Qi Chengzhi pouted. He tossed the documents onto the floor. With a dark expression, he said, “I’m asking, what’s your purpose in telling me this?”
“My purpose?” Mu Sisi was stunned for a while. She did not think that Qi Chengzhi would ask her that. She chuckled lightly. “I’m here to help you, of course.”
She stood up gracefully. She swayed her skirt as she sashayed toward Qi Chengzhi. She stood in front of him and looked up to see his firm jaw, thin lips, and the subtle stubbles around them. Her heart was drunk in the smell of his cologne.
It was as if she could smell the aftershave on him. It felt fresh and pleasant, and it gave her the urge to kiss him.
“I’ll keep this a secret for you, but you have to be nicer to me.” A playful smile appeared on Mu Sisi’s face. “I’m not asking you to divorce Song Yu. All I want is for you to treat me better, to smile at me, and to like me. When I need you, I want you to be there for me. As long as you let me be by your side for the rest of my life, I won’t ask for anything more.”
Boldly, Mu Sisi placed her hand on his stomach and slid her hand upward. Her movements were fluid and graceful. Her hand stopped at his chest. “Brother Chengzhi, now, do you know how much I love you? My love for you is sincere. It is so sincere that I won’t ask you for anything more. I’m not even asking you to get a divorce. All I want is to be by your side.”
“Is that so?” Qi Chengzhi scoffed. With a scornful expression, he seized her hand and plucked it off from his chest. He pouted at her mockingly. His grip on her tightened steadily. Even after he saw her winced in pain, he did not weaken his grip.
“Ouch! Brother Chengzhi, you’re hurting me!” The bewitched look on her face slowly faded. She begged, “Let go of me! Brother Chengzhi, it hurts!”
Qi Chengzhi pretended as if he did not hear her pleas. Without loosening his grip, he sneered. “If you love me so much, then why are you threatening me with this? You demanded me to stay by your side and be at your beck and call, yet you say you’re not asking me for anything? If that’s true, then don’t ask me to like you. Don’t ask me to be nice to you.”
Mu Sisi’s face twisted in pain. With clenched teeth, she replied, “I admit my love isn’t that selfless. Don’t you think it’s normal for someone to want their love requited? I have loved you for ten years. Isn’t a small request like this quite reasonable? You have to give me something in return, right? Otherwise, wouldn’t my tens years be all wasted? Besides, I didn’t even ask you to get a divorce. You don’t have to get a divorce, nor do you have to be responsible for me when you sleep with me. No matter how you look at it, it’s a win for you. Why aren’t you happy with this? Isn’t this every man’s dream?”
“Oh, you must be dreaming! I can’t even get hard looking at you, so stop wasting your time! You said that you’ve liked me for ten years? Did I tell you to do that? There are tons of people who like me, does that mean I have to be with all of them? You like me? The dog next door at the old mansion likes me too! At least it doesn’t bother me all the time. It wags its tail every time it sees me, and when I pet it, it would never retaliate with a bite, so I quite like this dog. I guess that means you, Mu Sisi, can’t even compete with a dog,” Qi Chengzhi insulted her without any hesitation.
Apart from Song Yu, Qi Chengzhi was never tender and protective toward any other women. He did not care about protecting their reputation.
When she heard his last sentence, Mu Sisi completely lost her mind. How could Qi Chengzhi compare her to a dog!
“In your eyes, am I really that low? Brother Chengzhi, I know that you belittle me because I’m always the one making the first moves, but do think I would do that to any man? I kept myself clean and pure so that I can reserve my first time for you. I may seem unbecoming, but it’s because I love you. For you, I have stooped so low that my head is against the floor. I did all that so that you would look me in the eye. I would do anything because I love you. You think that I’ve degraded myself? Well, it just shows that for you, for love, I would sacrifice everything. Sure, I have cheapened myself, yet I don’t regret it, and I don’t think I deserve to be looked down upon by others. Rather, I think a self-sacrificing lover like me deserves your respect!”
Qi Chengzhi kept his silence as he dragged her toward the door.
Qi Chengzi kept his hold on Mu Sisi’s left hand. So, she grabbed onto his arm with her right hand and leaned backward. She refused to leave, even if it would kill her. “No! I’m not leaving!”
Nevertheless, inch by inch, Qi Chengzhi successfully pulled her to the door.
The second Qi Chengzhi placed his hand on the door handle, Mu Sisi had abruptly squeezed into the space between him and the door. She had the expression of a crazy woman. “You claimed that you couldn’t get hard for me, right? We’ll see about that!”
