Chapter 48 Bow and Shake Hands

Translated by Eve

Edited by Kara

Thank you Golden Fish and bugonia for the kofi

“You—you—what do you know?!”

A chill rose up from the soles of his feet, straight into his head. Sun Jinren felt his scalp go numb from fear and alarm. He had never been wrong about anyone before. When he had heard Xiao Yuanmu say such words, he became certain that it must have been Xiao Yuanmu behind the acquisition of his company.

Gazing into Xiao Yuanmu’s indifferent eyes, Sun Jinren widened his own and said, “It’s you! The mastermind behind the malicious acquisition of Jinren Group is you, isn’t it?!”

Sun Jinren raised his voice abruptly. Although his voice wasn’t sharp, it was hoarse and cracked. Therefore, it had managed to make everyone in the dining room turn their heads.

But, he didn’t care that others were watching him. Scenes flashed through Sun Jinren’s mind. There was Xiao Yuanmu’s first expression of appearing indifferent to the point of looking like he had been ignoring Sun Jinren. There was also Xiao Yuanmu’s unchanging, emotionless expression from when Sun Jinren had been dallying with him. And then, there were also those dark, cold eyes from when Xiao Yuanmu had run out of patience and kicked him away.

Sun Jinren’s mind was a mess. Bewildered, he stared at the calm, seated Xiao Yuanmu. An aura of loftiness was etched into the other’s bones—how could this be a mere orphan?!

When he thought of this, his suspicious gaze swept over Song Xuanhe and the other people at the table. He couldn’t help but wonder if this really had been a coincidence or if the two Song men from the Capital had teamed up with the intention of ruining him. Could it be that they had orchestrated this on purpose, because they had wanted a piece of his company?

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Song Xuanhe frowned as he felt Sun Jinren’s gaze fall on him. He exchanged glances with Zhou Nan and then turned to look at Xiao Yuanmu, whose expression hadn’t changed throughout this whole exchange. The idea he had suppressed to the back of his mind once again floated back up. This time, he couldn’t continue to deceive himself. He rescinded the emotion in his eyes and beckoned for the System.

【System, there’s been something weird going on with Xiao Yuanmu since the car accident. It’s even more suspicious that he’s suddenly gone back to how he had been prior to the accident. What’s going on with him?】Song Xuanhe’s voice was calm, but it contained a trace of nervousness that he didn’t even notice himself.

The System had naturally been watching what had been happening. However, it really hadn’t detected anything：【After Xiao Yuanmu’s car accident, I had detected a fluctuation in his soul. However, when I had investigated it later, I hadn’t been able to find anything. It was only recently that I’ve been able to see that there is indeed something fishy upon analyzing his emotions ratio.】

Song Xuanhe furrowed his brows slightly. Although he didn’t know what an ‘emotions ratio’ was, he didn’t ask about it. He just said：【And?】

【I discovered that the emotions ratio of Xiao Yuanmu prior to his car accident had been very unstable, especially when he had been in front of you. It would frequently fluctuate. After analyzing it, I realized that this meant that he had probably “liked” you as you humans call it. But after his accident, Xiao Yuanmu’s emotions ratio has almost never changed. Even if there have been any fluctuations, it has only changed in negligible amounts….】

Song Xuanhe’s pupils constricted slightly. Actually, with what the System had just said, he was already able to confirm his conjecture. To be honest, he had already sensed Xiao Yuanmu’s change since a long time ago. This had been precisely why he had never gone back to live with Xiao Yuanmu even though the atmosphere within the Song Residence was so murky.

It was just that, putting aside his unwillingness to accept this, there was still something that didn’t make sense to him.

He was certain that, although the Xiao Yuanmu in front of him now wasn’t the same as before, he was still the original Xiao Yuanmu. It wasn’t like he was possessed by another soul. First of all, it would have been impossible for the System to miss that. Secondly, there was no way anyone else could so perfectly mimic someone else’s every preference and habits.

