin Shuangshuang pursed her lips and angrily said, “His acting is bad, and his character is even worse.”

Pretending to be innocent and pitiful was Xie Ming’s best and only skill.

Lin Shuangshuang asked again, “After you gave your statement on the day of the incident, did the police talk to you?”

“No, why?”

“I heard that Xie Ming may have caused you harm by cutting the steel wire of the Wei Ya platform.” Lin Shuangshuang leaned in and whispered to Mu Qingyan.

Mu Qingyan pretended not to know and asked, “Is there anything else?”

“He also caused Ma Xiaofen to poison you! I think you should have a private doctor check your health in case you really have been poisoned.” Lin Shuangshuang pulled out her phone and tried to contact a private doctor.

Mu Qingyan quickly stopped her and said, “Ji Liyun’s doctor has already checked me out. There’s no problem. But how did you know about this?”

“It’s good that you’re okay,” Lin Shuangshuang put away her phone and then lowered her voice. “It’s the latest gossip that everyone in our circle knows.”

It seemed that someone was deliberately spreading the news. It didn’t seem like Ji Liyun’s style, but then again, Ji Liyun, like him, wanted to draw out Xing Hao. So who released this kind of news to make people subconsciously convict Xie Ming?

“Brother, don’t worry. Xie Ming has already been fired. Someone else has taken his role, and two days ago they already came to shoot his scenes. The director even praised the replacement for having better acting skills than Xie Ming,” Lin Shuangshuang said.

“Who replaced him?”

“Mai Le An.”

Mu Qingyan had heard of Mai Le An, a male actor who debuted around the same time as Xie Ming. Due to his handsome appearance and decent acting skills, he gained popularity after successfully starring in several campus romance dramas.

However, because he did not have a background like Xing Hao’s, Xie Ming took away several male lead roles from him and he became Xie Ming’s mortal enemy. Whenever there was negative news about Xie Ming online, he would mercilessly repost and mock it.

This time, he replaced Xie Ming in <Lost in the Stars> which could be considered a reversal of fortune.

Mu Qingyan couldn’t help but smile. Xie Ming must not be feeling good after finding out this news.

“By the way, is Brother coming to work today? Will President Ji come?” Lin Shuangshuang suddenly asked.

“He probably won’t come. He’s been busy these past few days,” Mu Qingyan replied.

“Oh, I see,” Lin Shuangshuang couldn’t help but feel a little disappointed.

After all, she was a fan of Mu Qingyan and Ji Liyun’s CP. The biggest pleasure on set was shipping the two of them.

Mu Qingyan didn’t notice and thought that the little girl had a crush on Ji Liyun, so he said, “I’ll give you Ji Liyun’s contact information.”

Lin Shuangshuang realized that he had misunderstood her and quickly shook her head. “No, no, it’s okay.”

She thought to herself, “I don’t want President Ji’s contact information. I want your wedding invitation. Will you give it to me?”

As they were talking, Mu Qingyan heard someone approaching. The people around him greeted the person respectfully, “Hello, President Ji.”

Lin Shuangshuang exclaimed, “Wow, speak of the devil and he shall appear.”

Ji Liyun’s bodyguards were carrying many small gifts and distributing them to the directors, actors, and crew members. They were little souvenirs he brought back from his vacation.

The actors and crew members were naturally happy and thanked “President Ji and President Mu” one after another.

The director saw this and said, “It’s dinner time, take an hour’s break, and we’ll continue at 7:30.”

After receiving her gift, Lin Shuangshuang smiled and said, “Where’s your photo? I want to see it!”

The people on the set cheered and asked to see the photos. At this moment, Mu Qingyan realized that during their vacation on Santorini, most of the time it was Ji Liyun taking pictures of him, and he had never taken a photo of Ji Liyun or suggested to take a photo together.

Ji Liyun waved his hand, “I have some scenic photos, do you want to see them?”

“Sure! We’ve never been to Santorini before!”

“Yeah, let’s have a look at the scenery from Santorini, as shown by Ji and Mu!”

Mu Qingyan said, “I’ll send them to the group chat, and you can look at them slowly.”

“Are you hungry? I brought your favorite Japanese food.” Ji Liyun rubbed Mu Qingyan’s head, who was busy sending photos in the group chat, and said warmly.

“Don’t mess up my hair,” Mu Qingyan opened Ji Liyun’s hand and said bluntly, “I’m hungry! I want to eat now!”

Ji Liyun opened the exquisite lunch box, his eyes and eyebrows curved. “Sure.”

Lin Shuangshuang, who was beside them, looked at them with sparkling eyes and thought, “The feeling of shipping a couple on set is really great!”

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