Her right hand let go of his arm, and forcefully grabbed his crotch. Qi Chengzhi did not expect that she would be crazy enough to do that. Suddenly, he did not know how to fend her off. She managed to grope him through and through.
In spite of that, no matter how hard she tried, Qi Chengzhi was not the slightest bit aroused.
Qi Chengzhi’s face twisted with rage. He tried his best not to slap Mu Sisi across her face.
He reached out to seize her right hand. With both her arms locked in his hands, Qi Chengzhi opened the door and threw her out.
Mu Sisi wore a pair of ten-centimeter stiletto heels, so she almost sprained her ankle when she fell.
Qi Chengzhi pointed right between her eyes. In a tense and heavy voice, he scolded, “Mu Sisi, you are a disgusting crone!”
Bam!
Qi Chengzhi slammed the door and left Mu Sisi outside his office.
Bang, bang, bang!
Mu Sisi banged the door from the outside. “You claim that I’m disgusting, but why do you think I’m like this? Do you think that I’ll act this way if I don’t love you with all of my heart? In spite of that, you turn around and kick me out! Brother Chengzhi, let me in! Let me in! Since you threw me out, it means that you don’t agree to my terms, right? Fine! I’ll reveal everything to Song Yu!”
“Are you not afraid that I’ll tell Song Yu the truth? Do you not care? Even if I do that, you still won’t agree to my terms?” Mu Sisi shouted as she banged relentlessly on the door.
Qi Chengzhi picked up the documents that he had thrown onto the floor. He glanced at them again and wiped the layer of dirt off. He opened the door as he clenched his teeth.
Mu Sisi’s hand fell through as the door opened. Qi Chengzhi appeared in front of her again. His expression was apathetic, yet every muscle in his face twitched. Even so, Mu Sisi’s lips curled into a flirtatious smile the moment she saw him. “Brother Chengzhi, I knew that you would change your mind.”
Qi Chengzhi smirked coldly. He held the documents to her face and tore them in half in front of her eyes. He did not stop there – he stacked the halves together and tore them again and again until they became nothing but strips of paper.
Mu Sisi’s smile crumbled. Her eyes trembled in disbelieve. Qi Chengzhi presented the bits to her and promptly threw them all over the floor.
Mu Sisi’s eyes trembled, and her mouth twitched. “Tear all you want because these are just photocopies! There’s more where that came from!” o
“I’m well aware, but it’s an eyesore.” Qi Chengzhi uttered in a gravelly voice. “You want Song Yu to know, right? Well, I’ll save you the trouble of telling her. I’ll tell her myself. I’m the one who did it, so I should be the one responsible for telling her. After all, I never planned to hide it from her anyway.”
After he said that, Qi Chengzhi slammed the door shut with a bang.
He went to his desk and picked up the phone to call security and ordered them to get rid of Mu Sisi.
Mu Sisi could not hear what he said in the office. She took another glance at the shredded pieces of paper. As she clenched her teeth, she stomped on them and screamed, “You will regret this!”
With a twisted expression, she turned around and left.
Mu Sisi stormed to the elevator, pressed the ‘down’ button, and waited. When the elevator door opened, she saw four security guards. Mu Sisi was surprised by their arrival. Only then did she realize that the guards were sent by Qi Chengzhi to kick her out.
The security guards were also surprised. They did not expect the person that they were supposed to kick would appear at the elevator.
She could not take it anymore. What did Qi Chengzhi take her for? Did he think she would lurk there forever that he needed to send a security team to kick her out?
“Qi Chengzhi sent for you, right? Save your efforts. I’ll escort myself out,” Mu Sisi declared coldly. With her chest puffed and her head held high, she strutted into the elevator.
…
…
Qi Chengzhi stood at the door for a long time. His hand clutched the door handle so tightly that his veins and tendons popped.
After what felt like an eternity, he finally turned the handle, and the door opened.
Mu Sisi was no longer there. Qi Chengzhi looked down to see the pieces of paper on the floor. His eyes were hidden behind his long, straight eyelashes. He bent his long legs to kneel as his long and bony fingers reached out to collect the pieces of paper on the floor.
In the secretary room, a few female employees ate their salads and fruits in the office as they were on a diet. They heard Mu Sisi as she yelled in the corridor. However, they knew that it had something to do with Qi Chengzi, so they did not dare to go near the scene.
