Belated Romance (Mu Tongrui)

Fu Lingye's scorching breath closed in as he grinned widely, “Do it? Rui, what's that you're referring to?”
Mu Tongrui glared at him fiercely. This man was doing it on purpose!
She got out from his embrace and pulled the blanket over her head, “Forget it.”
Fu Lingye smiled faintly and looked at the woman who was wrapped up like a dumpling. He tugged at her blanket but she held it
tighter. Fu Lingye did not manage to pull down the blanket, “Aren't you afraid that my child would suffocate?”
Mu Tongrui released the blanket, her face red, “The child is still in my tummy. And it's my child, not yours.”
He probably only cares about the child!
At her look of jealousy, Fu Lingye pulled her into his arms, “Without me, how could you get pregnant?”
Mu Tongrui blushed bright red, “...”
The man looked at her for a long while, “Alright, stop fooling around. What would you like for dinner? I'll go get them.”
“I want dumplings, duck blood vermicelli soup, with lots of chili and vinegar!”
Fu Lingye frowned a little, seemingly displeased with her choice of dinner, “It's not nutritious. What else would you like?”
“I want those. Even if you ask me to eat something else, I won't be able to stomach it.”
“Be good and wait for me. I'll go and buy.”
It was hard for Mu Tongrui to imagine the prestigious Fu Lingye standing amidst the crowd and purchasing her food.
The thought of it made her feel good.
Despite being treated as Qiao Sang's shadow, surely Fu Lingye must have had some feelings for me. Right?
Mu Tongrui comforted herself with that thought. While she waited for Fu Lingye to come back with her dinner, her phone rang.
The Caller ID indicated an unfamiliar number.
Mu Tongrui did not think much about it and picked up.

“Hello, who is this?”
“Hello. Is this Mu Tongrui? I'm Qiao Sang.”
“...”
...
Fu Lingye came back with her food order, two cheap-looking plastic bags in hand. Compared to his dignified presence, it looked
out of place.
Mu Tongrui sat on the bed and laughed. She took a few pictures while Fu Lingye tried to cover his face, “What?”
“Big shot Mr. Fu suddenly became a family man. Let me keep this for memory's sake!”
Fu Lingye laid the items on the table and stretched out his hands, “Let me have a look.”
“No. You'd surely delete them.”
As though she were hiding a treasure, Mu Tongrui stuffed her phone inside her pillow. She raised the table and tapped, “I'm
hungry, time for dinner!”
Fu Lingye could not be bothered to lecture her. He spread out the piping hot dumpling and vermicelli soup on the table and
opened up.
Mu Tongrui was already hungry. At the sight of food, she tore open the bag of chili oil and vinegar before pouring them all over
the soup.
Fu Lingye knitted his brows, “Don't take too much strong flavored meals.”
Fu Lingye's taste had always been light and especially so after having Sweetheart; he had ordered the chef to cut down on the
usage of oil, salt, and spices.
Mu Tongrui was very satisfied with her spicy and sour meal, “It's delicious. Want a bite?”
The man only looked at her scornfully.

Mu Tongrui twirled the vermicelli with her chopsticks and placed it beside Fu Lingye's lips, “Just one bite and you'll know how
tasty it is!”
The man did not appear to have any intention of opening his mouth.
Who knew, when Mu Tongrui stuffed the vermicelli into her mouth, Fu Lingye's thin lips planted onto hers.
He took the unchewed vermicelli into his own mouth and bit her hard before letting her go.
Mu Tongrui was bewildered until she saw the flirtatious look he threw at her. With an earnest look, he said, “The taste is not bad.”
“...”
Only not bad?
Mu Tongrui was too embarrassed to speak. She lowered her face that was blushing and continue to have her meal.
Fu Lingye had some fried rice for dinner. It was clear that he doesn't get flu from having fried rice outside. After a few mouthfuls,
he set them aside and did not take more.
Mu Tongrui took the last dumpling and popped them in her mouth when suddenly, Fu Lingye clamped her wrist and stole the
dumpling for himself.
Mu Tongrui stared at him, “Why did you steal my... wu...”
Fu Lingye embraced and kiss her with his thin lips, conquering her.
Mu Tongrui was breathless from the kiss before Fu Lingye released her. With a teasing look, he said, “You can have it back.”
“...”
When did this man turn into such a mob!
No matter how you looked at it, Fu Lingye was like a sensible ascetic god. How did he turn out to have such thick skin!
Nonetheless, her heart felt as though it was smeared with a thick coat of honey; it was exceptionally sweet.
...

The next morning, as wished, Mu Tongrui was discharged.
Fu Lingye sent her back to Repulse Bay villa and made sure she had settled down before leaving for work.
Mu Tongrui was fine. She headed out after a change of clothes.
...
She was at the scheduled meeting place and saw 'Qiao Sang' the moment she stepped through the door.
Since it wasn't lunchtime and being on a weekday, the cafe was almost empty.
Even from afar, Mu Tongrui could tell the resemblance she shared with Qiao Sang.
She walked over, “You must be Qiao Sang?”
Qiao Sang smiled faintly, “Yes and you are Miss Mu?”
Mu Tongrui nodded as she took a seat, “Yes, I am Mu Tongrui.”
“I don't intend to disturb the life you have with Lingye. The reason I approached you was because Dr. Han said that Lingye's
current girlfriend resembles me and I wanted to see for myself.”
Although Qiao Sang sounded polite and did not say anything inappropriate, each word hit her hard.
She quietly watched Qiao Sang who was seated opposite her and asked, “Miss Qiao, since you are still alive, why did you look
for me instead of Fu Lingye?”
Qiao Sang froze momentarily, her fingers wrapped around the coffee cup and replied hesitantly, “I haven't thought of how I'm
supposed to face Lingye. After all, it has been ten years. He now has his own life. I heard from Dr. Han that he now has a
daughter?”
Qiao Sang glanced at the diamond ring on Mu Tongrui's ring finger. Her face fell in disappointment but smiled gently, “You must
be married to Lingye now?”
Mu Tongrui tugged at her finger and placed the diamond ring on the table, “No, we are not married. Miss Qiao, since you are still
alive, you should let Lingye know as soon as possible. He has been living in remorse because of your death.”

If Fu Lingye knew that Qiao Sang was still alive, he may not have nightmares anymore.
Mu Tongrui recalled when Fu Lingye had slept next to her, his dreams were all about Qiao Sang and the name he called out was
also Qiao Sang's.