"Tomorrow is the engagement. I know you've put a lot of effort into this ceremony. I'm giving you one night to think it over, and I hope you can give me your answer at the wedding banquet. But I also advise you not to think you can have your cake and eat it too. I know you understand what I mean."
All night long, Sui Qing's generous offer and Chu Mu's striking appearance tore at Tao Yunjia like wild beasts. She was tormented, in agony, tears streaming down her face as she looked at the manila envelope. In her twenty-odd years of materialistic life, this job offer was both a surprise and a bomb. She knew she couldn't refuse, because from the moment she picked up those flimsy pieces of paper, she was destined to lose Chu Mu.
After an unknown amount of time, as dawn broke, Tao Yunjia finally decided to give Sui Qing her answer. She thought that Sui Qing could accept the job first, then work hard until she stood in the same position as Chu Mu, at which point no one would be able to stop them anymore.
So when Chu Mu saw Tao Yunjia, dressed in a formal gown, slowly walking towards him from the other end of the hotel, he was completely unaware of what had happened before. When Tao Yunjia took off the one-of-a-kind high heels Chu Mu had made for her and smashed them against the tall champagne tower, when she knelt on the ground crying and saying, "Chu Mu, I'm sorry, I don't want to marry you," Chu Mu watched this woman break down with unusual calmness, without showing the slightest anger as if he had been abandoned.
From that moment on, he stopped having any hope or tolerance for this woman.
Ji Hengdong choked back tears, almost crying, "Damn it! How can my mouth be so effective?!" Several childhood friends watched Chu Mu coldly remove his tie and ring, watched him calmly walk out of the hotel, and watched his car speed away into the night, and they felt a deep sense of sorrow.
Chu Mu practically burst through the door, glaring at his father who was calmly practicing calligraphy at the table. He asked, word by word, "What exactly did you do to her?"
Mr. Chu calmed himself and wrote the last word, wiping his hands as if it were nothing. "She did nothing, Chu Mu. She chose to abandon you herself." Watching Chu Mu turn and storm out the door, Mr. Chu suddenly raised his voice. "Chu Mu!"
“She has utterly disgraced the Chu family. I cannot accept this daughter-in-law.”
After that, Tao Yunjia disappeared without a trace. No one spoke of the engagement saga that happened that night.
All the outside world knows is that on the night of the engagement, the Chu family's prospective daughter-in-law made a huge scene and then disappeared without a trace. Some rumors say she was sent away by the Chu family, while others say she found a better match.
A year later, Chu Mu married his wife, Shu Yi'an, at the Diaoyutai State Guesthouse with great fanfare and grandeur.
Author's Note: Oh my, it's finally finished! I didn't expect you all to be so angry about explaining their past. Don't be angry, don't be angry. It's definitely not what you think, like Chu Mu and the female supporting character rekindling their old flame. I've said it before, Chu Mu is a responsible person to himself and others. He would never do something like having an extramarital affair.
There's no real reason why the Chu family doesn't like Tao Yunjia as their daughter-in-law. Who told her to be so arrogant as to make their son wait three years? Who told her to be so ambitious at such a young age? They just don't like her, so what can you do about it? Haha, enough joking. Actually, a family like Chu Mu's doesn't need an outstanding, strong woman at all. What Sui Qing really hopes for is a daughter-in-law who is willing to love and warm Chu Mu's heart. She doesn't have to be outstanding or domineering, but she has to be someone who makes people feel at ease.
That's the end of the reminiscence; let's get back to the main story tomorrow. By the way, the weather is getting colder and autumn is approaching, so ladies, remember to wear more layers and don't catch a cold!
Chapter 33 Pagoda River Demon
Shu Yi'an was walking home when she received a call from her secretary, Julie, while waiting at a red light. Julie informed her that she would start work the next day, with the same salary and position as at Anyaer: a clerk in the translation team, with a high monthly salary and benefits.
Miss Shu's eyes crinkled with laughter. She hadn't expected things to go so smoothly. She had been planning to interview at a few more companies tomorrow, but now it seemed that this unemployed woman had quickly risen from the ashes and was singing her own praises.
When Chu Mu arrived at her house to pick her up, he looked at Shu Yi'an's smiling face with some confusion. "So happy?"
Shu Yi'an waved the phone in her hand, "The company notified me to start work tomorrow. I've found a job again."
Chu Mu immediately turned his head away, his expression arrogant and his tone cool, "Then congratulations, you're finally able to reap the fruits of victory through the hands of the working people again."
"Hey! Aren't you proud of me for being self-reliant and proactive?!" Shu Yi'an said, her round eyes wide with displeasure. "At least be a little more professional when you're going to offer your congratulations. Who offers congratulations with a poker face?"
Chu Mu sighed deeply, then turned the car key. "I can't laugh. My wife's been reduced to working for someone else, and you expect me to laugh? Am I not supposed to cry?"
So in a sense, Chu Mu's chauvinistic nature and his tendency to throw tantrums caused Shu Yi'an a lot of headaches.