Since the corridor had been silent for quite some time, they had a quiet discussion amongst themselves. Then they decided to stealthily tiptoe to the door to peep at the situation.
They did not expect to find Qi Chengzi on his knees as he picked up the trash on the floor. They were dumbstruck by what they saw, but they managed to go out and offered, “Director, please let us do this!”
Qi Chengzhi’s hand did not stop. He raised his head and glanced at them for a mere second before he turned his head back and continued to pick up the scraps of paper. “It’s alright. It’s lunchtime, continue with your break.”
The ladies were puzzled. It did not feel right to leave, but since Qi Chengzhi told them to, they did not dare to help him anyway.
Qi Chengzhi picked up the last piece of paper on the floor and then returned to his office.
He went to the toilet and flushed the pieces of paper down the toilet.
He strode back to his desk. He opened his desk drawer, but the contents were different from before. There was a soft pack Zhonghua cigarette and a lighter.
Ever since Song Yu told him that she wanted children, he had not smoked a single cigarette.
With mild tremors in his hand, he took out the cigarettes and lighter. His slender fingers pulled a cigarette out of the pack and lit it. His movements were still as fluid as ever.
He turned to look out the window, and he saw Mu Sisi as she walked out of Qilin. She got into her car, but she did not drive away immediately.
Qi Chengzhi took a long puff of his cigarette and blew a cloud of white smoke. He took two steps back to lean on his table. With his left hand, he picked up the pack of cigarettes and stared at it for a long while. His hands started to shake again.
…
…
Mu Sisi exited Qilin. With giant steps, she stormed to her car, got in, and burst into tears as she laid her head on the steering wheel.
Qi Chengzhi would rather tell Song Yu himself and risk a divorce rather than to give her some dignity. Why?!
Did he not love Song Yu as much as she thought he did?
He loved her so much that he stole her from Qi Chengji and ruined the Song family. After all that, they finally got married, but yet he would rather risk his marriage than to fulfill Mu Sisi’s little request?
Did he hate her that much?
Why?!
Mu Sisi laid her head on the steering wheel and cried for a long time. Then she looked in the mirror and saw that her foundation was mostly gone. Her eyeliner and mascara were also smudged.
She took a box of tissue from the glove compartment and tapped her tears away. Carefully, she wiped off the makeup that encircled her eyes. She sobbed as she fixed her makeup.
Once she fixed her makeup, Mu Sisi sniffled, but her heart still ached.
She looked up and stared at the twenty-fifth floor of the building where Qi Chengzhi’s office was at.
She was disappointed with what had happened. Even though she knew full well Qi Chengzhi’s attitude toward her, she would not give up. Her heart raced at the mere thought of him in the office as he stared out the window. A picture of him as he stood by the window in his authoritative stance lingered in her mind.
As she snapped out of her reverie, Mu Sisi took her bag from the passenger seat and took an envelope from within. She removed a few papers and then placed the envelope in her bag again.
After that, she finally drove off.
…
…
Chang Lai drove Song Yu to Chengshi.
That afternoon, Qi Chengzhi had called her and said that he had a meeting outside the company. He told her that he would not be at the office, so he would have Chang Lai send her straight to Dynasty without the usual stop at Qilin.
Song Yu wanted to invite Ruan Danchen, but she had brought her lunch to the office to hide from Mu Huaisheng. However, to everyone’s surprise, Mu Huaisheng came straight to the office and stood beside her desk and in front of all her colleagues. He even greeted Song Yu.
Song Yu watched from afar. The colleagues around their surrounding area also stared out of curiosity.
“You said that you’ve brought lunch, so all I can do is to come up and eat with you.” Mu Huaisheng dragged a random chair from the adjacent desk to sit right across from Ruan Danchen.
Ruan Danchen glanced at her colleagues awkwardly. They all knew that she was the designer for MU.’s renovation. Additionally, they could guess that Song Yu had helped to pull some strings, even though neither she nor Song Yu ever disclosed it to anyone else.
To top it all off, Mu Huaisheng’s actions that day were unusual. After all that, it would have been difficult for her colleagues to misunderstand the situation in the wrong way. They might think that Ruan Danchen used that chance to land herself a rich husband.
“But I only brought lunch for myself,” Ruan Danchen argued desperately as she looked at her lunchbox.
“That’s alright. I can order takeout.” Mu Huaisheng smiled. He took a glance around them and then whispered, “I think us being here is attracting a lot of attention. Why don’t you eat outside with me?”
