She Seems to Struggle with Having a Wife - Chapter 26

Wei Qing’an had no choice but to backtrack, “No, I just wanted to let you know that I’ll be back tomorrow evening.”

“Tomorrow evening?” She remembered the news saying the conference wouldn’t end until 8 p.m. tomorrow. Wouldn’t rushing back be too exhausting?

“There’s no need to hurry,” Qin Mu expressed her concern.

It would be better to rest properly before returning; otherwise, she’d just be working again as soon as she got back.

Misinterpreting the underlying meaning in Qin Mu’s words, Wei Qing’an’s expression darkened. Her voice, tinged with a hint of coldness, carried more disappointment than before. “Alright, I understand. I still have some work to finish here, so I’ll hang up now. We can talk another time.”

“Mm, take care…”

Before Qin Mu could finish her sentence, the call ended abruptly.

Qin Mu lowered her gaze to the home screen that had just appeared. She had wanted to say, “Rest well,” but perhaps Wei Qing’an was truly too busy.

Returning to the legal department, Qin Mu discussed the details of the collaboration with her colleagues. It took the entire afternoon before the contract was finalized.

A little past 7 p.m., Qin Mu packed up to leave. After turning off her computer and the lights, the brightly lit office was instantly plunged into darkness, with only the flickering neon lights outside illuminating a few corners.

Qin Mu glanced back, pulled the door shut, and turned around. As she instinctively lowered her head to search her bag for her car keys, a woman in high heels approached, the sharp clicks echoing eerily in the quiet office.

When the woman drew nearer, Qin Mu walked over with a faint smile. “Ms. Yan, is something the matter at this late hour?”

“Yes, something very important.”

Yan Huan’s serious expression and tone made Qin Mu slowly straighten her smile and withdraw her hand from her bag.

Since it wasn’t convenient to talk at the office, the two left and drove to the riverside. Yan Huan seemed prepared for a long conversation, even buying two cups of hot milk tea. Qin Mu rarely consumed such high-calorie, high-sugar drinks in the evening, so she simply held hers to warm her hands.

There was no wind tonight, and the river surface rippled gently. A brightly decorated cruise ship rumbled as it slowly passed by.

It wasn’t too late yet, and the road behind them was still bustling with traffic, horns blaring and noise filling the air.

The two sat on a bench, leaving space for one person between them. Yan Huan gazed into the distance across the river, crossing her legs and taking a sip of her milk tea before saying, “Did you see today’s hot search?”

“No,” Qin Mu replied. She rarely used her phone during work hours, usually just scrolling through it briefly before bed.

Yan Huan turned to Qin Mu in surprise. She had assumed Qin Mu already knew. She hadn’t expected that, even after a whole day, Qin Mu remained completely unaware especially since Wei Qing’an, that old-fashioned woman, hadn’t even called to explain?

Feeling helpless, Yan Huan took out her phone, opened the hot search list, and scrolled to the entry about Wei Qing’an and Ling Xi. She handed the phone to Qin Mu and said, “Take a look for yourself.”

“Alright,” Qin Mu replied, accepting the phone.

As her gaze fell upon the screen, the names Wei Qing’an and Ling Xi abruptly appeared before her eyes. Her heart tightened instantly. The last time she had seen two names paired together like this on a hot search was when a certain pair of female celebrities had publicly announced their marriage.

Qin Mu suddenly felt so nervous that her heart seemed to leap into her throat. Her hovering finger hesitated, rising and falling, unable to bring herself to tap the screen.

What if she opened it and saw news of Wei Qing’an and Ling Xi going public? Qin Mu’s thoughts spiraled into chaos.

She knew that given Wei Qing’an’s character, she wouldn’t do such a thing, but Qin Mu was still worried that the content might be something she didn’t want to see.

After hesitating for a long time, Qin Mu still clicked on it.

The moment she opened it, the photo of the two holding hands felt like a knife, piercing straight into Qin Mu’s trembling heart.

Her beautiful eyes instantly reddened and swelled.

