Ex-Girlfriend

In the prosperous Golden District stood a skyscraper that towered above all others. This mountain-like structure was called Bauhinia Building. The entire majestic building glittered brilliantly under the sunlight, its transparent crystal-metal walls reflecting waves of dazzling halos. Like a gigantic steel fortress, it looked down upon the "small" buildings around it with utter arrogance, reigning supreme over everything.

Outside the building, high-end jet maglev sports cars could be seen everywhere, streaking white trails across the blue sky as they came and went at high speed. At that moment, Mu Xiao had also just arrived at the entrance. After parking his "cheap" Little Lamb maglev scooter, he put on his employee badge and entered the building.

Bauhinia was a component manufacturing group. Many household robots used its components, and its technology was highly developed, so there was good reason for it to have grown to such a scale.

The moment Mu Xiao entered the brightly lit, elegant lobby, light gathered beside him and formed into a virtual beauty as tall as he was. She smiled faintly and said something like, "Welcome back to work..." The entire lobby was monitored by an intelligent computer that could invisibly scan the work badges tied to people's identities, so it knew exactly who Mu Xiao was.

"Good thing I took measures to block the weapons' signals. Otherwise, if the company's intelligent computer scanned the weapons on me, there'd be no end of trouble." Mu Xiao knew what kind of technology his company possessed, so naturally, he had prepared thoroughly.

Bauhinia's intelligent computer was extremely advanced. Mu Xiao could not possibly crack its programming, but he still had enough knowledge to evade its ordinary scans. After all, in the later stages of the Evolution Era, human knowledge had been far more advanced than it was now. Evolution was not merely about bloodlines and genes; intelligence had to evolve alongside them.

Mu Xiao was about to ask a colleague whether the company boss had come in yet. At that moment, an adorable voice, as clear as a mountain spring, drifted over from not far away.

"Mu Xiao, why didn't you say hello to us?"

At the front desk stood a pretty, clean-looking girl with fair skin. She pursed her lips in a guileless smile and waved at Mu Xiao as he looked over. There was another stunning beauty at the desk, even more charming and captivating than the girl who had greeted him. However, her expression was somewhat cold, and she did not even spare Mu Xiao a glance.

The bigger the company, the less likely it was to use virtual people or robots generated by optical computers to receive guests. Instead, they employed actual staff, because real people better highlighted the company's sincerity and respect toward its guests.

Wasn't this the colleague I was looking for? Mu Xiao recalled his former memories. The girl greeting him now was called Lü Xiaoman, the previous Mu Xiao's colleague and friend.

The river of time seemed to have washed everything away. Her youthful face now looked both real and dreamlike, as though he alone had grown old.

He would not take the initiative to revisit those ordinary memories unless some opportunity caused him to remember them naturally, as it had now. That only made it clearer that he was still himself, rather than someone living in the past. He treated the memories and experiences of the former Mu Xiao as though he were watching a movie. He would not suffer some childish delusion, insert himself back into that past, and repeat the mistakes the former Mu Xiao had made.

Mu Xiao walked up to the front desk and swept his gaze over the dazzling, charming beauty beside Lü Xiaoman. Her appearance was identical to the three-dimensional beauty projected by his home optical computer. Understanding dawned on him as he thought, No wonder I felt such a strong sense of déjà vu. So she was the former Mu Xiao's ex-girlfriend.

She was Xia Qian, the girlfriend who had broken up with Mu Xiao the day before yesterday.

Mu Xiao had no desire to pursue those old matters. Besides, the two of them were already over, and she had put on such a cold face. He did not even know whether she would survive, so naturally, he would not make a fool of himself by trying to please her. He withdrew his indifferent glance and looked instead at Lü Xiaoman, who was pretty and clean-looking, with a little baby fat on her cheeks. At first glance, anyone could tell she was a simple-minded young girl who was easy to fool.

Mu Xiao planned to leave as soon as he got his answer, but before he could speak, Lü Xiaoman asked first, "Weren't you off today? Why did you come back to work? And you even got a haircut. This image doesn't suit your personality at all."

