Chapter 367: Chapter 331: So It Turns Out
Coming out of the Real Estate Office, Gu Qili felt slightly dazed, standing on the steps looking at the murky sky, as if a thin fog also enveloped her vision.
A man, scheming with one hand to ruin your family business and with the other hand securing all your escape routes.
Half angel, half devil.
At this moment, she could almost be sure that Mu Shuoqian was not as heartless as he claimed. On the contrary, his actions, including the bankruptcy of the Gu Family, might all be for her.
Gu Qili really wanted to confront him face to face, but when she thought of the hurt Cheng Menghong had caused her and her son, she began to hesitate, wondering if Mu Shuoqian could really let go of past hatreds.
While Gu Qili was still hesitating, Mu Shuoqian called her.
"Where are you?" He always got straight to the point.
Gu Qili didn’t dare say she was at the Real Estate Office, looked around, and said, "Shopping."
"Come over for dinner tonight." After Mu Shuoqian finished speaking, he worried that Gu Qili would disagree and added naturally, "Qini said she has some French issues to ask you."
"Alright, I’ll come over in a bit."
"I’ll pick you up." His tone allowed no refusal, "Address."
Gu Qili looked towards the opposite commercial street and said two words, "Trade."
After about twenty minutes, Mu Shuoqian arrived, driving the Maybach with the license plate number 5277.
As Gu Qili got into the car, her mind was still on the license plate and she blurted out almost without thinking, "Hasn’t the license plate been changed yet?"
"Why change it?" Mu Shuoqian’s matter-of-fact reply made Gu Qili embarrassedly shut her mouth.
After a moment of silence, he suddenly said, "Take that Maybach, the car owner is actually you."
"No need, I’m actually planning to buy a car." The distance from the manor to the city is not short; it’s really inconvenient to shuttle back and forth without a car, she initially just wanted to buy a commuter car.
"We divorced, and you didn’t receive any alimony,
It was she who initially refused alimony, while he had once unhesitatingly given her half of his estate.
She bowed her head, feeling inexplicably sad at the mention of the word ’divorce’.
"Fine, consider this car as my purchase, I’ll pay you back when I earn the money."
"No need." His rejection was crisp and decisive.
Gu Qili said nothing more.
While waiting for the signal light midway, Mu Shuoqian habitually opened the storage box to take out a cigarette, and Gu Qili happened to glance and see a string of accessories sealed in a bag there.
She wanted to take a closer look, but Mu Shuoqian had already picked up the cigarette and shut the lid.
It took half a cigarette’s time for the light to change, and after extinguishing the cigarette, the car continued moving forward.
Looking out the window at the changing scenery, Gu Qili’s heart could not calm down; she wouldn’t forget—the sachet she bought at the edge of a field in Provence. She bought two, one hung in Mu Shuoqian’s car, one given to Assistant Xiao, and later somehow appeared on that Range Rover Evoque.
Four years later, that sachet was still in the car, sealed in a Ziploc bag, looking as if it was newly purchased.
She then remembered the photo in his wallet...
Gu Qili was still in a daze when suddenly a familiar fragrance slowly approached, she blinked, and before her was his impeccably refined face, looking at her with an unfathomable gaze.
"What?" Gu Qili instinctively shrank back, "What’s wrong?"
Mu Shuoqian stared at her for a while, then very agilely unbuckled her seatbelt, "We’ve arrived."
Gu Qili looked up and saw the house on Jingshan,
She thought he had done it on purpose, but he seemed completely unaware and had already gotten out of the car to open the trunk.
The distinct masculine scent lingered, unable to dissipate,
Mu Shuoqian closed the trunk, carrying the groceries they had picked up along the way.
Circling the front of the car, he discovered Gu Qili was still foolishly sitting in the car; he leaned over and tapped the car window with his index finger, his inquiring eyes looking over.
Gu Qili hurriedly opened the car door, and before he could move away, the car door struck his forehead hard, with a loud "bang."
"Sorry, sorry." She quickly jumped out of the car, "It wasn’t intentional."
Mu Shuoqian covered his head, gazing steadily at her, making her feel immensely guilty and fidgety.
"It’s okay." He turned and walked back into the house.
"It seems to be all red, do we have any ice at home?"
