The President Comes Knocking -

After closing the door and locking it behind her, Chu Qianqian didn’t relax. Instead, she pressed her ear against the door, listening intently to the movement outside. She wasn’t sure how many minutes had passed, but it was long enough for her whole body to tense up uncomfortably. Finally, she heard the sound of a door closing across the hall.

It felt like a signal. The moment Chu Qianqian exhaled in relief, it was as if the support beam holding her upright was suddenly pulled out. Her strength gave way, and she collapsed onto the floor, completely drained. For a long time, she couldn’t gather the energy to get back up.

It was an embarrassing reaction, but she couldn’t help it-what had just happened had left her feeling weak in the knees. She touched her lips, which were swollen and aching slightly, and a soft blush crept across her face. Before this, she’d never realized that kisses could actually feel as good as they were described in books-so intoxicatingly pleasant.

December had fully ushered in winter. Even though the villa had adequate heating, sitting on the floor wasn’t exactly warm. After barely two minutes, she propped herself up with one hand on the ground and the other bracing against the door, slowly pulling herself to her feet.

During dinner preparations earlier that day, her clothes had accidentally gotten some flour on them while making dumplings. And now, after having just collapsed onto the floor in exhaustion, Chu Qianqian reluctantly decided she needed to freshen up a bit before bed, despite her intense fatigue.

When she finally finished washing up and lay on her bed, Chu Qianqian felt her entire body sink into a heavy numbness, as though she couldn’t even muster the energy to move a single muscle. This wasn’t ordinary physical exhaustion. It felt like a deep, soul-depleting weariness, the kind that made every bone in her body feel waterlogged and limp. All she wanted to do was lie there, completely still.

Staring at the ceiling, Chu Qianqian spaced out for a while. She had no idea how she was going to face Mu Han tomorrow. Anger? That seemed like the appropriate response-after all, he had kissed her without her consent. But…

Her fingers fidgeted with the edge of the blanket as her expression shifted through a kaleidoscope of emotions, finally settling on embarrassment.

Unlike the first kiss, during the second one she had been completely awake and clear-headed. Rationally, she knew Mu Han was kissing her, and she should have pushed him away. Yet…

The truth was, not only had she not resisted, but toward the end, she’d even responded to him.

It was a tiny response, barely perceptible, but it had happened nonetheless. She could still remember vividly how Mu Han’s arm tightened around her waist at that moment, holding her so firmly it almost hurt. He must have been very pleased…

Some memories seemed to become sharper the more one tried to erase them. No matter how many times Chu Qianqian told herself to forget, the scene just now played on an endless loop in her mind, refusing to fade.

By the time she was on the brink of sleep, her thoughts were still consumed by the image of Mu Han’s impossibly handsome face, so close that it was all she could see. His long, expressive eyes brimmed with emotion, reflecting her figure so clearly in them.

The next morning, Chu Qianqian was awakened by the sunlight. The night before, her mind had been so cluttered with thoughts that she had forgotten to draw the curtains. Thankfully, the weather was pleasant-City B’s sunniest day in a week-which allowed her to experience, for the first time in a while, the feeling of waking up to sunlight.

Pulling the blanket a little lower from her face, Chu Qianqian blinked groggily a few times. She stretched, rolled onto her side, and instinctively reached for her phone. It was already 8:30 a.m.

“Whoosh-” Chu Qianqian suddenly bolted upright, her wide eyes staring blankly ahead as her brain slowly processed her surroundings. Then it clicked-Director Zhang had given both Qingyi and Chu Ziyu the day off, which meant she didn’t have to accompany them to the film crew either.

That was the only reason she was lucky enough to sleep in until 8:30 a.m. If it were any other day, even if she’d been tempted to stay in bed longer, her body’s natural internal clock would have made it difficult. Not to mention, Qingyi and Chu Ziyu would never have allowed her to sleep this late.

To be clear, they weren’t waking her up to make her work. They were just concerned that she might overwork herself and fall ill, so they’d call her out of bed early to check on her and make sure she didn’t need a trip to the hospital.

As she was about to step out of her bedroom, Chu Qianqian couldn’t resist the urge to turn back and check her reflection in the mirror. It was the third time she’d done so that morning. Fixing her eyes on her lips, she scrutinized them carefully until she was sure there was no swelling. Only then did she sigh in relief and finally head out of the room.

When she went downstairs, she happened to catch Qingyi and Chu Ziyu eating breakfast. Because of their day off, neither of them had woken up as early as they usually did, allowing themselves the luxury of sleeping until 8:00 a.m. before getting up.

Downstairs, an unfamiliar aunt was busily preparing breakfast. Chu Qianqian wasn’t sure who had called her so early, but when Qingyi and Chu Ziyu first saw the spread laid out in the dining room, they assumed it had been prepared by Chu Qianqian herself. They never expected to see a stranger bustling about.

The aunt introduced herself as Aunt Chen and explained that it was Mu Han who had called her. She even showed them the call log on her phone, which displayed the work-related call from Mu Han two hours earlier.

“Mu Han… Is he not coming out to have breakfast?”

As she asked this, Chu Qianqian kept her head down, her gaze fixed on the food in her plate without looking at Qingyi. Perhaps Mu Han had been specific in his instructions, because the breakfast consisted of traditional soy milk and fried dough sticks-a meal no Chinese person could resist.

The fried dough sticks had all been pre-cut into smaller pieces by the aunt, making them very convenient to eat. Qingyi ate a piece of fried dough stick, took a sip of soy milk, and then said, “Mu Han left early this morning. What, he didn’t tell you?”

Tell her? Of course, he hadn’t. Just before coming downstairs, Chu Qianqian had checked her phone. There were no new messages, no missed calls-nothing.

Chu Qianqian’s silence was an answer in itself. Qingyi furrowed his brows slightly, unable to figure out whether the two of them had gotten into another disagreement. Just yesterday, everything had seemed fine between them, so why would Mu Han leave without saying goodbye today?

As the self-proclaimed “master of assisting” when it came to Mu Han and Chu Qianqian, Qingyi couldn’t just sit by and let Chu Qianqian misunderstand the situation. He quickly clarified, “Mu Han left in a hurry this morning. It seemed like something urgent happened with the company in City A. He left before sunrise, so even I didn’t see him. He only left me a message.”

Hearing that Mu Han had left urgently because of an issue at the company, the tension in Chu Qianqian’s tightly pursed lips visibly eased. However, her brows soon knitted together again. As just a small-time agent, she wasn’t privy to the inner workings of Kunhuang Group, but anything serious enough to require Mu Han to rush back so early must not be a trivial matter.

“I hope it’s nothing major…”

Her voice was soft, but the concern in it was unmistakable. Qingyi, munching on another piece of fried dough stick, spoke in a comforting tone, “Don’t worry, it won’t be anything serious. My brother is extremely capable.”

There was absolute confidence in Qingyi’s eyes as he said this-an unwavering belief that wasn’t the least bit exaggerated. It was rooted in the fact that Mu Han had never let anyone down in the years he’d been at the helm of Kunhuang Group.

Perhaps confidence really was contagious. After hearing Qingyi’s reassurance, Chu Qianqian felt much of the unease in her heart dissipate. She nodded, her expression softening as she said, “Hmm, you’re right. I was overthinking it.”