"I've been pretty bored staying at home all day recently. I'm almost getting depressed! I used to wonder where prenatal and post-partum depression come from. It sounded so ridiculous back then, yet now I'm experiencing it first-hand! I want to go out. I want to have fun..."

Xi Xiaye laughed when she heard Su Nan. "You can visit University A. You're not really far from there anyway. Pay my mother a visit. Mu Yuchen went abroad and will only be back after a few days, so he won't be going."

Worried, Ruan Heng asked Su Nan to stop going to work and just stay at home for the baby's sake.

When women gathered, their topics mostly revolved around clothes and body figures, that included Su Nan as well. Xi Xiaye was supposed to initiate the conversation, but once Su Nan started talking, she could not stop anymore.

"Xi Xiaye, I've gained weight! My waist now looks like a lifebuoy. You have to be careful in the future. Don't eat too much like me..."

...

After about an hour, Su Nan finally ended the call. Xi Xiaye was starting to get sleepy, so she switched her phone off and left it on the table.

Xi Xiaye stayed at the Shen Residence for the next few days. Coincidentally, Shen Yue was taking a break for several days as well. She wanted to spend some time with him.

Shen Yue had obviously gotten older in the past two years, he was past seventy and should be retired already, and yet he was still working on the frontline.

Several years ago, he suggested that Shen Wenna join Fuhua so that he could hand it down to her. Unfortunately, Shen Wenna was not interested because she wanted to focus on her education career, so Shen Yue had to continue working until today.

In the afternoon, the sun lit up the vast sky.

Inside Shen Yue's study room, a beautiful tune was playing. Xi Xiaye was holding a bowl of snow fungus porridge on a tray as she passed along the corridor. She could hear the tune clearly when she was getting closer.

Shen Yue should be playing the accordion again...

As she went into the room, Shen Yue was sitting on a tall stool right beside the balcony window. He was playing the accordion alone as a cool breeze passed by and rustled the curtains. Looking at this scenery, she felt...

His white hair and skinny figure...

Xi Xiaye stood by the door for some time. She did not go over and just watched his back in silence, starting to feel morose inside. Time was so cruel to take things and people away slowly.

The grandpa that used to play Go chess with her had turned old. It was so old that he seemed to struggle to even hold the accordion.

Xi Xiaye took a deep breath. She blinked her eyes and calmed herself down. Then, she went forward and arrived behind him.

Shen Yue froze, then he put the accordion on the table beside as he panted slightly.

"Grandpa, your accordion is getting better and better." Xi Xiaye helped him in.

Shen Yue massaged his own shoulder. "It's not that good now. I'm already panting after just one song. It must be the age."

Xi Xiaye smiled. "You're still pretty strong, Grandpa. You train yourself regularly. I just made this porridge. Have some! Mother is worried that you didn't eat much during lunch just now." She then handed the bowl of porridge to Shen Yue.

Shen Yue raised his hand to stop her. "Leave it there first. I'm not really hungry. Where's your mother?"

"Mother went back to school. She said she'll only come back tomorrow." Xi Xiaye sat down at the empty spot beside Shen Yue, then she opened the swaying curtains.

Shen Yue nodded. "You've been with me for a few days. Go back to the Mu Residence tonight. Have you been well?"

"I'm great. They treat me superbly and so does he. Grandpa, you don't have to worry about me. I really like my current life... Actually, maybe I should've listened to your advice sooner. Then, everyone wouldn't have needed to suffer all these years."

There was glitter in Xi Xiaye's eyes as she looked at Shen Yue quietly.

"There's no point saying all this now. It's alright as long as you're doing fine at the moment. What's the point of thinking about the past? I'm really glad that you've settled down. My body is gradually getting weaker. I planned to let both of you take over Fuhua after your wedding, and you'll be 28 after the New Year..." Shen Yue sounded relieved. "Let me relax for a few years. The two oldies in the Mu family are really free."

Xi Xiaye was stunned, then she put on a smile. "I wanted to say that you're tough enough to work for another few years, but your words put me at a loss as to what to say."

