Chapter 86
Bo Muyu had very few friends, so few that she could count the ones she could confide in on one hand.
Yang Shuhan was straightforward and, although she had many clever ideas, now was not the time for them. Su Man had just been rejected by her, which was one of the things she wanted to talk about. With that, the only person she could chat with was Lin Chuwan.
She was troubled about how to talk about these things. After Lin Chuwan answered the phone and heard her hesitation, she quickly understood.
“Xiaoyu, is there something you want to talk to me about?” Lin Chuwan asked with a smile.
Bo Muyu, sitting alone in the pantry, said in a low voice, “Mmm, I’m uncomfortable keeping it in.”
Lin Chuwan paused, then asked, “Are you going to tell me everything you’ve been bottling up?”
Sunlight streamed in from the window. The pantry was very quiet. Bo Muyu let a little of her dejected mood show, her eyes dim. “Mmm, I need you to listen to me, and I also want to hear your opinion.”
Lin Chuwan replied softly, “Okay, then if you have time tonight, let’s have dinner together.”
Bo Muyu thought for a moment and said, “Come to my place for dinner tonight. I’ve already moved out and am living by myself. I’m not living with Auntie Yin anymore.”
Lin Chuwan was quite surprised. With Bo Muyu’s personality of having been thinking of Jiang Chenyin for several years, there must be a reason for her to suddenly move out of her house. She could only agree for now. “Okay, then send me the address. I’ll go over when it’s time.”
Bo Muyu agreed, and after hanging up, she sent Lin Chuwan her address on WeChat.
As it was close to five o’clock, Lin Chuwan finished her makeup, came out of her room, and was about to go and see Bo Muyu when she ran into Song Muqing, who had just returned home, in the living room.
The two of them stopped a certain distance apart. Song Muqing’s gaze was as cold as ever. Lin Chuwan did not look at her for long and averted her gaze.
But to her surprise, Song Muqing spoke first, “Where are you going?”
Lin Chuwan had no choice but to answer, “I’m going out to have dinner with a friend. I might be back a little late tonight.”
Hearing this, Song Muqing sneered, “A girlfriend? Then how can you just be back a little late?”
She took a few steps forward. Being slightly taller than Lin Chuwan, she could look down at her. And at this moment, the look on Lin Chuwan’s face, of wanting to immediately leave her presence, was like a knife stabbing at her heart.
“No,” Lin Chuwan was forced to meet Song Muqing’s gaze. The cold, intimidating look made her want to run away. “It’s Xiaoyu. She has something to tell me. I have to go.”
Song Muqing nodded thoughtfully, took another step closer to Lin Chuwan, and then lowered her head slightly, her tone sinister as she said in her ear, “Actually, she’s not bad either. I heard her career is developing well now, her family background is not to be underestimated, and she doesn’t have anyone by her side. You can really consider it.”
Their posture was very ambiguous. Song Muqing’s steady breath fanned across Lin Chuwan’s side profile, but her cold and sarcastic words made Lin Chuwan bite her lips until they were white. When she heard Song Muqing mention Bo Muyu, her whole body trembled, and she subconsciously pushed her away.
“You investigated her?” Lin Chuwan bit her lower lip, in disbelief. “She has no grudge against you. Why did you investigate her situation so thoroughly? What are you trying to do?”
Song Muqing, who had been pushed back a few steps, brushed her sleeves nonchalantly, the smile on her lips not reaching her eyes. “I have to find a partner of good character for my little sister-in-law. How can I not investigate thoroughly? Don’t you think so, little sister-in-law?”
She emphasized the words “little sister-in-law,” her eyes as if filled with a bloodthirsty glee. Seeing Lin Chuwan’s pale face, her own heart ached so much she was almost numb.
Just then, Mother Lin’s voice came just in time to save her. “Xiao Wan, are you going out?”
