Chapter 75: Thoughts – Three Men, One Mind

That sentence was nothing more than wanting him to know the difficulty and retreat. She was truly tired and didn’t want to play any more games of hide and seek with emotions.

Moreover, that kind of heart-fluttering feeling from youth had now almost completely disappeared. If there was anything left, it was probably just nostalgia for that past springtime awakening, the courage and impulse to disregard everything for love.

The remaining feelings were no longer enough to make her turn back, as if he was the only one for her.

This matter was quickly forgotten by Fang Chuning as she threw herself completely into work.

However, whenever this happened, there was always someone who liked to come and distract her attention.

Tang Jiali sat on the sofa, arms folded, looking puffed up but unwilling to speak first. Since he didn’t speak, Fang Chuning naturally didn’t speak either, continuing to look at documents as if he didn’t exist.

In the end, Tang Jiali couldn’t bear it anymore, “Fang Chuning!”

Fang Chuning lifted her eyelids slightly, glancing at him, indicating that he could say whatever he wanted to say.

Seeing that she still had an indifferent attitude, Tang Jiali was furious. He quickly walked in front of her, angrily put his phone in front of her, and questioned, “What were you doing with Xu Muzhou at the seaside yesterday?”

Fang Chuning glanced at the photo. It had to be said that the angle of this photo was very tricky. Although the two people were standing at a distance, from the photo it looked like they were facing each other and gazing at each other deeply.

She rarely felt the need to explain, “Yesterday…”

“Do you have any regard for me as your fiancé? Do you know you’re humiliating me!”

Tang Jiali didn’t seem to want to hear her explanation at all. Jealousy made him lose his reason, only believing what his eyes saw.

Fang Chuning pressed her tongue against the inside of her cheek, her gaze returning to the documents, too lazy to say anything more to him.

The office door was opened, and the assistant stood at the doorway, looking somewhat hesitantly at the situation in the office, “There’s a new document that needs the CEO to review.”

Tang Jiali turned his head and glared at her fiercely, “Can’t you see we’re talking!”

The assistant hurriedly nodded, about to retreat.

“Bring the document over,” Fang Chuning raised her head.

The previously hesitant assistant immediately walked in and placed the document in front of her, “This is a cooperative project between Xianshi Company and us, we need to discuss it with the person in charge from their side.” She glanced at Tang Jiali’s unpleasant expression and continued, “This project doesn’t require you to personally attend, it can be handled by the staff below.”

Fang Chuning flipped through the document, “I’ll go myself, you’ll come with me when the time comes.”

“Yes.”

Completely ignored, Tang Jiali practically wanted to grind his teeth to pieces. He shot a hateful glance at the woman and slammed the door as he left.

Fang Chuning didn’t even lift an eyelid. The assistant hesitated for a moment but still didn’t say anything. This was not within her work scope, and loose lips were also a taboo in the workplace.

The project discussion was scheduled for lunchtime. In the elevator, Fang Chuning lowered her head to look at her phone. As soon as she unlocked the screen, the latest notification popped up at the top. She originally wanted to swipe away the notification, but because her finger lingered for an extra second, she directly clicked into it.

What met her eyes was a photo, a photo of an exquisitely plated boxed meal. Fang Chuning slowly scrolled up, only to see that the caption at the top of the image was:

prince: Cooking for the one you love is a very happy thing.

The posting time showed it was an hour ago, and the comments below had already exceeded 100,000. Fang Chuning raised an eyebrow and clicked on the comments.

“Prince has been so active recently, active to the point of moving, it’s just that the news doesn’t seem to be good news for us.”

“??? The proud and cold prince turned into a love-struck little man overnight??? Who has such great ability!!??”

“Things are too sudden, I can’t quite process it. So is he really in a relationship!? With a woman who has a fiancé!?”

“Don’t talk nonsense above, no one has come forward to clarify this matter yet. The loved one isn’t necessarily the person they like, it could also be family.”

“…Who above, my urine is yellow, let me wake you up… It’s come to this point and there are still people deceiving themselves.”

“It’s so chaotic. Prince openly admitted to having dated the heir of the Fang family some time ago, and yesterday he was watching the sunset with that person by the sea. If I remember correctly, doesn’t this woman already have a fiancé?”

“This drama of the original partner becoming the third wheel… So exciting!!”

“Please put your values in the right place, being a third wheel is not something to be advocated.”

The more she read the comments, the more unbearable they became, with many people commenting that they had turned from fans to haters.

Fang Chuning frowned slightly. She didn’t quite understand Xu Muzhou’s intentions with these actions. Provoking negative public opinion wouldn’t do him any good.

As she exited the company entrance, the sunlight shone on her phone, making the screen unclear. Fang Chuning put her phone back in her pocket. The assistant following behind her, seeing this, quickly stepped past her to open the car door.

“Ningning.”

Fang Chuning’s heart skipped a beat, and she looked over with a strange expression.

Xu Muzhou seemed not to notice her unpleasant expression. He held up a cloth bag with both hands, looking at her expectantly, “This is the lunch I made for you. Would you like to try it?”

He wasn’t wearing any face covering, his pink hair and snow-white skin, his gorgeous features quickly attracting the gazes of passersby.

Xu Muzhou didn’t care at all, his eyes only focused on her existence, “I originally wanted to make you breakfast, but I was called over by my father in the morning. I’ve been waiting for you here for a long time, but the food hasn’t cooled down, it’s still hot.”

