The Scheming Ex-Husband's Courtship
Chapter 171 - 166 Leaving

Chapter 171: Chapter 166 Leaving

Gu Qili originally wanted to sneak a curious glance, but the door was barely open, and vague voices could be heard from inside. The two doormen guarded her as if she were a thief, as if she were a terrorist.

She wasn’t keen on looking anyway.

Just as Gu Qili was about to leave, a blonde-haired, blue-eyed woman approached, speaking French with a waiter next to her. But the waiter couldn’t understand what she was saying and could only stare anxiously.

Gu Qili understood, though. It turned out this French woman had just gone to the restroom and couldn’t find her private room upon returning; the characters on the door looked like hieroglyphics to her.

As she happened to walk by, Gu Qili kindly pointed to a room down the corridor: "Is that the one you’re talking about?"

Worried that Mu Shuoqian was waiting in a rush, Gu Qili quickly left after a few words with her.

At this moment, in the private room behind her, the man sitting at the center suddenly narrowed his hawk-like eyes,

Gu Qili’s voice had also disappeared by now, and the outside gradually became quiet.

But that man still put on a serious listening pose, his perfect lips slightly lifting, saying something that baffled everyone present: "That’s pleasant to hear."

The people around looked at each other, one of them curiously asking, "Mr. Tang...?"

The man seemed to notice him for the first time, raising his eyebrows and asking, "Who are you?"

The person felt wronged; he had been sitting there for quite some time, had talked a lot, and yet the man in front of him acted as if he didn’t recognize him.

Someone next to him gently tugged his sleeve and whispered in an almost inaudible voice, "Just bear with it, Mr. Tang has face blindness."

As soon as the words were spoken, Mr. Tang suddenly left the group and walked out, glancing over the empty hallway, only the two doorman-like bodyguards remained.

He asked, "Where is the girl who was speaking just now?"

Mr. Tang pinched his chin thoughtfully.

The bodyguard said, "They went that way, should we go after them?"

He shook his head, "Never mind."

Not long after Gu Qili returned to the private room, the king crab they ordered also arrived. With such an expensive dish being buy one get one free, Leng Shaoqing was probably going to grumble about the cost.

As soon as she stepped outside, Yuan Yi was already waiting there. Gu Qili got into the car, placed half of the crab on the passenger seat, and said to Yuan Yi, "Brother Yuan, you must not have had dinner tonight, here’s half for you."

Yuan Yi was pleasantly surprised, hastily looked at Mu Shuoqian for approval, and when he nodded, Yuan Yi gratefully said, "Thank you, Madam."

"You’re welcome." Gu Qili, holding her half of the crab, happily sat back and suddenly remembered something. She leaned over and asked, "Brother Yuan, what did the doctor say when you went for a checkup last time?"

Such a large pack of medicine; she felt Mu Shuoqian’s stomach problem was not optimistic. Knowing that he wouldn’t tell her if she asked, she had to inquire with Yuan Yi.

Yuan Yi: "..."

The medication was self-prescribed; the diagnosis was as dire as possible, yet Mu Shuoqian hadn’t been to the hospital at all.

Yuan Yi glanced in the rearview mirror and saw Mu Shuoqian’s exceptionally calm and indifferent gaze, as if the matter didn’t exist at all, forcing him to brace himself and say, "N-nothing much...", but then seeing Mu Shuoqian’s disapproving look, he quickly corrected himself, "Actually, there is something."

Gu Qili felt uneasy with Yuan Yi’s flip-flopping between there being an issue and not, sensing that he was hiding something from her.

Without waiting for him to finish, Gu Qili turned to the man next to her, who was busy replying to emails on his phone, those never-ending emails.

Gu Qili placed her hand over his screen, saying earnestly, "Mu Shuoqian, how is your stomach really?"

Mu Shuoqian said, "It’s just like that."

"Just like what? You irregularly eat your three meals a day, and you’re a workaholic; it would be strange if your stomach didn’t have issues. Do you really need to look at these emails now? There’s no end to money but you spend most of your day working." Gu Qili rattled on endlessly, her nagging clearly filled with concern for him.

Mu Shuoqian listened like an elementary school student, enjoying the way she lectured and wanted to be bound by her, losing his freedom, and wished to cling to her side all day long.

