Suddenly, she wanted to call him, and just as suddenly realized she had never saved his phone number. Yet last night, she had clearly dialed his number.
Thinking of this, Zhong Wanqiu quickly opened her phone and checked the contacts. Unbeknownst to her, all her speed dial numbers had been changed to the same one presumably Leng Muxun’s.
With a light press of her finger, she wanted to hear his voice, right now.
“Wanqiu, it’s me.” He answered, his voice soft and deep.
“Ah Xun, I want to see you.” Now, she didn’t just want to hear his voice she wanted to see him in person too.
“Class over?”
“Yes, school’s out. Finished all my classes for today.”
“Then come out.”
“Okay, when do you get off work?” She asked while walking and talking on the phone.
“I finish work when you finish school.”
Her heart warmed with sweetness. Whether true or not, she loved hearing him say such things. “I’ll cook noodles for you tonight.”
“Wonderful.”
“Zhong Wanqiu, your fiancé is here.” Just as she was speaking, a female classmate walking toward her suddenly said enviously.
Wanqiu felt confused. “Huh? Where?”
“In a BMW, parked right at the school gate. If you don’t go soon, the whole campus will be buzzing.”
“Leng Muxun, is that you?” She asked in surprise, then rushed toward the school gate.
At the entrance, it seemed like everyone who could possibly gather from T University had congregated, forming layers of crowds. Leng Muxun, as if fearing the spectacle wasn’t grand enough, had actually used red and yellow roses to build a flower wall. On the flower wall were six auspicious characters: “Zhong Wanqiu, I love you.”
Those were six characters that seemed to thrive on chaos, like a summoning spell, so beautiful that Zhong Wanqiu’s mind drifted as she walked toward the flower wall.
People made way for her. As Zhong Wanqiu slowly walked through, Leng Muxun was leaning casually against the shiny black BMW. Dressed in a black shirt and matching jeans, his cool handsomeness made the surrounding girls scream incessantly. Zhong Wanqiu froze on the spot, staring fixedly at him as if under a spell.
In all her life, she had only been pampered by Xia Jingxuan. It was because of Xia Jingxuan’s doting that she cherished the warmth of being with him. But her dream with Xia Jingxuan had completely shattered and awakened when she saw him kissing Jin Ruoxue.
His gaze intense, he watched her approach the BMW. Leng Muxun let out a sharp whistle, then stood up gracefully. His panther-like body moved in a beautifully curved arc before the crowd. With one hand, he opened the car door. “Wanqiu, let’s have dinner together.”
His voice was magnetic and pleasant, without a trace of affectation, as if they had been old friends for years. It directly erased others’ perceptions of Xia Jingxuan’s betrayal of her, linking only her and him together.
Her feet seemed to be under a spell as they carried her toward him. She suddenly noticed that this strikingly handsome man had a touch of endearing charm, exuding an utterly captivating masculine aura. She didn’t know how her hand ended up in his, only that a gentle force guided her into the passenger seat of the car. Leaning back, as the car finally pulled away from the gates of T University, what she heard wasn’t the screams of her classmates outside the window, but Leng Muxun’s ghostly whisper, “Miss, this way, no one can say your fiancé is inferior to Xia Jingxuan.”
Her nose twitched. Just moments ago, she had been deeply moved, but now she realized he had been putting on a show for her classmates. “Hey, who asked for your help?”
“Aren’t you going to marry me? Then I’m going to be your man, so of course I have to make sure you keep your pride intact.”
“Leng Muxun, I’ve changed my mind. I don’t want to marry you.” Annoyed, she thought, this man is truly overbearing.
Leng Muxun chuckled lightly, his hands skillfully turning the steering wheel. “Zhong Wanqiu, you signed on the dotted line. And now, you’ve already boarded my ‘ship.’ From now on, you belong to me.”
“Leng Muxun, is this a pirate ship?” she asked, her gaze drifting as she turned to look at him seriously for the first time. Suddenly, she felt as if she had known him for many years.
“Wanqiu, I want noodles.” Though he had said he would take her out for dinner, what he really wanted was to return to the apartment and eat the noodles she would cook. “You promised me on the phone earlier.”
She nodded, thinking of Jin Ruoxue and Liang Shuzhen, her heart softening. “Let’s skip the noodles tonight. How about we go buy groceries, and I’ll cook a meal?”
“Sure, the apartment could use some supplies anyway.” His eyes lit up, and he promptly turned the car toward a nearby supermarket.
Pushing the shopping cart, she picked out a toothbrush and a cup while he trailed behind her like an attendant. She placed a cute cartoon cup into the cart and reached for a cheaper toothbrush she had just spotted, but Leng Muxun gently pushed her hand aside. “Not that one. Let’s get this.”
