Chapter 16

When Mu Wanyan finally drifted into a deep sleep, her brows were still tightly furrowed, as if she were resting very uneasily.

Su Xingwei sat by the bed and watched her in silence. Suddenly, Mu Wanyan turned over, her lips parting as she murmured two words.

Su Xingwei didn’t catch them clearly and leaned closer.

“Xingwei.”

This time, the words were clear, and the tone carried unmistakable reliance, striking straight into Su Xingwei’s heart.

Su Xingwei froze. She stared at Mu Wanyan’s face, certain she was still asleep; it had only been an unconscious murmur in a dream. Her gaze moved to the crease between her brows and finally settled on her pale lips, lingering there for a long time. Then she lowered her head and pressed a light kiss to Mu Wanyan’s forehead.

It happened in an instant; she was almost afraid of being discovered. Straightening up, her face returned to its usual cool indifference, as if nothing had happened.

Just then, the doorbell rang.

Su Xingwei got up and opened the door. The butler stood outside with a pharmacy bag in hand. She took the bag, murmured her thanks, and closed the door before going back to the bedroom.

“Wake up. Take your medicine.”

Su Xingwei patted her shoulder.

Mu Wanyan slowly opened her eyes, her gaze unfocused and dazed. It took her several seconds to make out the person in front of her. Su Xingwei held the pills to her lips; she opened her mouth and swallowed them, then took a sip of water from Su Xingwei’s hand. She couldn’t help coughing twice, and Su Xingwei fed her another mouthful of water.

“Lie down and rest.”

Su Xingwei set the glass on the nightstand and carefully tucked her back under the blanket.

Mu Wanyan obediently lay back down, her mind still hazy. No one knew how long passed before she woke again. The fever had broken; though she still felt sore and weak all over, her head was much clearer.

Su Xingwei was sitting by the bed, holding a steaming bowl of congee.

“Since you’re awake, get up and drink this.”

She handed over the bowl, her tone cool.

Mu Wanyan propped herself up and took it, lowering her head for a sip. She could hardly taste anything. After drinking about half the bowl, she looked up at Su Xingwei.

“You’ve been here the whole time?”

Su Xingwei didn’t look at her; instead, she stared at the curtains, her voice flat. “No. The butler brought the medicine, and she bought the congee too.”

Mu Wanyan glanced at her and didn’t ask further. She lowered her head and finished the congee, feeling a little stronger afterward.

Su Xingwei stood up. “Tomorrow is your day off. Rest at home and don’t go out.”

As soon as she finished speaking, she picked up her coat and left without looking back. The bedroom door closed; her footsteps grew farther and farther away until they disappeared.

Mu Wanyan leaned against the headboard and stared at the tightly shut door, her heart in a jumble, not knowing how to react.

Su Xingwei gave her two days off. Mu Wanyan had planned to stay home and recover properly, getting her body back in shape as quickly as possible. Then, out of nowhere, there came a violent pounding on the front door; the force was so great it was deafening. Mu Wanyan frowned slightly and got up to answer it.

Outside stood a man in his early thirties, wearing a floral shirt. His features were somewhat similar to Mu Wanyan’s, but his temperament was worlds apart; his face was full of smiles that looked fake at a glance.

“Cousin, long time no see.”

As he spoke, Xiao Ting walked right in on his own.

Mu Wanyan searched through the original owner’s memories. She did have a cousin, living in another town. He had looked after the original owner when she was young, but they’d lost contact later on.

Xiao Ting looked around carelessly as if he were in his own home, then sat down on the sofa and crossed one leg over the other.

“Your place is way too small,” he said, with a hint of disdain. “You work at such a big company, so your salary shouldn’t be low. Why don’t you move somewhere better?”

Mu Wanyan didn’t answer. She got straight to the point. “What do you want from me, Cousin?”

Xiao Ting smiled. “I really do need your help with something. I’ve got my eye on a project lately; the returns are excellent, but I’m short on cash right now. Lend me some money first. Once I make a profit, I’ll pay you back double.”

Mu Wanyan looked at him. “What project?”

“It’s just... a good opportunity a friend introduced me to. Guaranteed profit.”

Xiao Ting’s eyes flickered; he deliberately dodged the question.

Mu Wanyan understood immediately. This cousin of hers was idle and good-for-nothing; he had no business sense at all.

“I don’t have extra money to lend you.”

