"Keren, you..."
Mu Keren's sharp tongue was something Xuan Ling had experienced. But back then, Keren's cutting words were always used to protect her, Xuan Ling.
She never expected that one day Keren's venom would be directed at her.
After being scolded, Xuan Ling instinctively wanted to retort.
But having caught a glimpse of the waiter standing beside them, she had to swallow her pride for the moment.
"Bring us two cappuccinos, please!"
Now that she had signed with a talent agency and participated in a few variety shows, she was considered a public figure.
In public, Xuan Ling now dared not start a quarrel with Mu Keren, lest she ruin her own reputation.
The waiter left after they had ordered their coffees.
"What are you doing in Nanling State?" As soon as the waiter left, Xuan Ling had seemingly forgotten the unpleasantness between them and put on a pretense as she asked.
But clearly, Mu Keren was in no mood to continue the charade.
"That's none of your business."
Mu Keren's coldness left her feeling embarrassed, "Keren, no matter what, we've been good friends for many years. Can't you talk to me without that tone?"
"You think I'm speaking too harshly? Then why didn't you feel you were going too far when you were rolling in bed with La Chuan?"
Keren's words struck her, making her freeze on the spot.
She had guessed that Mu Keren might know about her relationship with La Chuan, but she never expected that Mu Keren would know that they had gone that far.
However, the embarrassment that flashed across her face was quickly hidden away by Xuan Ling. Soon she adopted a pitiable expression, "Keren, I know I did you wrong with this. But La Chuan and I truly love each other."
In Xuan Ling's view, if their bodies were together, surely their hearts should be too, right?
But she failed to understand that men's and women's love can be fundamentally different.
At that moment, Mu Keren, listening to her former friend recount the love between her and Keren's boyfriend, felt nothing but a sour flood of resentment.
"Keren, I..." With tearful eyes, Xuan Ling looked like she had more to say.
To those unaware, it might seem as though Mu Keren had somehow wronged her.
"Enough!" Mu Keren had no desire to hear any more of their sweet history. To her, it was nothing but shame, betrayal!
Yet, there are always those who know exactly what to provoke, bringing up exactly those things she loathed to hear.
Seeing Xuan Ling part her red lips, ready to speak further, Mu Keren suddenly grabbed the cappuccino that had just been delivered and had yet to be sipped, and flung it in Xuan Ling's face...
In an instant, Xuan Ling's formerly elegant dark blue cocktail dress became wet and sticky. Even worse was her exquisitely made-up face, now spotted with coffee stains and half its fake eyelashes missing.
This sudden turn of events made Xuan Ling unable to maintain a facade of calm any longer.
She quickly grabbed Mu Keren's hand, her face twisted with rage as she shouted, "Mu Keren."
Mu Keren wasn't the least bit panicked, just staring coldly at this frantic woman.
"No matter what you do, La Chuan is my man now! If you know what's good for you, get the hell back to Beiling!"
After her outburst, she released Mu Keren's hand and tossed her damp hair carelessly.
Now that Keren and she had torn away all pretenses, there was no need for her to maintain any semblance of peace.
If that was the case, she planned to use this opportunity to drive Mu Keren back to Beiling State. That way, her dirty past would stay hidden from everyone.
"But perversely, Mu Keren's answer was not what she wanted: "Why shouldn't I be obstinate?"
For La Chuan's sake, she had dared to argue with her most beloved father and run away from home. But in the end?
What she got was betrayal and humiliation!
With such a disgraced self, how could she face her father again?
"Mu Keren, don't refuse the toast only to be forced to drink a forfeit."
In Beilingzhou, I, Mu Keren, could walk sideways.
Here in Nanling, it was not exactly her, Xuan Ling's world. But at the moment, the Vice Governor of Nanling State was still her boyfriend, and the identity she had fabricated was fearsome. Given that, who in Nanling State would dare not listen to her?
But the truth proved that Mu Keren did not take her words to heart at all.
"Where I choose to stay is my business! You have no right to interfere!"
Having dropped that line, Mu Keren grabbed her bag and stood up.
She left quickly and naturally did not notice the chilling look in Xuan Ling's eyes as she watched her departure.
"It's not that I have no right to interfere, but that I have to."
A woman who knew her past and was involved with La Chuan, allowing her to stay in the same company was like leaving a time bomb next to her, Xuan Ling, wasn't it?
Murmuring to herself, she looked around and saw that everyone was staring at her with some surprise. Only then did she realize she was still stained with coffee spills all over her.
She quickly took the sunglasses she had ready in her bag and put them on her face. After making sure that no one was looking at her anymore, she quickly left the café.
As for Mu Keren, she did not want to leave Nanling but had to!
×
When Huang Qingtian came home, Mu Keren was sitting in the living room staring blankly.
In the dim light, the little woman's absent-minded gaze had a unique charm. Especially that small pink mouth, which was now slightly open.
Such allure would usually earn more glances from the typical Huang Qingtian, but not today.
That was because as soon as he walked in from the entrance hall, he noticed Mu Keren's originally fair little face was smeared with some ash. Her hands were dirty too, which was why she was staring blankly at her grubby little hands.
"What happened?" Huang Qingtian asked, approaching her quickly after noticing this.
But after entering the living room, the smell of char that had been lurking in his nostrils became even more apparent.
Upon hearing his voice, Mu Keren seemed to snap back to reality.
The moment she met his gray-green eyes, her little face scrunched up completely. Those vivacious eyes also filled with a mist.
Such a her could disarm anyone. Including Huang Qingtian.
"Tell me, what happened?"
Now next to Mu Keren, he stretched out his long arm and brought her into his embrace.
Huang Qingtian, having taken Mu Keren into his arms, also overflowed with a tenderness he himself had not noticed.
Perhaps truly frightened, Mu Keren showed no resistance to Huang Qingtian's embrace, instead actively burying her little head into the chest of Qingtian.
Her anxious little demeanor was heartbreakingly endearing to anyone who saw it.
"It's alright now! I'm here..." He patted Mu Keren's back several times again.
Under his affectionate coaxing, Mu Keren finally opened her mouth: "The kitchen... exploded!"