Chapter 524: Extra: Yuan Shiyao - Under the Moon, Before the Stars (2)

Jiang Qingli was surprised for a moment to see it was Yuan Shiyao. “Oh? What are you doing here?”

The moment she spoke, a hurt expression clouded Yuan Shiyao’s eyes. He pressed his lips together. “I’m sorry, were you meeting my brother? I’ll just leave, then…”

Jiang Qingli’s brow twitched.

It was a long story.

This past summer, the student council and the Melt Star Association had held another joint retreat.

That night, Jiang Qingli had had too much to drink, and after Yuan Shiyao escorted her to her room, he hadn’t come out all night.

The next morning, the moment Yuan Shiyao opened the door, he ran right into Yuan Shimo.

Nothing happened between the two of them then.

But that evening, the brothers skipped the group dinner. By the time they returned, they had punched a series of large holes through the top floor of the resort villa.

It happened to be raining at the time, making the scene reminiscent of a water-curtain cave. Lin Xiyue had even remarked, “Now *this* is a true room with a rain view…”

After returning, Jiang Qingli had tried to help them reconcile, but both brothers claimed it wasn’t necessary.

However, from that day on, Yuan Shimo and Yuan Shiyao never crossed paths again.

Of course, this was no coincidence. Every time Yuan Shiyao wanted to see Jiang Qingli, he would first ask if his brother was around. His behavior had even started to affect the normally composed Jiang Qingli, making her feel like she was sneaking around like a thief.

Jiang Qingli paused before offering a simple explanation. “I thought you were Qiao Lan. We were just discussing something, so I assumed she’d returned… By the way, didn’t you say the finance department was busy today? How are you done so early?”

“I finished ahead of schedule.” Yuan Shiyao’s lips curved. “May I come in? There are… quite a few people watching us from out here.”

As he spoke, he glanced down the hallway.

The heads peeking out from a nearby conference room all ducked back in unison. Among them were members of the Melt Star Association, as well as a few from the student council.

Yuan Shiyao turned back to Jiang Qingli with a look of feigned helplessness.

Jiang Qingli just laughed, leaning against the doorframe to block his way. “Are you really afraid of being seen?”

Yuan Shiyao laughed as well, his tone earnest. “Not at all. But I’d much rather spend time with you alone.”

Jiang Qingli: “…”

‘Just as I thought.’

After spending so much time with him, Jiang Qingli had finally figured out his true nature.

He looked so prim and proper, but he was actually quite devious on the inside, secretly wishing everyone knew about the two of them.

In this female-dominated society, scandals of this nature only served to highlight Jiang Qingli’s immense charm.

For Yuan Shiyao, however, the gossip was far nastier.

That was why, the first time she’d stumbled upon a forum thread full of malicious comments, she had worried about how the public’s opinion would affect Yuan Shiyao. She’d found him and offered to have a word with the media.

But when she finished, Yuan Shiyao had simply let out a low chuckle.

When she pressed him, looking puzzled, he had finally said with a smile, “Do the people writing those nasty comments know you’ll be here to comfort me?”

As he spoke, his eyes were filled with the kind of bliss one finds only in total immersion.

He looked like a man hopelessly addicted to being pampered.

Snapping out of her reverie, she saw that Yuan Shiyao had already come inside.

The president’s office of the Melt Star Association was a bit of a mess. Qin Shu had stopped by that morning, and her legion of fans had sent a mountain of gifts. She had been in a hurry to leave for the Lower District and had left them all behind.

Yuan Shiyao moved naturally, gathering the messy pile of gifts and stacking them in the storage closet.

Jiang Qingli tried to stop him. “You should sit down. The cleaning bots will get that later.”

Yuan Shiyao smiled. “It’s no trouble.”

Just then, there were two more knocks on the door.

Qiao Lan handed a file over. “President, a bit of overtime for you. This needs to be done today.”

She didn’t even bat an eye at the sight of Yuan Shiyao busying himself nearby.

Such scenes had long become commonplace at the Melt Star Association.

Ever since he had confessed his feelings, Yuan Shiyao’s visits to Jiang Qingli’s office had grown increasingly frequent.

At first, he would still make proper excuses, like attending a meeting or discussing a joint project.

Eventually, he dropped the act and started showing up without any pretense.

Last year, Qiao Lan had gotten tired of approving his access every day and simply granted him unrestricted entry. When the fan club found out, they had chewed them out for days.