Since he had started to live under the same roof as Xiao Yuanmu, Song Xiao Shaoye, who had never been one to try and glean a person’s thoughts from their body language, had learned to be observant for the sake of survival. He had already been intelligent and keen. The only reason he hadn’t done it before had been because he hadn’t wanted to. When he truly got serious, he was able to discover many details that perhaps not even Xiao Yuanmu knew about himself. And, it had been through these details that Song Xuanhe had learned to read Xiao Yuanmu’s moods.

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Song Xuanhe naturally wouldn’t do this all the time as it would only make him feel stifled. Therefore, what he paid most attention to were the little things that Xiao Yuanmu did when angry.

Xiao Yuanmu usually looked taciturn and expressionless. It was typically very hard to read his mind.

But, Song Xuanhe had a System that could monitor Xiao Yuanmu’s actions at any time of the day. Moreover, the two of them had been living under the same roof. They had seen each other frequently every single day. It was impossible for any human to be completely devoid of emotions. Therefore, Song Xuanhe had still been able to gain some experience in reading the other.

Thus, Song Xuanhe had become an expert in reading Xiao Yuanmu’s emotional changes. It was also because of this that Song Xuanhe was currently very certain that Xiao Yuanmu hadn’t been possessed by someone else.

But if he wasn’t possessed, why had Xiao Yuanmu, who used to be cold-faced but warm-hearted, suddenly become like this—like someone whose heart was colder than their face?

Song Xiao Shaoye, who preferred living in the moment rather than planning ahead, didn’t want to think about it too deeply.

Unfortunately, the information was right in front of his eyes, so he had no choice but to think about it even if he didn’t want to.

Although Song Xuanhe was very certain that Xiao Yuanmu wasn’t possessed, he still wanted confirmation from the System.【Has anyone transmigrated into Xiao Yuanmu? Like how I transmigrated into Song Xuanhe?】

【Absolutely not.】The System was a hundred-percent certain：【Everyone’s soul is different. If it was a different soul, I would have noticed at once. Moreover, Xiao Yuanmu has the most formidable destiny in this world. His destiny doesn’t just concern himself but many other things in the world as well. Therefore, even if I had not noticed it, the Main System would have.】

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Song Xuanhe believed in the System’s words. However, he still joked：【Maybe the transmigrator’s a hacker. Maybe he hacked into your Main System. If he did, he’d have been able to take over any body.】

The System immediately refuted this possibility：【Although I’m called a System, that’s just a term we use to cater to you humans as it’s familiar to you. Moreover, although I have data, I am not solely composed of data. There’s no way a hacker could appear, let alone control the Main System.】

Song Xuanhe’s eyes twinkled, and the System realized afterwards that it had said too much. It immediately got back on track：【The soul in Xiao Yuanmu’s body is definitely his. But, I did discover that his soul wavelength seemed longer than what had been told to me by the Main System. I’ve already reported this to the Main System. It should give me an answer within the next few days.】

【What’s a soul wavelength?】

【A soul wavelength is an indication of the strength of an organism’s soul. An organism’s thinking will change as they gain experience. One’s soul and one’s thinking cannot be analyzed without the other. Some wavelengths are long, and some are short. Typically speaking, a child’s soul wavelength is short whereas an elderly person’s is long. However, there will occasionally be exceptions. For example, someone whose destiny is stronger than the average person or someone who has more opportunities than normal will have a longer soul wavelength than usual. As the protagonist of this world, Xiao Yuanmu’s soul wavelength had already been longer than an average elderly person’s at birth. Ratios are even more complicated. Therefore, we need the Main System to analyze his before we can be certain of anything. 】

The System’s words weren’t complicated. Song Xuanhe mulled over them for two seconds before coming to terms with what it was saying. This understanding only made him more certain of his conjecture.

Song Xuanhe and the System’s conversation had only lasted two minutes. During this time, Sun Jinren had received another call. As Song Xuanhe’s conversation ended, Sun Jinren’s had also coincidentally ended. Who knew what he had been told, but Sun Jinren’s face turned red. The look he gave Xiao Yuanmu had even more intense fear weaved into it. “Just who are you?”

