MBMS Chapter 1

Someone was already 24 minutes late. Liang Su looked down at his watch and called over a waiter to order.

If it were a date, Liang Su would have left decisively three minutes after the scheduled time, vanishing into the crowd, never to be seen again. Unfortunately, the woman who was late was not someone he could simply erase from his life.

During the half-hour wait, Liang Su replied to more than a dozen work messages, unconsciously tapped on the table three times, and pretended to casually glance twice at the man sitting at the next table.

The man had a noticeable face, rarely smiled, and was mostly expressionless, softly speaking to his companion and barely touching his food.

Despite his proper demeanor, there was something about him that made Liang Su feel a sense of arrogance.

Although it was peak dining time, this upscale restaurant, where the average cost per person was in the thousands, was not very crowded.

About three meters away, in the adjacent booth facing each other, Liang Su thought it would be nice to get a closer look.

Lost in thought, Liang Su suddenly jerked his head away, quickly averting his gaze. In that brief moment, their eyes met, and it seemed like Liang Su felt a different kind of spark.

Compared to his slight loss of composure, the other man seemed much more at ease, as if that glance was merely casual, like looking at a menu brought by a waiter or a new message on a phone, perfectly natural, before calmly turning back to his companion.

As if nothing had happened.

Finally, the long-awaited silhouette approached him with long, straight legs, walking leisurely towards him without a hint of self-awareness typical of someone who was late.

The young lady had arrived.

She sat down unapologetically, took off her sunglasses, removed her hat, and placed them along with her handbag on the empty seat.

Then, with a thunk, she hit her forehead on the table, emitting a weary sigh.

A series of complaints followed, along with endless grievances.

“Bro, you have no idea how annoying that parachuter ‘Xiao Ai Tongxue’ is. The plans were revised over and over, the project was redone time and again, either refining this bit or reconsidering that, making me feel like I’m just a lowly editor, not someone running for office. They even do background checks on the models for the shoots. Ugh, is my prime youth doomed to be wasted on this exhausting, thankless job…”

“Come on, it’s like this when you start out on your own,” Liang Su offered the usual comforting response, “Didn’t you say you wanted to work at McDonald’s and serve fries if it makes you happier…”

Liang Hui suddenly sat up straight and made a “stop” gesture with his hand: “That was a joke.”

Before critiquing his brother’s poor sense of humor, Liang Hui vaguely remembered, the last time she had copied and spammed her mad literature everywhere, only the person before her had genuinely expressed opposition.

“Not attending this crappy class anymore, going to work at McDonald’s! (Seeing new people entering) (Greeting them) (‘Welcome to McDonald’s!’) (Beckoning them in to start selling cards) (Taking the customer’s phone to add them to the group) (Picking up a taro pie) (Handing the customer a card) (‘Thank you, my God’) (Looking at the order on the display) (Going to drop fries and pies into the fryer) (The fryer beeps, immediately going to get the basket of fries) (Dumping fries into the bin, sprinkling salt) (Bagging them) (Putting the burger given by the kitchen onto the tray) (Arranging fries, cola, chicken nuggets) (Delivering the meal to the table) (‘Hello, your meal is complete’)”

“Look, I know you like fries, but maybe give it some more thought?”

Even though he committed the cardinal sin of explaining the joke, from his gentle and vague eyes, Liang Hui quickly realized his efforts were futile and decisively gave up.

The conversation returned to the topic before.

“Since you and your colleagues dislike the new leader who was parachuted in, why would you give him such a cute nickname?”

“You think someone with artificial stupidity like Xiao Ai Tongxue is cute?” Liang Hui expressed disbelief, then added, “Haha. Because we all agree, even though he wears a fine human skin, inside he’s 100% controlled by an ultra-ultra-ultra-high-level AI. Have you ever seen a worker who never tires or has mood swings, and never complains, especially in a high-pressure, travel-heavy magazine office like ours? He is definitely not a normal human!”

“Sounds like he’s just very dedicated.”

Liang Hui sneered, “Yeah, I forgot you’re one of those types too.”

