The Scheming Ex-Husband's Courtship
Chapter 188 - 179 Awkwardness Abounds

Chapter 188: Chapter 179 Awkwardness Abounds

Mickey instantly felt incredibly awkward and hurriedly explained, "Dad, you’ve misunderstood. He’s not my boyfriend."

"Then, that is..." Mickey’s dad chuckled awkwardly, unable to hide the disappointment on his face.

Gu Qili quickly squeezed through and, upon seeing Mu Shuoqian, was both surprised and shy,

Mu Shuoqian extended his hand, his lean fingers forming an inviting shape, his clean and gentle palm opening up to her as if revealing his heart.

Although his expression was still as faint as smoke, making it hard to guess the emotions hidden behind his delicate features.

Gu Qili pursed her lips and took small steps toward him, raising her hand into his under his intense gaze, and without any hesitation, he immediately grasped it tightly.

Then, without a word, he pulled her to leave.

Unable to resist him, Gu Qili could only walk passively forward while turning back to apologize, "Uncle, I’m sorry for the trouble for nothing."

Mickey’s dad seemed not quite to have snapped out of the sudden turn of events, but upon hearing Gu Qili’s apology, he smiled and waved, "I’m pretty free these days, Qili, come over whenever you like, uncle will always cook for you."

"Thank you, uncle, goodbye uncle," she said, and then winked at Mickey, who sent her a look that said, ’hurry up and go torment the single dogs’, before taking her dad back into the house.

"Mickey, who is this guy? He looks familiar, like I’ve seen him somewhere before." Mickey’s dad pondered seriously, then suddenly had a flash of inspiration, "I remember now, he’s a friend of our boss, Nine. He’s been to our casino once, and I happened to be in Nine’s office that time. This guy looked very important, even Nine didn’t take him seriously, so I have a particularly strong impression of him."

The Nine referred to by Mickey’s dad was his former boss, known as Old Nine.

"He’s Qiqi’s husband," Mickey finished, making a shushing gesture to her astonished, wide-eyed dad, "You mustn’t mention this to anyone, it’s not common knowledge."

"He seems to treat Qili quite well."

"Obviously, didn’t you see he came to pick her up personally?" Mickey urged her dad towards the dining area, "Ahh dad, stop gossiping like mom, I’m starving, let’s eat."

Mickey’s dad walked to the window and looked outside, lost in thought.

Downstairs, a black Maybach was parked there, and as Gu Qili was about to open the door to get in, her wrist was suddenly gripped tight,

The appearance of a luxury car like this was already quite conspicuous in such a commonplace neighborhood, and two ladies returning from grocery shopping were staring slack-jawed.

"These young folks nowadays, tsk tsk, back in our days, we only learned how to kiss after getting married."

"Good thing I didn’t go pick up my grandson today, or I’d have been a bad influence on the child."

Gu Qili: "..."

She realized that her thought process was completely out of sync with his, and taking advantage of the moment he let go of her, Gu Qili hurriedly opened the car door and got in, while those two ladies were still occasionally looking over here.

Mu Shuoqian watched her get into the car, then he too opened the door on the driver’s side.

"How did you know I was here?" The car moved along the road, and the familiar sights of Aus City came into view. It had only been a week since she left, but she was already missing the city; no matter how good other places are, they can’t compare to home.

"Where else could you have gone?" he said with certainty.

His conclusive statement threw off the balance in her heart—should they fight again in the future, it seemed she could be found within minutes.

"Mu Shuoqian, why didn’t you answer my calls, or reply to my messages? Is this the correct way to handle issues? It was just a small matter,"

Suddenly, the car came to a harsh stop, and Gu Qili, caught off guard, grabbed onto the handle of the car door by inertia. Luckily he hadn’t braked too hard, and the car came to a stop by the side of the road, startling her only slightly.

"You..." She turned her head to glare at him, about to angrily accuse him, but then she saw his face covered with dark clouds, mixed with flashes of lightning.

His gaze was sharp and penetrating, making Gu Qili’s heart tremble, not understanding why he had turned hostile so abruptly.

"A small matter?" Mu Shuoqian’s eyes were filled with sarcasm, and it seemed like a long time since he had spoken to her in such a prickly tone, "You’ve kicked me out twice for some trivial people, and you call that a small matter?"

Gu Qili was taken aback for a moment but quickly retorted, "You know that’s not what I meant, and those were colleagues who care about me, not ’trivial people’."

"All I know is that you drove me away." He seemed not to have heard a single word of her rebuttal.

"I was in training, and training is part of work too, it really wasn’t suitable for you to be there, you can’t be unreasonable."

"So you are saying you never welcomed me there, and my presence would only cause you trouble," his tone turned even colder.

