Mo Tingfeng noticed how much she was enjoying her food and chose to overlook any health concerns for the time being. With all the drama tonight surrounding Xiaoya, he hadn’t even had dinner himself and was feeling quite hungry.

He quickly ate a few bites of food with rice, finishing a full bowl in no time. As he began to feel his empty, cold stomach finally warm up, he looked up to see Chu Minghuan watching him with a smirk.

He felt a bit embarrassed. His eating manner just now probably wasn’t exactly refined…

“Come on, eat!” he urged her roughly. “Weren’t you going to eat with me?”

“Alright, alright, I’m eating.” She took a few more bites, glancing over at Tiancheng and Xiao Huang, who were still tactfully standing guard at a distance. “Hey, should we invite those two strong bodyguards of yours to join us?”

“No need,” Mo Tingfeng replied flatly.

“Don’t you feel a bit cruel? Making them stand guard this late?”

“They volunteered. Do you think I didn’t tell them to go home?”

His tone and expression carried a hint of helplessness, which made Chu Minghuan curious. “Do you guys in the security business often offend people? Otherwise, why…”

She politely trailed off, but he understood the implication behind her words.

He met her sharp gaze directly. “You’re not seriously thinking we’re doing anything shady, are you?”

“Of course not! Haha.” But who knows if he’s completely clean?

He glared at her, emphasizing each word. “Our company operates strictly above-board.”

“Oh.” Words alone aren’t enough to prove it.

“It’s fine if you don’t believe me,” he snorted. “I keep bodyguards around because my father… well, he had some unpleasant experiences in the past, and I don’t want him worrying.”

She mused with a smile. He’s probably afraid that enemies he made in the past might come after his dear son.

As a social worker, Chu Minghuan often had to confront and deal with people’s deepest, most painful secrets, so she understood well that light and darkness coexist in society, and everyone has a past.

She tactfully changed the subject. “You know, you’re actually much nicer than I expected.”

“What do you mean?” Mo Tingfeng narrowed his eyes.

Is that his habitual reaction when he feels offended? Chu Minghuan watched his narrowed, handsome face, her lips curving up as she took a sip of beer, acting carefree. “You know, I originally thought you were just a rich playboy, always clubbing and probably doing drugs, totally unaware of real-life struggles.”

“Weren’t you at the same club as me that night?”

So we’re even, he was saying.

“I was only there as a rare occasion. I heard you’re practically a regular.”

Fine, there’s a bit of a difference between fifty paces and a hundred.

Mo Tingfeng chuckled at himself and downed his beer. “I don’t do drugs; I told you, someone spiked my drink that night.”

“Really?”

“You don’t believe me?”

“It’s not that I don’t believe you, but it was a bit strange for the police to show up out of nowhere that night, wasn’t it?” She paused. “Did you find out who set you up?”

He was silent for a couple of seconds. “It was an employee we let go last year.”

“Huh?” She was surprised.

“We assigned him as a security guard for a residential area, but he got caught sleeping during his night shift, leading to a break-in, so we fired him. His life afterward must not have been great, so he decided to blame the company.” Although he didn’t need to explain all of this to her, he felt he didn’t want her to misunderstand him.

“So he targeted you, the CEO, out of resentment?”

“Yes.”

“Didn’t your company offer him any severance?”

“We did.”

“Then he really shouldn’t blame you!” She felt indignant on his behalf, but a thought struck her, and she hesitated. “Wait, you didn’t give him some kind of ‘extra lesson’ when you fired him, did you?” She had heard that in the underworld, punishments for betrayal could be pretty brutal.

He read her thoughts and rolled his eyes in frustration. “We followed standard dismissal procedures, alright? At most, we just scolded him for being careless. Do you think I’d waste my time on a minor figure like him?”

“Pff, calling him a ‘minor figure’? You think you’re some big shot, huh?” she muttered softly.

His expression darkened.

Knowing she’d hit a nerve, she gave him an innocent smile and poured him another drink. “Alright, alright, don’t get mad. Honestly, you’re not bad at all. You just have a bit of a stubborn streak sometimes.”

“What did you just say?”

“Come on, let’s drink. Cheers to you!”

Before he could really get angry, she cleverly placated him with glass after glass of cold beer. The two grew pleasantly tipsy, and the atmosphere became warmer.

After a toast, she suddenly spoke with earnestness. “Mo Tingfeng, let’s call a truce.”

“I didn’t sue you. What’s there to call a truce about?” he replied slowly, taking another bite.

“You know what I mean. Let’s stop fighting each other, alright?” she said, softening her tone. “Let’s be friends!”

“There’s no such thing as pure friendship between men and women,” he scoffed.

“Who says? Haven’t you ever had a female friend?”

“No.”

“What about your female classmates from school? Your female colleagues?”

“They’re just classmates or colleagues.”

“Oh, I see. You’re worried your girlfriend might get jealous, aren’t you?”

“I don’t have a girlfriend.”

“Really?”

“We broke up a few months ago.”

“So you just went through a breakup!” She gazed at his impassive face with a tipsy smile, feeling unusually giddy. She leaned forward, as if to share a secret. “Actually, I’m probably going to break up with my boyfriend soon, too.”

“Your boyfriend?” He raised an eyebrow, feeling a strange pang in his chest. Why did hearing about her boyfriend make him feel so annoyed? Was it just his own loneliness making him jealous?

“Mhm!” She nodded emphatically, almost comically. “He’s in the U.S. studying for his doctorate.”

“Why do you say you’ll break up soon? He doesn’t want you anymore?” he asked, his tone deliberately mocking.