Ruan Danchen inhaled deeply. She whispered, “Mr. Mu, I accept your apology regarding the incident with Miss Mu. You are my client, so we should maintain a certain type of relationship and distance between each other. Besides a professional relationship, I am not interested in developing any other kind of relationship with you, no matter if it is appropriate or not. Furthermore, I don’t appreciate you sticking so close to me everywhere I go. It will only push me further away.”
“That’s alright. I actually think that it’s a good tactic.” Mu Huaisheng did not care about Ruan Danchen’s expression of discontent. Instead, he kept up his warm smile. “When a man pursues a woman he likes, he has to be relentless and persistent. He should have the guts to go to any length to get her. If a man gives up so easily, how will he ever make a beautiful woman his?”
Ruan Danchen bit her lip. She took another glance at her colleagues. Helpless about the situation, she kept her lunchbox away and headed outside silently.
Mu Huaisheng grinned. He nodded at Song Yu again and followed behind Ruan Danchen.
…
…
Song Yu sighed and shook her head. Due to Mu Sisi, her opinion of Mu Huaisheng was tainted. Additionally, Mu Huaisheng did not seem like he could control Mu Sisi; unlike Qi Chengzhi who used to have a tight rein on Qi Chengyue, so he was able to protect her.,
Since he had Mu Sisi as a younger sister and Song Yu did not know Mu Huaisheng’s parents, Song Yu was worried that Mu Sisi would bully Ruan Danchen.
As she contemplated that while she stared out the window, the car was already near Chengshi. Suddenly, the phone in her bag rang, and it pulled her mind back into the present.
Song Yu reached into her bag and fished for her phone. “Youxuan, what’s the matter?”
It was lunchtime too at Qi Youxuan’s kindergarten. He had finished his food, and he drank a box of cultured milk that came with his lunch.
One of his chubby hands held the cultured milk while the other had the phone to his ear. “Auntie, I forgot to tell you, please help me look after Aunt Ruan properly. My dad is not very reliable, so I’ll have to take responsibility. If any man tries to go after her, you will have to tell me. You can’t let anyone steal her!”
“If there is one, will you rush here immediately to stop him?” Song Yu snickered. She pictured Qi Youxuan’s chubby appearance in her mind.
“We’ll talk about that when the day comes. The main point is, you have to tell me. There’s a saying that tells us we must know our enemies well so that we won’t lose, and the first step to that is to get information from a good source,” Qi Youxuan’s voice boomed through the phone. His voice was like a melody, and it had the power to brighten one’s mood.
“…” Song Yu sniggered. “Is it ‘know yourself and know your enemy, and you shall win a hundred battles’?”
“Yes, yes! That’s the one!” Even though Song Yu could not see him, the boy still nodded wildly as he bit onto his straw.
“Where did you learn that?” Song Yu asked. She was at a loss for words.
“It doesn’t matter. What’s important is that Auntie, you have to help me to guard Aunt Ruan properly. The happiness of my dad and I are dependent on you now, especially my dad’s,” Qi Youxuan announced gravely.
Song Yu pictured his serious chubby face. She could not help but chuckle.
“Alright, I’ll help you.” Song Yu agreed good-naturedly.
Qi Youxuan was relieved. Delighted, he said goodbye and hung up.
Song Yu chuckled and shook her head. She did not want the little boy to worry, so she did not tell him about Mu Huaisheng. What if he actually took a cab and rushed there from his kindergarten?
She had never thought of Qi Youxuan as a child who was oblivious to everything. That boy was not naive, and he was smart, so she had to treat him like an adult.
In any case, from Ruan Danchen’s attitude, Song Yu concluded that she did not like Mu Huaisheng. Even though Ruan Danchen did not stop him from sticking to her all the time, Song Yu did not think there was anything to worry about yet, and it sure would not justify Qi Youxuan sticking his nose into it.
“Madam, we have arrived.” Chang Lai stopped the car by the roadside in front of Chengshi. Song Yu got out. Chang Lai waited for Song Yu to enter the building before he drove off.
Song Yu waited for the elevator. She noticed that the elevator was on its way down from Chengshi’s floor.
The elevator reached the first floor, and the door opened slowly. When Song Yu saw who was inside, she was dumbfounded.
Mu Sisi was shocked too, but her expression quickly turned into a sinister smile.
Her sharp stiletto shoes hit against the floor as she stepped out of the elevator.
