Atlas Studios

  Atlas Studios

  This was Xiang Wan’s third time coming to “The Palace”.

  The feelings and emotions were totally different from the previous times.

  The fountain goddess statue still stood in front of “The Palace”, with a kind of haughty smile that felt like mocking in the quiet night.

  Xiang Wan felt her heart heavy while she walked past the statue.

  Till today, “The Palace” had not resumed operations, but for the sake of celebrating Huang He’s release from the detention center, under Bai Munian’s instructions, the employees cleaned up the place. With the exception of the fifth floor, all of “The Palace” were brightly lit, which was not much different from the past.

  Furthermore, there was a heartwarming gesture.

  At the ninth floor of “The Palace”, the waiters and waitresses had prepared pomelo leaves water in a beautiful basin. They lined up neatly in two neat rows, which was totally the treatment of welcoming a VIP.

  When each of them walked in, a waiter or waitress would hold the basin to let them wash their hands.

  “It’s the pomelo leaves water for getting rid of bad luck!”


  “We’ve smoked pomelo water on every part of ‘The Palace’!”


  Huang He expressed his thanks and placed his hands on the basin. He washed his hands with a heavy heart, and when he wanted to lift up his hands, Fang Yuanyuan pressed them back to the basin.

  “You should wash a little longer. Have a good wash to get rid of bad luck so good luck will come to you!”


  Huang He laughed helplessly. “.…… I took a bath before I came out. I’m still clean and fresh.”


  “I know you’re clean and fresh.” Fang Yuanyuan winked at him, her eyes smiling. “I can smell the scent of shampoo and soap, there’s not a scent of perspiration……”


  “Heheh.”


  “Silly, why are you laughing? Hurry and wash!”


  The two of them were speaking softly as if whispering sweet nothings to each other.

  Huang He chortled and gently squeezed her hand in the basin.

  When the waitress saw that little act, she couldn’t help but sneak a laugh.

  Fang Yuanyuan was embarrassed and slapped his hand. “You’re so hateful! Go and die……”


  The next moment, however, she seemed startled. She gave a few slaps on her mouth using the hand in the pomelo water. “Bleh, bleh, bleh, what nonsense I’m sprouting! I’ll wash it off, wash it off!”


  “.……”


  At “The Palace”, the mention of the word “die” was very sensitive.

  Xiang Wan thought it was very challenging for Bai Muchuan to entertain friends at this place.

  The thought of the human tissues on the wall would already change the flavor and taste of the delicacies.

  Nonetheless, “The Palace” had to open for business sooner or later. His act could be considered as being the first customer for his cousin for good luck.

  “Why aren’t you eating?” Bai Muchuan was sitting beside Xiang Wan when he noticed she had drifted off somewhere. She was chatting happily with Huang He earlier on, but now, she seemed slightly down in just a bat of an eyelid.

  “Not that hungry.” Xiang Wan gave a smile.

  “You don’t seem very happy about being asked out for dinner?”


  Xiang Wan was baffled by his ambivalent attitude. “The one who’s not happy should be you?”


  Bai Muchuan did not deny that. He cut straight to the point with a grunt.

  “I’m not like you who just moved to a new place. There’s nothing to be happy about for me.”


  Xiang Wan couldn’t help rolling her eyes.

  “May I ask you, Detective Bai, what exactly are you unhappy about me moving to a new place?”


  Bai Muchuan gave a slight frown and gave her a look that seemed to say “comprehend that yourself”.

  “Heh!” Xiang Wan peered at him for a while when she suddenly laughed. “Aren’t you weird? It’s my business where I live, why are you so angry about it?”


  “Who told you that I’m angry?” Bai Muchuan furrowed his brows with a nonchalant look.

  “I know now.” Xiang Wan leaned over with a grin. “Could it be that Captain Cheng is your sweetheart? So, when I moved and became his next-door neighbor, you’re so jealous that you hate me to the core?”


  Bai Muchuan’s lips twitched and his expression seemed strange.

  “Heh! Did I get it right?” Xiang Wan bit her lower lip jokingly. “Why don’t we do this? In any case, my house has three bedrooms, I can sublet the third bedroom to you at 4,000 yuan a month!”


  Bai Muchuan looked at her, displeased.

  He suddenly snorted. “Cut the cr*p!”


  “.……” Crazy fellow!

  He did not speak another word.

  There was no point for Xiang Wan to continue talking, so she turned away and ignored him.

  Somehow, their rigid postures of not looking at each other had a comedic feel to it.

  The detectives who came for the dinner last time were also being invited. However, with Huang He’s unlucky incident, besides Bai Muchuan, no one else drank wine. Instead, they drank other beverages like tea instead.

  Everyone heaved a sigh to their sudden change to a healthier lifestyle—it was sure distressing to not able to enjoy something they like even when they were not on duty. Scrumptious food were served before them, but due to their mood, they were not able to enjoy them fully.

  “Isn’t the case closed? Why does everyone look so moody?”


