AM Chapter 17

17 Manipulation

Monday morning arrived, ushering in a brand new and beautiful day. Chen Mo lazily got out of bed later than his usual breakfast-making time, then brushed his teeth and washed his face to greet the four-star hotel’s complimentary breakfast delivery service.

After breakfast, Chen Mo went to his desk, opened his laptop, checked his schedule, reviewed and replied to emails, and at the agreed time, connected with his professor and project team via video call. After confirming that the project could be successfully completed according to plan, everyone breathed a sigh of relief, and their faces showed happy expressions of premature celebration. After the call ended, Chen Mo opened the two previously unfinished papers, underlined and took notes. An entire morning passed without him realizing it.

For lunch, Chen Mo went to the hotel’s buffet area. Although it was a buffet, he didn’t take many kinds of food. He arranged the food on his plate into a full plate of covered rice and then found a seat. This one trip was enough to fill him up.

The room Liang Jingren booked for him wasn’t large, but the service and amenities were top-notch. He could eat at the buffet every day, so he wasn’t in a hurry to pick and choose.

While eating, Chen Mo took out his phone and looked at the navigation map. The hotel was moderately distant from Liang Jingren’s company, about a thirty-minute drive.

However, Chen Mo didn’t have a car.

He thought for a while and decided to set an afternoon alarm. When it rang, he would stop what he was doing, get changed, get ready, and go out.

When Chen Mo was about to go out in the afternoon, the weather turned against him, and it started to drizzle. Fortunately, the hotel lobby manager was very understanding. He recognized him as a VIP at a glance and specially brought him a long-handled umbrella, also asking where he was going and offering to point out a less congested route.

Chen Mo took the umbrella, thanked him with a smile, and said, “No need, I’ll take the bus in a bit.”

Taking a taxi would definitely be faster and more comfortable, but it was difficult to get a taxi on a rainy day, and it would also be expensive. Chen Mo believed that he needed to consciously save money from now on, saving where he should and spending where he should—he had many expenses coming up.

Halfway through the bus ride, the people on the bus were almost crushing Chen Mo flat. Chen Mo endured it.

When the bus pulled into the next stop, Chen Mo’s phone rang. Without even looking at who was calling, Chen Mo immediately rushed off the bus, even though this stop was still two stops away from his original destination. Chen Mo simply didn’t want to answer the phone in the crowded bus.

Fortunately, the rain had stopped when he got off the bus, so Chen Mo didn’t need to hold the umbrella anymore. The hook of the long-handled umbrella scratched his arm, and Chen Mo picked up his phone and looked at the caller ID on the screen, “Lucas?”

Speaking of which, he hadn’t contacted Lucas in the month since he returned to China. Was the other calling to scold him for valuing love over friendship?

…Tch, he doesn’t even know which “love” I value. Chen Mo thought. Lucas probably thinks, like everyone else, that they’re just a pair of step-father and son in conflict over property, right?

The phone continued to vibrate in his hand. Chen Mo finally answered the call and asked, “What’s up?”

“Oh, checking out of the apartment, of course, I’m checking out, I’ve graduated. You take care of the landlord stuff, I trust you.”

“My things? Um…”

“Lucas, I probably won’t be going back.”

…

Lucas did a good deed to the end, saying he could help him pack up his important things and send them back to China. Chen Mo expressed his sincere thanks to him. Lucas couldn’t stand Chen Mo’s thanks, it felt too awkward, so he joked that he was going into his room—”Don’t let me find any little secrets you’ve hidden in your room~”

Chen Mo laughed and said, “Don’t worry, there are no secrets in my room.”

On the contrary, Lucas was holding the phone that was being used to make the call that held the biggest secret—the secretly installed plug-ins and viruses helped him achieve the purpose of monitoring and stealing chat records. Therefore, even if Liang Jingren hadn’t contacted him later, hadn’t come to see him, Chen Mo could actually often “hear” Liang Jingren, “see” Liang Jingren, and know that Liang Jingren was using Lucas’s mouth and eyes to care about him.

Lucas’s phone was almost three years old, and he would probably replace it soon, so no traces would remain. Thinking of this, Chen Mo slightly raised his lips.

“By the way, is it daytime over there? Why are you calling so early? Are you taking special care of my time difference?”

“Oh~ Being dragged back to learn how to prepare dishes~ No wonder you’re a catering prince, so busy~”

Chen Mo walked the distance of two bus stops entirely on foot, but after the heavy rain, there were significantly more puddles on the ground. Coupled with the difficult-to-handle long-handled umbrella, which inevitably splashed water when moving and turning, by the time he arrived under the Daxing Group’s logo, Chen Mo’s trouser legs were already soaked.

Chen Mo vigorously shook the umbrella outside, then walked through the automatic doors.

He had just glanced around the lobby on the first floor of the office building when a young woman with a bow tie at the service desk took the initiative to walk over to him.

“Sir, who are you looking for?”

Chen Mo looked down at the particularly attentive front desk lady, then looked up at the other two girls at the service desk who were staring at them, whispering and laughing, then looked down again. The bright eyes of the approaching lady instantly overlapped with the eyes of those who had flirted with him countless times.

That’s good. Chen Mo didn’t mind such flirting, flirting that could provide him with convenience and sufficiently prove that his face had recovered as before, and was still full of charm.

Chen Mo slightly moved the corners of his mouth, put on what he thought was a perfect smile that could score a ten, and said, “I want to find the general manager of Daxing Company, can you help me contact him? Thank you.”

