Chapter 37:

Ji Xingyao hadn’t expected Mu Jinpei to react so strongly—he was clearly jealous. The moment she mentioned living at Xie Yuncheng’s flight training base, he became visibly displeased.

She teased him, “Don’t you get sick of seeing me every day?”

Mu Jinpei countered, “Are you tired of drinking coffee?”

Ji Xingyao realized that if she moved into the training base, she wouldn’t be able to drink the coffee he made every morning. In the end, she agreed to stay at home, though it would mean poor Uncle Zhang would have to drive a long way back and forth every day.

Mu Jinpei himself was torn—he didn’t want to fall too deep, but he couldn’t resist being close to her. Every day they spent together felt like time ticking down on a countdown clock.

Ji Xingyao started adjusting her plans. “Guess I’ll have to cut back on painting.”

Mu Jinpei asked, “More paintings? I thought you finished everything.”

While revising her schedule, she replied absentmindedly, “Just some still lifes to earn a little extra.” Once done, she rested her chin on her palm and daydreamed aloud: “Someday I’ll earn enough to buy you a private jet.”

Mu Jinpei looked into her eyes—then slowly looked away. In her eyes, he saw a reflection of himself: despicable, shameless, and cruel.

His phone buzzed. It was Chu Zheng:
[President Mu, where to next?]

Even though Ji Xingyao would be staying at home during her flight training, Mu Jinpei decided to spend the afternoon with her anyway. It was the weekend—he could afford half a day off.
[Not going to the office. You take the rest of the day off too.]

Chu Zheng:
[Your books arrived today. Should I bring them to your house or give them to you at the office tomorrow?]

Mu Jinpei:
[Just hand them to me when you swing by the office.]

When they arrived at the M.K. building, the driver stopped right at the front entrance.

Mu Jinpei got out of the car, and Ji Xingyao stepped out from the other side.

“Want to come up with me?” he asked, walking around the front of the car.

Ji Xingyao had only stepped out for some fresh air, but she pretended she was about to run toward him. Just as Mu Jinpei was ready to catch her, she backed away a few steps instead.

Mu Jinpei: “…”

Ji Xingyao grinned. “Just teasing you. I’ll wait down here.”

Mu Jinpei waved at her. “Come here.” Ji Xingyao skipped over, and he scooped her up with one arm.

It had been a long time since he’d carried her like this. Ever since they became intimate, he usually used both arms—stronger support for a longer embrace, and for deeper kisses.

Ji Xingyao naturally wrapped her arms around his neck and tilted her head up, offering a kiss.

They were at the company entrance, so Mu Jinpei just pecked her lips lightly.

“Aiiiii~~~~~~~~~~~~~”

From a nearby car came a dramatic, exaggerated sigh.

Qi Chen rested his cheek on his hand and tilted his head toward Xu Rui. He couldn’t tell if he was just lucky or if Xu Rui was just that unlucky, but somehow, every time, they managed to witness Ji Xingyao and Mu Jinpei’s public displays of affection—ones even women would envy.

“Ruirui, heart frozen yet? Early spring may seem mild, but you never know when a gust of winter might hit and make you question your life choices,” he said, glancing her up and down. “Told you to wear an extra layer this morning, but you wouldn’t listen. Now you don’t even have a jacket to hug for warmth.”

“Be honest, Rui—if your heart really hurts, just say the word. I’ll give you mouth-to-mouth. Or better yet, I’ll buy you an oxygen tank.”

Xu Rui had a folder in her hands. Without hesitation, she whacked him on the head. “Shut up.”

Qi Chen wasn’t going to argue with a heartbroken woman. He shrugged and gave her a sympathetic look. Today, they were at M.K. Group for a project coordination meeting, and just so happened to bump into Mu Jinpei.

It’d be awkward to get out of the car now. Best to wait until he left.

Ever since they got married, Qi Chen had become Xu Rui’s full-time driver, assistant, and drinking companion. His father had arranged this job for him, and he’d seriously considered quitting.

But his father had said:
“Sure, you can quit. But hand over all your bank cards. Also, about that investment I made in your club—go ahead and calculate how you’ll pay me back with interest.”

So, for the sake of survival, Qi Chen had no choice but to become Xu Rui’s shadow.

“Hey,” he said, trying to break the silence, “don’t you think our little Xingxing has gotten even prettier after these few months?”