Xiao Yuanmu cast him an indifferent gaze. He didn’t have any intention of responding.

Sun Jinren’s eyes widened even more. He already knew that he was done for. Therefore, he was no longer afraid of confronting Xiao Yuanmu. Combining what he had heard from Xiao Yuanmu just now with the terrifying conclusion he had just reached, Boss Sun calmed down.

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Sun Jinren was naturally no weakling, considering the fact that he had managed to climb up so high. Although he feared whatever power was behind Xiao Yuanmu, his fury over having his company—that he had started up from scratch— destroyed in one night by this young man triumphed over that fear.

He stared at Xiao Yuanmu, a sinister light flickering through his eyes. He then raised his voice and said, “You’re definitely not an orphan! You’re obviously concealing your identity! Are you dating Song Xiao Shaoye while hiding your identity, because you plan on doing something to the Song Family? Or should I say, have you already finished preparations and are already acquiring shares behind his back like you had done to Jinren? I don’t believe that you were able to acquire Jinren in a single night. This must have been in the works for a long time! Just what is your goal?!”

It had only been five minutes since Sun Jinren had walked over here. As soon as Sun Jinren had woken up from his shock, he had immediately started to sow dissension between Song Xuanhe and Xiao Yuanmu. The spectators didn’t understand what was going on really, so they shifted their gazes to Xiao Yuanmu, who Sun Jinren was grilling. The people who knew of what had happened yesterday all frowned inwardly. They also thought that this was too coincidental.

Honestly speaking, Xiao Yuanmu was acting way too calm. This made people wonder whether or not this really had something to do with him.

Faced with everyone’s stares, Xiao Yuanmu’s brows knitted slightly. Even though it was only for a second, anyone could feel the coldness and impatience emitting off of him. He didn’t respond to Sun Jinren’s question. Instead, he picked up his phone and shoved the screen into the other’s face. He then said in a flat voice, “I knew about this because I saw it on the news.”

Sun Jinren was taken aback. His gaze fell onto the screen. When he finally processed the words on the screen, he grabbed Xiao Yuanmu’s phone from his hands and scrolled until he could read the entirety of the economic news website’s headline: “The Jinren Group Changes Owners Overnight, an Emergency Shareholders Meeting is Held, Company Behind the Acquisition is Unknown.”

Other people could not see the article on Xiao Yuanmu’s phone, but based off of what they had heard of the conversation and Sun Jinren’s expression, they knew that Xiao Yuanmu hadn’t been lying. At that moment, many others pulled out their own phones and searched it up. Indeed, they were able to find news of the Jinren Group’s acquisition.

The people who had started to suspect Xiao Yuanmu because of Sun Jinren’s confident questioning all rolled their eyes. Sun Jinren’s brain must have malfunctioned. He had thought that the other was the mastermind just because he had read about the Jinren Group’s change in management from the news. Even if he had been having delusions about who the mastermind was, it would have made more sense to accuse someone else.

“Boss Sun.” Zhou Nan smiled. He glanced at Xiao Yuanmu, who had been calm throughout this whole altercation. “Since you already know that we can’t help you and that it has nothing to do with Yuanmu, can you let us eat in peace now?”

Sun Jinren’s face quivered, and a shiver ran up his spine when he met Xiao Yuanmu’s gaze. He then smiled apologetically. “I’ve disturbed you all. I shall take my leave.”

Two farces in one morning, and both revolved around the same table. The people in the dining room couldn’t help but take a few more looks in their direction.

Although Song Xuanhe wasn’t afraid of being looked at, he still wasn’t particularly happy about it. After Sun Jinren had left, Song Xuanhe and his party also left the dining room.

Shortly after splitting from his friends, Song Xuanhe received a call from Li Nianan. She asked him to come to the cafe upstairs.

Song Xuanhe, whose muscles had been tense all this time, sighed in relief. He turned to look towards Xiao Yuanmu and said, “My mom’s looking for me. You should head back to our room first. I’ll let you know if I’m not going to come back by noon.”

