"What story?" the ferry driver didn't understand how they had gotten to the point of telling stories.
"Once upon a time, a man loved a woman, but that woman fell in love with another man during a time when the first man could not be involved."
As Mu Qi spoke, the bowls and plates in his hands cracked almost uncontrollably.
"Mhm, and then what?" The ferry driver didn't usually watch idol dramas, but he was intrigued by the setup Mu Qi had started with.
"Then the man used his power and forcibly married the woman."
"Power? Money?"
The ferry driver chimed in, clearly engrossed in the story Mu Qi was telling.
Mu Qi's tone was indifferent, not considering it an important point: "Yes."
"Money is fine, women these days are all materialistic. As long as you're willing to spend money, that woman will forget her original boyfriend in just a few days."
Mu Qi shook his head: "But she doesn't lack money, and I wouldn't let her lack money."
Mu Qi inadvertently revealed the identity of the male protagonist in the story.
The ferry driver had always thought Mu Qi was just a pretty boy, so he didn't associate Mu Qi with the male protagonist. Hearing Mu Qi say this, he immediately looked at Mu Qi in surprise.
"Was that woman your first love? And then the woman in the living room broke you two up?" The ferry driver leaned slightly towards Mu Qi, then looked straight ahead, his words dripping with gossip.
Mu Qi frowned. Although he had never intended to deliberately hide the true identity of the story's protagonist,
When the ferry driver assigned Yun Shuniàn a role like that, Mu Qi felt a stab in the softest part of his heart.
Mu Qi narrowed his eyes, "Niànnian is my first love."
The ferry driver's eyes widened like copper bells, as if Mu Qi's words had overturned his worldview: "Who?"
Mu Qi frowned and solemnly emphasized again: "Niànnian."
The ferry driver: "Whose first love is who?"
"Niànnian is my first love." Mu Qi repeated with displeasure.
The ferry driver glanced at Yun Shuniàn before immediately turning his head back,
"Brother, are you kidding me? Between the two of you, it's clearly 'Niànnian' who seems to be the dominant one."
"Are you kidding me?"
"This isn't funny at all."
The ferry driver's three consecutive questions of disbelief were tinged with deep fear. After all, if it were true as Mu Qi said, he would be completely isolated and helpless on this island, like fish on a chopping board.
Mu Qi's expression softened again: "No."
"Then why is it that now she's the one who brought you here?" the ferry driver asked persistently.
Hearing the ferry driver's question, Mu Qi was momentarily confused.
"What scheme did you use to win that woman's heart?" the ferry driver prompted Mu Qi to continue, eager to find a loophole.
"No, she hated me. Nothing I did could make her like me."
An irrepressible sadness leaked from Mu Qi's eyes. If Yun Shuniàn saw it, she would surely rush to hug him.
"It can't be that bad, right?" The ferry driver couldn't help but glance at Mu Qi's attractive face, clicking his tongue. Though he was a rough man, Mu Qi's face alone could make him uneasy. Sudan Novel Network
"She eloped with that man many times, and each time I brought her back."
Speaking of this, Mu Qi curved his lips, looking somewhat sorrowful.
"The last time Niànnian eloped with that man was the night before our wedding. I brought Niànnian back from the port again. Niànnian was very angry and stabbed me."
"Stabbed... stabbed you?" The ferry driver stared intently at Mu Qi, unable to understand why Mu Qi spoke of being stabbed as if it were no more than a light tap.
Mu Qi ignored the ferry driver this time, as if he were completely lost in his memories, and continued.
"Later, we got married. Then her attitude towards me suddenly changed. Niànnian no longer found me repulsive; she was willing to eat at the same table with me, and she was willing to sleep with me."
A genuine smile bloomed on Mu Qi's lips, and his eyes grew increasingly gentle.
Repulsive?
The rough ferry driver glanced again at Mu Qi's peerless face, and a hundred question marks popped into his head.
"Niànnian would even act spoiled with me," Mu Qi's tone was unusually soft.
The rough driver's lips curled slightly, unable to bear seeing his fellow man so subservient. As a ferry driver, he had carried many wealthy people, and the women around them were all experts at acting spoiled, so it wasn't unusual at all.
Mu Qi: "She often likes to be by my side. She would bring meals to my company."
The ferry driver muttered to himself: Bringing meals? The women he had seen often gave men their shoes to wear; their service was meticulous. How could bringing a meal make this person so touched? Who among the rich lacked a meal?
"Did she make it herself?" the ferry driver asked casually, though he was thinking that if that woman had made it herself, it certainly wouldn't taste as good as what a private chef could make.
"No, Niànnian can't cook."
Mu Qi recalled Yun Shuniàn's previous attempt at cooking porridge that had spilled all over the floor, and he still felt a lingering fear. He was grateful that he could cook, so as not to let Yun Shuniàn get hurt.
The ferry driver was speechless. He had never met anyone as easily pleased as Mu Qi.
"Later, perhaps because I was so intent on dying that it frightened Niànnian, Niànnian said she wouldn't leave me. Of course, I didn't believe her, but since she said so, I had a reason to live again."
The ferry driver sighed with emotion. Intent on dying? How much love could that be?
"It wasn't until now that Niànnian treated me in the way I most wanted her to, that I dared to confirm she wasn't entirely devoid of feelings for me."
The ferry driver silently repeated Mu Qi's words in his mind:
Not entirely devoid of feelings...
That phrasing was far too understated. Recalling the look in Yun Shuniàn's eyes when Mu Qi had not yet woken up, the ferry driver shivered from the obsession he saw in them. No, this couldn't be true, could it?
"You have money and looks, why are you so fixated on one person?"