Chapter 378: Chapter 340 I Don’t Even Have the Chance to Argue with Her_2
"Why did you come?" Gu Qili helped Mu Qinian fasten his seatbelt.
"Not happy to see me?" Mu Shuoqian’s face darkened.
Gu Qili knew he had misunderstood her, and quickly added, "You are so busy with work, I could have come by myself, isn’t driving tiring?"
Hearing this, Mu Shuoqian’s stiff expression gradually softened, a layer of tenderness gleaming in the corner of his eyes: "What do you want to eat tonight?"
Gu Qili turned her head to ask Mu Qinian who had been playing with a watch since getting in the car: "Niannian, what do you feel like eating?"
Before meeting his birth mother, Mu Qinian hardly ever made his own choices about food, unless Mu Shuoqian was in a good mood. He didn’t heed his father’s question about what to eat; his opinion was never sought after anyway.
Now being gently consulted by Gu Qili, he instantly felt as if his status in this family had leaped qualitatively. Thinking about Chen Zitong telling him earlier that her mother had made her sweet and sour ribs, he tilted his head towards Gu Qili: "Sweet and sour ribs would be good."
"Okay, let’s go to the supermarket and buy ribs then," Gu Qili said, but then noticed that Mu Shuoqian’s expression was turning sour again; she couldn’t help but lean her head over from the middle of the car seat and softly asked, "What’s wrong?"
Mu Shuoqian pursed his lips, brimming with unspoken emotion, and glanced at her sideways: "Why don’t you ask me what I want to eat?"
Gu Qili blinked and couldn’t help but laugh, amused by him; was this man actually jealous of his own son? How childish.
"Alright, Mr. Mu, may I ask what you would like to eat?"
Mu Shuoqian turned his face away coldly, ignoring her.
Gu Qili patiently asked again, only to hear Mu Qinian comment disdainfully from the side: "Being coy."
Mu Shuoqian’s Maybach had just driven away when a figure emerged from behind a pine tree near the kindergarten; watching the departing car, Tang Tianyou’s eyes filled with sorrow.
He had passed by the kindergarten by chance, guessing she might come to pick up her son and decided to walk around after parking his car; he hadn’t expected to actually see her. Yet before the surprise even reached his eyes, he saw her get into that familiar Maybach.
Her expression was joyful and not the slightest bit reluctant. The moment she saw Mu Shuoqian, her face even flushed with shyness.
Had they reconciled? How had they resolved such a deep misunderstanding? It turns out that after all these years, no matter how hard he tried to break into her world, the door in her heart was always open for only one person.
Looking at the sky dyed red by the evening glow, Tang Tianyou felt a wave of helplessness and desolation as if someone had queued for a long time and finally, when it was their turn, was told that the thing they cherished had already been sold.
Zhuo Yuqing was calling him while Tang Tianyou was drowning his sorrows in a bar.
In a hurry, she found Tang Tianyou sitting in the VIP booth of the bar, drinking heavily, surrounded by empty bottles.
"Brother, have you lost your mind? Drinking so much after just recovering, have you forgotten the doctor’s advice?" Zhuo Yuqing snatched the bottle from his hand.
He squinted his drunken eyes at her and gave a bitter laugh, "Qingzi, your brother will never manage to get married in this lifetime, what should I do?"
Zhuo Yuqing wanted to say, I’ll marry you if you can’t find a wife, but the words choked back down when they reached her lips.
They had grown up together, and though they weren’t blood-related, in the eyes of their parents, they were just like real siblings; there was also a time when their names were on the same household registration.
Even if Tang Tianyou agreed to be with her, their families would never consent.
"Brother, stop drinking, there are plenty of women in the world, why can’t you find a wife?" Zhuo Yuqing sat down opposite him, "Did you argue with Qili?"
"Argue?" Tang Tianyou shook his head, "I don’t even have the opportunity to argue with her."
He wished he could be like other ordinary couples, bickering and bantering from time to time. He would definitely take the initiative to coax her, make her happy, and then reconcile as before, able to play and tease each other again.
Yet, even such simple happiness was unattainable for him.
"Brother, don’t obsess over it. If Qili could have liked you, she would have long ago. Wake up," Zhuo Yuqing said, her heart aching even more at his distress, wishing she were the one suffering from unrequited love.
"You don’t understand, Qingzi, you’re still young," Tang Tianyou lit a cigarette, "Let’s go; this isn’t the place for you."
"I’m already working, how am I still young? You always treat me like a child," Zhuo Yuqing pouted, but obediently followed him out of the bar anyway.
"I’ll take you home," Tang Tianyou said, grabbing his car keys.
"Are you crazy? How can you drive after drinking? We’ll take a cab," she protested.
"Hmm, you should also get your driver’s license sometime."
"No, I’m allergic to mechanical things, I’d be a road menace if I did." Zhuo Yuqing waved for a cab, "I have to go to a classmate’s place later, so I won’t go with you."
"Get home early."
"I know."
Watching Tang Tianyou get into the taxi, Zhuo Yuqing suddenly held the car door, her bright eyes deeply gazing at him: "Brother, if I marry you, would you have me?"
Taken aback, Tang Tianyou then smiled and patted her head: "Silly sister, how can sisters marry their brothers; who’s the one who’s had too much to drink – me or you?"
Zhuo Yuqing’s eyes reddened, a sour ache in her chest, yet she still managed a smiling wave: "Just joking, trying to comfort a man with a broken heart."
She closed the car door and watched the taxi disappear into the distance, like saying goodbye to her long-held aspirations. As a child, the adults used to joke with her, "Yuqing, what do you want to do when you grow up?" Biting on a lollipop, she’d earnestly reply: "I want to marry brother and be his wife."
Zhuo Yuqing sniffed and turned back into the recently departed bar; she was twenty-three, not young at all, not the slightest bit.