The mountains were eerily quiet, yet it almost seemed as though a crow had flown past.
Zhang Xiyue instantly reined herself in. “I’m sorry.”
Only after she spoke did Cheng Mingjiao remember to voice his complaint. “Zhang Xiyue, you’re so childish.”
“I was wrong.”
“If you do that again, I’ll definitely fire you.” Cheng Mingjiao emphasized the seriousness of the matter.
Zhang Xiyue replied with utmost respect, “Understood.”
Cheng Mingjiao wasn’t an idiot. He could tell that she wasn’t being sincere in the slightest.
But his heart was beating too fast, his mind was a mess, and his breathing was too shallow… He was barely holding himself together.
He didn’t have the energy to settle accounts with her just yet.
He would deal with her after they got back.
Cheng Mingjiao silently added another mark against her name, then held out his hand.
Zhang Xiyue immediately said, “The bear’s filthy. I’ll carry it.”
“Give it to me.” Cheng Mingjiao still insisted.
Zhang Xiyue had no choice but to hand him the little bear, which was wrapped in a thick layer of mud.
As soon as Cheng Mingjiao took it, the mud stained his handsome fingers, their sharp-boned shape clearly visible.
He didn’t mind at all. He brushed the mud off the bear, then lifted his raincoat to reveal the white T-shirt underneath.
Realizing what he intended to do, Zhang Xiyue hurried to stop him. “We can wash it when we get back. There’s no need…”
But it was too late. He had already lifted the corner of his T-shirt and was earnestly wiping the little bear clean.
Once again, she thought of the time he had left her behind in the Yunxi Temple parking lot.
People really were more infuriating than bears.
As Zhang Xiyue grumbled inwardly, her feelings toward Cheng Mingjiao shifted slightly as she watched him take such careful care of the little bear.
Cheng Mingjiao paid no attention to the employee’s inner turmoil. He kept wiping the bear with his shirt, and the firm, well-defined muscles of his abdomen appeared and disappeared beneath the fabric, waving blatantly at Zhang Xiyue.
Shameless.
Zhang Xiyue took a few more looks.
Cheng Mingjiao stopped only after wiping the bear until its original appearance emerged. When he looked up, he saw Zhang Xiyue staring at him.
As a kind employer, he took the initiative to answer her unspoken question. “It’s made of a special material. It’s sturdy, but it absorbs color very easily. The sooner it’s cleaned, the better.”
Zhang Xiyue, who had not been wondering about that at all, said, “…Oh.”
“It was soaked in muddy water for too long.” Cheng Mingjiao shook the bear and used his phone’s flashlight to examine it carefully. “It’ll probably still be stained. When we get back, I’ll have the research center see what they can do and whether they can clean it completely.”
“It’s getting late. Let’s head back first,” Zhang Xiyue said.
Cheng Mingjiao nodded and raised his feet with difficulty from the mud.
To keep his balance, he spread his arms as he walked. By accident, one arm extended right in front of Zhang Xiyue.
Without thinking, Zhang Xiyue grabbed his forearm with both hands to steady herself.
Cheng Mingjiao froze for a moment and looked at her.
“What is it?” Zhang Xiyue asked beneath the moonlight, her face still covered in grime.
Cheng Mingjiao said nothing. His gaze slowly shifted back to the path ahead.
Zhang Xiyue supported herself with his arm as they made their way forward, releasing him only once both of her feet reached the grass.
The patch of skin she had held felt warm. When she suddenly let go, it felt oddly empty. Cheng Mingjiao made a couple of distracted grabbing motions before continuing onward.
It was deep into the night. Beneath the dense canopy, even the moonlight couldn’t get through.
Zhang Xiyue’s phone battery was critically low. After flashing a couple of times, it shut itself off, leaving them to share a single phone with Cheng Mingjiao.
The mountains were silent. Even the little cat was nowhere to be seen. The two of them walked slowly along the slippery, muddy ground, following the route they remembered.
Ten minutes later, they began walking more and more slowly.
Fifteen minutes later, they stopped.
“We…” Zhang Xiyue began cautiously.
