KEIGHTY: Big thanks to Flowersky for the ko-fi donations! <3 (Extra Chapter 4/4)
The car drove back to the underground parking lot of Qiao Mudong’s community. Qiao Mudong turned off the engine, took out the key, got out of the car, and left.
He Yu heard him slam the car door, causing him to freeze in his seat. After more than ten seconds, Qiao Mudong came back, kicked the car door, and shouted, “You want me to carry you back?”
He Yu opened the door and got out. He glanced at the car door that was kicked dirty by Qiao Mudong and said nothing.
The two people walked into the elevator in silence and watched the elevator slowly go up.
When he was about to reach the tenth floor, Qiao Mudong suddenly said, “You asked me this morning if I fell in love with you.”
He Yu suddenly turned his head and looked at him.
Qiao Mudong put his hands in his pockets and looked at the jumping numbers in front of him. “I thought about it for a day and got the result. But before that, I have to ask you two questions.”
He Yu nodded. “Go on.”
Qiao Mudong asked, “Do you still love Fu Chenshan?”
He Yu was silent for a moment and said calmly, “I don’t love him anymore.” His love has been worn away. What’s left is only the emotion accumulated over the years—not that passionate, but not without a care.
The elevator has reached the twenty-third floor. The door slowly opened, but no one moved.
Qiao Mudong asked again, “The second question is, do you love me?”
He Yu didn’t answer.
Seeing that the elevator door was about to close again, Qiao Mudong reached out and pressed the door button, waiting for He Yu’s answer.
He Yu looked up at him and asked back, “Do you love me?”
Qiao Mudong said, “I’m asking you, not you asking me.”
He Yu said seriously, “If you don’t love me, I won’t love you either.”
“Fuck!” Qiao Mudong shouted angrily. “You’re really looking for a fight, ah!”
He Yu said, “I’m serious.”
Qiao Mudong stared at him fiercely. “If I love you, you’ll love me too, right?”
He Yu was stunned, and after a long time, he said, “Ah?”
We’re sorry for MTLers or people who like using reading mode, but our translations keep getting stolen by aggregators so we’re going to bring back the copy protection. If you need to MTL please retype the gibberish parts.
Qiao Mudong cursed angrily, “Get lost!” and walked out of the elevator without looking back.
He Yu quickly followed.
In the evening, when He Yu came out after taking a shower, Qiao Mudong was already lying on the bed and sleeping. After returning home, Qiao Mudong didn’t say a word to him, exuding an irritable atmosphere from head to toe.
He Yu laid down on the bed. Qiao Mudong turned his back to him and remained motionless. He didn’t know if he had already fallen asleep.
He Yu reached out and hugged Qiao Mudong from behind, asking, “Does the wound on your shoulder still hurt?”
Qiao Mudong didn’t answer and kicked He Yu away.
He Yu reluctantly pressed forward again, this time pressing his entire body against Qiao Mudong’s back and wrapping his arms around his waist. “Why are you so angry? You’re acting like a child.”
Qiao Mudong still said nothing and kicked the person away again. His kick was really strong, and He Yu was kicked directly to the ground. His body fell to the ground, causing a cold and stinging pain in his lower back. He Yu gritted his teeth and lay still without moving. After the severe pain subsided, he slowly got up from the ground.
He was not in the mood to go to bed and make trouble with Qiao Mudong anymore, so he just opened the door and went down to the first floor.
He Yu threw his body on the sofa, closed his eyes, and let out a long breath. He didn’t fall asleep immediately, nor was he too angry with Qiao Mudong. At this time, his head was like a mess, and he couldn’t figure things out. He wasn’t sure who was competing with whom, as if the one who would say I love you first would lose miserably.
Footsteps sounded on the stairs. Although Qiao Mudong had deliberately stepped lightly, He Yu could still hear it. He heard Qiao Mudong coming downstairs and walking to the sofa.
He closed his eyes and pretended to be asleep, remaining motionless.
The soft quilt was draped over him, or, to be precise, thrown on him. Qiao Mudong didn’t even want to reach out to help him pull the quilt up, so he went upstairs again.
He Yu sighed silently in the darkness. He covered himself with the quilt, closed his eyes, and sunk into the soft sofa, falling asleep.
The next day, He Yu had to go to work. The two days of leave that Li Tang gave him had ended. Regardless of whether he planned to work at Ou Yunjia’s place or not, as long as Li Tang didn’t tell him to stop, he would have to go back to work.
Qiao Mudong was still having a cold war with him, but he still waited for them to go out together in the morning and drove him to Shiyouwei.
He Yu got off the car at Renxin Street. Qiao Mudong did not reverse the car and leave immediately; instead, he pressed down the window and looked at him.
