Ning Qianyu opened the door to see a dim light being emitted from the living room. She narrowed her eyes as she looked around, trying to see if there were any shadows around the corner of the room.
Seeing that there was none, she changed into her slippers and stepped into the apartment. "Shengchen?" she called again. "Are you home?"
There was no response.
'That's weird.' Even then, she still kept moving forward as the dim lights grew brighter and brighter. Only then did she notice a candle-lit table sitting in the middle of the apartment. It had all her favorite dishes too!
She gasped, covering her mouth. Did Mu Shengchen prepare this for her?
"Do you like it?" A firm voice came from behind her.
Turning around, she could see Mu Shengchen wheeling himself towards her with a bouquet of roses. Although he looked quite elegant, there was a certain tremor in his fingertips. Was he nervous?
He smiled almost embarrassedly. "I don't know if you like roses or not, but–"
"I love them." The smile on her face only grew wider.
Luckily, Ye Xi didn't give him the wrong idea. Otherwise, he wouldn't be able to take a vacation leave this year. Speaking off, it felt like it's been a long time since he had given the man a break.
Poor Ye Xi.
"Let's eat," she said slowly as she pushed him towards the table. There, they sat side by side as the meals' fragrant smell wafted around them. "Otherwise, the food will get cold."
Ning Qianyu wasn't eating. Instead, she was placing food in Mu Shengchen's bowl. Ironically, he was also doing the same thing to hers. While they were too busy filling up each other's bowls, their chopsticks would hit each other several times, causing the couple to burst into laughter.
After the meal, she busied herself in tidying up the dining room while he used the time to scan over his documents. Suddenly, his phone rang out.
Mu Shengchen glanced at the Caller ID, only to furrow his eyebrows in confusion. It was Yan Rui. Why was he calling him at this time?
"What's the matter?"
A voice scuttled from the other end of the line, and he frowned. "You can handle this matter, can't you? Why are you bothering me?"
After another few seconds, he scowled and shook his head. "I'm not free. I won't go." Without another word, he hung up and threw the phone onto the sofa. While it wasn't that loud, it had attracted Ning Qianyu's attention.
She had just come out of the kitchen after cleaning up. As soon as she saw his frowning face, she tilted her head in concern. "What's wrong?"
"Yan Rui's company anniversary," he slowly said. "He's asking for us to go."
"Then let's go. Don't you want to go?" She gazed at him strangely.
Mu Shengchen bowed his head, obviously embarrassed from his outburst. "It's just that...I don't think you'll want to go. The event's on Monday, and you probably have classes–"
"That's fine." Ning Qianyu laughed. "I'll just take two days off then."
The corners of his lips rose up. "Okay, I'll let Ye Xi arrange it."
After all, the Shengxiang Group was created by Mu Shengchen. Of course, he wanted to go, but he was afraid that Ning Qianyu wouldn't want to go with him. That was why he had a bit of an outburst. Now that she had already agreed, he was naturally happy with their predicament.
After class, she immediately went to find Professor Mo Yan. "Professor, do you mind if I ask for a two days' leave?"
"Two days?" He frowned, crossing his arms over his chest.
"Yes." She smiled sheepishly. "I can't come to class, because I need to attend to some other matters."
Who was he to turn down an opportunity. A light flashed across his eyes behind his glasses. "I can give you the letter..." There was a brief pause before he added, "But there's a catch."
"What is it?"
"Come to the research institute next Wednesday morning. I'll tell you then, all right?"
Without even thinking about it, she agreed immediately. "Thank you, Professor." She waved her hand as she was leaving the premises.
Mo Yan couldn't help but stare at her retreating figure with a tilted head. "The youngest neurosurgeon had her license revoked," he said, repeating what he had heard from the others. "It was due to unknown medical malpractice where she was asked to compensate the patient's family...What are you hiding, Qianyu?"
She wasn't aware of what her professor was thinking. All she could think about was the fact that she was going with Mu Shengchen to the party. The corners of her lips inched upwards.
Before she returned to her apartment, she made sure to go to the supermarket to buy plenty of ingredients for a big meal tonight. "He'll surely be happy once he sees this," she murmured to herself, wanting to surprise him as he did with her yesterday. However, when she entered her apartment, she saw that he also got off work early.
"Shengchen," she greeted happily as she brought all the ingredients into the kitchen. Glancing back at him, she asked, "What do you want for dinner?"
In the room, Mu Shengchen had been changing his clothes when he saw her coming in. He paused and said, "I have something I need to address tonight, all right? You don't have to count me in."
"Oh..." She frowned, disappointed. "All right."
Her disappointment, however, had gone unnoticed. Picking up the suit on his bed, he glanced up at her. "Don't wait for me after dinner, all right?" A faint smile spread across his face. "Sleep early."
"It's cold at night. Take a blanket with you." Ning Qianyu took a blanket out from the cabinet and shoved it into the pocket behind his wheelchair. He simply nodded in response.
The doorbell rang, and he controlled his wheelchair towards the door. "Ye Xi has arrived. I'll go first."
"I'll send you off."
Once the two of them had left, Ning Qianyu changed into more comfortable clothes as she walked into the kitchen. "Hm..." she hummed to herself as she started getting to work. It took her around an hour till she stepped out of the room, looking slightly deflated.
On her plate were crooked crust and little filling. "My first time making an egg tart, and I failed," she murmured, shaking her head in disappointment. Oh well, there's always room for next time...or she could try again.
She returned to the kitchen once again. After repeating it several times, she finally brought out a plate filled with egg tarts that looked the same as the tarts that she had bought from the bakery.
"Let's see if they still taste the same." She slowly sliced herself a piece.
Before she could take a bite, the phone on the sofa rang out.
"Who would call at this time?" Ning Qianyu murmured to herself as she placed the plate back on the table. She glanced at her phone to see an unfamiliar number flashing on her screen. Who was this?
When she answered, a cold voice sounded from the other end of the line, "You're Ning Qianyu, right? I'm Su Lianmeng."
"Miss Su?" She blinked in surprise. "Where did you get my number?"
"Shengchen isn't home right?" Su Lianmeng asked, not bothering to answer her question.
How did she know that he wasn't home? Her expression changed slightly as her hand gripped her phone even more tightly. Were they... "You..."
"Now, how would I know that?" Su Lianmeng laughed mockingly. "I think that's because I've secured myself a date with Shengchen. How else would I know that he isn't there with you, now? Because he's here with me."
Her hands trembled. "You're lying," she stuttered out. "You think I'll believe you?"
"If you don't believe me, then you can come up to room 999 in Mingjun Hotel. I'm sure you'll find yourself catching an...interesting sight." Not saying anything more, Su Lianmeng hung up the phone.
Ning Qianyu stared at her screen for a long time as she tried to steady her breathing. "No," she told herself. "He wouldn't go on a date with her... Why would he? He said that he was over her, right?"
But he did say that he had something else to do in the evening...and he did tell her not to wait for him...
Did he really see Su Lianmeng? Did they have dinner together? Then, he booked them a room at Mingjun Hotel...did that mean that...