"Ten years on the east bank, ten years on the west!"
Qin Mu replied.
Mu Yichen...
"Thinking about it, it seems true. I used to be at a loss for words when you retorted. My heart and lungs felt cold. Is this how you feel now?"
Mu Yichen stroked her long hair, gazing at her intently and asked.
Qin Mu...
Isn’t it! My heart feels cold, like it’s been hit by a draft.
But she feels a mix of anger and helplessness, and even though he’s so bad, she still loves him to death.
Could it be that he felt this way too once?
Co to think of it, Mr. Mu really had a hard ti back then!
But now, they’re a family, one entity, never separate.
Many things he used to do to her, Qin Mu feels she’s doing to him now. Like at this mont, she’s hurt by what she heard, so she presses against Mu Yichen, holding his near-perfect face, kissing him passionately.
Or maybe, ti quietly cycles back?
Or maybe, they will ultimately upend their lives?
——
The next day when Qin Mu went to work, she didn’t get out of the car imdiately. From the rearview mirror, she saw Xiang Hang’s car parked a few ters away, and a tiny fla flickered in her eyes, but it extinguished quickly.
Xiang Hang liked to ask Mu Yichen for instructions at work, which was reasonable, since Mu Yichen was the one who paid him.
Qin Mu pushed the door open and walked inside, while Xiang Hang’s car stayed there, watching her from afar.
Soon after, soone brought him coffee. Xiang Hang got out of the car, unconsciously looked up at the second floor, where Qin Mu stood like a little sister throwing a tantrum. In that mont, Xiang Hang suddenly realized that his relationship with Qin Mu seed more than just a client relationship.
Thinking about Qin Mu picking clothes for him, treating him to food and drink, and teasing him with the female store clerks about finding him a wife, Xiang Hang leaned against his car with the coffee, looking toward the lake.
She quietly changed so of his odd habits, like a sister.
After being noticed by him, Qin Mu imdiately turned back to her seat. Although she didn’t take any new clients today, she handled a few orders from familiar ones.
The phone on the table rang—it was a WeChat ssage from Mu Yichen: "Made up?"
"We never fought in the first place!"
Qin Mu replied.
Mu Yichen glanced at his phone, thinking that he hadn’t even ntioned a na and Qin Mu already knew who he ant, showing their tacit understanding, and he happily began to work.
After Xi ng finished reporting her work to him, she left his office and returned to find a small gift on her desk. Opening it, she found a beautifully crafted bracelet. Xi ng reflexively turned to look at the person sitting behind the nearby desk.
Zhang Hongyun didn’t speak, only lifted her wrist to show her.
Xi ng glanced at it, then smiled slightly, closed the box again, and gently pushed it aside without wearing it.
Imdiately, disappointnt flashed in Zhang Hongyun’s eyes, but she quickly smiled and whispered, "Sister Xi ng, don’t you like it?"
"Hmm, I don’t like wearing these trinkets!"
Xi ng softly replied.
Zhang Hongyun looked at Xi ng’s wrist, trying to recall if Xi ng ever wore anything other than a watch and realized that she never did.
Giving the wrong gift is not a good feeling, and Zhang Hongyun didn’t know how to win over Xi ng. Though Xi ng was easygoing, based on small things, these past few days, Zhang Hongyun learned the easygoingness was only on the surface.
Zhang Hongyun now guessed she probably leaned toward Qin Mu.
Thinking about this, and that Xi ng never brought the bag she gave, which cost over twenty thousand, to work—obtained through Tan Yiwen’s generosity—further confird it.
Zhang Hongyun thought about how Tan Yiwen recently distanced himself, although she enjoyed the peace, knowing in his eyes, she probably looked like a rcenary, greedy for money.
Indeed, lately, funds were tight, and her parents never agreed with her move here, now they cut her allowance to make her return ho.
From a young age, Zhang Hongyun couldn’t stand a confined life, yet now, for her dream...
"Sister Xi ng, could you tell about our boss lady and the boss?"
Zhang Hongyun suddenly asked Xi ng softly.
"Why do you want to know?"
Xi ng turned to her, asking with curiosity.
"I heard they’ve been through a lot, and I think every girl who yearns for love wants to hear about beautiful relationships."
Zhang Hongyun smiled, eyes filled with longing.
"Let’s talk after work, let’s focus on work first!"
Xi ng showed no interest in recounting these tales to Zhang Hongyun, so she imdiately bowed her head to her work.
Zhang Hongyun didn’t expect to be dismissed so quickly, but after being repeatedly brushed aside by Xi ng, she had beco accustod to it, so she nodded and returned to work.
After all, now, even at work, she couldn’t afford any mistakes.
She had to strive, work tirelessly, and exert more effort than her colleagues to gain recognition and approval from her boss.
Indeed, now she knew she wasn’t yet acknowledged, so she decided to focus on work, getting Mu Yichen to take notice of her.
A week straight, Zhang Hongyun stayed late every night until after nine, and that evening, as she was leaving, Mu Yichen just finished a eting with Zhao Huai and Qiao Yi and ca out of the office. Zhao Huai and Qiao Yi exchanged glances, then smiled and went over to greet Zhang Hongyun.
"You’ve only just joined, and you’re already so diligent! I heard from Xi ng you’ve been working late every day lately. Truly a role model for our office building."
Qiao Yi said, hands in his pockets, standing beside her.
"I’m one of the newest employees here, so I need to be extra attentive to everything. Actually, I only stay late until after nine every night. Coincidentally, I’m trying to lose weight, and working late helps distract ."
Zhang Hongyun got up with her bag, ready to leave.
"You’re already slim enough, no need to lose more weight!"
Zhao Huai approached and said.
"No wonder people say Zhao is most popular with the ladies! Seems it’s true!"
Zhang Hongyun said.
"Let’s go!"
Mu Yichen said blandly, aware they were bantering with Zhang Hongyun, but he still didn’t like it.
Only then did Zhang Hongyun glance up, nervously calling out, "Mr. Mu!"
Mu Yichen didn’t respond, striding ahead.
Qiao Yi and Zhao Huai looked at Mu Yichen’s cold retreating figure, Qiao Yi said, "Our Mr. Mu is just that unapproachable, don’t think he’s targeting you specifically!"
"Indeed! Everyone in the building is used to Mr. Mu’s poker face by now, you should get used to it too!"
Zhao Huai added.
"Not at all! Actually, Mr. Mu’s quite nice. If he greeted everyone with a big smile, I’d find it creepy!"
Zhang Hongyun skillfully navigated between Mu Yichen’s two friends, her gentle deanor lting their hearts.
After entering the elevator, Mu Yichen thought they wouldn’t join and pressed the close button. But just as he returned his hand to his pocket, Qiao Yi shoved his arm through the elevator gap, forcing his way in.
"Why didn’t you wait for us?"
Qiao Yi glared at Mu with feigned heartbreak.
Mu Yichen lifted his gaze, disdainful!
"Let’s have Xiaozhang join us, after all, we’re all heading to the first floor."
Mu Yichen hadn’t expected Zhao Huai to pull Zhang Hongyun into the elevator too. Though the elevator was spacious, as he stood nearby, catching a whiff of her cheap perfu, his brow furrowed imdiately.
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