The Picture on the Bookshelf

Xu Anyi sat down on the large couch in his office, and Si Mu walked over to his desk, sitting down, tilting his body slightly so he could see her past his large computer screen.

He did not turn on his computer right away and instead picked up the landline phone to the side of his desk, dialing a number.

"Yes, President Si," a male assistant spoke, quieting everyone down as everyone was busy talking about the scene they had just seen.

"Bring in some tea and snacks," Si Mu ordered before hanging up the phone.

Xu Anyi looked around the large room. His office was enormous, although Xu Anyi was not very surprised as he was the CEO of the company, and she remembered that her father's office had been about this size as well.

To one side of the room, there was an enormous desk where he sat, and it was covered with organized stacks of folders and papers. Behind his table, there were several bookshelves filled with books at the bottom. The top was decorated with several vases and expensive-looking decorative objects, including a few picture frames.

To the left of the bookshelves, there was another door that was closed.

"What's there?" She asked.

Si Mu turned around and looked at the door, "It's a bedroom."

He turned around to see her confused expression, "I sometimes work late and I just stay here."

Xu Anyi raised an eyebrow. Since she had met him, he had never stayed in his office once. She stood up from the couch and walked over to his desk.

He turned on his computer and his eyes followed her as she walked around his desk and over to the bookshelves. There were a few picture frames on the second row of the shelf, and she leaned forward, looking at the figure in the pictures.

The first picture was a professional headshot of him, and it looked like it wasn't taken very long ago, although his hair appeared a little shorter than now. She had seen the picture somewhere before. . . Possibly in the television news or in a newspaper.

He turned around and looked at her, and smiled softly when he saw that she was looking at the pictures. He then turned back around as his computer turned open and he opened a document.

The next picture had three people in it, and it was the picture of a small baby in the arms of a man that looked quite similar to Si Mu now. Next to him, there was another beautiful woman with long silky black hair and a soft smile on her face.

Xu Anyi picked up the picture frame and looked closely at the baby in the picture. The baby wasn't smiling, and he looked blankly into the camera lens, "Is this baby you?"

Si Mu turned his head around and looked at the picture in her hands, "Yes."

Xu Anyi smiled, "You look quite similar to yourself now."

Si Mu raised an eyebrow, "In what way?"

Xu Anyi thought about it for a second before she carefully put the picture frame back down onto the shelf, "Your facial features and. . . the lack of facial expression."

Si Mu smiled and looked back at his computer screen.

Xu Anyi moved over to the last picture positioned a distance away from the other two, and it was another picture of him alone.

He stood in the middle of the frame, standing in front of a large castle. He appeared quite young in the photo, and he had straight bangs that fell straight into his eyes. He wore a thin pair of glasses over his eyes, which stared coldly into the camera lens.

Xu Anyi walked past the picture, but she stopped when she saw the castle in the background of the photo. Her head tilted slightly and she picked up the picture frame, looking carefully at the castle in the background.

"Isn't this the Royal Palace of Country M?" She asked softly.

Si Mu couldn't tell if she was speaking to herself, and she turned around to see the picture she was looking at. His expression froze for a quick second before he replied, "Yes."

Xu Anyi looked up with surprise upon his answer, "You went to Country M before?"

He nodded.

"Really?! I studied in Country M for a year before!" She looked down at the familiar palace that she had visited several years ago.

There was a monarchy in Country M, and the palace in the picture was the main palace of the country. She had gone there with her friends once several years ago when she had studied there, so she recognized it.

Si Mu turned back around, "I know."

He spoke softly, but Xu Anyi heard him and she looked up from the picture, "What do you mea-"

However, before she could ask him how he knew, there was a knock at the door, and then a man walked in holding a tray in his hands.

Xu Anyi looked at the picture one more time before she set it back down onto the bookshelf and walked back over to the couch, sitting down in the same position.

The man who walked in glanced at her before quickly looking away and walking over to the large desk, "President Si, I have the tea and snacks."

Si Mu nodded and looked over in Xu Anyi's direction, "Put it on the table."

The assistant nodded and walked over to the couch, setting the tray down on the glass table right in front of Xu Anyi, "I am President Si's main assistant, Luo Xi. Here are some snacks, Ms. Xu."

"This tea is warm," he said, pointing at the porcelain tea pot, "And this is cold tea," he continued, gesturing towards the tall glass cup.

Xu Anyi nodded, wondering how the man knew her name.

The assistant walked back to Si Mu, who looked up from his computer, "Why are you still here?"

The assistant blinked a few times.

"I'll let you know if I need anything else. Go work," Si Mu ordered coldly, "Is everything for the meeting prepared already?"

The assistant's expression stiffened as he quickly shook his head and turned around, practically sprinting out of the room.

Xu Anyi took a sip of the tea and turned her head around, looking in Si Mu's direction.

He looked over at her as well, "Tell me if you need anything else."

She nodded.

He looked at her for another few seconds before he began working. Xu Anyi also pulled out her laptop and began getting some work done.

The two of them sat in silence for almost an hour before there was another knock at the door, and Luo Xi walked in again, "President Si, everyone is in the meeting room."

Si Mu nodded as he grabbed the folder at the top of the middle pile and stood up, putting on his suit jacket again, "I'm going to go to a meeting. I'll be back in. . . an hour."

Xu Anyi quickly closed her laptop screen and jumped up, "Can I go with you?"

She was here to learn and being able to see how he interacted with his workers would definitely be more helpful than just watching him work.

Si Mu paused for a second, raising an eyebrow.

Hearing this, Luo Xi's eyes also widened as his gaze darted from Si Mu over to Xu Anyi.

Xu Anyi felt the assistant's surprised stare, and seeing that Si Mu did not respond immediately, Xu Anyi also realized that her request might have been a little too heavy.

After all, this was probably a meeting amongst the higher officials of the company, and she was an outsider. . . Any company wouldn't want an outsider to listen to their private meetings, and this was the Si Corporation, the most powerful company in the country.

She remembered many years ago after Si Mu had come to their house, her father had spoken about how the Si Corporation was a very complicated place, filled with competition and scheming, which is also why he ultimately agreed to reject Si Mu despite his powerful background.

Even though she knew she had no bad motives for wanting to listen to the meeting, it was reasonable for them to be careful.

"Never mind, I'm sor-" She sat back down.

"Sure, come with me."