His Beloved Treasure

That morning, Qin Mu and Mu Yichen were nestled on the sofa scrolling through Weibo, or more accurately, Qin Mu was the one scrolling through Weibo.

Mu Yichen glanced at it unintentionally, his eyes paused for a moment before he looked down at the ring on his hand, his long lashes hiding any expression in his eyes, making it impossible to guess what he was thinking.

Qin Mu didn’t speak; she was in his arms, looking at it, and she thought he understood.

Huanhuan stood by the coffee table, drinking yogurt, feeling a bit sad that mom and dad were cuddled on the sofa ignoring her, so she quickly walked over with her yogurt, wriggled, and squeezed in between them.

All the little thoughts Mu Yichen and Qin Mu had were pushed aside by the sudden intrusion of this little girl.

Mu Yichen raised his hand and gently stroked her head, and Huanhuan energetically rubbed her head against the palm of his hand.

Qin Mu shifted slightly to give her daughter enough space, quietly watching the father and daughter play.

Later, she went to the studio. Helian Hao called her, ”Mumu, are you telling me that the trending topic about Jing Qing on Weibo this morning has something to do with you?”

”Yes!”

Qin Mu sat down, one hand holding the phone and the other reaching for a stack of drawing paper beside her.

Jing Feng suspects it was your doing, I’m worried he might trouble you, so be prepared, gotta hang up now,” said Helian Hao, who was still in bed without getting up, leaning on the headboard and chatting on the phone with Qin Mu. Hearing footsteps, he quickly whispered a caution before hanging up.

Qin Mu didn’t have time to explain further, but she also didn’t like to explain too much.

As soon as Qin Haiming returned, he invited her to a private restaurant for a meeting, a place that wasn’t very large but seemed rather old.

The two sat in an elegant private room, Qin Haiming still in his suit and shoes, looking fairly amiable and approachable.

Qin Mu, as always, could not smile at him, but when Qin Haiming asked her to order, she did so, and she didn’t hesitate to drink tea when he offered it.

The private room was filled with a silence that was nearly immediately awkward.

Even breathing seemed superfluous here.

”You’ve lost a lot of weight since I last saw you, I heard you’ve been busy preparing for a show?” Qin Haiming asked the girl sitting across from him in a soft voice.

”Yes!” Qin Mu answered softly, tasting the tea in her mouth that seemed bland and tasteless.

The entire room was decorated in a retro style, reminiscent of ancient times, including the dark red high-end partition next to them that seemed very old.

Occasionally, Qin Mu observed the decoration of the private room, sometimes looking down at the tea cup in her hand with a single tea leaf floating on the surface. She suddenly remembered that her mother had said a tea leaf standing on the water’s surface meant a guest would be visiting the house.

Hmm, were there any guests coming to her and Mu Yichen’s house?

Qin Mu couldn’t help but zone out because if she didn’t, it’d be even more awkward.

Seeing that her cup was half-empty, Qin Haiming raised his hand to pick up the clay teapot to refill her cup and then asked quietly, ”On this trip for a meeting, I heard them mentioning you.”

”Me? What do people like you have to discuss about me?”

”Their families are mostly from the fashion circle and heard you are Jian Yan’s apprentice, they all think highly of you,” Qin Haiming spoke softly.

Qin Mu’s mouth twitched slightly, wanting to smile, but bitterness quickly spread to her lips first.

They...

How did they know about her?

Hadn’t the whole world forgotten that he had a daughter like her?

Why then did someone there know about her?

Qin Mu subconsciously looked up at him, her eyes filled with complaints and suspicion.

Qin Haiming just smiled at her, and when he heard a knock, he said, ”Come in.”

Qin Mu also shifted her gaze away from his face, nodded politely to the uncle who came in to serve the dishes: ”Thank you.”

The uncle didn’t speak, just smiled back at her after putting down the dishes and also nodded at Qin Haiming before leaving.

”Try their cooking and see how it is,” Qin Haiming said softly.

Feeling a bit hungry, Qin Mu also picked up her chopsticks.

Sometimes she felt that the chopsticks were as stiff as the pencils she used to draw with, but sometimes they seemed too stiff.

Like now, she felt as if the hardness was hurting the muscles used for gripping a pencil.

”Though work is important, don’t forget to take care of your health, alright?” continued Qin Haiming with concern.

Qin Mu looked up at him subconsciously, but didn’t retort.

She suddenly remembered Qin Mingzhu saying he had Zhang Rujia prepare a room for her at their home; since he still harbored the illusion of wanting her to go there, why shouldn’t she make good use of it?

She planned to stop always being at odds with him.