Chapter 33
Yu Yuanzhou flipped to the next page of the dossier, letting out a sharp, incredulous scoff.
“Always sneaking around trying to dig up other people’s gardens!” he grumbled, growing angrier by the second. “That’s all these scoundrels ever do—dig!”
His own daughter, his precious little cabbage, wasn’t the one being dug up. In fact, Tianwei and Mu Feiyi were practically at each other’s throats. Yet that wolf was actively trying to dig up his other precious cabbage—his fair, soft-hearted nephew!
Shameless bastard! Who does he think he is?!
The more Yu Yuanzhou thought about it, the more his blood boiled. Yet he had no choice but to bite his tongue and endure it!
After all, his sweet, naive nephew actually seemed perfectly happy about the intrusion. Right on cue, the heavy thud of a slamming door echoed from the next room, followed by the rapid pat-pat-pat of footsteps flying down the central staircase.
No, the more Yu Yuanzhou stewed on it, the more intolerable it became. He needed to buy a punching bag to vent his frustration!
Meanwhile, Yu Xiaoyuan sprinted downstairs, bounding out the front door with a frosted plastic cup in each hand.
Panting slightly from the sprint, his face broke into a radiant smile the moment he spotted Mu Feiyi.
“Here!” he chirped, offering up one of the condensation-slick cups.
Mu Feiyi glanced down at the printed order sticker. “Peanut milk tea?”
What on earth was that bizarre flavor combination? He was tempted to laugh, but seeing the bright, earnest expectation in the boy’s eyes, he bit back his amusement.
Mu Feiyi knew by now that this youth, much like his pet hamster, had an absolute obsession with peanuts. Sharing this bizarre drink with him was an expression of genuine affection—a pure, unfiltered desire to share his absolute favorite thing in the world, hoping the person he cared about would love it just as much.
Mu Feiyi found it impossible to harden his heart against Yu Xiaoyuan. The boy’s sincerity was entirely disarming, his dark eyes too clear to hide a single ulterior motive.
One glance was all it took to read exactly what the youth was thinking. His beautifully simple mind never bothered with deception.
“Thank you.” Taking the cup, Mu Feiyi punctured the seal with a straw and took a cautious sip.
Fortunately, the youth had ordered it at thirty-percent sweetness. The flavor was rich, nutty, and surprisingly smooth.
“It’s not bad,” Mu Feiyi noted, polishing off a third of the cup in one long draw.
He told himself he only drank it so quickly because Yu Xiaoyuan was staring at him so eagerly; how could he possibly reject such earnest goodwill?
“Delicious.” Lowering the cup, Mu Feiyi leaned casually against the hood of his sports car.
“Hehe! I knew you’d like it!” Beaming with pride, Yu Xiaoyuan launched into an excited ramble about how he had miraculously discovered the shop’s new peanut flavor and enthusiastically recounted exactly how many cups he had polished off over the past few days.
“So, instead of eating proper meals, you’ve been surviving purely on liquid sugar?” Mu Feiyi immediately caught the glaring health violation, reaching out to gently pinch the boy’s increasingly soft, rounded cheek. “I noticed the same thing earlier when the little hamster pressed his belly against the glass. He’s definitely getting chubby.
“His stomach is perfectly round. Did he drink half of your milk tea stash too? Hmm?”
“Ow, ow, ow, QAQ!” Yu Xiaoyuan’s eyes teared up from the playful pinch. “I—I mean, he drank it secretly!”
“He doesn’t know the meaning of moderation,” Mu Feiyi chided softly, releasing his cheek. “A hamster’s lifespan is incredibly fragile. I know you want to spoil him and make him happy, but you can’t just let him gorge himself on whatever he wants, understand?”
Yu Xiaoyuan desperately wanted to argue that a spirit beast wouldn’t drop dead from a sugar crash! He… he wasn’t just some ordinary, useless hamster who tucked his tail and ran at the sight of a house cat!
Grumbling internally, he conveniently scrubbed from his memory the two recent incidents where he had, in fact, run for his life from neighborhood kittens.
“Got it,” Yu Xiaoyuan muttered, pouting slightly.
