Pretending To Have Amnesia - Chapter 5

He Mu revealed an expression of considerable “appreciation.”

“It seems President Mu is a good boss. Even when your employees suffer grievances, they still trust you very much.”

Mu Qingran said, “The issue President He mentioned just now does indeed exist. We’ll hold an internal meeting afterward to resolve it. I believe President He’s purpose in coming today wasn’t to make things difficult for our company’s employees.”

Su Li cast Mu Qingran a grateful look.

The smile at the corners of He Mu’s lips widened. She nodded. “I was only making a small joke just now. Whether KM’s employees stay or leave is, of course, up to President Mu.”

After saying that, she once again picked up the ballpoint pen on the table. Her thumb slowly pressed the end of the pen again and again, making a “click… clack… click… clack…” sound, as though even time had slowed down.

At that moment, the woman in work attire seated to He Mu’s left, who had been flipping through the financial statements, spoke.

“Director Su, this account receivable has been overdue for two years. May I understand this as something that will need to be treated as bad debt later?”

She pushed the sheet of paper she had circled toward Su Li.

“Our colleagues have been actively following up on this account. The other party is a client we’ve worked with for a long time. However, because there were changes in the personnel responsible for this project, a lot of materials are missing, so it will take some time.”

The person asking questions in front of her did not have the same powerful sense of pressure as President He. Su Li regained her usual composure.

He Mu glanced at the finance director, then said to her own employees, “The amount of capital involved in this project is considerable. I’ll have to trouble everyone to review it carefully.”

The four employees nodded to their boss in unison and immediately threw themselves back into their work.

In truth, they could have come to KM themselves today and communicated directly with Director Su. After all, investigation work required time. It was not something that could be completed in a single morning or afternoon. Moreover, the process was dull. Most of the time, it consisted of several people sitting in one room in mutual silence.

But for some unknown reason, perhaps both bosses happened to be very free, they actually sat at the side and kept them company.

The elite employees of Maple Leaf Investment felt the terror of being under their boss’s control. They did not even dare go to the bathroom.

He Mu propped her elbow on the conference table and rested her chin on one hand. Her gaze remained fixed on Director Su’s face, and a faint curve hung at the corners of her lips. She looked as though she was smiling.

Su Li accidentally met President He’s gaze several times. For some reason, she felt a chill run down her spine.

She thought President He probably wanted to dampen their company’s sharp spirit. As an employee of KM, she could not embarrass Mu Qingran.

Su Li straightened her posture a little and answered the other party’s employees’ questions with even greater seriousness and professionalism.

After an unknown amount of time passed, Mu Qingran looked at the watch on her wrist, then turned to Su Li and said, “Take everyone from Maple Leaf to lunch for me. Come back and find me for reimbursement.”

“All right, President Mu,” Su Li said. “Then for lunch, you…”

He Mu stood up, walked to Mu Qingran’s side, crossed her arms, and bent forward slightly.

“President Mu, I’ve already booked a restaurant. Let’s go.”

Mu Qingran had not received any lunch invitation from He Mu in advance. She lifted her eyes and met He Mu’s gaze for a moment, then stood up.

That counted as tacitly agreeing to have lunch with her.

A trace of disappointment flashed through Su Li’s eyes. She immediately stood up after Mu Qingran, nodded goodbye to the two bosses, and called the people opposite her to lunch.

When they had parted ways a few years ago, He Mu had not been as tall as Mu Qingran. But at the “advanced age” of nineteen, she had somehow shot up a few more centimeters and broke past one meter seventy.

Today, the heels of their shoes were about the same height, so He Mu had the advantage in height.

In the past, she had always had to look up. But now, she had to lower her gaze slightly to look into Mu Qingran’s eyes. A subtle, indescribable feeling rose in He Mu’s heart.

“Which restaurant?” Mu Qingran asked concisely.

He Mu gave the name of the restaurant, then lifted her foot and walked out first.

The restaurant He Mu booked was a private vegetarian dining restaurant. The dishes on the table were dainty and exquisite. The preserved-vegetable braised pork and Dongpo knuckle that looked like meat dishes were actually made from tofu or other vegetarian ingredients.