Gu Qili said a lot, unsure of how much he absorbed. In the end, she sighed, "You still have to keep taking your medicine after returning home."

Mu Shuoqian’s complexion changed; he really didn’t want to endure those foul-tasting herbal medicines again. Glancing at Yuan Yi, Yuan Yi understood that he would have to find a way to take and dispose of the medicine.

Alas, why does Young Master Qian do this to himself, lifting a rock only to drop it on his own feet.

Just as Yuan Yi started the car and left, a black sedan brushed past them under the streetlight. Gu Qili caught a glimpse and recognized the person in the passenger seat, unable to resist giving a couple more looks.

It wasn’t a trick of the eye; that person was Hu Jiaojiao.

The black sedan stopped in front of the Xiangshan Club, a man and a woman got off the car.

After confirming it was Hu Jiaojiao, the other person wasn’t hard to guess – the silhouette alone was enough to tell it was Mu Hewen.

She thought, doesn’t Hu Jiaojiao know that Mu Hewen is already married? Boldly still trying to climb up the ladder. If Qi Meihui finds out, she won’t let her off easily.

"What are you looking at?" Mu Shuoqian followed her gaze but seemed to notice nothing.

Gu Qili straightened up, turning to him and asking, "Isn’t that Mu Hewen’s car?"

"Didn’t see it." Mu Shuoqian responded indifferently before swiftly changing the subject, "Are you prepared to take on the new job?"

Gu Qili has always been confused about why he and Mu Hewen, despite being brothers, treated each other like sworn enemies. He also didn’t seem to get along well with Mu Haotian; in the entire Mu Family, only Mu Fan had a harmonious relationship with him. Had there been some past unpleasantness among them?

But these questions, though puzzling to her, remained unasked. Even if she did ask, she doubted he would tell.

Just as Mu Shuoqian said, she truly didn’t understand him at all. But what of it? At least in her eyes, Mu Shuoqian was different towards her— not merely because she was his wife in name as he claimed. She might have believed such an awkward excuse in the past, but not anymore.

Mu Shuoqian must like her.

With this thought, she happily replied, "I’ve got some restaurant materials today, I’m planning to review them when I get back later."

He nodded and after a moment added, "If you have any issues, come directly to my office."

"Mhm." Gu Qili sweetly agreed, aware that he was concerned Qi Meihui might mistreat her, reminding her that she could invoke his name when necessary. However, enduring superiors’ wrath was part of the job, and she needed to learn to withstand and defuse it, rather than just rely on him.

After returning home, his phone rang again. He checked the caller ID with a less-than-pleased expression, but still took the phone onto the balcony. Gu Qili didn’t pay much attention and went to shower.

Stepping out of the bathroom, she froze because there was someone boldly sitting on her bed. Mu Shuoqian was clad in pajamas, leaning against the headboard and browsing a tablet.

His casual familiarity as if he owned the place made even Gu Qili feel vicariously embarrassed.

"Don’t tell me you entered the wrong room." He had used that excuse before.

Mu Shuoqian looked up at her, his gaze carrying a touch of feigned grievance.

Gu Qili: "...."

Gu Qili didn’t believe for a second his bed was broken; this was simply an excuse he concocted to share a bed with her.

Seeing her standing there unmoved, Mu Shuoqian said, "You wouldn’t want me to sleep on the couch, would you?" He then covered his stomach with a hand, seemingly unintentionally, "Never mind, I’ll just sleep on the couch. After all, I’m used to stomach pains."

He sounded so pitiable—how could Gu Qili have the heart to send him away?

"Don’t move; I’ll get you some medicine," said Gu Qili as she put down the towel for drying her hair.

"I’ve already taken some," said Mu Shuoqian earnestly.

Even though his tricks were low-level, she didn’t expose him. Instead, she climbed onto the bed, sitting shoulder to shoulder with him, resting her head on his arm. She picked up the restaurant materials she hadn’t finished reviewing – with him here, she had many questions to ask.

As Gu Qili read for a while, drowsiness overtook her, and she couldn’t help but fall asleep leaning against him.

Mu Shuoqian set aside the tablet, lowered his head to kiss her forehead gently, and softly extracted the materials from her hands and placed them aside, his arms tightening around her,

Then he picked up the tablet to continue working until his phone by the pillow buzzed. He frowned at the sleeping figure in his arms, quickly silencing the phone.

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