Chapter 27:

On the way back, Mu Jinpei received a call from Chu Zheng. A senior executive scheduled to attend the video meeting was delayed due to a business negotiation, so the meeting was postponed by an hour.

This was Mu’s decision; Chu Zheng had only received the email notice ten minutes ago.

“Mr. Mu, you don’t need to rush back.”

The implication was clear: he could spend another hour on his date.

Having been out of Ji Xingyao’s apartment for almost twenty minutes, if he turned back now it would disrupt her nap. With plenty of time to spare, Mu Jinpei told the driver to make a stop at the gallery.

He hadn’t seen his mother in quite a few days. Ever since he learned about the complicated relationship between his mother, father, aunt, and Xie Junyi, his feelings whenever facing his mother had become very complicated.

He wanted his mother to be happy, hoped she could respond to his father’s steadfast feelings over thirty years, and most of all, hoped they could be well.

Before he even reached the gallery entrance, Mu Jinpei stopped in his tracks. Xu Rui was coming toward him and also paused, surprised to see him at this time. She greeted him first, “Mr. Mu, what a coincidence.”

Mu Jinpei replied, “Long time no see.” He didn’t ask what brought her to the gallery.

Xu Rui took the initiative to say, “I came to deliver an invitation to Teacher Pei.” Then after a pause, she added, “I’m getting married next month.” She stared at him, but his expression remained as calm and unreadable as usual.

Mu Jinpei didn’t know much about Qi Chen, only remembering that he had harassed Ji Xingyao at the hospital. He asked, “Have you thought it through?”

Xu Rui smiled lightly, “Marriage is a big matter, of course I’ve considered it carefully. Qi Chen and I grew up together, so we know each other well.”

Mu Jinpei nodded. “That’s good.”

There was a brief silence between them.

Xu Rui looked at him again. “Mr. Mu, I’m getting married. Aren’t you supposed to give me a gift?”

Mu Jinpei knew what she was up to again. “I will prepare a gift, but it won’t be whatever you ask for.”

He paused briefly, then said bluntly, “Xu Rui, live your own life well. Don’t meddle in mine. If you want to test my limits, I can tell you now that you don’t hold any special place with me. The only ‘special’ thing is that one day when I was drunk, I told you a few things about my past.”

Xu Rui had long experienced his coldness and ruthlessness, so these words were no surprise to her. “Mu Jinpei, sooner or later you’ll regret how much you’ve hurt Ji Xingyao.”

Mu Jinpei said nothing and took a step forward, leaving.

Xu Rui stayed there to calm down before heading to her car. Inside the car, Qi Chen was lazily leaning back in his seat. His father had told him to come with Xu Rui to deliver the invitation, but he didn’t want to get out.

He was about to register their marriage soon. He couldn’t say what was good or bad about it. He’d thought about running away from the wedding, but worried Xu Rui would be laughed at by relatives and friends if he did, so he gave up that idea.

She chose Valentine’s Day to register; he just went along.

She clearly didn’t care for him — her heart belonged to Mu Jinpei. He didn’t understand why she insisted on liking him. Was it just because he was a scumbag?

After Xu Rui got in the car, Qi Chen spoke with a teasing tone, “Does your lover know you’re about to get married? Aren’t they regretful and trying to win you back? Or are you helping Ji Xingyao somehow? Maybe your lover sees through that and knows you want to drive a wedge between them?”

He had just seen Xu Rui talking to Mu Jinpei for a few moments.

Xu Rui, annoyed, shoved his face away. “Go away!”

Qi Chen leaned in again, “Did I really hit the mark?”

“Shut up!” Xu Rui kicked him hard. “How would a sparrow understand a swan’s ambition?”

Qi Chen endured the pain and laughed twice, “Whoa! You even distinguish between sparrows and swans when jealous? The difference might be sparrows peck a couple times when jealous, but you swans—are you eating big bites and drinking lots of vinegar?”

As soon as he finished, he got slapped twice again.

The car slowly drove off.

Mu Jinpei entered the M.K gallery.

Today, Pei Yu was in a good mood and personally poured tea for Mu Jinpei. She looked at her son for a few seconds, then teased, “Did you not look in the mirror before leaving?”

Mu Jinpei was caught off guard. “What’s wrong?” He glanced down at his clothes — black pants and white shirt, nothing amiss.

Pei Yu handed him a wet wipe. “Looks like I need to buy more lipstick for Xingyao. Since she started dating, her lipstick usage has gone way up.”

Mu Jinpei: “…” He wiped the corner of his mouth, and the wet wipe was stained red.

Pei Yu said, “Aren’t you usually busy at noon?”

Mu Jinpei was speechless again.

Pei Yu chuckled seeing her son at a loss.

Mu Jinpei couldn’t sit still. Not knowing what other teasing was coming, he threw the wipe in the trash and stood up. “You’re busy. I’m going back to the company for the meeting.”

Pei Yu said, “Take Xingyao home for dinner when you have time.”

Mu Jinpei was silent for a moment, then nodded.

Before he could walk far, Pei Yu called out, “By the way, Xu Rui just gave me an invitation for her wedding, which will be held after the new year. You got one too, right?”

Mu Jinpei hadn’t received the invitation. “I know she’s getting married.”

Pei Yu said, “Then we’ll all go together.”

After leaving the gallery, Mu Jinpei returned to the company.

Just as he got in the car, Chu Zheng called urgently. “Mr. Mu, where are you now? Is Miss Ji’s apartment okay?”

Mu Jinpei was confused. “What’s wrong?”