"Mm." Mu Xiao nodded perfunctorily. "I have some things to do..."

Before he could finish, Lü Xiaoman glanced at the still-cold Xia Qian beside her and deliberately lowered her voice. "Xixi was with me last night. She told me about you two breaking up. Don't be sad. She hasn't accepted Manager Jin's pursuit yet, so hurry and win her back..."

She did not get to finish either. Xia Qian's beautiful face darkened as she cut her off rudely. "Lü Xiaoman, you talk too much."

Lü Xiaoman cutely stuck out her pink tongue and did not dare continue. It was obvious that Xia Qian inspired a certain amount of awe in her.

Xia Qian looked at Mu Xiao with an indifferent expression. She had thought that "Mu Xiao" would look at her pleadingly, then seize the chance to sweet-talk her into reconciling and make her change her mind. She had also expected him to come to work today. Hearing him say he had "some things to do" only further confirmed her expectations.

But once a decision had been made, it could not be changed. Xia Qian had already prepared several ways to reject him. Yet the expected sweet talk never came. Instead, she saw him acting as though nothing had happened, as if what had just been said had nothing to do with him. His gaze did not linger on her face in the slightest.

Was he still the Mu Xiao who had spoiled me endlessly and loved me so devotedly? But hadn't he desperately tried to contact me last night? Had he really figured everything out in one night?

Xia Qian could not help feeling puzzled.

The current Mu Xiao could not be bothered with the former Mu Xiao's mess. He treated her as a completely irrelevant person and focused solely on handling his own affairs.

"Has Shangguan Yuanxin come in yet?" Mu Xiao asked Lü Xiaoman.

That was the full name of the president of Bauhinia Group. Subordinates generally would not be so rude as to address their boss by her full name, so Lü Xiaoman froze for a moment. Seeing her blank, dazed look, Mu Xiao immediately understood that she had not caught on. He clarified, "I mean President Shangguan."

Lü Xiaoman looked suddenly enlightened. Just as she was about to scold Mu Xiao for his lack of respect, someone spoke even faster than she did. It was not Xia Qian beside her, but a man's voice from behind Mu Xiao, full of reprimand. "Mu Xiao, who gave you permission to address President Shangguan like that?! You don't even respect your superior. How are you supposed to work at this company in the future?!"

After being interrupted again and again, unable to ask what he needed to ask, and with time steadily running out, Mu Xiao was already growing impatient. He turned and glanced at the man who had spoken. The man was well-groomed and smug, with a fair, punchable face.

It was the "Manager Jin" Lü Xiaoman had just mentioned, the former Mu Xiao's inexplicable love rival.

Jin Gaoyi had spotted Mu Xiao, his love rival, early that morning. He also knew Xia Qian had already broken up with him, and assumed Mu Xiao had come to beg for reconciliation. He had been preparing to humiliate him, to make him give up completely and surrender Xia Qian—a voluptuous, curvaceous beauty with a slim waist, wide hips, the youthful prettiness of a young girl, and the mature allure of a woman, her entire body radiating irresistible charm.

Jin Gaoyi had coveted Xia Qian's beauty for more than a day or two. All the employees below middle management knew it. Previously, "Mu Xiao" and Jin Gaoyi had been of equal rank, but Jin Gaoyi had recently been promoted to manager and had become "Mu Xiao's" superior. From then on, Jin Gaoyi often made things difficult for "Mu Xiao," gradually lowering his standing in the company. Even Xia Qian, a practical woman, had grown colder toward "Mu Xiao," until they officially broke up yesterday.

Now that Jin Gaoyi had heard "Mu Xiao" address President Shangguan so disrespectfully, he naturally seized on it and refused to let go. He intended to make a big issue of it, preferably demoting Mu Xiao to the bottom ranks and crushing any thought he had of pestering Xia Qian or rekindling their old relationship.

"Mu Xiao only misspoke. He's always been polite at the company; he definitely didn't mean it... Right, Xixi?" Lü Xiaoman immediately spoke up for Mu Xiao and even tugged on Xia Qian's arm, hoping she would help as well. After all, they had still been a couple yesterday. If Xia Qian spoke up, perhaps Jin Gaoyi would let it slide for her sake.