Yan Huan didn’t notice Qin Mu’s change and said with a grim expression, “Xiao Anzi probably never told you that the reason she fell out with Ling Xi and cut off contact was because Ling Xi used the Ling family to pressure her into marriage, and Xiao Anzi refused.”

“What?” Qin Mu looked up abruptly.

Ling Xi had actually pressured Wei Qing’an into marriage.

Yan Huan nodded, her expression somewhat melancholy.

Not many people knew about this; even their mentor and Xiao Chenzi were unaware. Come to think of it, the time Ling Xi pressured her into marriage was just a few days before Xiao Anzi and Qin Mu registered their marriage. It was unclear whether Xiao Anzi had married Qin Mu because of this.

Qin Mu no longer had the heart to look at her phone. She closed it and handed it back, asking, “Teacher Yan, could you elaborate?”

Yan Huan took it and put it in her pocket. “Of course.”

Some things Xiao Anzi couldn’t bring herself to say, so she would say them for her.

When mentioning Ling Xi, Yan Huan’s expression wasn’t exactly serious but more concerned. Ling Xi was a person of deep cunning, complex and inscrutable, impossible to figure out or predict.

Especially since Ling Xi still didn’t know that Xiao Anzi and Qin Mu were already married. But given Ling Xi’s obsessive nature, if she found out, she might do something impulsive that was what Yan Huan feared most.

Of course, it would be best if nothing happened at all.

Yan Huan sighed unconsciously and said slowly, “I don’t know much about Xiao Anzi and Ling Xi’s university days. You probably know more than I do. I only found out that Ling Xi liked Xiao Anzi when she returned to the university as a teacher after her hand injury.”

Had Wei Qing’an’s hand been injured before, which led to her returning to the university as a teacher?

For the first time in all these years, Qin Mu learned of this. The moment she heard it, it felt like an electric shock coursing through her body, forcefully bringing back some memories.

Qin Mu clearly remembered that when Wei Qing’an first returned to the university, it was as if she had become a different person. She kept to herself every day, and when someone spoke to her, she would only nod with a smile that didn’t reach her eyes, murmuring a quiet “mm,” her gaze vacant and unfocused.

Even when the university held various events and invited her multiple times, Wei Qing’an never attended. It wasn’t until the vice-principal personally went to her office that she reluctantly agreed.

Qin Mu had heard these rumors from Xiao Xi.

But in the second half of her second year of graduate school, after Xiao Xi passed away, Qin Mu rarely heard anything about Wei Qing’an, and their chance encounters on campus became few and far between.

However, during her third year of graduate school, Qin Mu once saw Wei Qing’an. It was a drizzly evening, the weather slightly chilly. She was standing at the school bus stop, waiting for the last bus back to the dormitory.

The wet cement pavement was strewn with green maple leaves blown into puddles by the wind, creating ripples all around.

Just as Qin Mu was spacing out, a few boys suddenly appeared beside her, their noisy chatter disturbing her peace.

Qin Mu snapped back to reality, hugging her books as she stepped aside. When she looked up, she saw Wei Qing’an walking along the opposite bluestone path in a black shirt, her head lowered.

Her rain-drenched hair clung damply to her shoulders, and her high heels were stained with watermarks. She looked like a drowned rat fresh out of the water, yet Wei Qing’an seemed completely unbothered, continuing her walk in the rain.

In the darkness, her slender figure appeared so helpless and sorrowful that it made one want to embrace her.

Qin Mu’s brow furrowed tightly. Glancing down at the umbrella in her hand, she dashed forward without a second thought.

But just then, the school bus pulled over with its lights flashing, nearly causing Qin Mu to collide with it. Undeterred, she stepped around the bus, crossed the cement road, and hurried onto the opposite path.

As Qin Mu jogged up behind Wei Qing’an and opened her umbrella to offer it, a woman suddenly appeared in front of Wei Qing’an. Holding a black umbrella, the woman enveloped both of them in the deeper shadows of the night.

Qin Mu gradually came to a halt, staring blankly.

Soon after, Wei Qing’an left with that woman. Qin Mu stood rooted to the spot, lost in a daze for a long time.

This later became her most vivid memory of Wei Qing’an.

A walking corpse, nothing more than that.

