The following day, Fu Shinian woke up to find Su Mu no longer by his side, which was rare—she usually slept in later than himself.
He suffered from hangovers, experiencing severe headaches the morning after drinking, but this ti it seed he was symptom-free. He vaguely recalled Su Mu giving him massages throughout the previous evening, which might have genuinely helped.
As he descended the stairs after freshening up, Su Mu was carrying breakfast from the kitchen to the dining table. Seeing him co down, she smiled slightly:
"Awake?"
"Mhm," Fu Shinian responded lightly, walking over and eyeing the breakfast laid out on the table. "Did you get up this early just to make this?"
Auntie Lin also erged from the kitchen. Seeing that Su Mu didn’t respond, she spoke up:
"Madam was down quite early, ntioning that the master had drunk last night and might not have much of an appetite this morning. So, she thought to prepare so light and refreshing food."
Fu Shinian glanced at Su Mu and seated himself, pulling out a chair:
"It’s not necessary to go to such trouble."
Su Mu also sat down and served him a bowl of goji berry millet porridge:
"Drinking harms the stomach. You should have so millet porridge; it’s good for you."
Fu Shinian looked at her, didn’t take it, and Su Mu, finding it too hot to hold, set it in front of him. Whenever he looked at her like that, Su Mu knew the words to follow would hardly be pleasant. She hoped this ti would be an exception, but it wasn’t.
She heard Fu Shinian say:
"Tired of playing the role of a strong, independent woman? Starting to try out being the good wife and mother? Who’s inspired you in this regard?"
Su Mu looked at him:
"What do you an by that?"
"I’ve been drunk before. I’ve never seen you take such care."
"So you think I have an ulterior motive in doing this?"
Fu Shinian scoffed lightly. Looking at the millet porridge before him, he began to wonder if Wen Han and that child had ever been treated with such care by her. Even though he felt this was highly unlikely, right now, the thought left him utterly without appetite.
"When soone wears too many masks, who can truly discern her real face?"
Su Mu smiled faintly:
"Then what do you think I’m asking for from you? Ever since we married, I’ve neither asked for your money—you know I’ve never touched the living expenses you gave —nor have I needed you to use your position to secure a job for . All I did was..."
"All you did was what?" Fu Shinian interrupted her, raising his eyes to et hers: "What do you want to get from ? Don’t tell it’s love."
Never before had Su Mu felt such defeat. She didn’t understand why, after sincerely dedicating two years to soone, he couldn’t sense a shred of her genuineness, and found it laughable instead. Was it that she hadn’t done well enough, or was it that he simply didn’t care?
"Why can’t you believe that I might like you?"
At this, the smile on Fu Shinian’s lips turned even colder:
"Like? So, you’re saying that you wanted to marry just because you liked ?"
"Is that not enough?"
Fu Shinian didn’t imdiately respond. Instead, he rose from his seat, leaned slightly towards Su Mu, and lifted her chin with his hand, his expression cynical and chilling:
"Su Mu, this is the last ti. Don’t let hear the word ’like’ from you again. Your ’like’ is an insult to !"
After uttering those words, he turned and left, utterly disregarding the emotional hurt his remark had inflicted on Su Mu.
When Auntie Lin walked out from the kitchen, she saw only Su Mu, listlessly sitting alone in the dining room without a hint of vitality. The food on the table was untouched. Sighing, she stepped forward:
"Madam..."
Su Mu ca to her senses, turned her head to wipe the corner of her eye, then looked back at Auntie Lin: "Throw out all this food."
Auntie Lin wanted to offer so words of comfort but didn’t know where to start. anwhile, Su Mu had already stood up and started walking slowly upstairs, leaving behind only a slender and lonely silhouette.
----
Wei Shaoqin had been waiting for a call from Su Mu since early morning, but as ti ticked by and noon approached, his phone remained silent. This made him wonder if Su Mu truly intended to abandon her wallet.
But that seed unlikely. Bored the previous evening, Wei Shaoqin had browsed Su Mu’s wallet. With both her identification and bank cards inside, he thought it more likely that Su Mu would choose to co to him rather than go through the hassle of replacing them.
It wasn’t until the evening approached that Wei Shaoqin’s phone finally rang. He looked at his device with almost delight, only to realize there were no incoming calls. As he cald down, he noticed it was the internal office phone on his desk that was ringing. Impatiently, he answered:
"Speak."
"Mr. Wei, Miss Su is waiting for you in the lobby on the first floor."
As Wei Shaoqin rode the elevator down, Su Mu was chatting with the receptionists at the front desk. Having been colleagues before, it was only polite for them to greet each other upon eting. When Wei Shaoqin exited the elevator, Su Mu said her goodbyes to them and headed straight for the exit.
Wei Shaoqin silently watched as Su Mu walked towards him:
----
At the hotel’s entrance, Su Mu stood with her back to Wei Shaoqin. As he approached, he couldn’t shake the feeling—perhaps it was an illusion—that Su Mu wasn’t in the best of moods today. Swinging his car keys, he walked over:
"Are you sure you’re here to treat to a al today? You look more like you’re ready for a fight."