Xu Rui flipped through her meeting notes, clearly not interested in chatting.

Teasing Xu Rui had become Qi Chen’s only source of amusement. He leaned closer. “Ruirui, tell me the truth—on our wedding day, were you secretly hoping Mu Jinpei would show up and stop the wedding? And when he didn’t, is that why you cried like a dog during our vows?”

“All those sweet, emotional things you said to me—weren’t they really meant for him?”

“Such a shame, huh? If he’d actually shown up to the wedding and heard you pour your heart out, maybe he would’ve stormed the ceremony. But nope—he was off celebrating Valentine’s Day with Xingxing.”

“If you ever want to get back together with Mu Jinpei, I’ll be a good guy and send him our wedding video. Let him see how devastated you were…”

Xu Rui couldn’t take it anymore. She yanked his hair back with both hands.

“Jesus!” Qi Chen winced, his back breaking into a cold sweat. “Can you not be so brutal?” Still, he didn’t push her away.

Xu Rui fished a marker out of her bag and bit the cap off with her teeth.

“Whoa whoa whoa—what are you doing?”

Before he could stop her, she’d written three big characters on his face: “王八蛋” (bastard).

She let go of his hair and patted his forehead. “Next time, I won’t be so nice.” Then she capped the marker and calmly went back to reviewing the meeting documents.

Qi Chen forgot to even argue. He pulled down the sun visor and looked at his reflection. Inside, a thousand horses were stampeding through his soul. It was a waterproof marker. His face was doomed for days.

Upstairs at M.K., after arriving at the office, Mu Jinpei took a call. The other secretaries didn’t know he was just stopping by and would leave soon, so they came in to report.

Mu Jinpei told Ji Xingyao he’d stay in the office for half an hour longer.

His car didn’t leave right away. Ji Xingyao was still taking a walk outside. Xu Rui checked the time—if she didn’t go up soon, she’d be late—so she finally got out of the car.

Ji Xingyao had met Xu Rui more than once. A woman’s sixth sense told her that Xu Rui had feelings for Mu Jinpei, though she never mentioned it in front of him.

Maybe it was just a harmless crush from a secretary toward her boss.

As Xu Rui approached, the two women inevitably made eye contact. Xu Rui nodded politely, and Ji Xingyao smiled in return. They passed each other without incident.

But fate can be cruel. Had she arrived a few seconds earlier, Xu Rui would’ve avoided seeing Mu Jinpei entirely. Instead, the regular elevator hadn’t arrived yet, and the exclusive one opened—and out walked Mu Jinpei and Chu Zheng.

Everyone froze.

Xu Rui said curtly, “Here for the meeting.” She couldn’t even bring herself to call him “President Mu” anymore. When the elevator doors opened, she strode in.

A few steps later, Mu Jinpei asked Chu Zheng, “That South Africa project—Qi Chen’s involved now too?”

Chu Zheng replied, “Yes. Chairman Ji was very eager to involve Director Qi—it puts him at ease.” He paused. “Chairman Ji definitely looked into why Xu Rui suddenly left M.K. after five years and rushed into an engagement with Qi Chen, eventually marrying him.”

Mu Jinpei said, “Xu Rui said she was leaving to go work at her family’s company. Why would Ji Changsheng so easily believe she and Director Qi are on the same team?”

Chu Zheng wasn’t sure if the boss was being dense or just didn’t care. After thinking it through, he finally said, “Xu Rui didn’t actually leave to work at her family’s company. That was just an excuse.”

Mu Jinpei stopped walking. “What do you mean?”

Chu Zheng said, “Xu Rui had feelings for you. That winter at the estate, when she fell into the river and you didn’t go in after her… I think that left a scar. She felt hurt and disappointed, so she left. And now that you’ve proposed to Miss Ji, Ji Changsheng can be sure that Xu Rui isn’t close to you anymore. He already had a good relationship with Director Qi, so in this partnership, if things go well, Director Qi will be grateful. And if it fails, having him onboard means Ji Changsheng won’t be the only one to take the hit.”

Mu Jinpei didn’t bring up why Xu Rui had resigned—what was in the past was in the past, and there was no way to make up for it.

Even if he could go back to that day, he probably still wouldn’t have thought to jump into the river to save her. The bodyguards were already in the water—his jumping in would’ve been unnecessary.

