The rain fell in a soft, continuous drizzle. When Tao Ze pushed the door open to bring tea, Qin Mu was looking toward the floor-to-ceiling windows, as if his attention had been drawn by the raindrops sliding down the glass. The light grew gentler beneath the curtain of rain, making even the expression on his face seem softened. “He left?” Qin Mu turned his head at the sound, his tone unsurprised, as though he had already expected it. Tao Ze paused, then answered, “Yes. President Shen had an urgent matter come up and left. He said he didn’t want to disturb you while you were reading, and told me to inform you.” He felt a bit guilty and silently cursed himself. Why the hell should he feel guilty? The one who should feel guilty was the bastard who caused trouble and ran away! A grown man like him did something this childish—did he not feel ashamed? As he thought of that, he instantly felt deflated. A big and full-grown man like him, actually acting as the errand boy for a childish idiot… that was the truly embarrassing part. He had already prepared ten thousand excuses to cover for Shen Liu, yet Qin Mu only replied with a simple “I know,” and returned to reading, not asking another word. Tao Ze let out a breath of relief and slipped out of the study. As Shen Liu’s exceptionally competent ‘close henchman’, he understood his master’s nature well—Shen Liu was a devil. Wearing a smile while consuming people’s hearts; polished and impeccable on the surface, and ruthless behind closed doors. But after spending these days together, Qin Mu gave him a completely different feeling. He was like an exiled immortal, clean and untouched, without worldly desires. He looked cold and distant, yet inside he carried a steady, gentle warmth. Even when upset, he would never make things difficult for someone unrelated. Qin Mu was such a ‘white moonlight’ off-in-the-heavens kind of immortal… and he had ended up being targeted by the devil. Truly tragic. Though, to be fair, this wasn’t entirely the devil’s fault. After all, the immortal had been the one to walk to the door himself. Even if this was the first time Tao Ze had met Qin Mu, he had long heard the name. From the day he joined the job, he knew that no matter how busy things were, Shen Liu would always review any news from City K at once. At first, Tao Ze thought it must be some unspeakable state secret, but later he learned that all of that news was about someone named Qin Mu. —What case had he taken, and how the trial went. —Which dinner party he attended, how much he drank. —How many subs he had taken in, and what the relationships were like. Everything was recorded, examined, and repeatedly scrutinised. Tao Ze had always wondered what kind of person could keep a demon king tethered for so many years. Shen Liu had had countless romantic rumours, yet when drunk to the point of collapse, he would always turn over and over, murmuring softly, “Little Log… Little Log…” He always looked careless and smiling, lively and sociable, yet in sleepless nights, he would repeatedly rub a plain, inconspicuous ring, lost in thought. Despite wielding the Shen family’s wealth and power, he would fall silent upon receiving certain updates from the informants in K City. His heart had always been pointed toward one place, yet he never allowed himself to cross the line. It was as if Shen Liu had placed himself upon a fire fueled by loneliness and longing, burning himself over and over again—using pain as both numbness and reflection. And now the person he had thought about endlessly was right in front of him. How could he possibly hold back? Looking at it this way, neither of them was less tragic than the other. Their sorrows were equally matched. Tao Ze looked down at the new message on his phone, and his expression darkened. From: “The Inhuman Boss.” —Is he mad? Tao Ze: “……” You two being tragic is your own business. Why drag me into it? Life as a corporate slave was really not easy.
Shen Liu, who had made a mess and run off, only returned after dinner. He walked in while taking off his coat and tossed it to Tao Ze, asking, “Do I smell like alcohol?”
“…It’s not too strong.”
“Where is he? Has he eaten dinner?”
“He already ate, he’s in the study. Lawyer Qin has been on video calls all afternoon.”
Shen Liu frowned. “With who?”
“People from the firm,” Tao Ze said. “Said it was a video conference to discuss a case, and since it involves client privacy, all unrelated personnel were strictly forbidden from entering. So I haven’t gone in since.”
Shen Liu took two steps in three strides to the study door and knocked.
“Come in.” Qin Mu was fully focused, fingers flying across the keyboard, not even raising his head.
Shen Liu cleared his throat.
