Chu Mu put down his cup and recalled that morning when he had inadvertently seen Shu Yi'an's slightly pale face in the rearview mirror. Her thin body was standing on the balcony in her pajamas. The morning breeze made her look empty and lonely. She stood there all alone in the pale sky. Chu Mu suddenly got up and walked outside.
"Thanks."
He thought that Ji Hengdong was right about one thing: it was useless for him to know his own thoughts alone. He had to let that stubborn woman know that he wanted to spend his whole life with her, and that it had nothing to do with anyone else.
Author's Note: I'll teach you to give me the silent treatment!! The marital conflicts are gradually becoming more and more apparent, which is really troubling me. I hate it when one of you is stubborn and the other is too proud.
I was holed up in my hotel room typing away when my mom, seeing my constipated expression, asked quietly, "Did you get stuck somewhere again?" I nodded, "Yes!" Actually, she always thought I was writing ghost stories—I'll tell you that...
Chapter 44 The Autumn Wind is Chilling
Shu Yi'an hadn't looked well these past few days; her face was pale, and she seemed listless. Even at lunchtime, she was distracted, barely eating a few bites before putting down her chopsticks. Seeing her pale, wilted face, Zhou Hui couldn't help but worry.
"You haven't been in the right state of mind these past few days. You haven't eaten as much in three days as I have in one meal. This won't do."
Shu Yi'an stared blankly at the food on her plate, "I don't have much of an appetite... I can't eat."
"Did you have a fight with your husband?" Zhou Hui asked in a tone of someone who had been through it all. Her husband would often be away at sea for two or three months at a time, and when he did come back, she would often argue with him because she was worried and missed him. This back-and-forth fighting became a must-do every time her husband came home. After the fight, Zhou Hui would often regret it, and her state afterward was not much different from Shu Yi'an's current state.
Seeing Shu Yi'an lower her head and remain silent, Zhou Hui knew she had guessed correctly. "Men are very concerned about their pride. If you're worried, just give him a call. You're both adults, it's easy to talk things out. And since you're so gentle, your husband definitely won't hold a grudge."
Not angry with me? Shu Yi'an silently lifted her eyelids and repeated Zhou Hui's words. He hadn't been home for three whole days, not even a single phone call or text message... Shu Yi'an thought sadly that perhaps she had accidentally stumbled upon his past with Tao Yunjia and really angered him. With this thought, she suddenly felt very wronged. So she resolved to refuse to be the one to back down first.
The afternoon was the time for the company to sign the contract authorization with Anyaer Group. After lunch, everyone got busy. Shu Yi'an also temporarily ignored her emotions and devoted herself wholeheartedly to this collaborative project involving everyone. It's rare for a company to schedule a signing ceremony in the afternoon, and someone in the copy room couldn't help but mutter quietly.
"Who signs a contract at 3 p.m.? It doesn't sound auspicious."
"It's not up to us to decide. The people from Anya'er's side said their boss's schedule is full in the morning, and he only has time in the afternoon during his lunch break. That means it's take it or leave it."
"Sigh... It's a big company after all; they're all tougher on the bone than the average person." The female colleague sighed helplessly. "Boss Xiao is here in person, a golden bachelor! I'll finally get to see him in person today."
"Don't even think about it. With Julie around, everyone else will avoid us!" The two left the copy room chatting and laughing, carrying the photocopied documents, leaving Shu Yi'an alone in the next room. Anya... after being away for almost two months, seeing her former colleagues again was truly awkward. But Julie?
The signing ceremony was scheduled for the large conference hall downstairs. Shu Yi'an and her team laid out their documents and stood aside, waiting for the ceremony to begin. When Julie followed her boss in, she glanced at Shu Yi'an almost imperceptibly. Shu Yi'an remained as composed as ever, standing quietly without showing the slightest excitement or unease about the upcoming grand ceremony.
When Xiao Ke arrived with a large group of people, everyone present stood up and applauded to give him a warm welcome. The boss here was a woman who was almost fifty years old. It was clear that she valued this cooperation very much, and she quickly stood up to shake hands with Xiao Ke.
"It is a pleasure and an honor to cooperate with the Anyal Group."
Xiao Ke smiled calmly, maintaining his usual indifferent demeanor, and glanced lightly at the standing employees. "You are too modest; it is our honor."
His gaze fell on the dark blue contract folder on the table, and Xiao Ke gave a slight nod to his boss. "Let's begin."
The signing process was nothing more than both parties signing, shaking hands, taking photos, and then announcing it—a completely unoriginal process. Shu Yi'an remained inconspicuously hidden in the back of the crowd, following a large group of people who surrounded this "money-giving bodhisattva" as they saw him off from the company building. Standing next to Xiao Ke was, presumably, a young and capable businesswoman like Julie.
Julie glanced slightly behind her, then suddenly smiled mockingly. In a voice only the two of them could hear, she asked, "Do you need me to leave the person with you?"
Shaw gave Julie a sly look, then opened the car door and uttered four words: "Mind your own business." However, he really did want to talk to her. Two months had passed, and she seemed even more haggard than when he left Anyaer.
