Chapter 511: Extra: Yuan Shimo - Chasing the Moon, Drifting Shadow (2)

At the sound of this voice, a strange silence fell over the room.

President Zheng’s smile froze on her face. She hadn’t yet processed what was happening, but she plastered on an eager expression. “Miss Jiang, what brings you here?”

“I heard President Zheng and my Beast Husband were here, so I came to catch up.” Jiang Qingli had entered the private room at some point, a faint smile on her lips.

President Zheng was startled.

She and Jiang Qingli had only met once at a summit. At the time, Jiang Qingli had been surrounded by a crowd of influential figures, and President Zheng had racked her brain just to exchange a few words with her. She never expected Jiang Qingli to remember her!

But before joy could set in, she was blindsided by the other piece of information in Jiang Qingli’s words—

‘Beast Husband?’

‘Jiang Qingli’s Beast Husband is here?’

President Zheng’s gaze swept over the faces of the researchers one by one…

‘This one is average-looking, that one is too short, and another is almost forty…’

Her eyes completed a circuit and landed on Yuan Shimo, the most handsome of the group.

President Zheng suddenly realized that Yuan Shimo had also attended the summit where she’d tried to curry favor with Jiang Qingli.

It was as if someone had forced her head to turn; she could almost hear the bones in her neck creaking.

She snatched her hand back from the back of Yuan Shimo’s chair and rubbed her hands together awkwardly. “This… Miss Jiang, I didn’t know about your relationship with Mr. Yuan…”

“Well, now you do.” Jiang Qingli walked closer and rested a hand on the back of Yuan Shimo’s chair. The casual posture subtly enclosed him within her territory. “Shimo doesn’t like to be disturbed, so we haven’t made a big announcement. It’s normal that you wouldn’t know, President Zheng.”

President Zheng’s eyes widened.

She then saw Yuan Shimo—who hadn’t given her so much as a single glance earlier—take Jiang Qingli’s fingers in his hand in front of everyone, his gaze soft as he looked up at her.

A chill shot through President Zheng’s heart. She tried to change the subject, but Jiang Qingli wasn’t having it. In the end, she had no choice but to leave in disgrace.

After she and the other investors left, Teacher Meng returned from taking a call outside.

Seeing Jiang Qingli, he greeted her with pleasant surprise. “Miss Jiang! It’s been too long.”

“I was having dinner with a few friends nearby and heard Teacher Meng was here, so I came over to ask for a drink,” Jiang Qingli said with a smile.

“Oh, you’re just teasing an old man,” Teacher Meng said, stroking his beard knowingly. “You must be here for Shimo.”

He looked around. “What happened to those people from before?”

Chen Zhi was about to blurt it out when Yuan Shimo said flatly, “They had something to attend to, so they left early.”

As he spoke, he glanced at his watch. “Teacher Meng, it’s getting late. We have some things to take care of at home, so my female master and I will be leaving now.”

Teacher Meng didn’t try to stop them. “Alright, you young people have your own lives to lead. Go on, go on.”

Teacher Meng found their departure strange. After questioning Chen Zhi and learning what had happened, he was filled with rage. He couldn’t eat another bite and went straight out to deal with the matter.

With more than half the people at the table suddenly gone, the atmosphere became much more relaxed.

The few remaining colleagues looked at each other and poured themselves drinks.

Xiao Wang, who had tagged along, turned to Chen Zhi, his mouth agape. “Brother Chen, Senior Brother Yuan’s female master is actually Miss Jiang! Sh-sh-she’s the number one female on the Empire’s ‘Most Desirable Affair Partner’ ranking!”

Chen Zhi rubbed his dazzled eyes. “What, you think she’s not good enough for him?”

“No, no, of course not! I’m just so shocked…”

Xiao Wang silently drank a glass of wine and opened his terminal, planning to scroll through some short videos to calm his nerves. But the very first gossip video that popped up nearly blinded him—

“BREAKING! Heroine to the Rescue! Professor Ambushed with Improper Demands at Dinner, Sister Jiang Fiercely Defends Husband!”

