“You are very capable, I’ve always known that. Your dad is very lucky to have such a capable daughter.”
“Roger,” Viviane no longer hid her deep affection; she was truly in pain. “I love you. From the first moment I saw you.” Yes, from the first moment she saw him, she had fallen in love with him. That's why she came to China. She didn't care if he had a wife, because she believed in her own worth. Her friends laughed at her for being foolish, but that's how she loved him. After seeing that woman, she was even more convinced that she wasn't good enough for him, that she was the one most suitable for Mu Yang. “Marry me, and many more rewards await you.” As she spoke, she slowly lowered her head…
“Sorry,” Mu Yang said, placing his hand between the two of them. “I love my wife, I always have.” His eyes softened when he spoke of Yan Shu. “Although she’s clumsy, yes, very clumsy, I love her. Viviane, I consider you a good friend, and I admire your talent, but I don’t love you.” He finished speaking and smiled. “Maybe I can avoid thirty years of hard work, but I feel more secure this way, working hard with the one I love.”
"Hmph." Viviane's expression turned somewhat unpleasant. She said coldly, "Fight together? She left you."
"No, she will come back." Mu Yang smiled confidently. "Because we are a good match."
His smile infuriated Viviane: "You love that ugly duckling so much, don't you? What's so great about her? That stupid woman!!" she shouted, her beautiful face contorted with rage. "Roger, are you really going to do this? Choose her over me? That woman even leaves you at this time!"
Mu Yang looked at her and slowly said, "I have never chosen anyone else or you."
"Fine! You'll regret this." Viviane strode out of the office, slamming the door shut with a loud bang.
"Regret? Isn't everything you've done all this to you?" Mu Yang lowered his eyes, thought for a while, then picked up the phone. "Hey, Asen, I need your help with something."
Two pairs of eyes stared blankly at the contract on the table. What should they do?
"Ugh, this is so annoying." Yang Sen was the first to lose his composure. He stood up abruptly and shouted at Yan Shu on the other side, "Xiao Shu, give me a cup of coffee."
"Oh." Yan Shu, who was diligently typing, looked up, poured a cup of coffee, and handed it over. Seeing their predicament, she asked, "What are you planning to do this time?"
“What else can we do? I’ll have a drink too.” Xiao Yi stood up as well. “Ah Sen said he didn’t have any inspiration for that idea last time. I didn’t expect him to be even more arrogant than our Ah Sen. He actually wants us to write it ourselves.”
"Isn't this ad targeting female customers? Why not just have Asen stand there and strike a pose that could electrify someone?"
"Who's as unprofessional as you? Hey, how's your script coming along? I'd like to act in it."
"It's alright. I was just typing up your schedule." Yan Shu picked up the contract. "Targeting ordinary women... wait, isn't that me included? Emphasizing romance and legend?" She read the contract's requirements word by word. Yang Sen and Xiao Yi felt their heads start to ache again. What kind of dreamy girl made these requirements?
"Ah, if we don't take action this week, it'll be all over..." Xiao Yi said anxiously. He really was the most unfortunate agent, with such a huge penalty for breach of contract.
Yan Shu suddenly felt something flash through her mind. She looked up and said, "I think I have an idea." Before she could finish speaking, she met two pairs of expectant eyes. Yan Shu smiled uncertainly, "But I don't know if it's feasible?"
The man parked his car in front of the restaurant. As he got out, he glanced at the building across the street where workers were working on a huge billboard. He then turned around and went into the restaurant.
It was already afternoon, past lunchtime, and the restaurant was nearly empty. The warm winter sun streamed through the curtains, bathing the entire place in a languid atmosphere. The man's eyes swept around, and he spotted the person he was looking for sitting in a corner. He walked over.
"Here you go." Yang Sen took a check out of his pocket and handed it to Mu Yang, who was sitting down.
Mu Yang took it and said thank you.
"Are you really alright these past few days?" Yang Sen frowned. "You look very haggard."
Mu Yang smiled and shook his head: "That's it. I was a bit busy recently, but a few classmates have been helping me out. With this money from you, I think everything will be fine." He took a sip of tea. "Thank you for the money." He knew that Yang Sen's relationship with his parents wasn't very good, like his own with his father. Although his father wasn't entirely satisfied with his choice of path, they still kept in touch.
"It's nothing. What are friends for?" Yang Sen pushed up his black-rimmed glasses, a disguise he'd put on to avoid being recognized, though he always thought they were cumbersome and troublesome, but Xiao Yi's nagging was even more troublesome. "I told them I was investing, and they were so excited they wanted to hand the company over to me. Ha. Well, good luck." He clinked glasses, then paused. "You, how's it going with that stupid woman, Yan Shu?"