"There’s some in the fridge." Mu Shuoqian opened the door, placed the groceries in the kitchen, and as he turned around, Gu Qili was squatting in front of the fridge looking for ice, as his fridge was always stocked with ice cubes due to his frequent drinking.
Gu Qili wrapped an ice cube in a clean handkerchief, "Let’s apply this, otherwise the swelling will get worse."
Mu Shuoqian didn’t refuse and sat down on the sofa, casually turning on the TV.
She sat beside him, one hand holding the ice pack against his forehead, carefully pressing it, while not forgetting to complain: "Aren’t you usually very nimble? Why didn’t you dodge it?"
Listening to her tone, it seemed like he was at fault for being hit, as if saying why didn’t you dodge when I stabbed you?
Could he have dodged it?
"Does it still hurt?" She probably realized her tone was not right, and immediately softened her voice, because she felt sorry for him.
"It hurts." Mu Shuoqian’s lips twitched slightly, "Why don’t you try getting hit?"
"Sorry about that." She apologized again, feeling depressed.
Mu Shuoqian didn’t respond and shifted his gaze to the TV, picking up the remote and switching to the on-demand channel.
Gu Qili’s arm was getting tired from holding it up, her eyes kept darting towards the door: "Why isn’t Qini back yet? Should I start cooking?"
"He has taekwondo class after school today; it will be late, no rush to cook." He chose a movie and quietly started watching it.
Gu Qili’s hand was getting numb from the cold,
What kind of terrible movie was this?
"The ice has melted, I’ll go change it." Gu Qili’s hand was cold, but her face felt unbearably hot, she even suspected he had intentionally picked a movie that sparked wild thoughts.
Just as she was about to get up, her wrist was grabbed, and with a strong pull, she fell into his arms, the ice cube crashing to the floor.
"Mu Shuoqian, what are you doing?" she was a bit annoyed, trying to stand up,
Gu Qili started feeling embarrassed by his gaze,
"Do you like what you see, getting distracted?" Suddenly, a teasing laugh came near her ear, "So you like these kinds of movies too."
Gu Qili quickly turned her head, like a provoked little pet,
Meeting his somewhat mischievous gaze, Gu Qili raised her hand to block his eyes, but he accurately grabbed her wrist,
She struggled in his arms for a while,
She didn’t understand what their relationship was now,
Until she was breathing unevenly, Mu Shuoqian finally let her go, "Go cook."
Gu Qili almost fled into the kitchen, the door hadn’t even closed when a big hand caught it, she looked at Mu Shuoqian who followed her in, feeling inexplicably annoyed, how long would he continue to torment her.
"What are you doing here?" Her tone was dismissive.
Mu Shuoqian looked innocent, handing her an apron: "I came to help."
Gu Qili got disappointed with herself, turning her head away, thinking that there was a capable person beside her, a good labor force that shouldn’t be wasted, so she picked up a bunch of greens: "Wash the vegetables, then."
The faucet was turned on, amidst the sound of splashing water, the tall man bending over was washing the vegetables very seriously, his shirt sleeves rolled up to the elbow, his fair and slender hands clumsily flipping through the water.
It was a simple domestic gesture yet Gu Qili couldn’t take her eyes off him, staring at his slightly bent back, long neck, neatly trimmed hair at the back of his head, like going back four years, as if nothing had ever happened, just another mundane evening, her cooking at the stove and him passing the salt, the noise of the range hood couldn’t drown out their laughter and the occasional eye contact brimming with tenderness.
Could she still hope for such scenes in this lifetime?
"Sorted." Mu Shuoqian placed the vegetables in the strainer, shaking the water off his hands, "Anything else to wash?"
Gu Qili suddenly snapped back to reality, handing him two stalks of parsley: "We’ll need these for the soup later."
He took the parsley, unintentionally brushing her hand, sending a tingling shiver through her, she quickly turned away her flushed face.
He watched her for a while, slightly lifting the corners of his lips, then turned on the faucet again.
Such simple little happiness felt like a dream to him, he just hoped never to wake up from it.
"Dad, I’m back." Mu Qinian rushed in, as if on fire, pushing open the door, tossing his school bag onto the sofa, crying out: "I’m starving, Uncle Yu didn’t cook, maybe we should..."
Turning around to the kitchen door, the little boy saw Gu Qili, but couldn’t take back his next words in time, "go out to eat."