Xiao Yuanmu scanned Song Xuanhe’s feigned calm expression. When he saw the other’s expression grow more and more tense, the corner of his lips unobtrusively rose a few degrees. He said, “Okay.”

Once out of Xiao Yuanmu’s sight, Song Xuanhe relaxed completely. Although he didn’t quite understand everything that was happening at present, he knew that things would become clear in three days’ time when the crucial scene took place.

Before that, he thought that it would be best for him to keep his distance from Xiao Yuanmu. He didn’t want to be faced with someone he was uncertain about.

Li Nianan quietly sat in a sunny corner, steam rising from the cup of coffee on the table in front of her. When she saw Song Xuanhe walking over, she smiled at him gently. “He bao, come over here quickly.”

Song Xuanhe walked over and then sat in front of her. He asked, “Mom, what did you need me for?”

Li Nianan smiled. “Can’t Mom see you just because I want to? I haven’t seen you since boarding the ship. Mom obviously misses you.”

“Oh, but I did have something to talk to you about.” Li Nianan’s smile disappeared. The topic took a sudden turn. “Did the young master of the Schroder Family come looking for you wanting to buy your cufflinks?”

Song Xuanhe was taken aback. Soon after, a cold smile appeared on his lips. “Yes, but I didn’t give it to him.”

Seeing his unconcerned expression, Li Nianan glared at him. However, her tone wasn’t stern. “Even if you don’t want to give it to him, you didn’t have to make such a scene. You gave him no way out of that awkward situation in front of so many people. Later on, he’ll probably try to take revenge on you over this. The Schroder Family’s methods are not clean. Furthermore, Song Guochao had cursed you fiercely in our room when he had found out about this. He had nearly run over to the dining room to find you.”

“But in the end, he didn’t come.” Song Xuanhe ignored a large section of what Li Nianan said in the beginning. Instead, he commented on the more trivial part. “Besides, he didn’t curse me to my face.”

“You, you’re really not willing to suffer any loss.” Li Nianan had originally wanted to scold him, but her expression couldn’t help but soften. “The Schroder Family’s hands cannot reach you in China. I just wanted to warn you. Furthermore, you are a child of my Li Family, so you naturally have no need to bear the Schroder Family’s anger. He thinks that the Song Family is easy to bully, but he’s forgotten that you also have the Li Family behind you. After I give him a warning, he’ll come to understand what’s best for him.”

Song Xuanhe’s gaze changed slightly. He suddenly remembered the original host’s maternal aunt who had never appeared in the book. He couldn’t stop himself from asking, “Is he afraid of Auntie’s side?”

“Of course.” Li Nianan smiled, patting Song Xuanhe’s hand gently. “In any case, cause less trouble outside. Keep propriety in mind. Don’t act too unrestrained just because of the promise Mom asked of Grandpa.”

“Alright, let’s not talk about this anymore.” Li Nianan stared at Song Xuanhe silently for a few seconds before her expression turned serious. “I wanted to see you today not just because of that. I have also heard about the matter from last night. What’s going on between you and that Xiao Yuanmu child?”

Song Xuanhe was pulling back his hand when he paused. He then calmly said, “What do you mean?”

Li Nianan thought it was both infuriating and funny, seeing him guard his expression so carefully. “You’re still trying to hide it from Mom? Mom didn’t care about who you dated before, because I thought you were still young. It hadn’t mattered if you dated a few people as long as you didn’t go overboard. I had been willing to turn a blind eye. But this time, this Xiao Yuanmu, there’s been a lot more trouble related to him compared to your previous boyfriends.”

As she said this, Li Nianan observed Song Xuanhe’s expression. When she saw that his expression didn’t change, she changed her tone. “Mom can tell that to you, Xiao Yuanmu is different compared to the others you dated in the past. Yesterday, Sun Jinren going to look for Xiao Yuanmu had been instigated by your cousin. I had overheard about it, but I had wanted to see your reaction, so I allowed it to happen. I hadn’t expected you to protect him like that. He bao, tell Mom, have you really fallen in love with Xiao Yuanmu?”

