Xu Youning was supposed to remember that even if she was Mu Sijue’s girl, she still had to work for him.
“Mu Sijue’s girl?” She thought.
“Huh! I’d rather not be your girl.”
It was known to all that in Mu Sijue’s eyes, women weren’t essential and could be replaced at any time. After paying a woman, he would turn and forget it as if nothing had happened.
Mu Sijue warned Xu Youning to remember who she was because he wanted her to behave herself. Except for sleeping with her, everything between them would remain the same as before; when he ordered her to perform her mission, he would brook no opposition or mistakes.
Xu Youning thought, “I see, holding me cheek to cheek with our fingers laced and all that will only happen in my dreams.”
Xu Youning calmed her mind. She took the supplements that Su Jianan had prepared for her grandmother, then followed Mu Sijue.
Let alone making their relationship known to the public, it was impossible for her to walk with Mu Sijue shoulder to shoulder.
Mu Sijue soon realized that Xu Youning was walking behind him. He froze his steps for half a second, then quickened his pace toward the airport gate, without thinking about her injured feet or stopping to wait for her.
At that moment, Xu Youning’s stubborn character was exerted to the fullest. She bore the pain in her feet without a word and forced herself to keep up with him.
By the time she got in the car, Xu Youning’s forehead had been sweating. Ah Guang, who was in the driver’s seat, turned and worriedly asked, “Youning, are you all right?”
Before Xu Youning could answer, Mu Sijue abruptly shouted in a cold voice, “Go!”
Ah Guang was scared; it took a while for him to understand how complex the situation was. Then he became silent and drove toward the Number One Clubhouse.
The journey from the airport to downtown took them more than an hour, during which the pain in Xu Youning’s feet had been eased. When the car stopped, Mu Sijue got out of it without looking back and said to Ah Guang, “Send her home.”
When the car was far away from the Number One Clubhouse, Ah Guang began to speak, “What’s wrong with Mr. Mu?”
Xu Youning said angrily, “He’s like a bomb. Just leave him alone.”
Ah Guang rubbed his nose and replied “oh”, then he drove Xu Youning to her home.
Xu Youning had been away from her grandmother for nearly a month so she missed her dearly. She rushed into the house and saw her grandmother sitting in the living room watching TV with the aunt. She happily ran to hug her grandmother and said, “I’m back! By the way, Jianan asked me to bring this to you.”
Grandma Xu beamed with pleasure. She took the bag and was about to open it. Instead, she asked, “How has Jianan been recently? Is she all right?”
“Grandma, why don’t you ask about me?” Xu Youning lifted her foot and said, “It was injured and healed just a few days ago!”
“How did you get your foot injured?” Her grandmother frowned and said, “You’re a grown up, how come…?”
Xu Youning moved her ankle with a grinning smile on her face and said, “Take it easy, it’s just a minor injury. I applied some medicine to it and it healed the next day. Jianan and Yicheng are fine. Yicheng is getting married next month and he wants you to attend! Jianan will give birth to her twins a few months later. Maybe they will be a boy and a girl!”
“That’s great.” Granny Xu smiled. She seemed to have recalled something, then she patted Xu Youning’s hand and said, “Jianan is about the same age as you. Now that she will be a mother, you need to hurry up.”
Xu Youning nearly guessed what her grandmother would say next, so she said in a piteous voice, “Grandma…”
“It’s no use calling me grandma!” Grandma Xu took out a note with a phone number on it from her pocket and said. “It’s our neighbor Aunt Liu’s nephew. He’s a lawyer. I met him the day before yesterday and he’s nice. Now that you are back, go and meet him tonight.”
“Grandma…”
“Do as I say!” Granny Xu knew Xu Youning well, so she interrupted her before she could refuse.
“How about two days later?” Xu Youning began to act like a spoiled child. “I just came home and I want to stay with you.”
“Xiao Sun will accompany me. I’ll be fine.” After a while, Granny Xu sighed and said, “What’s worrying me most now is your future. If you marry your Mr. Right, I can leave this world without regrets.”
Xu Youning’s eyes soon became reddish around the rims. She said, “Grandma, don’t say that.”
“My sugar.” Granny Xu smiled and stroked Xu Youning’s face. “I’ve been living for more than half a century. It’s enough. You still have a long way to go in your life, but you’ll be lonely. “Before I die, I wish you could find the one that will be with you all your life.”
Xu Youning nodded. It was her that had worried her grandmother the most. Even if she just wanted to reassure her grandmother, she had to meet the lawyer.
“As for Mu Sijue, he isn’t my boyfriend. My blind date is none of his business!” Xu Youning thought.
…
In the evening, at the Mengyin River Western Restaurant.
By the river, people could enjoy the bright night view of most of City G. Mengyin River had been the best western restaurant for many young lovers’ dates. It was difficult to book a table in the evening, so Xu Youning admired her date since he had managed to do so.
Xu Youning arrived at the restaurant five minutes earlier than the appointed time. When she reached the table, she found a man about 28 years of age sitting there. He wore a pair of elegant glasses, behind which the eyes were full of intelligence and calmness; next to his hand was a briefcase with supreme texture; all that made him look like an elite young man who was successful in his career.