Liang Su inquired deeply, “Which type?”

—The kind who was a bookworm in school, a workaholic after, leading a smooth but dull life, and will retire to patrol the park, stopping minors from smoking.

As his actual brother, Liang Hui couldn’t bear to be blunt, so he casually changed the subject to food and some family small talk.

There shouldn’t have been any problem with the way they were eating.

Liang Su lowered his eyelashes, wiped his mouth, and felt quite uncomfortable.

If his earlier, hardly concealed staring was impolite, making the other person feel offended, was this person now deliberately retaliating against him? His piercing gaze fixated on Liang Su, making it impossible to pretend ignorance.

Liang Su looked behind him, but there was nothing noteworthy there.

Certainly nothing that would warrant such attention.

Perhaps, should he go over and apologize?

“But,” Liang Hui suddenly spoke up, “Xiao Ai Tongxue, aside from being a leader, isn’t too bad looking, probably has a decent income too…”

“You have a crush on him?” Liang Su didn’t even lift an eyelid.

“No, I’m just imagining what it’s like for someone like that to date. Would he tell his girlfriend that today’s meeting was terrible, and that they should go home and each come up with three points for improvement for tomorrow?”

Liang Su couldn’t help but laugh.

“Right?” Liang Hui playfully winked at Liang Su, “Haven’t you done something like that before?”

“Never.”

Ding-dong—

Liang Hui’s phone lit up, a reminder to pay his bills. Rent was half his salary, and after transferring money, he’d worked for nothing this month, making him sigh deeply.

“Move in with me,” Liang Su suggested opportunistically.

Liang Hui glanced at him quickly: “No, I’ve lived with you for over a decade, I’m tired of it.”

“The money you save on rent could be spent on clothes and bags you like,” Liang Su said, “I could even take a longer route to drop you off at work.”

Liang Hui seemed tempted, her eyes darting around, clearly waiting for a better offer.

Liang Su understood and continued, “I’ll give you the master bedroom, I won’t interfere with your freedom at all.”

Liang Hui suddenly sobered up, firmly stating: “Ha. No way.”

“…Why?” Liang Su wanted to understand where he went wrong this time.

“When you’re trying to deceive someone, never say ‘I’m definitely not lying to you,’ it just raises suspicions that weren’t there before.”

“If you were always this cautious, I wouldn’t need to worry,” Liang Su added, “How about I help you with your rent?”

“No need,” Liang Hui speared a large piece of meat and waved it around, “Just occasionally treat me to a meal like this.”

The table was still full of dishes, especially those that Liang Su liked. Liang Hui confusedly said:

“Not to criticize, but you ordered these dishes and you’re not eating, just staring at someth…” Liang Hui turned her head as she spoke, and suddenly froze, swallowing the rest of her sentence.

She quickly twisted her head back, even going a bit too far.

Liang Su saw it, Liang Hui’s face turned pale.

“What’s wrong? Did you eat something that wasn’t fresh?”

Liang Hui struggled to shake her head: “Accidentally bit into a chili seed.”

Liang Su immediately handed her a drink. Liang Hui tried to curl up, almost sliding under the table, nervously biting her straw, praying that Ai Siyuan hadn’t seen her.

In her mind, she comforted herself, it’s fine, even if he saw, he might not have heard those words.

It was as if fate was punishing her, Liang Hui heard footsteps behind her.

Ai Siyuan often wore a pair of museum-quality calf leather Oxford shoes, and when that unhurried tapping sound was heard, everyone in the office knew he had arrived.

Seconds later, that cold, leader-like face landed precisely in front of Liang Hui, blooming into an unprecedentedly “friendly” smile.

Liang Hui wanted to bang her head against something.

Clearly heading in the opposite direction from the exit, Ai Siyuan specifically, without any possible other intent, came to their table.

Then, he bent down, patted her shoulder, and said in the familiar, nightmare-inducing cold voice: “Don’t be polite, AI invaded the cashier system and paid your bill for you. It was no trouble at all, not worth mentioning.”

The last three words, Liang Hui couldn’t understand.