Chapter 199

Chapter 199

After seeing Nan Mu the night before, Wen Miao tossed and turned, unable to sleep.

In the middle of the night, she even sat up in bed and cursed him. “What is wrong with that man?”

===

She washed the damaged sweater that same night and let it dry. By the time she put it in a bag, even she felt a little perverse.

*Why am I giving someone else clothes I’ve already worn?!*

But she had accepted his money. She could hardly let him think she was greedy enough to keep one damaged sweater.

Left with no choice, Wen Miao pulled up the address Nan Mu had sent and took a cab downtown.

She had passed this street the day before on the way from the airport to the banquet. Their driver had explained enviously that approvals were no longer granted for detached villas in the city. Existing homes here were therefore worth a fortune, and only the rich and powerful had any chance of living in one.

Standing at the courtyard gate, Wen Miao took a deep breath and rang the bell.

Ding-dong.

She had messaged Nan Mu before coming, so the door opened almost immediately.

Nan Mu wore a black sweater, straight-cut casual trousers, and a long camel-brown wool coat. He looked as though he were about to go out.

He pulled open the door and stepped aside. “Come in.”

Wen Miao hesitated and offered him the shopping bag with both hands. “That’s all right. I can just give you this.”

Nan Mu did not take it. Instead, he surveyed her coldly. “I forgot. Dr. Wen is a highly sought-after figure in academia now. It’s only natural that you’d look down on a businessman like me.”

He reached for the bag, but when he pulled, it did not move.

Nan Mu raised an eyebrow. “What does this mean, Dr. Wen?”

“I don’t look down on you,” Wen Miao explained weakly. “I-I saw how you were dressed and thought you were going out. I didn’t want to hold you up…”

Nan Mu’s expression stiffened. He instinctively tugged at his collar as regret rose inside him. He never should have taken Qiu Ziyu’s advice.

But all he could do now was bluff. “I wasn’t planning to go anywhere. Th-this is just what I normally wear.”

After he went that far, Wen Miao could hardly turn around and leave. She stepped inside.

“Should I change my shoes?”

Before she finished speaking, Nan Mu bent down and took a brand-new pair of women’s slippers from the shoe cabinet. They were unmistakably new: the instant Wen Miao slipped her feet inside, the tags that had not yet been removed dug into her soles.

Nan Mu frowned at her. “What’s wrong with your feet?”

Wen Miao gave an awkward laugh. “N-nothing… Is there a restroom I could use?”

She hurried into the restroom, tore the tags out of the slippers, and threw them in the trash.

While washing her hands, she heard what sounded like a visitor arriving outside.

She dried her hands and emerged to find a vaguely familiar man trying to enter while Nan Mu shoved him toward the door with all his strength.

“What’s going on?” Wen Miao asked.

Nan Mu and the other man both froze.

“Hi, Wen Miao.” The man greeted her enthusiastically. “I went to A University of Science and Technology too. I’m Qiu Ziyu. Do you remember me?”

Wen Miao had never actually spoken with Qiu Ziyu, but she vaguely remembered that he had also been a prominent figure on campus. She had heard he and Nan Mu grew up together.

So she smiled. “I remember you.”

Qiu Ziyu’s eyes lit up. He slapped Nan Mu’s hand excitedly. “She remembers me. She said she remembers!”

Breaking free of Nan Mu, he carried a large pile of groceries in from the entryway. “Nan Mu never keeps any food at home, so I brought plenty. Do you like hot pot? Why don’t the three of us have hot pot tonight?”

“Huh?” Wen Miao had never intended to stay for dinner. But Qiu Ziyu looked at her with such anticipation-as if he would drop to the floor and throw a tantrum if she refused-that she could only brace herself and answer with a soft smile, “Sure.”

“Great! Nan Mu, come help me get everything ready.” Qiu Ziyu turned and began ordering Nan Mu around without the slightest courtesy. Then he gave Wen Miao a friendly smile. “Make yourself at home. Sit anywhere you like.”

Wen Miao settled on the sofa. Every so often, she glanced at the two grown men bustling around the kitchen and found the whole scene wonderfully surreal.

