Chapter 17: She Wasn’t a Frivolous Woman
Chapter 17: She Wasn’t a Frivolous Woman
Mu Chuntao stared intently at Li Zian, her gaze seeming to pierce through his eyes into the depth of his heart.
Li Zian smiled and greeted her, “Miss Mu, is there something you need?”
“Do I need a reason to come see you?” Mu Chuntao said.
Li Zian didn’t know how to respond to that.
Mu Chuntao smiled, “I’d like to invite you for tea this afternoon. Would you honor me with your company?”
“This afternoon…” Li Zian wanted to stay home with Xiaomei, but he felt it was hard to refuse.
“Are you afraid I’ll eat you?” There was a hint of challenge in Mu Chuntao’s smile.
Li Zian chuckled, “My flesh is too tough for you to chew. Alright, where shall we have tea?”
“You’ll know when we get there. Have you made lunch yet?”
“I just finished cooking and was about to eat.”
“There’s no food at my place. May I join you for lunch?” Mu Chuntao said with a bright smile, but before Li Zian could respond, she suddenly stepped inside, her formidable assets nearly bumping into him.
Li Zian hurriedly stepped aside.
Mu Chuntao walked past him, a faint fragrance wafting by, stirring ripples in his heart.
“Grandma, Xiaomei, Teacher Tang, you’re having lunch,” Mu Chuntao walked toward the dining room, her face beaming.
“Chuntao, have you eaten? Join us if you haven’t,” Lin Shengnan’s voice said.
“Oh, then I won’t stand on ceremony,” Mu Chuntao replied.
Would she ever be polite?
Li Zian gave a wry smile and reached to close the door.
Tang Qing set an extra place for Mu Chuntao and served her a bowl of rice.
The five of them sat around the table. Li Zian and Li Xiaomei sat on one side, Mu Chuntao and Tang Qing on the other, with Lin Shengnan at the head of the table.
Li Zian put a piece of cabbage in Li Xiaomei’s bowl, “Xiaomei, eat more vegetables. The more you eat, the smarter you’ll become.”
Li Xiaomei pouted, “I’m already so smart. If I get any smarter, what will the other kids do? So I want meat.”
Li Zian stayed silent.
It must be because Yu Meilin’s genes were too dominant, suppressing his own. Otherwise, how could Li Xiaomei be so clever and quick-witted?
Mu Chuntao put a steamed pork rib in Li Xiaomei’s bowl, “Xiaomei, this rib smells delicious. Try it quickly.”
“Aunt Tao is so nice,” Li Xiaomei reached for the rib in her bowl.
Just as Li Zian was about to stop her, someone gently kicked his foot under the table. He froze for a moment, then glanced at the two women sitting across from him.
Tang Qing would never do something so improper, so the most likely suspect was Mu Chuntao.
But Mu Chuntao was eating with her head down, showing no unusual reaction.
Mu Chuntao looked up and smiled at Li Zian, “Who cooked this food? It’s so delicious.”
Li Zian stared at her. She knew perfectly well that he had cooked it, yet she said that anyway. She was probably the one who had kicked him too. What was she trying to do?
He remembered the fortune he had told himself.
Even a salted fish has its day of turning over; after bitterness comes sweetness, and peach blossoms bloom.
All signs pointed to the fact that these peach blossoms were indeed swaying right before his eyes.
“Zian cooked this meal. The soup is even better. Try it, Chuntao,” Lin Shengnan said.
Mu Chuntao served herself a bowl of soup, took a sip, and showed an expression of delight, “Wow, it’s really good. Brother Zian is truly capable both in the living room and the kitchen. Sister Meilin is so lucky.”
Lin Shengnan sighed, “Don’t praise him. This is all he’s good for.”
Li Xiaomei placed the gnawed bone on the table, looked at Lin Shengnan, and said in a sweet, childish voice, “Great-Grandmother, my dad can even tell fortunes, and they’re very accurate.”
“Oh dear, your dad is the best,” Lin Shengnan conceded instantly.
Li Xiaomei then looked at Mu Chuntao and said, “Aunt Tao, my dad is already married. I’ll keep an eye on him for my mom.”
“Pfft!” Mu Chuntao nearly spat out the mouthful of Great Benefit Phoenix Claw Soup she had just drunk.
Li Zian’s mind went blank again.
Was this Little Cotton-padded Jacket a Reincarnation of some spirit?
…
At one in the afternoon, Li Zian left home.
Li Xiaomei was taking a nap, and Teacher Tang had classes in the afternoon, so he didn’t need to stay with her. Since he had nothing to do at home, he might as well go out for tea with Mu Chuntao and return in time to make dinner.
In the elevator, Li Zian sent a text message to Yu Meilin, asking if she had finished her tasks.
By the time the elevator reached the underground garage, Yu Meilin still hadn’t replied.
Li Zian chuckled wryly to himself, “She’s a female President. Why would she reply to a text from a rural Live-in Son-in-Law like me? You’re overthinking it.”
Beside the red Ferrari, Mu Chuntao waved to Li Zian from afar, “Zian, over here.”
Li Zian put away his Mobile Phone and walked toward Mu Chuntao.
“I was afraid you wouldn’t be able to come out,” Mu Chuntao said with a smile.
Li Zian replied with a smile, “It’s not like I’m breaking out of prison. Why wouldn’t I be able to come out?”
“Aren’t you afraid your wife will get angry if you come to have tea with me?”
“It’s just tea. We’re not doing anything else. Why would she be angry?” Li Zian said.
Mu Chuntao looked at him with a playful smile, “If we’re not doing anything else, then if we happen to do something else, what would you want to do?”
