My Elite Boss Is Carrying My Child - Chapter 26

Qi Jiezhi felt that this wasn’t entirely fair to Qu Mingluo, but it was also obvious that he couldn’t control his own thoughts. If there was love involved, surely there could be room for tolerance, he thought.

Ultimately, Qi Jiezhi decided to stop overthinking. He continued to handle the tasks at hand. There was one thing about Qu Mingluo that he had always admired: no matter how they interacted personally, Qu Mingluo never used his professional position to do anything inappropriate at work. Other things might be debatable, but this specific trait was undoubtedly a reflection of his personal character and upbringing.

As soon as work ended, Qi Jiezhi headed straight downstairs. He found himself wanting to see Qu Mingluo a little sooner. Taking a deep breath, he hurried down.

Qu Mingluo appeared no different than usual. Qi Jiezhi spoke up, “Brother Ming.”

Qu Mingluo nodded but didn’t say much else. He clearly had no intention of bringing up that kiss. Seeing this, Qi Jiezhi didn’t press the matter either. He knew very well that if he were willing, the two of them could be in a relationship right now. However, he didn’t feel that he should say so yet. He didn’t want to give Qu Mingluo hope only to let him down later; that would be irresponsible, and he refused to be that kind of person.

“What’s wrong?” Qu Mingluo asked, “Are you unhappy?”

“No.”

Qi Jiezhi purposely avoided looking at him after answering, but he heard Qu Mingluo’s soft chuckle.

“Are you laughing at me?” Qi Jiezhi turned his head to look at him.

“No,” Qu Mingluo said, “I just think you’re very cute.”

Qi Jiezhi fell silent and simply stayed by his side. He knew they were going back to Qu Mingluo’s place, but he still felt a sense of daze during the drive.

“Xiao Qi,” Qu Mingluo said, “get out of the car.”

“Oh, right.” Qi Jiezhi looked around, feeling a bit lost, “This isn’t Seaview Bay.”

“I really like this restaurant,” Qu Mingluo explained, “but I’ve never invited anyone here alone before. I was afraid you’d refuse, so I decided to act first and ask for forgiveness later.”

Still slightly dazed, Qi Jiezhi didn’t refuse him. He said, “Thank you.”

“I actually really wanted to say ‘Happy Housewarming’,” Qu Mingluo added, “but it feels a bit untimely to say it now, Xiao Qi. I hope there will be a more appropriate time for it soon.”

Qi Jiezhi could only nod. Looking at Qu Mingluo, he felt an indescribable sensation in his heart. Just when did Qu Mingluo become like this?

He sat across from Qu Mingluo, where he could see him just by lifting his head. Qi Jiezhi cleared his throat, “Brother Ming…”

“Order whatever you like,” Qu Mingluo said, “I want you to take the lead.”

Qi Jiezhi nodded, “Alright.” He decided not to worry about anything else and just did as Qu Mingluo suggested. He quickly picked out the dishes he liked and handed the menu back.

“Aren’t you going to help me order too?” Qu Mingluo asked.

Hearing this, Qi Jiezhi lowered his head to the menu again and selected a few more items. After picking and choosing, he felt it was enough and told Qu Mingluo, “I’m done ordering.”

“Good,” Qu Mingluo replied, not saying anything else.

As they waited for the food, Qi Jiezhi felt a bit awkward because he hadn’t accepted Qu Mingluo’s pursuit yet, but at the same time, the scales in his heart were tipping toward the man. He had always thought Qu Mingluo was a good person, and he felt that they were just one step away from something more. Regardless, he didn’t want to make things too difficult on the surface.

“Brother Ming,” Qi Jiezhi said as the first dish arrived, “see if you like this.”

“I like it.”

Qu Mingluo said this without even looking at the food, his eyes fixed solely on Qi Jiezhi.

Qi Jiezhi grumbled, “You didn’t even look.”

“I like the food at this restaurant, and I’m sure I’ll like whatever you ordered,” Qu Mingluo replied, “so there’s no need to look.”

Qi Jiezhi found his reasoning hard to argue with, so he simply stopped talking.

“Shall we try it together?” Qu Mingluo invited him.

“Okay.”

Although Qu Mingluo said he wanted to try the food, his gaze remained on Qi Jiezhi.

“Brother Ming…”

Hearing him call his name, Qu Mingluo immediately smiled. He liked Qi Jiezhi, that was a certainty. To him, these moments were precious. Having grown used to eating with Qu Mingluo, Qi Jiezhi no longer found anything abnormal about it. He looked at the drink by his hand, momentarily lost in thought.

“To a successful move,” Qu Mingluo said, raising his glass.

“Thank you, Brother Ming,” Qi Jiezhi smiled back.

