Quite awkward

Shen Shuang went to the tea room. When Mu Yanqing pushed the door open, she asked unhappily, "What are you doing here?"

Mu Yanqing's face was calm, but his words were powerful.

"Qi Yu's father has done me a favor. You shouldn't have given her such a cold look just now."

Shen Shuang looked at him with a frown, shook her head and smiled bitterly.

"Shouldn't I be angry? My son decided to get married without my knowledge, and he married the woman he disliked the most."

"Mom, people change. Ah Yu is a very good girl. Chen An discovered her gentleness and kindness, so he naturally fell in love with her. You didn't have much contact with her before. If you spend a few more days with her, I believe you can change your prejudice against her."

Mu Yanqing tried to persuade Qi Yu kindly, hoping to pave the way for his future.

"Hmph, am I prejudiced against Qi Yu? Then may I ask if I've ever done anything bad to her? You doted on her so much back then, and I never tried to stop you. You said she was a little girl and needed a female adult by her side. I even hired a child care worker, but she cried and chased him away."

Mu Yanqing denied it reflexively: "She had just lost her father at that time and didn't feel safe enough. The only person she could rely on was me."

Qi Yu was never a willful girl. She cried at that time only because she was still young.

Shen Shuang put down the teacup and her tone became a little radical.

"So what happened next? You wanted her to attend an international school, so I gave you the school director's phone number. You wanted her to have a custom-made coming-of-age ceremony dress made, so I arranged for a professional to come and take her measurements... There were so many more things. I just didn't smile at her. Now it's all my fault."

"Mom, you have to know that this is not what I meant. I just hope that you can accept Ayu. Besides being my sister who I watched grow up, she is also Chen An's wife and the daughter-in-law of our Mu family."

Shen Shuang knew that she shouldn't take her anger out on Mu Yanqing, but this time, she was very disgusted with Mu Chenan's behavior of acting first and reporting later, which was a complete disregard for her parents.

"Call that boy over here. I want to hear what he has to say."

Mu Yanqing noticed that Shen Shuang's attitude had softened. He got up and went out. Instead of going to look for anyone directly, he sent a message to Mu Chenan.

This is all he can do for Qi Yu.

The relationship between siblings of different surnames cannot last forever. Anyone who gets married needs to avoid suspicion, not to mention that the person she marries is her brother, so he must be extra careful to keep his distance.

Finally, I hope she can be happy.

……

evening.

Mu Luowen returned home from the company.

Everyone gathered in the living room, waiting for him to have dinner together.

The man, who had always been serious, put on a gentle smile when he saw Qi Yu.

"Uncle Mu."

"Come, Qi Yu, this is for you."

Qi Yu quickly walked over and took the document with both hands. He lowered his head to glance at the words on it, then looked up in surprise and said, "You want to give me a private island?"

"You can go to the island for vacation with Chen An occasionally, and you will be the owner of this island in the future."

"Uncle Mu, this... is too valuable."

"We're all family, so keep it."

In the afternoon, Mu Chenan spoke with Mu Luowen on the phone in the teahouse. He told his father that he and Qi Yu had obtained their marriage certificate two days ago.

Shen Shuang drank tea while observing her husband's attitude on the other end of the phone.

After a moment of silence, Mu Luowen cleared his throat twice and asked him when he planned to hold the wedding.

Seeing that her husband accepted the new daughter-in-law without saying a word, Shen Shuang softened her attitude and said that she would accept Qi Yu in the future.

After hanging up the phone, Mu Chenan raised his eyebrows and smiled happily, and even took a few sips of tea.

At least the storm that had been imagined did not happen. Everything went smoothly except for the heavy punch that his eldest brother gave him.

Qi Yu saw Mu Chenan nodding at her and urging her to accept it and call someone. She awkwardly changed her words and said to Mu Luowen with a smile, "Thank you, Dad."

This was much easier than an hour ago when Shen Shuang handed her a necklace of Australian white pearls and a jade bracelet and was urged by both Mu brothers to change her mind.

Mu Luowen smiled and nodded, saying "eh".

The five of them then sat down in the restaurant.

The topic turned to the wedding again.

Mu Chenan glanced at Qi Yu beside him, shook his head and said, "We won't have a wedding, and there's no need to make my marriage public. It's enough for my family to know."

One reason was Qi Yu's work in the entertainment industry, and the other was that Qi Yu had a PSTD feeling about the wedding and didn't have the idea of holding the ceremony.

When the two of them talked about this in private, Mu Chenan bowed his head and apologized to her again, saying that no matter how much he apologized, it was just an excuse, and he could only make it up to her with all his heart in the future.

Mu Yanqing rarely spoke and didn't eat much. After dinner, he went to the backyard alone to watch the moon.

Tonight is the last quarter moon, gradually moving from full to waning.

Even the temperature around him seemed lonely and desolate.

In the middle of the conversation in the living room, Qi Yu got up and went to the bathroom. On the way back, he passed a half-glass corridor and noticed his elder brother standing alone in the yard.

She pushed the door open, walked slowly to a place not far behind him, and called out softly.

“Brother.”

Mu Yanqing turned around slowly, his voice low.

"Why did you come out? It's a bit cold outside now."

“I came to see you.”

"Um."

The atmosphere suddenly became quiet.

Qi Yu took another step forward, pondered for a moment, raised the corner of his lips slightly, and took the initiative to ask: "Don't you have anything to ask me?"

Mu Yanqing lowered his eyes and looked at her softly, then shook his head.

"No."

"I'm sorry for keeping this from you and telling you so many lies."

Faced with Mu Yanqing's repeated temptations, she never told the truth once.

"It's okay, I understand your dilemma. You don't have to apologize to me." He looked away, keeping a gentle smile on his face that didn't reach his eyes.

Qi Yu paused, and suddenly felt that her brother was polite yet distant to her tonight. She shouldn't think too much about it, but she felt a little sad.

She always didn't want to become estranged from her elder brother, but separation was inevitable in the process of growing up.

“Are you going back home tomorrow?”

"Well, summer vacation is almost here, and there's still a lot to do."

Mu Yanqing only signed a one-year contract with the university in Yunnan and Guizhou. He had originally planned to return to Linjiang after finishing his work, but now that may not be possible. He will not be able to continue to participate in her life in the future.

We chatted for a while, but it wasn't a deep conversation, it was too ordinary.

At this moment, someone called Qi Yu from behind.

They both turned their heads at the same time and saw Mu Chenan striding towards them.

"I thought you were lost." Mu Chenan said with a smile.

Qi Yu lowered his eyebrows slightly and explained frankly: "I just saw my eldest brother here alone, so I came to talk to him."

Mu Chenan didn't ask any more questions. He took Qi Yu's hand and said to the other man, "Mom wants to customize a phoenix crown for Qi Yu. Xu Nianhan also had one before. Big brother, we'll leave first."

Mu Yanqing nodded, raised his eyelids slightly, and watched them leave hand in hand calmly.

He thought to himself—

Ayu, I hope you can be happy, but I am unwilling to say this to you in person.

I don't want to be magnanimous.

But will this make me look selfish and a failure?

It doesn't matter.

I've already lost you anyway.