MHWFYYTMDF Chapter32

He Muyan was not a particularly patient person.

He pursued efficiency and valued results in everything he did; if something could be explained clearly in one sentence, he preferred not to waste his breath repeating it twice.

In his eyes, the thing that drained his energy and focus the most was not negotiating new project deals worth hundreds of millions, nor managing the hundreds of young employees with quirky and vastly different personalities at his startup, but rather the endless, meaningless arguments with his father every time he returned to the main family residence.

He was thoroughly sick of his father’s pedantic, outdated, and old-fashioned feudal mindset. His mother loved him, but she had never held much of a voice in that household, and his grandmother, who had doted on him the most, passed away when he was very young. Thus, there was even less in that home worth his lingering attachment.

In such a frame of mind, He Muyan had never even considered bringing Song Li to meet them. Song Li was born into a warm, happy, and ordinary family; with such a clean and simple nature, He Muyan did not want him involved in the muddy waters of the He family.

If possible, he wanted Song Li to have only him by his side forever.

If the most successful and meaningful thing he had done in his life was breaking free from his father’s control, then the second most meaningful thing, and one he would never regret, was choosing to marry Song Li.

It had originally been nothing more than an accidental, fleeting encounter. Even initially choosing to jump into a whirlwind marriage with him was merely a helpless measure to deal with the pressure and marital rushing from his family.

Yet he never could have imagined that marrying this person would bring him so many unexpected surprises.

Song Li was like a treasure he had uncovered. At first, this treasure was covered in a layer of dull dust, but as he personally wiped and polished away that dust bit by bit, the radiance that blossomed from Song Li was enough to drive him mad with passion.

Perhaps having lived a tranquil daily routine for too long made him gradually forget that these unstable factors still existed around him, especially now that these unstable factors had actually sought out Song Li.

He Muyan was not one to smooth things over to keep the peace, let alone now that this matter had touched his bottom line.

He arranged to meet Pei Yuan directly, leaving both the location and time up to Pei Yuan to choose.

Having not seen each other for many years, Pei Yuan was no different from before; he was still pretty, delicate, and still that noble, arrogant young master.

“Muyan,” Pei Yuan had arrived a bit earlier than him, and upon seeing him, he immediately stood up, waving and smiling at him, “What took you so long? I’ve been waiting for you for ages.”

He adored acting spoiled, with that pretty face scrunching into a slight frown and pout, and naturally, plenty of people found themselves completely charmed by him.

Unfortunately, He Muyan had never been one of those people. Sitting down opposite him, he looked at him expressionlessly, “Long time no see, Pei Yuan. When did you come back? You didn’t even say a word to me.”

Hearing this, Pei Yuan wrinkled his nose in feigned dissatisfaction, “How can you say that? You were the first person I contacted after returning to the country, I didn’t even tell my dad! But look at you, you never replied to my messages the entire time. It’s really hurtful.”

He Muyan’s expression remained unchanged, “I was too busy with work. I might not have noticed your messages.”

“You were too busy with work,” Pei Yuan let out a self-deprecating laugh. “Three years ago, every time you rejected me, it was because you were too busy with work too. Three years have passed, and you’re still like this. With me, you aren’t even willing to come up with a decent excuse.”

He Muyan lowered his eyes and opened the menu in front of him, “Have you ordered yet? What would you like to drink? It’s my treat today.”

“Of course you should treat me.” Pei Yuan quickly adjusted his emotions, resting his arms on the table as he leaned closer, whispering with a smile, “Muyan, do you know why I chose this place today? This is the coffee shop we last visited before I went abroad. Now that I’m back, it’s also the first place where we meet again. Beginning right where we ended, isn’t that a great symbolic meaning?”

He Muyan pushed the menu to the side, leaned back against the chair, and raised his eyes to look at him, “Pei Yuan, I am already married.”

The smile on Pei Yuan’s face stiffened for a moment before he sat back, shrugging his shoulders, “I know.”

“Tingting told you.”

“So what if she did? In Tingting’s heart, I’m the only one qualified to stand by your side. She would never take that person at your home seriously.”

He Muyan’s gaze chilled, “You shouldn’t have gone to see Song Li.”

Pei Yuan smiled, “Did he complain to you? How boring.”

“Pei Yuan.” He Muyan placed his hands on the table, “You should consider yourself lucky that nothing happened to Song Li this time. If there is a next time, you ought to know my methods of doing things.”

Pei Yuan looked at him in disbelief, “You’re threatening me for his sake?”

“It’s not a threat, it’s advice.”

“You!” Pei Yuan slammed his fist onto the table, clenching it tightly to force himself to calm down, “You don’t have to talk to me like this. You know Uncle He likes me very much and was so happy to invite me over for dinner several times after I returned. As for that Song Li? Do you really think Uncle He will ever allow him through your family’s front door?”

As if he had long expected him to say that, He Muyan curled his lips into a cold sneer, “Since you’re still in contact with Tingting, you should know my current relationship with my family. I have virtually cut ties with the He family now, so what right does my father have to meddle in my life?”

“He Muyan!” Pei Yuan stood up in agitation, “What is so good about that Song Li? In what way am I inferior to him!”

Looking at his face flushed with shame and anger, still pretty and striking even when furious, He Muyan couldn’t help but chuckle softly, “Why compare? You can’t compare to him in any way.”