Sensing the boy’s unconvinced reluctance, Mu Feiyi leaned in closer, dropping his voice. “If you keep spoiling him like this, when I get back, I’m going to march right into your room, snatch the little hamster away, and raise him properly myself. Understand?”
Snatch the little hamster?
He… he’s actually going to snatch me? He wants to take me home and raise me?!
Yu Xiaoyuan’s face flushed a violent shade of crimson as his mind spiraled into a whirlwind of bizarre, highly inappropriate scenarios.
Flustered, he quickly ducked his head, stammering, “Y-you… don’t you dare try anything funny!”
“Hmph.” Mu Feiyi nearly laughed out loud at the boy’s flustered panic.
How on earth had that smooth, uncomplicated brain connected those dots?
Mu Feiyi opened his mouth to clarify that he hadn’t meant it that way, and that the boy should stop letting his imagination run wild.
Yet, the words died on his tongue. He let the silence hang. Leaning back against the polished hood of the car, he let his gaze soften. “I have a flight to catch in an hour.”
“Are you really leaving tonight?” Yu Xiaoyuan immediately looked up, his gaze drifting past the man to the vast expanse of the starry night sky above them.
Mu Feiyi offered a quiet hum of confirmation, his eyes steady with resolve.
“I’m heading to City D first. My associates plan to stop there for dinner, meet up with a few local contacts, and stay a couple of days before we head into the mountains for the trek.” Mu Feiyi took a slow breath. “I’ll be back in a month, at the very latest.”
His true reason for driving out here tonight was simply to say goodbye. Originally, he had planned to head straight to the airport without looking back.
But halfway down the expressway, he had suddenly remembered the little hamster. He remembered how the tiny creature had pulled a peanut from its pouch, offering a deeply earnest, solemn farewell. He remembered how Yu Xiaoyuan, too, always treated departures with the same grave sincerity. It was obvious the pet had learned its manners from the master.
Every time they parted, the boy made sure to say a proper goodbye. No loose ends, no lingering regrets—just a formal, heartfelt farewell.
His mind a tangled mess, Mu Feiyi had pulled a U-turn and driven straight to the Yu estate.
It was only after parking in the gravel courtyard that he realized he had never actually asked for Yu Xiaoyuan’s phone number. Standing there in the dark, he had refused to knock on the front door, unwilling to alert Yu Yuanzhou or Tianwei to his presence.
So, he had resorted to throwing pebbles at a window like a lovesick teenager.
Fortunately, his face still carried enough untouchable authority in T City. Had an ordinary man stood outside a billionaire’s estate throwing rocks, the estate security would have dragged him to the police station in handcuffs.
Mu Feiyi still couldn’t fathom why he had done something so reckless, childish, and patently absurd. Yet having done it, he found the entire situation strangely exhilarating.
From the corner of his eye, he noticed movement in the neighboring villas. In the mansions closest to the Yu estate, dark windows were being cracked open, and hallway lights flicked on as the elite neighbors discreetly peered out to watch the drama unfold.
Mu Feiyi wanted to laugh at the sheer absurdity of it all.
“Then you should go,” the youth said, his expression turning solemn. “Go on your trip. Because on this journey, you are going to meet the most important person of your entire life.”
“Hmm?” Mu Feiyi briefly considered pulling the boy into the shadow of the garden to avoid the prying eyes of the neighbors. Then again, stepping into the dark bushes wouldn’t dispel rumors; in the eyes of high society, it would effectively confirm them.
“The most important person?” Mu Feiyi narrowed his long, sharp eyes, a teasing lilt entering his voice. “Are you referring to… yourself, little one?”
It seemed this young master, despite his guileless nature, had quite an interesting way with words.
“He’s going to be your mentor and closest ally!” Yu Xiaoyuan’s face burned hot. What on earth is this man thinking?! Although neither had voiced the thought, the air between them was thick with unspoken tension.
“Hah. Do you honestly think I still need a mentor?” Mu Feiyi scoffed, his pride bristling.
But the youth ignored the arrogant retort. Stepping forward, he caught Mu Feiyi’s wrist and gently turned him around, pointing up at the glittering canopy of stars. “Look up there. See that incredibly bright star? That’s you. And that slightly dimmer star right next to it? That’s him.
