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Mu Keren's kick had landed on the man's most vulnerable spot.
In an instant, La Chuan was racked with so much pain that the veins on his forehead bulged as he clenched his legs and squatted down. At this moment, he bore no resemblance to the graceful young master he usually presented himself as.
Seeing La Chuan in pain yet trying to maintain his image without crying out, Mu Keren finally felt some relief.
Truthfully, when she had seen him entangled with Xuan Ling that day, Mu Keren had the urge to kick him until he was disabled. But the scene had shocked her so profoundly that she had turned and fled.
Watching him, the Vice Governor of Nanling State, with no image to speak of as he clutched at his legs, Mu Keren finally felt avenged.
As she glanced at the time, she remembered her interview was about to begin and quickly hailed a taxi at the curb.
When the taxi stopped, Mu Keren opened the door, about to get in.
"Keren!" But the next second, her small hand was grasped by La Chuan.
At this moment, La Chuan was sweating profusely from the pain. His neatly hair-sprayed bangs, which were always combed back with a dashing flair, were now damp with sweat and stuck to his forehead.
"Keren, let's talk!" Apart from the messy dark hair caused by the pain, La Chuan still looked as languidly beautiful as a painting.
Seeing La Chuan like this, Mu Keren suddenly laughed. Her smile was radiant and stunning, yet it unexpectedly carried a hint of mockery.
Such a Mu Keren was beyond La Chuan's expectations. During their three years together, she had always been the obedient girl in his eyes.
But today, Mu Keren was showing her sharp-tongued side in front of him.
This Mu Keren, like a wild mustang that had thrown off its harness, was something he should dislike.
But for some reason, this Mu Keren seemed incredibly charismatic to him. Maybe this was just a man's base nature.
"To talk about breaking up?" As La Chuan pulled at her, a mocking smile appeared on the young woman's rosy lips.
Those four words were something he never expected to hear come from Mu Keren's mouth. So much so, he was taken aback when he heard them.
"Keren..." But when he truly heard the words "break up," he became confused.
As La Chuan tried to understand why he felt so bewildered, the girl's hand he was holding was suddenly flung away.
"As you wish, we are broken up!" Mu Keren, having shaken off his hand, swiftly got into the taxi.
"Keren, listen to me..." La Chuan chased after her, but the car drove off quickly at Mu Keren's urging, not giving him even a glance.
Watching the taxi disappear around the street corner, La Chuan's eyes held a complex expression...
*
Night fell, and a black sedan slowly pulled up at the street corner.
As the car stopped, the man in the driver's seat looked at the man in the back seat who was about to push the door open and said, "Boss, the brothers have a gathering tonight. Later on..."
"I won't go tonight, something came up!" the man replied as the light streaming in through the car window just happened to illuminate his grey-green pupils in the dark night.
This man was none other than the returning Huang Qingtian!
"What's the matter? If it's not urgent, you should go," the other man tried to persuade him.
"It's urgent." He had already waited a week; how could it not be urgent?
However, while saying this, the man's expression remained unchanged. Such a man was inscrutable.
```
In the end, the person in the front passenger seat could only concede with resignation, "Alright, I'll tell them!"
Huang Qingtian didn't respond and got out of the car. Throughout the entire process, he was so indifferent it bordered on cruelty.
But the person sitting in the driver's seat seemed accustomed to such treatment; as soon as Huang Qingtian disembarked, they quickly started the car's engine and vanished into the night...
Back at the apartment, Huang Qingtian's movements as he opened the door were no different from usual.
However, the eagerness as he turned the doorknob betrayed his anticipation of something.
After entering the foyer, Huang Qingtian didn't hurry to change shoes. Instead, he surveyed the shoe rack at the entrance.
On the rack, apart from his several pairs of shoes, there was also a pair of white canvas sneakers.
The upper part of the shoes was clean, without too much fancy decoration, and looked quite ordinary. But next to his shoes, they seemed small and adorable.
Looking at the shoes, Huang Qingtian's lips quietly curved upwards: so she's still here?
Then he swiftly changed into indoor slippers and strode into the house.
It was only when he saw the figure on the living room sofa, one he hadn't seen for many days, that Huang Qingtian felt the emptiness in his heart flood with fulfillment.
Looking at her, he found himself involuntarily walking faster.
The living room was dim, lit only by a small lamp on the low table. Under the orange glow, Mu Keren was curled up on the sofa. Her long hair mostly concealed her face. Her breathing was even; she must have been asleep...
"Sleeping like this, aren't you uncomfortable?" Standing in front of the sofa and observing her somewhat inelegant sleeping position, his thick brows knitted together.
In the end, he decided to take matters into his own hands, intending to move her from the sofa.
However, just as he was about to lift her by the neck, a soft grunt escaped from her red lips: "Don't..."
That sound made Huang Qingtian stop his movements, his eyebrows arching high.
"Are you sure?" he thought Mu Keren had woken up and was rejecting him.
This realization annoyed him somewhat.
But what followed was Mu Keren's incongruent sobbing, "Why are you doing this to me..."
"Not awake yet?" After a brief moment of confusion, Huang Qingtian reached out and moved the black hair covering the girl's cheek aside.
Mu Keren's skin was exquisite, a healthy white tinged with red, and so flawless that no pores could be seen even up close.
But what stunned Huang Qingtian was not her beautiful skin. It was the tearful shine on her cheeks...
"Cried?" His rough fingertips, seemingly out of character, touched her cheek, toying with the tears at the corner of her eyes.
"Hmm?"
As Huang Qingtian was playing with the tear droplets, Mu Keren opened her eyes.
In the dim light, her misty eyes unexpectedly caught his grey-green pupils in a direct gaze.
"You're back?" After a moment, Mu Keren realized her shoulder was being embraced by a crouching Huang Qingtian, a somewhat awkward position.
"You cried!" He didn't address her comment but emphasized a certain fact instead.
"I didn't cry, I haven't cried..."