“He Muyan!”

Feeling there was nothing left to say to this “former friend,” He Muyan called the waiter over, intending to pay the bill.

Seeing how completely ignored he was, Pei Yuan laughed out of sheer anger, “He Muyan, do you think making a special trip here just to humiliate me for the sake of your lover makes you look noble? Don’t tell me you actually think you love him? How ridiculous. A person like you is innately cold-hearted to the bone, you won’t ever love anyone, you only love yourself.”

He Muyan knit his brows, casting a look of disgust at him.

On his drive back, he suddenly received a call from Song Li. Glancing at the time, He Muyan knew he had probably just woken up from his afternoon nap. The moment he pressed answer, the cold aura around him instantly softened.

“Lili.”

“Where did you go?” Song Li’s voice was groggy and slightly nasal; he had likely called right after waking up and not finding him around.

“Didn’t you say before taking a nap that you wanted strawberry cake? I went out to buy cake for you and am already on my way back.”

Song Li gave a soft “Oh”, “Is it from the shop I mentioned to you? Only their strawberry cake tastes the best.”

He Muyan smiled softly, “Yes.”

Song Li let out a tender laugh, his voice sounding a little clingy over the phone, “When will you be home?”

“If there’s no traffic, it should take about half an hour.”

“That long?”

He Muyan asked him with a chuckle, “Do you miss me?”

Song Li huffed, “Don’t get full of yourself, I just miss the cake.”

After saying that, he added in an exceedingly soft whisper, “And maybe a tiny bit of the person buying the cake too.”

The tenderness in He Muyan’s heart felt like soft cream oozing from a punctured puff pastry. It was as if he could already see Song Li’s blushing face saying he missed him through the screen.

Something was throbbing bit by bit inside his chest, rapid and flustered. The sensation felt very foreign, yet he didn’t seem to feel any resistance toward it at all.

He unconsciously pressed down harder on the gas pedal. Right now, he wanted to hurry back and see Song Li as soon as possible.

The moment he entered the living room; he caught the rich aroma of food floating through the air. Checking the time, it was indeed the hour for Auntie Chen to prepare dinner. He Muyan placed the small cake on the table, took off his coat, and prepared to head upstairs, only to be surprised by the sight of Song Li inside the kitchen as he passed by.

Song Li seemed to be learning how to cook from Auntie Chen. The two of them wore matching aprons. With a spoon in hand, Song Li was asking Auntie Chen something while adding seasonings to the pot.

Ever since Song Li got pregnant, he had frequently felt unwell, so He Muyan hadn’t seen him cooking in a long time. His morning sickness hadn’t been as severe over the past two days, and he could handle the smell of cooking oil fumes now. Seeing Auntie Chen cooking had likely made his hands itch, so he couldn’t resist slipping into the kitchen as well.

He Muyan was in no hurry to step in and interrupt them, leaning against the doorway to watch. Song Li appeared to be making soup; he scooped up a bit with the ladle, blew on it to cool it down, took a sip, then knit his brows and shook his head before adding another spoonful of some ingredient into the pot.

After taking another bite, he seemed satisfied this time. He turned his head toward Auntie Chen to say something, a smile spreading across his face and revealing the small dimple in his cheek.

So adorable.

Cleaning up the stove area to the side, Auntie Chen turned her head and spotted He Muyan at the door. Just as she was about to greet him, she saw him hold a finger up to his lips and shake his head gently.

Auntie Chen understood immediately and glanced at Song Li who was still tasting the soup, set down the cloth in her hand, and stepped out quietly on light feet.

Song Li’s soup was nearly ready; the flavor adjusted to his satisfaction. Letting it simmer over low heat for another twenty minutes would make it absolutely perfect.

He set the ladle down, put one hand on his hip, and said in a cheerful tone, “Auntie Chen, it’s a good thing I asked for your advice today. In the past, I could never stew this soup properly and the taste was always strange. This is definitely my most successful attempt yet.”

After speaking, he paused for a moment as if feeling a bit embarrassed, and raised a hand to scratch his chin, “He Muyan seems to quite like drinking soup. It’s my first time stewing it for him, so I don’t know if he’ll be used to the taste.”

“If I’m not used to it, I’ll punish Lili by making you stew it for me a few more times until I’m satisfied.”

The voice that suddenly appeared startled Song Li. Before he could turn around, he was pulled into a full embrace from behind.

Song Li looked down at the two large hands resting across his waist and said helplessly, “When did you get back? How come you didn’t make a sound?”

He Muyan lowered his head, resting his chin in the crook of his neck, gently nuzzling his cheek behind his ear, “So fragrant.”

Song Li giggled, “Fragrant, right? I’ve been stewing it for almost two hours.”

He Muyan hummed softly, his voice a bit muffled, “No, I mean Lili is fragrant.”

Song Li froze, his face immediately flushing red as he stammered out, “Is it? I took a shower after waking up… Let go of me first, I need to ladle out the soup… Mmm—”

A large hand gently caught his chin and turned his face around, and in the very next moment, his lips were softly captured. Song Li felt terribly embarrassed and whispered, “Auntie Chen is still outside,” but before he could say anything more, the rest of his words were completely swallowed by He Muyan.

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