My Weekend Lover Turned Out To Be My Boss - Chapter 66

Chapter 66: Gift. “Silent Mountains”

Back in the living room, He Mu had already locked himself in his bedroom, leaving Qiu Qi sitting alone on the sofa in a daze. I leaned against the doorframe watching her, wanting to say something, but then realized how strange fate truly is. Just like in the vast sea of people or the virtual world, Phoebe and I always seemed to collide.

But He Mu’s attitude today shocked me. Logically, he should have known about my relationship with Phoebe from the start; even if he didn’t, Qiu Qi certainly would have told him. Why wait until the very end to get tangled up in these so-called “connections”? I walked over to Qiu Qi, knelt down, and took her hand—only to find it deathly cold.

I rubbed her hands to warm them, asking cautiously, “Did you go to Jieshi Excellence today?”

Qiu Qi froze for a second, then nodded silently. I pressed on, “Did Phoebe make things difficult for you?”

Qiu Qi gripped my hand back, her voice full of disappointment. “Actually… the reason He Mu came here was because the company set its sights on a massive project. As the construction party, securing this collaboration was incredibly important to us. The partner was Phoebe. Setting aside all misunderstandings to talk business, she was actually very satisfied with our proposal. We’ve been working day and night lately just to finalize this.

We were so close; we were practically at the contract-signing stage. But today, Phoebe acted completely out of character. We waited for her at the office for a long time, and the moment she arrived, she turned cold and rejected us—rejected us without giving a single reason. He Mu wouldn’t let it go and demanded an explanation. Phoebe only said three words… You Feifan.”

I stood up, a surge of heavy sorrow with nowhere to vent. Lan Feiyi is Lan Feiyi. Ten years can change many things, even a person’s temperament, but for her, it was still the same: cross her and perish, or be wiped out entirely. I never condoned her business tactics, but I was powerless against them.

I looked at Qiu Qi apologetically. “I’m sorry for my incompetence; I can’t help you resolve this. I have to go out for a bit. I was going to ask you to join me, but given the circumstances, you should stay here with He Mu.”

Qiu Qi saw me to the door like a devoted partner, helping me into my coat and repeatedly reminding me not to drive if I drank. I smiled and ruffled her hair. “The club I’m going to has amazing snacks. I’ll bring some back for you. Can you give me a smile?”

Qiu Qi forced a reluctant grin. I shook my head and teased, “That looks terrible.”

“You!”

“Don’t cook tonight; just order takeout. I’m off.”

…

Too many things had happened today, straining my nerves to the breaking point. I had no idea why Yu Xiao wanted to see me so suddenly, but relaxing for free at Jian Yumeng’s club certainly wasn’t a bad thing. In my world, nothing is simpler or happier than free food and drinks.

Same as always, I parked in the open lot and saw Yu Xiao waiting at the entrance from a distance. She must have been there a while; she was huddled up against the cold. I jogged over to her. “You should have waited inside! It’s freezing!”

Yu Xiao broke into a radiant smile and hugged me as if we hadn’t seen each other in years. I hugged her back, teasing, “I haven’t been gone that long. Why the grand reunion act?”

“Because I missed you! Come on in.”

We ended up in the same private suite. Jian Yumeng sat at the head of the table, swirling a glass of red wine, watching us walk in with a smile. She set her glass down, and I noticed gift boxes and a cake on the table. I scratched the back of my head sheepishly. “My birthday passed ages ago. You guys are too kind.”

Yu Xiao told the waiter to bring the food quickly and sat next to Yumeng. She pushed a gift box toward me, looking excited. “This was custom-made for you. Try it on; you should like it.”

With a bit of curiosity, I opened the box. Inside was a unique platinum necklace. The pendant was fascinating: a three-dimensional glass-sealed box, where one side of the glass could be opened. Inside the box was an irregular platinum bead that could rotate. The whole pendant was about the size of my thumbnail. It was incredibly fine work; you wouldn’t find something like this in a regular store.

“This is a bit too expensive, isn’t it? But thank you—I love it!”

Yu Xiao eagerly helped me put it on, tilting her head proudly. “This is priceless, okay? I drew the design myself. Even if you didn’t like it, you’d have to wear it. Now, look deeper in the box~”

I searched through the black box again and found a matching ring—or rather, a set of rings. The style was simple but the craftsmanship looked complex. The ring could be split in two; the inner band was set with a small, unidentifiable gemstone. Seeing me struggle with it, Yu Xiao helped me put it on my middle finger.

