His Beloved Treasure

”Mrs. Mu, you always manage to surprise me!”

He gazed at her, his deep black eyes filled with profound affection.

”There might be even more surprising things in the future,” Qin Mu smiled as a reminder.

Mu Yichen chuckled, then took her slender hand, only then noticing the slight roughness between her fingers, the result of years of holding a pen.

He lowered his head to look at her hands.

Qin Mu lay quietly beside the bed, watching him, her heart also seeking, searching for the very thing in him that moved her.

Could she, towards him, ever let go as easily as she once did?

Later, the two of them went back to their room to rest, and Mu Zihao chatted over tea with Feng Fanghua. ”Your daughter-in-law has changed her ways today; last time she left without a word.”

”She understands the relationships involved, now that she has chosen to stay in Rongcheng,” Mu Zihao nodded and said.

”Hmph, I don’t believe that girl is so calculating,”

Feng Fanghua unintentionally sighed as she finished speaking. In truth, she had a thought in her mind, that Qin Mu might be doing it for the Mu Family, but since Qin Mu didn’t mention it, she too remained silent.

”No matter what, it’s not easy for Mumu to make such a compromise, so go easy on her,”

Mu Zihao spoke quietly to his wife, fearing a louder voice might displease her.

”I get it, nag!”

Feng Fanghua glared at him.

On the way home, Qin Haiming also seemed relieved as he looked into the distance and asked the driver in front, ”Old Wang, how many years has it been since Mumu’s mother left?”

”Miss was seven that year, so it’s been over sixteen years,”

The driver glanced through the rearview mirror, his voice wavering with emotion.

The car was quiet, the laughter of Qin Haiming barely reaching the front.

Qin Haiming looked up at the night sky: ”Sixteen years, it feels like something from a past life.”

His voice was low and heartbreakingly tender.

”Yeah, blink of an eye, and Miss Mumu is a mother,”

the driver responded.

”Mm! Although she seems cold on the outside now, her heart is still like when she was a child. Just take tonight, for instance, she let me stay at the Mu Family for dinner and even had a drink with me, all because Huanhuan said she likes me,”

Qin Haiming suddenly laughed, as if it was the sweetest thing to happen in years.

”Yes, every time I see Miss Mumu, she’s always very warm, but it seems like she’s afraid of being too warm. I can tell, she’s still as sensible as when she was a child, it’s just that too many things have happened, and only when she came back did she harbor some hard feelings,”

The driver glanced at the rearview mirror, recalling the beautiful little girl from the past.

”It’s also my fault, how could I agree to Rujia’s request to move her mother’s grave out of the family cemetery? How could I do such a thing?”

Qin Haiming spoke more to himself.

”Don’t be too hard on yourself. It’s normal for feelings to fade after so many years apart as a father and daughter, but looking at how things are now, I’m sure you won’t be separated again,”

”Never again!”

Qin Haiming shook his head, and the car safely arrived at the house.

As soon as Qin Haiming entered, he saw Zhang Rujia waiting for him on the sofa, and couldn’t help but think of his daughter who had been wandering outside for many years, then sighed deeply as he walked forward.

”Haiming, which hotel were you entertaining at tonight? Why are you back so late?”

”I didn’t go to a hotel. It was the Mu Family, had a simple meal and chatted a bit,”

Qin Haiming was still in his neat suit, casually walking to the sofa to sit down.

Zhang Rujia just got up to greet him as he sat down and then settled next to him.

”Really? Did you go to see Qin Mu?”

”To see Huanhuan, but she and Mu Yi were also home. We just ended up together. Why? Aren’t you pleased?”

He turned to look at her and asked.

”No, how could I be unhappy? I also look forward to our family being happy together. She’s your daughter, and naturally, I treat her like my own,”

Zhang Rujia said as she went to help him with his coat.

Qin Haiming nodded.

