Chapter 2

What would someone with the mind of a three-year-old know about trade secrets?

I went back to the bedroom. Lu Ciyan was still on the floor.

When he saw me, he raised his arms.

“Gege, help me up.”

I ignored him and went straight into the bathroom.

Behind me, he muttered, “Gege's stingy.”

At breakfast, I drank my coffee and read the news.

Across from me, Lu Ciyan was battling a bowl of millet porridge.

Apparently unable to use a spoon, he'd smeared it all over himself.

I couldn't watch any longer. Putting down my tablet, I took his bowl.

“Open up.”

He obediently opened his mouth like a hungry fledgling.

I fed him spoonful by spoonful, my mind still on the west-side project.

Lu Group's vice president was called Li Wei.

A smiling tiger, vicious beneath the friendly exterior.

Lu Ciyan had always kept him in check. Now that Lu Ciyan was down, the man would surely run wild.

I needed to think of something.

“Gege…”

Lu Ciyan's voice was muffled.

I came back to myself.

“What?”

He pointed at my tablet, which was displaying the west-side development plan.

“This… ugly.”

I raised an eyebrow.

“Oh? Then tell me how to make it pretty.”

It was an idle question. I wasn't expecting an answer.

But he actually tilted his head and thought about it.

Then he started drawing on the screen with a porridge-sticky finger.

“Here… a park.”

“Here… a playground.”

“And here… needs a big lake.”

His scribbles looked random, but the places he'd picked were precisely the key points in the plan.

The very ones giving me a headache.

If I followed his suggestions…

A bold idea came to me.

I looked at him.

He was licking grains off his fingers, the picture of innocence.

My heart began to beat faster again.

Was it a coincidence… or…?

I decided to test him.

That evening, I deliberately left a fake proposal on my desk.

Then I went out, claiming something had come up at work.

I didn't go far. I parked where I could see the windows of my house.

For two hours, I sat in the car.

The study light stayed on.

At one in the morning, I went home.

The living room was dark. Only his room was lit.

I approached the study quietly.

The door was ajar.

I looked inside.

Lu Ciyan was sitting in my chair with his back to me.

He held my phone, its glow lighting his serious face.

His fingers moved quickly, none of their daytime clumsiness left.

He was looking at my fake proposal.

Not just looking. He was messaging someone.

I felt my blood turn cold.

So I was right.

There was nothing wrong with his mind.

The whole thing was an act.

I didn't know whether to be furious or laugh.

My greatest rival had put on a flawless performance right under my nose.

And I'd played along like a complete fool.

I pushed the door open.

“Lu Ciyan.”

My voice was frighteningly calm.

He went still.

Then he slowly turned the chair.

That familiar, innocent expression was back on his face.

Hiding the phone behind his back, he tilted his head.

“Gege, you're home?”

“Who are you calling?”

I stared at him.

At the face that said, plain as day, I don't know a thing.

Anger flared.

I strode over and snatched the phone away.

The screen was still on, open to a WeChat conversation.

The contact was labeled: 【Vice President Li】

The last message read:

【There's a problem with the plan. Hold off.】

There was my proof.

I laughed in fury.

“What a performance, Mr. Lu.”

“Was it fun making a fool of me?”

He couldn't keep up the innocent look.

His gaze dropped.

He said nothing.

That only made me angrier.

“Why stop pretending? Not calling me Gege anymore?”

“Lu Ciyan, what exactly do you want? Did you stage the crash too? Just to get close to me?”

Even as I said it, I knew how absurd that sounded.

We'd competed for years, but we'd never sunk that low.

He looked up.

His eyes were no longer watery. They held something complicated I couldn't read.

When he spoke, his voice was low and cool, just as I remembered it.

“The crash was real.”

“And yes… I was pretending.”

I stared.

“What does that mean?”

He rose and came toward me.

That familiar, imposing presence made me step back instinctively.

He was half a head taller. Looking down at me, he said, “Lin Mo.”

“I didn't play dumb for your project.”

“I did it for you.”

I admit it: my brain stopped working.

For me?

Was this some new competitive strategy?

Couldn't beat your rival, so turn him gay?

He sighed and lifted a hand toward my face.

I dodged instinctively.

His hand stopped, then fell.

“My crash wasn't an accident.”

“Someone tampered with things.”

My heart lurched.

“There are plenty of people at the company who want me dead.”

“I needed a chance to draw them all out.”

“So I took the opportunity to make myself look harmless.”

Now I understood.

A modern-day prince plotting his revenge.

“Then why latch on to me?”

He looked at me, his gaze burning.

“Because I'm safest with you.”

“Everyone thinks we're enemies. That you hate me.”

“The most dangerous place can be the safest.”

I couldn't argue with that.

So I was just a pawn.

A smokescreen.

I couldn't quite name what I felt.

A little disappointed.

And a little… relieved.

“And Li Wei…?”

“He works for me.”

“I planted the rumors to lure them out.”

I was speechless.

So the two of them had been putting on a show for my benefit.

“Well done, Lu Ciyan.”

“They owe you an Oscar.”

He looked at me and smiled.

“Then you can have half.”

“After all, I couldn't have pulled it off without your help, Mr. Lin.”