–

Jiang Qingli had just settled into the car when she received a link from Lin Xiyue.

Yueyue: [So that’s why you left so suddenly! You went to find Senior Yuan. You were only gone from our room for an hour and you’re already a trending topic again. The media is really obsessed with you. But hey, this cover photo of you two is actually pretty good, hehe.]

Jiang Qingli replied with a sticker: [Let me see.]

She clicked the link and saw the candid photo at the top of the article.

It was a shot from before they got in the car. She was leading Yuan Shimo, her movements relaxed. The male behind her was staring at the back of her head, his face an open book of adoration.

Yuan Shimo’s face was usually expressionless, and he rarely showed his emotions.

Only in moments of deep affection would he let them show so openly.

‘So that’s what he’s like when I’m not looking,’ Jiang Qingli thought. ‘His gaze never leaves me, and his expression is so adorable…’

She glanced at the young man sitting beside her.

Yuan Shimo was in the driver’s seat, setting the navigation destination. The blue light from the screen illuminated his handsome profile, his gaze focused.

Jiang Qingli couldn’t resist reaching out and poking his cheek.

Yuan Shimo let her, a slight smile playing on his thin lips. “What is it?”

“Nothing, I just wanted to touch you.” Jiang Qingli casually pinched the tip of his ear. Then, remembering the paparazzi who were probably still lurking nearby, she started to pull her hand back.

Just as her fingers left his cheek, he caught her by the wrist.

Yuan Shimo lowered his head and kissed her palm before letting go, settling back into his seat, and fastening his seatbelt.

The motion was as natural as an experiment performed thousands of times.

The spot he’d kissed tingled.

“Drive safely,” Jiang Qingli reminded him.

“Yes, female master,” Yuan Shimo chuckled, starting the car.

As the car drove out of the garage, Jiang Qingli’s terminal vibrated twice.

Yueyue: [Babe, refresh the page.]

Jiang Qingli opened the site again and refreshed it.

The paparazzi had added another photo.

In the dim, warm light of the car’s interior, the young man was captured lowering his head to kiss Jiang Qingli’s palm, his expression focused and gentle.

The live comments were a frantic stream of exclamation points—

[??? Who? Where did this guy come from!]

[Someone dug up info on him being Sister Jiang’s Beast Husband before, but all the posts were deleted. Rumor is, he likes his privacy.]

[This professor sure has a lot of patience. He’s been married to Sister Jiang for almost a year and kept it a secret! If Sister Jiang smiled at me, the whole world would know about it by the next day!]

[This guy isn’t ordinary either. He graduated from university at twelve and went into research. But his Superpower Level is low and he has a difficult personality, so no one in his circle was pursuing him… It seems he and Sister Jiang were matched by the system.]

[So they’re a ‘marry first, love later’ couple?]

[But when they first got married, I heard this guy was so busy with research he was never home. He even went back to his parents’ house, and Sister Jiang had to go get him.]

[Our Sister Jiang is just too good, taking on a spoiled male like him!]

[Everyone is welcome to join our Jiang Qingli fan club! We have chapters in every city district. Click the [link] if you’re interested!]

[The fan club is by referral only! You can’t get in without a recommendation! The person above is a scammer! Everyone, report them!]

…

Jiang Qingli saved the two candid photos. Just as she was about to ask her assistant to handle the matter, she heard Yuan Shimo suddenly ask, “What are you looking at?”

“We’re a trending topic.”

The car stopped at a red light.

Jiang Qingli summarized the contents of the post for him and showed him the photos.

She had assumed that Yuan Shimo, as usual, would dislike the excessive media attention.

But after staring at the photos in silence for a few seconds, Yuan Shimo suddenly looked at her and said softly,

“Actually… this isn’t so bad.”

“Does my female master want them to know?”