Hearing the words “general manager,” the young lady, whose eyes were originally bright, became embarrassed. “This might not be very convenient… Maybe someone else…”

Chen Mo maintained his smile and asked, “Is he in a meeting?”

“Uh, no.” The young lady shook her head and said, “Our internal lines don’t directly connect to Director Liang. Even in an emergency, we can only contact Director Liang’s secretary first.”

“Shen Qing?” Chen Mo asked.

“Yes, Secretary Shen.”

Chen Mo turned around and took out his phone to flip through his contacts. Sure enough, he didn’t have Shen Qing’s phone number saved.

Maybe he didn’t notice it when he turned around, the umbrella hanging on his arm swung out. The young lady suddenly grabbed his umbrella handle with both hands and said, “Um, let me put your umbrella away for you first?”

“Oh, okay, thank you.” Chen Mo lowered his head and thanked her with a smile.

After the umbrella was taken away, Chen Mo turned his back again to look at his phone.

He thought to himself: Should I just call Liang Jingren directly? Anyway, it’s almost off work, and Liang Jingren hardly ever works overtime. He might be getting ready to leave now.

But, what if he’s in a meeting?

Then Liang Jingren would definitely hang up on him in a second.

Tch.

“He’s really handsome, he looks like a celebrity up close!”

“When he comes to get his umbrella, you must ask him for his phone number!”

The three ladies at the service desk leaned over, heads close to heads, whispering. Just then, Chen Mo walked over and heard them.

He didn’t care what they were talking about, but he hoped they would pay a little attention to his existence. He really had something to do now.

“Um…” Chen Mo stood in front of the service desk and deliberately made meaningless sounds. This worked very well. The young lady who had taken his umbrella almost jumped up—

“Ah, yes! H-Hello, sir! Is there anything I can help you with!”

“Haha, don’t rush,” Chen Mo waved his hand, “I just wanted to inquire about the schedule of Daxing Group’s working meetings today, preferably including the cooperation meetings and video conferences with other companies as well.”

If there were no special meetings, there would be no follow-up arrangements resulting from the meeting, and Liang Jingren would probably not stay at the company to work overtime.

The three young ladies quickly looked it up for him. Chen Mo smiled at them with the face they liked and nodded, then dialed Liang Jingren’s phone.

Chen Mo knew that his prank yesterday probably made Liang Jingren unhappy. Liang Jingren might still be angry with him now, but Liang Jingren would probably answer his call.

“What is it?” Liang Jingren’s first words after answering the phone were just two words, pursuing efficient communication.

If Chen Mo hesitated and didn’t get to the point, he would undoubtedly be hung up on in the next second. Therefore, Chen Mo had already thought of a response:

“The front desk lady at your group’s building took my umbrella and won’t give it back. Although it’s not raining now, that umbrella is borrowed from the hotel…”

There was silence on the other end of the phone for a few seconds, then Liang Jingren was heard saying, “Wait a moment.”

Chen Mo knew Liang Jingren was coming down. He clenched his fist and showed a victorious smile. Then, as he turned his head, Chen Mo saw the three beauties behind the service desk frowning in unison, showing an expression of disbelief. Their eyes contained a trace of confusion and were full of the resentment of office workers, as if to say: Are you sick? What nonsense were you just saying?

Liang Jingren came straight to the service desk from the elevator entrance. He first apologized to the front desk ladies, who were extremely impatient and waiting to get off work, “I’m sorry, I’ve caused you trouble.” Then he turned his head, grabbed Chen Mo, who was smiling beside him, and dragged him away.

“Go outside and take a taxi now, I’ll get the umbrella for you later.” Liang Jingren said as he dragged Chen Mo’s arm and walked out.

“No, I’m not leaving.” Chen Mo said this, but he couldn’t resist Liang Jingren’s strength, which was so great that he was being dragged along. In order to maintain his dignity, he could only follow along.

Before long, Chen Mo was placed at the entrance of the building.

Liang Jingren turned around to go back to the front desk to get the umbrella. Chen Mo called out to his back, “Hey! Let’s eat together! You’re off work anyway! I have something to tell you! I really do!”

Liang Jingren stopped. He turned his head to look at Chen Mo and said coldly, “So, are you taking the umbrella or not?”

Seeing his eyes as cold as if they were about to drop ice shards, Chen Mo felt a lump in his throat. He swallowed a non-existent mouthful of saliva and said, “Uh… Taking it.”

“Go apologize.”

“Oh.”

Under Liang Jingren’s gaze and supervision, Chen Mo obediently walked to the service desk to apologize to the three front desk ladies who were preparing to get off work and change shifts. The three of them generously said, “It’s okay,” “It’s not a big deal.”

Chen Mo lowered his head and thought: I’m not an elementary school student, why are we still performing apology and forgiveness in front of the teacher.

As soon as he looked up, “Teacher Liang” wasn’t looking at him at all, he was looking at his phone.

Ten minutes later, the two arrived at the open cafeteria area on the third floor. Liang Jingren took it upon himself to choose a meal and order food for him. Before long, two servings of hot pork chop rice appeared in front of them.

“Speak, what is it?” Liang Jingren said quickly and neatly, “Or you can speak after you finish eating, too.”

“If you don’t speak, I’ll eat first.”

Holding the disposable chopsticks, Chen Mo was stunned. He looked at the cafeteria meal in front of him, which was both delicious and visually appealing, and thought: Wasn’t I supposed to take Liang Jingren out to eat? Did I…did I not make it clear?

Damn it! He was manipulated by Liang Jingren again!