Qi Chengzhi pouted. He tossed the documents onto the floor. With a dark expression, he said, “I’m asking, what’s your purpose in telling me this?”
“My purpose?” Mu Sisi was stunned for a while. She did not think that Qi Chengzhi would ask her that. She chuckled lightly. “I’m here to help you, of course.”
She stood up gracefully. She swayed her skirt as she sashayed toward Qi Chengzhi. She stood in front of him and looked up to see his firm jaw, thin lips, and the subtle stubbles around them. Her heart was drunk in the smell of his cologne.
It was as if she could smell the aftershave on him. It felt fresh and pleasant, and it gave her the urge to kiss him.
“I’ll keep this a secret for you, but you have to be nicer to me.” A playful smile appeared on Mu Sisi’s face. “I’m not asking you to divorce Song Yu. All I want is for you to treat me better, to smile at me, and to like me. When I need you, I want you to be there for me. As long as you let me be by your side for the rest of my life, I won’t ask for anything more.”
Boldly, Mu Sisi placed her hand on his stomach and slid her hand upward. Her movements were fluid and graceful. Her hand stopped at his chest. “Brother Chengzhi, now, do you know how much I love you? My love for you is sincere. It is so sincere that I won’t ask you for anything more. I’m not even asking you to get a divorce. All I want is to be by your side.”
“Is that so?” Qi Chengzhi scoffed. With a scornful expression, he seized her hand and plucked it off from his chest. He pouted at her mockingly. His grip on her tightened steadily. Even after he saw her winced in pain, he did not weaken his grip.
“Ouch! Brother Chengzhi, you’re hurting me!” The bewitched look on her face slowly faded. She begged, “Let go of me! Brother Chengzhi, it hurts!”
Qi Chengzhi pretended as if he did not hear her pleas. Without loosening his grip, he sneered. “If you love me so much, then why are you threatening me with this? You demanded me to stay by your side and be at your beck and call, yet you say you’re not asking me for anything? If that’s true, then don’t ask me to like you. Don’t ask me to be nice to you.”
Mu Sisi’s face twisted in pain. With clenched teeth, she replied, “I admit my love isn’t that selfless. Don’t you think it’s normal for someone to want their love requited? I have loved you for ten years. Isn’t a small request like this quite reasonable? You have to give me something in return, right? Otherwise, wouldn’t my tens years be all wasted? Besides, I didn’t even ask you to get a divorce. You don’t have to get a divorce, nor do you have to be responsible for me when you sleep with me. No matter how you look at it, it’s a win for you. Why aren’t you happy with this? Isn’t this every man’s dream?”
“Oh, you must be dreaming! I can’t even get hard looking at you, so stop wasting your time! You said that you’ve liked me for ten years? Did I tell you to do that? There are tons of people who like me, does that mean I have to be with all of them? You like me? The dog next door at the old mansion likes me too! At least it doesn’t bother me all the time. It wags its tail every time it sees me, and when I pet it, it would never retaliate with a bite, so I quite like this dog. I guess that means you, Mu Sisi, can’t even compete with a dog,” Qi Chengzhi insulted her without any hesitation.
Apart from Song Yu, Qi Chengzhi was never tender and protective toward any other women. He did not care about protecting their reputation.
When she heard his last sentence, Mu Sisi completely lost her mind. How could Qi Chengzhi compare her to a dog!
“In your eyes, am I really that low? Brother Chengzhi, I know that you belittle me because I’m always the one making the first moves, but do think I would do that to any man? I kept myself clean and pure so that I can reserve my first time for you. I may seem unbecoming, but it’s because I love you. For you, I have stooped so low that my head is against the floor. I did all that so that you would look me in the eye. I would do anything because I love you. You think that I’ve degraded myself? Well, it just shows that for you, for love, I would sacrifice everything. Sure, I have cheapened myself, yet I don’t regret it, and I don’t think I deserve to be looked down upon by others. Rather, I think a self-sacrificing lover like me deserves your respect!”
Qi Chengzhi kept his silence as he dragged her toward the door.
Qi Chengzi kept his hold on Mu Sisi’s left hand. So, she grabbed onto his arm with her right hand and leaned backward. She refused to leave, even if it would kill her. “No! I’m not leaving!”
Nevertheless, inch by inch, Qi Chengzhi successfully pulled her to the door.
The second Qi Chengzhi placed his hand on the door handle, Mu Sisi had abruptly squeezed into the space between him and the door. She had the expression of a crazy woman. “You claimed that you couldn’t get hard for me, right? We’ll see about that!”
