Chu Mu slowly opened his eyes after a long while, and asked in a hoarse voice, "...What time is it?"
Shu Yi'an glanced at her watch, then held up two fingers and waved them in front of Chu Mu's eyes. "It's 2:30. How long have you been back?"
Chu Mu grabbed two of her fingers and sat up, rubbing his temples. He started taking off his clothes, saying, "It's not much different from yours. I'm going to take a shower. You go to sleep first."
Shu Yi'an got up with a look of disgust to find him some clean clothes, taking them out one by one and placing them on the wardrobe by the door. "You smell strongly of alcohol. How much did you drink?"
Chu Mu was unbuckling his belt when he heard her ask a question. Without stopping, he grabbed the clothes she had laid out and headed for the bathroom.
“I already said the penalty would be double, but those bastards Jiang Beichen kept piling water on me. If it weren’t for the ceremony tomorrow morning, I would have stayed up all night.”
Shu Yi'an stuck out her tongue, feeling a little guilty. She waved at the other end of the line, "I'm going to sleep now, goodnight."
A cool sea breeze occasionally blows in from the open balcony, causing the curtains inside to flutter and large swathes of sheer fabric to rise and fall, adding a sense of tranquility and comfort to the room.
Shu Yi'an, wrapped in the blanket, listened to the rushing water in the bathroom. After thinking for a while, she got out of bed and made a cup of honey water, placing it on the bedside table. Looking at the nightlight and the cup of water on the bedside table, she slowly blinked before finally falling asleep.
Chu Mu felt much more refreshed after taking a shower. When he came out, Shu Yi'an was already fast asleep, her small nostrils flaring with shallow breaths. Only after noticing the warm little lamp and the water quietly placed there did Chu Mu finally have time to quietly observe the sleeping woman in front of him.
She was a restless sleeper, always kicking off the covers or sleeping with her pillow askew. She disliked silk pajamas, preferring cotton ones, even if they made her look quite young. Her eyes crinkled when she smiled, as if she had never truly argued with herself. The moment she hugged Jiang Jinyao, she suddenly appeared so beautiful that he felt an urge to hide her away somewhere. This Shu Yi'an was becoming increasingly important in Chu Mu's life.
His gaze gradually shifted to the exposed part of her calf and neck, and Chu Mu suddenly covered it and gently bit it. Shu Yi'an grumbled in dissatisfaction, only to hear his increasingly heavy breathing and a suppressed sentence.
"Yi'an..., should we have a child?"
The next day was a bright and sunny day, with the sun shining perfectly on the beach, making the scenery absolutely stunning. Early in the morning, you could hear people setting up the wedding venue, and the hotel corridor outside the rooms was also bustling with activity.
Few people were dressed formally, because no one knew what the couple was thinking, having the audacity to make all the guests wear swimsuits for their seaside wedding. Even Chu Mu, who rarely dressed casually, obediently went along with Jiang Beichen's suggestion, wearing a large t-shirt and striped shorts. While this was fine for men—they could wear flip-flops and beach shorts for whatever they wanted—it was a different story for the women.
The women who arrived were all companions of wealthy young men, some well-known models, others newly debuted celebrities, each vying for attention and showing off their beauty. Looking down from the hotel room, all one could see were women in bikinis. Shu Yi'an stared blankly at the few swimsuits in the closet, unsure which to wear, when she looked up and saw Chu Mu come out of the room, having changed.
Shu Yi'an had never seen him dressed like this before, and couldn't help but compliment him, "You look very young, comrade."
Chu Mu's lips twitched, and he froze on the spot. After a long pause, he finally asked, "Am I that old?"
What's most terrifying is that Shu Yi'an actually took his words as a normal question, and even shook her head seriously to deliver the final blow. "Thirty years old...not young anymore, is he?"
This left Chu Mu in a dilemma, unsure whether to agree or disagree, yet also feeling frustrated. But Shu Yi'an wasn't wrong; after all, he was six years older, so being called "old comrade" was understandable… but it was just… infuriating! Chu Mu had been a prominent figure in the diplomatic arena for almost ten years, and everyone praised him as a handsome and talented young man. How come he was being called old by her now?
Even after they went downstairs, Chu Mu still stared at her cheerful back, looking sullen. Although he was quite dissatisfied with the revealing nature of her swimsuit, he tolerated it given the special circumstances, time, and place.
Upon reaching the beach, while waiting for the speedboat to take them to the island opposite, some people started making a fuss. Ji Hengdong was soaking wet, as if he had just emerged from the water, seawater streaming down his trousers, looking utterly disheveled. Zhan Cheng, with Sheng Xi in his arms, was laughing heartily beside him.
Chu Weiyuan, wearing a Victoria's Secret swimsuit that showed off her great figure, stood with her hands on her hips, grinning from ear to ear. Ji Hengdong spat a mouthful of seawater onto the beach and walked unhurriedly toward the culprit.
Chu Weiyuan slowly backed away, waving her little hands innocently. "It has nothing to do with me!! Don't blame me, it was all my second brother's idea!!"
Ji Hengdong grinned wickedly, his fox-like eyes completely devoid of his previous disheveled state. "Then why did you run away? I didn't say it was you."