“We took a wrong turn,” Cheng Mingjiao said. “There weren’t any of these blue flowers when we came through.”
Zhang Xiyue followed his finger and saw a small cluster of blue-violet flowers.
She had no memory of whether the flowers had been there before, but if the Emperor said they hadn’t been, then they hadn’t been.
“What do we do now?” she asked worriedly.
Getting lost in the mountains was extremely dangerous, especially on a night following heavy rain.
Sensing her anxiety, Cheng Mingjiao showed his dependable side as her employer. “When I was twelve, I won first place in the underage division of an outdoor survival competition. I have extensive wilderness survival experience. This minor situation is nothing.”
…He really had won a lot of championships.
Zhang Xiyue felt a little reassured. “Then what do we do now?”
Under her expectant gaze, Cheng Mingjiao began calling Liang Xiao.
There was no signal.
Cheng Mingjiao calmly turned off the phone and asked, “Do you have your ID on you?”
“No.”
“Then when the wild animals come, remember to cover your head and protect your face. It’ll make it easier for the police to identify you later.”
Zhang Xiyue: “…”
“I’m joking. Ha.”
“That wasn’t funny.”
Cheng Mingjiao was quite pleased with his own sense of humor and didn’t mind being rejected by his employee. After surveying the area, he said, “We have two options. One, we retrace our steps and find our way back from the muddy pit. Two, we stay here until daybreak, then either try option one again or wait for rescue. The advantage of one is that it’ll take the least time. If we’re lucky, we might make it straight back to camp. The disadvantage is that it’s too dark, so we could easily take another wrong turn. The advantage of two is that it’s safer. The disadvantage is that we’ll have to stay here until morning.”
Zhang Xiyue thought it over carefully. “You explained that in such detail. Do you want me to make the decision?”
“Of course not,” Cheng Mingjiao denied it with a perfectly calm expression. “It just rained in the mountains, so the temperature will definitely drop again later tonight. Staying here overnight risks hypothermia. We can only choose option one.”
Zhang Xiyue: “…”
Then why explain all that?
The despotic emperor ignored his employee’s feelings. After analyzing the situation, he shone the flashlight ahead and started walking back. Zhang Xiyue silently followed.
The excitement of finding the little bear had already been replaced by the unease of being lost. Zhang Xiyue walked beside Cheng Mingjiao, occasionally joining in as they tried to determine their direction.
Twenty minutes later, they reached a completely unfamiliar area.
Cheng Mingjiao fell silent.
Zhang Xiyue said, “…Did you really win an outdoor survival championship?”
“Of course.”
Zhang Xiyue thought for a moment, then asked the crucial question. “Did the competition have sponsors?”
“What a ridiculous question.”
“Were the sponsors relatives of yours?”
Cheng Mingjiao: “…”
Zhang Xiyue understood.
After getting lost several more times, they had completely lost their sense of direction. Option one was no longer possible, leaving only option two: stay where they were and wait.
The two of them stopped wandering and found a large tree to shelter beneath while they waited for rescue the next day.
From the moment he sat down, Cheng Mingjiao kept his eyes lowered and said nothing, an oppressive gloom radiating from him.
He looked a little like a yandere.
Yet the reason he had ended up in this state was that he had gone searching for a child’s stuffed toy.
After walking through the mountains for so long, the rain on his coat had dried. Mud stains of varying shades covered it, while the T-shirt beneath was damp and dirty, clinging limply to his stomach and faintly outlining his abdominal muscles.
Since meeting him, this was the first time Zhang Xiyue had seen him in such a miserable state.
Honestly… a fallen emperor was worse off than a chicken.
She sighed inwardly and edged a little closer to Cheng Mingjiao. “Mr. Cheng.”
Cheng Mingjiao kept his eyes lowered, leaning against the tree without saying a word.
“Mr. Cheng, I was wrong. I shouldn’t have doubted the credentials of a wilderness survival champion. Please don’t be angry.”
Zhang Xiyue began today’s umpteenth apology in a soft, gentle voice.
Cheng Mingjiao lazily lifted his eyelids and glanced at her.
