Mo Du (默读) - Silent Reading

Humbert Humbert XXI

At first Fei Du stared. Then he leaned back, seeming very careless. Understanding but feigning not to, he asked, “Hm?”

There was a great deal of the playboy in that lean; the corners of his lips were ready to smile but not smiling, and his head was tilted as he looked at Luo Wenzhou. He asked, clearly knowing the answer, “What did I do last night?”

Luo Wenzhou: “…”

He found he was dismayingly base. He was far more accustomed to a Fei Du with the words “asking for a beating” stuck to his forehead than this strange, ambiguous manner of his.

When the two of them were alone, if either showed signs of getting flustered, the other would quickly take advantage of his weakness.

Luo Wenzhou’s temporary silence made Fei Du mistakenly think that he couldn’t get the words out; it awakened his interest, and he couldn’t resist teasing Luo Wenzhou some more. “Last night, I voluntarily sent some comfort to you good officers. Is Captain Luo thinking of requesting another silk banner for me?”

Saying so, he pressed a little closer to Luo Wenzhou, his eyes giving off varied light, radiating from the irises, distinctly spreading out, like a freeze-frame of ripples. “What are you planning to write this time? I’m thinking…”

“Fei Du,” Luo Wenzhou suddenly said with a great show of propriety, “if you provoke me like that again, I’m going to think you have some ‘unspeakable intentions’ towards me.”

Fei Du: “…”

Because of their unusual relationship, the majority of the time, Luo Wenzhou was in deadly earnest in his presence. As time went on, it had given Fei Du the mistaken impression that this person had shame.

After a pause, Fei Du executed a “retreat at the enemy’s attack,” turning to look out the window at the somber funeral parlor. “Captain Luo, are you sure you want to discuss such an indecent subject with me in surroundings like these?”

“Besides the indecent subject, I also have a decent one,” said Luo Wenzhou. “Are you planning to become a hand-offs leader in September and hand your vast wealth over to others to manage?”

“There’s no need to worry about that. I have a reliable team.” Fei Du shrugged. “They don’t even need to be all that reliable, just a little more reliable than me.—Even though I’m stepping back from daily operations, the company’s major policy decisions will still require my signature. I’ll still have my controlling interest. Anyway, even if it all goes to pieces…”

“The leftover flotsam and jetsam will still sell for more money than we lowly public servants will earn in a lifetime, including our pensions, enough for several people for several lifetimes—right?” Luo Wenzhou cut short his ostentation. “Stop talking nonsense. When your dad had his accident, you were still in school, though your studies were sloppy and brainless enough—why weren’t you willing to trust that ‘reliable’ team back then, just sit back and collect your annual dividends like a well-behaved shareholder?”

Fei Du looked up and met Luo Wenzhou’s eyes in the rearview mirror; his gaze was deep, with a frank and familiar severity.

“You didn’t take on your dad’s company for the money. You were investigating him,” Luo Wenzhou said positively. “According to this inference, you applying to Yan Security Uni now has the same aim. What is it for—or rather, who is it for?”

“Maybe it’s to hit on you?” Fei Du said without turning a hair. “Perhaps my taste has suddenly changed, and I’ve started to salivate for Captain Luo’s type of… hm… deadly serious dark horse charm?”