As soon as he finished speaking, Ji Hengdong quickly ran forward two steps, stretched out his arm to grab her waist, hoisted her onto his shoulder, and ran towards the sea. Chu Weiyuan, clinging to Ji Hengdong's shoulder, was almost dizzy from the bouncing, her little paws scratching incessantly at his back. "Ji Hengdong, put me down!! You're a pervert!!"
Laughter erupted all around, and Chu Mu, unusually, pulled Shu Yi'an aside to watch the spectacle.
Seeing that the person hadn't stopped, Chu Weiyuan quickly softened her tone. "Okay, Fourth Brother, please put me down, I can't swim!!"
Suddenly, Ji Hengdong mischievously reached out and slapped Chu Weiyuan's buttocks hard. The soft, white touch pleased him greatly, and he asked in a voice only the two of them could hear, "Then, will Fourth Brother teach you to swim?"
Chu Weiyuan's face flushed red, and before she could react, she felt dizzy and fell into the water with a splash. When she emerged from the water looking disheveled, Ji Hengdong was swimming in front of her, laughing smugly.
"Little sister, is this force enough for me?"
Enraged, Chu Weiyuan kicked him in the face, yelling, "Get out!!!"
Shu Yi'an and Sheng Xi also laughed and ran to the side to reach out to Chu Weiyuan, trying to pull her up. Actually, Chu Weiyuan's claim that she couldn't swim was Kuang Jihengdong's. She had been playing with Chu Mu since she was a child, and she had seen and done everything. If she really couldn't swim, Kuang Jihengdong would never have the heart to throw her into the sea, even if he beat him to death.
Seeing Sheng Xi and Chu Weiyuan's outstretched hands, Chu Weiyuan quickly gave Ji Hengdong a look. The tacit understanding the two had developed over the years meant that even if they were fighting fiercely one second, they could immediately unite against a common enemy the next. Therefore, Ji Hengdong also earned a nickname—"Professional Sister-in-Law Troublemaker for Twenty Years."
Chu Weiyuan feigned a pitiful look and tried hard to reach their hands, "Sister Shengxi... Sister-in-law... He bullied me!!"
Sheng Xi and Shu Yi'an were both rather simple-minded and had no idea about such cunning schemes. They hurriedly reached their hands further in, but just as Chu Weiyuan touched their fingertips, she heard two female screams. "Ah!!!"
Chu Mu and Zhan Cheng, who were standing far to the side, immediately sensed something was wrong and almost simultaneously cursed and ran into the sea.
It turned out that while Chu Weiyuan was holding their hands, Ji Hengdong suddenly emerged from the sea and pulled Sheng Xi and Shu Yi'an into the water with him. At the same time, Zhan Cheng and Chu Mu also plunged into the water.
Because Sheng Xi had been personally trained and educated by Zhan Cheng for several years, and was a former female soldier, she was also quite skilled. Zhan Cheng pulled her out without much effort. However, after Chu Mu decisively found Shu Yi'an in the water, he swam to the surface with her in his arms. When he surfaced, Shu Yi'an had already choked on two mouthfuls of water.
Chu Mu and Zhan Cheng exchanged a glance after dropping the person off on the shore, their understanding unspoken.
Zhan Cheng said, "Sheng Xi, I'll give you a real-world demonstration of how to catch turtles in the sea, which I taught you a while ago."
Chu Mu said, "Wife, I'll avenge you for the last time we raced cars."
After saying that, the two of them took off their shirts, revealing their muscular upper bodies, and rushed into the sea. Jiang Beichen happened to arrive with his wife and children in a speedboat at that moment, and, always eager for a good show, waved to them. "No rush!! We'll leave after you two have dealt with this bastard!"
Ji Hengdong finally realized that Chu Weiyuan was the ultimate winner in life! She successfully used her two sisters-in-law to incite the hatred of two cunning individuals, and then took them all down... That girl is truly shrewd...
Finally, Zhan Cheng fully utilized the advantages of special forces, while Chu Mu used his precise, targeted techniques to submerge Ji Hengdong, causing him to suffer internal injuries. Meanwhile, Chu Weiyuan, Sheng Xi, and Shu Yi'an on the shore were completely laughing their heads off.
Shu Yi'an had never seen Chu Mu so down-to-earth. He could joke around with others, and he could also grab someone's neck and cheekily force them to call him "Dad." He could laugh like a big boy, his eyes and heart brimming with a joy and happiness she had never seen before. Shu Yi'an even naively wondered if this... could be considered a perk of marrying him? To have the opportunity to see such a down-to-earth side of the god-like figure others spoke of.
It was almost noon when they arrived at the island where the wedding was being held. The white rose archway, the white carpet, the white wedding dress—the almost dreamlike scene left Shu Yi'an speechless. "They really are capitalists..."
Chu Han, wearing a long, trailing wedding gown, walked through the archway, her face lightly powdered and radiant with a happy smile. Behind her followed a group of young and beautiful bridesmaids, including Chu Weiyuan. Jiang Beichen stood at one end of the stage, followed by a group of groomsmen, led by Ji Hengdong, looking quite respectable. Because Chu Mu and Zhan Cheng were both married men, they could only sit and watch from below the stage.
Although they were an elderly couple with children, when the emcee solemnly asked them if they were willing to stay together for life regardless of any hardship, the audience could clearly sense Jiang Beichen's solemnity and Chu Han's quietly falling tears.
It's wonderful that after twenty years of twists and turns, you've finally come back to me.