After Sharing Senses with the Paranoid CEO, the Infamous Starlet was Forced into Pampering Chapter 42

Chapter 42: Your Boyfriend is Treating Me to a Meal~

Ma Haowei pressed her hands against the glass partition, her arrogance completely evaporating into sheer panic.

“Xia Mu, I’m sorry! I apologize! I’m still young, I can’t have a record! Please, I’ll write a public apology on Weibo. I’ll do whatever you want!”

“Young? You’re a legal adult. You need to take responsibility for your actions. Besides, if I remember correctly, aren’t I two years younger than you?”

Seeing her crumble so quickly, Xia Mu suddenly found the entire confrontation incredibly tedious.

“You can work out the details of your detention or fine with the police. As for the apology, you will post it across all your social media platforms. I’ll have my agency contact you about the rest once I’ve thought it through.”

Unwilling to waste another second, Xia Mu signaled the officer to end the visit.

The moment Xia Mu stepped out, Ren Zhilin met him. “How did it go? Did she actually apologize, or should we just hire a lawyer and sue her into oblivion?”

“She only started apologizing after I pointed out she’d end up with a permanent record,” Xia Mu said.

“So you agreed to settle?” Ren Zhilin asked, a little surprised. It didn’t sound like him to back down so easily.

“No, I’m just forcing her to write a formal apology first. Sister Yi can probably put it to good use.”

“Smart move.” Ren Zhilin nodded in approval. It was a good thing Xia Mu was alright; otherwise, even if Li Yanzhou didn’t step in, Ren Zhilin wouldn’t have let her off easily.

After returning to the company and updating Sister Yi, Xia Mu buried himself back in his scripts.

Meanwhile, after giving Xia Mu his ointment, Ren Zhilin found himself bored again. There was an on-duty doctor covering the clinic, so he wasn’t needed at all. He decided to head over to Li Yanzhou’s office.

Even before stepping foot into the building, Ren Zhilin spammed Li Yanzhou’s WeChat with over a dozen messages.

Hearing his phone buzz repeatedly, Li Yanzhou was initially annoyed. But the moment he opened the chat and saw that Ren Zhilin was sending him candid photos of Xia Mu, his irritation instantly vanished.

When Ren Zhilin strolled into the office, he caught Li Yanzhou staring at his phone with a faint smile. He made a face of theatrical disgust.

“Look at that grin. It’s practically stretching from ear to ear. Since just seeing him makes you this happy, why don’t you hurry up and make him yours? It’d save me the trouble of hanging out with him and dealing with your petty jealousy.”

“Who said I was looking at him?” Li Yanzhou set his phone face down. “I just closed a major deal, that’s all.”

“Sure, sure.” Ren Zhilin didn’t bother calling him out, sprawling lazily onto the office sofa. “I gave the ointment to Xia Mu, but whether he actually uses it is up to him. I can’t force him. You’ll have to handle that part yourself.”

“Mhm,” Li Yanzhou replied, shifting his gaze to his friend. “Are you really that free today?”

“Yeah.” Ren Zhilin crossed his legs comfortably.

“Why aren’t you at the research institute?”

“You can’t just work people to death, Yanzhou. Ever since I got back from Sanya, I’ve been doing closed-door research at the lab. I finally get one day off, and you’re treating me like a slacker?” Ren Zhilin complained. “Besides, the vice director and his husband are making me sick with how affectionate they are. Last night, a bunch of us had to stay in the lab until the early hours of the morning, and his husband actually brought midnight snacks and came to drive him home.”

Li Yanzhou’s fingers paused over his keyboard. He looked up and said, “Then you should find a partner too.”

“I just haven’t met the right person yet. If Xia Mu weren’t yours, I probably would have tried my luck with him by now.”

Li Yanzhou’s eyes narrowed, a quiet warning flashing in his gaze. But after taking in Ren Zhilin’s relaxed, indifferent posture, he remarked, “Leaving aside the fact that Xia Mu wouldn’t be interested in you anyway… you definitely aren’t a top.”

“Who says?!” Ren Zhilin sat bolt upright, deeply offended. “I’m six feet tall!”

“Xia Mu is also six feet tall.”

“I go to the gym regularly.”

“So do I,” Li Yanzhou replied smoothly.

Ren Zhilin deflated. His workouts were sporadic at best; his muscle definition couldn’t compete with Li Yanzhou’s disciplined physique.

“Whatever. I’m not arguing with you.” He stood up, muttering under his breath, “To save my own sanity, I’m heading back to Shengyi. At least the eye candy there is good.”

Ren Zhilin always acted on a whim, and Li Yanzhou was too used to it to care, immediately returning to his documents.

By the time dusk began to fall, Xia Mu finally finished reading the school drama script. In truth, the second male lead didn’t have many scenes in the final third of the story, but the writing was so compelling that he had read the entire thing cover to cover just to grasp the emotional depth of the project.

Even without reading the other two fantasy scripts, he knew deep down that he desperately wanted to play this character.

Because he had been hunched over the pages for so long, his neck felt incredibly stiff. He lay back on his bed and stretched. Just then, his phone buzzed with a message from Li Yan:

[Dinner has been dropped off at the company front desk. Go pick it up.]

[Did you put ointment on your scratch?]

Xia Mu blinked, turning over onto his stomach to reply:

[How did you know I hadn’t eaten yet?]

Li Yanzhou leaned back in his office chair, rubbing his temples. The shared senses meant that even though he had already eaten, he was still feeling incredibly hungry.

[Wild guess.]

[Apply the ointment first, then go get your food.]

Xia Mu replied in amusement:

[I haven’t even answered you. How do you know I haven’t applied it? What if I already did?]

Li Yanzhou tapped the screen: [There are no ‘what ifs.’]

He didn’t need to guess. A moment later, a distinct, cool, tingling sensation registered behind his own ear, confirming that Xia Mu was indeed dabbing the medicine onto his scratch.

Satisfied, Li Yanzhou set his phone down.

Xia Mu rushed down to the lobby to retrieve his delivery. When he unpacked it back in his dorm, he was stunned. The spread was incredibly lavish: six main courses, two soups, and a plate of fresh, prepped jackfruit.

He took a quick photo and sent it to Li Yan:

[Is this supposed to be dinner?]

[Is there a problem?] Li Yanzhou replied, not understanding the picture. He had specifically instructed his chef to prepare dishes that suited Xia Mu’s tastes.

[Just for me?]

[Yes.]

Xia Mu was speechless: [I appreciate the gesture, but even a pig couldn’t finish all this!]

[The chef is excellent, and these are his specialties. I wanted you to try a bit of everything,] Li Yanzhou typed back carefully.

[I love the thought, but do you mind if I share? I’ll never finish this on my own.]

[Do whatever you like with it.]

Since the food was already there, Xia Mu was free to do what he wanted. He immediately messaged Ren Zhilin, and upon learning that the doctor hadn’t eaten either, he invited him over to his dorm.

When Ren Zhilin saw the table overflowing with food, his jaw dropped. “Xia Mu, did you order all this?”

“No, a friend sent it over,” Xia Mu said with a smile.

Ren Zhilin immediately guessed who the “friend” was. While Xia Mu went to grab utensils, he quickly snapped a photo of the feast and sent it to Li Yanzhou:

[This has your private chef’s signature all over it, doesn’t it?]

[Your boyfriend is treating me to dinner right now~]