He Yu came to his senses. He went to a street breakfast shop and bought two steamed buns and a cup of soy milk and handed them to Qiao Mudong, who then started leaving as soon as he got them. But this time, there was no passionate kiss, and he didn’t even say a word to He Yu.
He Yu scratched his head. This childish Qiao Mudong was really hard for him to handle.
Shiyouwei has opened its doors; the lights are soft and bright, and the aroma of food wafts out from inside. Xia Xiaoxia filled a basin of water and wiped the glass door. When she saw He Yu coming, she smiled and said, “Good morning!”
He Yu also smiled and nodded, “Morning.”
It was still early, and there were only two or three guests having breakfast. Li Tang occupied a table by himself, eating noodles and watching TV.
He Yu went to the kitchen, asked Brother Pang to help him cook a bowl of noodles, and then came back and sat down next to Li Tang.
Li Tang glanced at him and raised his hand to call Xia Xiaoxia, “Xiaoxia, make me a cup of coffee.”
He Yu was a little surprised. “When did you start selling coffee again?”
Li Tang said, “Private collection, not for sale.”
He Yu reached out and took out a pair of chopsticks, and suddenly heard the news on the TV begin to report an explosion. The female anchor spoke calmly about a car explosion that occurred in the city the day before yesterday.
He Yu was stunned and suddenly remembered Hong Minhang, whom he had met in the hospital.
Li Tang also put down his chopsticks and looked at the TV screen seriously.
Sure enough, just as He Yu expected, when the explosion occurred, the media did not know the identity of the victim. There were only a few speculations. It was only now that the victim of the explosion was confirmed to be Hong Minhang. The host briefly introduced the Dihong Group behind Hong Minhang and finally said that the police have begun an investigation, the specific injury of Hong Minhang is unknown, and this station will continue to pay attention.
Old Pang brought He Yu’s noodles, and He Yu thanked him. When his gaze fell on Li Tang, he noticed that he was still staring at the TV and wasn’t responding for a long time.
He couldn’t help calling him, “Brother Li?”
Li Tang looked back at him. “Nn, let’s eat first.”
He Yu heard his calm tone and finally felt a little relieved. He hesitated and said, “The night before yesterday, Qiao Mudong and I met Hong Minhang in the hospital.”
Li Tang said, “Nn?” and sat up straight.
He Yu: “I didn’t want to tell you at first. He seemed to be seriously injured. He seemed to have been sent to the rescue at that time. It is said that his two uncles have arrived at the hospital. But I don’t know the other specific circumstances.”
Li Tang nodded, took out a cigarette from his pocket, and said to He Yu, “You eat first.”
Xia Xiaoxia helped him bring the coffee, but Li Tang didn’t touch it. He just sat on the stool and kept smoking.
He Yu hurriedly finished the noodles. When he saw that Li Tang had only eaten half of the noodles—which had already gone cold—he said, “I’ll ask Brother Pang to help you cook another bowl.”
Li Tang shook his head. “There’s no need; I’m not in the mood to eat.” After saying that, he picked up the coffee and drank it in one gulp.
He Yu had no choice but to take the two bowls to the kitchen. When he came back, he saw Li Tang already sitting on the seat, smoking a cigarette. He walked over and asked, “Brother Li, are you worried about Mr. Hong?”
He Yu’s impression of Hong Minhang is actually quite good.
Li Tang didn’t answer. After a while, he said calmly, “He’s my didi.”
He Yu didn’t ask Li Tang about his past conflicts with the Hong family. He just thought that no matter what others thought, Li Tang and Hong Minhang still regarded each other as brothers in their hearts.
Everyone could see Li Tang’s anxiety. He is an emotionally reserved person. He would not express his feelings loudly; instead, he would only sit silently in the corner and smoke one cigarette after another.
At around ten o’clock in the morning, when He Yu was helping to count the newly delivered bottles of wine, Li Tang raised his hand to call him.
“What is it, Brother Li?”
Li Tang said, “He Yu, please do me a favor. I want to find Mr. Qiao.”
He Yu understood what he meant. “Do you want Qiao Mudong to help you find Hong Minhang?”
Li Tang explained: “I want Mr. Qiao to help me arrange a meeting with Hong Minhang.”
He Yu’s first call was made, but Qiao Mudong didn’t receive it. It was because Qiao Mudong had just come to work early in the morning, and then he was invited to Ling Qiang’s office. Not only Qiao Mudong, but Fu Chenshan was also invited there.
The two of them sat side by side in front of the large and sturdy desk. Qiao Mudong had an expressionless face, while Fu Chenshan had not yet recovered from the pain of a hangover. He raised his hand to rub his forehead from time to time, but the bruise on his jaw had not gone away.
Ling Qiang looked cold and threw a stack of photos in front of the two people without saying a word.