The defection occurred near the end of the workday. Because it was an office building shared by various companies, there were all sorts of office environments. The floor below Shu Yi'an's happened to be a restaurant chain, and the employees could eat lunch prepared by their own chef every day. They used to get together and envy each other for a while.
For some reason, just ten minutes before clocking out, a piercing alarm suddenly blared through the building. Everyone who was packing their bags and desks froze. Before they could even react, someone shouted in the hallway, "Fire!!!"
These three words, like the word "earthquake," evoked panic among the city dwellers. Most had never experienced anything like it before; some of the female colleagues even screamed. Shu Yi'an glanced frantically out the window and saw thick black smoke billowing up from the building.
"What do we do? What do we do?" Zhou Hui gripped Shu Yi'an's hand, on the verge of tears. The team leader, though younger and more composed, shouted to the group, "First of all, we have fire-fighting equipment. Don't panic, let's go to the corridor." The corridor was already crowded with people, their clamor terrifying. Shu Yi'an quietly clenched her bag, her body ice-cold. High-rise fires are among the most dangerous and deadly fires in the city. The fire was spreading rapidly from the ground floor upwards; with only two floors separating them, she wondered if they would survive...
The piercing alarm sounded like a death knell, leaving the young people bewildered. Some calmly suggested running to the fireproof floor on the top floor, and immediately the crowd rushed towards the stairwell like madmen. Shu Yi'an was swept along by the crowd, running upstairs, having long since separated from Zhou Hui and her colleagues. The stairwell was filled with black smoke, making it hard to breathe.
Shu Yi'an was jostled against the gun wall and squeezed to the window. Several times she could even clearly see the flames constantly being swallowed up through the glass. All they could do was run desperately to higher floors. Before she knew it, Shu Yi'an wiped her face haphazardly and realized that her face was covered with cold tears.
For the first time, she felt like she was racing against time.
Xiao Ke had barely started his return journey when he overheard his employees whispering amongst themselves on their phones. He frowned slightly, annoyed. "What are you talking about?"
The employee who was called out stuck out his tongue and turned to the big boss to explain, "Mr. Xiao, we're really lucky. We've only been gone for less than half an hour, and the Qiteng Building is on fire!"
Qi Teng Building… that’s the company they just signed a contract with… Xiao Ke was startled. “What did you say?!” The employee waved the phone in his hand, “It was just pushed to me by the news, look! I wonder how they are doing.”
Looking at the picture on his phone taken by a bystander, Xiao Ke instinctively called out a name. Almost without hesitation, he instructed the driver, "Drive the car back immediately!"
The driver looked troubled. "Boss... this area is definitely going to be under martial law now!"
"Immediately, right now." Xiao Ke uttered these words with an icy expression, his temper already at its breaking point.
Meanwhile, Chu Mu was in the car pondering what to buy to appease that irritable girl when he got home. Just as he was lost in thought, the car radio suddenly broadcast an urgent message.
"At 4:20 PM, a fire broke out in the Qiteng Building on the East Ring Road. The fire started in the center of the building and is extremely fierce. Fire trucks are currently on their way. Please give way to nearby drivers. Also, please be aware of vehicles traveling towards this location..."
Chu Mu suddenly looked up and glanced at the time on his wrist. 4:45... Shu Yi'an!!! Without a second's delay, he instructed the driver, "Don't go back to Huyuan, go to Qiteng Building."
From a distance, you could see that in addition to the fire truck convoy that had been dispatched to the scene, Xiao Ke and Chu Mu's car was also speeding in one direction.
The fireproof door was forced open, and people rushed inside. Even on the top floor, where precautions were in place, the air was still scorching hot. Thick, acrid smoke made it hard for Shu Yi'an to breathe. Her arms, skirt, and calves were covered in black marks and scrapes from running upstairs. Her throat burned painfully, and she could only find a corner to lean against, watching this large group of people sharing her fate. She didn't know where her phone was; she even wondered if she were to die like this, wouldn't she even have the chance to call and say goodbye?
Fortunately, the fire department arrived quickly, and the fire was brought under control in about forty minutes. When they were brought down by the ladder truck, they only knew that thirteen people had died or been injured, while their colleagues at the company were all safe and sound.
Standing on the wet ground, the sensation under her feet made her truly understand what it meant to survive a disaster. Zhou Hui and Julie stood together, waving to her from afar. At that moment, anyone she spent every day with seemed incredibly kind. Shu Yi'an ran barefoot towards them, completely forgetting her disheveled state and bare feet, still clutching her bag tightly in her hand.
She had only run two steps when Xiao Ke's car suddenly braked sharply in front of her. Before she could even see who it was, Xiao Ke forcibly pulled her into his arms and draped a coat over her shoulders. His anxious voice lacked its usual indifference and instead carried a hint of emotion.
"You scared me to death."
At the same time, Chu Mu stood not far from the two, his eyes filled with intense darkness, a calm that seemed to be gathering some kind of storm.
The author has something to say: If you're an unmarried woman, you should marry someone like Xiao Ke. He was confident enough when Miss Shu was single, but he became overly worried when she got married. How can he keep missing the mark like this?
There's one more thing I have to say: I'm a mother freak when it comes to the male lead, so I'm biased towards him!! Of course, I won't let Miss Shu suffer for nothing!