Mu Yuchen did not plan to stay very long. He was aware that even though Qi Lei looked like a playboy, he was still a very dedicated person.

With regard to the past, he did not want to talk about Gu Lingsha, Qi Feng, or even Lingtian anymore. If possible, he did not want to recall these memories.

Even though he had always wanted to stay out of all that happened between them, life had a way of rolling him into this mess.

He did not tell Qi Lei that the person who had actually stayed with the Gu family then was not him, but Lingtian.

Since he could not break off the engagement, he was not one to delay things either. Without staying, he confronted Gu Qihao strongly and then stormed off. Meanwhile, of course, the Gu family would not let such news be leaked, so they just announced to the outside world that Mu Yuchen had stayed for a while with the Gus to develop his relationship with Gu Lingsha when actually it was just to protect the Gu family's dignity. Because of this, Lingtian had even fought with him and stayed with the Gu family while he secretly returned to City Z, and considered himself having done Lingtian a favor.

After that, Gu Lingsha rushed over from City B with Lingtian and stayed at the Mu residence. He was still busy familiarizing himself with Glory World matters then. Where did he have the time to care about such irrelevant people?

Nonetheless, it must have been at that moment when he became their chess piece. From then onwards, Lingtian slowly began to hate him as a brother.

He kept thinking about it, but then suddenly he did not want to anymore. He was worried that the answer he would find afterward would be one that hurt his heart, so...

Mu Yuchen sighed, and suddenly his head felt slightly heavy and achy. He lifted a hand to hold his forehead and wanted to soothe his temples when a faint fragrance suddenly slowly came from behind. He was just about to turn to look when a pair of cool and gentle hands were already on both sides of his temples, massaging him with gentleness and the appropriate force.

"You're frowning like an old man. Who made you unhappy now?"

The soft voice contained concern. He slowly shut his eyes and circled one arm around her thin waist. His heart instantly softened as he quietly enjoyed the moment and softly responded, "It's nothing."

"I thought you were Superman, that nothing could trouble you." She sighed softly and quietly applied more force which eased his tense expression.

He did not respond immediately. The husband and wife fell silent for quite a while before he said, "You can."

When she heard his reply, Xi Xiaye stopped what she was doing, then chuckled softly. "Should I say then that this is a blessing I earned from my past eight lives?"

He laughed softly without a word and allowed her to sit on his lap as his hand hooked around her frail shoulders. He fixed his eyes on her with a gaze that was gentle but a little overbearing. She blushed shyly and did not know what to do.

She could only turn away and say awkwardly, "Stop looking at me like that!"

When he heard her plea, he suddenly laughed. She could not handle his gaze when she was clearly about to be his child's mother. She was still like a shy little girl. No matter what, he would have the rest of his life to remember all her beauty, and take in all of her headstrong ways because he had told her without hesitation back then that he would not let her suffer by getting married to him.

For this, he was willing to suffer.

"I, Mr. Mu, only know how to look at you like this."

Her elegant and fair face instantly blushed even deeper as she quickly poked at his handsome face with her slender fingers. "Do you think I've become uglier recently? I've been slovenly dressed and I don't look as neat as before."

After her baby bump began to show, out of convenience, she would wear loose clothing and her hair was casually pulled into a ponytail, so she began to look a little languid and disorganized.

"I still like you, but are you starting to dislike yourself now? You're already married to me. There's no need to be so gorgeously dressed. No matter what, you're already mine unless you want to bring me some love rivals."

"Can't I dress nicely to uplift your reputation?"

"Missus, you're naturally beautiful. That's already great for my image." He patted her head and planted a kiss on her forehead. Then, he peered up at the pretty sunset outside, then hugged her. "The sunset looks spectacular. Let's go out for a walk."

"You haven't packed your things yet."

"There's nothing much to pack. Everything's over there. I just have to bring the documents with me."

...

They walked around the scenic areas of the villa and it was already late when they got home. Mu Yuchen prepared a modest dinner, and with his coaxing, Xi Xiaye ate two bowls of rice. After that, they snuggled up on the sofa to watch two movies before washing up and then retiring to bed.

