Chapter 19: Isn't the Second Master Blind?

The house next door.

Mu Qinghan sat in his wheelchair, his slender fingers moving deliberately over the keyboard. His focus was absolute—until Letian appeared with a vacuum cleaner. At that moment, Mu Qinghan’s screen flickered, smoothly switching to a programming page he had prepared in advance.

Letian, blissfully ignorant of the complexities of computer code, didn’t suspect a thing.

"Second Master, are we heading back to the Mu family tomorrow? I heard they’ve arranged a beautiful nanny for you,” Letian teased with a cheeky grin.

"No," Mu Qinghan replied curtly, his tone frigid. At the mention of a nanny, his sharp eyes betrayed a flash of disgust.

Letian winced, realizing he’d said the wrong thing. After all, the Second Master was a notorious germaphobe. When Ji Shishi had left the house, she’d left a trail of chaos, forcing Mu Qinghan to demand an immediate deep clean. The cloying scent of disinfectant still lingered in the air—a sharp, antiseptic smell that seemed to saturate every corner.

And yet, Mu Qinghan tolerated it.

“The chairman is still waiting for you to return and inherit—”

“It’s not clean,” Mu Qinghan interrupted, his gaze fixed icily on the floor. The mere mention of returning to the Mu family made him bristle. That house was nothing but a breeding ground for his worst anxieties.

As his thoughts strayed, an image of Gu Li suddenly surfaced in his mind—the mysterious neighbor who had piqued his interest back at the Green Hotel in Country M. He could still recall the peculiar encounter vividly, her cheeky smirk and defiant eyes.

A faint curve tugged at his lips, though his expression remained cold.

Then, the doorbell rang.

Letian, startled, rushed to answer it.

The new neighbor, Gu Li, stood at the door. As she stepped inside, her nose wrinkled. The overpowering stench of disinfectant hit her like a wall. She glanced around the pristine room, her eyes eventually landing on Mu Qinghan. Her gaze lingered on his flawlessly sculpted features, his chiseled jawline, and finally, his lips.

Odd.

"Our Second Master has a severe case of mysophobia,” Letian blurted out with a nervous laugh. “If he’s even brushed by a woman, he’ll disinfect himself from head to toe.”

“Really?” Gu Li’s lips curled into a mischievous smile as her eyes locked onto Mu Qinghan.

Her smile deepened as a memory resurfaced—*that* man had stolen her first kiss at the Green Hotel. She’d always prided herself on maintaining boundaries when flirting with handsome men. No touching, no hugging, and certainly no kissing. But Mu Qinghan had crossed that line without hesitation, daring to grab her and force a kiss.

Unforgivable.

“What brings you here, Su Zheng?” Letian asked, scratching his head.

Gu Li ignored him. Her gaze swept over the room before landing on Mu Qinghan’s laptop. *Interesting.*

If there wasn’t surveillance equipment installed next door, then the man must have something on his computer that allowed him to monitor her. That would explain the sudden hack earlier while she was reviewing her files.

Eyes narrowing, Gu Li strode purposefully toward Mu Qinghan.

“Hey!” Letian called out, bewildered by her audacity.

Gu Li ignored him, snatching the laptop off the table before Mu Qinghan could react.

Mu Qinghan’s lips pressed into a thin line. His expression darkened.

“Second Master, mind if I borrow your computer?” Gu Li asked innocently, her tone dripping with false cheer. “My computer was just attacked by some shameless hacker. I’m so frustrated—I was in the middle of a really intense fighting game!”

Mu Qinghan didn’t reply, but the corner of his mouth twitched, his displeasure unmistakable. From behind his sunglasses, his icy gaze burned into her.

Letian shuffled closer, curiosity sparking in his eyes as he watched Gu Li’s fingers fly over the keyboard with a speed and precision that left him speechless.

“Wait, you actually know how to use a computer?” Letian exclaimed. “Are you sure you’re not messing it up?”

“Oh, my bad! I didn’t realize Erye’s computer was so complicated!” Gu Li shot him an apologetic look before deliberately closing out the page she was working on. With a feigned innocence, she handed the laptop back to Mu Qinghan.

“Why’s your computer filled with all those weird codes?” she asked, tilting her head.

“They’re not weird codes!” Letian interjected. “Second Master was a computer expert back in the day.”

“Computer expert?” Gu Li raised an eyebrow, her lips curving into a sly grin. “Isn’t the Second Master blind? And yet, he’s playing on computers, hacking into mine, and monitoring my every move. Quite the talent!”

Her voice dripped with mock admiration, but Mu Qinghan’s frosty demeanor didn’t falter. His slender fingers tapped rhythmically on the armrest of his wheelchair, a cold smile tugging at his lips.

“You can leave now,” he said, his voice low and commanding, leaving no room for argument.

(End of Chapter 19)

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