Mu Li took her luggage upstairs while Lin Qing followed him quietly.
He handed the suitcase to her at the door and told her he would wait downstairs. Lin Qing took the suitcase and nodded.
She stepped into the bedroom and looked around. The room was luxuriously decorated, with black and white as the dominant hues.
She a.s.sumed this was a guest room and every guest room of this house was luxuriously decorated. So she sat on the bed to unpack her luggage.
Actually, this was Mu Li"s bedroom.
Mu Li thought Lin Qing would decline to share his bedroom or at least show some different emotions, but she didn"t come downstairs to argue with him. It seemed that she had extraordinary patience and composure.
After all, they had stayed together overnight before, and there was nothing to be afraid of anymore.
Lin Qing went downstairs after completing unpacking.
Mu Li was leaning against the sofa in the living room. The formal suit made him look like a leader with great power.
Beholding him from behind at the dinner table, Lin Qing was still shocked by his imposing presence.
For the first time, she felt a little bit dazed at his back.
"What are you looking at?"
Mu Li happened to look back and caught her sight.
Lin Qing blinked her bright eyes, as if probing into her brain, and then got something flash through her mind.
However, she just shook her head.
"Time is up. Let"s go."
Mu Li didn"t question further. He opened his arms crossed on his chest and stood straight elegantly.
Lin Qing remained her former expression when he approached.
Her reflexes, indeed, were much longer than ordinary people.
"All settled?"
When Mu Li narrowed his eyes, his sight became profound and penetrating.
"Yes. Not much to arrange. "
Lin Qing seemed barely awakened from her daze and cast her eyes on him again.
This subtle reaction immediately cheered Mu Li up. He nodded with satisfaction and rubbed her hair.
Lin Qing was not used to such intimate behavior. Her shoulders quivered slightly and her long thick eyelashes fluttered.
Seen from Mu Li"s perspective, Lin Qing was like a quiet and lovely doll.
Such perception aroused his pa.s.sion for her.
Ignorant of his thoughts, Lin Qing was thinking of something else.
"Who are we going to have dinner with?"
She collected herself and inquired.
Mu Li lied to her without hesitation—
"A friend of mine, not known to you."
Although they were going to have dinner with someone she didn"t know, Lin Qing still summoned her spirits up and replied with an "OK".
Her response made Mu Li look forward to her reaction later, although he felt a little bit guilty for the lie.
Was it a good idea...to lie to her?
The restaurant selected by Chen Qudong was only ten minutes" drive from Mu Li"s house. Soon their car arrived at the entrance to the restaurant.
Lin Qing got out of the car and followed Mu Li.
"Why do you hide behind me? Come this way."
Mu Li stretched out his hand to Lin Qing, palm upward.
His hand was, as usual, good-looking, and Lin Qing put her hand in his without any hesitation.
The restaurant hall was grand and fantastic. Its splendid decoration revealed the dignity of honorable guests.
They ran into someone out of expectation outside the box.
"Qudong?"
Lin Qing was overwhelmed by their encounter, forgetting that Mu Li was standing beside her.
Mu Li could clearly feel her astonishment from her hand.
Probably, he was right.
Lin Qing"s palms were in cold sweat, even dampening Mu Li"s palm.
She was panicking.
Although she looked normal, Mu Li knew it.
Chen Qudong was arm in arm with his wife Liang Ruoyi.
A dashing husband and an elegant wife.
Together they made a fairly good portrait.
Lin Qing closed her mouth and lowered her head, letting Mu Li put his arm around her shoulders.
Chen Qudong frowned at Mu Li"s behavior.
He couldn"t believe it when he heard earlier that Lin Qing and Mu Li married suddenly.
He knew Lin Qing very well. She was not that kind of person who could marry a man she had only known for days.
But seeing the truth on his own eyes, he was really shattered.
The moment they met, Lin Qing immediately realized that Chen Qudong and his wife were the people they were coming for. Why didn"t she find it out earlier, and why could she be cheated by Mu Li so easily?
Lin Qing felt regretful and very much vexed.
But she had no choice now.
"You"re early."
Liang Ruoyi spoke first and greeted them, and was then reminded by Chen Qudong to escort the guests to the box.
Mu Li"s response was lukewarm, neither indifferent nor friendly.
Lin Qing did not utter a word throughout the dinner. She was afraid of saying anything embarra.s.sing and therefore buried herself in the food Mu Li put in her bowl.
Her silence froze the air a little.
Such silence even made her invisible to the waiter, who spilled out soup on her and stained her white dress when serving the last course.
Lin Qing kept a calm expression even under such a circ.u.mstance.