Lin Chuwan quickly composed herself and turned to her mother with a smile. “Mmm, Xiaoyu is about to get off work. It’s just the right time for me to go over now.”
Mother Lin smiled and said, “Sigh, you two are not having dinner at home tonight. I’ll be all alone. It’s a bit lonely.” As she said this, she suddenly remembered something and said to Song Muqing, “By the way, Muqing, didn’t you say you have a social engagement tonight? Why are you back at this time?”
The cold expression on Song Muqing’s face had faded a lot. At this moment, although her face was still indifferent, the corners of her lips lifted slightly when she faced Mother Lin. “I came back to get something and then I’ll be leaving. I just happened to run into Xiao Wan. I remembered that you called me this afternoon and said she was going out this evening, so I was just about to see her off.”
Listening to her somewhat gentle words, Lin Chuwan secretly pressed her lips together.
“You’ve worked so hard…” Mother Lin sighed and took Song Muqing’s hand, her voice suddenly sounding much older. “Ever since Youfan passed away, you’ve been managing this family. You’re still so young, and you have such a good future. How did you get locked up here?”
Song Muqing’s lips moved, and she said in a low voice, “I promised him that I would take care of you and your daughter. I will never break my promise.”
“But my heart aches for you…” Mother Lin’s brow was tightly furrowed, and she held one of Song Muqing’s hands in both of hers. “I can’t bear to let you support our Lin family all by yourself. You should live your life freely, find someone you like, and start a family. How can you bury your youth here?”
“Auntie, this is what I want,” Song Muqing said, not wanting to let Mother Lin say any more, her tone firm. “This is our home. You and Xiao Wan are both my family. I will never leave. I hope this is the last time I hear such words.”
Mother Lin shook her head, gazing at her with a mixture of sorrow and heartache.
She patted Mother Lin’s hand, then gently broke free and said to Lin Chuwan, “Let’s go. We’ll be late if we don’t go now.”
Lin Chuwan followed behind her without a word. They did not bring up what had happened at home again until they got into the car. Song Muqing only asked for the address. Lin Chuwan opened her phone’s WeChat and showed her Bo Muyu’s message, and then there was silence all the way.
When Lin Chuwan got out of the car, Song Muqing did not look at her, only throwing out a sentence, “Send me a message when you’re about to be done.”
A few minutes after Song Muqing had left, Bo Muyu returned. Lin Chuwan quickly composed herself, got into Bo Muyu’s car, and they entered the residential complex together.
“It’s very tidy. I thought you would be much messier living alone,” Lin Chuwan said with a slight smile after entering and looking around the living room.
Bo Muyu said helplessly, “I’m living by myself. How messy can it get?”
Speaking of her living alone, a curiosity immediately welled up in Lin Chuwan’s heart, but seeing Bo Muyu’s unhurried manner of taking off her shoes and suit jacket, she swallowed her question.
“Sister Chuwan, I’m going to cook. Do you want to join me?” Bo Muyu asked with a smile, holding up the bag of ingredients and giving it a little shake.
At the mention of cooking, Lin Chuwan’s interest was piqued. “Okay. I haven’t cooked in a long time. We have an auntie at home who cooks, so I’m not needed in the kitchen.”
For a rare moment, Bo Muyu’s face bloomed into a smile, and she led Lin Chuwan into the kitchen. “Of course. How could your auntie let you cook? You’re not in good health. You’re too weak…”
Lin Chuwan followed her, covering her mouth with one hand and laughing, the other gently pinching her arm. “Screenwriting Supervisor, you’re even teasing me now. You’re something else.”
Laughter came from the kitchen. Bo Muyu didn’t let Lin Chuwan do too much. She did most of it herself, only letting Lin Chuwan trim and wash the vegetables, and then she would assist her on the side.
After dinner, Bo Muyu, who was about to do the dishes, pushed Lin Chuwan out of the kitchen and told her to sit in the dining room. There were drinks in the refrigerator and snacks on the snack shelf in her room. She told her to be good and find something to eat.
