In the long silence that followed after Tian Yuo's invitation to lunch, he impatiently stomped his foot on his office tiles and broke the silence, "Yin Susu, I'm asking you nicely to come out for lunch! At least give me an answer."
"Why?" Her voice was full of suspicions. He didn't even want to see her face for dinner that he had stopped coming home for dinner for almost three months. Something fishy was going on here, but she didn't know what.
"Even though I hate being your husband, my mother will nag me endlessly if I don't celebrate your birthday with you. So come out and have lunch with me. As my wife, this is something normal right?" He purposely threw out the word "wife" to make sure she agrees to the invitation.
"Okay." In Susu's mind, it made sense for Shen Wen to make a bold move to pressure Tian Yuo to celebrate her birthday with her. This was the first birthday after their wedding after all. She didn't want to see Shen Wen feel bad, so she accepted his invite.
"Good. Remember, 1 P.M. at Dim Sum Garden. Bye." He hung up before she could take back her words. After hanging up, he stretched his legs and positioned them on his desk while chuckling, "Yin Susu, let's see how well you can handle it this time. Tsk, tsk, tsk, did you really think I would celebrate your birthday with you?"
Susu stared at the black screen on her phone and sighed, "Nobody remembers my birthday. Well, on the bright side, I can avoid seeing people I don't like on my real birthday. Ahaha, I should really thank Karen for this."
Susu got ready by 12:30 and left the house to meet up with Tian Yuo. When she arrived, the waiter brought her to the reserved table for two. On the table was a vase with one rose sticking out of it. The music in the restaurant created a romantic atmosphere.
She sat down and waited for him to arrive. A minute before 1 P.M., Tian Yuo arrived. He smirked when he saw her already sitting at the table, eagerly anticipating for him.
"Thanks for helping me save the seat, but you're at the wrong table." His voice was loud, catching the attention of customers from nearby tables. Right beside him stood a popular front cover model from the monthly Sin Magazine with a pretty smile on her face. She was holding a bouquet of roses in her other arm.
Seeing Susu's presence, the model hooked her arm around Tian Yuo's arm and acted intimately, "Brother Yuo, who is she? Why is she at our table?"
"She's a maid from my house. I told her to come to pick up and deliver your birthday gifts to you. See?" He took out a long list of items that ranged from the largest television in the market to the fanciest jewelries in the city. Purposely, he waved the long list before throwing it at Susu, "Hurry and get these items. You can take the driver, but you better make sure everything is in perfect condition when it gets to Lily's place."
Susu read the long list, cupped her right cheek, and let out a soft sigh, "Pffft, alright. Consider it done. Then Mister Tian Yuo, please give me your credit card for all these purchases. Since I work for your family, my salary is not enough to pay for these expenses." She held out her hand asking for his credit card.
"Fine. Here, take it." He slapped his credit card onto the table and pointed to it.
"Oh! I'm sorry, but this is the credit card that Ma'am had cut off after you spent a few billion dollars on Women lingerie." During the years of attempting to perfect herself to match his taste in girls, she knew all about him from his mother. 'Tian Yuo, if you think this is going to bring me down, you are wrong.'
"What lingerie? All I bought were limited anime figurines! And that was long ago!" He slammed his palms flat on the wooden surface, gaining everyone's attention.
Susu smirked, "Just in case the transactions get denied, Mister Tian Yuo, I will take your black credit card and complete the task by midnight." She excused herself and straightened her back as she left the restaurant. While exiting the restaurant, she heard the chatters from several tables and the things that the people said were pleasant to her ears.
Though it was already lunch time, Susu didn't have much appetite like always, so she planned to get everything from the ridiculously long list first before heading home to make dinner. Taking another step forward, she felt chills coming from her back and a feverish sense of heat spread to her cheeks and forehead.
Feeling faint, she quickly found the closest bench and supported her forehead with her palm. Her eyes shut tight to keep her vision focused. After ten minutes of resting on the bench, her lipstick had faded and the color of her pale lips became evident.
'I'm probably just tired from not getting enough sleep these days.'
From afar, she heard a familiar voice calling out her name, instantly receiving all her attention. "Chen Mu?"
She blinked a few times to make sure that she wasn't seeing things. Seeing the handsome figure rush over to her side with a worried expression, she smiled.
Chen Mu knelt down, brushed her palms away from her forehead, and felt her forehead using his hand, "What's wrong? You don't look good."
"Nothing. I stood up too fast and felt a little dizzy. It's just a lack of sleep." Her gaze remained on the worried man in front of her. The creases on his forehead deepened as he noticed her pale expression.
"Didn't you say that the Tian family treated you well? How come you're out all alone in this weather? Did you eat properly? Let's go to the doctor." He stacked question after question, not allowing her time to even respond. It's as if these questions weren't for her, but for himself.
She chuckled, "It's not serious. Really. Don't worry too much."
Her hands were ice cold, making him frown. "Don't worry? Your hands are this cold and you're still sitting on this freezing bench! Here, take my gloves and we'll go somewhere warm first."
"Ahem." A man's deep hoarse voice startled Chen Mu and Susu.
Chen Mu took off his gloves and slipped it onto Susu's hands before turning around and scratching the back of his head, "Ahahahaha, Zhi Hei... Sorry I forgot that we were together!"
Zhi Hei took a glance towards Susu and said, "Let's go somewhere warm. She looks pretty cold."
"Eh? You know who she is already?" Chen Mu helped her up from the bench and supported her until they've reached the restaurant. After settling down, Chen Mu cleaned the utensils for Susu while ordering without having to look at the menu. Everything he ordered was Susu's favorite dim sums.
Although Zhi Hei didn't speak on their way to the restaurant, Chen Mu knew that the moment he rushed over to her anxiously, he already gave away her identity. Other than Susu and his mother, nobody could make him this nervous.
Zhi Hei poured tea into Susu's tea cup and gestured for her to drink the tea. She nodded, "Thank you. Um..Sorry for the late introduction, my name is Yin Susu." Even though she married Tian Yuo, she never changed her surname because she believed that the marriage would eventually come to an end with their complicated relationship.
Zhi Hei shook her hands with a smile on his face, "I'm Huang Zhi Hei. Pleasure to meet you. I've heard quite a bit about you from Chen Mu."
Susu shot stares at Chen Mu and wondered about the things that he might have said to his friends behind her back. Zhi Hei sipped his tea and then added, "Everything he said were compliments and positive stuff. My ears almost felt like it melted and didn't belong to me after hearing the countless things that he said about you."
Under the table, Chen Mu stomped onto Zhi Hei's foot. He immediately changed the topic, "Oh, right. Were you running errands around here?"
Susu gasped, "Oh yeah! I have a list of items that needs to be bought and sent to a model by midnight!"
"Huh? Why?" Chen Mu questioned suspiciously. 'Susu's previous position had nothing to do with models, so why would she have to deliver products to a model?'
"Oh. Tian Yuo called me out to watch him have lunch with the model. After seeing me, he handed me this list of items that he prepared for the girl's birthday."
"What?!" Chen Mu furiously slammed his palm against the smooth surface of the table almost knocking over the tea.