Chapter 163 - It Was You After All

Mu Han understood Qingyi’s concerns and didn’t push him. “Alright, but you must stay at the ancestral house on New Year’s Day. At least keep Grandpa company; he’s been missing you.”

“Of course.” A smile crept up Qingyi’s face. Just as he was about to say something more, he noticed Chu Qianqian walking out of the Kitchen with a bottle of yogurt. Lowering his voice, he asked, “What do you think about letting Qianqian stay with me during the New Year?”

“Stay with you?”

Mu Han frowned. As he was about to say something, Qingyi quickly explained in a hushed voice, “Qianqian doesn’t have any family anymore. Even though she has her own place to rent, spending the New Year alone is too lonely. Since she’s here with us in City B filming, once Ziyu goes home for New Year, I was thinking of keeping Qianqian with me. With me around, she won’t be entirely alone, and maybe she’ll feel a bit better.”

Mu Han hadn’t considered this before, but then he recalled Chu Qianqian’s gentle and cheerful face. He suddenly realized that no matter how strong she seemed, she was still an orphan without parents. Moreover, considering what he had discovered about her situation, Mu Han sighed, thinking of a girl who craved family warmth.

“Okay.”

“What?” Qingyi was surprised by Mu Han’s swift agreement and momentarily raised his voice, catching Chu Qianqian’s curious glance.

Waving his hand to assure her everything was fine, Qingyi lowered his voice again, “Are you saying it’s okay?”

“Yes, just keep her with you,” Mu Han replied calmly, even though Qingyi, his own younger brother, didn’t notice anything unusual. Especially since on the phone, Mu Han’s gaze was actually a bit evasive.

Agreeing with Qingyi’s suggestion made Mu Han feel a part of him was crumbling, revealing a softness unlike his usual tough demeanor. It was a gentle, pale yellow, like the sprouts of new grass, representing something tender and fragile.

“Eh~,” Qingyi elongated his tone teasingly, as if realizing something. “You agreed so readily, are you planning to spend the New Year with Qianqian at my place?”

Though it was phrased as a question, Qingyi’s tone was affirmative, as if he had already figured out Mu Han’s intentions.

The idea had crossed Mu Han’s mind, but as the president, he hadn’t decided whether to act on it. It was as if he were a cat whose tail had been stepped on, his fur instantly puffing up. Fortunately, he remembered Qingyi was his younger brother, restraining himself from lashing out.

“What nonsense are you talking about?!”

Mu Han’s overly assertive tone, unlike his usual manner, only confirmed Qingyi’s suspicions, leaving both ends of the phone in silence.

Qingyi noticed Mu Han’s earlier anxious response. Was this “flustered and exasperated”? He wasn’t sure, feeling the phrase didn’t quite match Mu Han’s image.

“Ah, the power of love, it seems. It’s truly transformative. The Mu Han I know would never act this way.”

“Qingyi-”

Startled by the way his name was forced out through clenched teeth, Qingyi instantly straightened up. It took him three seconds to realize he had accidentally voiced his inner thoughts about his brother.

Panic-stricken could describe Qingyi at that moment. He dreaded to imagine Mu Han’s expression, so he quickly apologized, “I’m sorry, I was just thinking out loud, I didn’t mean to say it.”

Rubbing his temples, Mu Han felt the vein in his forehead throbbing excessively. Reminding himself repeatedly that the person on the other side was Qingyi, his younger brother, he managed not to lash out as he might with others.

After receiving a few more comments that sounded more provoking than apologetic, the worn-out Mu Han ended the call first, leaving Qingyi bewildered on the other end.

Rubbing his temples once more, Mu Han figured his unresolved tension was due to a lack of sleep from the night before. As he debated whether to ask his secretary for a cup of tea, a knock came at the door.

Always composed, Mu Han tightened his grip, carefully keeping his emotions out of his voice, maintaining his usual coolness: “Come in.”

The door swung open, revealing a young man of medium build, neither fat nor thin, with an utterly ordinary face that would easily get lost in a crowd. “Hello, President Mu.”

Even his voice was strikingly ordinary. From head to toe, inside and out, only one word fit him: “ordinary.”

But it was precisely this ordinariness that qualified him for this job. The man’s name was Zhang Hao, and he was Mu Han’s best investigator. After that chaotic night at the bar, Mu Han had tasked him with finding out who the woman he had spent the night with was.

In previous inquiries, Zhang Hao had reported that the woman was untraceable, but now he took the initiative to come to the office.

Mu Han’s eyes lit up instantly, and his previously muddled mind became clear. “Zhang Hao, have you found out the result?”

“Yes.” Zhang Hao, not much of a talker, nodded and took off the bag slung over his shoulder, pulling out a file and handing it to Mu Han.

“Initially, you had me investigate the Wang Family route, but there was no trace of the woman you mentioned. Then I changed direction and questioned every staff member at that bar, finally getting the result.”

Seeing that Mu Han had flipped to the page about the person, Zhang Hao continued, “The woman is named Chu Qianqian. There’s no conspiracy; she stumbled into that room by mistake.”

As soon as he finished speaking, Mu Han saw the information about Chu Qianqian, accompanied by several photos, both frontal and side shots, all taken secretly. In these pictures, the girl was unaware of being photographed, smiling brilliantly at the camera.

Suddenly, one photo caught Mu Han’s attention. In it, Chu Qianqian was turned sideways, looking at something unknown, perhaps caught by a passing breeze, with a distinctive red mole on her left earlobe captured by the camera.

It was just a photo, yet Mu Han couldn’t help but caress the image of Chu Qianqian’s red mole. He closed his eyes, finding himself transported back to that night of confusion. This time, the woman’s previously indistinct face beneath him clarified-it was Chu Qianqian.

Unlike the Chu Qianqian he usually saw, the one lying beneath him had a hazy look, an expression mixed with pain and pleasure, except for her eyes, which were focused solely on him.

“So it was you, after all.”