The smile on Xiao Ting’s face stiffened. “How can you talk like that? We’re close family. Now that you’re doing well, you’re planning to turn your back on your relatives?”

Mu Wanyan didn’t argue with him, but she still didn’t budge. “I already said I don’t have spare money. Please leave.”

Xiao Ting shot to his feet, his face reddening. He pointed at Mu Wanyan and shouted furiously, “You ungrateful thing! When you came to our house as a child, I treated you so well. And now that you’ve made it, you’re turning your back on people?”

Mu Wanyan didn’t defend herself. She simply walked to the door and opened it.

Xiao Ting stood where he was, chest heaving violently. He glared at Mu Wanyan viciously, then stormed out in anger.

Two days later, Mu Wanyan’s body had mostly recovered, and she went to work as usual.

During lunch break, Mu Wanyan went downstairs to buy lunch. Out of the corner of her eye, she spotted a familiar figure standing at the company entrance, talking to Su Xingwei.

It was Xiao Ting.

He had changed into a brand-new suit, his hair slicked back neat and tidy, and he wore a fawning smile as he nodded and bowed toward Su Xingwei.

“Chairwoman Su, I’m Mu Wanyan’s cousin, Xiao Ting. I’ve long heard of your talent and accomplishments; today I finally have the honor of meeting you.”

Su Xingwei stood at the entrance, expressionless. At that moment, she looked past Xiao Ting and toward Mu Wanyan, who was walking over.

“Your cousin?” Su Xingwei asked casually, her tone faintly teasing.

Mu Wanyan reached them and looked at Xiao Ting with a colder gaze.

“Cousin, what are you doing here?”

Xiao Ting smiled and patted her shoulder, deliberately acting affectionate. “I’m here to invite Chairwoman Su and you to have a meal together. I happen to be planning to start a company recently and need financing, so I wanted to ask Chairwoman Su to give me some guidance.”

Mu Wanyan saw through him at once and turned to Su Xingwei. “Chairwoman Su, the meeting is about to start. The department heads are all waiting.”

Su Xingwei looked at Mu Wanyan, then gave Xiao Ting a side glance; the corner of her lips lifted.

“We’ll talk another day.”

After speaking coolly to Xiao Ting, she turned and headed for the elevator.

Seeing this, Xiao Ting hurried after her, but Mu Wanyan raised a hand to stop him.

“Cousin.”

Mu Wanyan lowered her voice; the usual gentleness in her disappeared, and her eyes turned cold.

“I’m warning you. Don’t get any ideas about her.”

The fake smile on Xiao Ting’s face vanished completely, revealing his true ugly expression.

“What do you think you are? Just a wage earner, and you really think you’re somebody?”

He leaned closer to Mu Wanyan and said meaningfully, “If you don’t help me, I’ll spill everything about your past. Let’s see how you keep working at this company then.”

Mu Wanyan met his gaze without retreating.

“Go ahead and say it. Let’s see whether anyone believes you. Even if I really can’t stay here anymore, I still won’t give you a single cent.”

Xiao Ting’s face flushed red all the way to his neck. He turned and left the company in a rage.

By the time work was almost over, Mu Wanyan noticed that her coworkers had already packed up and left. After asking around, she learned that tomorrow was the Mid-Autumn Festival holiday. She scratched her head; she had actually forgotten such an important day.

Mu Wanyan packed up and was about to leave when her phone suddenly buzzed. It was a message from Su Xingwei.

“Come to the villa tomorrow night.”

There was no extra explanation, only her usual domineering tone.

Mu Wanyan looked at the screen in silence for a few seconds, then replied with a simple “Okay.”

The next day, she took a taxi to the villa district. The butler was already waiting at the gate and opened it for her. Su Xingwei sat on the sofa in the living room, with several boxes of mooncakes laid out in front of her.

“Sit.”

Su Xingwei said casually, “We’ll spend the festival here tonight.”

Mu Wanyan sat down opposite her as told.

“What? Don’t want to stay?” Su Xingwei glanced at her, her expression not very pleasant.

“No.”

Mu Wanyan smiled. “It’s my honor.”

Su Xingwei casually changed the channel and pushed the mooncake gift box toward Mu Wanyan.

“Your cousin,” Su Xingwei asked as if offhandedly, “he said he wants to start a company. Do you think that’s feasible?”

Mu Wanyan opened the box and took a mooncake.

