The other magazines weren’t closely related to personal features. They were mostly about IT, fashion, medicine, and such.
Jiang Xiao flipped through them casually.
Si Lin stood by the bookshelf, head lowered as he paged through a book Jiang Xiao had previously looked at. His profile was clear and sharp. Yet, due to the debuff, all that remained in Jiang Xiao’s mind was that constantly swaying gold-rimmed glasses.
Jiang Xiao’s gaze drifted over and then retracted. Others were working so hard; he couldn’t very well keep slacking off. He continued moving picture frames aside, searching for any clues that might have been missed.
A painting of Monet’s Sunflowers. Jiang Xiao casually tried to lift it, but this lift revealed something unusual.
This painting was exceptionally heavy. So heavy that Jiang Xiao couldn’t lift it, as if the wall was sucking it in.
Something was off.
Jiang Xiao glanced at Lawyer Si, who was deep in thought, and finally let his gaze wander over to the only idle person present.
After delivering that baffling speech, CEO Lu had remained sullen-faced, as if someone had rubbed him the wrong way. He was twirling a small knife in his hand, his movements crisp and decisive, cutting an orange on the table in half, then into quarters, and then those quarters into sixths.
The slightly sweet, tart scent of orange drifted past his nose.
“CEO Lu, could I get a hand?” Jiang Xiao didn’t know exactly where he had offended Lu Moxing. The two of them had been at loggerheads since they met. Heaven knew Jiang Xiao genuinely wanted to get along with everyone… but reality was cruel.
He and Lu Moxing were probably just destined to clash.
CEO Lu wore a ‘Stay away from me’ expression, glancing at Jiang Xiao from afar. The message was clear: Get away from me.
Jiang Xiao had no choice but to study the Sunflowers alone. He put his arm strength into it and tried again to move the painting, but failed again.
No, it was more like it was embedded in the wall, which was why it wouldn’t budge.
Jiang Xiao thought for a few seconds, then shifted to feeling around the picture frame. Just by touch, his fingers found what they were looking for: a small button on the side. Pressing it, a keyhole-shaped groove popped out on the side of the frame with a click.
Clearly, they needed to find the key inside the room.
The areas they hadn’t checked yet were few: the bookshelf, the paintings, and the coffee table.
Jiang Xiao removed the other paintings. To be safe, he also felt around each frame to see if there were any other hidden mechanisms.
Unfortunately, only the Sunflowers painting had a mechanism; the others were just ordinary paintings.
Jiang Xiao walked over to the bookshelf and began searching alongside Si Lin.
Jiang Xiao kept a slight distance from Si Lin. Not that he minded, but he figured, knowing Si Lin’s temperament, the man probably didn’t like people getting too close.
Si Lin was indeed quiet. The two of them searched without making almost any sound.
The only sound in the room was the knife cutting.
Jiang Xiao’s search yielded nothing. Turning around, he saw Lu Moxing had finished cutting all the oranges, laying them out across the whole table. He wasn’t eating them, just putting them there on display.
The corner of Jiang Xiao’s mouth twitched slightly.
“CEO Lu, wasting food is bad,” Jiang Xiao said. “You cut it, so you have to eat it all.”
But Lu Moxing, for some unknown reason, suddenly seemed to be in a slightly better mood. Hearing Jiang Xiao’s words, he wasn’t even annoyed, retorting: “Then sue me. Conveniently, there’s a lawyer right here.”
Jiang Xiao: “…”
CEO Lu wasn’t directly roasting him now; he’d switched to a new mode of snide sarcasm.
After meticulously searching several more times, Jiang Xiao felt a bit thirsty. He simply sat down and started eating the priceless orange slices Great CEO Lu had so meticulously cut. If sold on the market, one slice could probably fetch over a hundred bucks.
The orange was juicy, sweet, and tart. After eating a few slices, Jiang Xiao noticed a gaze following him unwaveringly.
He looked up. Lu Moxing was watching him with an unfathomable expression.
Jiang Xiao paused mid-action. “Does eating oranges also cost money?”
His lips had become exceptionally red and moist from the juice.
Lu Moxing, instead of getting angry, actually smiled. “Eat as much as you want. No charge.”
Lu Moxing being so easy-going made Jiang Xiao even more suspicious. He put the orange down and licked the juice off his fingers.
Lu Moxing’s eyes subtly darkened.
“CEO Lu, have you seen any clues?” Jiang Xiao was restless and started surveying the surroundings.
They had searched everywhere possible but hadn’t found the key at all.
“What sort?” Lu Moxing asked idly.
“A key,” Jiang Xiao gestured with his fingers. “About this long. I just found a hidden mechanism on that painting frame, just the right size to place a key in.”
“A key, huh,” Lu Moxing said. “How many do you want?”
“How many do you have?” Jiang Xiao asked in surprise.
Lu Moxing glanced at Jiang Xiao. “I only have one. You want it?”
Jiang Xiao: “No, no, I don’t want it. You can just use the mechanism.”
Lu Moxing didn’t move an inch, drawling lazily, “But someone upset me just now. What to do about that?”
So he was waiting for him here.
Jiang Xiao thought for a moment, troubled. “But I have no money on me. At worst, I’ll pay you after we leave this place?”