Because the two of them were light sleepers, they slept till 4 a.m. before they could not fall asleep anymore, so they just lay in bed and chatted.

"Yesterday, I called my parents. I told them that you'd bring the things over for them, and then you should get Father to do a full body checkup. Every year around this time, when I remind Grandpa to do his body checkup, I also want to remind him too, but..."

Xi Xiaye suddenly remembered that she had to accompany Shen Yue to the hospital for a full body checkup in another two days. She had been accompanying Shen Yue for the past few years and would only feel assured knowing the state of his health, but her previous relationship with Xi Mushan was different. It would be surprising if they even shared more than a few words.

He hugged her and softly replied, "Mmm, I will tell Mother to let him know. I heard the people there say that Father obeys her. I probably guessed right. The sun is really setting. If we're lucky, you might even have a younger brother or sister after this."

She immediately rolled her eyes at him. "In your dreams! After Mother gave birth to me, Father already got a vasectomy. Back then, it was a difficult birth for my mother, so Father couldn't bear to let her suffer again."

Mu Yuchen's movements turned stiff as he quickly said softly beside her ear, "Then, let's only have one too. Once the child is born, I'll go..."

Before he could finish, she lifted a hand to stop him. "I don't want to. I already said I want two. If you can't satisfy me, then I will... get someone else to give birth with!"

"You'd dare to?!"

"You can try me!"

"You've really grown bold! What's so bad about having one daughter? Once we marry her off, we'll be free. If it's a son, you'd have to worry about getting him a wife. Why do you have such low awareness?"

In the dark, Xiaye widened her eyes at his handsome face. She could not believe that he was saying these things!

"What do you think your child is? You make him or her sound like a burden. Father and Mother didn't turn their backs on you. Instead, it's you turning back on them. Besides, how are you sure that I'm bearing a daughter? What if it's a son? Do you plan on not loving him?"

She got up at once and propped herself up to look at him.

"That's not what I meant. I was just concerned that you'd be burdened with worry in the future. Sons are closer to their mothers... Your job won't be easy in the future. If you don't teach your son well, they could cause grand disasters. At least, we can pass our daughter to her future husband to watch over, just like you and me now."

Master Mu was filled with all sorts of anxiety right now. Back then, before she was pregnant, he was looking forward to her being pregnant, but now that she was, he was hoping that...

Without a doubt, Master Mu was ridden with father-to-be mania.

"You really think so far ahead! Your son's the one who'll cause grand disasters! My son will definitely be an excellent man in the future. I want to send him for training in the army. It'd be best if he can serve for life and fulfill my unachieved dreams. If it's a daughter, I won't let her suffer all of that."

"Wouldn't your son be my son? Fine. Consider it a slip of the tongue. Anyway, the sun's about to come up. Sleep a little more."

...

When Xi Xiaye woke up once again, the sun was already up and bright. The man beside her was already gone and the pillow was cold too, but there were still remnants of his scent in the air.

When she tidied up and went downstairs, she realized he left very early in the morning. It was almost 11 a.m. right now, so the plan probably took off a long while ago.

Xi Xiaye was quite relaxed in the next few days. She would either go back to the Mu residence or the Shen residence while Ji Zitong remained closely by her side.

That evening, Xi Xiaye returned to Maple Residence earlier since she had work the next day and had to spend some time arranging the information. The meeting in the next morning would be to conclude the season's report. Obviously, she had to be more well-planned.

When Ji Zitong sent her through the Maple Residence gates, Xi Xiaye suddenly said, "Zitong, you can go back earlier. Just wait for me at the office tomorrow."

Ji Zitong would come over early in the morning every day. In fact, Xi Xiaye also understood that she stayed quite far away from Maple Residence. Since Glory World was in the middle of them both, there was no need for her to be exhausted rushing from end to end.

"Don't worry, Director Xi. Manager Ah Mo has arranged a place for me to stay at the Grand Waves Apartment area. It'll take less than 10 minutes to get here. I was just going to pack my things and move over tonight. That way, it'd be more convenient."

