Belated Romance (Mu Tongrui)

“How do I look?”
Gracefully lifting a part of the skirt, Qiao Luo floated into Qi Yanli's view. His eyes immediately lit up.
The manager complimented, “Mrs. Qi is breathtaking in this dress. It really shows off her slender waist.”
The zealous flattery made Qiao Luo self-conscious. Her ears reddened as she fidgeted, tucking her hair behind her ear, and
swallowing her saliva.
When Qiao Luo turned to Qi Yanli, she got even more self-conscious. His gaze was intense, full of eager desire and sincere
adoration.
Qiao Luo's face went pink under his gaze.
Qi Yanli walked over as he fixated his eyes on her, “I have pictured this a million times but I never imagined myself to be this
stunned and in awe when it actually happened.”
Qiao Luo dropped her head in shyness.
“What a smooth talker.”
Qi Yanli's smiled from ear to ear, “We'll take this. It's the perfect dress for you.”
“Why do we need a wedding gown now?”
Their wedding was not happening in the near future.
Qi Yanli snickered, “I couldn't wait to wed you. But I'm more than happy to put a hold on it if you need more time. This dress is
not for our wedding. You would wear an haute couture piece for that event.”
Qiao Luo was perplexed, “So then what's this for?”
Qi Yanli kept a straight face, “For tonight.”
This man!
The manager beamed, “Mrs. Qi, I covet you. Your husband is obviously smitten with you.”

Qi Yanli whipped out a card, “I would like to pay with card, please.”
“For sure. This way, please.”
After their retail therapy, Qi Yanli and Qiao Luo walked to his car.
Qi Yanli repeatedly asked, “Are you sure you don't want to spend more time out? It's Christmas after all.”
Qiao Luo felt wretched inside as if her world had crumbled into pieces - she had just ended a person's life.
Shaking her head, Qiao Luo suggested, “I'm good. Why don't you go back to work? I can get a ride from your driver.”
“No, Sang. You're the most important thing to me. I'd rather be with you now.”
In the car, Qi Yanli handed her a new phone, “I got you a new phone, but with a new SIM card. I saved my number in already.
See if you like it. If not, we can switch to another one.”
Qiao Luo accepted the phone while looking at him intently.
It amused Qi Yanli. He pinched her cheek, “Why are you looking at me like that?”
Qiao Luo inhaled sharply as if she was defeated by the fact that he had worn her walls down. Holding the phone firmly, she let it
out, “You are way too good to me.”
So good that I can't find a flaw to hate you for.
“Just consider this me paying my debt to you. I want you to accept my love without feeling pressured. If you really have to thank
me, then just give yourself to me.”
“Do you really want to marry me?”
Qi Yanli drew her into his embrace as he rested his chin on her head, “If not you, then who?”
Qiao Luo mentioned, “Dr. Han said you were interested in Mu Tongrui. Is that real? I'm not mad about it. It's understandable
since everyone thought I was dead.”
Qi Yanli looked down at her suggestively then smirked, “Are you jealous?”
“No... I'm just curious. She... kinda looks like me.”

“A little bit, but your personalities are very different. I never had feelings for her, though. I was only close to her to get to Fu
Lingye.”
“Ah.” Qiao Luo gave a brief response.
Qi Yanli's smirk became wider, “That's your response? Don't you want to follow up with any question?”
Qiao Luo's answer was interrupted by a breaking news on the radio.
“There's been an accident on Bohai Bridget at ten-o-five A.M today. A black car with the number plate AXXXXX plunged into the
sea with its driver. We're still unsure about the cause, but the rescue team is doing all they can to salvage the situation. Not only
has it caused a traffic jam, but it also has people worry about the safety of the bridge...”
Qiao Luo's eyes glazed over as she got caught in a train of thoughts.
Qi Yanli felt her body's sudden jerk.
“Did it bring you back to your own accident?”
Qi Yanli held her even tighter and snuggled her head against his chest, “Shh. It's okay, I'm here. We will spend the whole day
together, all right? I'm not going back to work anymore.”
Qiao Luo gripped the collar of his shirt, fighting her urge to break down emotionally.
I should be happy about Fu Lingye's death.
Instead, I'm devoured by immense fright and apprehension.
Caressing her hair, Qi Yanli frowned. He suddenly recalled it was Fu Lingye's number plate on the news.
A Supermarket close to Repulse Bay Villa.
Mu Tongrui had come to shop for ingredients in preparation for a celebratory dinner, including a birthday cake.
When she carried a basket full of ingredients to the register, the shop owner was concentrating on the news playing on the TV
above her.

She commented, “Good grief. Both the car and the driver sank. He's done for and there's not much you could do about it. Ay,
how did that happen in the first place?”
Mu Tongrui looked up to see a reporter narrating the incident.
“Good morning. As you can see, on Bohai Bridge, this part of the railing was wrecked as a result of a serious collision that
happened half an hour ago. Despite the rescue team's every effort, the driver is still not yet found.”
Mu Tongrui lightly asked, “Could you help me with this, please?”
“Oh... Yes, right away.”
After paying up, Mu Tongrui carried the shopping bag to leave the place.
Right before she exited, she received a call from Fu Mansion.
Why would Fu Zhengyuan call me?
Mu Tongrui picked up anyway, “Hi, dad?”
“Did you see the news? Fu Lingye had an accident.”
Mu Tongrui froze, “What... what news?”
“His car fell from Bohai Bridge into the sea.”
Mu Tongrui's body felt limp and she lost grip of her phone.
She dropped her phone, as well as the shopping bag. Ingredients rolled all over the floor.
Mu Tongrui's face was chalk-white. She dashed back and snatched the remote from the shop owner.
The shop owner was offended, “Hey! What's the problem with you?”
Unable to deal with the owner's displeasure, Mu Tongrui's voice trembled as her eyes turned red, “The... the news channel...”
The owner was thrown off by the state Mu Tongrui was in, “Bei City News Channel.”
Mu Tongrui switched to that channel to see that they were still reporting about the collision.

She squinted as she immersed herself in every detail reported. “The police is trying to get in contact with the family of AXXXXX's
car owner...”
Mu Tongrui repeated the number in her heard countlessly to make sure. Although she was familiar with this number, she had a
slight hope that by chance, it wasn't the same one.