Chapter 38 It’s Just Acting, Don’t Take It Seriously

“Mom, what happened?” Mu Yu asked anxiously.

As she answered the phone, she had already grabbed her bag and rushed to the door. Kicking away the slippers on her feet, she roughly stuffed her feet into her own shoes.

A confused Jiang Wenwen also followed tightly, looking at her with a face full of concern.

On the other side, Hu Meiling sobbed into the phone as she interrogated, “Where are you right now? It’s almost six o’ clock! Why are you not back yet?”

“I’m hanging out at Wenwen’s house and preparing to go home right now. Mom, what exactly happened?”

“You didn’t get home on time and didn’t greet anyone. Young Master Qin is not happy because of that.”

“Huh?” Mu Yu stopped in her tracks. “Did he…”

She caught sight of Jiang Wenwen looking at her and did not want her good friend to figure anything out, so she stopped herself from saying the words 'threaten you?' and changed gears mid-sentence. “Mom, are you crying because of this?”

“An unhappy Young Master Qin means severe consequences!” Hu Meiling sniffed, her tone full of worry. “Mu Yu, your parents' well being for the rest of their lives depend on one command from him.”

At this, a deep sigh sounded from the speaker.

It was her dad.

Mu Yu felt her heart ache as she choked out, “Don’t be that way. I’m here. I will not let anything happen to you guys.”

This Qin Jinhuan was too cruel. She was just a tad bit late in returning home, but he took that as an excuse to call her parents and threaten them!

Was that necessary?

“Then you should quickly return home and be obedient to Young Master Qin. Butter him up a bit and don’t make him angry again.”

The urgency in her mother’s voice caused Mu Yu to feel even worse and she hurriedly replied, “I am heading back to explain right now, don’t worry.”

“Alright, okay. Go back quickly and deal with Young Master Qin, then call me so that I can at least not worry as much.”

“Okay.”

Mu Yu hung up the phone and bent over to tie her shoelaces.

“Are your parents alright?” Jiang Wenwen asked worriedly.

She could not hear the other side of the phone, but seeing Mu Yu’s serious expression caused her to feel anxious for her.

“Nothing happened, just the two of them bickering with each other,” Mu Yu said mildly to hide what actually happened.

She could never let Jiang Wenwen know about the unspeakable agreement made between her and Qin Jinhuan.

“Let me escort you downstairs. My motorcycle is just there.”

“No, there’s no need,” Mu Yu stopped her friend, “It is not safe to come back so late on a motorcycle. I’ll just call a cab. Let’s talk again later at night.”

After that, she turned around quickly to leave, only to slam right into a man carrying a large stack of books.

“Oh no!”

Crash!

The books dropped all over the floor.

“I’m so sorry, please excuse me.” Mu Yu apologized continuously as she knelt down to pick up the books.

The man who got bumped into was a bespectacled middle aged man. After staying shocked for a few seconds, he said a soft “It’s alright,” before bending down and picking up the fallen books as well.

Jiang Wenwen pulled Mu Yu up and said, “Don’t worry, it’s my neighbour so I will help him. The elevator is here. You should go back and talk to your parents.”

As she spoke, the elevator doors opened.

Mu Yu didn’t argue and passed the books she had picked up to Jiang Wenwen. After flashing an apologetic smile toward the middle-aged man, she turned and ran into the elevator.

After exiting the elevator, she quickly ran to the main road in front of the street, and as she tiptoed to look out for taxis, a small car suddenly stopped beside her.

She quickly leaped onto the flowerbed next to her, looking at the car on high alert.

Suddenly, the car window wound down and Qin Jinhuan’s expressionless face appeared.

“Get on.”

“How did you know I was here?”

Qin Jinhuan glanced at her before silently winding the window back up.

Thinking back to her mother sobbing and her father sighing, she glared fiercely at Qin Jinhuan through the glass before crossing to the other side of the car to get on.

Since he knew she was at Happy Garden, why did he still call her parents deliberately?