For these dishes on the table, even if the chef displayed superb knife skills, carefully controlled the heat, and treated them with utmost care, they had merely been made to look like something else. Once eaten, the difference in texture could still be detected.

He Mu felt that she was like a chef who had poured all her effort into trying to transform an ingredient. In the end, she would discover that some things, and some people, could never be changed.

Mu Qingran went straight to the point and asked, “Was my performance last night enough for President He to lend a helping hand?”

They were clearly words of pleading, yet from her mouth, they still sounded neither servile nor overbearing.

He Mu did not answer the question. Instead, she looked into Mu Qingran’s eyes, raised her brows, and smiled.

“Your finance director likes you, doesn’t she?”

“Perhaps,” Mu Qingran replied just as briefly.

“So you knew.” He Mu’s chest filled with an inexplicable fire, but the smile on her face did not fade.

“As long as it doesn’t affect her work, who she likes has nothing to do with me,” Mu Qingran said.

“I’d almost forgotten. Sister has never cared about other people’s feelings at all.” He Mu’s voice sank a few degrees. “Since that’s the case, why bother protecting her in front of me and making her misunderstand?”

Mu Qingran said, “If it had been any other employee being questioned by someone from outside the company, I, as the boss, would have spoken up for them as well.”

He Mu said, “That’s right. I’m nothing more than an outsider. How could I be as close to you as your good employee?”

Mu Qingran picked up a slice of green bamboo shoot with her chopsticks and put it into her mouth, ending the conversation.

Her face was faint and calm, showing no emotion.

The air fell quiet, leaving only the faint sound of chewing.

After a long while, He Mu suppressed the fire in her heart and spoke again with a smile.

“Compared with when I was little, do I make Sister hate me even more now?”

Mu Qingran put down her chopsticks and met He Mu’s gaze.

“I’ve said before. There are many things I don’t remember.”

He Mu gripped the chopsticks in her hand tightly and took a deep breath, maintaining the stiff smile on her face.

“Sister’s ability to make people angry is still just as impressive as it was years ago.”

Mu Qingran said, “Has President He ever considered that the reason might be your own inability to control your emotions?”

The thing He Mu had improved most over the years was precisely her ability to control her emotions. She did not reveal her anger. Instead, she changed the subject.

“I invited you to eat vegetarian food today. Do you want to know why?”

Mu Qingran only looked at her without speaking.

He Mu continued, “Because I made a solemn vow before the Buddha. As long as I could make everything go badly for you and fill your life with hardship, this devout woman would willingly eat vegetarian food every day and take refuge in the Buddha. Now it’s time to fulfill my vow.”

“You hate me.” The corners of Mu Qingran’s lips lifted slightly, but she quickly pressed them back down. It was unclear whether she found it laughable or was angry.

Aside from the businesslike smiles from this morning, this was the only expression with a hint of emotion that had appeared on her face.

“You’re wrong. I don’t hate you.” He Mu’s eyes curved downward as she smiled. “I won’t waste even a single bit of unnecessary feeling on you. I’m only unwilling to accept it. I just don’t want you to be able to live well in a place without me.”

Mu Qingran lowered her head and looked at the watch on her wrist.

“I still have a meeting this afternoon. Where do you want to go? I’ll send you.”

As she spoke, she walked to the door and took down a light gray leather handbag from the coat rack.

“You probably don’t want to waste another afternoon sitting around doing nothing either.”

She gave the topic no chance to continue and gave He Mu no chance to refuse.

He Mu was already used to this feeling of punching cotton.

She picked up a napkin and wiped her mouth, touched up her lipstick, then leisurely stood and walked to Mu Qingran’s side.

“President Mu is right. My time is precious. I shouldn’t waste it on unimportant places.”

Mu Qingran pushed open the door and stepped aside.

He Mu took down a leather bag about the size of a camera from the coat rack and slung it over her shoulder. Without even looking at Mu Qingran, she walked straight out.

The door to the president’s office was pushed open.

“President Mu, this is the lunch invoice.” Su Li placed a thin slip of paper on the desk. “Actually, there’s no need to reimburse me. Just take it as my treat…”

“One moment.” Mu Qingran glanced at the amount and directly picked up her phone to transfer the money.

A new message popped up on the phone Su Li was holding.

“There’s no reason to make an employee spend money on my behalf,” Mu Qingran said.