Qin Mu glanced at him, then tossed out a “Sit first,” and continued working on his own.
Shen Liu slouched onto the sofa, bored, and couldn’t help regretting how lust had clouded his judgment earlier, making him agree to let Qin Mu use his computer. Qin Mu when working was particularly enticing — the focused gaze, the cool expression, the straight posture, and the elegant line of his throat above the collar… The alcohol from earlier seemed to start causing trouble again, conjuring up seductive, lavish fantasies, forcing him to look away and make himself calm down.
On the small table beside the sofa lay a thick book, Sartre’s Being and Nothingness. The cover was a little worn. It was an old copy Shen Liu had read in his youth. A bookmark was stuck about a quarter of the way in, clearly showing that Qin Mu had been reading it. Shen Liu picked it up and flipped through it.
“Human reality is characterised by what they lack, and the very existence of desire in human action is enough to prove this. If one attempts to understand desire as a psychological state, that is, as a mode of being whose nature is simply to be what it is…”1Sartre, Being and Nothingness, Sanlian Publishing House, p.124
Shen Liu let out a helpless laugh.
The desire born from this lack was right in front of him, yet he could do nothing. Like a dragon guarding a treasure chest, drawn in by the dazzling gold and unwilling to step away even half a step. As if he had put shackles on himself with his own greed, shackles he could not break free from.
Tao Ze waited at the door for a long time and didn’t see either of them come out, so he found an excuse and brought in black tea. The study was peaceful: one sitting upright, working seriously, the other leaning lazily on the sofa while flipping through a book. Tao Ze could only quietly remind while refilling tea, “President Shen, the car is ready.”
“Mhm.” Shen Liu lifted his eyes to glance at the man bent over the desk, then lowered them again. His voice was slow and unhurried, “Wait.”
Tao Ze: “……”
Weren’t you the one who said you were in a rush earlier? Now you don’t even dare to urge?
He began to doubt whether he had misjudged everything. Could it be that Lawyer Qin was actually the one whose skills were hidden and far superior?
Truly, one thing conquers another. Assistant Tao’s gaze at Qin Mu gained a new layer of admiration.
Just then, Qin Mu shut his computer and stood up. “Sorry to keep you waiting.”
“No rush, it’s fine.” Shen Liu also closed the book and stood, looking especially magnanimous.
Qin Mu looked at him and said, “Is wearing a suit appropriate for the occasion ahead? Or should I wear pyjamas for a grand surprise entrance instead?”
The reckoning had arrived.
Based on Tao Ze’s understanding of Shen Liu, the man would definitely play around now and dodge the issue with vague excuses. But instead, Shen Liu admitted fault without hesitation, “Sorry. I didn’t think it through at noon. I’ll go with you to change.”
Secretary Tao had weathered storms and seen every kind of scene.
But this scene… He had never seen it before. His eyeballs almost fell out.
His boss actually… apologised properly?
Qin Mu had never been someone who bothered dragging things out. Since the point was made, he let go and went with him to the dressing room. Tao Ze was left standing there, dazed, repeatedly trying to understand—what kind of relationship dynamic was this?
Shen Liu chose a dark coffee-colored leather jacket and slim-fit jeans for Qin Mu, which looked cool. Qin Mu didn’t resist. Whatever was handed to him, he wore. Shen Liu used fingers still slightly sticky from styling gel to brush Qin Mu’s bangs back from his forehead, then hooked a finger under his chin and examined him for a moment, narrowing his eyes. “Unbelievable. A refined scoundrel.”
Qin Mu slapped his hand away and straightened his slightly shifted glasses. “You?”
Shen Liu picked a black leather jacket of a similar style—likely from the same designer. He gathered his hair back and tied it loosely, instantly shifting from corporate elite to nightclub boss.
“How do I look?”
“Remarkable. A beast in a gentleman’s clothing,” Qin Mu returned.
Shen Liu laughed. “We match well. Let’s go.”
The car was waiting in the underground garage. This time it wasn’t the usual Mercedes, but a strikingly conspicuous Rolls-Royce Cullinan. The driver was just about to get out to open the door when he saw Assistant Tao behind him, twisting his face and frantically waving his hands like he was having a seizure. The driver froze. In that brief moment, Shen Liu had already taken a step forward and opened the door for Qin Mu.