Li Zian was momentarily stunned.
He thought he was already quite carefree, but he didn’t expect Mu Chuntao to be even more so than him.
A voice inside him said, “Do you really think it’s appropriate to tease a married man like this?”
Mu Chuntao pursed her lips and smiled, “Hehe, just kidding. Get in the car.”
Li Zian relaxed a bit and asked, “We have to drive? Is the tea place far from here?”
“There are many acquaintances around here. It wouldn’t be good if they saw us. So let’s go somewhere farther away. In case you want to do something else, it’ll be safer,” Mu Chuntao said.
Li Zian stayed silent.
Half an hour later, the red Ferrari arrived at the entrance of a five-star Hotel by the Ocean.
Mu Chuntao stopped the car, “We’re here. Let’s get out.”
Li Zian felt inexplicably nervous, “What are we doing at a Hotel…?”
Mu Chuntao leaned closer and said with a smile, “What do you want to do?”
She was wearing perfume, and the elegant, enticing scent wafted over with her breath, like a feather brushing against his neck. Li Zian instantly felt a tickling sensation rising from within.
In that brief moment, his feelings were a mix of nervousness and excitement, and his thoughts raced like wild horses, “She actually brought me to a Hotel to get a room. If I get a room with her at the Hotel, wouldn’t I be betraying Yu Meilin? But, she won’t even let me hold her hand. Even if I get a room with Mu Chuntao, she probably wouldn’t care, right? Still, wouldn’t that be unfair to Xiaomei?”
Before he could make any decision, Mu Chuntao had already opened the door and gotten out of the car.
Since the driver had gotten out, Li Zian felt it would be impolite to remain seated. He also opened the door and stepped out.
Mu Chuntao handed the car Key to the valet and then said, “Let’s go in.”
Li Zian wanted to say if this was happening too fast, but he swallowed the words.
If a young woman wasn’t afraid, why should a grown man be scared?
“You look a bit nervous. What’s wrong?” Mu Chuntao asked with apparent concern, though a hint of a smile lingered at the corner of her mouth.
Li Zian pretended to be calm, “Am I nervous? I don’t feel that way. Why would I be nervous?”
Mu Chuntao giggled, “Follow me.”
Li Zian followed her into the Hotel lobby, his mind still tangled.
If they got a room later, they would certainly end up in bed.
At that moment, should he give her the treasure he had preserved for over twenty years, or politely refuse her?
This decision was truly difficult.
But before he could reach a conclusion, he realized he had unknowingly followed Mu Chuntao into a tea restaurant.
He snapped out of it. He had overthought it.
The tea restaurant faced the Ocean, with no floor-to-ceiling windows. The sea breeze blew directly into the tea restaurant, filling the air with the scent of the sea.
“Master, Chuntao, over here.” A man wearing a baseball cap stood up and waved in their direction.
Li Zian looked toward the voice and immediately recognized the man. It was Fan Rui waving at them.
He suddenly understood—this really was just about having tea, not getting a room. For some reason, he immediately relaxed. The tangled thoughts and guilt in his heart vanished, yet he inexplicably felt a trace of disappointment.
Mu Chuntao suddenly leaned close to Li Zian’s ear and whispered, “You don’t mind that I also invited Brother Fan, do you?”
The warmth of her breath tickled his ear, and that itchy feeling emerged in his heart again. Since she kept teasing him, Li Zian decided to stop worrying about boundaries. He also leaned close to her ear and breathed warmly, “What do you think I should mind?”
Mu Chuntao’s face flushed slightly, and she turned her head away.
Those who play with fire will get burned.
She had been teasing him repeatedly, but when he teased her back just once, she actually blushed.
Li Zian thought to himself, “You blush so easily. It turns out you weren’t that kind of frivolous woman.”
Fan Rui came forward to greet them, a smile on his face, “Oh, I was really worried you’d be busy, Master, and I wouldn’t be able to invite you. I didn’t expect Chuntao to be so capable—she actually got you to come out.”
Li Zian was slightly taken aback. So it was Fan Rui who had invited him for tea all along?
The city’s schemes ran deep; he wanted to return to the countryside.
Fan Rui extended both hands, “Master, I hope I didn’t interrupt anything important?”
Li Zian didn’t put on any airs of being a Master. He also extended both hands to shake Fan Rui’s hands and said with a smile, “Not at all. I actually just arrived in Shanghai recently and have been staying home these past few days. I’m honored that Brother Fan invited me out for tea.”
Mu Chuntao gave them a disapproving look, “I say, why are you two men being so polite? Sit down and talk. Zian, what would you like to drink? I’ll order.”
Li Zian said, “Please order a cup of Tieguanyin for me.”
Mu Chuntao waved her hand, and a server came over. She said, “Two cups of Tieguanyin.”
“Okay, please wait a moment,” the server said and left.
Fan Rui glanced at Li Zian, then at Mu Chuntao, a meaningful smile appearing at the corner of his mouth, “You two really get along well, even drinking the same tea.”
Mu Chuntao slightly raised the corner of her mouth, “Brother Fan, what do you mean by that?”
Fan Rui said with a laugh, “Isn’t it true? You always used to order coffee, but today you ordered the same Tieguanyin as the Master.”
Mu Chuntao fell silent but glanced at Li Zian out of the corner of her eye.
Li Zian also felt a bit awkward.
“Haha, my bad. I was just joking,” Fan Rui suddenly changed the subject, “Master, I invited you out this time because I want to discuss a business deal with you.”
Li Zian’s interest was piqued, “What kind of business?”