Chapter 109
A few days after the blind date, Ye Xialan dragged Bo Mingliang to Bo Muyu’s place for dinner.
The couple rarely went to see her for a meal. It was always Bo Muyu who went home on the weekends to spend time with them. When they came this time, they brought large and small bags of snacks and filled her snack shelf to the brim.
Besides the ingredients for dinner, they also bought some extra fruits and vegetables, storing them in the refrigerator for her to cook directly after work if she was too busy in the next few days.
Bo Muyu had a gut feeling that it wasn’t that simple, but since Ye Xialan didn’t take the initiative to say anything, she wouldn’t bother to bring it up either.
Bo Muyu threw her suit jacket back in her room, rolled up her shirt sleeves, and went to the kitchen to assist Bo Mingliang.
Dinner was three dishes and one soup, and there was also barbecue. Bo Muyu washed and prepared some of the ingredients and set them aside. She looked up at Bo Mingliang, who was cutting meat, thought for a moment, and took out her phone to take a picture of the ingredients. She then opened WeChat, found the chat at the very top, and pressed send.
It was Jiang Chenyin’s chat box. As she scrolled up, a large chat history appeared. Bo Muyu couldn’t help but lift the corners of her lips slightly, but then she became worried again.
That day, Jiang Chenyin had told her to keep in touch, her expression so serious that she had immediately fallen into those gentle eyes and had nodded unconsciously. The next morning, she had received a picture of the azure sky from Jiang Chenyin, telling her that she was about to board the plane.
She had stared at that picture in her office for a long time, guessing Jiang Chenyin’s mood and thoughts when she had sent that message, and in the end, she had simply replied with a “mmm.”
After sending the message, Bo Muyu had turned off her phone’s notification sound, forcing herself to work without any distractions, not to think about how Jiang Chenyin would reply. But for the whole morning, she couldn’t calm down. She would write and delete her script, unable to maintain a good working state.
In the end, she really couldn’t hold it in anymore and opened WeChat to look. Jiang Chenyin had not replied.
She started to panic again, pacing back and forth in her office. Her reply had been so simple. Would Jiang Chenyin think that she was unwilling to chat? Would she think that she was unwilling to mend their relationship?
She was both annoyed and sad. She just wanted to be a little more restrained, not to reveal the love she was still hiding, as that would push Jiang Chenyin away again. Fortunately, by noon, Jiang Chenyin had sent another message. It was a very ordinary conversation, asking her if she had eaten, and what she had eaten.
Bo Muyu tried her best to maintain a sense of propriety, no longer replying so coldly, but also not using the enthusiastic and obedient tone of before.
That day, Jiang Chenyin had been so persistent and gentle, making her mind a jumble these past few days. She suddenly felt that Jiang Chenyin was not afraid of her developing those greedy expectations again.
Before she could think of anything, Jiang Chenyin had replied to her WeChat message, “Are there guests at home?”
“My parents are here,” Bo Muyu confessed honestly, wondering why she was asking such a question.
Soon, Jiang Chenyin replied with a familiar emoji, a cute dog being petted, followed by a sentence, “Eat well. I’ll find you when I get back to the hotel tonight.”
Bo Muyu looked at that sentence, and the image of Jiang Chenyin speaking to her in a doting tone appeared before her eyes. She quickly took a deep breath and stuffed her phone back into her pocket. She turned on the faucet to wash the vegetables. The water flowed over her fingers, and she washed them very slowly, her attention not on the vegetables in her hand at all.
She was very nervous. Jiang Chenyin was chatting and calling her every day now. Although it was just a very ordinary conversation, every second was warming her already frozen heart, and stirring up her greedy thoughts.
Bo Mingliang suddenly let out a “hmm.” “Xiaoyu, haven’t you already washed those vegetables? Why are you washing them again?”
“Ah…” Bo Muyu was suddenly awakened and turned off the faucet in embarrassment.
She pinched her own face, annoyedly discovering that she had no way to resist Jiang Chenyin’s invasion at all.
During dinner, Ye Xialan kicked Bo Muyu’s foot under the table and asked, “What do you think of that man from a few days ago?”
Bo Muyu was a little dazed, but she thought of what Jiang Chenyin had said that day. She trusted her completely, but Jiang Chenyin had not told her how she had handled it, so she dodged the question. “Didn’t Auntie Yin already tell you?”
“She did, but…” Ye Xialan poked the bottom of her bowl heavily with her chopsticks. “How can they not be suitable? It was only the first time they met. Don’t they need to meet a few more times?”
So Jiang Chenyin had said they were not suitable.
Bo Muyu lowered her head and picked up a piece of vegetable to eat, a smile on her lips.
“Then what do you think?” Ye Xialan asked, not giving up. “How do you feel yourself? I’ll combine your two opinions.”
“I also think it’s not suitable,” Bo Muyu said calmly, but she kept picking up food and eating, her mouth constantly moving, trying to hide the smile on her lips.
“Where is it not suitable? Wasn’t it just the first time you met?” Ye Xialan couldn’t figure it out and pressed with a frown.
Bo Muyu thought for a moment and randomly grabbed an excuse. “He’s too old-fashioned.”
“Old-fashioned? I don’t think so,” three question marks appeared above Ye Xialan’s head. “I found him completely according to Teacher Jiang’s type. His career is definitely not as impressive as hers, but his personality shouldn’t be wrong… but Teacher Jiang doesn’t seem to be humorous and witty either…”
Bo Muyu was choked by her food for no reason. She quickly covered her mouth and turned to cough. After she had finished, she turned back. Jiang Chenyin was not humorous and witty, but as for old-fashioned… that didn’t fit at all. When her expression was gentle and serious, she could easily break through the heavy armor of one’s heart.
