Joann smiled a smile that Lee Mu could not fathom. It felt like there was a secret hiding behind that smile but what kind of secret? Lee Mu honestly had no idea.
Nevertheless, he did not pry because God knows he too was hiding a huge secret himself.
"Actually speaking of Qing Qing, let me message her… She should be here by now," Joann said as she took out her phone. She typed a quick message and clicked send. The reply came soon enough.
Joann took her time to read it and when she was done, she raised her head up from the screen and smiled apologetically at Lee Mu. "I'm sorry, Qing Qing said she is still stuck in traffic but I am sure she will be here soon enough."
"That's okay." Lee Mu smiled as the waiter came with another copy of the menu. He nodded his thanks at the waiter before turning to focus on the menu.
Joann made use of this opportunity to send a quick message to Qing Qing. When Joann saw the reply, she smiled. 'This girl…' Joann teased and put her phone away. Joann had half a mind to think this whole meeting was just a ploy by Qing Qing to get her to help the young woman feel out Lee Mu. Joann was once a young girl in love once and she understood fearing the sting of rejection. In any case, for Qing Qing, she was willing to be this matchmaker. Joann was glad to have found her own marital bliss so she wished that good fortune on others as well.
Joann leaned closer to Lee Mu in a conspiratorial manner and she began in the tone of a confidential whisper, "Lee Mu, put that menu down for a moment. Tell me, what do you think of Qing Qing?"
Lee Mu placed the menu aside and rewarded Joann a frown. "Qing Qing? She's a nice girl. Why?"
Joann tutted. "That's not what I mean." She then pressed further, this time with more specifics, "I'm talking about what do you think of Qing Qing as a woman?"
"As a woman?!" Lee Mu chuckled, not in a condescending manner but because he found the whole situation rather preposterous. Their young co-star had never once shown any sign that she was interested in him so Joann's question came a bit out of the moon for him to handle. "Joann, what are you trying to get at?"
Joann sighed with frustration. "Why are you making this so complicated? Just tell me honestly what is your opinion about Qing Qing? Lee Mu, I'm warning you, even though we are friends but I will never forgive you if you dare to toy with a young girl's feeling," Joann claimed with a straight face.
"Toy with a young girl's feeling? Joann, you're confusing me. You must have gotten something mistaken…" Lee Mu tried to explain but he froze mid-sentence before continuing with this question, "Wait, Joann, isn't that your husband?"
Joann was baffled. "Lee Mu, don't try to change the subject, it will not work on me. Why would Xu Jing be at this café?"
"But…" was everything Lee Mu managed to say before a fierce left hook went for his face. He was so surprised by the sudden aggression that it did not even cross his mind to block. The chair he sat on toppled over and Lee Mu tipped to the ground.
The commotion caused the little customers that were dining in the café to turn to their table and a few of ladies started to scream for help.
Joann recovered from her shock and she turned to look. As Lee Mu had said, the aggressor was none other than her husband, Xu Jing. She jumped up from her seat and rushed to check up on Lee Mu, yelling, "Xu Jing, what is the problem with you? Lee Mu is my friend, why are you assaulting him for no reason?"
"No reason?!" Xu Jing answered in a scary tone that Joann had not heard him use before. It sent a chill up her spine and in that particular moment, she felt fear. "He is trying to steal my wife away from me, I could have killed him for that!"
"What?!" Joann was dumbfounded by her husband's accusation. "What the hell are you talking about? Where did you get that ludicrous idea?!"
"I saw it with my own two eyes, you two were having some intimate moments here earlier!"
"Then, you need to get your eyes checked. I am not cheating on you, Xu Jing," the fact that she needed to argue for her innocence felt so silly to Joann. She had not done anything wrong that she knew of but to placate Xu Jing who was burning up with fury, she explained, "My relationship with Lee Mu is completely innocent. We were merely talking, we didn't do anything that was as you claimed, overly intimate."
Xu Jing did not say anything in terms of an answer but the stone-cold look in his eyes told Joann everything she needed to know, the man did not believe her… at least not without further convincing or proof.
But how to find proof? It was much easier to prove one's guilt than innocence because it would not enter your mind to collect evidence when you were innocent. Only the guilty mind would do something like that to prepare for a defense because they knew one was coming.
Since she could not produce a more concrete evidence, Joann resorted to her old tactic which was to turn the aggression back onto Xu Jing. In their marriage, both Xu Jing and Joann knew Xu Jing was the weaker party and Joann could do anything as long as she pushed hard enough. She assumed that it was because Xu Jing was afraid of her but she failed to understand that the real reason Xu Jing was so permissive to her demands was because his love for her was that deep and tolerant.