Mu Yang's smile changed slightly: "What? What else could it be?"
"Are you going to give up?"
“No, I’ve just been so busy lately that I’m a bit overwhelmed. But,” he sighed, his tone tinged with undisguised helplessness, “if this continues, I don’t know if I should stop. I don’t want to, but I really don’t understand how Xiao Shu could… how could she have such a bizarre theory!” Composing himself, he asked, “Xiao Shu, how have you been lately?”
"She's been working really hard lately, maybe she wants to make some changes too. With Xiaowei and me looking after her, you can rest assured. She's not indifferent to you, she may not say it, but we can all tell."
"I know, so I..."
“Perhaps I know.” Having successfully drawn Mu Yang’s attention, Yang Sen looked up and glanced out the window. “Xiao Shu’s theory, yes, perhaps that’s it.”
10
Several circles of people had already gathered around the huge billboard, discussing it animatedly. Passersby couldn't help but stop and look at the billboard.
As Mu Yang walked out of the restaurant with Yang Sen, at Yang Sen's prompting, he looked up at the advertisement. It turned out that this was the one that had been posted earlier: a girl in an ordinary white dress, standing sideways, looking at a pair of crystal shoes at her feet.
Cindy hesitated. Should she give up her current simple happiness?
"This watch ad is pretty good, isn't it?" Yang Sen said smugly. "The moment of choice."
"Did you take this picture?" Mu Yang glanced at the poster and asked the smug-smiling man next to him.
"Yes." He nodded. "So I fired that photographer."
He glanced at Mu Yang and continued, "The notebook was written by your wife."
Mu Yang turned to look at him, and Yang Sen smiled at him: "Maybe that's what she's thinking. A hesitant Cinderella. The important thing is, she's Cinderella, but she doesn't know if the prince loves her."
Mu Yang shifted his gaze to the billboard, and the hesitant Cinderella failed to notice the anxious prince standing to the side.
“Of course the prince loves Cinderella, whether she wears the glass slipper or not. Because the prince needs Cinderella.” Mu Yang paused after saying this before slowly adding, “The prince had already decided on Cinderella, and even if she didn’t wear the glass slipper, he knew that she was the one he needed.”
"Xiao Wei, I'm leaving, you should get up." After finally waking up Xiao Wei, who works overtime almost every day, Yan Shu hurriedly ran downstairs and headed to the station to start her workday as usual.
When I arrived at the company, I was already a few minutes late for the appointment with Yang Sen. I greeted people along the way before taking the elevator to my office floor.
The moment I stepped out of the elevator, I felt something was off about the entire floor; it was eerily quiet. The company is usually bustling with people even on days off, but today…
Could something important have happened? But no one had told her. Yan Shu thought to herself as she slowly pushed open the office door.
"Congratulations..." A firecracker shot towards her, startling her. Then her assistant jumped out and said, "Congratulations, Sister Yan, on the great success of your debut work!" Her colleagues all came up to congratulate her. Her assistant handed her a gift, saying mysteriously, "This was Ah Sen's idea, and he bought the gift too. It has nothing to do with me." Yan Shu looked up. Yang Sen stood not far away, winking at her: "Congratulations!" Yan Shu smiled back at everyone: "Thank you, thank you everyone."
After the congratulatory guests left, only Yang Sen and Xiao Yi remained.
Xiao Yi walked over with a smile and extended her hand to congratulate Yan Shu: "Congratulations, Sister Yan."
"Thank you." Yan Shu smiled and said, but then her expression turned completely bewildered. "But, Xiao Yi, can you tell me what happened?"
"You don't know." Good heavens, what are they doing? Xiao Yi felt a sense of defeat and helplessness. "That ad was a huge success. From the day it was published, the phone was ringing off the hook, and the poster kept getting torn down."
"Really?" Yan Shu couldn't process the news at first, and could only stammer, "Thank you, thank you."
"Are you confident now?" Yang Sen walked up and asked.
"Huh?" Yang Sen's abrupt question caught her off guard. The shock of the day had been too great, leaving her a little slow to react. "Ah Sen, what did you say?"
Asen shook his head, pushed open the door and went out, grasped the doorknob, but then turned back: "Mu Yang is going to have surgery and has been admitted to the hospital."
Yan Shu felt a sudden bang in her head, followed by a blank, and she knew nothing more.
"Driver, could you hurry up?" Yan Shu kept asking the driver from inside the taxi.
"Miss, the light is red. I can't run a red light no matter what. Who will be held responsible for the penalty? We're almost there, what's the rush!"