Chu Zheng breathed a sigh of relief, but then his tone turned tense again, apparently the boss didn’t know yet. “I saw in a friend group that Miss Ji’s apartment building caught fire — the top floor. The thick smoke is coming from either just below or inside her place. The police have been called, but the fire department hasn’t arrived yet.”

Mu Jinpei didn’t bother replying to Chu Zheng. He hung up, dialed Ji Xingyao’s number, and told the driver, “Go to Xingyao’s apartment, quickly.”

The call rang out with no answer.

He called again, still no answer.

By the fourth call, after two rings, he hung up. He remembered that when he handed her the phone earlier, she had swiped the screen a few times — probably set it to silent for her nap.

He then called Uncle Zhang.

Zhang was still handling car pickup formalities. Surprised to get the call from Mu Jinpei, even though he hadn’t saved the number, he recognized it immediately.

He was confused why Mu Jinpei would call him directly.

When he answered, a hurried worried voice came through: “Uncle Zhang, how is Xingyao? Was she affected by the smoke?”

Zhang was stunned. His heart skipped. “Jinpei, I’m in Tianjin now. What happened to Yaoyao?”

At that moment, Mu Jinpei’s heart sank.

“There’s a fire in the apartment building. Xingyao is napping and can’t be reached. That’s all, I have to hang up.”

The more he thought about it, the more scared he became. If she was asleep and unaware, she wouldn’t know how to escape. With such thick smoke, she would surely be poisoned.

“Stop the car!”

The road to the complex was always congested. He couldn’t wait to get there.

The bodyguards in the following car didn’t know what was going on. Seeing their boss get out and run north across the street, all three followed on foot.

Mu Jinpei wasn’t familiar with Beijing, but he’d traveled this road countless times. He took a shortcut — what would normally take over half an hour by car, he covered in just over ten minutes by running.

The road in front of the complex was completely blocked. The fire truck had just passed through, and the opposite mall parking entrance was blocked, making the traffic jam total.

“Hey, hey!” Qi Chen patted Xu Rui to look out the window.

Xu Rui was on her phone. News about the apartment fire was flooding all social platforms. They happened to be stuck right on the road outside the complex, unable to move.

Smoke was still billowing thickly from the top of the building. The situation was unclear. Many people were praying no one was hurt. She also forwarded the news, praying nobody was injured.

Qi Chen suddenly jumped in surprise, which startled her.

“Look quickly, it’s your lover.”

Xu Rui suddenly looked up in the direction Qi Chen pointed. On such a cold day, Mu Jinpei wasn’t even wearing a coat—just a thin shirt—braving the cold wind as he pushed desperately toward the apartment complex.

There were people on the sidewalk, but he didn’t care at all, rushing forward recklessly.

The scene seemed familiar.

The year she fell into the water, he had run just like that, with bodyguards following behind.

She suddenly realized Ji Xingyao’s apartment should be on the top floor.

“Hey, what are you doing!” Qi Chen tried to grab Xu Rui, but missed. She had already opened the door and gotten out. He hurried after her. “Miss, why are you stirring up trouble?”

Qi Chen kept pulling Xu Rui, afraid she was really going to rush into the complex.

The area below the apartment building was crowded with people—residents of that building and others from the neighborhood.

Mu Jinpei finally squeezed through the crowd and ran toward the apartment building, but only took a few steps before being grabbed by the bodyguards. Their duty was to protect their employer’s safety first, then follow any orders.

“Boss, you can’t go in, it’s dangerous. We’ll go in.”

Mu Jinpei didn’t listen at all. He shook them off roughly but was immediately grabbed by another bodyguard. “Boss, the security guards and firefighters have already gone up. We’re going to—” The man was cut off.

“Let go! Even if the firefighters went up, it’s useless. They don’t know Xingyao is taking a nap in her bedroom!” Mu Jinpei interrupted coldly.

If it was indeed her apartment on fire, the customized security door and locks would take some time to break through forcibly, which would cause them to miss the best rescue window.

The bodyguard holding him remained unmoved.

Two others went inside.

Even so, Mu Jinpei was still worried, but the bodyguards wouldn’t let go. Losing his temper, he said, “I’ll say this one last time—let go! I’m firing you right now. You don’t need to be responsible for my safety anymore!”

The bodyguards still didn’t move.

In desperation, Mu Jinpei kicked one of them away. The bodyguard was caught off guard—he never expected the boss to actually kick him—and stumbled back. Mu Jinpei broke free and just as he was about to rush to the fire elevator, his phone rang. His first thought was Ji Xingyao, so he hurried to answer. To his surprise, it was one of the two firefighters who had just gone up.

“Boss, the open flames upstairs have been put out by the firefighters. It was the neighbor downstairs to Miss Ji’s apartment. No one was home, and the fire started in their kitchen. No one was injured. The upstairs wasn’t affected at all.”

At that moment, a familiar voice came from behind: “Mu Jinpei!” He turned sharply — it was Ji Xingyao.

She came out through the emergency exit, not even wearing a coat.

At that moment, his heart finally settled.

“Yaoyao.”

Ji Xingyao’s legs had no strength left, and she collapsed into his arms. “I’m fine. I didn’t dare take the elevator, so I walked down the stairs. When I saw all the thick smoke outside, I was so anxious I didn’t even have time to get my phone.”

She looked up. “Why did you come back again?” One hand was gripping his watch, the other holding a thermos cup filled with coffee.

Mu Jinpei hugged her tightly, unable to say a word.