Breaking free from her memories, Qin Mu pushed aside the question of who that person was. Were all those changes in Wei Qing’an due to her hand injury? But how severe could the injury have been to transform someone once so bright and cheerful into such a state of desolation?

Yan Huan’s voice sounded in her ears once more.

“Xiao Anzi taught for as long as Ling Xi stayed by her side, though Xiao Anzi only ever saw Ling Xi as a friend and never considered taking their relationship further. When Xiao Anzi’s hand fully recovered and she decided to leave Jing University to return to work at the Imperial City Museum, Ling Xi arranged to meet her at an upscale restaurant. There, in front of everyone, Ling Xi proposed to her.”

Qin Mu listened, her fists clenching.

“Xiao Anzi refused, but Ling Xi didn’t give up. Later, she even used the Ling family’s influence to pressure her. Despite the strain, Xiao Anzi personally visited the Ling family to apologize but still didn’t agree to the marriage. After that, their contact dwindled.”

As Yan Huan spoke, she had unknowingly swapped her milk tea for a cigarette. Taking a drag, she continued, “I thought Ling Xi’s feelings for Xiao Anzi would fade as their interactions lessened, but when I saw the trending topic today, I realized Ling Xi still hasn’t let go in fact, she’s become more persistent. The Ling family had a hand in that appreciation event; they’ve always wanted to strengthen ties with the Wei family, and Xiao Anzi is their entry point.”

Qin Mu understood. “So, this trending topic was deliberately bought by Ling Xi and her family?”

“Exactly,” Yan Huan nodded. “Thanks to her background and decent looks, Ling Xi has gained some fame after appearing in a few shows. But their goal in buying the trending topic isn’t publicity, it’s to use public opinion to tie Ling Xi and Wei Qing’an together.”

After all, in this age of information, public opinion is the most blatant open strategy. Just like this trending topic: in front of the camera, Xiao Anzi and Ling Xi are smiling so happily and brightly, but behind the scenes was Xiao Anzi truly happy?

Like the rest of her Ling family, Ling Xi would stop at nothing to get what she wanted, and public opinion was merely one of her tactics.

That’s why Yan Huan hadn’t told Qin Mu the full story, the waters ran too deep. And the reason Xiao An hadn’t returned to the Wei family all these years was precisely to avoid getting entangled in this mess.

After Yan Huan finished speaking, Qin Mu fell into a long silence.

The milk tea in her hand grew cold.

So this seemingly ordinary event had such a hidden side to it, no wonder Wei Qing’an, who had clearly stated she had no contact with Ling Xi, could still smile so brightly now.

The phone call this afternoon, Qin Mu suddenly remembered.

Had Wei Qing’an called specifically to explain things to her?

Without a second thought, Qin Mu pulled out her phone and dialed Wei Qing’an, not caring whether Yan Huan was still there. But she worried it might be a busy time would Wei Qing’an even answer?

Nervously, Qin Mu stood up, her right thumb unconsciously finding its way to her mouth as she nibbled on her neatly trimmed nail.

“Hello?” Wei Qing’an answered in less than three seconds.

Qin Mu’s eyes instantly lit up. She walked to the railing, gazing at the shimmering river, and said, “The trending topic, I just saw it. You two look quite compatible.”

Wei Qing’an, who had been unbuttoning her shirt to take a shower, froze at the words. Letting go of the buttons, she sank onto the bed and replied unhappily, “Are you being sarcastic, or are you being sarcastic, President Qin?”

“You caught that?” Qin Mu teased deliberately. “Was that what you wanted to talk about when you called at noon?”

“Yeah, I wanted to mention it.”

Wei Qing’an had been a little annoyed earlier, but hearing that Qin Mu had only just seen the trending topic eased her irritation. After all, it wouldn’t be fair to take it out on someone who hadn’t known.

Hearing her confirmation, Qin Mu chuckled softly and looked down. “What time is your high-speed train tomorrow evening? I’ll pick you up.”

“Nine o’clock. I’ll arrive at ten.”

Wei Qing’an answered swiftly.

Qin Mu made a mental note. “Alright, got it.”

Support