Han Muzi did not know what to say in that split second. She was so stunned that she forgot how to greet him and merely stood there in a daze.
The person on the other line also became quiet. It was after a while that Han Muzi heard Ye Linhan’s soft laughter. “Qi?”
“That’s not my name,” Han Muzi replied. She had stopped using that name a long time ago, but why did Ye Linhan continue to call her by that name after meeting her so many times?
Hearing her reply, Ye Linhan sighed deeply. “It doesn’t matter whether or not I called you by the wrong name. The important thing is that you are finally willing to meet me now.”
She remained silent. “Since we last met at the supermarket, you’ve refused to acknowledge me, your long-time friend. It has always bothered me, which is why I’ve always been waiting for you to reach out to me. Finally, the day has come.”
He was waiting for me to contact him? “Are you saying you spent so much time and effort just for me to contact you on my own?” Han Muzi sneered.
“Qi, do you think I’m being mean?”
You’re far more than just mean! Han Muzi didn’t say those words, but said unhappily, “What do you want? What are you up to?”
Ye Linhan was quiet for a while before he replied helplessly. “I wanted to see you. Can we meet up tomorrow just for a short while? At the café on the corner of Xinyu Street?”
How should she answer him? Han Muzi remembered the promise that she made to Ye Moxuan today—she had promised him that she wouldn’t go out since it was the weekend tomorrow and that she wanted to let him sleep earlier.
Ye Linhan was very patient despite not receiving an answer from her. He continued to patiently wait for her response.
So much time had passed that Ye Linhan thought Han Muzi was not going to reply him. It was at that time that she finally answered, “We’ll meet. I also have something I want to ask you too.”
After hanging up the phone, Han Muzi made herself cozy on her bed and used her laptop to search more about the Blue Sky Company.
She realized that the company was established three years ago upon deeper research. Although it had only been in operations for a short three years, Ye Linhan was the founder of the company. It was because of this that everything was in full swing whether or not the company was in full operations.
During her research, Han Muzi noticed that Ye Linhan had registered the company under a different surname instead of using his own. What on earth had happened?
When she married into the Ye Family those years ago, she quickly realized that Ye Moxuan and Ye Linhan were not in the same faction as Mr. Ye. As she had married Ye Moxuan, she was naturally in the same faction as he was. But she never expected that Ye Linhan would do so many things for her later on.
Even though she knew she was going overboard by not acknowledging an old friend after returning, what good would it do even if she did so? She was no longer his sister-in-law, and he was no longer her big brother. More than that, she didn’t want to mingle with him as a man and a woman.
On that thought, Han Muzi closed her laptop and closed her eyes in exhaustion. It was time to sleep.
The next day, Han Muzi rolled over and woke up. She opened her eyes and realized that she was drenched in cold sweat. She had been dreaming the whole night.
Due to Ye Linhan’s sudden appearance in her life, her dreams were filled not just with Ye Moxuan, but with Ye Linhan too. In her dreams, Ye Linhan reached out his hand toward her. His voice was still as gentle as the spring breeze.
“Qi, come with me. Leave him. He will only hurt you. By being together with him, aren’t you repeating the mistakes you made five years ago? Stop demeaning yourself! If he could treat you like that back then, he will treat you like that again in the future! If you come with me, I will cherish you, and only you, for my entire life.”
The scenery then changed. The surrounding warm and gentle atmosphere was replaced with a dark and threatening aura. Han Muzi turned around in shock and noticed Ye Moxuan approaching in the distance. His eyes were fierce and cold, like a sleeping beast.
“Where can you escape to? As my woman, you are destined to stay by my side forever!”
His arrogant and domineering aura made Han Muzi want to flee from him, but she had barely taken a few steps before he caught hold of her. It then felt like she was falling into an endless abyss of darkness with the low voice of a man ringing in her ears…
“It’s far too late for you to escape now…” And with that, she suddenly woke up. The sunlight shone through the white curtains above her. The room full of light proved that everything that just happened was merely a nightmare, and everything in her dreams were merely illusions. It wasn’t real.
Just like that, one night passed by.
Han Muzi lay there and thought about her dreams for a while. Then, she slowly got up and walked barefoot to her bathroom to freshen up. After she had finished showering, she picked up her phone and saw a message from Ye Moxuan on WeChat. ‘If you’re going out, let me know. Don’t run around on your own.’
The words were full of warmth, which quickly seeped into her heart. The corners of her red lips curved up into a smile before she remembered Ye Linhan’s text last night.
After he had decided on the location, he sent her the address and the time. They were scheduled to meet at nine o’clock in the morning. It was a little past eight now, so there was about an hour or so before their meeting.
Han Muzi never thought about dressing up to meet with Ye Linhan. She messaged Ye Moxuan after changing into a pair of casual clothes and some light makeup. However, after picking up her phone and thinking about it, she thought, What if Ye Moxuan was still resting now? Wouldn’t my message wake him up?
After mulling over it, Han Muzi decided against messaging him. She kept her phone away, put on her shoes, and left the house.
Perhaps due to her guilt, she subconsciously glanced at the opposite door as she was leaving the house and closed the door as quietly as possible. It wasn’t until she stood in front of the elevator that Han Muzi came to her senses. The way she behaved made her actions look very suspicious-looking.
She waited for the elevator with bated breath, partly worried that Ye Moxuan would suddenly open the door and rush out. Her anxiety didn’t lessen even as she entered the elevator. That was because Ye Moxuan had once waited for her downstairs before, so Han Muzi was worried that she would run into him on the first floor again.
It wasn’t until after she had left the apartment complex and boarded the taxi without meeting Ye Moxuan that she finally breathed a sigh of relief. It seemed like he was really asleep.
Han Muzi took out her phone and glanced at Ye Moxuan’s WeChat interface. Her facial expression suddenly changed. Why did she have to care so much about him? Even if she had really left the house, it was to discuss work-related stuff. In fact, even if it wasn’t for work, it was still her freedom to do as she pleased. Why was she so afraid of being caught by Ye Moxuan?
At that thought, Han Muzi shoved her phone back into her bag. Ye Moxuan must have been too kind to her recently, which caused her to adopt this habit. She needed to get rid of this habit quickly.
Since it was the weekend, traffic was neither heavy nor particularly light. By the time Han Muzi arrived at her destination, she was nearly running behind due to the traffic. Thank goodness she had left the house a little earlier.
After entering the café, Han Muzi saw a familiar figure in the corner of the café even from a distance.
Upon noticing her, the figure—a slender man who resembled someone mild and gentle—rose to his full height and waved at her with a smile on his face.
