"..."
"I don't think this is a good idea."
"Alright." Ke Muning responded with disappointment.
Then he quickly changed his tone.
"But if you don't do this, how else will you have this person all to yourself?" He was still trying to convince the little troublemaker to be a real villain.
Instead of always directing her mischief at him.
Before Zhang Ruoshui could answer, the door suddenly opened from outside.
"Have you been waiting long?" Sheng Yuxiao's voice came along with his footsteps.
"Ke Muning, bye-bye, we'll talk more when I come abroad." Zhang Ruoshui hung up first, then turned to look in Sheng Yuxiao's direction.
Sheng Yuxiao bent down to take the coffee from the table, took a sip himself, and said, "Why did they bring you coffee? You should be drinking milk."
He put the half-empty coffee cup back on the table and pressed the speed dial on the desk phone.
"Does Miss Zhang have any requests?" came the voice from the other end.
"Bring a glass of milk."
"Mr. Sheng? Y-yes, right away."
After ending the call, Sheng Yuxiao sat down in the single sofa chair nearby.
Letting Zhang Ruoshui occupy his office chair.
He said, "I'm a bit busy today. Would you like to come to a meeting with me later?"
Zhang Ruoshui spoke straightforwardly: "I heard everything you said to Mu Rongfeng yesterday."
Sheng Yuxiao's expression imperceptibly stiffened.
"I... I didn't mean to restrict you, little duck, it's just that, well, Mu Bai isn't very good." Sheng Yuxiao's voice became unsteady.
"Yes, you said he was a piece of shit."
Sheng Yuxiao's straight posture slumped slightly in embarrassment: "Ah, I don't usually talk like that."
He tried to let little duck know that he still had class.
Zhang Ruoshui nodded: "I understand." She asked in return: "So someone better than him would be okay?"
Sheng Yuxiao's fingers, which had been relaxed on his knee, suddenly clenched tight.
Someone better than him would be okay?
Would be okay?
Really?
Is that how it is?
"Sheng Yuxiao?" Zhang Ruoshui leaned forward, looking at him puzzled.
Sheng Yuxiao moved his lips, forcing a smile: "Yes, that's fine. You're grown up now, it's your freedom. As long as it's not... not someone like Mu Bai."
"Then what kind of person should it be?" Zhang Ruoshui asked.
"Mr. Sheng." Shu Li knocked and entered with the milk.
Sheng Yuxiao turned to look at her.
In that moment, his expressionless face seemed somewhat frightening.
Shu Li's lips trembled, almost spilling the milk.
The atmosphere was off.
Shu Li steeled herself to put the milk in front of Zhang Ruoshui and turned to leave. She heard Mr. Sheng say: "...whoever you like is fine."
"That condition might as well not have been said at all." Zhang Ruoshui stood up, still looking confused and troubled.
Why would she want to have Sheng Yuxiao all to herself?
What kind of person should she be with?
What should it feel like to like someone?
What conditions should someone meet to receive the love they want?
No one could answer her.
They always praised her for being smart, but why couldn't she figure this out?
"Ever heard of 'can't see the forest for the trees'? When you're in the middle of it, it's easy to be led astray by hormones and make wrong conclusions." Hang Meng's voice echoed in her mind again.
She understood now.
If she stayed away from Sheng Yuxiao, wouldn't her mind become clearer? Her emotions would be better resolved.
Zhang Ruoshui picked up the glass, gulped down the milk in one go, then stood up saying: "Since you're busy, I'll go now."
Sheng Yuxiao sat there stiffly, as if he'd turned to stone.
He moved his lips: "Okay."
Zhang Ruoshui took a few steps, then said: "Oh right, I'm going abroad tomorrow to celebrate my second uncle's birthday."
"Ah, and you should change the door lock password." To prevent her from becoming the "bad sister" mentioned in the post.
Sheng Yuxiao stood up, forcing out a sound: "Mm."
She was distancing herself from him.
Because of Mu Bai?
Did she really like Mu Bai?