But if it had been Xingyao, he wouldn’t have hesitated for even a second. He would’ve feared she was cold, feared she was scared. He would’ve rushed to her side immediately.

He asked, “How much of that project is Qi’s family holding?”

Chu Zheng replied, “M.K. holds 40%, Ji Group 40%, and Ruichen 20%.”

Mu Jinpei did a rough calculation. Even just 20% equaled several billion. If the project ended in complete failure, that much cash would go down the drain and could potentially drag Ruichen into a financial crisis.

Whether it was Ruichen Group or some other company he wasn’t familiar with, as long as it wasn’t affiliated with the Ji Group, he didn’t want to see anyone else get caught in the mess. He instructed Chu Zheng, “If Ruichen’s investment puts Ji Changsheng at ease, let it be. Later, we’ll compensate Ruichen for the loss through other projects.”

Chu Zheng replied, “Understood. I’ll make the arrangements.”

Mu Jinpei then asked, “What’s the internal situation like at Ji Group?”

Chu Zheng answered, “Everything’s progressing step by step.”

“Mm, can’t rush it.” Then Mu Jinpei suddenly thought of something. “How’s my dad been lately?”

Chu Zheng hesitated: “…I haven’t really checked.”

Mu Jinpei nodded, signaling Chu Zheng to carry on with his work. He picked up the novel he brought and walked out of the building, checking his phone as he walked. In the company’s internal group chat, he saw that his father was still online.

He decided to give him a call.

He’d been so caught up dealing with the Ji Group lately that he’d forgotten to check on his father.

The phone connected quickly.

Mu Jinpei: “Dad, why are you still awake this late?”

Mu Wenhuai: “Just about to go to bed. What about you? Not busy?”

Mu Jinpei: “It’s the weekend. Took half a day off to take Xingyao out. Dad, you really shouldn’t stay up so late.”

Mu Wenhuai rubbed his forehead. “Getting old—can’t sleep well anymore. Not like you young people who never seem to sleep enough.” Then he asked, “How’s your mom been lately?”

Mu Jinpei didn’t answer the question directly. Instead, he asked, “If you want to know how she is, why don’t you ask her yourself? Why haven’t you come to Beijing?”

There was a moment of silence on the other end.

Mu Wenhuai caught the implication in his tone. “So… you know everything?”

Mu Jinpei didn’t deny it, but neither did he explain how he found out. “Dad…” He suddenly didn’t know what else to say.

After a long pause, Mu Wenhuai said in a voice tinged with helplessness and weariness, “You probably think very little of me, don’t you?”

“Of course not.” Mu Jinpei walked down the steps, slowly. “I might not have understood before, but now that I’m with Xingyao, I completely understand you.”

“…Thank you.”

“Dad, come to Beijing when you have time. Don’t worry about Mom not wanting to talk to you.”

Mu Wenhuai: “It’s not that I’m afraid she won’t talk to me. I’m afraid she’ll be upset just seeing me. I’m her brother-in-law—how could she not hate me?”

Mu Jinpei stood on the last step for a moment. “Maybe… maybe Mom doesn’t hate anyone anymore. She probably doesn’t even hate my aunt. She just doesn’t want to see her. But that doesn’t mean she wouldn’t want to see you.”

Mu Wenhuai sighed lightly, saying nothing.

Then Mu Jinpei made a decision. “I’m buying you a plane ticket. Come see Mom. The weather in Beijing is perfect right now. You always waste your annual leave—this year, take it early.”

Mu Wenhuai stopped him. “Hold on. Let me think about it a bit more.”

“Dad, can you just use even one-thousandth of the decisiveness you have in business?”

Mu Wenhuai fell silent.

“I’ll have Chu Zheng send you the ticket info in a bit.” And with that, he hung up.

When Ji Xingyao saw him finally lower his phone, she walked over.

But then Mu Jinpei started dialing again—calling Chu Zheng. Xingyao stopped in her tracks.

“Come here. I’m just calling Chu Zheng.”

Still, she didn’t move forward. In fact, she took a few steps back.

After briefly explaining the task to Chu Zheng, he ended the call.

Ji Xingyao opened her arms. “Switch hands and carry me.”

This time, Mu Jinpei scooped her up with his left hand—and followed with a deep kiss.