He had protected Xiao Yuanmu? Song Xuanhe was puzzled. He hadn’t protected Xiao Yuanmu at all yesterday.

This was a huge misunderstanding. He parted his lips and tried to explain: “I didn’t….”

“Don’t lie to Mom.” Li Nianan didn’t give him a chance to explain and interrupted him. “There had been nothing good about those kids you used to date. But, they couldn’t hurt you anyway. I’m your mother. Therefore, it’s only natural that I’m partial towards you. But, you’re no longer young. You can’t keep playing like this forever. I’ve already investigated Xiao Yuanmu. I have discovered that he’s indeed better than your exes. Although his family background isn’t particularly good, if you truly like him, Mom will figure out a way to allow him into the Song Family. You don’t have to lie to me just because you’re worried.”

Song Xuanhe hadn’t expected the conversation to take such a turn. However, he couldn’t say that he didn’t like Xiao Yuanmu. If he did say that, he’d have to explain why he was together with Xiao Yuanmu, and that would just bring about more problems.

Therefore, he just vaguely said, “You don’t have to worry about this. I have my own plans.”

“What plans can you have?” Li Nianan frowned, looking at him in disapproval. “Mom knows that it’s wrong to spoil you. But, I’ve never been able to bear meddling in your affairs or disciplining you. In the past, it had been one thing for you to bully other kids when you were younger. But now, since you have real feelings for the other person, date him properly. Mom doesn’t need the two of you to get married right away, but if you two really do plan on getting married, you won’t need to worry about Song Guochao and them. I will settle it for you.”

Before Song Xuanhe could interrupt, Li Nianan told him, “I’ve never seen this boyfriend of yours. Since that child is also on this ship, bring him over to have dinner with me.”

“No.” Song Xuanhe was afraid of being cut off again. Therefore, he refused very quickly, tone heavy. Even when he saw Li Nianan look at him weirdly, he remained firm. “We’re not at the ‘meet the parents’ stage yet. You really don’t have to meddle in my affairs. If there’s nothing else, I’ll be going.”

As soon as he had finished talking, Song Xuanhe stood up. However, he saw that Li Nianan had also stood up, a smile on her lips. Before he could figure out what she was doing, he saw her look behind him. “You must be Xiao Xiao, come sit.”

Song Xuanhe had been about to turn around, but he suddenly halted when he heard this. For some reason, the sounds of the footsteps behind them made him panic. Before he could turn his head around to look, that person had already walked over. Xiao Yuanmu’s refreshing voice echoed in Song Xuanhe’s ear, “Auntie Song.”

When she saw Xiao Yuanmu’s appearance, Li Nianan was stunned. She realized why her son treated him so differently. She rescinded the emotion in her eyes and brushed a lock of hair behind her ears. “Quickly, sit.”

“Thank you, Auntie.”

Xiao Yuanmu sat next to Song Xuanhe. Song Xuanhe as the only person left standing looked very out of place. Li Nianan glanced at him and asked, “Why aren’t you sitting?”

Song Xuanhe pursed his lips. He was about to say something when he saw Li Nianan turn to face Xiao Yuanmu. With a graceful smile on her lips, she said, “ Xiao Xiao, it must have been very abrupt of Auntie to call you over so suddenly. I didn’t frighten you, did I?”

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Xiao Yuanmu glanced at Song Xuanhe, who had sat back down with a tense expression. The chill on his face lessened slightly. Although his voice wasn’t warm, it wasn’t frosty either. “No. I should have visited Auntie.”

When Li Nianan heard this, her smile grew more genuine. Song Xuanhe looked at Xiao Yuanmu in surprise. From what he knew, this big shot wasn’t someone who would curry favour with his elders. Any time the Xiao Yuanmu in the book had looked at anyone else with a pleasant expression, he had had an ulterior motive.