“I understand. I…” Su Li paused.

Mu Qingran asked, “Is there anything else?”

“I wanted to thank you for speaking up for me this morning.” Su Li pressed her lips together and unnaturally avoided her gaze. “I’ll definitely work even harder in the future and not let you work so hard.”

“I don’t want any employee bringing other emotions into the workplace,” Mu Qingran said. “As the boss, I have a responsibility to protect my employees. The premise is that the employee does their own job properly.”

Su Li was not stupid. She immediately understood Mu Qingran’s implication and hurriedly explained, “President Mu, I didn’t. I…”

Mu Qingran stood up and walked out with her phone.

“Help me tell Director Ye to come to the small conference room for a meeting in half an hour.”

Su Li tugged bitterly at the corners of her lips. “All right, President Mu.”

So even if President Mu knew she liked her, it did not matter. She did not even need a reason or an explanation.

An hourglass stood on the table. Its frame was made of bronze lines, symmetrical at the top and bottom, in the shape of a diamond. Every turn and angle was simple and crisp.

Only a shallow cone-shaped base of golden fine sand remained in the upper glass belly.

The grains of sand were still slipping away one by one.

He Mu curled up lazily, her eyes half narrowed. Her dense, long lashes swept a shadow beneath her eyes.

Finally, when the last thin layer of sand fell, the doorbell rang.

He Mu was not in any hurry. She slowly rose and walked to the mirror in the washroom. Picking up an exquisite, slender golden tube of lipstick, she outlined an alluring lip shape.

She lifted a hand and smoothed the wrinkles at the collar of her sleeping robe. The burgundy silk satin lay extremely obedient beneath her hand, covering half her collarbone just right.

The owner of that collarbone lightly slid a finger over her lips, carrying an indescribable charm.

Her fingers were long, fair, and smooth like scallion stalks, and her nails were trimmed very neatly.

He Mu curved her lips at the mirror and swept her hair behind her shoulders. Her waterfall-like black hair fell straight down, all the way to her waist.

When she came out of the washroom to open the door, several minutes had already passed since the first ring of the doorbell, as though the person outside were not important at all.

The heavy metal door opened with a creak, and cold wind poured in from outside.

The night wind carried a slight chill.

Goosebumps rose over He Mu from the wind, and the toes inside her slippers curled uncontrollably. Yet on her face, she still wore that same lazy expression.

When Mu Qingran saw He Mu’s cool, revealing outfit, she quickly stepped inside and closed the door behind her with one hand.

He Mu crossed her arms and leaned sideways against the wall.

“I said I wanted to see you within half an hour.” Her tone was questioning.

The implication was: you didn’t do it.

Mu Qingran did not speak. Her light brown eyes were very calm, and the corners of her lips held a proper smile. She was not angered by He Mu deliberately picking a fight.

He Mu gave Mu Qingran a thumbs-up.

“Come in.”

She glanced sideways at Mu Qingran, then turned and made way.

He Mu had only taken two steps when a pair of hands suddenly appeared around her waist, and her back crashed into a softness behind her.

The person who had just come in still carried the chill of the autumn night. He Mu could not stop her whole body from trembling.

Beside her ear, a warm breath brushed over with the voice that followed.

“We only did it yesterday, and you called me again today. Are you that lonely?”

He Mu gave a mocking laugh.

“When a child gets a new toy, they’ll find it fresh for a few days, won’t they?”

She slipped her hand between Mu Qingran’s fingers and said carelessly, “Besides, I still need Sister to pretend she’s enjoying it. That really makes me lose face. You should know that frustration is even better at stirring up a person’s fighting spirit.”

Mu Qingran pinched He Mu’s earlobe and leaned close to her ear.

“I’m going to shower.”

He Mu’s ear trembled, like a mimosa leaf.

“If you’re going to shower, then shower. There’s no need to tell me.”

Her tone was cold and high above.

Only after the bathroom door closed did He Mu quickly walk to the half-height bar counter in the living room. She picked up the glass of water on the table and took a few sips. Her fingers tightened around the cup without her realizing it, the knuckles faintly whitening.

Almost.

She had almost drowned in Mu Qingran’s embrace again.

That feeling was truly hateful.