Lu Moxing ground out through clenched teeth: “Do you think I care about that little bit of money?”
Lu Moxing already possessed half a commercial empire and sat upon countless assets. How could he possibly be bought off by a small-time streamer?
But Jiang Xiao was utterly oblivious. Hearing Lu Moxing’s words, he thought it over, then smiled and said, “In that case, I’ll stay away from you. That should do it, right?”
Since Lu Moxing said he didn’t like men and suspected him of deliberately seducing him, didn’t that just mean he wanted him to stay far away?
Lu Moxing: “…”
“You ate my orange. You have to give something in return,” Lu Moxing said stiffly, practically spelling out the words “feed me” on his face.
Jiang Xiao’s brow twitched. He understood Lu Moxing’s meaning. Continuing to smile, he said, “Of course, I can do that.”
Jiang Xiao personally picked up an orange slice and held it to Lu Moxing’s lips, but not too close, saying sincerely, “CEO Lu, please eat.”
Lu Moxing, with noble and cold elegance, plucked that orange slice from his hand.
Only after the fact did he register what he’d done. It was supposed to be Jiang Xiao making the first move. How had it ended up with him being the proactive one?
This wasn’t Jiang Xiao “feeding” him.
This was clearly Jiang Xiao “feeding a dog”!
“CEO Lu, is that settled now?” Jiang Xiao continued in a pleasant and agreeable tone, as if nothing had happened.
Expressionless, Lu Moxing produced a silver key.
“Found it while cutting the orange.”
Jiang Xiao felt Lu Moxing was truly an escape room terminator, able to find a key hidden inside an orange. Without him, who knew how long it would have taken to find this key.
“Thanks a lot, CEO Lu. I’ll never make fun of you for not doing any work again.” Jiang Xiao said, taking the key and heading to activate the mechanism.
“…”
In his entire life, Lu Moxing had never met his match. Jiang Xiao was the first.
Fine. Very fine.
Jiang Xiao called out to Si Lin, “Lawyer Si, I got the key! CEO Lu painstakingly cut it out.”
Si Lin’s expression didn’t betray much surprise. Or perhaps he was already used to storms and waves. His dark eyes were as calm as ever.
“You two seem quite familiar.”
“Really? I don’t think so,” Jiang Xiao shook his head, giving a wry laugh. “CEO Lu probably hates me to death right now. Besides, he’s straight and detests gays… like me.”
Jiang Xiao casually threw in some self-promotion while dragging Lu Moxing down a peg.
It wasn’t that CEO Lu was a bad choice, but Jiang Xiao really needed someone to take the blame for him.
Who else but CEO Lu?
“You like men?”
Si Lin spoke. The renowned lawyer’s gaze was calm, but it seemed to conceal a sharp scrutiny, as if he could see through all truths.
“Yeah, otherwise why would I be here?” Jiang Xiao kept his expression relaxed, but his heart was uneasy.
A lawyer’s intuition was usually very keen.
But Si Lin didn’t seem inclined to pursue the matter, instead asking, “CEO Lu is straight?”
“He said so himself,” Jiang Xiao said.
“I wouldn’t be so sure,” Si Lin murmured softly.
Jiang Xiao had very good hearing and inadvertently caught that sentence. His heart began to flutter with anxiety. Could it be that Si Lin had really seen through something?
But to ask a straight man like him to pretend to be gay… Jiang Xiao had racked his brains and still didn’t know how.
He couldn’t actually go and seduce someone, right?!
To mask his unease, Jiang Xiao inserted the key into the lock and turned it gently. The mechanism triggered. Rumbling sounds came from behind a wall, and then, a completely new door appeared before the three of them.
It was a door with a fluorescent screen. Two lines of text appeared on the glowing blue screen.
【Only two may leave】
【Note: Please have the two individuals in the room wearing each other’s items leave】
The indication was already very clear.
Only Jiang Xiao and Si Lin could leave.
Seeing the prompt, Si Lin said calmly, “Let’s go.”
Jiang Xiao was taken aback. “But what about CEO Lu? Does he have to stay here?”
“I imagine he won’t mind.” Si Lin glanced at Lu Moxing. “After all, he is straight.”
“Interesting.” Lu Moxing, having also seen the prompt text, didn’t show an enraged expression. Instead, he looked thoughtful. After a moment, a nonchalant smile appeared on his lips. He said breezily:
“In that case, just go.”
“There should be other ways to leave. How about we look around some more?” Jiang Xiao offered.
For some reason, the idea of leaving Lu Moxing behind stirred his conscience.
After all, the key was found by Lu Moxing.
“No need.” Lu Moxing leaned against the corner of the wall, his long legs bent. He spoke slowly, “I want to see exactly what it’s planning to do.”
“As for you, be careful. Don’t end up being sold out and still helping count the money.”
Jiang Xiao still felt it wasn’t right.
“What’s there to hesitate about?” Lu Moxing said coldly. “You weren’t willing to wear my clothes just now. It’s too late for regrets now.”
“My clothes aren’t something just anyone can wear.”
Jiang Xiao: …Uh, well, he didn’t really regret it anyway.
But if he said that out loud, he was afraid Lu Moxing would die of rage.
