Volume 1 Chapter 21: Could It Be That He’s Keeping a Shameless Bitch Outside?
Fifty minutes later, Mu Tingyun appeared at Qin Yinong’s doorstep, carrying a suitcase.
As soon as he entered, Mu Tingyun pulled Qin Yinong into his arms. Noticing how thin the girl in his embrace felt, he said with a pang of heartache, “You’ve lost weight again.”
Qin Yinong replied, “I haven’t had much appetite lately, and I can’t sleep well.”
She stepped back from Mu Tingyun’s embrace, lifted the hem of her skirt, and twirled in a circle. Looking up at him, she asked, “Even though I’m thinner, do I still look good?”
The woman before him was already twenty-five, yet she still looked like a seventeen- or eighteen-year-old girl untouched by the world.
Her eyes were as clear as a fawn’s—nothing in this world could taint her soul.
Mu Tingyun’s heart softened completely. He said, “Yinong, to me, you are the most beautiful woman in the world.”
Qin Yinong felt reassured but pretended to be upset, muttering, “What about Shen He? She’s so beautiful—what is she to you?”
“Why bring her up?” Mu Tingyun’s expression turned disdainful at the mention of Shen He. He scoffed softly, his tone mocking. “She’s just a lapdog, wagging her tail frantically for a bone.”
“You are the pristine snow on a high mountain. Comparing her to you would only belittle yourself.”
Qin Yinong felt immensely satisfied inside but said, “She’s sincere toward you, at least. It’s not nice to talk about her like that.”
“What’s wrong with it?” Mu Tingyun picked Qin Yinong up and carried her to the living room, gently laying her down on the sofa. “It’s been so long since I last saw you. Are you hungry?”
Qin Yinong gestured toward the kitchen with her chin. Wrapping her arms around Mu Tingyun’s neck, she said, “There’s still soup simmering on the stove.”
“It’s fine. I’ll feed you the soup first…”
Mu Tingyun began to undress Qin Yinong, his gaze lingering on her fair, delicate skin. Suddenly remembering something, he asked, “What about your fiancé?”
Qin Yinong shot him a reproachful look. “What fiancé? Chu Kezhou is just the bodyguard you arranged for me. Knowing you were coming, he left tactfully long ago.”
Mu Tingyun chuckled softly, impatiently loosening his tie as he pressed Qin Yinong down to savor her slowly…
By the time their passion subsided, the food had gone cold.
Mu Tingyun tied an apron around his waist and stood in the kitchen, reheating the dishes.
Qin Yinong, wearing Mu Tingyun’s shirt, walked barefoot into the kitchen and wrapped her arms around his waist from behind.
Around her neck hung a 20-carat amethyst necklace.
“Brother Mu, thank you for the necklace.”
Shen He had only received a pair of rose gold earrings as a gift, while she had been given a 20-carat gemstone necklace.
The difference in Mu Tingyun’s feelings toward them was clear.
Mu Tingyun turned off the stove, leaned back against the counter, and wrapped his arms around Qin Yinong’s slender waist.
Gazing down at her porcelain-like, delicate face, he kissed her forehead tenderly. “Yinong, back then, when you carried me on your frail back to escape Mount Dalu, I swore I would marry no one but you in this lifetime.”
“You deserve all the beautiful things in the world.”
Mu Tingyun had once suffered from severe night blindness.
During his senior year of high school, the school organized a two-week wilderness survival training at Mount Dalu. Mu Tingyun was unexpectedly kidnapped and abandoned by the kidnappers in the deep, remote mountains to fend for himself.
The temperature difference between day and night in the deep mountains was extreme. Mu Tingyun was bitten by a venomous snake and began showing symptoms of hypothermia.
When Mu Tingyun was in utter despair, convinced he was doomed to die, it was Qin Yinong who descended from the heavens to save him.
At the risk of being poisoned herself, she decisively sucked out the venom with her mouth and, fortunately, found several antidote herbs to alleviate the toxins for Mu Tingyun.
