Chapter 359: Chapter 324 An accident this morning
Do you hate me? It seems she’d always harbored hatred, but at this moment, her head suddenly heated up, and with force, one hand clutched his shoulder: "Mu Shuoqian,"
She spoke very fast, fearing that she would regret it in the next second. There were some truths she wanted to witness with him.
Mu Shuoqian stared at her for a good while, as though trying to discern something from her bright eyes, and finally, he lightly responded with a word: "Okay."
Qini got slapped on the butt and reluctantly wriggled twice under the covers before poking out his head,
Mu Shuoqian presented his wrist, adorned with a fancy watch, in front of him and said with a hint of mockery, "Do you intend to sleep all the way back to Aus City?"
The time shown on the watch immediately took effect; Mu Qinian scrambled out of bed, hurriedly washed up, and while brushing his teeth, he suddenly rushed out again, searching around the room. Not finding the person he hoped to see, he raised his toothbrush, now full of foam, indignantly: "Dad, where have you hidden Ali?"
Mu Shuoqian didn’t bother with him and just sat down at the dining table, preparing to eat breakfast on his own.
After closing one of the cabinets, Mu Qinian charged over, about to burst out in anger, when someone swiped their card and entered. Gu Qili was taking off her shoes, holding a black plastic bag in her hand.
"Ali." A little cannonball flew straight towards her, and Gu Qili stepped back two paces, nearly getting knocked over.
She laughed, her hand resting on the little boy’s shoulder, her brows knitting lightly: "Qini, you need to lose weight."
Mu Qinian clung to her legs and wouldn’t let go. "Aren’t you cold? Dressing so lightly."
"I won’t be cold if you hug me," she said, wrapping her arms around his neck,
"Mu Qinian, have you no shame? Which teacher taught you this,
Gu Qili ignored him, carried Mu Qinian to the dining table, put him down, and then she intended to return to her room.
"Ali, aren’t you going to eat?"
"I’ll eat later."
As Gu Qili turned around, her hand was grasped. Mu Shuoqian still maintained his sitting posture, not even glancing at her, his voice as cold as his demeanor: "Take the medicine after you have eaten."
Gu Qili stared at his profile, momentarily lost in thought. How did he know she went to get medicine? She never said a word to him about it.
"Ali, are you sick? Why do you need to take medicine?" Mu Qinian, who was intently drinking his milk, looked up anxiously.
"It’s nothing, just a bit of an upset stomach, probably from something I ate yesterday." Gu Qili quickly retreated to her bedroom somewhat guiltily, and with the sound of the door shutting, Mu Shuoqian’s expression darkened three shades.
When Gu Qili emerged from the room, her portion of the breakfast had been prepared on the table. Mu Shuoqian, having finished his meal, was reading the newspaper. He glanced over as the chair next to him was pulled out, his gaze lingering on her for a few seconds. Though he said nothing, it made Gu Qili lower her head.
It was not her fault; it was he who had forcefully dragged her into this early in the morning, but now it seemed as if she was the one utterly in the wrong.
The family of three had their meal and then went out to play in the park, not returning to Aus City by plane until eight in the evening. By the time they arrived at Gu Qili’s residence, Mu Qinian had already fallen asleep, his head resting on her shoulder.
"Can Qinian sleep over tonight?" Gu Qili turned her head to ask the man next to her.
He seemed somewhat weary, massaging his temples as he said: "I’ll walk you guys up."
"No need..."
"He weighs forty-two kilograms, are you sure you can carry a sleeping Mu Qinian up to the sixth floor?"
Yes, she lived on the top floor, with no elevator.
When Gu Qili opened the door, Mu Shuoqian carried Mu Qinian directly to another bedroom. She felt some displeasure at Mu Shuoqian’s wording from earlier, using "a" to describe Mu Qinian.
She left the door open after entering, and when Mu Shuoqian came out from the bedroom, he saw her still standing at the doorway, her silent gaze urging him to leave.
Yet Mu Shuoqian leisurely took a seat on the sofa and pulled out a cigarette to light up.
"Could you smoke less? Have you considered the feelings of us who have to passively inhale your second-hand smoke?" Gu Qili didn’t know why she was annoyed, given that she never once complained about him smoking over the past two-plus years.