Or perhaps it was just that she couldn’t resist Jiang Chenyin. Just a little bit of gentleness was enough to make her lose her soul. Thinking of this, Bo Muyu poked the bottom of her bowl heavily with her chopsticks, as if she had some deep-seated hatred.
Seeing her look, Ye Xialan, even if she still wanted to struggle, couldn’t anymore. “Then forget it. Since you and Teacher Jiang both said so, then let’s pass on this one. Let’s eat, let’s eat!”
Bo Mingliang ate his food silently on the side, not participating in the discussion between the two women in the family.
After dinner, Bo Mingliang and Ye Xialan left. As they were leaving, Ye Xialan was still sighing. Bo Muyu knew that she had guessed right. Ye Xialan had come today because she hadn’t given up on that blind date. Jiang Chenyin’s feedback was not enough. She had to come and hear her thoughts.
She washed the dishes, and after her shower, Jiang Chenyin had not contacted her.
She sat on the edge of her bed, recalling what Ye Xialan had said just now.
Jiang Chenyin had told her that she and that man were not suitable. Were they really not suitable? Of course there would be no emotional foundation in just a few short hours. Just looking at her and that man’s conditions, there would actually be no such thing as not suitable.
And Jiang Chenyin had not been by her side that day. She didn’t know which corner she was in, but in any case, she was not close to her. From such a distance, how could she feel if they were suitable or not?
Bo Muyu lowered her head to look at her unlit phone, her long hair falling down to cover her side profile, her thoughts already running wild.
Jiang Chenyin had suddenly met with her, and had also told her to keep in touch, had explained that she would be back soon, and had also reassuringly handled the blind date that Ye Xialan had arranged. These past few days, they seemed to have gone back to the past, chatting about their daily lives in their free time. Jiang Chenyin would even send her pictures of the film set. It was just that their words were not as sweet as before.
From that day on, Jiang Chenyin had been very proactive, so proactive that it made her both expectant and hesitant, a hint of unease mixed with her hope.
Were they going back to the past? Or…
Her breathing suddenly quickened. She didn’t dare to think in that direction at all. How could that be possible? More than half a year had passed. She had even accepted the outcome of her feelings. How could it be…
She sat on the edge of her bed in a daze for a long time. Her phone still had not rung, so that little bit of a doubt should have been an illusion. They could be very close, but in reality, to really take that step, there were many things between them. She knew that very well.
Bo Muyu bit her lip slightly, and with this realization, she turned off the lights and huddled under the covers.
Her phone was on the bedside table. Because she had set an alarm, she couldn’t just turn off the sound. She could only pull the blanket over her head like an ostrich.
The more Bo Muyu wanted to not go back to reality, the more reality wanted to pull her out. Not long after she had been hiding under the covers, she heard her phone ring. It rang twice without stopping. She didn’t answer. On the third time, she reached out and grabbed her phone, pulling it under the covers.
After she answered, the other end was very quiet, as if they were also in a room, and then she heard a light sigh.
Jiang Chenyin asked softly, “What’s wrong?”
“Nothing,” Bo Muyu said, her voice muffled under the covers. “I want to go to sleep. I’m a little sleepy.”
Jiang Chenyin was silent for a moment. “You don’t have anything to say to me? Which dish did you cook tonight? Did your parents praise your improved cooking skills? None of that?”
“I don’t know…” Bo Muyu paused for a long while before saying. The stuffiness under the covers suddenly made her unable to breathe. She threw it off and sat up.
Jiang Chenyin was quiet again. Bo Muyu thought that this time, she had finally blocked her words. Even if this was not what she wanted, even if she was not feeling well now, it was much more comfortable than her wild guesses.
Her heart ached. She said no more, just waiting for Jiang Chenyin to give up this communication first.
But what she got was Jiang Chenyin’s still-gentle voice, “It’s okay. If you have nothing to say to me, then I’ll talk to you.”
Bo Muyu’s eyelashes trembled, and she murmured in a low voice, “Auntie Yin…”
“Mmm… where should I start?” Jiang Chenyin said to herself, and then she smiled. “I’ll let you in on a secret. The role Yuxin is playing this time is a very domineering assassin. You would never have thought that she would take on such a role. It’s very different from her own image. You’ll definitely be surprised when you see the film.”
Bo Muyu did not speak. Jiang Chenyin’s smiling voice had already made her eyes sting.
After a pause, Jiang Chenyin took a deep breath and continued gently, “I feel that when she’s filming is the only time she’s serious. As long as she’s not in a filming state, she’s very playful. Sometimes when the director is explaining a scene to her, she’ll even pull me over and tell the director not to be in such a hurry. Anyway, I have plenty of money. It’s okay to shoot a few more takes.”
She stopped, smiled helplessly, her voice a little hoarse. “She drags out the filming all day. Although I’m a supporting role, I have a lot of scenes with her. And she acts as if she doesn’t know that I want to go back to Qinzhou quickly.”
Bo Muyu covered her mouth with her other hand, her heart rising and falling. She had heard Jiang Chenyin’s words. She had said that she wanted to go back to Qinzhou quickly.
“You still have nothing to say to me?” Jiang Chenyin sighed faintly.
“Auntie Yin, I…” Bo Muyu murmured in a low voice. Through the phone, she was even more at a loss.
“Muyu, don’t be afraid of me,” Jiang Chenyin said before she could think, her voice as rich as a fine red wine. “I won’t be like that again. Don’t be afraid of me.”
Bo Muyu’s hand, holding the phone, suddenly tightened, her long eyelashes trembling, a tear sliding down from the corner of her eye. She covered her mouth tightly, biting her lip to try and not make a sound, telling herself that crying was not what Jiang Chenyin wanted to hear.
Her panic and hesitation were driven away, and she could no longer think about their current relationship. No matter what it was, she was willing to sink into it.