The young girl then removed her training uniform and used her own body heat to warm him.
They endured three days in the deep, remote mountains before rescue arrived.
Without Qin Yinong, there would be no Mu Tingyun today.
Seeing that Mu Tingyun still remembered the events from their senior year of high school, Qin Yinong felt comforted.
Leaning against Mu Tingyun’s chest, she asked uneasily, “What about Shen He? Shen He is so beautiful. Have you never felt a flicker of attraction when you’re with her?”
“A fair lady is a gentleman’s desire—I won’t deny Shen He’s allure. But the only one I love in my heart is you. With her, it’s merely playing a part.”
Mu Tingyun might be momentarily bewitched by Shen He’s beauty, but Qin Yinong would always be the softest presence in his heart, untouchable by anyone else.
Gently stroking Qin Yinong’s smooth black hair, Mu Tingyun sighed softly, “Your heart condition is getting worse, Yinong. I must cut off all of Shen He’s escape routes as soon as possible, leaving her with nowhere to turn.”
“Give me a little more time, alright?”
Hearing Mu Tingyun acknowledge Shen He’s charm, Qin Yinong felt a twinge of bitterness in her heart. Yet, she also sensed Mu Tingyun’s sincerity and love.
“Alright, Brother Mu. I won’t let my thoughts wander like that again.”
“Good girl.”
With Mu Tingyun away from Qingshi, Shen He threw herself entirely into her work.
To design a piece that would satisfy Meng Shan within three days, Shen He didn’t even return to her apartment, eating and sleeping at the studio instead.
She managed to complete the initial draft just in time on the final day of the deadline.
After sending the design draft to the email address provided by Meng Shan, the tension that had been coiled tightly within Shen He suddenly relaxed.
She stretched lazily, picked up her bag, and prepared to head home, only to notice that the light in Jun Lin’s office was still on.
Glancing into the employee hall from where she stood, Shen He saw Jun Lin holding a wallet, lost in thought.
“Haven’t left yet?”
Jun Lin instinctively closed the wallet and asked Shen He, “Finished?”
Shen He hummed in response, raised her car keys, and shook them at Jun Lin, asking, “Want to grab a drink downstairs?”
There was a quiet bar right below their building.
Jun Lin raised an eyebrow and said, “It’s nine o’clock now, only three hours left until midnight. Are you sure you want to waste such precious time on me?”
Jun Lin hinted to Shen He, “Today is your Mu Third Young Master’s birthday.”
He assumed Shen He had been working overtime to free up time to celebrate Mu Tingyun’s birthday with him.
Shen He replied calmly, “He’s still away on a business trip. He hasn’t returned.”
Hearing this, Jun Lin was quite surprised. “Didn’t he say he’d rush back to celebrate his birthday with you? Why isn’t he back yet?”
As a man, Jun Lin’s intuition told him something was off, and he couldn’t help but warn Shen He, “He better not be keeping some flirtatious woman on the side.”
“Who knows.”
Seeing Shen He’s indifference, Jun Lin’s expression grew slightly serious. He reminded her, “Shen He, you’re far too trusting of Mu Tingyun. I’m a man, and I understand men.”
“Mu Tingyun clearly said he’d come back to celebrate his birthday with you. Changing plans at the last minute seems suspicious no matter how you look at it. Besides, you two have been together for two years now. Once the honeymoon phase passes, trouble tends to brew.”
"Shen He, you need to be careful." Jun Lin's reminder was straightforward enough; he hoped Shen He would realize the seriousness of the situation.
Shen He, of course, knew why Mu Tingyun hadn't returned.
It wasn't because he was busy with work—it was because trouble had erupted at home, and Qin Yinong had kept him in H Shi, unable to return.
But it didn't matter.
The fact that Qin Yinong wouldn't let Mu Tingyun return to Qingshi precisely confirmed Shen He's earlier suspicion.
Qin Yinong really had been snooping on her Weibo, and her posts flaunting her relationship had unsettled her.
Tsk, so easily thrown off balance—this Little Green Tea is still a bit too green.