Mu Shuoqian didn’t say anything, simply stretched his arm out and snuffed out the cigarette. As the light scent of smoke faded away, Gu Qili finally stepped aside from the door: "You should go back."
"Tired, don’t want to go back." The man who had just extinguished his cigarette began to close his eyes and rest on the sofa.
But since he insisted on not leaving, she couldn’t just throw him out.
"Mu Shuoqian, this morning’s incident was an accident. Let’s pretend as if nothing happened."
"Ms. Gu, are you always this casual? And
"Whether or not I casually have anything to do with Mr. Mu is none of your concern. I don’t want to reiterate this again, we are divorced."
Her indifferent attitude didn’t affect him at all, "I have had someone book the plane tickets already. It’s too late to fuss about it now; rest assured, what happened this morning won’t occur again."
"Mu Shuoqian!"
"I can leave as well, but I will take Mu Qinian with me." He sat up straight, his dark eyes inscrutable, as if to say, between the two, which will you choose?
Gu Qili had often been at a disadvantage when dealing with this man in the past. She did not expect that this old fox’s tactics had only grown more refined over time. She had aged by four years, but not gained a single skill in dealing with him.
Unable to outtalk him or quell the anger in her heart, slamming the door was the only way she could express her dissatisfaction.
Mu Shuoqian watched her figure disappear into the master bedroom, thinking of the infuriating scene from this morning. Initially, she resisted fiercely, but as the moment deepened, she clung to his shoulders, her entire being melting into his arms, softly and tenderly calling out "Ah Qian" with her lips.
It had been so long since she had called him with such intimacy; he thought he would never hear it again in this lifetime.
He was prepared to burn his boats and risk being hated by her even more, but the outcome did not seem as bad as he had imagined. Could it be that she, like him, was still in love with the other party, despite such deep hatred and grievances?
This thought surfaced, and Mu Shuoqian couldn’t tell whether it brought more joy or sorrow.
A love manipulated by hatred, he alone was enough to endure it, for its taste was indeed too complex to describe.
The next morning, Uncle Yu came knocking on the door.
As soon as Gu Qili opened the door, he beamed, "Miss Gu, I’ve come to take the young master to kindergarten."
"Just a moment, Qini is washing his hair. Why don’t you come in and sit for a bit?"
"No need, I’ll just wait out here."
"Qini is really slow at fixing his hair, you should come inside," Gu Qili insisted again, but Uncle Yu still insisted on waiting outside. He didn’t want to go in and face Mr. Mu.
Mu Qinian, standing on a chair blow-drying his hair, shouted to his dad who was brushing his teeth beside him, "Daddy,"
Mu Shuoqian almost choked on toothpaste foam, a mix of helplessness and annoyance apparent:
"My uncle told me." The noise of the hairdryer was so loud, he raised his voice further.
Mu Fan?
"Next time we go to the old house, you are not allowed to play with your uncle anymore."
Gu Qili was packing Mu Qinian’s schoolbag. Mu Qinian had finished drying his hair and came out, visibly downcast in expression.
"Qini, Uncle Yu is waiting for you outside. Come on, put on your clothes."
"Ali, where are you and dad going?"
"Did your dad tell you?"
"I heard him booking the plane tickets over the phone yesterday. He mentioned your name and ID number," Mu Qinian pouted, "He remembers it very clearly."
A man remembering a woman’s ID number so clearly for so many years, and not forgetting it, is more shocking than remembering a phone number.
Suppressing the trembling in her heart, Gu Qili helped him put on his clothes and gently consoled him, "Don’t worry, we’ll be back in a few days."
"Why can’t you take me along, and have to go about it in secret?"
"You still have school, and besides, kids don’t understand adult matters. How about this, I will take you to have fun once your vacation starts, okay?"
Mu Qinian thought about it seriously before finally nodding, "Considering you just took me to Disney, I’ll trust you one more time."
"Good boy." Gu Qili stroked his soft hair, "I promise it won’t be long."
After Mu Qinian was taken away by Uncle Yu, the two of them tidied up and went back to the airport.
Gu Qili hadn’t slept well last night and fell asleep not long after the plane took off.
After the plane landed, he turned on his phone, and a text message popped up, sent by A-Zhong.
Seeing this message,