“You’re going to meet him, and the two of you will share a long history together. He is going to completely change the way you see the world.”
“Little one, those are celestial bodies burning billions of light-years away,” Mu Feiyi sighed, thoroughly amused by the boy’s superstition. “It’s far more scientifically plausible to argue they harbor alien life than to claim they represent human destinies.
“Besides… what exactly about me needs changing?”
While Mu Feiyi despised the Mu family’s toxic culture, he couldn’t deny that Old Master Mu’s brutal tutelage had been effective. His own sheer brilliance had elevated him above everyone in their social echelon, granting him the absolute right to be arrogant. Even when he walked away from the conglomerate, the financial world’s smartest players recognized that it was the Mu family’s catastrophic loss, not his.
What more could he possibly need to learn?
He was already at the pinnacle.
“Right now, you are just a businessman. You are Mu Feiyi, the corporate tactician of the Mu family. But after you meet him…” you will become so much more than that.
Yu Xiaoyuan lowered his gaze from the heavens, looking at Mu Feiyi with intense, unwavering certainty. “You are going to change.”
Yu Xiaoyuan didn’t know if the destiny written in the world’s narrative would ultimately bring Mu Feiyi happiness. He knew too well that behind every legend of glorious triumph lay a path paved with endless suffering, blood, and grueling sacrifice.
“But whatever happens, whenever you need help, as long as you find me, I will always be there for you,” the little hamster promised, his voice ringing with absolute, solemn conviction. “As long as you can find me.”
A spirit beast’s oath was bound to its soul. It was eternal, and it was absolute.
Mu Feiyi stared down at the youth, entirely captivated. This fragile, naive boy was standing in a suburban driveway, earnestly promising that if the most feared corporate predator in the city ever needed saving, he would come to his rescue.
It was absurd. It was laughable. When would Mu Feiyi ever need rescuing? Least of all by the sheltered boy standing before him, whose combined intellect with that pet hamster wouldn’t add up to a single seasoned executive.
Yet Mu Feiyi loved it. He cherished that raw, unfiltered sincerity more than anything he had ever known.
From the day he was born, he had been surrounded by vipers. Even the nannies who fed him and the chefs who cooked his meals harbored ulterior motives and hidden agendas. He had been forced to suspect everyone, to guard his back against every shadow.
But this boy… this boy was a creature of pure, blinding light.
Unable to resist the pull, Mu Feiyi lowered his head and gently brushed his knuckles against the boy’s cheek. “Wait for me to come back.”
“Mm!” Yu Xiaoyuan blinked, not fully comprehending the weight of the moment, yet smiling brightly at the promise of his return.
“Wait for me to come back. There’s something I want to tell you,” Mu Feiyi heard himself murmur.
Yes—wait until he returned. Some declarations required careful consideration, not reckless impulse. Furthermore, he currently possessed nothing to his name. He couldn’t even provide a proper habitat for a hamster, let alone offer security to the boy.
He needed time to cool his blood. Time to determine whether this strange, magnetic pull was genuine compatibility or just a fleeting spark of infatuation driven by the adrenaline of his newfound freedom.
These emotions were entirely alien to him. Having never harbored romantic interest in another human being, Mu Feiyi couldn’t categorize the feeling. Was it love? Deep admiration? Or simply the instinctual desire to keep something cute and precious safely tucked away by his side, much like the little hamster?
He couldn’t tell. He genuinely didn’t know.
Slowly, Mu Feiyi lowered his head further, his long, elegant fingers gently tilting the boy’s chin upward.
Yu Xiaoyuan froze. He tilted his head slightly, his dark eyes wide and filled with innocent expectation.
He was so breathtakingly compliant, so soft. He didn’t pull away, didn’t question the gesture, didn’t raise a single defense. He simply stood there, exposing the fragile, pale line of his throat to the man above him.
Mu Feiyi felt his heart slam against his ribs—
BANG!
The heavy oak window on the third floor was violently thrown open.
Yu Yuanzhou stood framed in the light, his face contorted in a demonic scowl as he glared down at the driveway, his hand white-knuckled around the hilt of a decorative longsword.