Fang Chuning glanced at the food bag but didn’t take it, “I thought I had made things clear with you yesterday. What are you doing?”

Xu Muzhou’s eyelashes lowered, and he said softly, “You can just think of it as my one-sided love.”

“One-sided love?” Fang Chuning’s eyes gradually turned cold, “Deliberately letting people take that kind of photo, deliberately posting that kind of Weibo, deliberately being intimate with me in public, is this called one-sided love?”

The young man’s long eyelashes trembled like butterfly wings, and his hand holding the food bag tightened.

“Ningning…”

“I’m not stupid to that extent. Don’t try to play some little tricks on me. If you think I’ll protect you like before, you’re greatly mistaken.”

Xu Muzhou’s face turned pale, and he looked up vulnerably to meet her gaze, “I’m not playing tricks on you.”

“It better be that way.”

Fang Chuning gave him a look and walked past him.

Xu Muzhou lowered his head, his hand gripping the food bag so tightly it turned white.

…

The place for the appointment was a high-end restaurant. Fang Chuning followed the manager to the outside of a private room. The door of the private room was opened, and the person sitting inside looked up in response. Upon seeing the woman, the corner of his lips curved up, “Long time no see.”

Fang Chuning’s thought before coming was to finish quickly, but she never expected that this person in charge from Xianshi Company would actually be an old acquaintance.

Jiang Luoyu’s voice was clear and bright as he said with a smile, “Are you surprised to see me?”

Fang Chuning sat down opposite him, “A bit surprised.” She took out a cigarette from her pocket, “Do you mind?”

“Not at all.”

After smoking a cigarette to calm her nerves, Fang Chuning looked at him curiously, “I didn’t expect we would meet under such circumstances.”

Jiang Luoyu looked much more mature, dressed in a suit, with elegant features, completely different from the Jiang classmate who used to always curry favor with her at school, “I didn’t expect you would come personally either, but I did hope for it.”

Such ambiguous words coming from his mouth seemed particularly natural, not like other men who seemed affected. His demeanor was pleasant to look at.

“Are you working at Xianshi Company or?”

“No, this is my family’s company, I’m managing it now.”

In most families, it’s usually the female side that inherits the family business. If there’s no daughter, they would have the son’s wife marry into the family when he gets married, and let the female side manage it. Someone like Jiang Luoyu was really rare.

“Then you’re very capable.” Is this still the little academic underachiever she knew?

Jiang Luoyu smiled shyly, “Compared to you, what I’m doing is just child’s play.”

The Fang family’s global business was not something small players like them could compare to. For this cooperation, he had put in a lot of effort to secure it. He had originally thought of extending the project timeline, hoping for a chance to meet her, but today’s encounter was an unexpected surprise.

“You’re too modest.” Fang Chuning took a sip of red wine, tilting her head to look at the scenery outside the honeycomb-shaped floor-to-ceiling windows.

Jiang Luoyu looked at her profile with deep affection. In five years, the things and people around him, including himself, had undergone great changes. Only his heart for her remained completely unchanged, still beating rapidly when he saw her.

“I heard you stayed abroad for five years, did you have a good time?”

“Mm, it was quite good.”

Jiang Luoyu’s hand on his knee nervously tightened, a hint of blush appearing on his fair face, “In these five years… I never dated any women.”

“I…” still like you very much.

“Let’s talk about the cooperation project.”

The confession was deliberately interrupted. Jiang Luoyu felt a bit disappointed, but quickly composed himself and put on a smile that made people feel comfortable, “Alright.”

…

By the time they finished talking, it was already afternoon. Fang Chuning didn’t plan to go back to the company, but went straight home instead.

As soon as she entered the door, Fang Chuning noticed Tang Jiali in the living room. He was sitting with Father Fang, his eyes red. As she entered, both of their gazes turned to her simultaneously.

A bad premonition.

“Ningning, come here.” Sure enough.

Fang Chuning didn’t look at Tang Jiali, whose eyes were flickering. She loosened her tie with one hand and slowly walked over to sit on another sofa.

“Jia Jia says you’re keeping a young celebrity outside. Is that true?” Father Fang looked at her disapprovingly.

Keeping a young celebrity? He really had the guts to make up such a story.

Probably feeling guilty, Tang Jiali lowered his head to fiddle with his fingers, not looking at her.

“It’s not,” Fang Chuning’s expression remained normal, “Dad, are you doubting my character?”

Father Fang was left speechless by this counter-question, “Of course not, how could I doubt my precious daughter.”

“Then that’s it. Anyone who speaks ill of me to you is trying to drive a wedge between us as father and daughter.”

Fang Chuning’s words were pointed.

With her saying this, Father Fang suddenly understood, but he didn’t immediately point out the young man’s fault. He just felt a bit disappointed and had no intention of keeping him for dinner.

“Uncle, I didn’t mean that. I was just suspicious, you can understand me. Just like how you love Aunt, I’m like this because I love senior sister too much.”

Tang Jiali, being too clever for his own good, explained anxiously.

“Alright, alright, don’t do this next time. Ningning is very tired after working all day.” Father Fang waved his hand perfunctorily.

Tang Jiali responded in low spirits, his eyes looking resentfully towards the person sitting there reading a magazine.

You reap what you sow. Fang Chuning was in a good mood.