Chapter 14
Bo Mingliang and Ye Xialan were scheduled to leave on Monday afternoon. According to their plan, they would check into a hotel upon arrival, then go eat some famous local cuisine, and then wander around, thus concluding the day’s itinerary.
After Bo Muyu went to work on Monday morning, Jiang Chenyin would go over at noon to pick up Bo Muyu’s luggage and take it back to her own place in the city. In the afternoon, she would pick Bo Muyu up from work, and they would go back together.
In the eyes of Bo Mingliang and his wife, this was, after all, a small move. So they got up early. Bo Mingliang was checking the luggage, while Ye Xialan was in charge of giving Bo Muyu instructions.
Bo Muyu was drinking her congee, listening to Ye Xialan nag at her side, “Ah, Xiaoyu, although it’s not like you and Teacher Jiang haven’t lived together before, you’ve never lived together for a very long time. This time, your dad and I are finally going out, so we might be gone for quite a while.”
“Mmm, I know,” Bo Muyu said in a flat tone after swallowing a mouthful of congee.
Ye Xialan pushed the vegetables a little closer to her, then held her own bowl and thought carefully for a moment. Suddenly, as if startled awake, she said, “Oh, right. Teacher Jiang will definitely go back to the old master’s place on the weekend, and she’ll probably take you with her. Be a little sweeter with your words, and remember to greet people.”
“Mmm, got it,” Bo Muyu said, picking up a piece of vegetable to eat.
Ye Xialan frowned and continued to think. Was there anything else? It wasn’t as if her daughter hadn’t stayed with Jiang Chenyin for a few days before. It was just that this time, she and her husband definitely wouldn’t be back in a few days. They hadn’t gone on a trip in so many years; it would take at least half a month.
The child has stayed with Jiang Chenyin for a few days before, so there’s a precedent. If we extend that a little, a week, half a month, a month, it’s not much different from a few days.
Thinking this way, Ye Xialan felt there wasn’t much else to say. It wasn’t as if they had never lived together before.
But…
“Ah, Xiaoyu, when you’re living with Teacher Jiang, be a little more observant,” Ye Xialan said, narrowing her eyes, a glint in them.
“Why?”
“See if Teacher Jiang has a significant other, or if she has any thoughts on the matter. If you sense anything, tell Mom right away. This concerns Teacher Jiang’s lifelong happiness.”
Bo Muyu’s chopsticks, which were in the middle of picking up food, paused, and her chewing slowed.
She lowered her head slightly and asked in a low voice, “Do I have to?”
“Not necessarily. Just pay a little attention, that’s all. You don’t have to get too involved in anything else,” Ye Xialan said, picking up her bowl and taking a couple of mouthfuls of congee, wondering if she should find a way to introduce some people to Jiang Chenyin.
If I were to introduce someone, how could I do it without making Jiang Chenyin wary?
Bo Muyu felt that the food in her mouth had lost its taste. She suddenly had a gut feeling. She felt that it wasn’t that everyone didn’t want to bring up the fact that Jiang Chenyin was still single, but rather that there seemed to be some reason that made them afraid to delve too deeply into the topic.
It was as if they were afraid of unleashing some ferocious beast by opening this door, and the key to opening it was this very topic.
What could be the reason?
When she was younger, Bo Muyu didn’t need to think about so many problems, or rather, she wasn’t aware of so many problems at that time.
She had never thought about what kind of past the Jiang Chenyin who was always by her side had, what had happened to Jiang Chenyin in the years that separated them, or if Jiang Chenyin had experienced something when she was still young and ignorant.
She had never given these things even a fleeting thought before she turned eighteen, or even before Jiang Chenyin came back.
Now that Jiang Chenyin was back, more and more doubts began to pile up in her heart.
After breakfast, Ye Xialan and Bo Mingliang specially saw Bo Muyu off at the door.
“Go to bed early tonight. Don’t go wild just because your dad and I are not around. I’ll have Teacher Jiang keep a close eye on you,” Ye Xialan said while straightening her collar, her words full of concern.
“I’ve never gone to bed past ten,” Bo Muyu said with a composed expression.
Ye Xialan retorted matter-of-factly, “You can’t be sure this time. Your dad and I are not here, and Teacher Jiang spoils you. If you drag her along to go crazy with you, she won’t say a single word of protest…”
Bo Muyu licked her lips, her gaze lifting slightly to a random corner.
She didn’t know what “going crazy” meant. She only knew that the closer it got to the end of the workday, the more she couldn’t control her excitement.
Soon, she would be able to commute to and from work with Jiang Chenyin, eat together, watch TV in the living room together, and share the same apple.
If things went smoothly, maybe she wouldn’t have to move back when her parents returned.
This was a very secret thought in her heart. She didn’t know at which moment in the past few days it had quietly taken root in her heart.
As the lunch break approached, Bo Muyu paused her work, took out her phone, and sent Jiang Chenyin a cute yellow-faced emoji from WeChat’s sticker collection.
Jiang Chenyin replied, “On my way to your house. Have you had lunch yet?”
The corners of Bo Muyu’s lips lifted, her fingers dancing nimbly across the screen: “Just about to.”
She paused after hitting send, then asked, “What are we having for dinner tonight?”
Jiang Chenyin sent a voice message: “I’ll cook.”
There was some background noise, so Bo Muyu knew she was outside, probably about to drive to her house, and didn’t say any more.