Ji Zitong got to know Xi Xiaye much more and found that she was not as cold as before. In fact, she was rather friendly.

"Mmm, go back earlier then. I'll tell Ah Mo to get someone to help you move your things."

"Thank you, Director Xi. I only have one box, so I'll do it myself. There's no need to trouble them. I'll leave now."

Xi Xiaye nodded gently before Ji Zitong took a bow and slowly turned around.

Argh, she still had to send things over to that annoying man!

When she thought about this, Ji Zitong felt disgruntled. She opened the car door and turned to look at the paper bag on the front passenger seat for a long while before she sighed and started the car.

The car whizzed past like a hurricane and drove away from Maple Residence.

The night gradually fell and the entire City Z was lit up with streetlights. The whole city was engulfed in dazzling lights.

Inside the Deputy Chief's office in the North Traffic Control Bureau of the city.

Su Chen sat in his work chai, while a hand leisurely clipped the freshly lit cigarette and the other held a pen. He was scrawling on the document before him at a tremendous speed. From time to time, he would take a drag with the heavy police coat simply draped over his shoulders. The weather at night was turning colder with each day.

He was very focused. Even Mu Yuchen admired this aspect of him, saying that Su Chen was truly the kind of person that made the distinction between personal and professional. When he worked, he would ignore everyone. If anyone disturbed him when he was concentrating on work, he would be very unhappy, but after work, he was up for fun.

As his secretary, Assistant He understood this habit very well, so whenever he knocked, he would be very careful and not dare be too loud in fear of disturbing the Deputy Chief who busy working at full focus inside.

A long pause after the knock, Su Chen calmly answered, "Come in!"

"Chief Su, there's a lady named Ji Zitong asking for you outside!" Assistant He spoke very respectfully.

"Let her wait!" Su Chen said, and without even looking up, he flipped another page of the document and began to seriously browse and review it again.

"Okay, Chief Su! Right, Chief Su, with regards to the Bureau Chief's son speeding and hitting someone, the Chief called again. He wants you to..." softly reminded Assistant He while carefully watching Su Chen's expression.

"I can't do anything about it. If anything happens and I'm targeted by the disciplinary board, will he take responsibility? Tell him to watch his spoiled child instead. The last time we got the other party to agree to resolve it privately after many negotiations, not only did he not learn from his lesson, but he did even worse this time. I would've punished him if someone like him were in my troop!" Su Chen did not wait for Assistant He to finish before he put on a stern face and spoke coldly. His handsome, steadfast face seemed a little sunken, terrifying Assistant He.

"But, Chief Su, the Bureau Chief said..."

"Tell him to go talk to our Bureau Chief himself!"

Master Su had some angry youth [1] blood in him. He had so many things to deal with on the daily. The fact that they kept looking for him annoyed him to no end. He really did not understand these people. How could they reason after hitting someone?

"The Bureau Chief is abroad for work and will only return next month, Chief Su. The Bureau Chief especially asked for you to handle this well. Well, Bureau Chief Yu and the Bureau Chief's friendship goes a long way, so..."

"If that's so, let the fellow be locked up for a few more days first." Su Chen swiftly signed his name, and then closed the document. "Send me the files for drunk driving in the first half the year tomorrow. Our colleagues in the Publicity Department want us to help them out with a campaign. Pick a few important case studies and edit out some representative videos for a Powerpoint. Send it to me the day after tomorrow," he instructed as he got up to tidy the table.

Assistant He nodded. "Okay, got it, Chief Su."

"Okay, go home earlier."

"Yes, Sir!" Assistant He responded and then slowly retreated.

Su Chen swiftly tidied his things to put into his black briefcase and then walked out of the office in huge strides.

He had just marched out of the office when he saw Ji Zitong sitting on the sofa waiting for him from a distance.

The sound of his leather shoes clacked against the shiny floor and immediately alerted Ji Zitong who was browsing through the Road Safety Manual.

Ji Zitong slowly looked up. Su Chen's tall and lean figure greeted her sight. His steadfast and handsome face still vaguely carried some stiffness from work while his coat was simply draped over his shoulders, and he was still carrying his black, heavy briefcase. His eyes briefly glanced at her as he walked past her.