"Don't say anything then. I've talked to Chen about it. Familiarize yourself with the property industry through the South River project, so you guys can take over Fuhua better."

"Mmm, I understand. By the way, Grandpa, you mentioned that someone from Qikai approached you before. Are you familiar with them?" Xi Xiaye suddenly remembered this. She also got Inspector Zhang to investigate it several days ago.

Shen Yue frowned when he heard Xi Xiaye's question. After a while, he replied quietly, "Qikai is a really strong opponent. The Qi family is one of the prestigious families in City Z as well. I'm not really involved with them. I'd just sometimes bump into Qi Qiming at banquets and have some small talk with him."

"Qi Qiming? Is that the CEO of Qikai?"

Xi Xiaye was no stranger to this name. Qikai was the leading giant in the showbiz industry. Everyone knew him.

Shen Yue nodded. "Mmm, it's him. He's been really low-profile in the past few years. He's slowly letting his youngest son, Qi Lei, take over the company..."

Youngest son?

Qi Lei?

Xi Xiaye was shocked to hear this!

"Qi Lei is Qi Qiming's youngest son? Doesn't Qi Qiming only have one son?" Xi Xiaye asked Shen Yue in surprise with doubt in her eyes. She was curious!

Shen Yue shook his head. "Of course not. Qi Qiming has two sons. His eldest son is Qi Feng. He had him with a lover before he got married. His youngest son, Qi Lei, was conceived with his current wife. I heard that Qi Qiming was very loving towards his eldest son."

"Qi Feng?" Xi Xiaye repeated the name. Then, she looked at Shen Yue again and went on with more questions. "Then, why has there not been any news about this Qi Feng now?"

"He died a few years ago, I think, from an accident. I'm not so sure what happened. He died when they didn't make it in time to save him. I've seen him one or two times before. He was a handsome, young man. It's a shame that he passed away so early." Shen Yue tried to recall the memories.

Xi Xiaye took a pause as a light went up in her eyes. As she felt that something was not right, Xi Xiaye continued asking, "Dead? Accident? Grandpa, do you remember when this happened?"

After giving it some thought, Shen Yue replied, "I'm not really sure. It's been a number of years, probably four or five years ago. I didn't really follow up on the news. I only heard about it from the others afterward, but it seems that Qi Qiming was severely impacted by this, and ever since then, he started being low-profile. Most of Qikai's matters are now handled by his youngest son."

Shen Yue's words sprouted doubt in Xi Xiaye's heart.

Qi Feng had died in an accident a few years ago?

And Mu Lingtian...

After some hesitation, Xi Xiaye suddenly looked at Shen Yue as her hand tightened. "Then, Grandpa, do you know about the relationship between the Mus and the Qis?"

After giving it some thought, he replied, "The Mus and the Qis? What relationship do they have? They are mostly uninvolved with each other. They don't seem to have any business-related matters either. I remember some time back, there was a huge project that everyone thought would be a collaboration between Glory World and Qikai. That's how huge the potential of the project was. Oddly, in the end, both parties rejected it. Maybe they didn't want to break the peaceful balance they're having now."

Shen Yue was not really familiar with both companies since he had never worked with either before. All of them specialized in different fields, so it was not unusual for them to not be involved with each other.

Of course, she knew about what Shen Yue had just mentioned, but were things really just as simple as he said?

What about the personal grudges Mu Yuchen mentioned?

Xi Xiaye was buried deep in thought for some time. She could not think of an idea. Then, she took a deep breath and started to pinch the space between her eyebrows. "Not being involved with each other? I guess that's not going to happen in the future. They're the top competitors of this South River project. I have to be well-prepared in order not to waste the efforts we've put in."

Shen Yue nodded. "Mmm, being well-prepared is fantastic to prevent any unforeseen circumstances."

After some struggle, Xi Xiaye could not help but ask, "Grandpa, have you heard of Mu Lingtian before?"

"Mu Lingtian?" Shen Yue was startled for a little. He frowned and thought about it., "I think I've heard of this name before. Mu Lingtian... Mu Lingtian..."