"Oh, please drive faster, I'm really in a hurry." Yan Shu leaned back in the back seat, her heart pounding faster and faster: Mu Yang was going to have surgery! What should she do? He'd always been in good health, how could this be?
"Miss, we've arrived." As soon as the driver finished speaking, Yan Shu dropped the money, said "Keep the change," and rushed out. She only stopped when she ran into the hospital building and took out the note Yang Sen had given her: Ward 5, Room 306.
She took a deep breath, asked for directions, and stepped into the elevator.
What happened to Mu Yang? God, Mu Yang must be alright! As soon as the elevator stopped, she rushed out and ran straight to Mu Yang's ward. The snow-white corridor seemed exceptionally long; she couldn't see the patients, nurses, or doctors coming and going, only hearing her own heartbeat, getting faster and faster.
Yan Shu ran all the way to the ward, but then stopped, not having the courage to go in.
Mu Yang will be alright. Convincing herself this, she pushed open the door.
Mu Yang lay on his hospital bed, his face pale and tired. He was still sleeping peacefully, with an IV drip in his hand and his brows slightly furrowed, as if he was still having some annoying things in his dreams.
Yan Shu walked over and sat down by his bedside. She reached out and touched Mu Yang's forehead, but then withdrew her hand. She felt a sudden tightening in her hand as she met Mu Yang's determined gaze.
"You've come, so why do you want to escape again?" Mu Yang's voice was weak, soft and low.
Yan Shu tried to pull her hand away, but found that Mu Yang was using a lot of force, so she had no choice but to let him hold it and asked with concern, "How are you? Do you feel better now?"
"It's nothing, just that some things were cut off. It feels a bit strange."
Something was cut off? Yan Shu's heart tightened. Had Mu Yang's illness become that serious?
Why didn't you tell me?
"What's the point of telling you?" Mu Yang paused, turned his head, and said softly, "Perhaps, I don't want you to see me like this."
"But, but, but I want to take care of you."
“That’s not what I want. You’re already preparing to leave, what’s the point of saying all this?” Mu Yang said, closing his eyes. It seemed that his words had taken a lot of effort. “Just let me sleep for a while.” He held Yan Shu’s hand tightly.
Yan Shu didn't say anything; she remained silent. Looking at Mu Yang before her, she remembered him as always being spirited and energetic; she had never seen him so haggard. How much hardship had Mu Yang endured during this time? How could he have fallen so seriously ill?
For some time now, she has been deliberately avoiding news about Mu Yang, using work to numb herself. Xiao Wei didn't say anything, and Yang Sen had never said anything either. So why did Yang Sen tell her such news as soon as he opened his mouth?
She really couldn't help Mu Yang at all; she wasn't even aware of where she was when Mu Yang was having surgery.
As she looked at Mu Yang's sleeping face, she felt a surge of sadness and was on the verge of tears: What illness did Mu Yang have? Why did he need surgery! But she didn't cry; she just held back her tears, her hand unconsciously tightening around Mu Yang's. Mu Yang, you must be alright!
In his sleep, Mu Yang seemed to be dreaming of something that would sacrifice its life. His tightly furrowed brows gradually relaxed, and he slept even more soundly. Yan Shu rested her head on Mu Yang's bed, feeling the warmth from his palm. She silently prayed: "You need to get better soon."
Muyang!
As Yan Shu watched Mu Yang gradually disappear into the distance, she panicked. She ran after him, calling his name, but she couldn't catch up with him no matter what she did.
"Mu Yang!" she shouted, but found her voice was gone!
Isn't this exactly what you wanted? Didn't you plan to leave Muyang? A voice said to her.
No! No! How could I possibly want to leave him! I don't want to lose him!
You didn't want to stay by his side, even when he needed you the most. Wasn't it you who always wanted to leave?
No, no! I love him, and I'm afraid of losing him!
Haven't you always felt that you weren't good enough for him?
Yes, yes, that's true, but I still don't want to lose him! Really, really, I don't want to!
No, please don't!
"No, no!" she screamed, waking up in a cold sweat!
"Xiao Shu, Xiao Shu. Are you alright?" Mu Yang's voice rang in her ears. She looked up, and her focus gradually cleared. It was Mu Yang!
She hugged him tightly. Thank goodness! Mu Yang was still here! She loved Mu Yang, loved him so much, so very much, that she didn't want to get hurt, so she cowardly chose to run away! She knew her clumsiness; she could never truly enter Mu Yang's world. But here, in the matter of "love," she and Mu Yang were simply two people, a man and a woman, and this woman deeply loved this man! She didn't want to lose him; for him, she was willing to take this risk, even if it meant getting hurt and her heart breaking.