Assistant Chen had been with Mu Qi for several years. He had never seen Mu Qi with another phone, and in Assistant Chen's eyes, Mu Qi always handled every call with a professional demeanor.
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Time slowly passed.
At half past five in the afternoon, Mu Qi precisely shut down his computer and walked towards Yun Shunan, who was still engrossed in her phone, laughing heartily.
Mu Qi: "Let's go home."
As he spoke, Mu Qi's gaze lowered slightly, and beneath his stern expression was a hint of undetectable loneliness.
Home? How could Yun Shunan ever acknowledge that as her home?
After a long pause, when Mu Qi didn't receive Yun Shunan's usual complaints or angry outbursts, he looked at her in surprise. He then realized that Yun Shunan was too absorbed in her phone.
Mu Qi went to take Yun Shunan's hand to lead her out. Yun Shunan glanced up at Mu Qi and then followed him.
Assistant Chen, who was carrying a stack of documents, happened to walk to the door of the CEO's office and saw their CEO leading Yun Shunan out by the hand. Assistant Chen quickly moved aside.
Holding the documents, Assistant Chen watched their retreating backs with disbelief.
When had their CEO ever left work on time?
It seemed their CEO's iron tree had finally bloomed, and his days of overtime were finally over.
Assistant Chen's grip loosened, and the mountain of documents almost fell to the ground.
Yun Shunan, led away by Mu Qi, remained immersed in the comedy on her phone, not looking up, allowing Mu Qi to pull her wherever he pleased.
Until several sharp, high-pitched voices reached her ears.
"Who is this woman? And she dares to laugh in front of Mr. Mu! And laugh so loudly!" The white-collar workers hadn't noticed their clasped hands and assumed she was just another employee of the company.
Yun Shunan's attention was drawn away from the comedy on her phone. She then realized that Mu Qi had unknowingly led her to the lobby on the first floor.
Yun Shunan lowered her head and put her phone into her pocket. She looked around and finally saw several white-collar workers in professional attire behind her.
Yun Shunan wondered if she should make a grand introduction of herself as the CEO's wife.
But Yun Shunan glanced down at her cute Peter Pan collar and decided against it. She had her pride as the CEO's wife to maintain! Next time, she would choose a more commanding outfit for her grand entrance.
Yun Shunan slowed down slightly and hid behind Mu Qi, thus missing the subtle pause in Mu Qi's steps and the subsequent furrowing of his brow.
...
On the way, the comedy Yun Shunan had opened had finished. She handed her phone to Mu Qi beside her: "Mu Qi, I'm done watching."
Mu Qi, tapping on his keyboard, ignored her. "Mu Qi?"
Mu Qi still didn't respond.
Yun Shunan assumed Mu Qi was too engrossed in his work. Helplessly, she used the bottom of her phone to find a gap in Mu Qi's pocket and let the phone slide in on its own.
Mu Qi still didn't react, only typing faster on his keyboard.
Having stared at her phone all afternoon, Yun Shunan's eyes felt dry. She closed them drowsily.
She didn't notice the sound of the keyboard tapping by her ear gradually slowing down until it stopped.
As the drowsy Yun Shunan couldn't sleep, she began to overthink. She had a nagging feeling that she had forgotten something.
Suddenly, a flash of inspiration struck Yun Shunan. She hadn't mentioned the wine reception to Mu Qi today.
...
After dinner, Yun Shunan watched Mu Qi walk into his study, lost in thought.
Then, Yun Shunan also went upstairs and returned to the bedroom.
Once Mu Qi returned to the room, Yun Shunan would have a good talk with him. Sleeping at night was usually the most relaxed time, and whatever she wanted to discuss would be much easier then.
Yun Shunan washed up and lay in bed, carefully contemplating the details of her upcoming conversation with Mu Qi.
However, she pondered for a long time and couldn't figure out how to bring it up with Mu Qi.
Yun Shunan tossed and turned in bed, finally unable to resist getting up and going directly to the study.
Get straight to the point, and face it head-on!
"Mu Qi?" Yun Shunan went to open the study door.
It didn't open. The study door was locked.
Yun Shunan felt puzzled. Where had Mu Qi gone so late?
Yun Shunan walked back, but found a faint light emanating from next to the master bedroom. However, it extinguished before Yun Shunan could reach it.
Yun Shunan quietly opened the door. Fortunately, the side bedroom door was unlocked.
The air was filled with the fresh scent of sea salt.
Yun Shunan didn't know what she was feeling at this moment, but she uncontrollably moved towards the bed.
By now, she had adjusted to the dim environment of the room. She crouched by the bed, clearly able to see Mu Qi's perfect facial contours in the moonlight.
Yun Shunan poked his arm: "Mu Qi."
Yun Shunan received no response. Growing bolder, she reached out her index finger to poke Mu Qi's nose.
But this time, like the night before, before she could touch him, Mu Qi caught her hand.
Mu Qi, who had been lying flat, turned over: "What are you doing?"
"I... I..." Yun Shunan hadn't expected him to wake up so suddenly.
Yun Shunan's mind went blank. After a long while, she regained her senses and forcefully changed the subject: "Mu Qi, was I particularly well-behaved today?"
One second.
Two seconds.
Three seconds.
...
Mu Qi hadn't responded yet, and Yun Shunan's heart was pounding out of her chest.
After a long pause, Mu Qi's voice finally came: "What do you want?"
Mu Qi was very perceptive, it had to be said. But this perceptiveness also made her heart ache.
If in her past life she hadn't made a fuss every day about leaving Mu Qi, he wouldn't have been so constantly on edge, and wouldn't have this kind of "perceptiveness."
Yun Shunan tried to compose herself and said, with forced "calmness": "Mu Qi, isn't there a wine reception soon? Can you take me to attend?"
The next second, before Yun Shunan could react, Mu Qi had pushed her down.
Mu Qi's voice was chillingly cold: "Yun Shunan, this is your objective, isn't it? Do you think I can't distinguish between you attending the wine reception and eloping with Zuo Nan?"
Yun Shunan was stunned. Since her rebirth, her interactions with Mu Qi had been relatively stable. She had never expected Mu Qi to have such a strong reaction.
As Yun Shunan remained silent, Mu Qi grew increasingly agitated: "Yun Shunan, speak!"
"No, I didn't." Yun Shunan wasn't going to the wine reception purely for attendance, but it was also not to elope with Zuo Nan.
It was just that Yun Shunan wanted to resolve the dark side of this life on her own. She didn't want to drag Mu Qi into it.
Her Mu Qi only needed to live a healthy and happy life in the sunlight.
Mu Qi's clasped hands with Yun Shunan gradually tightened, clearly indicating that these five words were not enough to convince Mu Qi.