  Huang He saw that the current topic couldn’t lift the heavy atmosphere and started to joke about his own situation.

  “Did I bring out the opposing atmosphere from the being in there[detention center] that everyone couldn’t eat well?”


  “Shut that mouth of yours,” Bai Muchuan said flatly and clinked his glass of wine with Huang He’s glass of beverage. “You’re already out so don’t look back. Start all over again!”


  Everyone noticed that their Captain did not seem to be in a good mood.

  Hence, under the faintly discernible cold atmosphere, although everyone followed his lead, they were somehow restrained.

  “Boss, let me offer you a toast!” Huang He took the wine bottle. “I owed it to you for getting me out! Otherwise, I think I’m really screwed this time!”


  Fang Yuanyuan was stunned and wanted to stop him reflexively.

  But when her hands reached midair, she paused for a moment and retracted them back.

  After knowing the cause and effect of the whole matter, she developed a fear of Huang He drinking wine. However, he had not resumed work so it would not matter if he drank wine or not……

  Fang Yuanyuan looked at Huang He subconsciously.

  Everyone kept quiet about this problem. Even Bai Muchuan did not mention if he could resume working as a detective.

  Thus, Fang Yuanyuan was worried for Huang He……

  Huang He had been working as a detective for years and had gotten used to the job. He had previously shared with Fang Yuanyuan that he wished he could work in this job till retirement. Fang Yuanyuan dreaded the possibility that if he were to lose this job, he might not be able to take the blow and play the “missing” game with her once more.

  The two men drank wine together.

  The rest of the detectives wanted to drink but was stopped by Bai Muchuan.

  Because of that, however, the atmosphere started to improve.

  The men chatted, but Xiang Wan stayed silent throughout.

  Fang Yuanyuan observed her for quite a while.

  “Did you quarrel with Detective Bai?” she suddenly asked Xiang Wan.

  “.……”


  “Nah, Why should I!” Xiang Wan grunted.

  With their current stage of relationship, there was no possibility of a quarrel.

  At most, it would be like now, with both of them unhappy with each other.

  The only thing that bothered her was, why on earth would he be unhappy with her?

  “Then what happened?” Fang Yuanyuan frowned and lightly tugged on her elbow. “Is it because of the modification of the locked chapters?”


  For this matter, Xiang Wan did not inform anyone about it, including Bai Muchuan.

  She had thought that he would not understand even if she told him, as he was not from the same industry as her.

  Nevertheless, because of Fang Yuanyuan’s query, Bai Muchuan heard those words as he was just sitting beside Xiang Wan.

  His sharp gaze landed on both of them. “Modification of locked chapters?”


  “Hm,” responded Fang Yuanyuan and was about to explain when Xiang Wan chimed in.

  “Ain’t you my loyal and faithful reader? How could you not know of such a major incident? Don’t you feel sorry about it?”


  Her tone was rather provoking!

  Bai Muchuan raised an eyebrow and gave her a cold glare. Instead of rebutting her as usual, he creased his brows, put down his chopsticks, took out his mobile phone and behaved like a loyal fan as he opened the page of “Murder The Dream Guy”.……

  The heated discussion in the book reviews and comments page had subsided a lot.

  However, it would not take long to find out what happened with just a few scrolls.

  “D*rn!” Bai Muchuan suddenly cussed.

  His sudden rage stunned everyone at the dinner table.

  All eyes were on his face, with questions written all over their faces.

  “Boss?”


  Bai Muchuan was a person who knew how to keep his emotions in control most of the time. Especially in such an occasion, he would not spew profanities so recklessly.

  Who was the one who made him blew a fuse?

  As Bai Muchuan did not mention anything, everyone looked at each other with puzzled looks.

  Fang Yuanyuan’s eyes flitted back and forth between the two meaningfully and teasingly.

  “Detective Bai is concerned about you……”


  Xiang Wan felt somewhat awkward. “It’s okay, really. This is very normal in my industry……”


  “Normal? Are you kidding me? You think I’m a noob?”


  “.…… But you are a noob……”


  Bai Muchuan looked at her angrily and mocked her in a cold tone, “Teacher Xiang, you’re so masterful and arrogant in front of me. Why are you such a wuss when you fell in the hands of others?”


  Since when was she masterful and arrogant? Oh, as well as behaving like a wuss?

  Xiang Wan let out a deep breath. “I’m not talking to you. You don’t understand at all……”


  As the saying goes, the difference in profession would make one feel worlds apart with another. Just as Xiang Wan didn’t understand their profession, she knew very well that Bai Muchuan wouldn’t understand how complicated the online literature industry was as well. Therefore, she wasn’t willing to explain all these to a layman.

  However, before she finished talking, Bai Muchuan suddenly got up from his seat with a fuming face.

  He left the suite without giving a chance for all of them to react.

  Xiang Wan: “.……”


  Why was he so angry for? So fierce.

  She did not say anything offensive to him, right?

  The moment he left the suite, everyone’s eyes were on her.

