After hanging up on Li Mufang, Li Weihuan sat in the car, seeming a bit dazed before finally stepping out.
âSorry, Iâm waiting for someone,â he told the driver.
The driver glanced at him but said nothing.
Two minutes later, a girl in a red hat ran out of the cafe, spotting Li Weihuan and looking so excited she almost called out. She grabbed his arm and smiled with a neat, pretty face. âI knew you wouldnât leave me behind!â
âLet me introduce myself, Iâm Yi Mu. You can call me Mumu or anything you like. Your name is Li Weihuan, right? I like your name!â
Li Weihuan couldnât handle the girlâs over-familiarity, so he pulled her hand off his arm, opened the cab door, and spoke coldly, âGet in the car!â
Yi Mu blinked her eyes and uttered an âOhâ before getting into the car.
Li Weihuan sat in the passenger seat, which made Yi Mu a bit upset. But her disappointment didnât last long. When the car stopped, she realized it was parked in front of a cinema. Was he planning to watch a movie with her?
Excited, Yi Mu got out of the car and tried to link arms with him again, but Li Weihuan brushed her off, âI donât like being touched!â
Yi Mu froze, wondering if Li Weihuan had some kind of neurosis. But she didnât seem to smell bad or anything. Strange!
At 21, Yi Mu was still young and a bit naive, probably because, as Li Mufang had said, she came from a unique background and had been well-protected since she was little.
Yi Mu admitted that she used to want a foreign boyfriend; she thought that foreign guys were all handsome. But when she saw his picture, she was instantly attracted and couldnât look away.
Li Weihuan listened, gave a cold laugh, but didnât reply.
Not caring, Yi Mu asked Li Weihuan, âAnd you? What kind of girl did you want to find before? Was it someone like me?â
Li Weihuan frowned, looked at Yi Mu, and shook his head, âNo.â
There was a flash of disappointment in Yi Muâs eyes. But she quickly waved it off, âNo worries, youâll start liking me eventually. And Iâll try my best to make you do so. So, when someone asks you what kind of girl you like, the name Yi Mu will automatically pop up in your mind. Haha!â
Li Weihuan just frowned and didnât speak.
Just then, when Yi Mu asked what kind of girl Li Weihuan preferred, the image of Nanxi suddenly flashed into his mind.
Nanxi, Nanxi, a name that stung like a thorn in his heart. He didnât dare touch it for fear of the pain.
Fortunately, the only one who felt the pain was him.
Luckily, Nanxi didnât feel it.
â¦
Nanxi found out about Li Weihuanâs successful blind date on the day before an upcoming business trip with Lu Yinchu.
That night, Lu Yinchu brought Nanxi to the Lu familyâs home for dinner, and the patriarch brought up the issue of Li Weihuanâs job again.
Lu Yinchu said everything was almost arranged. Li Weihuan could report to the Land Bureau by mid-month, and, if he did well, he could be promoted within a year.
The patriarch nodded and sighed, âI just hope Weihuan is serious this time. Heâs a good kid, very smart. But he always wastes it on irrelevant matters.â
The room fell silent. Then, Xia Zhen spoke up, âI talked to Mufang on the phone the other day. She said heâs been behaving better lately. He even went on a blind date and is now dating a nice girl.â
Lu Yinchu and Nanxi, who were eating, both looked surprised.
After dinner, the patriarch, not feeling well, didnât stay up long, mumbling about needing rest. After he left, Xia Zhen urged the rest to go to bed as well.
Because they had to catch a flight the next morning, Xia Zhen urged Lu Yinchu and Nanxi to get some sleep early. Their flight was at eight in the morning, and time was tight.
Nanxi and Lu Yinchu returned to their room. Lying in the bed, Nanxi couldnât help but think about the recent developments. Li Weihuan going on a blind date was something she had anticipated would happen sooner or laterâit was part of his new life.
But the timing was too coincidental. The night before, he had called Lu Yinchu. The following day, he went on a blind date and has been going out with the girl since then. Were these events related?
She didnât want to overthink things. Deep down, she was hoping that Li Weihuan had truly met another girl who could catch both his eye and his heart.
Someone who his family accepted and who prompted him to work hard. Under the gaze of everyone who cared about him, he could live out his life happily and safely.
â¦
The destination of Lu Yinchuâs business trip this time was Japan. The trip was only scheduled to last three days and the workload wasnât heavy, so he brought Nanxi along.
There were also two secretaries and an assistant, as well as Mo Yan, who accompanied them.
Upon seeing Mo Yan, Nanxiâs demeanor clearly cooled. She was angry that she hadnât seen him at the airport that day, and she was still upset that he had made her cousin so heartbroken.
Mo Yan remained indifferent to Nanxiâs cold treatment, continuing to pack things up with an unchanged icy expression.
Nanxi, feeling ignored, was deflated and frustrated.
â¦
It was Nanxiâs first trip abroad. Despite the short distance, she was extremely excited. Once they got off the plane, she couldnât stop looking around.
Lu Yinchu held her hand and reminded her, âSlow down. Be careful not to get lost.â
Nanxi stuck her tongue out, âI wouldnât get lost that easilyâunless youâre the one who loses me.â
Lu Yinchuâs dark eyes flickered, and he ran his fingers through her soft hair. âI wonât lose you,â he said, a trace of sadness in his voice.
Nanxi knew she had said something wrong and quickly threw her arms around him, âYou couldnât lose me, even if you tried. I wonât let myself be more than three steps away from you.â
An arranged car picked them up soon after, taking them directly to their hotel.
It was a classically styled hot spring resort. Indeed, Lu Yinchu had kept his promise to bring her to a hot spring.
The hotelâs staff were all dressed in kimonos, very pretty. Nanxi had once heard that Japanese women tied a small bag of their husbandâs ashes to their kimonos. It struck her as creepy but also poignantâa womanâs deepest remembrance of her husband.
While Lu Yinchu was on the balcony making a call, Nanxi curiously explored the room.
When Lu Yinchu came back after finishing his call, Nanxi had already inspected the entire room, and he raised an eyebrow, asking her, âAre you satisfied?â
Nanxi thought for a moment and nodded, âItâs alright.â
Smiling, Lu Yinchu extended his hand to her, âLetâs go to dinner. Your cousin is waiting for us.â
Her cousin?
Nanxi was stunned and confused.
Before she could say anything, Lu Yinchuâs phone rang once again, indicating that he should answer it. As he took the call, Nanxi was left standing there, bewildered.