Mu Cheng only opened the door a crack.
She saw Qi Heng standing outside with flushed cheeks, looking unusually shy.
“Do you need something from me?”
Qi Heng raised his brows and stared at Mu Cheng’s nervous face through the gap in the door. He assumed she was simply acting coy and bashful.
Back at the Zhang family’s house, while helping Zhang Qingguo clean up the dishes, Zhang Qingqing had told him everything—
Mu Cheng had no parents, and she was only passing through the provincial city on her way to Beijing, hoping to obtain household registration there and marry a good man. But if she found a suitable match in the provincial city, she would also be willing to stay.
Qi Heng had asked more questions about Mu Cheng.
Meanwhile, Zhang Qingqing kept replaying Bai Lin’s words in her head—
Turn the uncooked rice into cooked rice.
Smiling sweetly, she looked at Qi Heng.
“Brother Qi, don’t tell me you’ve fallen for Sister Mu Cheng?”
Qi Heng only smiled, though his cheeks reddened slightly.
“Sister Mu Cheng was fostered in the countryside. She doesn’t even have a household registration. They say she was born in Beijing, but if her records could actually be found, she wouldn’t need to settle under the Gu family’s registration. With her situation, do you think your mother would approve of her?”
Qi Heng’s mother was famously fierce.
There was no way she would approve of Mu Cheng. Forget the household registration issue—even the fact that Mu Cheng had grown up in the countryside would be enough for his mother to reject the relationship.
Zhang Qingqing carried her rice bowl away while muttering seemingly unintentionally,
“Brother Qi, don’t rush. Just look at my aunt’s daughter and her husband. Their reputation wasn’t exactly good back then, but now they already have two children, and everyone praises how loving they are. Who even remembers the past anymore?”
That cousin and her husband had gotten together before marriage because his family opposed the relationship. But once her cousin became pregnant, the husband’s family accepted her for the sake of having a grandson.
Now the couple lived happily together, and those who once gossiped about them no longer thought much of it.
Qi Heng seemed encouraged by those words.
A plan slowly formed in his mind.
Sometimes fake things could become real.
After all, he genuinely respected Mu Cheng.
Thinking of this, Qi Heng pushed open the door.
He carried canned goods and pastries in his hands.
“Let’s go inside and talk.”
Mu Cheng found him inexplicable.
She immediately stopped him from closing the door.
“If you have something to say, we can talk with the door open.”
Qi Heng scratched his head awkwardly.
“A conversation about dating can’t exactly happen with the door open.”
As soon as he finished speaking, he shut the door.
Mu Cheng had learned self-defense before, and she was highly cautious—especially around unfamiliar men. She always remained alert.
Leaning against the door, she asked coldly,
“I didn’t understand what you just said. What do you mean by dating? Who are you trying to date?”
Her brows furrowed tightly.
The smile on her face had vanished into vigilance and tension. Her beautiful eyes sharpened with warning, making her look cold and distant in silence.
After hesitating for a moment, Qi Heng finally spoke.
“Comrade Xiao Mu, I like you. I want to date you.”
Mu Cheng froze briefly before frowning lightly.
“Qi Heng, I don’t want to date you, nor do I want to get married this early. Your conditions are excellent, and you’ll definitely find a girl compatible with you. But that person absolutely won’t be me.”
Her words were tactful and sincere.
Yet Qi Heng felt Mu Cheng was simply being prideful.
Aside from her beauty, she had nothing particularly outstanding about her.
She lacked education and technical skills, meaning she couldn’t even get a proper job. If she didn’t rely on a man to support her, was she planning to survive on air?
Thinking this, he stood up and walked toward her.
Mu Cheng gripped the doorknob tightly and shouted,
“Don’t come any closer!”
Qi Heng approached anyway, placing his hands on her shoulders as he continued persuading her.
“Comrade Xiao Mu, I’ll treat you well. I’ll give you all my monthly wages. I’ll buy you a washing machine, a television, all the major appliances. If you’re with me, all you’ll need to do is cook at home.”
That kind of life might have tempted the old Mu Guiying.
But it couldn’t move Mu Cheng.
She brushed his hands off her shoulders.
“Comrade Qi Heng, I don’t like you, and I can’t date you. I’m sorry. It’s late, so please leave.”