After a while, he recalled that he had heard of this name somewhere, but he could not remember anything else.

Xi Xiaye did not press on this issue. It seemed that she could only wait for the results from Inspector Zhang, or ask Mu Yuchen about it when he came back. Qi Lei's behavior made her feel that something was wrong.

It had been a number of days, and it was the weekend tomorrow. When would he be coming back?

A few days had passed just like that...

Xi Xiaye sighed before standing up. She leaned against the cold window as she looked outside. The sun was out with some clouds in the sky. It was warm and cozy. She turned around and looked at Shen Yue. "Grandpa, the weather is great today. Let's go out for a walk together."

Shen Yue thought that it was a brilliant idea, so he nodded.

...

At the same time, in the busy Chinatown in New York, it was late at night.

Cars passed through the bustling area. As it was heading toward the hotel, the man who had his eyes closed in the passenger seat suddenly spoke up, "Stop for a little here."

The driver turned around. Then, he noticed the man open his eyes, looking outside the window.

It was a pricey-looking jewelry store.

He did not ask any questions and parked the car at the parking spot outside the jewelry store.

Mu Yuchen got out of the car immediately after the car stopped.

He was already thinking of getting her a gift when he arrived, but after thinking about it for a long time, he had no idea what to give her. After all, he got people to buy her quite a few apparels in the past few days, and they were now sitting in the hotel.

"Mister, what jewelry would you like to see?"

As Mu Yuchen stopped before a counter, a beautiful saleslady came up to him with a wide smile. She was distracted by Mu Yuchen's handsome face and came back to her senses after a while as her smile got wider.

Mu Yuchen's eyes scanned through the display items. Soon, his gaze locked onto a sapphire gleaming and sitting inside a glass box.

He walked over and stopped right before it, it was a pair of sapphire earrings, it adapted the shape of a blue rose, he had his eyes glued to it.

She must look great in these.

Mr. Mu was confident in his taste.

He remembered that she had her ears pierced, but he had never seen her wearing any accessories, even the ones Grandmother had given her. She had also never used the card he passed her as well.

Mu Yuchen pointed at the sapphire earrings and said quietly, "I want this. Please pack it up for me."

"Sir, this is made using all-natural..." Before the saleslady could finish, Mu Yuchan handed her a card.

When he came out of the jewelry store, he saw Zhou Zimo heading over. He seemed to be on a call with an anxious expression.

Zhou Zimo hung up on the call when he saw Mu Yuchen.

"Chen, why didn't you pick up your phone? Something seems to have happened!" Zhou Zimo told Mu Yuchen urgently.

Mu Yuchen took his phone out and noticed that he had put it on silent mode. There were dozens of missed calls, all from City Z.

"They even called me."

"What's wrong?"

Mu Yuchen's expression was calm as he looked at Zhou Zimo.

"From what I heard, Qi Lei found out that Lingshi came back. He had people keep an eye on Imperial Sky Entertainment Club for the past few days, and there's news that Qi Lei is sending a bouquet of red roses almost every day to Glory World for your woman. Is he trying to go for Xiaye?"

Zhou Zimo's expression darkened while he looked at Mu Yuchen worriedly.

Mu Yuchen's face clouded as well when he heard Zhou Zimo. A flickering cold light appeared in his eyes and he seemed a little depressed.

"Is he trying to take revenge on you? I feel that his motive isn't that simple. He must know that Xiaye is your woman and he's trying to provoke you." Zhou Zimo gave it some thought before voicing out his analysis.

Mu Yuchen held onto the item in his hand tightly, his eyes turning cold and his expression changing. A chilly vibe shrouded him and he just stood there not moving an inch. After a moment, he closed his eyes and took a deep breath, attempting to suppress his emotions. Briefly thereafter, he opened his eyes and they returned to the usual calmness.

