Su Mu looked at Lin Ning, puzzled, as if she didn’t believe her words.
Indeed, there was no reason to believe her; after all, she was certainly arranged by Fu Shinian to be by Su Mu’s side. If she had said nothing over the past two years, then what was the purpose of her presence?
Lin Ning seed curious about Su Mu’s doubts and spoke softly,
"Mr. Fu only asked to protect you. He didn’t ask to report your whereabouts to him and instructed not to contact him. He didn’t even give his contact information; he only had mine. If there was any danger or significant event, he would contact proactively, like the ti when Shi Lihua took you away. That was the first ti Mr. Fu called ."
Su Mu felt a slight stir in her heart but didn’t show it. She had thought that Fu Shinian arranged for soone to be by her side partly for the so-called protection but mainly to have her report her events over the years to him. However, to her surprise, he had never requested such reports. He had Lin Ning stay by her side purely to protect her safety in case Shi Lihua found her.
Seeing Su Mu fall silent, Lin Ning bit her lip and continued,
"The day Shi Lihua was arrested, I wanted to ask Mr. Fu to speak well of , thinking that his word might increase my chances of staying at the studio. But Mr. Fu said he’d better not speak up because it might just make you angrier. However, if your relationship improved, he would co forward to speak on my behalf."
Su Mu chuckled in response,
"Yes, you shouldn’t have looked to him. If he stood before , I definitely wouldn’t have kept you."
Lin Ning smiled back,
"What about now? Will Sister Su keep ?"
Su Mu looked at Lin Ning without a word, and after a few seconds of silence, Lin Ning smiled faintly,
"Sister Su, I’m not pressuring you, and please don’t feel obliged to do anything because of my story. I’ve seen your hardships these past few years, I understand your difficulties, and I know them. I would understand regardless of your decision and don’t want you to feel any pressure. I’m sitting here telling you all this just to fight for my future."
"Do you really like photography?"
"Yes, I really do," Lin Ning smiled softly. "I’ve been deprived of the right to choose since I was young, so my life has always been passive before eting you, Sister Su, with almost no decision left to my own will. But this ti, I genuinely like it, and I really want to stay."
Su Mu nodded,
"Well, in that case, stay."
Lin Ning was montarily stunned, then looked up at Su Mu, whose dumbstruck expression imdiately made Su Mu laugh,
"What? Surprised?"
"I... I thought Sister Su would... would drive away."
"I am keeping you, but not without conditions. If you want to stay in the studio, from now on, you can only be my assistant. Though you don’t have Fu Shinian’s phone number, it’s inevitable that he might contact you. I hope you know what to do if you receive his call."
Lin Ning raised her hand in a promise,
"Don’t worry, Sister Su, he doesn’t pay , so naturally, I’ll prioritize you first."
Su Mu smiled faintly,
"That reminds , you’ve also received quite a salary here these two years. Fu Shinian must not have paid you any less, right?"
Lin Ning: "..."
"I’m kidding, don’t take it seriously," Su Mu smiled mildly. "Go on, get busy. For the following work, you should contact directly; I’m more comfortable with that."
"Yes."
After a busy day, with Qiqi already having taken a nap in Su Mu’s resting room, Su Mu’s work finally paused briefly. Before leaving, Lin Ning ca in to confirm with her about heading to the countryside in three days to shoot a brochure for the Ji Qingluan Foundation. Su Mu nodded in acknowledgnt and then let Lin Ning leave for the day.
Closing the studio door, Su Mu lifted Qiqi into the car seat, and just as she settled into the driver’s seat without starting the engine, her phone in the purse rang. She took it out and answered casually,
"Who is this?"
"Have you returned to Jiangcheng City?"
Su Mu was startled, then pulled the phone away from her ear to confirm the number displayed wasn’t the one Fu Shinian had used before.
"Have you changed your number?"
"After you blacklisted my old number, I naturally had to switch to a new one to call you. When did you go back? Why didn’t you tell ?"
"Mr. Fu, aren’t you taking yourself too seriously? When I return to my own ho, what business is it of yours?"
She then hung up the phone directly and added his new number to the blacklist. Only then did she realize that Qiqi had been watching her the whole ti. Su Mu smiled awkwardly, chiding herself for being careless. She didn’t really want Qiqi to see the person she liked as the sa person she disliked.
Su Mu started to speak, but Qiqi was the first to break the silence,
"Was it Fu Shinian?"
Su Mu: "...Yes."
"Did he upset you again?"
Su Mu: "...No."
"If he did, you must tell , and I’ll scold him for you."
Su Mu was speechless but quite curious about Qiqi’s attitude towards Fu Shinian and was surprised by Qiqi’s way of addressing him.
"Qiqi, why do you call him by his na directly?"
Qiqi blinked innocently at Su Mu,
"Fu Shinian asked to. He said he’s my dad, but you, Su Mu, definitely won’t acknowledge it. I absolutely won’t call him ’dad’ before you agree, to avoid upsetting you. But when we talk, we can’t keep saying ’hello’ and ’you’, right? So, I told Fu Shinian, and he thought about it, then just told to call him by his na."
Su Mu: "..."
"Fu Shinian said I can’t call him ’uncle’, because he is my dad, and not ’godfather’ either, because he’s my biological father." Qiqi laughed, "Actually, I originally wanted to call him ’handso’, but Fu Shinian said I liked handso guys too much, and it wasn’t distinctive enough."
Su Mu tugged at the corners of her mouth,
"When did you two get so close?"
Before, when Su Mu asked this question, Qiqi would often show a bit of guilt or unease, because she cared a lot about Su Mu’s feelings and was afraid of causing her any unhappiness. But this ti, Qiqi completely disregarded Su Mu’s feelings, looking at her with a beaming smile, and openly admitted,
"Of course, it was when I was sick, and Fu Shinian ca to visit ."
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