Once he was done, Jiang Qingli, who was now sitting behind her desk reviewing the new file, said warmly, “Thank you for the hard work. How about we go get something nice to eat after I finish this?”

“Okay.” Yuan Shiyao thought for a moment, his brow furrowing slightly. “You blocked out today as free time, and tomorrow is for me. Don’t you have to be with… someone else today?”

Jiang Qingli nodded and said deliberately, “You have a point. You should go, then. Close the door on your way out.”

Yuan Shiyao: “…”

He glanced at his watch, finding a graceful way to back down. “It’s getting late. It would be a bother to call someone else over now, and I don’t have anything else to do today.”

Jiang Qingli held back a laugh. “Then I’m really imposing on you.”

Yuan Shiyao looked a little embarrassed and pressed his lips together, changing the subject. “Have your shoulders been sore lately? I can give you a massage.”

His massage technique was excellent, so of course Jiang Qingli wasn’t going to refuse. “Okay.”

Having just moved all those things, Yuan Shiyao went to the washroom to wash his hands.

As he rinsed off the soap, his terminal screen lit up.

Ai Bin had sent a screenshot.

It was from the chat of Jiang Qingli’s official fan club:

[Breaking news, Yuan Ziqing went to the Melt Star Association again.]

[Huh? Pestering Jiang Hui again? Does he have no shame? Absolutely none?]

[Trying to seduce your sister-in-law… tsk tsk, I couldn’t bring myself to do something so disgraceful even if I tried.~]

[Sigh… I guess it’s true that proximity breeds opportunity…]

[Heh, more like trying to scoop the moon from the water. She’s just toying with him since he’s throwing himself at her. As if he actually has what it takes.]

…

Ai Bin: [Mr. Secretary-General, if I may interview you, any thoughts on these comments?]

Ai Bin’s true intention was to stoke Yuan Shiyao’s resentment, push him to make the relationship official, and seize the primary position, thereby slapping all those delusional fanboys in the face and infuriating them!

He even had a draft of a post titled “How the Side Piece Can Become the Main Squeeze” ready to go. He was just waiting for Yuan Shiyao’s reply to send it over and start strategizing how to make his position official!

But after waiting for several minutes, Yuan Shiyao finally sent a belated reply.

Yuan Shiyao: [1]

Ai Bin: ?

‘No way… Not even a flicker of a reaction!’

‘Does he really have a fetish for being the other man? Does he just enjoy the thrill of sneaking around?’

A few seconds later, Ai Bin sent a sticker expressing his admiration.

Yuan Shiyao dried his fingers on a towel, didn’t reply, and locked his terminal.

His terminal’s lock screen was an image of the moon.

It was an ordinary image, looking like a simple snapshot, but he had used it as his lock screen for years.

After staring at it for a few seconds, Yuan Shiyao returned to the office.

Hearing him come in, Jiang Qingli spoke without looking up. “Give me another ten minutes. I found a small mistake and sent it back for revisions.”

“No rush.”

Yuan Shiyao moved to stand behind her, his long fingers pressing into her neck and shoulders with just the right amount of pressure.

From his vantage point,

looking down, he could see her long, pale neck. A red mark, a hickey, was visible on the nape, revealed only when her hair shifted.

Yuan Shimo had stayed over at the Jiang Family residence last night.

‘It was probably left there intentionally for me to see.’

Yuan Shiyao lowered his gaze, the corner of his mouth twitching into a wry, helpless smile.

It wasn’t that the taunts and mockery from the forum had gotten to him.

It was just that…

The people on the forums always talked as if Jiang Qingli had gotten tired of him long ago.

But in reality, he and Jiang Qingli… hadn’t taken that step yet.

‘When will we finally…?’

“Hiss,” Jiang Qingli winced, tilting her head. “Gentler, gentler…”

Yuan Shiyao snapped back to reality, realizing he’d been pressing down on the hickey. He quickly softened his touch, rubbing the spot gently with his fingertips.

After a few seconds’ pause, he leaned down and placed a soft kiss on the spot, murmuring soothingly, “My apologies. I was lost in thought.”

“It’s fine,” Jiang Qingli said. “Perfect timing. I’m all done now. Let’s go.”

Yuan Shiyao glanced at the mark his own kiss had just covered, then carefully arranged her hair to conceal it.

It was only after they had left the Melt Star Building that Yuan Shiyao remembered to ask, “Where are we going?”

“Don’t ask.” Jiang Qingli wagged her finger with a rare air of mystery. “You’ll find out when we get there.”