"I don't know. Don't ask me." Xia Qian replied flatly, clearly unwilling to get involved. Lü Xiaoman immediately pulled a pitiful face on Mu Xiao's behalf.

Hearing her response, Jin Gaoyi mistakenly assumed she wanted to draw a clear line between herself and "Mu Xiao." His mood improved further, and his gaze at Mu Xiao filled with mockery and cold amusement. "Mu Xiao, do you admit your disrespectful mistake just now? If you're willing to admit your mistake in front of everyone, I'll pretend this never happened. Otherwise, I'll report this to management, and you won't escape punishment from above."

What he really wanted was for Mu Xiao to bow his head to him.

With a gaze as calm as water, Mu Xiao said something shocking. "It's your business if you want to be a lackey, but don't bark in front of me like a dog."

The instant those words left his mouth, Xia Qian, Lü Xiaoman, and Jin Gaoyi were all stunned, their minds unable to process it for a moment. The former "Mu Xiao" had left too deep an impression as a harmless, agreeable man. None of them had expected this Mu Xiao's tongue to be so vicious.

Having gone through countless killings, Mu Xiao was no longer the harmless man he had once been. Moreover, he had originally been a man of the Moon, with immense pride buried deep within him. Back then, that pride had not been worn away so much as deeply hidden. But now that he knew the world was changing, what was there left for him to fear doing or saying?

"Mu Xiao!" When Jin Gaoyi recovered, his furious voice involuntarily rose, drawing the attention of other staff and several guests. Blood rushed to his fair, punchable face, turning it red with rage. Yet, noticing the gazes around him, he forcibly suppressed his anger and said through gritted teeth, "Mu Xiao, do you know what you're saying?! Don't tell me you don't want this job anymore. If you don't apologize to me, then based on your two acts of disrespect toward your superior just now, you really won't need to keep working here."

At that moment, Xia Qian's gaze toward Mu Xiao became increasingly strange and unfamiliar. Meanwhile, little Lü Xiaoman stood with her mouth slightly open, staring straight at Mu Xiao with a dumbfounded yet adorably foolish expression, unable to say anything for a while.

Was this the anger of an honest man finally erupting? Lü Xiaoman's thoughts spun wildly.

"An idiot who can't understand human speech." Mu Xiao did not want to waste time with him. He turned away, ignoring how Jin Gaoyi's fair face had turned dark and livid.

After being insulted again, Jin Gaoyi was both furious and resentful. He gritted his teeth behind Mu Xiao and said, "Do you think I don't know what you're thinking? Isn't it because I took your manager position and you're unhappy about it?! Or are you upset because I'm pursuing Xia Qian?!"

When Xia Qian heard Jin Gaoyi drag her into the matter, given her usual self-serving personality, she would have immediately refuted him without giving him any face. But Mu Xiao had been far too strange today. Wanting to test his attitude, she remained silent to see how he would react.

But Mu Xiao's response disappointed her. There was none of his former infatuation or doting affection in his gaze or expression. There was only unfamiliar indifference. As a company receptionist, she could not possibly fail to read a guest's expression, so she was certain that Mu Xiao's indifference was the genuine kind—the kind that meant he truly did not care.

An emotion called unwillingness immediately stirred in Xia Qian's heart.

Women were like that. Even after breaking up, a man's heart still had to remain hung up on them, so that their incomparable charm and sense of importance could be proven.

"There's no point wasting breath on a dead man." Mu Xiao ignored Jin Gaoyi, who was continuing to make threats behind him, and went on asking Lü Xiaoman about Shangguan Yuanxin.

"The president has been coming in rather late recently. She hasn't arrived yet." Lü Xiaoman answered Mu Xiao. Just then, the virtual beauty at the entrance appeared. An incomparably stunning woman entered the lobby under the escort of several female bodyguards. Even the virtual beauty's normally unchanging voice seemed to become somewhat more respectful.

"Welcome, President Shangguan..."

Mu Xiao watched the person entering through the doors and curled his lips into an amused smile. "The target has finally appeared."