Gold Cage - Chapter 2

Mu Yu ended up spending the night at the office.

Everything had just been moved in, and the office had a soft sofa. Exhausted, Mu Yu wrapped himself in a blanket and collapsed onto it, falling asleep instantly.

He had started his business during his junior year of college—initially just a commercial studies project he and a couple of friends had done for fun. But as the profits grew, they decided to formalize it into a studio. Named Qingfei, it had first operated out of a borrowed university activity room before relocating to Mu Yu's own place a two-story apartment on Dongguohui Street with a small garden. The first floor served as the workspace, the second as living quarters.

Now that Mu Yu had returned to China to expand, he had registered a branch in Yushi. The others had come back ahead of him, assembling a team through recruitment. Operations had officially begun the previous week.

Mu Yu woke groggily to the sounds of doors opening and voices. A familiar female voice chimed in beside him:

"Boss Mu's awake. Go ahead and talk at full volume now."

"Boss, why'd you sleep on the office sofa? If you had nowhere to go, you could've told me my door's always open."

Glancing at the time, Mu Yu saw it was past ten—everyone was already at work. Huo Shiyin stood nearby in a crisp shirt, her short hair tucked behind her ears. Amid her busy schedule, she spared him a teasing glance. Lu Hao sat by Mu Yu's legs, wolfing down breakfast, the rich aroma filling the room.

New employees lined up to hand in reports, greeted Mu Yu, and left the office. Hungry, Mu Yu spotted the breakfast Lu Hao had bought for him on the table and dug in.

"How's recruitment going?" he asked between bites, his voice still rough from sleep.

Lu Hao replied, "Shiyin and I pulled in a few classmates to handle the East and North Division directors for now. I'm temporarily covering Central and South. Fan En's still leading things in Washington, and Shiyin's managing the entire back end. Everything else is manageable, but we're short on a finance head—we're not sure who to pick. Want to decide?"

"Any projects secured?"

"Got one." Lu Hao handed a contract to Guan Miao with a grin. "Drank with Lance's crew till 3 AM last night. Landed the biggest national agency."

Mu Yu skimmed the contract and patted Lu Hao's shoulder. "Take some stomach meds. Get your commission from Finance."

Huo Shiyin politely reminded him, "We don't have a finance head yet."

Mu Yu's brain caught up. He stood. "Right. Let's have a meeting then. New company, fresh start. Get Fan En and the others on a video call."

The rest of the day was spent in meetings. Mu Yu's company specialized in high-end brand projects, collaborating with clients worldwide. Mu Yu, Lu Hao, and Huo Shiyin had studied together at the University of Washington. In the early days, Mu Yu, Lu Hao, and Fan En had handled brand and agency relations while Huo Shiyin managed planning and manufacturer coordination.

The company currently had only a dozen or so employees. Mu Yu personally inquired about everyone's current positions and tasks, explaining the follow-up coordination for the new partnership Lu Hao had taken over. At noon, he treated everyone to lunch from Tsui Wah Restaurant out of his own pocket. The large and small meal boxes covered an entire table, making Fan En—who had been dragged out of bed in the middle of the night for the video conference-green with envy on the other end of the screen.

After the meeting, Mu Yu returned to his CEO office. A while later, Lu Hao came in. "Someone's looking for you."

"Who?"

"Your brother's secretary." Lu Hao wore a look of amusement as he added, "Your eldest brother."

As soon as he finished speaking, a man appeared at the office door. Mu Yu put on his glasses and smiled politely at the visitor. "Ah, it's Uncle Xie. Please, have a seat."

Xie Ming stood impeccably dressed in a tailored suit, his hair neatly combed, holding a briefcase with proper decorum. He bowed respectfully to Mu Yu. "Congratulations on the establishment of your new company, Mr. Mu Yu. Upon hearing the good news, Mr. Mu specially sent me to convey his regards."

Lu Hao snorted with laughter. Mu Yu shot him a glance, and with a shrug, Lu Hao shoved his hands into his pockets and sauntered off.

Mu Yu personally brewed a cup of fine tea and invited Xie Ming to sit. Xie Ming was Mu Hanxiao's right-hand man, a lawyer by training who had followed him for many years, holding a senior position in the Mu family's corporate empire. A high-ranking figure stepping into this humble setting, Mu Yu knew better than to take it lightly and treated Xie Ming with utmost courtesy.

"A small company doesn't have much to offer just bagged tea, I'm afraid. Please bear with it."

"You're too kind, Mr. Mu Yu."

Xie Ming's features were stern, but his tone toward Mu Yu was gentle. His demeanor and methods closely mirrored those of his boss, Mu Hanxiao—decisive and uncompromising. As the direct subordinate of the boss himself, he was inevitably aloof and sparing with respect.

Yet, strangely enough, this trusted confidant was courteous to all members of the Mu family including Mu Yu.

Xie Ming gave Mu Yu enough face to actually take a sip of the tea. Mu Yu almost laughed. This old fox usually drank Huangshan Maofeng, served in purple clay teaware from the Qianlong era. Who knew what he really thought of this cheap tea A-Yin had bought for forty or fifty bucks.

But the next moment, Mu Yu wasn't laughing anymore.

Xie Ming said, "Mr. Mu Yu, actually, I came today to participate in your company's recruitment interview."