The living room lighting was warm, casting a cozy yet slightly dim glow on the sofa. Qin Haiming said in a low voice, ”Xiaojia, as long as you don’t make things difficult for her, this is my only request. Then, we, as husband and wife, can be happy like before, okay?”

”Look at what you’re saying. I’m not some kind of cruel stepmother,”

Zhang Rujia muttered as she hung up his coat and poured him water before she went to look for him again.

”Also, keep an eye on Mingzhu. She has been pampered at home since she was young and shouldn’t be causing trouble with Mumu anymore.”

”Okay!”

”And one more thing, prepare a room for Mumu.”

Qin Haiming said, looking down, to the woman beside him.

”Prepare a room? She’s going to move back in?”

”That’s not possible, but if she occasionally comes back to her parental home, surely she should have her own room? Prepare the best room on the second floor for her, buy a big bed, and also for Huanhuan. If she comes back, she will certainly bring her daughter.”

Qin Haiming had everything planned out perfectly, to the point that just thinking about such future days excited him.

However, Zhang Rujia watched him talk calmly, while she felt very uncomfortable inside.

”Okay, I’ll do as you say!” But she agreed outwardly.

”You know, I was thinking, they should have a wedding. When it’s time to pick up the bride, we should personally send her off from our house.”

”Okay, whatever treatment Mingzhu gets, she gets the same, no biases. What do you think?”

Zhang Rujia asked him with a smile.

”Okay. If you can do that, then I can focus on my work with peace of mind.”

”Just relax. From now on, as long as she doesn’t trouble me, I absolutely won’t say a bad word about her.”

Qin Mingzhu hadn’t slept either. She had wanted to go downstairs to get a drink, but after overhearing the couple’s conversation, she felt an immense sense of grievance, holding back tears in her eyes.

Yet she didn’t step out until the next morning when she finally went to ask Zhang Rujia, who sighed helplessly, ”If I hadn’t agreed to your father right then, would he have let me off the hook?”

”But you shouldn’t have agreed to make a room available for her, saying she’ll get the same treatment as me. What right does she have? These years it’s you who have taken care of Dad. Her mother died a long time ago and did nothing. Why should she enjoy the same treatment as me?”

Angry, Qin Mingzhu sat on the edge of their bed, while Zhang Rujia checked herself in the mirror, ensuring there were no wrinkles on her clothes, then turned indifferently to Qin Mingzhu and said, ”Just because one says something, does that mean they must do it?”

Qin Mingzhu, puzzled, looked up at her.

”But we must first appease your dad. Right now, he just wants to make up with his eldest daughter. If you stand in the way, this family will fall apart.”

Zhang Rujia spoke deliberately, as if she was confident she could handle the situation well.

”Is it that serious? You’ve always taken such good care of Dad; didn’t he say he couldn’t live without you?”

”He says he can’t live without me, but now that he has Mu Yichen as a son-in-law, does he still care about a woman like me?”

”So what should we do?”

Worry immediately gripped Qin Mingzhu; she wasn’t willing to lower herself to Qin Mu, nor was she willing to make room for her.

”Just humour her,”

”But...”

Just as Qin Mingzhu was about to ask more, her cellphone in her pocket rang. She looked down, saw it was labeled ’Sister Jing Qing’, and immediately muttered, ”What does she want with me?”

”Who is it?”

”Jing Qing!”

”Answer it first!”

Zhang Rujia guessed it wasn’t good news, but felt the caller could still be of use, so she told her daughter to answer the phone.

That morning, after Qin Mu went to the studio, she gathered everyone for a meeting on the first floor. Everyone took their respective seats, with Qin Mu standing beside Xiaomei’s desk. Jian Yan remained upstairs, not coming down.

Qin Mu had hardly spoken a few words before the door was pushed open from the outside. Everyone curiously turned to look, only to see a woman in a pink coat entering. Delighted, she ran towards Qin Mu with her purse in hand: ”Sis, I’ve come to see you.”