“I really know I was wrong.”
Zhang Xiyue rubbed her nose, smearing her already filthy face even more.
Cheng Mingjiao stared at her for several seconds before finally saying in a languid tone, “I’m not angry.”
Zhang Xiyue: “...Huh?”
Cheng Mingjiao: “A boring doubt like that isn’t worth getting angry over.”
Zhang Xiyue: “...Then why haven’t you said anything this whole time?”
“I was just thinking,” Cheng Mingjiao said, gazing up at the sky with a thoughtful look. “About how we’re going to get through tonight.”
His reminder made Zhang Xiyue feel gloomy as well.
The two of them had slogged through the mud for over an hour and been caught in the rain. Their feet were soaked up to the ankles, and their clothes were damp with moisture. They hadn’t noticed it while they were hurrying along, but now that they had sat down and the heat in their bodies had dissipated, she suddenly felt a chill.
Then she looked at Cheng Mingjiao...
Cheng Mingjiao had fallen asleep.
Was his heart really that big?
Speechless, Zhang Xiyue nudged him.
Cheng Mingjiao woke with a start. “What?”
Zhang Xiyue: “Weren’t you thinking? How did you suddenly fall asleep?”
Cheng Mingjiao: “I wasn’t asleep.”
Zhang Xiyue: “?”
Cheng Mingjiao was perfectly composed. “Why are you looking at me?”
“Nothing. I just thought of my grandpa,” Zhang Xiyue said with a smile. “When my grandpa was still alive, he liked to lie on the sofa and sleep. Whenever I told him to go back to his room, he’d say he wasn’t asleep.”
Maybe it was because they were out in the wilderness, or perhaps the instinct to survive had overpowered the pressure of their professional relationship. Her attitude toward Cheng Mingjiao had noticeably relaxed.
Cheng Mingjiao didn’t seem to mind. He considered her words for a moment before replying, “I understand that you miss your family, but could you spare a thought for me too?”
Zhang Xiyue: “?”
Cheng Mingjiao: “Although I’m a firm materialist, when you suddenly bring up someone who has passed away in an environment like this, it still makes me feel a little tense.”
Zhang Xiyue: “...”
Cheng Mingjiao considered himself a considerate boss. “You understand, right? He was your grandpa, not mine, so my reaction is only natural.”
Zhang Xiyue: “...Oh.”
The air fell silent again.
After taking a short nap, Cheng Mingjiao was clearly feeling more refreshed. He sat on the ground and thought for a moment before taking off his long raincoat. Then he looked up at Zhang Xiyue.
“Come here.”
“Hmm?” Zhang Xiyue didn’t move right away.
Cheng Mingjiao immediately grew wary. “What’s with that look? Do you think I’m up to something?”
“...I didn’t say anything.”
Feeling wronged, Zhang Xiyue moved closer under his scrutinizing gaze.
Once she was seated, Cheng Mingjiao shook out the raincoat and draped it over both of them. “The material of this raincoat blocks the wind while still allowing ventilation. If we sit close together, we can also transfer body heat to each other. That way, we can minimize the risk of hypothermia.”
Pressed against him, Zhang Xiyue was already growing sleepy. “Does this really work?”
“Of course. When I was twelve, I used this method to lead Guo Fengnian to first and second place in the youth division of an outdoor survival competition. When my aunt presented us with our awards, she was so moved that she nearly cried.”
...So the sponsor really was his relative.
Zhang Xiyue closed her eyes. Her upper body slipped uncontrollably onto his chest.
Ah, the Mercedes emblem.
She was so sleepy she could barely keep her eyes open. After rubbing her cheek against him twice on instinct, she went still.
Cheng Mingjiao, who had been enthusiastically recounting his glorious past, suddenly fell silent.
The wind picked up, and the air grew colder, but beneath the raincoat, the temperature was warm.
With her eyes closed, Zhang Xiyue spoke as if sleepwalking.
“Mr. Cheng.”
Cheng Mingjiao: “...What?”
Zhang Xiyue: “Your heartbeat is so loud.”
Cheng Mingjiao: “...”