With the matter of moving in with Jiang Chenyin settled, Bo Muyu’s excitement temporarily cooled down, and her thoughts returned to her work. In the company, there were no more than three people she could talk to, making her a bit of a loner, even more so after Su Man announced that she would be producing her unfinished script.
At this moment, the sparse conversations in the restaurant rose and fell, covering all sorts of topics. Bo Muyu sat alone in her usual spot, quite at ease.
Just then, Su Man walked in with a few young men in suits. She habitually scanned the room and immediately spotted Bo Muyu, who had a somewhat cool expression on her face.
She dismissed the people with her, ordered from the welcoming waiter, and then walked towards Bo Muyu.
Bo Muyu’s expression was always rather placid. Having just graduated from university, she still had a very pure aura about her, which made her very pleasant to look at. But in a few more years, after she had gradually matured, she would probably be completely reserved.
Su Man reined in her thoughts, sat down opposite her, and said softly, “Xiaoyu.”
“President Su,” Bo Muyu nodded at her, then glanced at the men sitting in the corner. “Why aren’t you eating with your colleagues? You should have things to discuss.”
Su Man didn’t follow her gaze, her eyes still fixed on her face as she smiled. “It’s nothing important. And I’d rather eat with you.”
“Mmm,” Bo Muyu acknowledged, her gaze sweeping casually around the restaurant.
Just then, her phone buzzed. Bo Muyu took it out to see a WeChat message from Jiang Chenyin.
“I’ve got your luggage. Your parents have also left. I’ll pick you up after work this afternoon.”
It was as if a thin mist had lifted from Bo Muyu’s eyes, revealing the morning sun. She instantly lit up with joy.
She sent a reply, and before she could put her phone down, she heard Su Man ask with a smile, “What is it? You’re so happy.”
“It’s nothing, just a small thing,” Bo Muyu said, calming her emotions and putting her phone away to continue eating.
She had never mentioned Jiang Chenyin to Su Man, not even once. Being someone who rarely confided in others, the most she had ever done was to express her confusion and a little of her sadness to Lin Chuwan.
She had known Su Man for a long time, but there always seemed to be a vague distance between them, which had prevented her from ever talking about her personal matters with Su Man.
Similarly, Su Man had never been completely open with her either, only mentioning a few trivial matters from her daily life.
This was their usual dynamic, seemingly familiar yet implicitly distant. But at this moment, there was a slight fluctuation in Su Man’s eyes.
She watched Bo Muyu quietly, watching her pick up a small piece of cabbage and chew it slowly. She suddenly couldn’t suppress a certain emotion deep inside her.
“Xiaoyu, I actually really want to get to know you better,” Su Man said with a faint, somewhat bitter smile. “We’ve known each other for so long, but sometimes when I talk to you, our conversation always stops at a point where it doesn’t have to. I’ve felt more than once that there’s a sense of unfamiliarity between us, when there really shouldn’t be.”
Bo Muyu’s hand, which was about to pick up more food, paused. She looked up at Su Man. It seemed she had never felt this problem before.
A sense of unfamiliarity. She couldn’t quite understand what Su Man was trying to express.
Then, thinking about it the other way, what did a sense of closeness feel like? Like being with her parents, like being with Jiang Chenyin, or like being with Lin Chuwan?
But these three were different. At least, her parents and Jiang Chenyin were somewhat different in her heart, and Lin Chuwan was also different from her parents and Jiang Chenyin.
She couldn’t figure it out. No matter how she thought about it, she still couldn’t understand, and her brows furrowed into a small peak.
“I don’t know…” Her eyes finally focused, and she murmured to Su Man, “I’m sorry, I really don’t know.”
Faced with Bo Muyu’s apology, Su Man’s smile warmed. “It’s not a big deal. Why are you apologizing?” She paused, then said with a half-joking smile, “But in the future, you can try to chat with me about your daily life or any new hobbies you’ve picked up. For example, what you usually do at home, if there’s anything you’ve been craving lately, or any books or movies you want to watch, okay?”
Bo Muyu’s brow didn’t relax. Why would I talk to her about these things? she thought.
But she seemed a little unhappy just now.
Thinking of this, Bo Muyu still nodded. “Mmm, I’ll remember.”
Having received her promise, Su Man smiled. “Alright, hurry up and eat. We’ll go back together after we’re done.”
Bo Muyu breathed a sigh of relief, lowered her head, and said no more, quietly eating her lunch.
At five-thirty in the afternoon, the crowd of people getting off work left one after another. Some took taxis home, others went down to the basement to get their cars.
Jiang Chenyin had already arrived at the Hongsheng building and was waiting in the first-floor lobby.
Su Man came down from her office early to go downstairs with Bo Muyu. Her mind had been slightly unsettled all afternoon, feeling that what she had said at noon was a bit too harsh.
She said with a pleasant smile, “Don’t spend too much time on your script tonight. It’s bad for your eyes. It’s work that should be done during work hours.”
Bo Muyu looked straight ahead. “I know.”
“Do you want me to give you a ride back?” Su Man asked, half-testing.
“No, thank you,” Bo Muyu shook her head gently. Because of Su Man’s question, her gaze subconsciously scanned the area.
The moment she saw Jiang Chenyin, Su Man saw her eyes light up like starlight, exactly the same as when she had received the WeChat message at noon.
Su Man followed her gaze and saw the person who had made Bo Muyu happy twice in one day. Of course, Su Man didn’t know that it was the same person both times.
That person stood there, straight and tall, her red lips slightly curved, her smile like a gentle breeze. The charm of a mature woman was perfectly displayed in that one smile.