Tao Ze let out a breath of relief. His face darkened as he patted the driver’s shoulder and quietly instructed, “Be sharp.” The driver instantly understood. So this was the boss’s honoured person. He immediately straightened up, all nerves on alert.
From the rearview mirror, Tao Ze looked at His Majesty Shen and the Consort Qin sitting side by side in the back. He felt even more like a bitter eunuch of the imperial household. He muttered gloomily to the driver, “Depart… cough, I mean, let’s go.”
“What were you busy with just now?” Shen Liu started the conversation.
“A financial dispute,” Qin Mu answered.
“If there’s a difficult part, you can tell me. I might be able to help.”
“When you say ‘help,’” Qin Mu turned his head to look at him directly, “do you mean connections, money, or power?”
The question was straightforward. Shen Liu paused for a second, then answered with equal directness, “I won’t deny that those methods sometimes achieve results more quickly.”
“The ‘results’ you refer to — are they fair and law-abiding?” Qin Mu continued.
“They can be.”
Qin Mu remained silent for a long moment, then said, “Those very methods themselves violate fairness. Using unfair means to uphold fairness is no different from drinking poison to quench thirst. In truth, it only accelerates the collapse of fairness. When a person begins to rely on power, wealth, and connections, he should be wary of what might happen if he loses them one day. When an entire social class becomes reliant on them, then the nation as a whole should be wary. Because the people at the bottom will grow furious when they can no longer obtain fairness.” His voice was cold and low, as though he were deliberately suppressing some inexplicable emotion.
Shen Liu stared into his eyes, trying to see something in them, but Qin Mu turned his gaze away. Shen Liu was silent for a moment, then said, “Absolute fairness exists only in utopia. The concentration of power inevitably produces privileged classes. You and I are both ordinary men who cannot change the world of mortals.”
“You’re right,” Qin Mu said lightly. “I have always been a rigid and old-fashioned idealist.”
“Then why are you angry?” Shen Liu asked. He knew very well that Qin Mu rarely showed emotion. His reaction here was almost uncharacteristic.
“I am angry at myself for having neither the position nor the qualification to be angry. Only in myself. It has nothing to do with you.” Qin Mu lowered his eyes slightly, looking out the window at the wavering, blurred lights in the rain.
Shen Liu broke that sentence apart in his mind and analysed it, but found no hint of a thread to follow. Coldly, he swept his gaze toward Tao Ze in the front seat.
When the immortals quarrelled in the back, the two mortals in the front desperately pretended to be made of straw. Seeing that trouble might splash onto him at any moment, the innocent Tao Ze felt his hair stand on end. He shrank his shoulders up to his ears, silently declaring that he knew nothing and saw nothing.
The car fell into silence, heavy with low pressure. The driver nervously turned on the radio to ease the atmosphere.
“…
Just walking in the rain, so alone and blue.
All because my heart still remembers you.”2Just Walking in the Rain by Johnnie Ray
The magnetic male voice repeated the tender lyrics, like raindrops falling onto the heart and rippling softly. Shen Liu had left his earlier social engagement in a rush and had been forced to drink quite a bit. The alcohol was starting to take effect now. He leaned back with closed eyes to rest. His mouth felt bitter, and he reached out, intending to find some water, when his hand brushed against the one Qin Mu had resting on the centre armrest. A thought flickered, and he gently placed his hand over Qin Mu’s.
He had thought that the hand would immediately move away. But it didn’t. It remained there quietly, as if unaware of his overstepping.
Their hands overlapped. Their warmth intermingled. Some unspoken feeling seemed to pass between them in that moment.
“…
Just walking in the rain, thinking how we met.
Knowing things have changed, somehow I can’t forget.”
Walking alone in the rain, remembering how we first met.
Things flowed away like water, but you remained like a stone.
So how could I ever forget you?
T/N:Today’s footnotes provided by the author~But here’s the link for the song, I looked for the original one Johnnie Ray – Just Walking in the Rain
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