For some reason, he had a feeling that this could last a long time. However, this wasn’t what he had originally planned. He didn’t want to owe Qu Mingluo too much.

“No need for thanks,” Qu Mingluo said, “I won’t use my favors against you.”

Qi Jiezhi was stunned. He hadn’t intended to bring up those thoughts, yet here was someone telling him he didn’t need to worry about them. This was something Qu Mingluo was doing willingly. Qi Jiezhi didn’t know what to say. He felt that if his willpower were any weaker, he might have just agreed to be with him right then and there. But now was not the time.

When they returned that evening, they seemed to fall back into the routine of the previous day. They lived together, chatted face-to-face for a while, but nothing more happened. Qu Mingluo still had a lot of work to do, which came as no surprise to anyone.

After living there for a few days, Qi Jiezhi got used to the apartment. Although it was different from before, it was easy to adapt. He stopped dwelling on the matter. If staying there had truly been a burden, he would have found a reason to leave, but he realized he actually wanted to be there, so there was no need to force himself away.

Qu Mingluo wasn’t ignorant of his thoughts. Once he confirmed that Qi Jiezhi was staying, he was very happy. After all, he was the one who had confessed, and he was the one who wanted him to stay.

For several days, Qu Mingluo remained buried in work. After some thought, Qi Jiezhi decided to make a dessert for him together with Xi Xingyu. He wanted it to be a surprise, so he naturally kept it a secret. Xi Xingyu was delighted by the idea.

Since Qi Jiezhi no longer lived at the other house, Qu Mingluo would only visit every few days. When Xi Xingyu heard Qi Jiezhi’s suggestion, he was overjoyed.

“Brother Xiao Qi,” Xi Xingyu asked, “will Brother be happy?”

“He will be.”

Qi Jiezhi knew how much the boy cared for his older brother, so Xi Xingyu was very happy while they worked. Qi Jiezhi also knew that Qu Mingluo didn’t like things too sweet, so he didn’t add much sugar. With Xi Xingyu there, the process was very enjoyable.

Later, when Qu Mingluo arrived, both Qi Jiezhi and Xi Xingyu greeted him warmly. Qu Mingluo was indeed in an excellent mood because of them.

“Thank you both,” Qu Mingluo said, his gaze lingering on Qi Jiezhi.

Eventually, Qu Mingluo went back to his own place. By the time Qi Jiezhi returned that night, Qu Mingluo was already busy with work again.

The next day, Qi Jiezhi saw an announcement in the company email: there would be overtime tonight. However, overtime pay would be triple the usual rate, and employees could still choose whether or not they wanted to stay.

During lunch, Qi Jiezhi asked Qu Mingluo if he would be staying late at the office. Qu Mingluo gave a definitive yes. Qi Jiezhi wasn’t surprised; he could tell the man had been quite busy lately.

“Then I’ll work overtime too,” Qi Jiezhi said, “I’m afraid to go back alone.”

“Alright,” Qu Mingluo said, giving him a meaningful look.

Qi Jiezhi added, “Brother Ming, you’ve been working hard.”

Qu Mingluo immediately broke into a smile. Qi Jiezhi didn’t say more and went back down when the time came. Despite having been there for a while, he hadn’t actually worked overtime before, but today he wanted to stay with Qu Mingluo. He knew that when Qu Mingluo went home previously, it wasn’t because his work was finished, he just continued working at home. One can work anywhere, after all.

Perhaps Qu Mingluo had his own reasons for staying at the office today. Qi Jiezhi wouldn’t pry; Qu Mingluo deserved his own space, and if he wanted to share, Qi Jiezhi would listen. Qu Mingluo’s career was very important and required a lot of attention, that was certain.

Qi Jiezhi also knew that if he wanted to work, there was plenty for him to do. He wasn’t in a frantic rush because he knew Qu Mingluo would message him once his tasks were done. He was always considerate like that. Qi Jiezhi didn’t message to hurry him; both were focused on their own work. This was a good state of affairs.

“I’m coming downstairs now, I’ll wait for you below,” Qu Mingluo sent a voice message.

“Okay, okay,” Qi Jiezhi replied with a voice message of his own. He hadn’t liked using voice messages before, preferring text, but now he was happy to use them. It gave him a feeling as if he were speaking with his partner.

Thinking this, Qi Jiezhi quickly shook his head. What partner? He wasn’t even in a relationship. To him, Qu Mingluo was a brother, someone who helped him, and someone he was willing to look at in a special light. But he wasn’t a boyfriend.

In a moment of daze, Qi Jiezhi suddenly realized that it was almost the same thing. What was missing now seemed to be only his own nod of agreement.

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