"What do you plan to do? You know about all the dirty tricks the Qi family can pull. Aren't you worried about your woman? From what I know, Qi Lei is a well-known Casanova. He's pretty infamous for being undefeated in this sort of stuff. There's never been a woman he couldn't get. He's not a foe to be taken lightly," Zhou Zimo quickly reminded when he saw how relaxed Mu Yuchen seemed.

Mu Yuchen glanced at him and said quietly, "He's not the type that Xiaye likes. I'm confident about that."

Zhou Zimo was still worried, so he suggested, "You speak as if you know your woman very well, but what can we do now? Things can go awry if he meets Lingshi. I think you should head back tomorrow. After all, things are pretty alright here now and I can handle the rest myself."

Mu Yuchen's eyes twinkled a little before he went down the stairs. "Give Su Chen a call. Ask him to take care of Lingshi." He then walked towards the car.

Zhou Zimo was startled for a moment. When he came back to his senses, Mu Yuchen was already inside the car and it soon slowly drove out of the parking spot.

After arriving back at the hotel, he sorted the data out for Zhou Zimo before taking a bath. It was already 3 a.m. in the morning. Mu Yuchen finally lay down on the comfortable bed.

Grasping the cold phone in his hand, he could see his own handsome face reflecting against the black screen under the dim wall light. He seemed desolate and his eyes were not as calm as before. Obviously, complicated emotions were mixed in them.

After some hesitation, he took a deep breath, turned around and was about to put his phone down. However, his eyes passed over the gifts he had just brought back.

He did not want to know too much about something. Ignorance was bliss, after all. He assumed that things were settling down and he wanted it to go on naturally. However, he had to admit that something was progressing with the flow of time and changing gradually...

After all this time, he seemed to have gotten used to her existence around him. Now, without her, he was struggling to fall asleep.

He was missing her. More accurately speaking, it had been like this for the past few nights.

Getting used to something was pretty scary.

Now, he was used to having her around. In just two months, he found the rate of this change unbelievable for someone who had always had strong self-control!

Maybe that was supposed to happen between a man and a woman. He possessed her, and at the same time, so did she. They then started a mutually loyal relationship together. Now, they worked together and lived together.

After some thoughts, her slender silhouette jumped out in his mind. He picked his phone up again and dialed a number swiftly.

The phone started ringing when Xi Xiaye was on her way to the Mu Residence. She had promised Wang Hui that she would go back for dinner tonight. Wang Hui had also prepared some tonic for Mu Yuchen and insisted on her taking them back.

Xi Xiaye felt a chill travel down her spine when she thought about it!

She grabbed her phone as she slowed the car down. A smile appeared on her beautiful face when she saw who was calling. She parked the car by the roadside, but suddenly frowned when she remembered something.

"Hello? Why are you still awake at this time?" That was the first thing she asked when the call went through.

"I just finished with work. Are you still at the Shen Residence?"

This married couple was still like a fresh, young couple. Their phone calls could last at least half an hour to an hour.

Mu Yuchen never thought it was possible for a phone call to last more than half an hour. He was shocked when Mrs. Mu actually talked with Su Nan on the phone for over half an hour a few days ago in Maple Residence.

He never expected it to happen to himself several days after that.

"Nope, I'm heading over to the Mu Residence. Can you please tell Grandmother not to prepare those tonics for us anymore? We're fine and don't need those. Plus, the smell is just too strong!" She ranted.

He chuckled. "Be more understanding about their desperation for a great-grandchild. Just put up an act."

"Put up an act? I've never seen you drink them before. I'm the one who's suffering now. I'm pretty sure they've prepared several bowls waiting for me when I go back..."

"Okay, I'll talk to Grandmother about it... So, I heard that someone's been sending you flowers daily the past few days?" He asked carefully.

Xi Xiaye raised her eyebrows. "How do you know about that?"

"So, am I right then?"

"Mmm, I was planning to tell you about it once you get back." Xi Xiaye was not hiding anything. After hearing those things from his grandpa at the Shen Residence today, she had a lot of doubts, so she wanted to let him know.

"Did you accept the flowers?" Instead of replying her, he asked another question in an unnatural tone.