“Not yet. I’ll give my mother a call now.”
….
When the car arrived at the Mu residence, they noticed a BMW parked at the entrance.
When the two got off the car, Wu Pingyang said in scorn, “The cheapest BMW. I see this Luo family is just an ordinary one.”
“What Luo family?” He said, asking the obvious.
“Ah… it’s the Luo family that specializes in making furniture. Their son is my second uncle’s daughter’s boyfriend, and they’ll be getting engaged soon. You have no idea how, because of this union with the Luo family, the wrinkles that have emerged on my second aunt’s face can even trap a fly dead inside them.”
“When are they getting engaged?”
“Within the next few days, I guess, I’m not very sure either. I don’t care about her matters, but this marriage has been in discussion for many months already. My grandfather’s wish is that they’ll get married as soon as possible after their engagement. Shixin, we’ve been together for so long already, don’t tell me we’ll be lagging behind them?”
Fan Shixin’s lips twitched as he replied, “I have made plans for this recently.”
“Really?” Wu Pingyang appeared extremely overjoyed. “If my grandfather hears about this, he’ll be very happy. I have to tell him later.”
He did not make any objection or say a word and simply followed her to the living room.
The elderly Mr. Mu, who had been waiting for them to return, stood up as he saw them. “Shixin and Pingyang are back? It’s good enough that you two are back, what’s with the gift? It’s a waste of money.”
“It’s only right for us to be filial to Grandfather.” There was a faint smile on his face as he replied, and he sat down almost at the same time as Wu Pingyang did.
Mr. Mu was completely elated and asked the servant to put the gift away, then instructed them to serve tea.
“Ah, right. Shixin, let me introduce someone to you. This is my future son-in-law from the Luo family, he’s Luo Hang.”
Fan Shixin cast his gaze to the man seated opposite him. He was well dressed in a suit and indeed had outstanding looks. He stood up and shook hands with Luo Hang.
Afterward, they sat down again. Ever since he’d passed through the door to the living room, he did not cast a single glance at the woman seated beside Luo Hang.
“The day after tomorrow, Luo Hang and Wansheng will be having their engagement ceremony. Shixin, you’ll be attending it, right?”
He laughed and nodded. “Sure. I’m free that day, anyway.”
“That’s good. Since everyone’s around today, let’s eat together.” Mr. Mu then instructed the servants in the kitchen to prepare dinner.
Once he was done instructing them, Wu Pingyang could not help but remark, “Grandfather, Shixin said that he has made plans for our marriage recently.”
“That’s great.”
The elderly Mr. Mu was extremely overjoyed as Fan Shixin had not mentioned anything about marriage all these while, making him rather anxious about it. Now that he was finally making plans for it, he had not waited in vain, at least.
While the men were chatting, Mu Wansheng, who had kept silent all these while, occasionally cast a glance or two at Fan Shixin. After not seeing him for such a long time, she found that he still looked the same and had not changed at all.
He even put on an excellent act. From the moment he entered ’til the time they sat down to eat, he did not show a single hint that they had known each other since long ago.
Not only that, he did not even cast his eyes on her even once.
It was only when they were eating, when she had placed her chopsticks down and was wiping her mouth, that she suddenly felt that someone was looking at her. She then raised her head abruptly and met his gaze, which he had yet to retract.
He did not avoid her gaze and kept his eyes fixed on her. Mu Wansheng did not know why, but she felt from his eyes that he had something to say.
“I’m done eating, I’m going out to take a walk.”
She got up and left the dining area.
It was only when she went out that she took out her phone and sent a message to his number. “I didn’t think I would see you here.”
“It was just a matter of time.”
Mu Wansheng stared blankly at his reply. She understood this better than anyone else. After all, he would be her future cousin-in-law.
They were bound to meet sooner or later at the Mu residence.
While she was deep in thought, another message from him came in.
She lowered her head and checked the contents of the message. “I have something to tell you.”
“Please speak.”
“It’s not convenient through text message, let’s meet privately later. My car is unlocked, wait for me in there.”
Mu Wansheng couldn’t help but feel nervous. She replied to him with an “Okay” before leaving the house and getting into his car.
A few minutes later, he came out and got into his car.
Mu Wansheng, who was sitting at the passenger seat at the back, said in a low voice, “I’m here.”
Fan Shixin turned and asked, “Who arranged this marriage for you?”
“The elders in the house did.”
“Does he like you?”
Mu Wansheng replied, “No.”
“Then do you like him?”
“I don’t.”
“Then why are you getting engaged and married to him? Is marriage such a hasty decision to you?”
Mu Wansheng gazed at him and responded, “Of course not. But marrying anyone or not marrying is the same. There’s no difference, actually.”
Fan Shixin was dumbfounded by her words. He composed himself and replied, “Come over the front here to sit.”
Mu Wansheng moved over from the back passenger seat to the front, where she was much closer to him, to the extent that she could even smell the scent on him.
“Where did you get that 150 thousand dollars from?”
“It’s some savings of mine. Some were from my mother.” She bit her lip and asked, “Chief Fan, are you really intending to get married?”
“I always had the intention to get married and have started preparing a long time ago.”
She kept silent for almost half a minute before responding, “I wish you the best.”
He turned to the side and realized that, looking at her under the neon-orange street lamps, she looked exceptionally captivating.
“It’s been so long since we’ve met, and you look more beautiful than before.”
Mu Wansheng’s ears turned beet red, and her voice was suppressed even lower, “No… I’m still the same.”
“All these while, why didn’t you bother contacting me?”
“I was afraid to disturb you. I know Chief Fan is very busy every day, so I didn’t want to disturb you.”
This reason…
Just when he was about to say something, she added, “Chief Fan, if you weren’t busy, why didn’t you bother contacting me either?”
He stared right at her with his dark eyes. “You’re blaming me?”
Mu Wansheng hurriedly shook her head. “No, why would I dare to blame Chief Fan? I have no intention of blaming you at all.”
At this moment, Luo Hang came out of the house. Upon seeing this, Mu Wansheng bent over immediately to hide herself. But the position where she had leaned on was none other than… between Fan Shixin’s legs.
Fan Shixin’s whole body stiffened instantly. She originally had not felt anything unusual, until the position where she had leaned on started to show some obvious changes as it expanded rapidly. It was then that she realized where she was leaning on, and her face started to flush extremely red like a tomato. She could feel her whole body on fire, until her phone suddenly started to vibrate as she had switched it to vibration mode.
As she could not move at all, there was no way for her to pick up the call.
However, at this moment, she had to hear Wu Pingyang’s voice.
“How do I get off the car? What if Pingyang sees me in here?”
He reached out and patted her back to get her to rest assured and leave it for him to settle.
Seeing that Wu Pingyang was about to go around the front of the car to the front passenger seat, Fan Shixin rolled down the car window and said in his loud and clear voice, “Pingyang, I have something urgent to handle and I need to rush off. I won’t be able to send you home.”
