Chapter 22

Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios

Tang Moling had always been popular among the ladies.

In the past, he had been the one who despised women. When the statement ‘I will never fall for you’ was uttered, he was always on the giving end, not the receiving end. Regardless of his appearance or background, he’d been qualified to do so, especially in the past two years.

As his identity changed, many people flocked to him.

What had he just heard then?

Mu Jingzhe, whom he didn’t like at all, couldn’t wait to reject him. Plus, she sounded as if he was something to be avoided, like an inauspicious virus or something. Tang Moling was incredibly annoyed.

She’d made it sound like he would actually fall for her.

Tang Moling gritted his teeth. Mu Jingzhe had no idea that after she finally got rid of Li Zhaodi, Zhao Lan and Eldest Sister-In-Law Shao would be waiting for her at home.

She had no patience for them and directly declared that she wasn’t going to marry and told them to get lost.

To think they’d even wanted to forbid her from taking her dowry away. If one day she truly left, she could take it away whenever she wanted.

Even if she didn’t wish to take it with her, she would leave it for Shao Dong and the others. Did they have a right to speak?

Mu Jingzhe had clearly stated that she didn’t intend to marry that guy, but Zhao Lan and the others didn’t believe a single word. They thought that Mu Jingzhe was only stalling for time because she didn’t want to leave behind the dowry.

They weren’t the only ones who didn’t believe it. The villagers didn’t believe it either. They thought that it was just an excuse.

Mu Jingzhe didn’t care if they believed her or not.

After school ended in the afternoon, Shao Dong and the others returned home. When they saw that Mu Jingzhe was still there and was preparing food, they were a little surprised but they didn’t say much.

Mu Jingzhe wanted to tell them about her situation, but upon seeing that they didn’t care, she thought that they might not have heard anything, so she said nothing.

Everything was normal except for the solemn atmosphere at the dining table.

Halfway through the meal, Shao Qiyang suddenly returned, sweating profusely.

“Why are you suddenly back?”

Mu Jingzhe immediately realized why after asking. What else could it be? He was naturally back because of Mu Xue.

She remembered that, in the book, Shao Qiyang had remained unmarried his entire life. It seemed like he hadn’t forgotten Mu Xue.

What one couldn’t get was always the best. Mu Xue wouldn’t accept him because he was Shao Qihai’s younger brother. In the end, she had become his white rose.

Tang Moling had appeared in the village in a high-profile manner, and Mu Xue seemed to have accepted him. Thus, it was normal for Shao Qiyang to rush back after hearing the news.

Mu Jingzhe quickly passed a bowl and chopsticks to Shao Qiyang.

Shao Qiyang looked at Mu Jingzhe and wanted to say something. In the end, he only said dryly after a pause, “I happened to have a day off.”

He had run into a villager and rushed back after hearing about Mu Jingzhe’s marriage proposal. The moment he’d heard the news, he had been stunned and had rushed home without thinking.

When he returned home and saw that Mu Jingzhe was still in the Shao Residence, he suddenly came back to his senses. Why had he rushed back?

Even if Mu Jingzhe agreed to this marriage proposal, he wasn’t in a position to say anything, as he was only her brother-in-law.

Thus, he quietly joined them and ate with them.

The atmosphere at the dining table didn’t improve because of his return. Instead, it seemed to become even more depressing.

Mu Jingzhe wished she could shake Shao Qiyang’s shoulders and wake him up so that he would stop being sad because of Mu Xue.

The female protagonist belongs to the male protagonist. You’re just a supporting character. It’s useless no matter how much you love her.

This was hard to say, though. She could only ask dryly, “Did something happen? Did you lose the mail?”

Shao Qiyang gave her a complicated look. “No.”

Mu Jingzhe thought about it and said, “You should save up over the next few months and buy a bicycle as soon as possible. That way, it’ll be easier for you to come back from work.”

Shao Qiyang’s hand, which was holding his rice, paused for a long time before he responded with an “mm” sound.

Buying a bicycle had always been his dream. With a bicycle, he wouldn’t have to work so hard. He could also deliver more letters and earn more money.

