It hadn’t even gotten warm yet!
Alone and bored, he sat for a while before going over to her office desk. He had wanted to feel what she was like when she was drawing, but upon opening the drawer, he found something unexpected.
When Qin Mu came back, Yichen was standing at her desk, holding a document from Paris in his hand.
Qin Mu approached without much strength in her legs, her heart seemed to be toying with her, thumping loudly without cease.
"Did you actually have it sent over?"
He laughed after reading it, looking up at her as if it was nothing and asked.
Qin Mu walked inside slowly, her mind in turmoil. On one hand, she didn’t know what he thought about it, and on the other, she feared the lies would keep growing.
"I meant to give it to you a few days ago, but then some things happened and I forgot!"
She still went over, nervous and somewhat shaky.
"There’s no need to show it to me, showing it to Ms. Feng would be enough."
Mu Yichen put the document aside, thinking about how Ms. Feng always doted on Huanhuan like her own granddaughter, which he couldn’t stand. He had always wanted to "expose the truth" but never found a way, and this was the best evidence.
Qin Mu offered an awkward smile, not daring to say an extra word.
Lying to him was hard.
Many times, she would rather not mention a single word than to lie.
She’d rather live more soberly than to let life stray from the path she had designed.
However, Mu Yichen was an exception in her life.
Being with him, it seemed like many things made it impossible for her to remain indifferent.
That evening, a client unexpectedly visited Mu Yichen’s company, forcing him to leave, and Qin Mu drove back by herself.
Before she reached the entrance, she saw an old-fashioned car parked to the side and a man making a phone call outside it, which immediately made her feel uneasy.
She wasn’t eager to go in at that moment, but if the Jing Family patriarch had come specifically for her, wouldn’t it put the two elders of the Mu Family in a difficult position if she didn’t enter?
She slowly drove up to the entrance, hesitating before finally steering the car into the driveway.
As she parked and entered the living room, she saw the Jing Family patriarch sitting inside with a cold expression on his face.
Upon seeing her return alone, Feng Fanghua’s heart skipped a beat: "Why have you come back by yourself? Where’s Yichen?"
"He’s entertaining guests," Qin Mu replied softly, knowing Feng Fanghua was worried, so she walked over and stood next to her with slow steps.
When the Jing Family patriarch heard her voice, he raised his head to look at her, his face, already weathered by time, was seriously stern.
"Go call Yichen and ask him to come back early, tell him the Jing Family patriarch is here."
Feng Fanghua looked up at her and whispered a reminder.
Feng Fanghua exchanged a look with Qin Mu, who was about to do as she was told.
The old patriarch gave Qin Mu a displeased squint from the corner of his eye, those slits seemed as sharp as blades: "You have the face to live in the Mu Family, I underestimated you. Are you planning to stay and not leave?"
The old patriarch’s tone was mostly high-pitched, and though he had long retired, he still spoke with an official-like cadence.
Qin Mu looked at him once, absent of Feng Fanghua’s cautiousness. She was composed and neither humble nor arrogant.
"Possible? What do you mean by that?"
"Absolutely cannot let the enemy rejoice!"
Qin Mu was frank, yet her words infuriated the Jing Family patriarch so much he was nearly fuming with rage.
"So you are staying with the Mu Family as a means of retaliation?"
The old patriarch glared at her fiercely, as though she were something unsightly.
"—That, I’m afraid, is none of your concern!"
Qin Mu instinctively folded her hands behind her back like a schoolchild, but her stubborn back was straight, showing no consideration for the old patriarch’s feelings.
Feng Fanghua and Mu Zihao sat to the side, neither daring to interject casually, yet they admired Qin Mu’s interaction with the old patriarch; probably no one had dared to defy him at his age.
"None of my concern? Mu Yichen was the grandson-in-law I had decided on a long time ago. Tell me, does it concern me or not?"
The old patriarch looked elsewhere, his irritation nearly uncontrollable.
"Too bad, the moment I arrived he abandoned the Jing Family," Qin Mu said in a not too loud voice, in fact quite low, but the defiant tone enraged the Jing Family patriarch enough to make his lungs explode.
"You dare repeat that!"
The old patriarch raised his cane toward her.
But Qin Mu didn’t flinch at all, just letting her eyes droop as she defiantly met his gaze.
Suddenly, she thought of the day he came to the studio to find her, and if Liu Jingyuan hadn’t arrived in time, she would probably still be lying in the hospital, right?
Feng Fanghua was startled and quickly stood up, opening her mouth and holding back her shock as she spoke: "Old sir, please calm down, she is young and doesn’t understand."