Lawyers often needed to deal with strangers, while Xu Youning had never been shy with strangers, so the two naturally shook hands with each other. Then the young man introduced himself to Xu Youning, “Hello, I’m Han Rui. I work for the Tian Han Law Firm.”
Xu Youning smiled and said, “Hello, I’m Xu Youning.”
Han Rui gently released Xu Youning’s hand and motioned for her to have a seat. Then he called the waiter to bring the menu. As they ordered dishes, the two naturally began their talk.
Lawyers were skilled at talking, while Xu Youning could chat with others for half a day if she wished. After finding that they had something in common, the two began to enjoy their talk. Although they didn’t spark with each other, they had mutually left good impressions on each other.
At the very moment when the two were talking with great excitement, Mu Sijue and Ah Guang passed by the restaurant.
Mu Sijue had no habit of looking around when he walked. Ah Guang said to him, “Mr. Mu, Youning is with a man!”
Through the bright French window of the restaurant, he saw Xu Youning sitting at a table by the window with a young man. The two were smiling; as they talked, Xu Youning laughed and the man gently looked at her in the soft light.
Ah Guang said in bewilderment, “Youning told me that although she is from City G, she has no friends here. She has never talked about that man.” After a while, Ah Guang said in surprise, “Ah! Youning is… dating!”
“Is it weird?” Mu Sijue calmly glanced at Ah Guang and said, “Without blind dates, how can she find a man to marry?”
With that, Mu Sijue turned and walked away. While Ah Guang still stood there, blank faced.
From Mu Sijue’s words, Ah Guang could tell that Xu Youning’s blind date didn’t surprise him. However, he sounded… quite angry.
Mu Sijue noticed that Ah Guang didn’t follow him. He coldly said, “Ah Guang!”
Ah Guang trembled, realizing that Mu Sijue was angry with him. He said at once, “Oh! I’m coming!”
He ran to open the rear door for Mu Sijue, who took the keys from his hand and drove away in a flash; he was left there, confused in the wind.
The black Land Rover ran on the road for a long time, then it suddenly stopped by the side of the road.
Mu Sijue took out a cigarette from the cigarette case. With a clattering sound, a blue flame jumped out of the lighter and ignited the cigarette. He dragged but felt bored, then he extinguished it and called Xu Youning.
“Where are you?” He asked directly.
“I’m eating outside with a friend,” Xu Youning answered succinctly.
Mu Sijue leaned on the back of the seat and pursed his lips. “How does the steak taste?”
Xu Youning became confused for two seconds and asked, “How do you know that? Where are you?”
“I’m at the intersection of Kangzhuang Road and Ningxia Road, less than two kilometers from you. You have five minutes to come here.” Mu Sijue said in a threatening voice, “Otherwise, I’ll gladly pick you up myself.”
With that, he hung up, leaving no chance for Xu Youning to bargain with him.
At the restaurant, Xu Youning silently put her cellphone into her bag and cursed Mu Sijue in her mind. Then she smiled with an apologetic face and said, “Mr. Han, excuse me. It’s my boss. I have to leave now.”
“Never mind.” Han Rui stood up and said, “May I drive you?”
“No, thanks.” Xu Youning waved her hand and insisted that she wanted to pay her share for the meal. Then she said, “I’ll take a taxi. Glad to meet you.”
After shaking hands with Han Rui and saying goodbye to him in a hurry, Xu Youning rushed out of the restaurant and called a taxi. Although she asked the driver to hurry up, by the time she reached the place Mu Sijue had told her, she had been two minutes late.
She knocked at the driver’s door of the Land Rover and shouted in front of the window, “Why did you call me here?”
Mu Sijue didn’t roll down the window; he motioned for Xu Youning to get in the car.
Xu Youning could do nothing but to walk to the other side around the car, then she sat in the passenger seat and repeated her question. “Why did you call me here?”
Mu Sijue gave her a faint smile and asked, “Did I disturb you?”
Xu Youning snorted angrily and said, “Yes!”
“How did you meet?” Mu Sijue suddenly asked; his words sounded relaxing instead of threatening.
Xu Youning didn’t want to lie to him, so she said, “My neighbor introduced him to me.”
“How was your first date?” Mu Sijue asked; it sounded the same as his previous words. It seemed that a close friend of Xu Youning was talking with her.
Xu Youning sized Mu Sijue up in bewilderment. When she was about to ask why he became gossipy, she abruptly heard Mu Sijue saying, “If you dare say anything good about him, I’ll make him disappear from City G tonight.”
Xu Youning didn’t ask the question, but said, “A mad person!”
“Who are you talking about?”
“Who else is here?!”
“Are you talking about the one here except me?”
Xu Youning was nearly driven crazy by Mu Sijue’s tone as if everything was under his control. She shouted without thinking it over. “You’re right!”
As soon as she finished her words, she realized that only Mu Sijue and she were there.
“Why did I revile myself? Am I mad?” She thought.
Xu Youning couldn’t control her temper anymore and shouted, “Mu Sijue, what do you want?!”
Mu Sijue didn’t answer her. As his foot jammed against the accelerator, the black Land Rover merged into the traffic and ran toward his apartment downtown…