But, what could Xiao Yuanmu want from Li Nianan?

Was it for the sake of toppling the Song Family? Or, did he want to hurt Li Nianan to get to him?

Song Xuanhe had many guesses in his mind, but he showed none of that on his face. Since he had started doubting Xiao Yuanmu, he had become much more cautious when it came to his expressions. He would not inadvertently let his emotions leak like before.

“Auntie called you over, because I haven’t had a chance to see you all this time.” Li Nianan took a sip of coffee. She then said in a cool voice, “Although I’ve never seen you, I’ve heard a lot about you. There are rumours about you at the company, and others mention you often. Therefore, I wanted to see you.”

Faced with Li Nianan’s words that didn’t seem to hold much goodwill, Xiao Yuanmu’s expression remained calm. He politely said, “That is only to be expected.”

Li Nianan looked at Song Xuanhe and then suddenly broke out into a smile. “He bao has always been an unpredictable child. I’ve spoiled him a lot, and it has caused him to become a child who does things half-heartedly. It’s my fault for not teaching him well. But in the end, he’s still my son. I can’t bear to chide him. Therefore, Auntie can only chide you. You don’t mind, right?”

Song Xuanhe’s lips twitched. Mrs. Song was so obviously announcing, “I spoil my son. Even if you don’t like it, you can’t do anything about it.” No wonder the original host had grown up to be like that. It was just that Xiao Yuanmu wasn’t easy to deal with. Right now, the Song Family had really offended him.

But, Xiao Yuanmu didn’t seem like he minded. Not even his eyelashes quivered. He only said in a calm voice, “Auntie, please speak what’s on your mind.”

Li Nianan carefully examined Xiao Yuanmu’s expression. She then softened her tone. “Although He bao is our youngest, even if he’s with another man, he must have a child. What are your thoughts on that?”

Song Xuanhe looked up, incredulous. She had just been making a show of strength, so why was she talking about children now?!

“I don’t mind.” Xiao Yuanmu glanced at Song Xuanhe’s expression through his peripheral vision. A sliver of amusement flashed through his eyes. He added, “As long as he’s happy.”

Song Xuanhe’s expression grew stiff. He wanted to turn to look at Xiao Yuanmu’s expression and see what he was playing at. However, he knew that even if he looked, he wouldn’t be able to find the answer on Xiao Yuanmu’s face. Therefore, his expression only tensed up even more. He sat there expressionlessly.

Li Nianan, in contrast, was very pleased. She smiled. “None of his exes were as sensible as you. Although you’re not quite a match for our family background wise, your personality is good. I’m very happy that there’s someone else to keep him in check. Although the two of you are young, you’ve both already graduated. Since you’ve graduated, you should think about marriage and k—”

“Mom!” Song Xuanhe glanced at Xiao Yuanmu’s expression, interrupting Li Nianan. “We’re just dating. There’s no need to talk about something so far away. Besides, we haven’t even dated for all that long. Why are you talking about marriage?”

Li Nianan had been playing matchmaker with him and Song Jiani just a while ago. Why did she suddenly have her eye on Xiao Yuanmu? Song Xuanhe had no idea what kind of development this was.

Li Nianan didn’t pay Song Xuanhe any attention. Although there was a smile in her eyes, she was closely examining Xiao Yuanmu. “Do you want to marry into our Song Family?”

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Eve: I actually love SXH’s mom. Hahahaha. While she’s not exactly the moooost supportive here it’s not the worst I’ve seen. She also gets more supportive later so <3 Also omg SXH being utterly panicked over this cracks me up. Meanwhile, MuMu is just entertained.

Kara: Aiya, Mama Song, please don’t tease your son too much. He may just have a heart attack, haha! ∠( ᐛ 」∠)＿ I agree though, she’s definitely one of the better moms I’ve seen in CNovels. Also, sorry to the readers that the past few chapters have not been edited. IRL circumstances are really hindering my free time, but I promise to back edit them soon! ๑•́ㅿ•̀๑) ᔆᵒʳʳᵞ