In truth, Shu Yi'an was never short of money and had little concept of it. When she went to university, her grandfather gave her an astonishing sum for tuition before she left, and repeatedly instructed the family's old housekeeper to tell her that a young woman should cherish herself and be self-respecting in all things when she is away from home, and never sell herself or wrong herself for anything. So, the 10-something-year-old Miss Shu deeply remembered this teaching. Although she didn't experience poverty while away from home, since it wasn't money she earned herself, Shu Yi'an used it very carefully and never spent it extravagantly.
When Shu Yi'an first earned her first salary at Anyaer, the total amount, including salary and benefits, was quite substantial. She used the money to send her maternal grandfather, who was far away in Yangzhou, a pair of very exquisite gold-rimmed reading glasses. She then used the remaining money to buy a pair of expensive cufflinks for Chu Mu. The cufflinks were made of fine obsidian with a silver trim, which looked understated yet highlighted Chu Mu's obsessive high standards for things.
Shu Yi'an handed him the pair of buttons. Chu Mu was quite surprised, looking at the high-quality obsidian and asking the somewhat nervous and expectant person in front of him, "Are these for me?"
Shu Yi'an nodded, "I've received my salary, consider it a way of repaying you..."
Chu Mu stroked the smooth surface of the button, a half-smile playing on his lips. "What are you going to do to repay me?"
Shu Yi'an couldn't quite explain what she wanted to repay him for, and she was always tongue-tied in front of Chu Mu. Biting her lower lip, she said anxiously, "I just want to give you a gift... If you don't like it, just give it back to me."
"Hey," Chu Mu took Shu Yi'an's outstretched, fair hand and held it firmly, no longer joking with her. Looking at Shu Yi'an's slightly flustered yet bright eyes, Chu Mu suddenly smiled gently. "I like it very much, thank you."
Shu Yi'an spent all her salary on gifts, and as a result, when she and Su Ying were shopping on the weekend, she saw a new bag displayed in the window of a luxury brand in the mall. She could only stand outside the window and trace the shape of the bag with her finger, muttering softly, "It's so beautiful, so beautiful, but I don't have the money to buy it. You have to wait for me."
Su Ying was completely confused. "Don't you usually get any pocket money? Didn't you just get your salary?"
Shu Yi'an grimaced, "It's all gone! I'm broke by the end of the month!" With that, she forced herself to leave the shop window. Leaving Su Ying standing there dumbfounded, good heavens! She'd spent it all in just one day! She's definitely not broke by the end of the month!
The very next day, all three colors of the newly launched bag were placed on Shu Yi'an's desk. The neat, strong handwriting on them carried Chu Mu's characteristic conciseness—"As a reward, a small gift."
Miss Shu was left clutching the card, completely dumbfounded by those words... This was no small gift... This bag alone was enough to buy several pairs of cufflinks, and she bought three of them... For a while, the aftereffects of these bags made Miss Shu afraid to buy any more gifts for Chu Mu.
It was only when Chu Mu was changing clothes one morning that he suddenly remembered that Shu Yi'an hadn't bought him anything in a very long time. So he immediately woke up the sleeping girl, looking at her with a resentful expression, "You haven't bought me anything in a long time, your shirt and belt need to be replaced."
Shu Yi'an lifted her eyelids, her face full of fussiness, "Can you wait a little longer?"
"Why?" Chu Mu was displeased.
Miss Shu rubbed her face, forcing herself to wake up. "I haven't saved enough of my salary yet..."
Chu Mu chuckled, "Who asked for your salary? Didn't I give you a card?"
“That’s different…” Miss Shu sat cross-legged on the bed, adopting a serious posture as if she were about to give a lecture to Chu Mu, intending to reason with him. “How can I use your money to buy you something I gave you? Of course, I’ll earn the money myself to buy it for you…”
As a result, Chu Mu, having gotten a headache from all the fuss, simply and forcefully pinned her to the bed and gave her a good talking-to, so that Miss Shu would never dare to use "yours" or "mine" as an excuse again. Over time, Shu Yi'an got used to being kept under Chu Mu's high-pressure tactics, and with her sister-in-law constantly urging her to go shopping, the two of them made the most of the benefits Chu Mu provided.
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Looking at the familiar route, Shu Yi'an felt a little confused. "Are we going back to the compound?"
"Hmm," Chu Mu turned the car into the driveway, "If we don't go back soon, the old lady might blow up the temple."
Chu Mu received Sui Qing's call just before leaving get off work. He hadn't expected that no matter how hard he tried to hide it, he couldn't hide it from his two cunning old foxes at home. Sui Qing was at home, doing her nails, when she gently threatened her son on the other end of the phone.
"You've finally grown up and become independent. The first thing you did when you came back wasn't to report to your family. I've raised you for nothing."
Chu Mu held the phone and chuckled slightly, "Second Uncle, why are you so quick to speak? I haven't even had a chance to say it yet."
"Stop arguing with me," Sui Qing said, taking the phone and walking towards the kitchen, gesturing to the housekeeper to prepare the meal. "Come home for dinner tonight. Where's Yi'an? Is she with you? Bring her back with you."