The founder of Nan Huan Group was running back and forth in an apron, occasionally enduring Qiu Ziyu’s exasperated scolding.
How interesting.

===

In the kitchen.

“What exactly are you doing here?” Nan Mu furiously chopped vegetables on the cutting board. Veins stood out on the back of his hand, and he looked as though he were hacking apart a human head rather than preparing dinner.

“I gave all the household staff the day off just so I could… What the hell are you doing here?”

Qiu Ziyu snorted. “Being your third wheel.”

Privately, however, he thought that thirty years of being single proved Nan Mu had no idea how to flirt. Otherwise, with a face like his, the line of women waiting to date him would stretch all the way across the Pacific.

For Uncle Nan and Auntie’s sake, Qiu Ziyu-the man who was about to get married-would help his poor friend out.

Nan Mu immediately refused, still visibly wary. “Don’t try anything stupid!”

“Tsk.” Qiu Ziyu gave him a sidelong glance. “Why don’t you trust me?”

He removed his apron and pointed at the potatoes in the sink. “Wash those, peel them, and cut them into slices.”

“Where are you going?” Nan Mu watched him defensively.

“Pay attention to that knife in your hand.” Qiu Ziyu pointed at it. “Try anything, and I’ll charge you with assaulting a police officer.”

When Nan Mu moved to block him again, Qiu Ziyu hurriedly explained, “I’m going to the restroom. Where did you think I was going?”

===

The instant Qiu Ziyu left the kitchen, his expression transformed into a cheerful smile. He approached Wen Miao and asked solicitously, “Are you bored sitting here?”

Startled by his voice, Wen Miao immediately smiled back. “Not at all. I’m fine watching television.”

Qiu Ziyu pretended not to hear her. “Why don’t I show you around? Have you heard of Feirong Manor? The scenery here is beautiful.”

Feirong Manor was the name of this residential community, and it was indeed famous throughout City A.

Wen Miao considered the offer, then stood. “All right.”

Qiu Ziyu led her all around the house. When they reached a studio on the second floor, he suddenly clutched his stomach. “I need to use the restroom. Why don’t you look at the paintings while you wait? Nan Mu painted all of these. I don’t understand art, but my fiancée is always praising his work.”

With that, he ran off, leaving Wen Miao alone.

The studio was not large. More than thirty canvases of varying sizes rested against the walls. One held only a handful of rough lines and seemed to have been abandoned where it stood.

In his youth, Nan Mu had been one of the most prominent students at A University of Science and Technology. Wen Miao had heard many legendary stories about him, but never that he could paint so well.

She did not know much about art herself. But someone had given her a portrait of herself ten years ago, and curiosity led her to visit galleries whenever she had free time overseas. By listening to other people’s explanations, she gradually learned a little.

Nan Mu’s paintings had a vivid spirit. They were not quite masterworks, but it was obvious that he painted only as a hobby and had never pursued serious training.

His style varied enormously from one canvas to another, as though he simply painted whatever entered his mind.

After admiring the artwork, Wen Miao turned to leave. But her clothes snagged on a nearby curtain. When she tugged them free, she accidentally pulled one corner of the curtain aside.

She had assumed there was a window behind it. Instead, the curtain concealed the other half of the studio.

Unlike the paintings piled haphazardly on the floor outside, more than twenty canvases in this hidden space had been carefully framed and hung on the walls.

Every painting depicted the same young woman: dressed in a cheerleading uniform, reading quietly in the library, eating in the cafeteria, teaching from a lectern… In another, she stood beneath the large tree outside the dormitory, wrapped in the arms of a faceless man. In another, she handed food to a faceless man in a hospital bed. In yet another, she watched a movie with rapt attention…

The woman in the paintings…

looked exactly like her.

The sight of them left Wen Miao stunned.

They clearly had not been created in a short period of time. She could only wonder how long the artist had spent producing so many lifelike paintings.

Wen Miao took several steps forward and suddenly noticed the same letter in the lower right corner of every canvas: M.

When she received that first portrait years ago, she had often wondered what the M represented.

Now she finally knew.

M did not stand for Miao.

It stood for Mu.