Joann smiled a smile that Lee Mu could not fathom. It felt like there was a secret hiding behind that smile but what kind of secret? Lee Mu honestly had no idea.
Nevertheless, he did not pry because God knows he too was hiding a huge secret himself.
"Actually speaking of Qing Qing, let me message her… She should be here by now," Joann said as she took out her phone. She typed a quick message and clicked send. The reply came soon enough.
Joann took her time to read it and when she was done, she raised her head up from the screen and smiled apologetically at Lee Mu. "I'm sorry, Qing Qing said she is still stuck in traffic but I am sure she will be here soon enough."
"That's okay." Lee Mu smiled as the waiter came with another copy of the menu. He nodded his thanks at the waiter before turning to focus on the menu.
Joann made use of this opportunity to send a quick message to Qing Qing. When Joann saw the reply, she smiled. 'This girl…' Joann teased and put her phone away. Joann had half a mind to think this whole meeting was just a ploy by Qing Qing to get her to help the young woman feel out Lee Mu. Joann was once a young girl in love once and she understood fearing the sting of rejection. In any case, for Qing Qing, she was willing to be this matchmaker. Joann was glad to have found her own marital bliss so she wished that good fortune on others as well.
Joann leaned closer to Lee Mu in a conspiratorial manner and she began in the tone of a confidential whisper, "Lee Mu, put that menu down for a moment. Tell me, what do you think of Qing Qing?"
Lee Mu placed the menu aside and rewarded Joann a frown. "Qing Qing? She's a nice girl. Why?"
Joann tutted. "That's not what I mean." She then pressed further, this time with more specifics, "I'm talking about what do you think of Qing Qing as a woman?"
"As a woman?!" Lee Mu chuckled, not in a condescending manner but because he found the whole situation rather preposterous. Their young co-star had never once shown any sign that she was interested in him so Joann's question came a bit out of the moon for him to handle. "Joann, what are you trying to get at?"
Joann sighed with frustration. "Why are you making this so complicated? Just tell me honestly what is your opinion about Qing Qing? Lee Mu, I'm warning you, even though we are friends but I will never forgive you if you dare to toy with a young girl's feeling," Joann claimed with a straight face.
"Toy with a young girl's feeling? Joann, you're confusing me. You must have gotten something mistaken…" Lee Mu tried to explain but he froze mid-sentence before continuing with this question, "Wait, Joann, isn't that your husband?"
Joann was baffled. "Lee Mu, don't try to change the subject, it will not work on me. Why would Xu Jing be at this café?"
"But…" was everything Lee Mu managed to say before a fierce left hook went for his face. He was so surprised by the sudden aggression that it did not even cross his mind to block. The chair he sat on toppled over and Lee Mu tipped to the ground.
The commotion caused the little customers that were dining in the café to turn to their table and a few of ladies started to scream for help.
Joann recovered from her shock and she turned to look. As Lee Mu had said, the aggressor was none other than her husband, Xu Jing. She jumped up from her seat and rushed to check up on Lee Mu, yelling, "Xu Jing, what is the problem with you? Lee Mu is my friend, why are you assaulting him for no reason?"
"No reason?!" Xu Jing answered in a scary tone that Joann had not heard him use before. It sent a chill up her spine and in that particular moment, she felt fear. "He is trying to steal my wife away from me, I could have killed him for that!"
"What?!" Joann was dumbfounded by her husband's accusation. "What the hell are you talking about? Where did you get that ludicrous idea?!"
"I saw it with my own two eyes, you two were having some intimate moments here earlier!"
"Then, you need to get your eyes checked. I am not cheating on you, Xu Jing," the fact that she needed to argue for her innocence felt so silly to Joann. She had not done anything wrong that she knew of but to placate Xu Jing who was burning up with fury, she explained, "My relationship with Lee Mu is completely innocent. We were merely talking, we didn't do anything that was as you claimed, overly intimate."
Xu Jing did not say anything in terms of an answer but the stone-cold look in his eyes told Joann everything she needed to know, the man did not believe her… at least not without further convincing or proof.
But how to find proof? It was much easier to prove one's guilt than innocence because it would not enter your mind to collect evidence when you were innocent. Only the guilty mind would do something like that to prepare for a defense because they knew one was coming.
Since she could not produce a more concrete evidence, Joann resorted to her old tactic which was to turn the aggression back onto Xu Jing. In their marriage, both Xu Jing and Joann knew Xu Jing was the weaker party and Joann could do anything as long as she pushed hard enough. She assumed that it was because Xu Jing was afraid of her but she failed to understand that the real reason Xu Jing was so permissive to her demands was because his love for her was that deep and tolerant.