After getting in the car and seeing him close his eyes, acting as if nothing had happened, Mu Yu got even angrier. She soothed her anger before saying, “Next time if you want to look for me, can you call me directly and not my parents, since it scares them?”

A few seconds passed and Qin Jinhuan still didn’t reply. Mu Yu lost her patience and changed her negotiating tone to a harsh one as she warned word by word, “My parents are already living their days full of terror and worry, so please do not give them any more stress! If anything happens to them because of you, I will stop playing your little acting game.”

Qin Jinhuan opened his eyes in a flash, and the gaze he pierced her with was sharp and fierce.

Before this, Mu Yu would probably have backed down. But at the moment, she was so worried for her parents that she straightened her posture and met his eyes. “I agreed to marry you and go along with all the acting you wanted just for one thing: making sure my parents are safe and healthy. If you cannot make me stop worrying, then I will never follow your wishes again even if you hold a knife to my neck!”

Qin Jinhuan scoffed and stopped glaring at her.

Mu Yu did not know what he meant by that and panicked a little, her stance immediately deflating as she tugged his elbow, asking, “Did you understand what I said?”

She just wanted to remind him to not stress her parents out in the future, instead of aggravating him.

Qin Jinhuan did not spare her a glance and just pulled away from her grip, saying lightly, “Let’s each do what is necessary for our roles.”

“But I did do what was asked of me!”

“If you don’t want to worry your parents in the future, then come home on time.”

Seeing that he was still feeling petty about this matter, Mu Yu decided to hold onto the opportunity. She explained, “I actually went to Happy Garden after work to investigate the case, the Cheng Xi forest murder case that had to do with Qing Tian Group—”

Qin Jinhuan interrupted rudely, “If a little forensic doc like you can solve the case then what do we still need the police for?”

“Don’t underestimate me. I actually studied it in university—”

“Huh.”

The complete disregard in his tone caused Mu Yu to get red with anger and she suppressed her annoyance before saying, “I checked into this case to help you since the victim was in Qing Tian Group. I heard that her son brought someone to the company—”

“Busybody.”

“You—hmph.”

Mu Yu sat with a huff at the other side of the car and muttered, “You don’t even appreciate my good intentions.”

Qin Jinhuan’s ears automatically closed off to the last sentence and continued to close his eyes to get some rest.

They sat in silence for the rest of their journey.

When the two of them reached home, it was already almost seven in the evening. Mu Yu—who knew she had missed dinnertime, and was thinking of the scolding and chilly gaze that she would get from Qin Xiaozhi—shuddered with anxiousness and her footsteps slowed with her nerves.

“Don’t worry.”

Qin Jinhuan’s gentle voice rang next to her ear and in a second, his hand was holding hers. She met his soft, loving gaze once she lifted her head and she smiled to match him. She couldn’t resist feeling touched by him.

This guy got into character really fast.

“Young Master, young mistress! You have returned.” Yu Zhongguang, who had been waiting at the doorway, came to greet them excitedly before saying in a low tone. “Old Master is waiting for you in the dining room.”

“He has not eaten?”

Apart from Mu Yu, Qin Jinhuan was taken aback too. Usually, mealtimes in the household were very punctual and were never pushed back because of anyone coming late.

“Not yet. He has been waiting for you all to come home. I will go get rice for you both,” Yu Zhongguang said as he walked toward the dining room.

After Qin Jinhuan exchanged glances with Mu Yu, they walked into the dining room with their fingers still intertwined.

Qin Xiaozhi was listening to a drama with his eyes closed. When he heard Yu Zhongguang say that the couple had returned, he immediately ordered for someone to turn off the speakers and for food to be served. Once the food was served, he glanced at them before eating, then started eating without giving them a second look, seemingly ignoring them like before.

At first she was still a bit nervous, but after seeing him behave this way, she calmed down slightly. She accepted the bowl of rice that Qin Jinhuan passed over and started to eat.

