Xu Mu's Embrace

Wu Shengqi stared intently at Li Yun. Her figure was simply flawless. At first, he had thought she was an old Audi A6, but now it seemed she was more like a classic Bentley.

“Zheng Yan, is this your friend?”

Wu Shengqi smiled warmly at the short-haired woman.

“Mr. Wu, this is Li Yun. She was my high school classmate, and we’re from the same village. Her English is excellent,” Zheng Yan said hurriedly, forcing a smile.

“Hello, Mr. Wu,” Li Yun also smiled politely.

The company here was huge, with tall buildings in front and sprawling production areas behind.

It was definitely a standard large corporation, and she wasn’t about to give up this job opportunity.

“In principle, our department doesn’t hire anyone over 35, but both of you have good looks,” Wu Shengqi said with a sly smile, eyeing Li Yun as if he wanted to bury himself into her.

“Hehe, thank you for the compliment, Mr. Wu,” Zheng Yan quickly responded with a nervous laugh.

Li Yun forced a smile in return, then asked, “Mr. Wu, what exactly would our work entail?”

“Our department mainly handles reception. We’re the company’s front face. Depending on the visitors or their purpose, we determine the level of reception,” Wu Shengqi explained, sizing up Li Yun. “Our products will soon be marketed overseas. If foreign clients come, your English will come in handy. Can you communicate smoothly?”

“Yes,” Li Yun nodded. Back then, she had seen a bright future in foreign languages, studied English diligently, and even paid for extra training.

Later, under family pressure, she rushed into marriage and never used it again.

“That’s great you speak English. I’ve been wanting to learn too. Maybe after work, you can teach me,” Wu Shengqi said with a cheeky grin.

“Okay... sure,” Li Yun replied hesitantly. For some reason, she found his smile a bit disgusting.

But as long as she could earn money, she could endure it.

“By the way, Mr. Wu, I’d like to know about the salary and benefits for this position,” Li Yun asked. She needed to be clear—working in Yang City was all about making more money to pay off debts.

If the pay was similar to Jiang City, she might as well go back—closer to home.

“This is a big company, so don’t worry about the pay. After deducting social insurance and housing fund, plus various allowances, a full-time employee can take home over eight thousand yuan a month,” Wu Shengqi said with a smile.

“Besides that, we have year-end bonuses, and every quarter, each department has performance bonuses.”

Hearing this, Li Yun felt a flicker of hope. No wonder it was a big company—the pay was indeed generous.

“However, I can’t make the final decision here. I’m just waiving the initial interview for you. You’ll only be officially hired after the manager signs off,” Wu Shengqi added.

“Hehe! Mr. Wu, you’re so powerful. I’m sure you’ll find a way to get us in,” Zheng Yan said with a grin.

“There’s definitely a way, but it’s a bit complicated. We’ll talk about it tonight. I have to get back to work now,” Wu Shengqi said.

With that, he turned and left, leaving Zheng Yan to handle the rest.

...

Xu Mu and Meng Wanyue found a nearby restaurant and grabbed a quick bite.

Ye Tong had already sent a message. She really didn’t want to come, but after hearing what Xu Shou said, she accepted it.

After eating, the two headed to the nearby riverbank to relax and clear their minds.

Meng Wanyue didn’t know why, but she really liked this feeling. At this moment, she wished time could stop and freeze forever right here.

"Wanyue, I still don’t know about your past," Xu Mu suddenly said, turning to look at her profile.

Meng Wanyue’s expressionless eyes stared into the distance.

Recalling her past experiences, her fists clenched tighter and tighter.

If it were anyone else, she definitely wouldn’t want to bring it up, but Xu Mu was different.

She poured out the painful memories etched deep in her mind.

Trained from childhood, she had endured inhuman torture.

Every week there was a death list, and those ranked at the very bottom were executed.

In the end, they were forced to kill each other to eliminate rivals.

Out of hundreds, only ten survived—and Meng Wanyue was one of them.

By the time she finished, her whole body was trembling.

At that moment, a warm embrace wrapped around her like a quilt in the dead of winter.

Her body stiffened. She hadn’t shed a single tear while recounting the painful past.

But in Xu Mu’s arms, tears streamed down her face uncontrollably.

"Wanyue, these years have been really hard on you," Xu Mu said, holding her tightly. "I promise you, from now on, it will never happen again."

At that moment, Xu Mu didn’t care about so-called righteousness or reputation; he was simply expressing his genuine feelings.

Everyone has a heart capable of compassion. Meng Wanyue was truly a pitiful soul, naturally evoking a desire to protect her.

[Affection +50]

Meng Wanyue wiped her tears with her sleeve. It hadn’t affected her much before, but after seeing the interactions between Xu Mu and Ye Tong, she finally understood.

Her previous life had been like living in a sewer, full of filth and stench.

"Alright, stop crying. Time for the routine check. Let me see your Illusion Sword technique—how far have you progressed?" Xu Mu gently patted her back, changing the subject.

He had already sensed the surroundings and confirmed there was no one nearby.

"I haven’t mastered it yet," Meng Wanyue replied, then thrust her palm forward.

Whoosh!

A gust of strong wind swept around, and in front of her palm appeared a sword as fluid as water.

But just as the sword left her palm, it suddenly dissolved and vanished.

"Not bad. You have to practice diligently. This move is really powerful," Xu Mu said with a smile.

"Okay," Meng Wanyue responded, having regained her composure, though her eyes remained slightly red.

...

As dusk settled,

Outside the Yang City branch office, the company was brightly decorated with lanterns and banners.

Rows of luxury cars were parked neatly.

However, almost all of them bore Yang City license plates.

Xu Mu and Meng Wanyue entered the company lobby together.

There were already quite a few people gathered inside.

"Young Master Xu! Young Master Xu! I missed you so much!"

As soon as Xu Mu stepped in, a young man with dyed blond hair ran over, tears in his eyes.

He was Su Ruiming from the Su family.

He grabbed Xu Mu’s arm and asked, "Have you been sick lately? I heard you’ve even started enjoying work? Why didn’t you bring me along to do some art projects?"

Xu Mu looked at Su Ruiming and smiled faintly. From previous memories, Su Ruiming was Xu Mu’s loyal follower, always trailing right behind him.

"I’ve been quite busy recently," Xu Mu replied.

Xu Mu patted Su Ruiming on the shoulder. “What have you been up to these past few days?”

“Just staying at home playing games. Feng Yue’s bar is closed now, and since you haven’t invited me out, I’ve got nowhere to go.”

Su Ruiming shook his head. “Lately, my dad’s been pushing me to learn business. But honestly, that’s just not my thing.”

“Hahaha! Isn’t that for your own good?”

As Xu Mu laughed, he suddenly noticed a few people staring at him.

He didn’t respond with his eyes but scanned the area with his senses.

Sure enough, they were some familiar faces.

One of them was Mu Qingying, dressed as usual in a black dress with a single ponytail, her delicate features standing out.

She was definitely the center of attention.

This time, Xu Shou had personally extended the invitation, and Mu Qingying’s father, Mu Yuansheng, was there as well.

Besides Mu Qingying, another person fixated on him was the live-in son-in-law, Fang Chu.

“Young Master Xu.”

At that moment, a woman in a black bodycon dress with French wave curls approached with a smile.

She was Fang Chu’s wife, Guo Xiao.

From a distance, Fang Chu saw Guo Xiao taking the initiative to approach Xu Mu, his face filled with resentment.

Suppressing his anger, he started walking toward Xu Mu.