It was a couples’ set two adorable toothbrushes side by side, each handle decorated with a little kitten.
“I’ll just take that one,” she insisted, still preferring the cheaper option out of habit, always feeling it was wasteful to spend more.
“No, this one looks better,” he declared firmly, overriding her choice. He even put back the cup she had selected and picked out a matching pair. When he placed them in the cart, they looked undeniably charming.
Then came the slippers comfortable and, of course, part of a couples’ set. Just as she was about to say something, he leaned close to her ear and whispered, “Silly girl, don’t worry about saving money for me.”
Fine, then she wouldn’t hold back. She picked out the expensive fruits, fish, and meats, filling bag after bag until the shopping cart was nearly full. Seeing they had almost everything, she whispered to him, “Ah Xun, go wait for me at the checkout.”
“Hey, where are you going?”
“I… I need to grab a few more things.” She remembered her period was about to start and thought she might as well buy a pack of sanitary pads while they were at the supermarket. But with him around, she felt too embarrassed to do so.
The variety on the shelves was overwhelming. After careful selection, she finally picked what she needed and hurried toward the checkout counter, afraid he might be growing impatient. As she turned past the fresh produce aisle, Zhong Wanqiu was about to step out when she saw Leng Muxun pull his phone from his pocket. He spoke into it while scanning the area was he looking for her?
But something seemed off. The call wasn’t for her.
In that moment of hesitation, she noticed a smile finally spread across Leng Muxun’s face. With a wave of his hand, a woman approached him. He set down the shopping cart they had filled together near the checkout counter, accompanied the woman as she paid, exchanged a few words with her, and then she left with a smile.
Watching the woman’s retreating figure, Wanqiu suddenly felt uneasy.
Perhaps this was what her future life would be like. He had said that both of them could have their own private space.
He had deliberately said that how many women did he have, after all?
She already knew of three: the one just now, the one from the stairwell back then, and Liu Ruoxin. Liu Ruoxin was the only one whose name she remembered. On the night she left last time, his phone had been left at Liu Ruoxin’s place, yet he told her he was busy because of Grandfather, which was why he spent less time with her.
Actually, she didn’t need his company. She was used to being alone.
Only after the woman disappeared around the corner did Wanqiu step out. “Ah Xun, I’m done. We can go now.” She reached for the shopping cart he had left aside. Perhaps he had bought those things in case Grandfather made a surprise visit and grew suspicious of their seemingly harmonious but actually distant relationship.
After paying and leaving, he still noticed the sanitary pads she had picked out. He grabbed them and carried them himself it would have been embarrassing to let him see them.
Thinking about it, they had only known each other for a few days. How could there not be distance between them?
When her leg was injured, she had stayed here and ordered all her meals from outside. This was actually the first time she and he were cooking together.
“Do you need my help?” he asked softly, watching her carry the groceries into the kitchen.
“No, I’ll handle it today. You can watch TV or go upstairs and use the computer.” The study upstairs had everything. Did she really need to plan his time for him? This was his apartment, after all.
“Heh, Wanqiu, you really do seem like a proper little wife now.”
She gave him a playful smile. “I signed the agreement, so I have to take responsibility.”
He pinched her cheek and actually left the kitchen to her, letting her cook alone.
She worked quickly by herself. She had learned to cook in her teens when Liang Shuzhen worked as a nanny and brought her along. Watching Liang Shuzhen cook, she had quietly picked up the skills. Back then, she thought she could also work as a nanny to earn some extra money for the family. Little did she know those skills would only come in handy now.
As she washed and chopped ingredients, with something simmering on the stove, a phone rang in the living room. “Ah Xun, your phone is ringing.” After several rings with no answer, she felt she should remind Leng Muxun.
But there was no response from outside the kitchen.
Wiping her hands, Wanqiu hurried out, picked up Leng Muxun’s phone from the coffee table, and noticed he wasn’t in the room. She rushed upstairs and was about to push open the study door when the phone in her hand stopped ringing. From the slightly ajar door, she could hear Leng Muxun’s voice.
She felt she shouldn’t have listened, but just as she turned around, she heard him say: “I’m still at work right now, and I’ll be working overtime later. I’m very busy… What? You want to come over? Fine then, but come around midnight. Don’t disturb me while I’m working overtime before that… Alright, remember to bring condoms. I’m out here. If you don’t bring any, don’t come…”
She couldn’t bear to listen any longer. She ran downstairs, put his phone back where it was, and decided to pretend she never heard it ring.
Claiming to be at work and working overtime she’d never seen anyone describe being at home as working and putting in overtime.
Forget it. She’d act like she never heard it.