On the rewards for successfully defeating a boss

The cheers from the crowd grew louder and louder, almost drowning out the explosion of the gunpowder.

The noise was too loud, and Chen Qian wasn't sure if his voice could reach the other end of the line completely.

But it doesn't matter. After all, this is what he wants to do most after six years. The process and the result are actually not important to him.

Fireworks kept exploding in the sky. Through the narrow ventilation window at the stairs, colorful lights and shadows were scattered and chaotic, flashing across Chen Qian's face.

He listened to the silence in the receiver with bated breath, waiting for a response.

After a long time, the crowd gradually died down.

That familiar, deep and indifferent voice echoed in my ears, the syllables combined to form a sentence: "Well, Happy New Year."

As the words fell, a sudden beeping sound followed.

……

"So, what did he say?" Chi Yuxing casually lifted his glasses that had fallen to the bridge of his nose, and looked carefully through his mentor's journal article. He asked absentmindedly, not seeming to expect an answer.

"Wish me a Happy New Year..." Chi Mu held the phone tightly in his hand. His fingertips and knuckles had lost color due to the force, and his expression was a little dazed.

Chi Yuxing frowned, a hint of impatience flashing across his face, but he still adhered to the idea that today was a holiday and he couldn't get angry easily, so he continued to ask: "Besides Happy New Year, didn't I say anything else to you?"

"I just didn't know if he would say anything else. I got nervous and hung up the phone." Chi Mu suddenly deflated, leaned back, fell into the sofa, raised his face and stared at the light on the ceiling, staring until the light and shadow were left in front of his eyes.

The New Year's Day program on TV was still full of singing and dancing, and the jubilation at the end made the two people sitting alone in front of the TV seem particularly lonely.

The family dinner that used to be hosted by Mr. Chi every year was no longer under his leadership after his accident, so everyone was happy that they didn't have to get together and see each other. Chi Yuxing was even given a good vacation to spend a few days with Chi Yubai.

Unfortunately, not long after returning, Chi Yubai was taken away by Shi Xixi who took Chi Mu's feelings into consideration.

"Hiss—you hung up the phone?" Chi Yuxing took a deep breath. At that moment, he just hoped he had misheard and couldn't help but grit his teeth. "You've been waiting for this call for two days, and now you're hanging up without even saying a word?"

“…” Chi Mu felt a little guilty, so he turned his head away and didn’t dare to say anything.

Seeing him like this, Chi Yuxing couldn't help but sigh repeatedly and took the initiative to suggest: "Why don't you call him back and ask him what he means."

"No, I'm still angry. Why would you call me?" Chi Mu decisively rejected his proposal. He snorted softly and complained with a sour face, "Besides, he didn't care when I left that day. And the same goes for the phone call. He called me so late, two days later."

"Isn't he calling you now to wish you a happy new year? It's such a good ladder, just get down if you can. Why are you pretending?" After hearing these awkward words, Chi Yuxing felt extremely irritated and angry.

"That's true. It called right at midnight." A smile suddenly appeared on Chi Mu's tightly wrinkled face. The afterimage of the light was reflected in front of his eyes, making him turn around uncomfortably. "So it seems that I must be the first one."

"Oh, the first one." Chi Yuxing almost laughed out loud. He raised his head from the dozen or so pages of A4 papers stacked together. His expression was indifferent, revealing the kind of obscure sense of death that is unique to those who have studied hard for a long time.

He was furious when he thought about how it was his first time celebrating the holiday with Chi Yubai, and how Chi Mu's damn bad mood had caused Shi Gongxi to change his mind at the last minute the day before New Year's Day. He couldn't stop flipping through the journal materials in his hands, cursing inwardly, "What a sin!"

Gnashing his teeth in frustration, he grumbled, "Now you're happy. It's not you who ran into my room early in the morning and kept wiping your tears in front of the kids, right?"

"So, first sir, have you truly found any trace of this 'innocent person' in that 300-plus page tracking report that kept you up all night, reading it five times?"

Mentioning this, Chi Mu pondered for a moment before shaking his head and answering honestly, "Not yet."

"Then it has to be L..." Chi Yuxing was interrupted by Chi Mu before he could finish his words.

Chi Mu, with a confident look on his face, took the thick document on the coffee table and shook it, then stretched his arm in front of his eyes and muttered, "But I have found the person who suspected me."

While Chi Yuxing was distracted, he seemed to see the elementary school student with a round head and a blue suit, pointing his index finger: Scheming Frog...

He sighed deeply, shook his head to interrupt his unreasonable associations, and said to himself: Letting go of the desire to help others is to let go of myself.

He casually gathered the scattered documents in front of him, tapped the table twice, and stood up to go upstairs as if it had nothing to do with him. As he walked, he said something coldly behind him.

"Then go ahead and look for someone. Look carefully. Chen Qian is either in the mountains or in the countryside in Denmark, yet he still finds time in Beijing to secretly date someone. He's quite the time management wizard. He doesn't even believe in it himself... From what I've seen, he's probably just tired of you. Instead of trying so hard, you might as well get plastic surgery. The recovery period is only three months, so it's much quicker."

Chi Mu glanced at him sideways, too lazy to answer him, just holding the report and muttering to himself: "How can I not even be a mistress... Tsk——"

……

After the event, several people took a taxi back to the hotel.

Chen Qian ignored Yu Wangxi and Lin Xixi's repeated inquiries about where he had been during the countdown and went back to his room.

Chi Mu's luggage was not taken away. A small dark 20-inch suitcase stood in the cabinet with a very prominent presence, as if reminding Chen Qian for no reason.

He lay powerless on the bed, staring at the ceiling motionlessly, his mind constantly unraveling the past, trying very hard to recall the things he had previously ignored.

An unknown amount of time passed like this, but suddenly a ray of light flashed in Chen Qian's dim eyes, and he suddenly turned over and sat up.

"Necklace? The necklace hasn't been returned yet, and my cufflinks too... Yeah!"

At noon the next day, the tour group, who had stayed up all night, got up one after another to the ringing of alarm clocks. The short trip ended with the hotel's room service.

Several people packed their luggage and boarded the return train.

Chen Qian had his own plans for the first thing he would do after returning home. As soon as he entered the door, he threw away his luggage and ran upstairs without stopping, completely ignoring the fact that Zhong Yi was blocked by his messy luggage.

"The necklace, photo frame are all here, and..." Chen Qian sat in front of the desk, counting the things in the drawer one by one and placing them on the table.

Necklaces inlaid with stones of different colors were entangled with each other in the box and could not be untied. Two photo frames with different scenes were placed overlapping. In addition, there were several brown paper packages that had never been opened and were still tied with ropes.

These packages are not the same in weight, size, or even length and width, they are just all very thin.

The largest one is square and flat, and because it has been so long, it has been stained with a noticeable yellow color. The smallest and thickest one was received after that. It is cube-shaped and about ten centimeters long. The kraft paper is also yellowed to a certain extent.

Chen Qian had imagined what was inside, and sometimes he would think about opening it and taking a look when he was particularly curious.

But ignorance often comes with associations, and after frequent news, his associations are mostly negative.

So even though Chen Qian was not sure what was inside, he was unwilling to open it and take a look himself.

Just let them pile up gradually and hide in the corner.