After the fiasco with the photoshopped pictures, she clearly felt that Qin Xiaozhi’s attitude toward her softened a little. Even though he had not apologized, at least he had stopped targeting her and trying to rile her up like before. With him not starting any trouble, Dong Wanqing was also much more at ease.

To her, this was better than an apology.

After eating, Qin Jinhuan said that the night scenery was not bad, and suggested that they take a walk in the garden.

Wanting to continue their act of being lovey-dovey in front of Qin Xiaozhi, Mu Yu simply smiled and agreed.

The couple held hands as they walked into the garden. The scent of osmanthus flowers wafted by in the light breeze, and they followed the moonlit path as they strolled casually.

It was a very beautiful situation, but what a pity that the person next to her was not him.

Mu Yu suddenly felt a little helpless but did not dare to show it. She just silently followed the rhythm of his footsteps.

“Do you like osmanthus cake?”

In the silence, Qin Jinhuan’s voice stood out loud and clear.

“Huh?” After she came to her senses, Mu Yu shook her head. “I prefer osmanthus rice cake.”

“Ah. I will get some for you tomorrow then.”

Mu Yu thought of Yi Yunzhe’s special homemade osmanthus rice cake, and as she raised her head to look at the osmanthus flowers nearby, she said absentmindedly, “Actually, it is quite easy to make them at home too.”

“You know how to make them?”

“Yes. There were a lot of osmanthus trees in our neighbourhood, and around this time of the year, I would go with my mother to collect flowers to soak and then leave in the freezer. That way, they can be left for a long time, and we could just take some out to fry some rice cakes whenever we craved them.”

As if she could smell the osmanthus rice cakes, she couldn’t help but swallow her saliva hungrily at the thought of it. Temporarily, she decided to put away the dissatisfaction she felt toward Qin Jinhuan.

She was not really a foodie and was not as picky as Yi Yunzhe. To her, being able to have osmanthus cakes to eat was already good enough.

Qin Jinhuan suddenly stopped in his tracks, halting in front of her and holding onto her shoulders. He looked at her firmly and said in a soft tone, “You look so cute like this.”

Unused to the close contact, Mu Yu instinctively took a step back.

He did not give her a chance to step away and his hands gripped her a bit tighter as he lowered his head.

Seeing his lips coming downward toward her, Mu Yu thought he was about to kiss her and quickly reached out her hand to try and cover his mouth. However she immediately took back her hand and changed her position into one where she was curled in his embrace, her hands holding onto his waist. She knew that he was being all intimate to show it to his grandpa, and she should follow his lead. But she also did not give him a second chance to take advantage of her.

To be fair, his chest was rather sturdy, and it really made her feel safe.

Also, that faint smell of tobacco on his skin also smelled quite nice.

Since he had taken advantage of her so many times, should she use this opportunity to exact her revenge on him too?

“Mu Yu?”

Mu Yu was still contemplating on whether to feel him up, and when she heard that soft call for her she did not raise her head, only humming shortly in response.

She did not realize the power behind that little sound she made.

His ears felt strangely comfortable at that, and Qin Jinhuan did not speak any further; he just held her more tightly and gave her hands more room to move. It was rare that she answered him so naturally, so how could he not use the chance to match her pace? To be honest, they had not even passed his grandpa’s test.

It was just that this silly woman seemed to be a bit unsatisfied. Was she doing this to challenge him?

She had the enthusiasm, but he might not have the control.

He forced himself to push her away and then held her by her shoulders, leading her back to the house.

Mu Yu—who was since intoxicated in his embrace—suddenly realized her loss of composure and when she thought of the ‘spy‘ in the corner, she became so embarrassed that she hurriedly buried her small face into his arm. Her eyes fell as she followed his footsteps.

“Mu Yu.”

Once they entered the room, Qin Jinhuan suddenly hugged her.

Mu Yu lifted her head and wanted to warn him severely, “We are already in our room, there’s no need to keep pretending,”. But the word ‘we’ had barely left her mouth before her lips were captured in a kiss.

Lord! What was he about to do?!

Was he punishing her again?!

She got startled and instantly lost her composure.