Lu Muqian was sitting on the sofa. An Yin didn’t notice he was lost in wild thoughts again. She walked over and sat close to him, lifting his chin to rest in her palm.
“Lu Muqian, can I tell you something?”
Lu Muqian nodded lightly, “Mm!”
An Yin was amused by his action and didn’t rush to explain what it was about. Instead, she gazed into his eyes.
During this silent moment, Lu Muqian had already imagined countless scenarios.
What did Yinyin want to tell him? Was she going to say her recent behavior toward him was all fake? Was she going to start treating him coldly like before? Or was she reverting to her old self? Or perhaps… she wanted a divorce.
If she really brought up divorce… what should he do?
Finally, An Yin spoke slowly, “Starting tomorrow, I’m going back to work.”
“No!” Lu Muqian hadn’t fully emerged from his thoughts. The moment An Yin finished speaking, he panicked and objected.
“No?”
His dark eyes gradually turned crimson from suppressed emotions. “You want to leave? You still can’t accept me after all. So these past few days were all an act.”
They say some people give a slap first before offering candy, but she was giving candy first before the slap. After using him, she would discard him again. In his eyes at this moment, An Yin had fully transformed into the image of a heartless woman.
“Huh? What are you talking about? What act? I just said I want to go back to work. It’s not like I’m not coming back.” An Yin couldn’t understand Lu Muqian’s train of thought.
Even though Lu Muqian was wealthy, she couldn’t let herself be completely confined in the villa like a caged canary or a decorative vase.
She had her own small career too.
The living room fell into silence. The man had grown accustomed to keeping his head lowered in front of An Yin, so she couldn’t see his current expression.
An Yin didn’t want this matter to damage the fragile trust she had just built with Lu Muqian. Softening her tone, she shifted closer to him.
Speaking tenderly, she said, “Lu Muqian, listen to me. I’m not leaving. You know, before we got married, A Yue and I opened a fashion design studio together. Just because we’re married now doesn’t mean you can keep me confined in this small world of Wanyuan Estate.”
“No, I don’t want to confine you, Yinyin. I just…” I’m just afraid you won’t come back once you leave. Afraid that once you go out, your eyes will no longer have room for me.
“I know. Are you afraid I’ll run away? Think about it—all of Jiangcheng is your territory. Where could I possibly run to?”
It wasn’t that she hadn’t thought about running away—if she ever did, she would take Lu Muqian with her.
“Besides, my family is here. More importantly, you’re here too. How could I bear to leave all of you? Right?”
“Really?” Yinyin said he was the more important person to her. Was she deceiving him?
“Really, Lu Muqian. Can you please believe me?”
Actually, Lu Muqian knew An Yin didn’t need to explain herself to him. If she wanted to go out, he couldn’t stop her.
But since An Yin had chosen to discuss it with him, Lu Muqian wanted to take one step further. Just one step.
Therefore, he convinced himself that he had no reason to hinder An Yin’s desire to venture out. Having reasoned this through, he changed his previously negative tone.
“Then go ahead!”
“Will you be sulking about it?”
“No.” Though he said no, the man’s tightly pursed lips betrayed him.
“Lu Muqian, let me ask you again—do you ever secretly sulk by yourself?”
“A little.”
“Then what if I said that even after I go back to work, I can still come to your company every noon to have lunch and rest with you? Would that make you a little happier?”
An Yin had been considering this idea. Her clothing boutique was just across the main road from Lu Muqian’s office building, making it convenient to join him for lunch during her break.
“Mhm.”
“What does that ‘mhm’ mean this time?” An Yin disliked Lu Muqian’s vague responses. She wanted him to voice any unhappiness he felt.
“It means it would make me a little happier.”
“Good boy.”
The next day…
The moment Lu Muqian got out of bed, An Yin consciously woke up too…
“Lu Muqian, what time is it?”
“Seven-thirty.”
“Mmm… so sleepy…”
“Then sleep a bit longer.”
“No, I really have to go to work today. Otherwise A Yue will get angry—the kind of anger that can’t be soothed.”
“Then isn’t Yinyin afraid of making me angry?” He murmured softly, as if speaking to himself.
“Hmm? What did you say?”
“Nothing. Are you getting up? I’ll squeeze toothpaste and get water ready for you.”
“Carry me there…”
After washing up, An Yin chose a beige long-sleeved dress and lightly curled her soft hair with a curling iron before letting it fall loosely around her shoulders.
The weather was beautiful today. The sun hung high in the sky but didn’t cast glaring light—only warm, gentle rays that fell upon the ground, following pedestrians’ footsteps and heralding the beginning of a busy day.
An Yin rode in the same car with Lu Muqian. When they reached her clothing studio, just as she was about to get out, someone suddenly grabbed her wrist.
Turning back, she saw Lu Muqian’s conflicted handsome face gazing at her.
She asked, “What’s wrong? Is there something you want to tell me?”
“Does Yinyin remember what you said last night?”
“What did I say?”
“You don’t remember?”
“If you tell me, then I’ll remember, won’t I?”
“It’s nothing important. Yinyin should go to work.”
An Yin didn’t leave immediately. She looked at the obvious disappointment on the man’s face—clearly so upset and conflicted, yet still unwilling to speak up.
“Lu Muqian, what did I say last night? Repeat the meaning for me.”
“I don’t remember.”
“Really? You don’t remember anything I said?”
An Yin glanced out the car window and sighed, thinking to herself: Don’t get angry, don’t get angry. This is all the consequence of my past life. Just coax him a little and it’ll be fine. When she turned back to Lu Muqian, she took his hand resting on his knee.
“Lu Muqian, I haven’t forgotten what I said. I’ll come to your company every noon to have lunch with you.”
Hearing that An Yin still remembered, Lu Muqian suddenly lifted his head to look into her bright, starry eyes.
An Yin continued, “You clearly wanted to ask about this. Why didn’t you dare say it directly?”
“Have you really forgotten everything I told you? Hmm?”
Lu Muqian tried to lower his head again, but An Yin firmly cupped his face. “Speak.”
“I haven’t forgotten.”
“Then from now on, you’re not allowed to hold back words you want to say, especially to me. Understood?” An Yin patiently guided him.
“Understood.”
“Then I’m really going to work now. Wait for me obediently at the company at noon, alright?”
“Okay.”
When Lu Muqian replied this time, there was no trace of subservience in his tone anymore. Instead, it carried a lightness that swept away all his worries.