Su Mu chuckled softly:
"Can I beat you up?"
"Of course not."
Su Mu, sowhat impatient, said, "Aren’t we supposed to have dinner? Can we go now?"
Wei Shaoqin nodded:
"Certainly."
Wei Shaoqin felt that since Su Mu was the one who had invited him out for a al, he, as the invited guest, shouldn’t be picky about the place. It rounded up to almost being a lifesaving grace, and Su Mu would probably be too embarrassed to take him sowhere too shabby. However, when he followed her instructions and finally parked the car, Wei Shaoqin looked at Su Mu in disbelief:
"Su Mu, are you freaking kidding ?"
The place was noisy, with a mix of slls all around, and Wei Shaoqin didn’t want to stay a second longer, but Su Mu had already confidently gotten out of the car, slamming the door behind her. Through the lowered window, she looked at Wei Shaoqin and smiled slightly:
"This al is on ; whether or not you co doesn’t make much of a difference to . Anyway, I’ve invited you."
"You’re being unreasonable!"
"When you stole my wallet, you didn’t complain about being a thieving scoundrel!" Su Mu said indifferently, giving Wei Shaoqin a take-it-or-leave-it look, and turned to leave. Despite being furious to the point of itching teeth, Wei Shaoqin still indignantly got out of the car and followed her!
Su Mu eventually took a seat at a barbecue stall, greeted the owner familiarly, and picked up a nu to start writing down her order. Wei Shaoqin glanced at the greasy table and bench in front of him, his brow slightly furrowed. Seeing that a woman like Su Mu could sit so contentedly, he couldn’t be too fussy and pretentious as a man.
Just as he was about to sit down, a tall and burly man hurried past, shouting, "Boss, give 40 more lamb skewers, and do you have any garlic? Get so."
Weaving to the side, Wei Shaoqin narrowly avoided being bumped into. The man, noticing Wei Shaoqin, turned his head to look at him:
"Buddy, you don’t seem like the type to co to a place like this."
Wei Shaoqin smiled:
"What’s there to a type? It’s all just a dressed-up façade."
The man laughed upon hearing this: "I like your style, I’ll buy you a drink later."
Wei Shaoqin replied with a nod and sat down, then he noticed Su Mu’s mocking gaze:
"Why are you looking at like that?"
"Nothing, I just thought you’d look down on this place."
"I do look down on it," Wei Shaoqin swept his eyes around and said indifferently, "but it’s the environnt, not the people here. I’m just fortunate to have been born into a wealthy family. If I’d started at the sa starting line as these folks, I might not be as carefree and comfortable as they are."
Su Mu smiled slightly:
"I didn’t expect you to have so self-awareness."
Wei Shaoqin scoffed: "Don’t think I can’t tell that you’re insulting ."
Su Mu didn’t say anything more and passed the nu: "See if there’s anything you’d like to eat."
Wei Shaoqin didn’t take it: "You order yours, don’t worry about ."
"I’m here to treat you, and if you don’t order anything, are you planning to use it as an excuse to make treat you again after we leave? Let tell you upfront, that’s not happening. I don’t have that much money to treat you to als."
While listening to her, Wei Shaoqin lit a cigarette and squinted through the smoke at her:
"Fu Shinian isn’t giving you money to spend?"
Su Mu seed not to want to ntion this person and asked Wei Shaoqin one last ti, "Are you going to order? If not, I’m going to place the order."
Wei Shaoqin remained silent, and Su Mu got up and left.
When she returned, Su Mu carried a bag of beer. Wei Shaoqin’s brow quirked slightly: "You’re not planning to get drunk and seduce , are you?"
"No, this beer is to sober you up in case you start talking nonsense later."
Wei Shaoqin smiled slightly:
"That might not be enough."
Su Mu ignored him, opened a bottle of beer, and set it in front of Wei Shaoqin: "Barbecue without beer is soulless."
"Do you not know that drinking in front of a man who’s a tad interested in you is dangerous? Aren’t you afraid that I’ll take you away when you’re drunk and do sothing indecent?"
"If you really wanted to do that, you wouldn’t have taken to the hospital last ti."
Wei Shaoqin smiled slightly:
"I didn’t take advantage of you last ti because I don’t like being used as a pawn. But today is different; if you get drunk, it’s like you’re offering yourself up, and I have no reason to refuse."
Su Mu looked at him for a few seconds, then took back the bottle of beer in front of him:
"Then you better not drink."
Wei Shaoqin laughed heartily.
He could sense that Su Mu’s mood wasn’t very good today, but he didn’t ask. For Su Mu, being unhappy was already the outco, and why it happened didn’t seem important anymore. Since she wanted to drink, he’d simply keep her company. If nothing else, getting thoroughly drunk would be a clear-cut conclusion!
Reviews
All reviews (0)