Moonlight Left Behind chapter 15
“I don’t know. The room has been locked since I started working here. The boss never lets me in and doesn’t allow questions either. He goes in himself for half an hour every day, and he does the cleaning himself,” Xiao Yao said mysteriously. “I suspect the boss is hiding some treasure in there.”
Who would so blatantly hide treasure? That big lock seemed to imply that whatever was inside was important enough that others shouldn’t know about it.
Lin Qinzhou was speechless, and if his memory served him correctly, that seemed to be the room he had stayed in before. So, what could Qin Yue be hiding in his room that required him to go in there every day for so long, even keeping it hidden from his most trusted employee?
“But for a while, it seemed the boss didn’t go in much. I thought he took the treasure out, but he has been going in more frequently lately,” Xiao Yao said.
“When was that?” Lin Qinzhou felt like he was catching onto something, but the thought slipped away quickly, and before he could think more, he heard a familiar voice behind him, “What are you talking about?”
Xiao Yao, feeling guilty, picked up a cloth to wipe the counter: “Haha, it’s nothing. Just praising you.”
Qin Yue’s gaze shifted: “Oh? What are you praising me for?”
Why is he still asking questions? Boss, you weren’t like this before; you’ve changed!
Xiao Yao chuckled awkwardly, avoiding eye contact with the boss: “Just… just praising you for being popular and loved, brilliant and powerful, like a fairy descended to earth…”
“Nonsense,” Qin Yue laughed, then turned to Lin Qinzhou and said, “Mr. Lin, don’t mind her. This girl is young and talks nonsense.”
He had just been laughing so happily and interacting so familiarly with Xiao Yao, but why was he back to calling me Mr. Lin now?
Lin Qinzhou felt a pang of jealousy and retorted, “But you’re not that old either.”
“Hey! Mr. Lin, you hit the nail on the head! Our boss is indeed not that old, but he loves to put on this old cadre attitude. If you didn’t know better, you’d think he had closed his heart to love!” Xiao Yao often tested the waters while being on the verge of getting fired.
Lin Qinzhou became interested: “Oh? So has your boss ever been in love?”
“I’ve never seen him like anyone, but there are many people pursuing him—Aunt Wang’s daughter from the sugar water shop next door, Grandpa Zhang’s granddaughter from the fruit store to the west, the young owner of Niao Niao B&B to the south…”
“Many people on the island like the boss, and quite a few tourists are even willing to stay on the island just for him, but he shows no interest at all.”
The two were asking and answering, as if Qin Yue, the person in question, didn’t exist. Qin Yue, however, said nothing, merely observing with a smile.
Xiao Yao rattled off a string of names, and with each name, Lin Qinzhou felt a pang in his heart, especially when he heard about the tourists who were infatuated with Boss Qin. It felt as if he saw another version of himself.
He thought, so he wasn’t the only special one; there were so many others like him who coveted and yearned for this person.
So what did he mean to Qin Yue? Was he the same as those tourists who had been rejected?
“Boss Qin, have you ever been moved by someone?” Lin Qinzhou turned his head to look at Qin Yue, unable to help but ask.
Qin Yue, who had been looking at him, averted his gaze and looked at his own legs: “With my situation, it’s better not to cause trouble for others.”
Xiao Yao didn’t like that. She flicked the cloth and placed her hands on her hips: “Pfft, what do you mean by that! So-and-so and that other so-and-so have all said they don’t mind. Stop using that as an excuse!”
Qin Yue raised an eyebrow: “What so-and-so? Have you finished your work, or are you just here talking nonsense?”
“Hmph, you always use that tactic!” The girl was quite unconvinced, huffing as she turned to the kitchen, probably wanting to avoid him.
Qin Yue looked a bit helpless, which felt like a stab to Lin Qinzhou, making his heart ache.
“Boss Qin really doesn’t know how to cherish delicate flowers,” he said, his tone sharp, the bitterness palpable.
In truth, Lin Qinzhou didn’t want to be so aggressive, but he couldn’t control his emotions. It seemed he had become accustomed to revealing his true feelings in front of Qin Yue.
He couldn’t stand how familiar Qin Yue was with others and how he indulged them.
It was utterly unreasonable and inexplicable.
Yet Qin Yue said nothing, just smiled at him. Lin Qinzhou felt like he was punching cotton, and the feeling in his heart was even worse.
“Boss Qin, can you accompany me for a walk?” he asked.
“What?” Qin Yue’s eyes flashed with a hint of surprise, as if he hadn’t expected Lin Qinzhou to make such a request.