Although he had thought of it before, all his money was in Zhao Lan’s hands. Zhao Lan didn’t want him to buy a bicycle, as she said that it was too wasteful. She felt that he might as well wait for the post office to assign him one.

He wasn’t an official employee, so he would have to wait for the post office to assign him a bicycle. It was impossible, though. He was afraid that he would be fired before he could get a bicycle.

On the other hand, if he performed well, he might become a full-time employee.

However, Zhao Lan didn’t care.

In the end, it was Mu Jingzhe who had asked him to save up money to buy a bicycle.

Unfortunately, she was about to leave the Shao Family and get married.

Seeing that Shao Qiyang wasn’t in a good mood, Mu Jingzhe dismissed the thought of continuing the conversation.

She’d just wanted to arouse Shao Qiyang’s ambition.

If his personal life wasn’t going well, then he should work on his career.

In the novel, Shao Qiyang had opened a courier company later on. It was quite a big, renowned listed company whose services were utilized by everyone.

His career had been based on his current job.

However, Mu Jingzhe wasn’t sure when he would strike it out on his own.

At midnight…

Shao Qiyang’s body was extremely exhausted, but because he was distraught, he couldn’t fall asleep.

Later on, he quietly got up from bed and took a bottle of wine to the memorial tablet of his second brother, Shao Qihai.

He told his second brother about how the children were doing.

After talking for a while, Shao Qiyang realized that no matter what he said, he couldn’t avoid Mu Jingzhe’s name.

“Second Brother, Second Sister-In-Law is marrying someone else.

“You haven’t been gone long. I’d like her to stay, but I can’t say it…”n/ô/vel/b//in dot c//om

Shao Qiyang forced out a bitter smile.

He didn’t even know if it was for Second Brother or himself.

…

Meanwhile, in the basement of a house in the suburbs of the neighboring province…

There were now more things in the cramped room, but the person on the single bed remained the same.

Upon closer inspection, he seemed to have lost some weight, but his hair had grown longer.

The device beside the bed suddenly emitted a faint green light that shone on his head.

When the green light flashed past his eyes, his hand suddenly moved.

Because no one was around, it went unnoticed.

....

Elsewhere, one cup after another was filled with wine. Slowly, Shao Qiyang became slightly tipsy.

“Second Brother, will you feel angry if someone marries Second Sister-In-Law?

“If you’re not angry, does that mean that it doesn’t matter who marries Second Sister-In-Law?

“I didn’t mean anything by it. I was just asking… mostly because Second Sister-In-Law used to knock on my door…”

He stopped abruptly.

“Don’t get me wrong, Second Brother. It was innocent. We didn’t do anything to let you down. I just—”

He suddenly wondered what would have happened if he had opened the door back then.

Just as this thought flashed past his mind, Shao Qiyang felt shocked and sobered up halfway.

“Second Brother, don’t overthink. I just drank too much. I won’t…”

If he made Second Brother a cuckold, he wouldn’t be fit to be a human.

Shao Qiyang slapped himself.

“Second Brother, I’m just spouting nonsense because Second Sister-In-Law is getting married. Don’t take it seriously…”

....

In the basement, the device beside the single bed suddenly rang.

“Brother Hai!”

A short-haired man ran over in his underpants, panic flashing across his face.

A second later, he met a pair of eyes.

The short-haired man was stunned for a moment before he rejoiced. “Brother Hai, you’re finally awake!”

After the doctor took a look, he said that the patient was awake. However, even though he was past the most difficult stage, he couldn’t afford to be careless. He had to take good care of himself.

The short-haired man was a grown man, yet his eyes couldn’t help but turn red as he gazed at the person who had woken up.

Brother Hai looked at him and clenched his fists. “Hold it back.”

The short-haired man nodded vigorously. “I know you don’t like people crying, Brother Hai. I definitely won’t cry. Everything’s fine now that you’ve woken up.”

Big Brother Hai moved his head. “How many days have I been unconscious?”

“It hasn’t been days. It’s been months.”

“What?”