A single man and woman alone together already looked improper—especially in this era, when even ordinary friendships between men and women required careful boundaries.
She pulled the door open, but Qi Heng suddenly dragged her back.
As he watched her soft red lips move while speaking, he lost control of himself for a moment and leaned in to kiss her.
“Xiao Mu, agree to be with me. I’ll treat you well.”
Pinned in place, Mu Cheng immediately considered two moves—
Either a vicious knee strike to the groin or a flying kick straight to the face.
Mu Cheng had always hated workplace harassment with a passion. After transmigrating, she had already been misunderstood by Gu Yunche, nearly bullied by Liu family’s fool, and now Qi Heng was trying to take advantage of her too.
Her teeth clenched in fury.
She not only wanted to crush Qi Heng’s fantasies—
She wanted to end his bloodline entirely.
Just as she raised her knee to strike, the door was suddenly kicked open.
A man in a white striped shirt stepped inside swiftly, yanked Qi Heng away, and threw a punch directly at him.
Qi Heng crashed to the floor and couldn’t get up for a long while.
Gu Yunche immediately turned toward Mu Cheng.
The tip of her nose and cheeks were red. She looked both wronged and furious at the same time.
His calm eyes instantly churned with emotion, as though anger and heartache were battling inside him.
In a softened voice, he asked,
“Did he bully you?”
“Not successfully. I was about to…”
Mu Cheng obviously couldn’t say she had been preparing a brutal attack.
Remaining silent was clearly the wisest option.
The tears she had been suppressing finally slid down her cheeks.
Gu Yunche’s hand slowly tightened into a fist before he turned around and hauled Qi Heng back to his feet again.
Mu Cheng quickly grabbed Gu Yunche’s arm.
“Brother Gu, don’t hit him anymore. If you accidentally injure him badly, I’m afraid it’ll bring trouble to you.”
Hearing the commotion, Zhang Qingguo—the night duty officer—rushed over carrying a flashlight.
The moment he arrived, he saw the chaotic scene—
Gu Yunche standing protectively in front of Mu Cheng while Qi Heng, with blood at the corner of his mouth, struggled to climb up from the floor.
Qi Heng pointed angrily at Mu Cheng and shouted,
“What are you pretending for? Weren’t you the one who sent me a note asking me to come?”
Everyone fell silent.
Under the light, Gu Yunche’s handsome features appeared even colder and sharper.
Curling his lips into an icy sneer, he said,
“Mu Cheng can’t read or write. How exactly would she send you a note?”
Qi Heng froze.
Then he hurriedly pulled a crumpled note from his pocket and unfolded it for Gu Yunche and Zhang Qingguo to see.
The handwriting was crooked and ugly, with some words even replaced by awkward pinyin spellings.
Mu Cheng bit her lip while staring at the note.
“I didn’t write that, and I can’t even understand it. Qi Heng, who gave you this note?”
Qi Heng hesitated for a moment before realizing he had been tricked.
“It… it was Zhang Qingqing who gave it to me. You really can’t write?”
Mu Cheng thought to herself—
Of course. What are you going to do about it?
She nodded calmly.
“I can’t.”
Zhang Qingguo was shocked.
“Impossible. My Qingqing would never write something this ugly. She’s still young—she wouldn’t do something like this.”
Mu Cheng almost laughed from anger.
Since when did being young automatically mean being good?
Some people were already rotten to the core at a young age, relying on their age to do terrible things without consequence.
Thinking about all the outrageous news stories she had seen trending before, she felt her blood pressure rising.
At this moment, every organ in her body trembled with anger.
“Director Zhang, stop using her age as an excuse. Being young doesn’t mean having good character. At least your Qingqing’s character is terrible.”
At that exact moment, Zhang Qingqing—who had rushed over from the hospital—arrived upstairs.
Seeing so many people gathered there, she immediately assumed the plan had succeeded.
Quickening her steps, she walked over, only to find Mu Cheng standing there completely unharmed.
Mu Cheng smiled knowingly.
“Oh? Sister Zhang came at the perfect time to collect the fruits of victory? Sorry to disappoint you.”
Pushing past Gu Yunche, Mu Cheng walked directly up to Zhang Qingqing.
“Your victory may be gone, but I can still give you a nice little reward.”
The moment she finished speaking, Mu Cheng raised her hand and slapped Zhang Qingqing across the face…