Mu Yu thought he had misheard. "Participate in what interview?"

Xie Ming pulled out a thick stack of documents from his briefcase and extracted his resume. "I heard your company is currently in need of an HR director. Coincidentally, I have extensive experience in HR and financial management."

Mu Yu gave a dry laugh. "Uncle Xie, please don't make fun of our small company."

Xie Ming produced another document: "This is my resignation letter from my previous employer. The company has completed my resignation process, with Mr. Mu personally signing off on it."

"At Uncle Xie's current level, whether you hold a position in the company is irrelevant," Mu Yu said politely. "I don't know why my elder brother specifically asked you to resign from your main job to come here, but as you know, we're just a small operation. With fewer than twenty employees and revenue that's barely a fraction of what he handles, your talents would be wasted here."

Running out of patience, Mu Yu stood up to see his guest out. Unhurried, Xie Ming presented one final document.

"Mr. Mu Yu's business is just starting out and may face shortages in personnel and funding. The board of my former employer has assessed Qingfei's promising development prospects and wishes to establish a cooperative relationship. This is a contract I drafted before resigning. Should you require it, my former employer would be happy to be your first consideration."

Mu Yu glanced at the document an investment agreement. When he flipped to the investment amount and payment terms, he nearly widened his eyes in surprise. A quick scan of the clauses revealed terms overwhelmingly favorable to the recipient.

It was essentially free money.

Ten minutes later, Huo Shiyin was summoned to Mu Yu's office by phone.

"This is Mr. Xie," Mu Yu introduced cheerfully. "He's passed our company's interview and will temporarily serve as deputy for HR and finance, working under you, A-Yin."

Xie Ming handed Huo Shiyin his business card. "I'll be relying on Manager Huo's guidance for all company matters going forward."

Huo Shiyin stiffly accepted the card, utterly dumbfounded. How could she not recognize the Mu family's personal secretary? Her tongue nearly tied itself in knots. "Mr. Xie... Teacher Xie! You're too kind."

She shot Mu Yu a frantic look that screamed, "Are you trying to shorten my lifespan?" Mu Yu pretended not to understand. 

"Given our staffing shortage and heavy workload, perhaps Mr. Xie could start tomorrow?"

Xie Ming smiled. "Whatever Director Mu decides."

After Xie Ming and Huo Shiyin left the office, Mu Yu lounged lazily in his executive chair, legs crossed, reading the investment agreement from start to finish before tossing it aside indifferently.

Ridiculous.

The next day, Mu Yu brought Xie Ming and Lu Hao to an investment dinner. As a member of the Mu family negotiating investment terms with his own family's company, Lu Hao found it absurd, but Mu Yu saw nothing strange about it.

"The Mu family doesn't even consider me one of their own, yet here you are, an outsider, passing judgment," Mu Yu mocked.

Lu Hao had no retort.

The dinner went smoothly. Mu Hanxiao naturally wouldn't attend personally such trivial matters were beneath his notice. With Xie Ming, the "former employee," present, the atmosphere remained congenial, and no one pressured Mu Yu or Lu Hao to drink. It was perhaps the most effortless business dinner Lu Hao had ever experienced. When he received the signed and stamped agreement, he could hardly believe it.

"Does your brother want to buy out our company?" Lu Hao scratched his head. "This is way too generous."

Mu Yu lit a cigarette and took a drag. "Who knows."

"I thought he didn't like you?"

"He wants everything at home under his control. This amount of money means nothing to him," Mu Yu said with a careless smile. "Whether it's Second Brother's company or mine, he insists on tracking every financial flow to prevent us from doing anything shady that might tarnish the Mu family's reputation. He even controls which school Mu Zhiye attends—his own father doesn't get a say."

"Damn, that's terrifying."

The two sat on the third-floor terrace of Lu Hao's house. Below them, the swimming pool shimmered, its ripples reflecting against the villa's white walls. Both had drunk quite a bit. Mu Yu wore a thin blue shirt and silk trousers, barefoot with one foot propped on the chair, his shirt collar half-unbuttoned.

"Heard your eldest brother's getting married?"

"Yeah. To Liu Shuyan."

Lu Hao clicked his tongue twice—whether marveling at the weight of money and power in this union or simply admiring the perfect match was unclear. With the eldest son's impending engagement, the household must be bustling daily with endless guests, both families visiting frequently to discuss wedding arrangements.

But Mu Yu had nothing to do with any of it. No one called him home. No one phoned him.

After finishing a slender cigarette, Mu Yu suddenly remembered something: "I think my mom left a diamond necklace with me."

Lu Hao: "Right, wasn't that your maternal grandmother's heirloom? Some antique royal necklace from last century—you can't even buy those anymore."

"I'll gift it to my future sister-in-law as an engagement present."

Lu Hao nearly jumped: "Are you insane?"

"My brother gave me such a huge sum. I ought to return the favor."

"That's your mother's family heirloom! What are you thinking? You're not that close with your eldest brother and his fiancée!"

Mu Yu burst into laughter and took a sip of wine.

He genuinely didn't care. His biological mother hadn't shown her face since dumping him at the Mu family's doorstep ten years ago. Some broken necklace from a woman who never contacted him, gifted to the fiancée of an indifferent elder brother.

Perfect. The thought amused Mu Yu.

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