And that wasn’t all.
Down at the main entrance, the heavy double doors swung open. A woman in a flowing white dress stepped out onto the porch. Her hair was wildly disheveled, her eyes burning with pure, unadulterated venom.
And if Mu Feiyi wasn’t mistaken, the woman in white was tightly gripping a gleaming stainless-steel paring knife.
What on earth is wrong with this family?!
Caught between exasperation and outright laughter, Mu Feiyi let out a breathy “Hah,” and leaned in to press his cheek briefly against the boy’s soft hair.
He gave the chubby cheek one final, affectionate pinch. “You really are a little fool.”
“Hey!” The little hamster bristled instantly, swatting at his hand. “How am I a fool?!”
“I wasn’t talking about you,” Mu Feiyi lied smoothly, his instincts kicking in to soothe the ruffled feathers. Still, he pressed his lips into a tight line; denying it outright made his conscience twinge.
Reaching up, Mu Feiyi gently covered the boy’s eyes with his palm, shielding him from the world for one quiet second.
“I’ll come back for you in a month,” he promised softly into the night air.
He paused, his thumb brushing the boy’s temple. “And if you want… you’re allowed to contact me before then.”
“I’ll send you photos from my travels.”
The more Mu Feiyi spoke, the harder it became to resist the urge to pack this boy and his little hamster straight into the car.
Cold reason held him back: Not this time. Just wait a little longer.
“From now on,” he murmured, lifting his hand from Yu Xiaoyuan’s eyes, “whenever I go somewhere interesting, I’ll take you with me.”
“Okay!” Yu Xiaoyuan beamed, his eyes sparkling with pure delight. “I’ll go with you!”
Up on the third-floor balcony, Yu Yuanzhou’s fingers crushed the newspaper in his hands.
“Head inside and get some sleep,” Mu Feiyi said softly, a trace of reluctance in his voice. “I just need to say goodbye to the little hamster, and then I have to hit the road.”
He paused, a puzzled smile touching his lips. “Why didn’t you bring him down with you? I wanted to see him off too.”
“You can’t have your cake and eat it too,” Yu Xiaoyuan teased, wagging a single finger back and forth. “You’re only allowed to pick one.”
“Hah. I’m greedy; I want both.”
He wanted the boy, and he wanted the little hamster.
Mu Feiyi leaned back against the red sports car and took another sip of the iced drink resting on the hood. It was rich, sweet, wonderfully fragrant, and thoroughly endearing.
The moment Yu Xiaoyuan slipped back through the front door, he met Yu Tianwei’s flat, unblinking glare. Without missing a beat, he shifted back into his furry hamster form and scampered right past her toward the courtyard.
Tianwei watched his retreating tail in utter disbelief. Look at this little rascal, running around like a frantic teenager on a double date.
Well, they weren’t officially dating yet—just circling each other with undeniable, magnetic attraction.
The only reason this farce was working was that the world was about to end. In normal times, she couldn’t fathom how her naive brother expected to clean up this tangled mess. Mu Feiyi had eight hundred calculating schemes in his head at any given second. If Yu Xiaoyuan truly tangled with a man like that, his furry secret wouldn’t stay hidden for more than three days. The only reason Mu Feiyi hadn’t caught on yet was that they weren’t intimately close; otherwise, the man would already have him pinned by the tail, demanding an explanation for the deception.
Hmph.
Mu Feiyi was notoriously difficult to deal with. Tianwei let out a quiet, troubled sigh; the man was certainly no saint.
To outside observers, his split from the Mu Corporation looked surprisingly clean, but anyone in the inner circle knew the clan owed him an astronomical debt. People called Old Master Mu an old fool for refusing to cede power when he should have, driving away the family’s only truly brilliant strategist. Mu Feiyi remained an apex predator with or without the family name, but the Mu Corporation was teetering on the edge of ruin.
Several premier corporate partners had already frozen negotiations, while overseas syndicates had simply canceled their joint ventures outright. The Mu family’s foreign market presence had been built almost entirely by Mu Feiyi’s personal connections; with his departure, sixty percent of that portfolio had dissolved overnight. It was an escalating avalanche. The foreign partners who hadn’t walked away yet were aggressively price-gouging, shamelessly exploiting the leadership vacuum.