Her right hand let go of his arm, and forcefully grabbed his crotch. Qi Chengzhi did not expect that she would be crazy enough to do that. Suddenly, he did not know how to fend her off. She managed to grope him through and through.
In spite of that, no matter how hard she tried, Qi Chengzhi was not the slightest bit aroused.
Qi Chengzhi’s face twisted with rage. He tried his best not to slap Mu Sisi across her face.
He reached out to seize her right hand. With both her arms locked in his hands, Qi Chengzhi opened the door and threw her out.
Mu Sisi wore a pair of ten-centimeter stiletto heels, so she almost sprained her ankle when she fell.
Qi Chengzhi pointed right between her eyes. In a tense and heavy voice, he scolded, “Mu Sisi, you are a disgusting crone!”
Bam!
Qi Chengzhi slammed the door and left Mu Sisi outside his office.
Bang, bang, bang!
Mu Sisi banged the door from the outside. “You claim that I’m disgusting, but why do you think I’m like this? Do you think that I’ll act this way if I don’t love you with all of my heart? In spite of that, you turn around and kick me out! Brother Chengzhi, let me in! Let me in! Since you threw me out, it means that you don’t agree to my terms, right? Fine! I’ll reveal everything to Song Yu!”
“Are you not afraid that I’ll tell Song Yu the truth? Do you not care? Even if I do that, you still won’t agree to my terms?” Mu Sisi shouted as she banged relentlessly on the door.
Qi Chengzhi picked up the documents that he had thrown onto the floor. He glanced at them again and wiped the layer of dirt off. He opened the door as he clenched his teeth.
Mu Sisi’s hand fell through as the door opened. Qi Chengzhi appeared in front of her again. His expression was apathetic, yet every muscle in his face twitched. Even so, Mu Sisi’s lips curled into a flirtatious smile the moment she saw him. “Brother Chengzhi, I knew that you would change your mind.”
Qi Chengzhi smirked coldly. He held the documents to her face and tore them in half in front of her eyes. He did not stop there – he stacked the halves together and tore them again and again until they became nothing but strips of paper.
Mu Sisi’s smile crumbled. Her eyes trembled in disbelieve. Qi Chengzhi presented the bits to her and promptly threw them all over the floor.
Mu Sisi’s eyes trembled, and her mouth twitched. “Tear all you want because these are just photocopies! There’s more where that came from!” o
“I’m well aware, but it’s an eyesore.” Qi Chengzhi uttered in a gravelly voice. “You want Song Yu to know, right? Well, I’ll save you the trouble of telling her. I’ll tell her myself. I’m the one who did it, so I should be the one responsible for telling her. After all, I never planned to hide it from her anyway.”
After he said that, Qi Chengzhi slammed the door shut with a bang.
He went to his desk and picked up the phone to call security and ordered them to get rid of Mu Sisi.
Mu Sisi could not hear what he said in the office. She took another glance at the shredded pieces of paper. As she clenched her teeth, she stomped on them and screamed, “You will regret this!”
With a twisted expression, she turned around and left.
Mu Sisi stormed to the elevator, pressed the ‘down’ button, and waited. When the elevator door opened, she saw four security guards. Mu Sisi was surprised by their arrival. Only then did she realize that the guards were sent by Qi Chengzhi to kick her out.
The security guards were also surprised. They did not expect the person that they were supposed to kick would appear at the elevator.
She could not take it anymore. What did Qi Chengzhi take her for? Did he think she would lurk there forever that he needed to send a security team to kick her out?
“Qi Chengzhi sent for you, right? Save your efforts. I’ll escort myself out,” Mu Sisi declared coldly. With her chest puffed and her head held high, she strutted into the elevator.
…
…
Qi Chengzhi stood at the door for a long time. His hand clutched the door handle so tightly that his veins and tendons popped.
After what felt like an eternity, he finally turned the handle, and the door opened.
Mu Sisi was no longer there. Qi Chengzhi looked down to see the pieces of paper on the floor. His eyes were hidden behind his long, straight eyelashes. He bent his long legs to kneel as his long and bony fingers reached out to collect the pieces of paper on the floor.
In the secretary room, a few female employees ate their salads and fruits in the office as they were on a diet. They heard Mu Sisi as she yelled in the corridor. However, they knew that it had something to do with Qi Chengzi, so they did not dare to go near the scene.