  Xiang Wan felt helpless with everyone looking at her like that.

  She smiled awkwardly with an innocent expression as she waved her hands.

  “Please continue to eat, I’ll go take a look!”
……

  Xiang Wan found Bai Muchuan at the end of the corridor by the window.

  His back was facing her, holding a cigarette in one hand, while the other holding the mobile phone, talking.

  With the last embarrassing experience of getting found out after eavesdropping on him, Xiang Wan did not come close to him but look at him from afar.

  Under the hazy lights in the night, his tall, straight stature and laid-back mannerisms as well as the tiny glint of flickering flame near his fingers somehow gave off an headstrong vibe about him.

  When Bai Muchuan was not handling a case, although he wasn’t as steady and stern, he gave off a different charm.

  “That’s it! Don’t talk to me about this. I don’t want to hear reasons! I’ve said what I want, the rest of the matter will be up to you!”


  Not sure who he was talking to, he suddenly raised his voice in annoyance and disconnected the call without waiting for the other party to explain. He raised his hand and took a deep puff of the cigarette, revealing a depressed and frustrated mood……

  “Ahem!”


  Xiang Wan strolled over.

  “Bai Muchuan, you’re really angry?”


  Bai Muchuan turned around and squinted at her. There was a waft of doubt in his aloof and indifferent expression.

  “You’re seriously lacking in your emotional intelligence as well!”


  Xiang Wan: “.……”


  “You came out to look for me specifically? Hm?”


  He asked suddenly with a faint smile.

  “Well, you’re the only one here.” Xiang Wan wanted to laugh, but the moment her eyes were about to curve, she received a chilly glare from him.

  “In order to save my dying emotional intelligence,” she immediately declared, “I’ve decided to take back my words earlier. Yes, Bai Muchuan, I’ve specially come out to look for you.”


  When she said that, Bai Muchuan’s facial expression seemed to look a lot better when unexpectedly, Xiang Wan turned to point toward the suite. “Everyone’s worried that you might take things too hard so I’m being sent to check you out,” she said as a matter-of-factly. “As you already know, Sun Shangli already flew out from the fifth floor, if Bai Muchuan were to fly out from the ninth floor, then they wouldn’t be able to have any holidays this year!”


  “Xiang, Wan!”


  Bai Muchuan hollered, the advantages of having long legs were in full play as he strode over to her with a gloomy look.

  “Woman, why can’t you tell who’s good to you?”


  “.……”


  Xiang Wan pursed her lips.

  A second later, she said coolly, “Well, my emotional intelligence is lacking!”


  Bai Muchuan: “.……”


  The two of them gazed at each other, a glimmer of light moving through each other’s eyes.

  As he was much taller than her, so she had to lift up her head.

  The light in the corridor seemed to have gotten even fuzzier; there was a faint glow on his handsome face which made his cold, manly and well-defined features seem especially charming, which in turn gave Xiang Wan an unrealistic feeling.

  This gaze was short, yet it seemed rather lasting.

  Gradually, Xiang Wan had a thought as if he should have been standing here, waiting for her and should also looked at her like that, since long, long time ago—there was no sorrow, no joy, only endless love……

  “Bai Muchuan.”


  “Xiang Wan.”


  The two of them spoke at the same time.

  “Hm, you first.”


  “You first.”


  They spoke at the same time again.

  The next moment, both of them shut their mouths at the same time.

  “Well!” Xiang Wan paused for a while before letting out a chuckle. “I’ve watched you from afar for a long while just now.”


  “Hm? Any findings?”


  “Your back view…… seems quite mesmerizing!”


  “.……”


  Bai Muchuan’s dark eyes was almost stuck on her face.

  A long while later, he suddenly grunted a laugh.

  “Serious?”


  “.…… I’m a kind-hearted person after all.”


  “Hm?” He slowly lifted his eyelids. “That’s what you were trying to say earlier?”


  “So what do you wanted to tell me?”


  “I wanted to……” Bai Muchuan suddenly held her chin and raised it slightly.

  In this building where every part was designed to imitate the style of an exquisite, ancient and luxurious palace, there was as if a puff of warm breeze, not sure where it had come from, making their corner suddenly become warm and ambiguous.

  He looked at her deeply from his height, as if an emperor sizing up his consort in the ancient times—from his husky voice to having a dreamy expression, as well as his lips where it curved into a sly smile, everything had suggested temptation.

  “I’m thinking about tonight…… if I should spend the night with you.”


  Xiang Wan’s eyelashes trembled and stood frozen on the spot.

  she thought.

  His expression was so serious that she couldn’t look straight at him.

  “You don’t like me?” He asked.

  “.……”


  On that night, the color of Bai Muchuan’s eyes seemed too dark.

  Xiang Wan was unable to answer his sudden question.

  “We’re both adults……” He suddenly exerted his strength to lift her chin higher. His smiling face drew closer, and she could almost feel his warm breath on her face. “Shall we?”