Volume 1, Chapter 143: "Brother Jinmo, I have missed you so much."

The call connected, and Xu Zhi, still unable to detach herself from her turbulent emotions, murmured, "Brother Jinmo." Her voice sounded dull and heavy.

Liang Jinmo seemed taken aback on the other end. After a few seconds, he asked, "What happened?"

She hadn't even said anything yet. She was bursting with the urge to vent, wanting to complain about the day’s events, but when the words reached her lips, she hesitated. Everything else was easy to explain, but what infuriated her most was the very end—that small box. She couldn't bear to tell Liang Jinmo that she had gone to buy that item, only to have Liang Muzhi witness it. It was too humiliating.

Being shamed in front of Liang Muzhi was one thing; she tried to console herself by thinking that Liang Muzhi didn't matter. But Liang Jinmo was different. She didn't want him to know about something so mortifying. Feeling confused and hesitant, she decided to set the matter aside for now.

She hated meeting Liang Muzhi without Liang Jinmo knowing, but this time it had been a pure accident arranged by Liang Zhengguo. Her mind was still a mess, and while she certainly needed to tell Liang Jinmo, she wasn't sure how.

She asked him, "When will you be back?"

"After the exhibition, right around the end of the year," Liang Jinmo replied, then asked again, "What's wrong? You sound unhappy."

Xu Zhi thought that since that was the case, she would take some time to phrase things carefully and explain them to him when they met in person—especially the part where Liang Muzhi helped her pick up her things. Just thinking about it made her feel sick. She tried to push those thoughts to the back of her mind and answered, "Nothing, it's just... I have an interview next Monday, and I'm a bit nervous. I don't have much experience with interviews."

"Most companies don't recruit at the end of the year unless they are truly short-staffed," Liang Jinmo said. "They likely need someone who can start immediately after the New Year. Beyond your professional qualifications, it would be best to show enthusiasm about being able to start right away; that will better align with their hiring needs."

Xu Zhi’s attention was diverted; work was the top priority right now. She asked him, "What was your first job interview like?"

Liang Jinmo was silent for a few seconds. "My first interview was at a fast-food restaurant when I was a freshman in high school."

Xu Zhi remembered; she had heard Liang Muzhi mention it. At the time, Liang Muzhi had been quite disdainful, claiming that Liang Jinmo must have been broke while living in the dorms and had gone to a place like that to make a fool of himself. She had thought at the time that there was nothing shameful about earning money with one's own labor, and that Liang Muzhi’s obsession with social hierarchy was truly severe.

Xu Zhi asked, "When you were living in the dorms in high school, didn't Uncle Liang give you money?"

"The living allowance they provided was a bit tight, and I already had plans to study abroad at the time. Saving some money meant I would have more breathing room."

She hadn't expected him to start planning for study abroad so early. She recalled what Zhao Nianqiao had said: with his abilities, he could have thrived abroad, yet he had returned. He had previously mentioned to Zhou He that he had other motives for joining the Liang family business.

She wanted to ask him about his specific plans, but after a moment of thought, she decided against it. Whatever he intended to do to the Liang family, they deserved it. She was currently more curious about his past life and asked, "Then later, when you were in America, you had full-time jobs, right? What was your first interview like there?"

Liang Jinmo replied, "There was no interview. Someone from the company reached out directly and asked me to come to work."

Xu Zhi: "..."

She shouldn't have asked.

Liang Jinmo continued, "For a standard interview, you mainly need to prepare your self-introduction, including your academic background, extracurricular experience, and your advantages regarding the position. You should be able to handle those. For a role with strong professional requirements like translation, there will likely be corresponding tests..."

He explained things in detail, and as she listened quietly, the interview suddenly seemed less daunting. Xu Zhi found Liang Jinmo to be quite fascinating. Sometimes he gave her a sense of contrasting charm that made her feel tender toward him, but at times like this, he was like a fatherly boyfriend, making her feel incredibly secure and reliable.