Since the corridor had been silent for quite some time, they had a quiet discussion amongst themselves. Then they decided to stealthily tiptoe to the door to peep at the situation.
They did not expect to find Qi Chengzi on his knees as he picked up the trash on the floor. They were dumbstruck by what they saw, but they managed to go out and offered, “Director, please let us do this!”
Qi Chengzhi’s hand did not stop. He raised his head and glanced at them for a mere second before he turned his head back and continued to pick up the scraps of paper. “It’s alright. It’s lunchtime, continue with your break.”
The ladies were puzzled. It did not feel right to leave, but since Qi Chengzhi told them to, they did not dare to help him anyway.
Qi Chengzhi picked up the last piece of paper on the floor and then returned to his office.
He went to the toilet and flushed the pieces of paper down the toilet.
He strode back to his desk. He opened his desk drawer, but the contents were different from before. There was a soft pack Zhonghua cigarette and a lighter.
Ever since Song Yu told him that she wanted children, he had not smoked a single cigarette.
With mild tremors in his hand, he took out the cigarettes and lighter. His slender fingers pulled a cigarette out of the pack and lit it. His movements were still as fluid as ever.
He turned to look out the window, and he saw Mu Sisi as she walked out of Qilin. She got into her car, but she did not drive away immediately.
Qi Chengzhi took a long puff of his cigarette and blew a cloud of white smoke. He took two steps back to lean on his table. With his left hand, he picked up the pack of cigarettes and stared at it for a long while. His hands started to shake again.
…
…
Mu Sisi exited Qilin. With giant steps, she stormed to her car, got in, and burst into tears as she laid her head on the steering wheel.
Qi Chengzhi would rather tell Song Yu himself and risk a divorce rather than to give her some dignity. Why?!
Did he not love Song Yu as much as she thought he did?
He loved her so much that he stole her from Qi Chengji and ruined the Song family. After all that, they finally got married, but yet he would rather risk his marriage than to fulfill Mu Sisi’s little request?
Did he hate her that much?
Why?!
Mu Sisi laid her head on the steering wheel and cried for a long time. Then she looked in the mirror and saw that her foundation was mostly gone. Her eyeliner and mascara were also smudged.
She took a box of tissue from the glove compartment and tapped her tears away. Carefully, she wiped off the makeup that encircled her eyes. She sobbed as she fixed her makeup.
Once she fixed her makeup, Mu Sisi sniffled, but her heart still ached.
She looked up and stared at the twenty-fifth floor of the building where Qi Chengzhi’s office was at.
She was disappointed with what had happened. Even though she knew full well Qi Chengzhi’s attitude toward her, she would not give up. Her heart raced at the mere thought of him in the office as he stared out the window. A picture of him as he stood by the window in his authoritative stance lingered in her mind.
As she snapped out of her reverie, Mu Sisi took her bag from the passenger seat and took an envelope from within. She removed a few papers and then placed the envelope in her bag again.
After that, she finally drove off.
…
…
Chang Lai drove Song Yu to Chengshi.
That afternoon, Qi Chengzhi had called her and said that he had a meeting outside the company. He told her that he would not be at the office, so he would have Chang Lai send her straight to Dynasty without the usual stop at Qilin.
Song Yu wanted to invite Ruan Danchen, but she had brought her lunch to the office to hide from Mu Huaisheng. However, to everyone’s surprise, Mu Huaisheng came straight to the office and stood beside her desk and in front of all her colleagues. He even greeted Song Yu.
Song Yu watched from afar. The colleagues around their surrounding area also stared out of curiosity.
“You said that you’ve brought lunch, so all I can do is to come up and eat with you.” Mu Huaisheng dragged a random chair from the adjacent desk to sit right across from Ruan Danchen.
Ruan Danchen glanced at her colleagues awkwardly. They all knew that she was the designer for MU.’s renovation. Additionally, they could guess that Song Yu had helped to pull some strings, even though neither she nor Song Yu ever disclosed it to anyone else.
To top it all off, Mu Huaisheng’s actions that day were unusual. After all that, it would have been difficult for her colleagues to misunderstand the situation in the wrong way. They might think that Ruan Danchen used that chance to land herself a rich husband.
“But I only brought lunch for myself,” Ruan Danchen argued desperately as she looked at her lunchbox.
“That’s alright. I can order takeout.” Mu Huaisheng smiled. He took a glance around them and then whispered, “I think us being here is attracting a lot of attention. Why don’t you eat outside with me?”
