Mu Yuze's mouth twitched slightly, and he slowly repeated, "You want to keep her?"
Yan Hua nodded matter-of-factly. "Yeah, Lu Xue is so good-looking. You can't have missed that, right? If I propose to keep her now, she probably won't refuse."
Yan Hua had this little plan in mind and was quite pleased with himself, especially thinking he was being very helpful. Of course, if he could have such a beautiful girl as his girlfriend, it would surely be quite a matter of pride.
Yan Hua's thought was just a rough idea, half in jest.
Who would have known that Mu Yuze's face immediately darkened beside him. Those expressionless eyes stared fixedly at him.
Yan Hua got goosebumps all over from his stare. He forced a smile and said, "Boss, I was just joking. I didn't think it through... Don't take it to heart."
After Yan Hua had bowed and scraped and apologized for half an hour, Mu Yuze finally withdrew his icy gaze, pursed his lips, and said nothing more.
The situation became a bit stalemated at this point.
His trip to this small mountain village was originally to bring Lu Xue back, but Lu Xue just wouldn't go.
He and Yan Hua were sitting on the steps, looking like two down-and-out brothers in trouble.
Yan Hua whispered, "Boss, don't waste your time here. When I came, there were already a pile of things in the company that needed your decision. For every extra hour you stay here, things over there will get twice as chaotic. If it really doesn't work, I'll stay here for you and slowly build a relationship with Miss Lu. You can just go with confidence."
Hearing the words "slowly build a relationship", Mu Yuze raised his eyebrows, and his icy gaze fell again.
Yan Hua quickly proved his innocence. "I really don't mean anything else. You want to invite her back, right? I'm just building a normal friendship." There was another thing Yan Hua didn't say. After all, he and Lu Xue had been classmates for many years. It would be easier for him to persuade her than for Mu Yuze to do it himself.
But ever since Yan Hua blurted out that he wanted to keep Lu Xue, Mu Yuze was a bit worried about leaving him alone with Lu Xue.
He was silent for a while and then said calmly, "I'll stay here until Lu Xue is willing to go back with me."
Seeing his boss so determined, Yan Hua sighed and didn't try to persuade him anymore.
The two brothers in trouble sat silently on the steps again, staring at a few stray dogs not far away.
After a while, Yan Hua's work phone rang. He quickly answered it and started dealing with work.
As soon as he hung up the phone, another phone rang.
After several such interruptions, Yan Hua finally said helplessly, "Boss, you've left too many things undone in the company. Since they can't find you, they all come to me. Could you please turn on your phone? At least we can share the workload."
Mu Yuze still held a grudge against Yan Hua for his half-joking words just now, so he firmly refused. "No."
"……???"
"Carry your own workload."
"……"
Yan Hua fell silent.
When the two girls finished their work in the kitchen, they finally came out.
Lu Xue walked up to Mu Yuze and sincerely advised, "Mr. Mu, I think it's a waste of your time to stay here. I'm not going back."
Mu Yuze looked up and stared intently at her. "Why? Did the people from the Mu family make things difficult for you again?"
Lu Xue shook her head. "They didn't make things difficult for me. The family has been quite nice to me. The aunts took good care of me. As for Mu Ziyue's petty pranks, I don't really care."
Mu Yuze was even more confused. "Then why did you leave?"
Lu Xue shrugged indifferently. "No reason. This is just where I live."
Mu Yuze had never met such a girl before. He didn't know how to continue this topic for a moment.
Yan Hua beside him said, "Boss, why don't you go back and deal with the work first? I promise I can stay here and carry out the task perfectly for you."
Mu Yuze glanced at Yan Hua and said nothing.
Yan Hua got anxious and quickly said, "I'm serious. The company can't do without you. If something big happens and there's no one to make a decision, I can't bear such a heavy responsibility. Just leave me here for now. You go back to the company to reassure everyone."
Saying so, as if to prove his enthusiasm for work, Yan Hua immediately rummaged through his bag and took out a document for Mu Yuze to see. "Look, I've even brought my work here. I guarantee I won't delay the progress of our project."
A gust of wind blew the document, and several pages flipped with a rustle. On it was revealed a list and addresses of some old artists.
Lu Xue was sitting beside the two of them. Since they were so close, she saw at a glance a familiar name on the A4 paper.
Lu Xue frowned slightly, with a hint of confusion in her eyes.
Why was this old artist's name on their project plan?