“Once you leave this country, you’ll no longer be a Shen, and you’ll no longer be Shen Qi. If… you can accept this, then go.” Han Qing smiled at her faintly. “Of course, I will respect your decision no matter what.”
Shen Qi held onto the passport. After a while, she kept it inside her bag.
“I want to leave this place anyway, and it’s even better if I leave with a new identity. I will take this passport and flight ticket. Thank you, Secretary Su, and thank you… Qing.”
“Secretary Su will be flying with you. She will take care of everything for you. Just relax and enjoy yourself once you arrive. I will meet you there once I’ve had things sorted here.”
Shen Qi was dumbfounded when she heard that, and she stared at Han Qing. “Will you be going there too?”
“Alright now, it’s getting late. You should queue up and go through the security clearance with Secretary Su.”
Su Jiu nodded while taking the bag from Shen Qi. “Let’s go, Miss Han.”
Shen Qi snapped back to reality when she heard Su Jiu address her as Miss Han.
That’s right. From now on, I am no longer Shen Qi. My family name is Han, and I am… Han Muzi.
After going through the security checkpoint, Shen Qi couldn’t help but turn around to look in Han Qin’s direction. He was standing against the bright lights with a warm smile etched on his face.
Alright. Goodbye, North City.
Goodbye, Han Qing… My newly reunited older brother.
Goodbye, everyone.
Finally, goodbye, Ye Moxuan. I hope that I will never ever meet you again for the rest of my life. From today onward, I am no longer Shen Qi and I am going to start a new life as Han Muzi.
…
Five years later.
Su City’s sky was a brilliant blue dotted with white fluffy clouds; the weather was wonderful.
“Little Bean, I am counting to three, and you’d better come back to me now!”
“One!”
“Two!”
“Three!”
The moment she shouted three, an adorable boy came running and hopping toward Yan.
Yan reached out swiftly and pinched his ear. “You really are something. I just left for a while, and here you are, teasing a little girl, huh? I heard that you even sneakily planted a kiss on her cheek! Now she’s crying because of you, you little bully!”
Little Bean, whom Yan called out, retorted firmly, “Ouch, It’s so painful! Aunt Yan, let go of me… or I will tell mommy that you bully me.”
“Fine! You should go ahead and complain about me. Do you think I am afraid of you just because you complain about me? I will tell your mommy later that Han Yishu is a little naughty boy who goes around kissing other kids! We will see how she punishes you!”
“Hmph!” Little Bean put both his arms on his waist and announced angrily, “Mommy is very gentle and will never punish me. Besides, mommy is very smart; she will not fall for your trick!”
When the two of them were bickering, a slender and curvy figure on high-heels walked toward them.
The woman was wearing a long light yellow gown. The upturned collar design coupled with the casual bow around her neck made her look edgy and stylish. Her untainted silky, long hair fell smoothly down her shoulders, the wisps of hair framing her cheeks, which accentuated her delicate and feminine facial features. Her large sunglasses covered almost half of her face, revealing only her plumpy, ruby-red lips.
“Look, your mommy is here! I will complain about you to your mommy in a while!”
“Mommy!” Little Bean pushed Yan’s hand away swiftly and ran forward. He grabbed onto Han Muzi’s sleeve and said, “Mommy, you are finally here. I’ve waited for you for so long.”
Yan followed from behind. “Yeah, yeah, and when you were waiting for your mommy, you’ve taken the chance to bully a little girl.”
Han Muzi’s red lips curled into a faint smile when she heard that. Then, she took her sunglasses off, revealing her charming face, before slightly crouching down.
“Little Bean, did you tease a little girl again?” It was undoubtedly a gentle voice, but somehow, it sent shivers down the young boy’s spine.
Little Bean couldn’t put up with his act, so he tried smiling. “Mommy, I didn’t… Aunt Yan is just spouting nonsense.”
Han Muzi smiled faintly before asking, “Is that so?”
Little Bean felt the hairs on the back of his neck stand; he couldn’t maintain his smile anymore so he lowered his haze while blurting, “I didn’t do it on purpose. The little girl said that I’m cute, and she kept calling my name… She even said that she wants to marry me.”
“Is that why you kissed her?” Yan added fuel to the fire as if inviting more trouble.
Little Bean seemed even more alarmed when he heard that, so he hastily explained to Han Muzi, “Mommy, I didn’t mean to kiss her, but…”
“But she is too cute to resist. You just can’t help yourself, am I right?” Han Muzi interjected right after him. Something gleamed in Little Bean’s eyes when he heard that, and he nodded in a hurry.
The next thing he knew, Han Muzi snapped, “Copy the poetry from the Tang Dynasty ten times once you get home.”
Little Bean’s expression turned sour when he heard that. “Mommy, but why? Ten times is a lot!”
“That’s because you can’t control yourself.” Yan rubbed salt on his wound while adding with a smile, “As a man, you need to have good self-control. If you start kissing any girl who compliments you for being cute, you’ll become a jerk when you grow up! It’s for your own good, and it’s best for you to accept the punishment once you get home.”
Han Muzi straightened up and started walking forward. The bickering between Little Bean and Yan ensued as they followed Han Muzi from behind; no one could see an end to their fight.
Once they got out of the airport, Han Muzi put her sunglasses back on to shield her eyes from the bright sunlight.
Several reporters aimed their cameras at them and snapped away.
Han Muzi frowned. “Guys, put your caps and sunglasses on. There are reporters here.”
Yan was stunned for a while when she heard that, but she recovered quickly and grabbed a cap from her bag to put it on Little Bean’s head. After that, she put on a pair of glasses for him too. “Quick, put these on. Our faces will end up on the papers if we don’t have them on in time.”
Little Bean seemed to be well-accustomed to such situations because he put those sunglasses on immediately before putting his hands into his pants pockets. He walked alongside Han Muzi, emitting a charismatic vibe.
Despite having seen this countless times, Yan always ended up bursting in laughter when she saw him acting in this way.
“Hey, Little Bean, can you change to another pose? Why are you always striking this pose everytime we encounter the reporters or the media? It’s getting old-fashioned.”
Little Bean seemed to agree with her when he heard that, so he immediately switched poses.
“Hahahaha.” Yan covered her mouth to stifle her laughter.
Her laughter was extremely loud that Han Muzi couldn’t help reminding her, “Hush, there are reporters here. You better keep it down.”
Yan got a hold of herself, but she started teasing Han Muzi, “So you are aware that there are reporters here. It’s all because of you that we are followed by them. By the way… you are drawing a much less significant crowd and attention compared to superstars. There are just a few reporters lurking around; it really is nothing compared to famous celebrities.”
“I’m not even a celebrity. Besides… I don’t care,” answered Han Muzi indifferently.
“You don’t care, but the reporters do. They want to get some good quality materials so that they can go back and write some articles to be published.”
“Really? In that case, just let them snap away as long as they don’t get our faces.”