Qiao Mudong just raised his eyelids and glanced at them, while Fu Chenshan reached for a few photos and looked at them carefully. Those photos were very blurry and were taken from the KTV surveillance video. When He Yu and Fu Chenshan came out of the private room, Fu Chenshan walked over and held down He Yu’s shoulders. Then Qiao Mudong appeared, Qiao Mudong punched Fu Chenshan, and then the crowd dispersed.
Although the photo is blurry, the two people can be clearly identified.
Fu Chenshan couldn’t help but raise his hand and press his forehead. He really drank too much last night, and his last memory was of him drinking in the KTV private room. He couldn’t clearly remember what happened after that. Looking at these photos now, a cold sweat broke out on my back. Fortunately, he didn’t do anything weird at that time.
Qiao Mudong looked calm. “What’s wrong?”
Ling Qiang looked at them coldly. “Is this how you two embarrassed Lingyun outside? Do you know how many Lingyun employees witnessed the fight between the two managers that day?”
Fu Chenshan said, “I’m sorry, uncle, I really drank too much.”
“You should’ve remembered your identity even if you drank too much!” Ling Qiang shouted.
Fu Chenshan apologized again: “I’m sorry.”
Qiao Mudong said indifferently, “I came and beat him up because I wanted to. What other reason do you need?”
Ling Qiang slammed the table hard. “Qiao Mudong!”
Fu Chenshan quickly tried to dissuade him: “Uncle, don’t be angry. Mudong must have some misunderstanding with me.”
“There is no misunderstanding,” Qiao Mudong said. “I just want to hit him.”
Fu Chenshan’s face turned ugly. He sat in his seat and stopped talking.
Ling Qiang pointed at He Yu’s face in the photo and asked Fu Chenshan, “Who is this?”
Fu Chenshan took a deep breath and tried to keep his tone calm. “He is an old classmate I grew up with. I probably met him by chance last night.”
Hearing this, Ling Qiang nodded. He suddenly changed the subject and asked, “Is Zhilu okay?”
Fu Chenshan was stunned for a moment and said, “She’s not in a good mood.”
Ling Qiang said: “You should comfort her carefully. Don’t act like a child without a sense of propriety.”
Fu Chenshan replied, “I’m aware.”
Ling Qiang said, “You should go down and reflect on this matter. It’s very shameful for a Lingyun employee to be drunk and unconscious in public.”
Fu Chenshan responded: “I understand; I’m sorry.”
Ling Qiang waved his hand. “I will talk to you about Zhilu later. You can go out first.”
Fu Chenshan stood up, glanced at Qiao Mudong again, and then walked out.
After the door to the room was closed, Ling Qiang reached out and took out a few more photos from the drawer. This time he threw them directly in Qiao Mudong’s face and said coldly, “You think I don’t know anything? This person’s name is He Yu, who used to be an employee of Lingyun. He was sentenced for misappropriating company funds three years ago and is serving his sentence in Anfu Prison. At the same time, you were also sentenced for intentional injury and were imprisoned in Anfu Prison. Qiao Mudong, this person was the same person whom your sister saw last time, the one who fooled around with you in your office. And when he was released from prison after serving his sentence, you immediately came to me and asked to be released on bail for you!”
The photos thrown at Qiao Mudong’s face were surveillance screenshots from another camera, all of them showing two people kissing at the corner of the corridor.
“Qiao Mudong!” Ling Qiang shouted angrily. “I really think you have gone crazy!”
Waiting for Ling Qiang’s downfall as well. Not only does he think women are less worthy than men, be he is also just a terrible person. Qiao Mudong might be a gangster but imo it’s better he didn’t grow up around such a father.
Thank you for the update!
Welcome, welcome~
I want everyone to suffer, the friend, the rich man’s daughter, Rico. Everyone go be chipping
The only ones who deserve love are the prota, the restaurant staff and the new karaoke characters The rest all die
Thanks for Chapter ❣️
You’re welcome, Lilith~
‘The new karaoke characters’ lmao 🤣
I have trouble recording names hahahaha
HAHAHAHAHAHA COMPARTILHO DO MESMO SENTIMENTO
Ah, Qiao Mudong is so adorable, like actually cute af!! (I said what I said 🤷♀️, we can fight about it if you want). Does anyone have any novel recs with a cp or cp dynamic like mudong and he yu!?
I think you might like the dynamics between mc and ml in « rebirth of a movie star »
Oh no, trouble has come once again. Mudong is such a big baby with a little rainbow sprinkles of psycho but I’m starting to like him a little bit more.
Thank you so much for your hard work translating this novel. And thank you to all the kindhearted souls who kept on donating ko-fi’s. 🤍
I like your description of Qiao Mudong XD Thank you for appreciating my efforts in translating this <3
I love this novel so much… I hope that they will discuss the rape part because reading Qiao Mudong saying he was just uncomfortable at that time was annoying … like wtf !