chapter 12

The message from Zhou Mu had come while I was still on the plane.

I only saw it when I landed.

There were a bunch of missed calls and unread texts on my phone.

Going by the time difference, it had to be the middle of the night back home.

It had been like this before, too.

When he couldn’t reach me, he would get anxious.

This business trip had been a last-minute application.

I filed the request right after saying goodbye to Cheng Zi, so rushed that I didn’t even pack properly.

I wouldn’t be back for at least ten days, maybe half a month.

I replied to Zhou Mu, telling him I was out on a business trip.

His reply came back instantly:

-That’s good.

-Come back soon.

Chen Wei moved even faster than I’d expected.

She messaged me almost the very next day.

It was a mirror selfie of her wrapped in a bath towel.

In the bathroom at home.

I reacted quickly and hit save.

She immediately withdrew it.

-Don’t bother doing useless things.

-I won’t bring up divorce.

-My suggestion is you go work on things with Zhou Mu.

By the time the project wrapped up, more than half a month had passed.

My life had gradually slipped back into its old rhythm.

On the day I flew back, Zhou Mu came to the airport to pick me up.

We’d only been apart a little over ten days, yet it felt like there was this thick wall between us.

He talked almost the whole way, and I only replied here and there.

My eyes stayed on my phone screen as I answered my coworkers’ messages.

“Xiao Jin.”

“Have you… had something going on lately?”

I had just parted my lips to answer when his phone suddenly started ringing.

He must have accidentally hit the speakerphone.

The second the call connected, Chen Wei’s voice filled the small space of the car, crystal clear.

She sounded half drunk, her tone sticky and clinging as she called his name:

“Little Mu…”

“I think I drank too much at the bar. Can you come pick me up?”

“My head’s spinning, my legs feel weak, and someone keeps staring at me…”

When I looked up, I saw Zhou Mu watching me in the rearview mirror.

His expression was taut. “Sorry, I-”

“Go,” I cut off the refusal he hadn’t yet voiced.

I met his eyes in the mirror, my face calm.

“Xiao Jin! She’s-”

Zhou Mu hurried to explain.

“I know. A friend’s daughter.”

I opened the car door and got out. “I still have to swing by the office. You go pick her up.”

Zhou Mu came back faster than I’d imagined.

By then I had already moved everything out of the master bedroom and into the guest room.

“Xiao Jin, I dropped her off and came straight back… What are you…?”

I put down the last thing in my hands before answering him:

“We’re sleeping in separate rooms.”

“I’ve been having a little insomnia lately. It’s better if we sleep separately from now on.”