JR Chapter 18

The Chinese restaurant near Mo Lin’s studio had a beautiful environment, well-trained staff, and naturally high prices. Mo Lin usually wouldn’t come here by herself unless Cheng Lulu was treating or if she had an important client meeting.

She let Jiang Yuanmu order the dishes, and his choices were better than usual: one meat dish, two vegetable dishes, a soup, and a plate of low-sugar fruit. The dishes were exquisite and balanced, almost as if he wanted to outdo someone.

When lunch was almost finished, Jiang Yuanmu took out the document he brought and handed it to Mo Lin, “I’ve drafted the extension agreement.”

The contents of the first page inside the transparent document folder were visible—”Extension Agreement.”

Mo Lin was surprised, “Didn’t we agree that I would draft it?” She glanced at Jiang Yuanmu and finally noticed the darker circles under his eyes, “Did you stay up all night?”

“Yes.”

“This isn’t that urgent; you could have waited for me to draft the initial version.”

Jiang Yuanmu calmly sipped some tea, “I was waiting for some other results last night, so I did it in the meantime.”

Thinking of last night’s farce, Mo Lin couldn’t help but ask for Cheng Lulu, “Was it the result of signing He Ye?”

Jiang Yuanmu nodded without changing his expression, “Yes.”

Of course, it wasn’t.

He had been waiting for the result from the graphic designer for half the night[mfn]pffff…Yuanmu…Yuanmu.You poor soul[/mfn].

It was urgent, late, and needed detailed work. Jiang Yuanmu couldn’t rush them too much. Getting it at 3 a.m. was already quite good.

Jiang Yuanmu rubbed his temple, which were throbbing due to lack of sleep, “Review the agreement when you have time; there’s no rush to give me feedback. I’ll move back tonight. You’ll need to generate a temporary password for the door and send it to me. I’ll have Xiao Li help me bring some things back in the afternoon.”

Seeing that Jiang Yuanmu was about to get up and leave.

“Sorry to waste your time,” Mo Lin called out to him, “Regarding Xu Yuan, I feel obligated to explain.”

Jiang Yuanmu raised an eyebrow; he had wanted to ask!

But…

He shouldn’t ask, or rather, it wasn’t his place to ask.

And even if he had to ask, it should have been last night.

But since he chose not to ask last night, he shouldn’t listen to Mo Lin’s explanation today. No need to “waste” this time.

Jiang Yuanmu thought this, but his body stayed honestly in the chair, motionless.

“Explain,” he said.

“If we had terminated the contract, I wouldn’t waste your time on this matter. But since we decided to extend the contract for three months, it’s better to clear things up.”

Jiang Yuanmu nodded in agreement.

“Actually, I don’t quite understand Xu Yuan’s thoughts. This matter is also very sudden for me. I can only assure you that during our contract period, I did not do anything to violate the contract.”

Very well, very official, just what Mo Lin should say… but it didn’t feel like an explanation and somewhat like evasion.

Jiang Yuanmu didn’t interrupt, silently listening.

“I’m… not very perceptive to others’ emotions. I must have done something wrong, causing Xu Yuan’s misunderstanding. Before today, I had no thoughts about him. You can rest assured, in the next three months, I won’t do anything to breach the contract.”

Before today… the next three months…

Jiang Yuanmu didn’t know how to react to these words.

After a few thoughts floated by, he naturally uttered a sentence:

“You’ve always been a good person. Liking you is an easy thing. You don’t need to blame yourself or reflect on it.”

Mo Lin didn’t expect Jiang Yuanmu to say this. She was stunned for a moment, thought about it, and then nodded calmly, acknowledging Jiang Yuanmu:

“You’re right. I am already good enough. I shouldn’t be self-critical.”

Jiang Yuanmu smiled, “Communicating with you is always efficient and pleasant.”

Mo Lin also smiled, “I feel the same way.”

At this moment, a waiter, slightly embarrassed, brought them the bill.

As Jiang Yuanmu accepted it, Mo Lin spoke, “How much should I pay?”

Normally, Jiang Yuanmu would unhesitatingly provide the amount. But at this moment, a phrase inexplicably popped into his head—”There’s no charge for giving something to someone you like.”

From many angles, Jiang Yuanmu disagreed with this phrase. Yet, instinctively, he said, “It’s on me.”

Seeing Mo Lin’s surprise, Jiang Yuanmu quickly found an excuse, “I chose the restaurant, and since you agreed to extend the contract, I should thank you.”

Reasonable.

Mo Lin accepted, “Thanks for the treat.”

With an enjoyable lunch over, the contract-renewed couple went back to their busy schedules.

Mo Lin had one less task to draft the agreement and efficiently handled her work in the afternoon.

In contrast, Jiang Yuanmu had various tasks to deal with.

After spending more than an hour handling company documents, Jiang Yuanmu received Xu Yuan’s profile from Ji Ming. The profile showed—

Xu Yuan, a local, from single-parent family, dropped out of high school, worked in various coffee shops, eventually started his own business, and opened a coffee shop opposite Mo Lin’s studio two years ago.