“Whew, I was worried about the size since I had to guess. Look, if you ever reconcile with Phoebe, remember to give her the other ring. Although her fingers are thinner than yours, it might not fit… hahaha…”

I touched the ring but couldn’t find the words. Finally, I sighed. “Phoebe and I have broken up for good.”

My words clearly shocked them. They exchanged glances of pure disbelief. I smiled and packed the gift box away. “Let’s not talk about sad things today. I love this gift. Yu Xiao, you’re so thoughtful, I might just fall in love with you—what should I do?~”

Jian Yumeng pouted, feigning jealousy. “Don’t you dare! I’ll break your dog legs!”

I held my hand out to her. She crossed her arms. “What now?”

“Where’s my gift?”

“You’re so thick-skinned, actually asking for it.”

“I don’t care. Give me my gift!”

Jian Yumeng looked through me with a smile. “You look like a pathetic stray with no wife to love her. It’s heart-wrenching. Fine, fine. Your gift is the grand finale. I’ll keep the suspense for now. Let’s eat first.”

Yu Xiao suddenly remembered: “Wait, where’s your female companion? I told you to bring her.”

“She had some things to handle, so she wasn’t free today. Next time. Next time you guys come to my place, you’ll see her.”

We spent the meal talking about my experiences in Sichuan—meeting Qiu Qi, traveling to Daocheng Yading, the brief time teaching in the mountains of Garzê, and the terrifying landslide. As I talked, Yu Xiao’s heart seemed to fly away with the stories, and she kept begging Jian Yumeng to find time for a trip.

But somehow, the topic shifted back to Phoebe. Jian Yumeng said casually while picking at her food, “I remember Phoebe lived at your place the whole time you were away.”

“Yeah, exactly! When we went to your place, we ran into her—that’s how we knew you’d left. But Phoebe felt different back then. She seemed incredibly lonely, probably because you weren’t there. She lost her sense of security. Luckily, she had Duoduo with her.”

Yu Xiao chimed in. I didn’t understand what game they were playing or why they kept bringing up Phoebe, but I kept eating and drinking calmly. Trying to divert the topic, I said, “I withdrew all my investment from the MA bar. Yu Tingzhi’s people should be sending over the money and paperwork soon.”

Jian Yumeng dropped her chopsticks and stared at me like I was insane. “Why the hell would you withdraw? The bar is doing great. Did your brain short-circuit? Why cut off your own financial path?”

Yu Xiao quickly tried to smooth things over. “Knowing Feifan, she always has a reason. She must be planning something new, right?…”

“I just didn’t want to do it anymore. I’ve invested a lot over the years, and by my count, I have enough to live comfortably for the rest of my life. It’s fine.”

My lack of a “real” reason made Yu Xiao look bad after defending me. She glared at me miserably. “Couldn’t you at least make up a better excuse for us? What are your plans now? You’re just going to break up with Phoebe like this? What about the child? Don’t you see that withdrawing like this is the same as pushing your friends away?”

I put down my chopsticks and looked at them seriously. “I used to think that losing Phoebe would mean the sky would fall and the earth would crack. But looking at it now, the world is still quiet and peaceful, isn’t it?”

Jian Yumeng hit the nail on the head. “Stop the nonsense. I’m asking you one thing: do you still love Lan Feiyi?”

I didn’t answer directly. I fumbled for my lighter and said through a cloud of smoke, “Who knows?”

The atmosphere for the rest of the meal was decent. Seeing it was getting late, Jian Yumeng called the waiter for the cake. Yu Xiao insisted that even a belated birthday needed a sense of ritual.

After the wishes, the candles, and the cake, I looked at Jian Yumeng with expectant eyes, resting my chin on my hand. She eventually got annoyed by my staring, rolled her eyes, and tapped her wine glass with a spoon. The crisp sound was followed by the creak of a door. A strange man walked out from the side lounge.

He was about 1.8 meters tall, and I had to look up to see him clearly. He had neck-length hair tied back in a messy ponytail, giving him a slightly scruffy look, though his face was clean-shaven. Under his sharp brows were deep eyes that seemed to hold the stars. He had a high nose and thin lips—in a word, he was strikingly handsome.

He was wearing a thin leather jacket that made me shiver just looking at it, but the jacket accentuated his fit physique, even letting me see the lines of his muscles. My god, luckily I’m into women, otherwise I wouldn’t be able to resist this kind of temptation! Wait! How can I have such lewd thoughts! How annoying!

Seeing me completely dazed, Jian Yumeng tapped her glass again. “Are you satisfied with this gift?”

The man looked down at me, silent and cold as a terracotta soldier. I turned to Jian Yumeng with a face full of question marks, pointing at the man. “Why are you giving me a man? I’m just a weak woman; being alone with him would be scary~”