Ruan Danchen inhaled deeply. She whispered, “Mr. Mu, I accept your apology regarding the incident with Miss Mu. You are my client, so we should maintain a certain type of relationship and distance between each other. Besides a professional relationship, I am not interested in developing any other kind of relationship with you, no matter if it is appropriate or not. Furthermore, I don’t appreciate you sticking so close to me everywhere I go. It will only push me further away.”
“That’s alright. I actually think that it’s a good tactic.” Mu Huaisheng did not care about Ruan Danchen’s expression of discontent. Instead, he kept up his warm smile. “When a man pursues a woman he likes, he has to be relentless and persistent. He should have the guts to go to any length to get her. If a man gives up so easily, how will he ever make a beautiful woman his?”
Ruan Danchen bit her lip. She took another glance at her colleagues. Helpless about the situation, she kept her lunchbox away and headed outside silently.
Mu Huaisheng grinned. He nodded at Song Yu again and followed behind Ruan Danchen.
…
…
Song Yu sighed and shook her head. Due to Mu Sisi, her opinion of Mu Huaisheng was tainted. Additionally, Mu Huaisheng did not seem like he could control Mu Sisi; unlike Qi Chengzhi who used to have a tight rein on Qi Chengyue, so he was able to protect her.,
Since he had Mu Sisi as a younger sister and Song Yu did not know Mu Huaisheng’s parents, Song Yu was worried that Mu Sisi would bully Ruan Danchen.
As she contemplated that while she stared out the window, the car was already near Chengshi. Suddenly, the phone in her bag rang, and it pulled her mind back into the present.
Song Yu reached into her bag and fished for her phone. “Youxuan, what’s the matter?”
It was lunchtime too at Qi Youxuan’s kindergarten. He had finished his food, and he drank a box of cultured milk that came with his lunch.
One of his chubby hands held the cultured milk while the other had the phone to his ear. “Auntie, I forgot to tell you, please help me look after Aunt Ruan properly. My dad is not very reliable, so I’ll have to take responsibility. If any man tries to go after her, you will have to tell me. You can’t let anyone steal her!”
“If there is one, will you rush here immediately to stop him?” Song Yu snickered. She pictured Qi Youxuan’s chubby appearance in her mind.
“We’ll talk about that when the day comes. The main point is, you have to tell me. There’s a saying that tells us we must know our enemies well so that we won’t lose, and the first step to that is to get information from a good source,” Qi Youxuan’s voice boomed through the phone. His voice was like a melody, and it had the power to brighten one’s mood.
“…” Song Yu sniggered. “Is it ‘know yourself and know your enemy, and you shall win a hundred battles’?”
“Yes, yes! That’s the one!” Even though Song Yu could not see him, the boy still nodded wildly as he bit onto his straw.
“Where did you learn that?” Song Yu asked. She was at a loss for words.
“It doesn’t matter. What’s important is that Auntie, you have to help me to guard Aunt Ruan properly. The happiness of my dad and I are dependent on you now, especially my dad’s,” Qi Youxuan announced gravely.
Song Yu pictured his serious chubby face. She could not help but chuckle.
“Alright, I’ll help you.” Song Yu agreed good-naturedly.
Qi Youxuan was relieved. Delighted, he said goodbye and hung up.
Song Yu chuckled and shook her head. She did not want the little boy to worry, so she did not tell him about Mu Huaisheng. What if he actually took a cab and rushed there from his kindergarten?
She had never thought of Qi Youxuan as a child who was oblivious to everything. That boy was not naive, and he was smart, so she had to treat him like an adult.
In any case, from Ruan Danchen’s attitude, Song Yu concluded that she did not like Mu Huaisheng. Even though Ruan Danchen did not stop him from sticking to her all the time, Song Yu did not think there was anything to worry about yet, and it sure would not justify Qi Youxuan sticking his nose into it.
“Madam, we have arrived.” Chang Lai stopped the car by the roadside in front of Chengshi. Song Yu got out. Chang Lai waited for Song Yu to enter the building before he drove off.
Song Yu waited for the elevator. She noticed that the elevator was on its way down from Chengshi’s floor.
The elevator reached the first floor, and the door opened slowly. When Song Yu saw who was inside, she was dumbfounded.
Mu Sisi was shocked too, but her expression quickly turned into a sinister smile.
Her sharp stiletto shoes hit against the floor as she stepped out of the elevator.