Zhang Ruoshui had already walked out, but suddenly remembered something else. She poked her head back through the door and said: "Also, I won't be going to the Mu family for meals anymore."
Since Mu Bai's father had such intentions.
Every meal was precious; she wanted to eat with people who were worth it, Zhang Ruoshui thought to herself.
Sheng Yuxiao stood frozen there.
Now little duck was really walking away... but he didn't immediately close the door.
The restraint that had been weighing on his heart cracked open wider.
Clearly.
She didn't like Mu Bai.
Little duck had always been like this since childhood, very clear about her relationships with others.
When she favored someone, others could clearly feel it.
Sheng Yuxiao knew very well from his youth that he was the one little duck favored.
So although he didn't like it, he wouldn't stop little duck from playing with Qin Sui, nor would he stop her from running to Ke Muning...
Why was it off balance now?
Was it because they both had more and more things to be busy with, and he started worrying about losing little duck's favor?
But who she gave her favor to should be her freedom...
Sheng Yuxiao walked back to sit at his desk, still expressionless.
Just like how he kept telling himself in the past that she would have more friends...
This was a process of desensitization.
He raised his hand to press the button on the desk, calling the secretary in to clear the cups.
"Wait." He called out to Shu Li.
Shu Li turned back in surprise, with a slight smile: "Does Mr. Sheng have any other instructions?"
Sheng Yuxiao ran his hand over the leather pad on the desk; a corner of it had been picked at.
He raised his eyes, his gaze cold, expression unpleasant: "What happened here today?"
Shu Li hesitated: "Nothing, just Secretary Yin bringing Miss Zhang upstairs, into the office, then I came to bring coffee..."
"Call Yin Lu in."
"Y-yes, right away."
By the time Secretary Yin entered, Sheng Yuxiao was already checking the security footage on his computer.
After watching, he still didn't know why little duck was unhappy enough to pick at his desk today.
But...
"You enjoy chatting in the secretary's office that much? Return to your original position."
*
When Zhang Ruoshui said she was leaving, she meant it. She went home to pack her luggage, including her laptop.
It contained her major coursework.
Yes, now there was no need to bring homework notebooks or test papers anymore, everything was on the laptop.
Hmm... Ke Muning would definitely like her foreign language coursework.
She went home to have dinner with her grandfather, then called Ke Muning that same day: "Where are you now?"
"I'm in Peru, are you coming now?"
Zhang Ruoshui hesitated for a moment, then called her second uncle.
"I'm in Colombia, and your aunt is in Montpellier... Little duck, are you coming over?"
None of them were in New York.
"Hmm, let me think..."
Just as she hung up with her second uncle, Ke Muning called her back.
"Did you, did you hear that?" Ke Muning asked.
"Mm... gunshots?"
"Yes, there's some unrest here, want to come see?" Ke Muning tried to tempt her.
But what he said would instantly raise her second uncle's blood pressure if he heard it.
"Come, I'll teach you how to defend your house when surrounded by civilian arms dealers," Ke Muning continued to tempt her.
Zhang Ruoshui: ?
Zhang Ruoshui thought for a moment and said: "I remember it's very close to the Amazon River. If you take me there, I might consider it."
"Fine." Ke Muning gave in, "Taking you to see piranhas, caimans, bull sharks and arapaima would be nice too... it'll be a parent-child activity."
On the day Zhang Ruoshui set out, Mu Rongfeng finally got to see Old Mr. Zhang.
After all, with his granddaughter gone, he could spare time to see others.
"There's something I discovered that I find quite frightening. It concerns little duck, but she's still too young, not only unable to make her own decisions, but she might also be deceived and led astray..."
Mu Rongfeng's build-up was really too long.
Old Mr. Zhang couldn't bear it anymore and interrupted: "What do you mean? You're saying little duck could be deceived and led astray? My little duck is so smart, what nonsense are you talking?"
Mu Rongfeng: "..." Is that the focus here?
Well then.
Mu Rongfeng said directly: "I suspect the Sheng family has ulterior motives regarding little duck."