They talked for a long time. As the call was about to end, she called out to him, "Brother Jinmo..."

Sensing her hesitation, Liang Jinmo asked in a deep voice, "What is it?"

Xu Zhi wondered if she had been charmed; why did even his voice sound so wonderful? She bit her lip and, after a few seconds, said, "I miss you."

With that, she hung up the phone quickly. Touching her burning cheeks, she thought she was really something now, being able to just blurt out words like that.

On the other end of the line, Liang Jinmo was standing on the balcony of his hotel suite. In the living room, a group of people from his team were busy with their laptops, and their discussions could be heard even from where he stood. He held an unlit cigarette between his fingers, and the corners of his lips slowly curved upward.

Zhou He happened to walk onto the balcony to get some air and turned to look at him just as he was about to lower his expression.

Zhou He said, "What are you grinning like an idiot for?"

Liang Jinmo pressed his lips together. "Nothing."

"Didn't you say you were coming out to smoke?" Zhou He glanced at the unlit cigarette in his hand, then at the phone in his other hand. Understanding dawned on him, and he curled his lip. "I'm telling you, you reek. It's suffocating me."

Liang Jinmo frowned.

"The sour stench of love," Zhou He said, theatrically waving a hand in front of his nose. "You're almost twenty-six; is this what you call 'old house on fire'—falling in love for the first time at your age? My first love was back in kindergarten."

"Oh? Is the boss dating someone? This is truly a withered tree blooming," another young man from the team walked over. He had recently returned from abroad and wasn't aware of the engagement that had rocked North City earlier. Hearing this, he immediately joined in. "I was wondering why he was smiling so gently at his WeChat chat box after the meeting ended that day. I caught a glimpse, and it was just a long stream of hugging emojis."

Liang Jinmo: "Who was smiling?"

"A dog!" Zhou He said. "The dog was smiling!"

Liang Jinmo: "..."

Zhou He was finally satisfied and burst into laughter.

The smart home exhibition competition lasted over a week, and the entire team was still working through the Little New Year's Eve. Their task was to develop software and write programs for a series of smart home appliances. In the end, thanks to the professional talent Liang Jinmo had summoned from abroad at the last minute, they actually secured a second-place prize.

The Liang family had originally been dabbling in this field as a hobby and had never achieved any real results before. This outcome was shocking to everyone. Even Liang Zhengguo hadn't expected it. When he received the call from the organizers, the caller didn't spare any praise for Liang Jinmo's team and expressed hope for future collaboration.

Liang Zhengguo hung up the phone, stunned for a long time. He had sent Liang Jinmo there to dampen his arrogance, not to let him steal the spotlight. But... who wouldn't want their own company to win an award? He was dissatisfied, yet somewhat pleased, a truly complex mix of emotions.

Liang Jinmo was not a person to be contained; he had realized that long ago. But the boy was even more exceptional than he had imagined. He had been wary of Liang Jinmo in the past, but now he was gradually coming to terms with it—after all, he was his son. And compared to the incompetent Liang Muzhi, Liang Jinmo was the heir he actually wanted.

Thinking of this, he felt a sense of relief.

When he returned home from work, the atmosphere was oppressive, immediately ruining his good mood. Fu Wanwen was sitting in the living room, wiping away tears. He felt annoyed just looking at her, guessing it was probably about Liang Muzhi, and didn't even bother to ask.

However, Fu Wanwen couldn't help but speak up: "I shouldn't have let him meet with Xu Zhi. I thought she would at least say something kind for the sake of the past... Now Muzhi's condition is even worse. He has locked himself in his room all day today. And before, I could use the spare key to get in, but now he's barricaded the door from the inside..."

"Zhengguo, I'm scared..." she sobbed. "How long has it been? He used to smash and throw things, but now it's completely silent in his room. Not a sound. You don't think something happened to him, do you?"