With her head even lower, she stood up and said to Mu Li, "Excuse me. I have to go to the ladies" room."
"I"ll go with you."
Mu Li got up and stopped her as she spoke.
Lin Qing was about to say no, when a voice rose from the other side, "Please allow me to accompany her. You two gentlemen please just continue."
It was Liang Ruoyi.
In the ladies" room.
Lin Qing concentrated on cleaning up the oil stains on her dress, her face covered by hair, which made her look a little bit dull.
Those stains were too stubborn to get rid of.
In fact, Lin Qing couldn"t figure out why Liang Ruoyi voluntarily followed her here. She was a total stranger to her.
When she finally accepted that small irregular oil stain on her dress, Liang broke the silence.
"Lin Qing, you are a nice person. I suggest you should look forward and cherish your marriage from now on.
There is no benefit to dwell on the past."
Liang Ruoyi smiled at Lin Qing in the mirror, "Get it?"
Lin Qing nodded quietly and washed her hands again.
It was a warning.
She eventually had a chance to be warned by someone in her life.
Lin Qing couldn"t tell for a moment whether her mood was bad or good.
When walking out of the ladies" room, Lin Qing decided this was the end to her affection for Chen Qudong.
At the end of the dinner, Liang Ruoyi made a proposal, "Shall we spend our honeymoon together?
It would be very interesting and we can be companions to each other."
Mu Li noticed the reluctance in Lin Qing"s eyes, but he still said, "I"ll think about it."
Lin Qing couldn"t even conceal her unwillingness.
On the contrary, Mu Li was quite contented.
Sitting in the car, Lin Qing was still dwelling on Liang Ruoyi" warning message. Although she didn"t tell Mu Li about it, he had already figured out what had happened.
"Did Liang Ruoyi embarra.s.s you when you went to the ladies" room?"
Mu Li suddenly asked, interrupting her thoughts.
"Ah?"
Lin Qing hesitated and then replied, "Yes. She said something to me."
"Never mind."
It was the first time Mu Li consoled her in such a gentle manner. Lin Qing felt better.
"It doesn"t matter, but..." Lin Qing sighed sentimentally, "I like this dress very much, but the stains couldn"t be washed off anymore."
Mu Li believed if someday he threw a fit it must be due to Lin Qing.
"Buy another one if you like it. Don"t be so upset."
Mu Li raised his eyebrows.
"This dress is unique, holding a special place in my heart. Nothing can replace it.
Lin Qing rejected his proposal, "There is no need to buy another one."
Unique?
This word p.r.i.c.ked Mu Li"s heart.
Lin Qing threw herself onto bed as soon as they got home.
Mu Li got some business to do and asked her to go to bedroom first. He checked his watch and found it was already nine o"clock at night.
They were supposed to be at home four to five hours ago. However, Mu Li didn"t want to bear her regret over the dress and drove her to the largest shopping mall in city A.
He couldn"t stop buying things for her until he saw Lin Qing was overburden with bags.
Lin Qing was wearing a pair of stiletto heels and endured the pain for a whole day.
She was too tired to raise a finger and closed her eyes drowsily.
She planned to take a nap but fell into a deep sleep instead.
"Lin Qing?"
Someone was calling her name. She tried her best to lift her eyelids.
She was shocked by what came into her eyes.
It was the soulful eyes of Mu Li. They were so close that Lin Qing could even see her own reflection in his pupils.
Mu Li looked at her, half of his body bending over her.
"Oh...hmm..." Lin Qing felt her heart was beating wildly, forgetting what to say.
To Mu Li, her sleepy look, charming low voice, and the sounds she uttered just now, were nothing but temptation.
He kept silent.
Her dress crumpled during the sleep and now curled up to her thighs.
Her white, smooth skin had no place to escape from his eyes.
Lin Qing got up and blushed when seeing her status. Before Mu Li noticed it, she raised a hand to push Mu Li away from her, with another hand on the bed to support herself.
She wasn"t aware that this action would be regarded as flirting by men.
Mu Li had already seen much and even helped to smooth her dress before she woke up. Otherwise, she would feel too ashamed to show her face now.
He finally got up as Lin Qing wished and, eyebrows raised, tentatively looked at her flushed cheeks.
Lin Qing smoothed her dress properly and peeped at Mu Li several times.
All of her movements were caught by Mu Li.
"Lin Qing, do you know what you"ve just done?"
Mu Li looked quite righteous.
Lin Qing stammered, "What...what"s wrong with me?"
"You are tempting me."
Mu Li lowered his voice deliberately.
Lin Qing was greatly scared, with her heart in the throat.