Ye Mu returned from work, dragging his tired steps into his room, changed into slippers, and walked in the dark, sitting on the sofa. He took off his watch and casually tossed it onto the coffee table.
A "ding" sounded in the silent room. Ye Mu rubbed his slightly aching temples.
He had handled a major project today, one that involved the company's profits for the next six months. The project was mostly completed, but a minor issue had suddenly surfaced, forcing him to work overtime to resolve it.
For a big boss, Ye Mu, who was extremely averse to overtime, was a rarity. But he truly never worked overtime.
Ye Mu lived alone. He arrived at work precisely on time and left precisely on time. Only when he returned home did he feel a bit more comfortable, as if something at home was calling him to hurry back each day as closing time approached.
Today's situation was highly unusual.
Ye Mu sat for a while longer before turning on the lights, preparing to make something to eat.
Having left home at a young age and unwilling to have a nanny enter his home, Ye Mu handled his own cleaning and cooking.
Over the years, he had become quite a good cook. However, he was truly exhausted today, so he only planned to make something simple, eat, and go to bed early.
But as soon as he turned on the light and the room illuminated, a splash of vibrant color caught his eye in his peripheral vision.
Ye Mu frowned and looked over, spotting a... butterfly? Or a pink butterfly? on his black stone coffee table.
Ye Mu looked around. The living room windows were tightly shut, and he was on the thirtieth floor. How had this butterfly gotten in?
The butterfly landed precisely next to his watch, which he had just tossed onto the coffee table. Its wings fluttered incessantly. For some reason, Ye Mu felt as if this little butterfly was curious about his watch.
Even more peculiar was the butterfly's pink wings. As its wings fanned, they seemed to shimmer under the light. Its two antennae twitched, giving it a very cute appearance.
Ye Mu instinctively rubbed his eyes, but even after rubbing them, the butterfly was still in the same spot when he opened them again.
He sat back down on the sofa and cautiously reached out towards the little butterfly.
The little butterfly's antennae moved, and it even moved a little closer to Ye Mu's fingers.
This small movement made the corners of Ye Mu's lips curl up involuntarily. He directly extended his finger and placed it in front of the little butterfly. The butterfly indeed landed directly on his finger.
Although he spent his days in an office, Ye Mu exercised weekly. Not only did he have a good physique, but his hands were also slender and strong, with broad knuckles.
A beautiful yet extremely fragile little butterfly landed on them, creating a rather incongruous image. Yet, Ye Mu was delighted. The weight of the butterfly on his finger was almost negligible, but he inexplicably felt a softness in his heart.
Ye Mu sat on the sofa, bringing the finger on which the butterfly rested close to his eyes for a careful observation.
He never considered himself someone who would enjoy observing such small creatures, but this time, he felt no impatience.
The little butterfly was small, and its eyes were small too. Ye Mu couldn't discern much, yet he felt as if he saw something. This little butterfly must like him; otherwise, why would it appear in his home and be so close to him?
Ye Mu extended a finger and very lightly brushed the butterfly's pink wings, murmuring to himself:
"Then I'll keep you from now on, beautiful little thing."
The little butterfly fluttered its wings twice. Ye Mu nodded, "You want to stay with me too? Alright."
Employees of the Qi Ye Group noticed that their boss had started arriving late and leaving early.
Although their boss had always arrived and left on time before, he never arrived even a minute late, nor did he leave early.
Even stranger, their boss always wore a smile on his face when he came to work recently.
A secretary from the CEO's office revealed that during work hours, the boss would secretly open shopping apps and buy things like tree leaves and grass leaves.
But what exactly had happened to the boss was known only to himself. If anyone else knew, it would be the little butterfly the boss was keeping at home.
The little butterfly now had its own room. Every day after work, Ye Mu would bring back freshly air-freighted branches and grass leaves. When he got home, he would also personally cut many fresh fruits for it.
Ye Mu was completely clueless about raising small animals. He followed guides on his phone for many things, but he found that many online guides for raising butterflies were not suitable for his little butterfly.
His little butterfly didn't like nectar or tender leaves; it only liked to sip fruit juices.
Ye Mu could only tentatively try different fruits for it each day to see which ones it preferred.
After a few days of testing, Ye Mu discovered that it preferred fruits like watermelon, which were juicy and had only a sweet flavor.
Today was no different. Ye Mu cut a few small pieces of fruit and placed them in a small dish on the table. To properly care for the little butterfly, Ye Mu had converted the entire room into a small abode for it.
Although the little butterfly didn't like nectar, Ye Mu still changed the fresh flowers daily and kept them in place. A temperature controller was constantly working, maintaining the entire room at a suitable temperature.
As soon as Ye Mu entered the room, the little butterfly flew out from its specially prepared nest lined with a soft little blanket. It circled Ye Mu once before landing.
Ye Mu smiled and reached out to stroke the butterfly's wings.
This had become their tacit understanding: whenever the little butterfly approached, Ye Mu would always reach out to touch or stroke it.
After their daily routine of closeness, the little butterfly flew to the small dish to "eat" watermelon.
Ye Mu sat on a chair nearby, watching the little butterfly with a smile. It was only at this time each day that he could relax completely, without having to think about anything.
Every day, after the little butterfly finished "eating," it would play with Ye Mu for a while longer, flying around him.
But today, after finishing its dinner, the little butterfly only came to nuzzle Ye Mu once before returning to its nest.
This was also different from other butterflies. His little butterfly didn't sleep on branches or grass leaves; instead, like humans, it lay in a soft little nest.
Ye Mu didn't find anything wrong with this. However, seeing that it seemed particularly drowsy today, the smile on his lips faded.
He wasn't very good at raising butterflies. Had his butterfly fallen ill?
Ye Mu observed it carefully for a while but found no abnormalities. It seemed to have simply fallen asleep.
Ye Mu tiptoed out of the butterfly's room, planning to seek out an expert tomorrow if anything else happened.