The conglomerate was cornered. Their only sensible path forward was to cut off an arm to survive, abandoning foreign ambitions to consolidate their domestic base. Attempting to maintain their overseas presence now meant absorbing catastrophic operational losses. In the corporate arena, bleeding capital required a viable strategic endgame; without a clear path to future returns, burning money was corporate suicide.
Old Master Mu understood this and wanted to retreat, but his grasping sons and grandsons refused to yield. Blinded by arrogance, they assumed that whatever Mu Feiyi had achieved, they could easily replicate. Every uncle and cousin was jockeying to snatch an overseas portfolio, desperate to prove their worth to the patriarch and claim the heir’s seat.
Tianwei shook her head at the sheer stupidity of it all.
If the apocalypse weren’t bearing down on them, the internally fractured Mu Corporation would have imploded within two to three years—and that was assuming the patriarch didn’t suffer a massive stroke from the stress of his family’s incompetence.
A part of her genuinely regretted missing the fallout. If only the cataclysm had held off for a couple of years, she would have had front-row seats to the spectacular collapse of the Mu dynasty.
Her thoughts drifted back to her brother’s strange prediction: that Mu Feiyi would meet a profound mentor on this journey who would alter his life’s trajectory. She was beginning to take Yu Xiaoyuan’s mystical intuition seriously, which only stoked her curiosity. If a ruthless titan like Mu Feiyi actually underwent a fundamental change of heart, what would he become? She made a mental note to pry more details out of her brother later.
Then again, what if civilization remained intact?
A month from now, Mu Feiyi would inevitably show up at their front door to coax the little hamster away. Within forty-eight hours, he would catch the creature mid-transformation.
The subsequent fallout would be wildly inappropriate for polite company. Her little brother might be a soft, chubby dumpling who looked like he had barely been weaned, but legally and physically, he was an adult. He would get a very thorough taste of adult nightlife—and knowing Mu Feiyi’s possessive streak, the consequences would be intense.
You deceived me, so I’m locking you up as my personal pet.
Chains around your ankles so you can never slip away.
And with her and her father enabling the escape attempts, the house would devolve into a breathless, unhinged game of cat and mouse.
Tianwei shuddered, shaking the ridiculous drama from her head. No, absolutely not. That kind of toxic romance was out of the question. Her sweet little brother was meant for sugary, peanut-flavored fairy tales; anything bordering on a dark, adult thriller was firmly vetoed.
Meanwhile, the little hamster was practically singing: “Squeak, squeak, squeak~ Chirp, chirp, chirp~”
Flicking his short tail with boundless joy, his tiny paws went pat-pat-pat across the gravel toward the driveway.
In human form, he had been too bashful to indulge in open affection. But as a pocket-sized hamster? He could cuddle to his heart’s content! After all, what did an innocent little hamster know about propriety? He was just a fluffy, brainless little creature who loved head scratches and roasted peanuts!
Mu Feiyi watched the plump furball come barreling out of the shadows. The hamster’s gait was an adorable, wobbly waddle, yet he moved with surprising speed, bouncing into the air with soft, high-pitched squeaks the moment he spotted the car.
Even from yards away, the creature’s pure, unadulterated joy was palpable. His chirps were sweet and milky, his tiny body practically vibrating with happiness.
Mu Feiyi knelt down, extending his open palm flat against the driveway.
The hamster bounded straight into his hand.
“What has you looking so extraordinarily pleased?” Mu Feiyi chuckled, using his free hand to gently stroke the velvety head, lightly pressing the thick tuft of fur between the creature’s ears until a tiny dimple formed.
Framed by that messy fur, the little hamster looked more hilariously foolish than ever.
“Squeak, squeak, squeak!” I’m thrilled to see you!
The hamster braced his front paws against the web of Mu Feiyi’s thumb, gazing up with wide, starry eyes.
“Squeak, squeak!” Cuddles! The little hamster demands cuddles!
Standing on his hind legs, the plush furball stretched upward, leaning his entire body against the man’s warm cheek. He threw his tiny arms wide, affectionately hugging the sharp line of Mu Feiyi’s jaw while letting out a string of contented, purring rumbles.
