"Like this." Mu Qi came back to his senses and pulled Yun Shuniàn onto himself.
Mu Qi's clear breath enveloped Yun Shuniàn's nostrils with intense richness. Yun Shuniàn reacted for a while before understanding what Mu Qi meant.
A liar.
Yun Shuniàn remained silent, raising her hand to pinch the bulging veins on Mu Qi's arm, cursing him in her heart.
"Mu Qi is very good-looking. Beautiful in appearance, neither seductive nor common." Suddenly, Yun Shuniàn raised her hand and tapped Mu Qi's brow.
Mu Qi felt a tingling sensation rise from his marrow.
"Mu Qi is very rich. Possessing vast wealth, inexhaustible."
Yun Shuniàn then poked Mu Qi's cheek with her index finger, her smile growing increasingly radiant.
Mu Qi looked even more stunned.
"Mm, Mu Qi is also very talented. Reaching the top at a young age, steady and unhurried."
Yun Shuniàn cupped Mu Qi's face with both hands, her smile dimming slightly, her eyes filled with tenderness.
Forced to the top at such a young age, Mu Qi must have suffered many hurts.
"Mu Qi, unparalleled in the world."
"In this world, no man can compare to you." Yun Shuniàn used her index fingers to pull up the corners of Mu Qi's mouth.
"Moreover, we are married now. You really don't need to worry. I will always be with you."
Yun Shuniàn listed Mu Qi's various advantages, finally making a solemn promise, all to boost Mu Qi's confidence.
"But you chose Zuo Nán before and not me. And when you said I was talented just now, you didn't seem very happy."
Mu Qi had always been very sensitive to Yun Shuniàn's emotions. Mu Qi had never felt that the things Yun Shuniàn had just said were advantages.
Because he only had one standard for advantages, and that was Yun Shuniàn.
If she liked something, it was an advantage; if she didn't, it was nothing.
Therefore, Mu Qi couldn't help but doubt whether Yun Shuniàn truly liked him when she spoke of his talent.
"Mu Qi, sometimes, I really wish time could turn back.
Yànzhi Hén once wrote,
'I have longed my entire life to be hidden away, carefully placed, meticulously preserved. To be spared suffering, spared fear, spared wandering aimlessly, spared having no one to rely on.'
"I will..."
Before Mu Qi could finish, Yun Shuniàn's index finger pressed against his lips.
"Mu Qi, I'm not talking about myself. I'm talking about you."
"Mu Qi, if only I could have met you, known you, and loved you sooner.
Then I could have hidden you away, carefully placed you, meticulously preserved you. To spare you suffering, spare you fear, spare you wandering aimlessly, and spare me having no one to rely on." Yun Shuniàn looked at Mu Qi's delicate face, her eyes full of regret.
Mu Qi was stunned, his mind seemingly unable to function for a moment.
Thinking of Mu Qi saying she had chosen Zuo Nán before and not him, Yun Shuniàn's first impulse was to say it was because she was blind.
But Yun Shuniàn thought about it and finally felt that saying so would not allay Mu Qi's doubts, so she changed her words.
"The reason I didn't choose you back then, Mu Qi, was because I wasn't mature or flexible enough to see through the demons and monsters behind the human skin.
I thought that since I was already with Zuo Nán, I couldn't betray him. This had nothing to do with love or not, but rather my own requirements.
That's why I resisted your advances so strongly. More accurately, I was resisting a disloyal version of myself."
"It's not like that." Mu Qi removed Yun Shuniàn's hand from his lips.
Yun Shuniàn nodded in affirmation, "Of course it's not like that. Zuo Nán is simply a beast with ulterior motives."
Yun Shuniàn didn't want to elaborate on the details, but she wanted Mu Qi to know that he was different from Zuo Nán, and different from anyone else.
"But Mu Qi, you are different. In my eyes, you shine. Ever since we got married, you have always lingered in my heart.
But Zuo Nán has never held any special place in my heart. Therefore, in my heart, no one can be compared to you."
-------------------------------------
"What's going on? How long has Ning Jìng not come out?"
Ning's father and Ning's mother, returning from the company, saw Ning Chén standing in front of Ning Jìng's bedroom door and immediately realized something was wrong.
"Speak up." Ning's mother became even more anxious when Ning Chén remained silent.
"Seven hours and forty-six minutes." Ning Chén's eyes flickered briefly before he quickly averted them.
Ning's mother was alarmed by this and quickly knocked on the door: "Jìng Jìng baby, it's time for dinner. Come out quickly, I've asked the kitchen to make your favorite sweet and sour fish."
Inside, Ning Jìng heard Ning's mother's voice and groggily opened her eyes. Then, remembering something, she let out a deep sigh.
With a crack, it sounded like Ning Chén had been slapped by Ning's mother, followed by Ning's mother's voice from outside the door. Sū Dān Novel Network.
"Look at what you've done! If Jìng Jìng does something drastic..."
Ning Jìng's breath hitched, and she immediately got out of bed and opened the bedroom door.
"Mom, I'm fine. I just fell asleep." Ning Jìng stood in front of Ning Chén, explaining hastily.
"It's good that you're fine, darling. The fish will be ready soon." Ning's mother cupped Ning Jìng's face with her hands, then glanced deeply at Ning Chén behind Ning Jìng before heading downstairs.
Ning's mother had originally intended to take Ning Jìng downstairs directly, but she thought that now that the two of them were married, she should leave them some space.
Hmph, this way, the young man didn't take that slap in vain.
Ning's mother knew that Ning Chén guarding Ning Jìng's bedroom door wasn't for nothing. With Ning Chén's hearing, he would have known long ago if anything had happened.
"It's red." Ning Jìng, worried about Ning Chén, turned and couldn't help but touch Ning Chén's face after Ning's mother left.
Feeling Ning Jìng's closeness, Ning Chén's eyes softened with warmth.
But unfortunately, Ning Jìng quickly regained her senses and instantly withdrew her hand.
"Let's go eat." Ning Chén suppressed the surge of boundless disappointment and timely interrupted Ning Jìng's awkwardness.
Ning Jìng nodded and walked downstairs as if escaping, with Ning Chén following closely behind her.
Downstairs, seeing that Ning Chén still hadn't treated his face, Ning Jìng couldn't help but take an ice pack from the refrigerator and hand it to Ning Chén, then quickly sat down at the far end of the sofa.
Ning Chén sat in the middle of the sofa.
Ning's father, reading the newspaper downstairs, looked at Ning Jìng's flustered and somewhat melancholic demeanor, and Ning Chén's gaze that seemed to want to devour her, and silently shook his head.
This young man was no longer concealing himself at all.
Although he was his own son, Ning Chén's gaze towards Ning Jìng made Ning's father uncomfortable.
Ning's father wondered if he had looked at his wife with such an unpleasant gaze when he was young.
Ning's father frowned slightly and thought hard, when suddenly the newspaper in his hand was turned in a different direction.
"Did you see clearly just now?"