"Even if she is exhausted..."
Feng Fanghua suddenly couldn’t continue speaking, just holding her breath as she looked at her son and then awkwardly turned her gaze away.
"Why did you come?" asked Mu Yichen, looking at her. It was only seven o’clock.
"Of course I came to see... to see if you’re all doing well!" Feng Fanghua hesitated for a moment, thinking that this foolish boy still didn’t know that was his biological daughter, and she couldn’t tell him.
The atmosphere at breakfast this morning was really...
Qin Mu knew she would definitely have indigestion.
Feng Fanghua ate in a particularly formal and proper manner, as if she had received special training, making her afraid to drink her congee in big gulps.
As for Little Huanhuan, she ate so gracefully that it occasionally brought a loving smile to Feng Fanghua’s face, as if to say, "Truly worthy of being my grandchild, even eating looks so lovely."
Mu Yichen just ate what was in his bowl as if nothing was wrong, occasionally glancing at Feng Fanghua and Huanhuan. He noticed that Feng Fanghua really liked Huanhuan quite a bit, and it seemed that Huanhuan liked her too.
"Today I’m taking Huanhuan out to play!"
Qin Mu subconsciously behaved nicely.
Mu Yichen gave Qin Mu a look. Was Qin Mu afraid of Feng Fanghua?
"You’re not afraid of people asking questions if you take her out?"
"What am I afraid of? Haven’t you all told outsiders that she is my granddaughter?"
Feng Fanghua glanced at her son, then turned to gently stroke Huanhuan’s soft hair.
Qin Mu thought, the difference between son and granddaughter is truly huge.
She felt a little happy inside, even if she herself was not loved. Seeing her daughter’s grandparents dote on her so much, she was almost moved to tears.
Mu Yichen watched as Feng Fanghua walked away holding Huanhuan, then lowered his gaze and thoughtfully returned to the room, and Qin Mu, with her bag on her back, came out: Let’s go too!
"Does my mom often look for Huanhuan?" Mu Yichen asked with confusion.
Qin Mu blinked, not seeing any need to keep it a secret.
"Aren’t you worried at all?"
"What do I have to worry about?"
"Oh, come on, it’s just that your parents are old and like little kids, and Huanhuan even calls you dad, so they dote on her a bit. Don’t overthink it, let’s go!"
Qin Mu pushed him to go outside, acting as if it were no big deal.
And her casual explanation actually made sense. Mu Yichen thought no more of it and just assumed that the old couple had gone crazy wanting a grandchild.
Also, deep down, he hoped that the elders could care for Huanhuan the same as they would their own granddaughter, so he relaxed and took Qin Mu to work.
But after he left, Qin Mu stood alone at the door of her studio and thought for a long time, feeling as if she’d fought an unprepared battle. Though she’d won, her body was exhausted.
Xiaomei was waiting for her downstairs: Where’s Huanhuan?
"Taken away by Mrs. Mu again!"
"Eh! Mrs. Mu really does love our little princess!"
"That’s right, she is her true granddaughter after all."
Qin Mu couldn’t help but feel a little elated unconsciously.
"Master wants you to call him back."
Qin Mu returned to the office, put down her bag, and called Jian Yan, who hadn’t gone to bed yet.
"Master, you haven’t been waiting for my call this whole time, have you?"
"Yes, do you think I’m as heartless as you? Hanging up the phone after settling matters."
Qin Mu felt sorry for what had happened last night and playfully stuck out her tongue, although he couldn’t see it.
"Mumu, are you planning to go back to Paris in the future?"
Jian Yan asked her suddenly in a low and deep voice, which struck her heart hard.
"Master, what’s wrong?"
She realized that she no longer had the thought of returning to Paris.
"There’s nothing much, I just want to ask you if you’ve decided to live in Rong City."
"Master, I don’t know!"
She turned around and leaned on the edge of the table, bowing her head.
She didn’t know what the future held for her, she just wanted the people here to remember her, she wanted to make a name for herself in Rongcheng as a way to give her mother an explanation.
She hadn’t thought about the distant future.
"If you’re not planning to come back, then tell him!"
"He can give you the future you want!"
Qin Mu couldn’t find the words, just listening to Jian Yan speak on the other end.
"Mumu, will you ever fall in love with someone else? Besides Mu Yichen?"
They had talked about such matters before, given her age and him being her master, but it had never been , with a tinge of sadness.
Jian Yan always used to say to her with a smile: if you don’t tone it down, no man will dare to want you, unless you don’t talk.
Her words could sometimes be particularly vicious.
Fall in love with someone else?
Someone other than Mu Yichen?
Indeed, she couldn’t deny it, she simply didn’t say it out loud for him to know.
He was a tree, and no matter how hard she strived and struggled, she was just a blade of grass beside the tree.
Jian Yan said before hanging up that he would take care of the adoption paperwork, telling her not to worry.
But Qin Mu sat there motionless all morning, unable to do anything.
In the afternoon, she handed over the design of the suit for Liu Jingyuan to Xiaomei: "Take this to the factory and have them help with the processing, use the best materials."
Xiaomei left in the afternoon, and Qin Mu sent a message to Helian Hao: "Free to have tea together?"
Helian Hao arrived as promised, and after sitting down in the teahouse, Qin Mu handed her the menu: "Order whatever you’d like to eat if you’re too busy."
"Do you still remember the dessert that I liked when I was little?" Helian Hao took the menu but didn’t hurry to open it, instead, she asked Qin Mu.
"Sha Qima?" Does that count?
Back then, when Sha Qima was just becoming popular, Helian Hao’s mother brought some back from a business trip, and Helian Hao ran to her with two pieces, saying they were the most delicious sweets she had ever tasted.
"Hard to believe you still remember! But I stopped eating it after my teens, it made my teeth hurt."
Helian Hao was happy with her response, then opened the menu to order.
Qin Mu also smiled, thinking that Helian Hao’s original taste was still so good, just that her palate had also changed.
People’s taste probably changes many times over a lifetime.
"Are you saying that your master suggested you tell Mu Yichen that Huanhuan is his child?"
"And what about you? What do you think?"
"Me? Anything’s fine!"
Qin Mu lifted her eyes, replying very casually.
"What the hell does ’anything’s fine’ mean?"
"Didn’t I say that I hadn’t planned on hiding it from him in the first place? He was bound to find out that Huanhuan is his biological daughter someday, so it’s best to just let things take their natural course."
Helian Hao didn’t understand.
"So, let things take their natural course!"
Qin Mu laughed, feeling that the things she couldn’t figure out once she discussed them with her best friend suddenly became clear, she figured it out!
Even without the best friend needing to find the answer for her, she could find it herself.
After finishing their tea and dessert, the two went shopping together, with Helian Hao saying, "I didn’t expect Uncle Qin’s birthday banquet was prepared for you."
It was only then that Qin Mu suddenly remembered the affair of the birthday banquet, and in a fit of anger, she handed all the things she was holding to Helian Hao: "I’m going to find Mu Yichen."