Ji Ming, lounging lazily on Jiang Yuanmu’s office sofa, said, “The bar owner yesterday was Xu Yuan’s high school classmate. They usually hang out, so he invited him. I thought he had some background, but his resume is quite ordinary. I don’t think you need to worry about him.”

Jiang Yuanmu glanced at Ji Ming, “He dropped out of high school from a single-parent family. Can he open a coffee shop in that area in his twenties?”

Ji Ming paused, then nodded, “That’s right, sister-in-law didn’t rely on you back then, but she also had to rely on her best friend to invest in her. Without this initial capital, she couldn’t have been able to open a store.”

“Yes.”

Seeing that Jiang Yuanmu didn’t continue the conversation, indicating he didn’t plan to talk more about this topic, Ji Ming chatted about recent work for a bit before intending to leave.

Just as Ji Ming was about to push the door open and leave, Jiang Yuanmu called him back, “How’s the gym you’re using?”

“Hmm?” Ji Ming was surprised, “What’s up? You planning to work out? Do you have the time?”

“The gym, how is it?”

Ji Ming smirked, “Not bad. The equipment is new, the trainers are professional, there’s a pool, it’s open 24 hours, and it’s expensive—perfect for a busy successful person like you.”

“Help me sign up when you go today. I’ll go another day.”

Ji Ming laughed, “Another day, as in next year this time?”

Jiang Yuanmu silently stared at him.

Ji Ming waved his hand as he left, “Fine, fine, the young guy is stressing you out. I’ll sign you up, but don’t collapse at the gym later.”

Jiang Yuanmu ignored him.

As the office’s glass door closed, Jiang Yuanmu heard Ji Ming’s footsteps when suddenly there was a dog’s bark and Ji Ming’s exclamation, “Why did you bring a dog to work!?”

Then came Xiao Li’s slightly embarrassed response, “The boss asked to rent it…”

“Huh? Rent? What? Rent a dog?”

Then the glass door was pushed open again, with Ji Ming, Xiao Li, and a small black-and-white border collie[mfn][/mfn] appearing at the entrance.

Xiao Li led the small border collie inside, the dog curiously looking around, while Ji Ming leaned in, peeking inside with half his head.

“Why did you rent a dog?”

Jiang Yuanmu glanced at Ji Ming, “Don’t you have other work to do?”

Ji Ming scratched his nose and wisely withdrew his head, “Are we becoming pet influencers or something? Why rent a dog? Things are getting more confusing.” He asked the other employees outside as his voice gradually faded away.

Xiao Li stood in the office with the border collie, waiting for Jiang Yuanmu’s inspection.

“This is the most active one from the kennel,” Xiao Li introduced. “Very smart, follows commands, sits, rolls over, shows its belly—knows all the tricks.”

“Is it destructive?”

Xiao Li paused, “It… shouldn’t be. The kennel owner said as long as it gets an hour’s walk every day, it shouldn’t be too destructive.”

“Get me one that is destructive.”

“Huh!?”

Xiao Li was confused by the request but had to follow the boss’s orders. Just as he was about to take the well-behaved border collie back, he was called again.

“Wait.”

Xiao Li turned back to look at Jiang Yuanmu, seeing hesitation and struggle on his face for the first time.

“Never mind. A non-destructive one is fine. Leave it here, and you can go.”

“…Alright.” Though Xiao Li, like Ji Ming, was confused, he still left Jiang Yuanmu’s office obediently.

In the cold, restrained office, Jiang Yuanmu held the border collie’s leash in front of his desk. He looked at it, and it tilted its head curiously at him. Then it jumped up, pawing at Jiang Yuanmu’s leg and rubbing its head against his knee.

The dark trousers quickly got covered with dog hair and scent.

Jiang Yuanmu frowned slightly.

He didn’t like it.

He disliked dogs with no sense of boundaries, and most dogs had none—just like all children, they were full of energy, uncontrollable, and unpredictable.

He and Mo Lin shared surprisingly similar tastes, so Jiang Yuanmu thought Mo Lin wouldn’t like dogs either.

But didn’t she want a child?

Jiang Yuanmu clumsily put his hands under the small border collie’s “armpits” and lifted it.

The border collie whimpered, and Jiang Yuanmu couldn’t tell if it was uncomfortable or wanted to play. He just looked at it and gave a very serious instruction: “I have three months, but I hope you can make Mo Lin give up in one.”

The border collie turned its head and tried to nibble Jiang Yuanmu’s hand. Its teeth missed, and it licked instead.

The warm, wet sensation made Jiang Yuanmu frown deeply.

So he put it back on the ground and used a disinfectant wipe to clean the spot where the dog had licked him. “You really have no sense of boundaries, but you can definitely handle this task. One month, I hope you won’t disappoint me.”

“Woof!”

Want a child?

Jiang Yuanmu watched the little border collie sniff around the office and then squat to pee on the floor. He nodded in satisfaction and thought:

No, you won’t want it. When you truly have it, you’ll just want to return it, dear Ms. Mo Lin.