Mu Feiyi laughed softly, lightly patting the creature’s back. “Where did all this energy come from?”
With a nimble hop, the hamster scrambled from his palm onto his shoulder, repeatedly nuzzling his head against the man’s neck.
I’m happy! The little hamster is just overflowing with joy!
The creature was impossibly soft, sweet-scented, and entirely shameless in his display of affection.
After letting him cuddle for several minutes, Mu Feiyi gently cupped the hamster back into his hands, his fingers brushing against the plump, rounded belly he had been eyeing earlier.
“You really are shaped like a little sphere.”
The fur across his stomach was remarkably dense. Parting the down with a gentle fingertip revealed the soft, warm skin beneath. The hamster tilted his head up, offering no resistance whatsoever, even reaching up with a pink paw to clasp the man’s index finger in an affectionate hold.
A quiet chuckle rumbled in Mu Feiyi’s chest. “Carrying this much weight… is your stomach completely filled with peanut milk tea?”
It was obvious Yu Xiaoyuan had been drowning himself in sweet drinks over the past two days, and this little glutton had clearly indulged in every single drop.
“Squeak, squeak, squeak~” Guilty as charged!
The hamster rubbed his crown against the palm, entirely unbothered by the accusation—in fact, he seemed rather proud of his achievement.
“You’re already too chubby; you cannot afford to gain another gram, understand?” Mu Feiyi teased, lightly pinching the plush cheek. “If you get any rounder, I will carry you straight to my villa and put you on a mandatory military diet.
“Zero treats, zero milk tea, and absolute prohibition on roasted peanuts.”
“Squeak?!”
The hamster froze, his dark eyes widening in pure horror.
Cruel! Barbaric! How could any human be so cold-hearted?! The little hamster is adorable perfection—why shouldn’t I drink milk tea?!
“I mean every word. If you blow up like a balloon, I’ll take full custody and regulate your meals down to the calorie,” Mu Feiyi murmured with a fond smirk. Leaning down, he brushed a tender kiss against the top of the creature’s head. “Will you wait for me to come back? Just one month, okay?”
“Hmm?”
“Be a good little boy while I’m away. Don’t binge on snacks with Yu Xiaoyuan. He has a naturally lean frame, so extra calories won’t hurt him. But you are a tiny little thing; gaining a single gram turns you into an absolute ball.”
He stroked the soft fur behind the hamster’s ears. “If you behave yourself, I will track down a unique, artisanal variety of roasted peanut from every single city I pass through and bring them back for you.
“Deal?”
Faced with the promise of regional gourmet peanuts, the little hamster reluctantly gave in. “Squeak, squeak~”
Fine, the little hamster accepts your terms.
He gave the finger he was clutching a gentle, squishy squeeze. His velvety ears drooped slightly, making him look adorably pathetic and thoroughly hard done by.
Even so, Mu Feiyi had zero intention of budging on the diet. “Good boy.”
He smoothed down the thick coat along the creature’s spine one last time. Regret tugged at his chest, but the dashboard clock was ticking down to his departure window.
“I have to go.”
Bending down, Mu Feiyi set the hamster gently onto the cool stone path. “Run inside now.”
The little hamster stood upright on his hind legs, waving a tiny front paw in farewell before turning to waddle toward the front entrance. Yet every few steps, he paused, looking over his shoulder with wide, lingering eyes.
Leaning against the crimson sports car, Mu Feiyi shook his head with an amused, indulgent smile. His deep blue eyes were filled with helpless affection. “Hurry back inside, or the stray neighborhood cat will catch you.”
“Squeak, squeak!” The little hamster is not cat food!
Scampering across the threshold, the hamster poked his round head around the heavy oak door, offering one final, energetic wave of his tiny paw.
The paw was so microscopic that Mu Feiyi could barely make out the movement in the garden lights.
Smiling faintly, the man turned, pulled open the driver’s door, and prepared to slide behind the wheel.
A sudden, breathless shout broke the stillness of the courtyard.
“Wait! Wait, don’t leave yet!”
Panting hard, the voice called out from the porch: “I have a gift for you!”