"Let's go!" Su Chen ordered before his tall figure marched away.

Ji Zitong quickly got up and followed him with the paper bag in her hand. "These are your clothes. I've cleaned them!"

Obviously, she wanted to leave after handing the bag over, but Su Chen walked away very quickly, so Ji Zitong had to run after him in small steps all the way until the parking lot in front of the Traffic Management Bureau. When she saw Su Chen open the car door to a Land Rover and toss his briefcase in, she wanted to chase after him and pass the bag to him. However, the phone in his pocket unexpectedly buzzed.

He swiftly took out his phone to answer.

As expected, it was the elder calling.

He took quite a few breaths and tried hard to calm himself before he answered the phone. "Hello? Grandfather?"

"You punk! Do you realize your grandfather's still alive? Where are you right now? What's the time now? What is it? Tell me!"

Su Chen had just spoken when the elder's furious roar came from the other end accompanied by the sound of a table being slammed. Almost immediately, the elder's fierce demeanor flashed in Su Chen's mind.

Su Chen suppressed his impatience and tried his best to answer calmly, "There's been a lot of work at the bureau. I just returned from a break and my hands are full. I just got off work."

When he heard this, the elder's tone took on a cooler note. "Hmph, work is important, but you can't forget appointments you've made. Since you can't make it in time, you should at least give them a call, shouldn't you? Look at the time now! It's 8 p.m.! Almost 8 p.m.! Miss Mary is still at the restaurant. She's been waiting for almost an hour now! How many times have I told you that Miss Mary is Bureau Chief Hu's daughter? Her grandfather was even my superior years ago, and I still owe him a favor or two. You doing this is just embarrassing me.

"Miss Mary asked about you herself. She's pretty sweet and has always fancied you. When you returned, she's been trying to go after you and call you Bro Su Chen. I'm happy with her. Go see her right now. If you're okay, then marry her. Get married before the year ends so that I'll get great-grandchildren next year. I don't care about whatever happens after that! Got it? This is a military order! An order! Watch how I settle you if you don't do this. Ah Chen's about to be a father. Why are you so immature?"

Elder Su was hasty about seeing some improvements as he scolded Su Chen again. He was more worried than him. Right now, he was pacing around the house and anxiously nagging, "33! Do you think you're still young? You should be done with messing around!"

Before Su Chen could say anything, the scolding and nagging comments came rattling out in a bunch. At that moment, he remembered meeting Mary Hu.

Mary Hu was 11 years younger than him and she was a little girl, the kind that blindly loved the military. They had met a few times. Previously, she had a huge crush on Mu Yuchen too, but he was cold and distant and ignored her. Then, she set her eyes on Su Chen. Sometimes, she would look for Zhou Zimo too. She was reaching for both ends of the string so much that they evaded her like she was a scorpion. The Elder fancied her, and she would rat on Su Chen from time to time, much to his irritation!

He finally heard that she had gone abroad for her studies, but it had not been a year. How was she back already?

He nagged a lot and then realized that Su Chen did not even answer, so the elder then grumbled, "Do you hear what I'm saying to you? Why aren't you responding?"

"I'm going over right now," Su Chen impatiently huffed and then hung up!

Mary Hu! It looked like he really had to make her give up. Without Mu Yuchen and Zhou Zimo around, if that woman clung to him, he would die!

Su Chen needed a mature and charming woman as a wife. Why would he marry a naive little girl? And one that was so clingy too?

They had such a huge age gap. In fact, there were probably several generation gaps between them. He would not be able to handle her.

He swiftly put his phone away and was about to get into the car when Ji Zitong finally reached him from behind. "Hey, I'm returning your shirt to you!"

She casually handed the paper bag to him, inciting him to raise his brows. He then remembered the incident from a few days ago. As he glanced at the icy cold Ji Zitong, his gaze only stopped for a second on the paper bag. Then, he looked at her elegant face. Suddenly, something flashed in his eyes and a smile spread across his lips.