“He’s not reliable. You don’t need to pay him any mind.”

Su Xingwei arched a brow. “He’s your cousin, after all. Haven’t you thought about helping him out?”

“I can’t help him.”

Mu Wanyan paused, then explained, “He says it’s an investment, but I don’t even know what he’s actually doing. It’s probably just a shell company.”

Su Xingwei didn’t press further and took a mooncake for herself.

“I see.”

Then, as if chatting idly, she asked, “When you came here last time, did you notice anything different about this house?”

Mu Wanyan froze for a moment and looked around the living room again, but she couldn’t see anything unusual.

“What do you mean?”

Su Xingwei smiled. “Nothing. I just feel like you seem especially familiar with this villa. Last time, when you accompanied the butler to fetch something, you didn’t need directions.”

Mu Wanyan felt her heart sink. She had once let her guard down and forgotten to act unfamiliar; she hadn’t expected Su Xingwei to remember.

“The butler pointed the way then. It was easy to find,” Mu Wanyan said, curving her lips. “Is there a problem?”

Su Xingwei stared at her for two seconds. “No. You’ll sleep in the guest room tonight.”

After saying that, she turned and went straight upstairs.

Mu Wanyan sat in the living room and let out a long breath; this person was getting harder and harder to fool.

That night, Mu Wanyan washed up in the guest bathroom. She turned off the tap, dried herself, and changed into the pajamas the butler had prepared for her. When she walked out of the bathroom, her hair was still dripping.

At that moment, Su Xingwei suddenly entered the guest room. She was wearing a dark blue robe, loosely tied at the waist, and her hair was wet too; clearly, she had just finished showering as well.

Their eyes met, and the air instantly fell silent.

“Come to my room.”

With that, Su Xingwei turned and walked out. “Help me blow-dry my hair.”

Mu Wanyan hesitated for a moment, then hurried after her. Su Xingwei sat down on the bed with her back to her. Mu Wanyan lifted the hair dryer in one hand and gathered Su Xingwei’s wet long hair with the other. Su Xingwei’s hair was glossy black, clearly very well cared for.

About ten minutes later, when the hair was eighty or ninety percent dry, Mu Wanyan turned off the hair dryer and was about to unplug it when her elbow accidentally knocked the photo frame on the nightstand. With a sharp crash, the frame fell to the floor and the glass shattered instantly.

Mu Wanyan hurried to pick it up, but her fingers brushed against a sharp shard of glass, sending a sting through her skin. She jerked her hand back. A small cut had opened on her index finger, and blood kept welling up.

Su Xingwei suddenly stood up and pushed Mu Wanyan aside. Carefully, she picked the frame out of the shattered glass, brushed away the grit from the surface, and wiped the photo with the gentlest possible movements. It was her graduation photo with Gu Xi, which had always been placed by her bedside.

She took the picture and left the room. From beginning to end, she didn’t look at Mu Wanyan once, nor did she ask about the injury on her hand.

Mu Wanyan sat down on the floor in a daze, staring at the broken glass for several seconds before getting up and going to the bathroom to treat the wound. Standing before the sink, she looked at her reflection in the mirror. This face was pale and delicate; only her eyes bore a slight resemblance to the person in the photo, Gu Xi. Yet now those eyes, the only part that looked similar, were faintly red, carrying an emotion too hard to describe.

The next day, after Su Xingwei finished the board meeting and came back, her whole aura was cold, and her face looked terrible. Mu Wanyan followed behind her and kept quiet.

Just now at the meeting, Su Yueluo and her father had deliberately picked a fight; she had heard every word clearly.

After a long time, Su Xingwei finally spoke, her expression tired. “What do you think of Su Yueluo?”

Mu Wanyan answered without thinking, “Hypocritical.”

Su Xingwei seemed not to have expected her to be so direct; she froze slightly, then a trace of interest appeared in her eyes.

“What kind of person do you think I am, then?”

Her gaze locked onto Mu Wanyan, unreadable.

Mu Wanyan looked back at her calmly, but her tone was firm. “You’re completely different from her. You still keep your true heart.”

The office fell silent for a moment. Su Xingwei’s eyes wavered, as if she wanted to see something clever on Mu Wanyan’s face.

After a long while, she let out a soft laugh, deliberately suppressing the turmoil in her heart, and forced herself to sound relaxed.

“Just how long have you known me, and you’re already bold enough to say something like that?”