Gu Qili suddenly felt at a loss, it seemed like any explanation she gave was wrong, and she was sure that if she continued to explain, it would only make him angrier.

So, she closed her mouth and turned her head to look out of the car window, needing to calm down, or she would surely start an argument the moment she opened her mouth.

They had been in a cold war for four or five days, and she didn’t want to start their reunion with a quarrel.

With her staying silent, Mu Shuoqian didn’t say a word either, opening the storage compartment to retrieve a cigarette.

He rolled down one side of the window and coldly smoked, his face expressionless.

As time ticked by, Gu Qili couldn’t hold back her scattered thoughts any longer. Alright, she would compromise. Kicking him out was her fault; she was begging for forgiveness.

But when their gazes met, the man who had long finished his cigarette was also looking at her, his tone carrying a trace of aggrieved complaint: "Gu Qili, you drove me away for those insignificant others."

It was the same line as before, like a big boy who had been neglected, full of grievance in his heart and on his face.

Seeing such a proud man as Mu Shuoqian suddenly acting all aggrieved made any trace of annoyance vanish completely from Gu Qili’s heart.

Finally, she understood that he wasn’t being unreasonable, but rather, he was jealous, that’s right, he was jealous.

"There, there, just say you’re jealous if you’re jealous," teased Gu Qili, laughing at his childish demeanor. Thinking about these days, he had been sulking alone, while she was blaming him for not contacting her. In fact, she didn’t understand him enough.

Gu Qili shamelessly continued to pinch his face: "I promise I won’t drive you away again in the future, alright? Don’t be angry anymore."

Mu Shuoqian glanced at her disapprovingly, unmoved.

Gu Qili hugged his arm, continuing to coax him: "When we are together in the future, I won’t let him come in either."

He spoke disdainfully, his expression already softening.

"Maybe he has taken a liking to me and won’t marry anyone but me?"

"You wouldn’t dare." The man’s face darkened, he forcefully pinched her chin, emphasizing: "You are Mrs. Mu."

Gu Qili gazed at him with a smile, nodding: "I know, Mr. Mu."

After speaking, she moved closer to his face,

Only then did Mu Shuoqian let go of her hand and restarted the car.

Gu Qili was in a great mood, all smiley on the journey. She had been angry with this man earlier, but now she wasn’t mad at all because whether he was happy or angry, it was all because of her.

Suddenly, she remembered a saying: The happiest thing in the world is when the person you like also happens to like you.

They had just arrived home when Xiao Ran came over, his arms cradling a stack of documents. Seeing her, he greeted with a smile: "Madam, long time no see." He paused, then cautiously asked: "You seem to have gotten darker?"

Gu Qili touched her own face, she had indeed been through hard times these past few days, being in the sun for two whole days had darkened her originally fair skin, but she didn’t mind. She used to be too pale, unhealthily pale, and now being a bit darker wasn’t bad.

"Assistant Xiao, are you here for Mu Shuoqian? He’s in the restroom; please wait a moment." Gu Qili went to the kitchen and poured a cup of tea, "I’m going to change clothes, make yourself at home."

Xiao Ran said with a smile: "Okay."

Watching Gu Qili leave, Xiao Ran placed the documents on the table. Gu Qili’s temper seemed very docile, but if someone crossed her boundaries, she could also be a cat that bites, and she had many ideas and opinions of her own. Just like before when Mu Shuoqian arranged a job that she would surely like, she went behind his back to secretly work as a waitress.

Xiao Ran smiled, finding her temperament not very similar to Mu Shuoqian’s, but somehow, it seemed quite fitting.

Mu Shuoqian walked out of the restroom and glanced at Xiao Ran, saying, "Come in."

After speaking, he turned and entered his study. These documents were urgent, and he had rushed out right after receiving Gu Qili’s message; now he finally had time to deal with them.

After changing clothes, Gu Qili went to tidy up the room. In her absence, he evidently wouldn’t have cleaned voluntarily, but the house was spotless, as if it hadn’t been lived in for a long time. Everything she left before was in its original place, only the sandwiches and the eight-treasure porridge in the fridge were gone, and the sticky notes on the fridge were missing too.

Seems like, he obediently ate his breakfast.

The roses on the dining table had wilted, she threw the withered flowers into the trash can, pouring out the water. But smelling the vase more closely, there was a chicken soup scent. No wonder the flowers died so quickly—did someone pour chicken soup into it?

Gu Qili cleaned the vase several times with detergent, changed her shoes, and headed to the nearby florist.

She picked out a large bouquet of tulips; the ones in the shop had just arrived this morning, the petals half open and half closed, perfectly fresh.

Just as Gu Qili was leaving the flower shop with the bouquet, a voice suddenly arose: "Miss Gu, please wait a moment."