By the time Bo Muyu was done, Lin Chuwan was sitting in the dining room, drinking water, and had also prepared a glass for her.
Bo Muyu’s sleeves were rolled up to her elbows. She sat down and eagerly took the cup, chugging down the water, finishing most of it in one go.
“Drink slowly,” Lin Chuwan couldn’t help but say.
Bo Muyu put down the cup and smiled. “It’s okay.”
“I’m very happy to see that you can take care of yourself now,” Lin Chuwan’s smile gradually appeared, and she leaned back in her chair in a relaxed posture, but the next second, her smile faded a little. “But I’m still worried about what I should be worried about. Are you ready to tell me what’s been going on for so long?”
The smile on Bo Muyu’s lips disappeared. She held the empty cup in both hands and fell silent, her eyes dim, as if the person who had smiled and asked Lin Chuwan if she wanted to cook together in the evening, and who had just drunk water like a child, was not her.
Lin Chuwan could feel that this girl had changed a lot, both because of work and because of her private life, those things she had been hesitant to talk about.
After a long silence, Bo Muyu said in a low voice, “Sister Chuwan, I feel like I’ve lost someone.”
“Who?”
Bo Muyu took a deep breath and said, “Senior. She told me a couple of days ago…” she paused here, her hands gripping the empty cup tightly, and said softly, “She confessed to me, and I rejected her.”
Lin Chuwan was extremely surprised. “You’re talking about Su Man?”
As soon as she asked, she was sure of the answer in her heart. Which senior could make Bo Muyu confide in her with such sorrow? Besides her, there was only one other senior who was close to Bo Muyu, the one who had always taken care of her, and had even been more concerned about her than she was at many times.
“Yes, it’s her,” Bo Muyu said, lowering her head, her usually steady voice now filled with guilt. “I’ve always respected my senior and have remembered all the principles she has taught me. Even Auntie Yin told me to listen to my senior more at the company and to fully understand those principles. Sister Chuwan, I never thought that she would like me…”
Lin Chuwan studied her carefully and asked tentatively, “Do you regret rejecting her a little?”
Bo Muyu immediately looked up, her gaze firm as she denied it. “No, I’m very clear that I don’t have that kind of feeling for my senior.”
“Then you’re feeling guilty now because you rejected her?” Lin Chuwan’s brow tightened. It seemed that the person Bo Muyu had mentioned she liked before was not Su Man.
Bo Muyu nodded, her thumb restlessly stroking the empty cup. “I haven’t spoken to my senior these past few days, and she hasn’t looked for me either. I want to apologize to her again, but I feel that an apology at this time won’t make her feel much better, but will only hurt her.”
Lin Chuwan sighed. “Your consideration is right. You should find her again after a while.”
Bo Muyu lowered her head again, the shadow of her eyelashes trembling slightly, her voice a little distant. “If it were the me from before, perhaps I wouldn’t have felt so guilty because I didn’t understand anything. But now I’m very clear that I can’t like my senior. I’ve liked someone for a long time, so long that I don’t even know when I started to like her. I even feel that it’s not just liking her anymore, but the possibility between us is very small…”
“Wait a minute…” the more Lin Chuwan listened, the more uneasy she felt, as if something was about to jump out of her heart. “Can you tell me who this person is?”
Bo Muyu seemed to turn a deaf ear, still murmuring to herself, but her every word was answering Lin Chuwan’s question, “She won’t accept me, because there are many things between us. There are family and friends who hope she will start a family, and even my mom is one of them. And there’s such a big age gap between us. She even only has familial love for me. She has never thought that I would like her, that I would love her…”
Family and friends who hoped she would start a family, a huge age gap, they only had familial love between them.
Many pieces of information gathered in Lin Chuwan’s mind, as if a tangled mess had been completely cut through. She was so shocked that she couldn’t speak.
Oh my god…