The latter, however, looked as if it was perfectly natural: “It’s boring to go out alone. Anyway, it seems like you have nothing to do, so why not be my tour guide? What do you think, Boss Qin?”
Qin Yue’s gaze was obscure, staring at Lin Qinzhou as if weighing something. After a long while, he finally nodded: “Sure.”
By this time, it was almost 11 o’clock. The two didn’t really go anywhere, just went to the beach where the music festival was held earlier, bought two cups of shaved ice, and sat by the sea, eating while watching the surfers in the distance.
“There’s also oyster omelet; let’s eat some of that before the ice melts.” Qin Yue ordered the Oreo flavor. He had only taken a couple of bites when the person next to him took the bowl and spoon away, replacing it with a bowl of oyster omelet.
Qin Yue glanced at him and noticed that while Lin Qinzhou maintained a calm expression, the area behind his ears was already flushed red.
“No one eats oyster omelet with shaved ice,” he remarked, lifting the corner of his lips.
“Why not? Who made that rule?” Lin Qinzhou shot back with a fierce expression.
After traveling outside and coming back, it seemed like something about this person had changed. Qin Yue looked at him, sighed softly, resignedly breaking apart the disposable chopsticks, and began eating the oyster omelet.
Still with extra soy sauce and chili sauce, no scallions.
“Mr. Lin, my stomach isn’t that fragile; it’s fine.”
Once his feelings were exposed, Lin Qinzhou immediately lowered his eyes, silently eating his bowl of shaved ice as if he hadn’t heard Qin Yue’s words. Qin Yue smiled wryly, shook his head, and didn’t say anything further.
He was still slow when eating; halfway through the oyster omelet, the shaved ice was almost melted, and mixed with the dark Oreo bits, it looked quite unappetizing. Qin Yue lightly tapped on Lin Qinzhou’s wrist with two fingers.
Lin Qinzhou was caught off guard and leaned back, almost falling off his chair. “You—what are you doing—”
The spot on his skin that was touched felt like it had been stung by an insect, and it hurt badly. Lin Qinzhou instinctively covered it.
Qin Yue was momentarily stunned; perhaps the atmosphere was too good at the time, causing him to be momentarily absent-minded when he made that gesture, and only now did he realize.
The hand resting on his knee gripped tightly onto the pants under the blanket, but his face showed no sign of it as he spoke in a slightly apologetic tone: “Sorry, Mr. Lin. Did I scare you? I just…” He pointed to the bowl of shaved ice on the nearby table and said, “I wanted that bowl of ice.”
“Oh.” Lin Qinzhou also realized he was overreacting, feeling a bit embarrassed. Looking at the bowl of melted, muddy-looking shaved ice made him even angrier. “It’s melted; you can’t eat it anymore. I’ll go buy you another one.”
“No need, just give it to me.”
“No way, how can you eat like that?” Lin Qinzhou felt inexplicably blocked in his chest, thinking that the reason the shaved ice had turned out like this was his fault, so he should replace it.
Qin Yue looked at him with a helpless gaze. “Really don’t need it, but if you don’t mind, I could try your portion, Mr. Lin; I’m quite curious about the mango flavor.”
Lin Qinzhou: “??? What is he talking about? I don’t understand. Earlier he was acting like we weren’t familiar, so why does he want to eat the ice I’ve had?”
“What’s wrong? Are you unwilling? Then forget it—”
“I’m willing!” Lin Qinzhou shouted, then pushed his bowl of ice to the middle of the table, “Eat it!”
Qin Yue was taken aback for a moment, then couldn’t stop laughing while holding the spoon. By the end, there were even tears at the corners of his eyes. “Mr. Lin, if I didn’t know better, I’d think you were making a wedding vow.”
Lin Qinzhou: “…?”
What is this person talking about!
Lin Qinzhou was already so embarrassed, and now he couldn’t lift his head. “Just eat, then we’ll go for lunch.”
Qin Yue had just finished one portion of oyster omelet; how could he eat anything else? “Mr. Lin.”
“Hmm?”
“Are you feeding a pig?”
“……”
Qin Yue looked helpless. “My stomach isn’t that fragile, but it’s not that capable of eating either.”
Lin Qinzhou: “……”
He had previously thought this person had a very calm personality, but that was a complete misunderstanding; his mouth was just too loose!
Author’s note:
Lin Qinzhou: “I’m willing!”
Qin Yue: “I’m willing too.”
Ceremony complete, send them to the bridal chamber.