His Beloved Treasure

Qiao Yi thought of the saying ”lifting a rock only to drop it on one’s own foot.”

”How dare you criticize me? You have your own pretend siblings too, and now you’re looking to develop uh, relations with them. Is it that exciting developing relations with your own sister?”

Qiao Yi, feeling irritated, exposed Zhao Huai’s secrets.

”No good deed goes unpunished? Then don’t follow what I tell you later.”

Although Zhao Huai hadn’t openly admitted his relationship with Xiaomei, he considered himself seasoned in matters of the heart, at least more so than Qiao Yi and Jiang Zhiyuan, who seemed oblivious like fools when it came to emotions.

Even if he had pretend sibling relationships, at least Xiaomei was within his sight. And which man doesn’t understand the connotation of being a ”pretend” sibling?

”...”

Qiao Yi was stunned into silence.

Jing Feng rolled his eyes in resignation, then quietly asked Mu Yichen, ”Is your wife over her cold?”

”Mm! She’s almost over it!”

Mu Yichen looked down at his phone, sending her a message, and she responded half-heartedly. Remembering her pretentious friendliness before he left, he couldn’t help but chuckle quietly.

Did his little Qingmei really think he didn’t notice her intentions back then?

She must have been busy rushing her design sketches at home again.

Once the food was served, everyone started eating and chatting. Qiao Yi asked, ”Yichen, that year we went to Paris for your birthday and you waited in the rain outside Qin Mu’s apartment. After you told us to leave, what happened between you two?”

Mu Yichen glanced at Qiao Yi, taking a few seconds before recalling the event.

”She was underage then; what could have happened?”

Mu Yichen asked, feeling a bit uncomfortable recalling it; that girl was truly naive back then.

”Underage or not, could nothing have happened? You, Mu Yichen, had your eye on her, and you simply went home soaked? You returned to us when it was nearly midnight.”

Qiao Yi reminded him in friendly earnest.

Suddenly, Mu Yichen remembered everything from that rainy night years ago—the scenes, her naive and innocent face—all came flooding back.

”I think I remember too; that night, wasn’t there someone who sent her home, a boy, right?”

Jing Feng suddenly nodded, asking Mu Yichen in a deep voice.

Mu Yichen lowered his eyes, looking at the wedding ring on his finger, ”Whether a boy or a man, at that time she wasn’t thinking about developing feelings; she was too young then.”

”Too young indeed; Xiaomu hadn’t even matured then. How could you go for her?”

Jiang Zhiyuan also curiously asked, more teasingly than anything else.

Mu Yichen was indeed teased.

She was underage in his eyes at that time, but she was also his little Qingmei, whom he had watched grow up—transforming into a young girl, his little Qingmei.

”Later that night, we shared a bowl of noodles together, and then...”

Mu Yichen drew out the sentence a bit longer, recalling the diary. His dark eyes seemed deep and bottomless, as though he traveled back to that night.

Qin Mu came down from upstairs with her diary, holding the bubbly pink diary: ”I bought it secretly; Auntie doesn’t know. But I wrote my name here. If you like... you can have it.”

Mu Yichen remembered himself looking at her, standing across from her and slowly taking the diary from her arms. She hadn’t developed well yet at that time, so he sadly glanced at her. The girls in his school were growing tall and beautiful, developing well waiting for him to explore, but he was uninterested—just waiting for her to grow up.

Even at twenty, she hadn’t developed much. Compared to now, back then, being with her made him feel like he was committing a crime.

Even so, he couldn’t escape the fate of having her as his own.

He opened the notebook, looking at their names inside a heart—Qin Mu—in somewhat awkward handwriting. Yet he still held it: ”I’ll take it and get you a new one tomorrow.”

Back then, Qin Mu couldn’t quite accept the reason he took her diary, given that it was pink.

”Want to take it back?”

Mu Yichen asked her.

”No!”

Qin Mu raised her brows and finally caught a glimpse of his profound dark eyes.

”Good. Even if you did, it’s too late! What’s mine is yours for good once I’ve taken it.”

Mu Yichen seriously informed her.

That year, Qin Mu was thoroughly frightened by him, comparable to the day of their first kiss.

”Dummy!”

Mu Yichen called her.

Qin Mu looked at him in confusion, taking a while before angrily asking, ”Why do you keep calling me a dummy?”

”If not a dummy, what are you? Getting into other boys’ cars at such a young age.”

Mu Yichen kept criticizing her.

”Then! Then! Then what about you riding other girls’ cars? What do you say about that?”

Back then, Qin Mu was stubborn yet quite naively sweet, not realizing how much joy her words brought to the young man’s heart.

”Are you trying to tell me you dislike me riding in other girls’ cars? Are you jealous?”

”Jealous? What is jealousy?”

Qin Mu looked at him in surprise, and it wasn’t until he stood there for a while in silence before leaving that Qin Mu slowly started to understand the meaning of jealousy, her face turning red.

Her understanding of emotions so young was inseparably tied to Mu Yichen.

Memories that long, that distant, and yet in recalling them, his heart felt a fortunate joy.

Always possessively claiming her as his own.

Always by any means, even unscrupulously keeping her by his side.

Yet, still fortunate!

If she had resisted him firmly, he might not have succeeded in keeping her by his side.

Qin Mu definitely had him in her heart.

Nobody drank excessively. After the meal came to an end, Qiao Yi left first, while the others mischievously followed behind his car.

It didn’t head to Qiao Yi’s own apartment but to Xi Meng’s apartment; it was already ten-thirty.

When a man heads to a woman’s place at ten-thirty instead of his own apartment, it’s quite clear what he hopes to do.

The hotel’s driver drove an SUV carrying them behind Qiao Yi’s car and followed him all the way to Xi Meng’s neighborhood entrance.

Qiao Yi parked his car to the side and walked inside, greeting the guard before going to find Xi Meng.

The hotel car stopped at the neighborhood entrance, with Jiang Zhiyuan and Zhao Huai peering out the window, focusing intently on the figure ahead: ”Whoa, that guy really is here for Xi Meng; can Xi Meng, that woman, accommodate him?”

After Jiang Zhiyuan asked, since the others stayed silent inside the car, he turned his head to look at them.

But no one responded, as though the matter required no further discussion; obvious to anyone with discernment.

”How about we make a bet? Bet on whether Old Qin will come out from inside or not?”

”We bet he won’t come out!”

Jing Feng kindly wagered with him.

”Why? Don’t you think he’ll come out? With Secretary Xi’s conservative nature, how could she let Old Qin stay there without marriage?”

”Take me home first!”

Mu Yichen glanced at his phone, not wanting to waste any more time on Qiao Yi and Xi Meng’s matters.

”Let’s go!”

Jing Feng crossed his arms, leaning back with his eyes closed, relaxed.

Zhao Huai also awaited the car’s departure.

”Hey hey hey, we haven’t made our bet yet!”

Jiang Zhiyuan reminded as he saw the driver start up the car.

”You wait yourself then!”

Zhao Huai replied, and then suddenly the door opened, as Jiang Zhiyuan sat sideways, leaning at the window looking into the neighborhood, while on the side, Jing Feng raised his eyelids and stretched his foot.