Not Spare the Years

"Mr. Zhou, you are late."

With a respectful smile on his face, the spirited middle-aged man gently shook Zhou Zhenyue's hand politely, and invited the waiter to take the distinguished guest to a seat at the dinner.

It wasn't long before Xiao Ai came from the riverside apartment. She followed behind Zhou Zhenyue, holding a portable notebook in one arm, and whispered the financial report for this quarter with Zhou Zhenyue following the gap.

This is the birthday banquet of the old man of the Wang family. There are many entrepreneurs who have the opportunity to develop cooperation. Wang Hang specially arranged Zhou Zhenyue and the CEOs who intend to cooperate at the same wine table.

While Zhou Zhenyue was distracted from listening to the financial report, she was able to promote a personal relationship that was beneficial to her in the interleaving period.

Halfway through the feast, the waiter served an exquisite dessert. A toy cake with the same shape as the food on the plate was placed on the edge of the large porcelain plate. The waiter turned the toy over after serving the dish. A cute little princess stood up, and the cake just now became hers. Layer skirt.

Zhou Zhenyue stared at it for a few seconds.

Seeing her distracted, Wang Hang tapped on the table: "Mr. Zhou?"

Zhou Zhenyue blinked, hiding her gaffe, and asked Wang Hang, "Mr. Wang, can you give me this toy?"

Wang Hang chuckled: "I can't tell, you are still interested in this kind of kid's stuff."

Zhou Zhenyue also seemed to feel that it was inappropriate for a CEO like herself to ask for a toy like this at the wine table. She looked away, but still didn't let go: "Will you give it?"

Wang Hang couldn't help laughing, but he still reached out and took the cake princess, deliberately putting it in front of Zhou Zhenyue.

Zhou Zhenyue didn't care about him, put away the things, and continued the discussion about cooperation matters at the wine table just now.

After a dinner party, it was already late at night.

When the show was over, an unexpected person appeared.

As he was walking towards the gate, not far away, Mu Ruqing, who was holding a champagne glass, approached in a long dress.

She stood in front of Zhou Zhenyue and raised her glass with a smile: "I didn't expect to meet you here, President Zhou."

The Mu family once stole Zhou's business secrets. Others don't know about it, but Mu Ruqing and Zhou Zhenyue are well aware of it. Therefore, Zhou Zhenyue didn't have any need to pretend to be polite to her, and continued to walk without seeing it.

"Mr. Zhou," Mu Ruqing took a sip of the wine in her glass, not in a hurry, "I originally thought you were a smart person, but now it seems that you are pitifully stupid."

Zhou Zhenyue stopped suddenly.

Mu Ruqing continued with a smile: "The white-eyed wolf who once bit you, how dare you keep it by your side?"

Xiao Ai stepped forward and warned solemnly, "Don't go too far!"

Mu Ruqing glanced at Xiao Ai, ignored her, and looked at Zhou Zhenyue again: "I just kindly remind Mr. Zhou not to do stupid things in vain. Falling on the same woman twice, I don't think Is it too funny?"

Zhou Zhenyue nodded her head, her pupils slid from the corners of her eyes and looked at Mu Ruqing, her voice was still as still as water:

"At least, I have the ability to bear the consequences of being bitten." There was a hint of playfulness in her eyes, "Mr. Mu, have you cleaned your butt?"

Mu Ruqing's face changed.

Zhou Zhenyue... was actually insinuating that there was a scandal in her company about the insider's backbiting.

When Zhou Zhenyue turned around and was about to leave, Mu Ruqing smiled coldly again: "Don't be stupid, Mu Xueyi doesn't love you at all. A few years ago, she used you to gain a foothold in the Mu family. I found you after I got out of the house and had nowhere to go, and I’m still using you.”

Mu Ruqing said word by word, "She will leave you again one day, Zhou Zhenyue."

Zhou Zhenyue ignored her.

The upright back slowly walked away, unhurriedly, as if he didn't care about the gossip he just heard.

Xiao Ai drove the Bentley from the garage, took Zhou Zhenyue, and took her back to the old house as usual.

Zhou Zhenyue supported her chin with one hand and looked out of the car window, the cold wind blowing in the gap of the window lifted the broken hair on her temples, and the jade ring on her index finger was stuck on her chin.

"Xiao Ai," she said suddenly after being silent for a long time, "send me to the riverside apartment."

Xiao Ai was stunned for a moment: "Go, where?"

She repeated patiently: "Riverside Apartment."

Xiao Ai suddenly remembered what Mu Ruqing said just now.

- "She will leave you again one day."

She glanced at Zhou Zhenyue, who was tensed in the rearview mirror, and felt nervous.

...it turns out I still care.

The car drove to the downstairs of the apartment, Zhou Zhenyue did not ask Xiao Ai to follow, and went upstairs alone.

At the beginning, his footsteps were as indifferent as usual, but the closer he got to the house, the more his heart tightened, and his hands clenched into fists at some point.

Take out the key and insert it into the keyhole in the third stroke. He opened the door and approached the bedroom gently step by step. Every step was like walking on the tip of a needle, and tingling pain was drilled into his bones.

She closed her eyes, clenched the bedroom door handle, and after a short pause, twisted the door open.

The balcony door was not closed, and the wind blew in from the screen window and swayed the corner of the quilt.

In the wrinkled quilt, Mu Xueyi slept on her side, her soft long hair and pillow were tangled together, and she slept soundly. The wind blew through her body to the door, mixed with the warm fragrance of gardenias after the rain.

Zhou Zhenyue looked at her and was silent for a long time.

She is still there.

Fortunately, she is still there.

Zhou Zhenyue let out a sigh of relief, she forgot to breathe for a while, and her chest felt a dull pain.

She let go of the door handle and walked gently to the side of the bed where Mu Xueyi was sleeping, closer to her.

Mu Xueyi was hunched over, holding the shirt Zhou Zhenyue put on her when it was raining tightly in her arms, her eyes were red, as if she had cried for a long time before going to bed.

Zhou Zhenyue bent down slightly, stared at Mu Xueyi's face, and subconsciously wanted to reach out and touch the corner of her crying red eyes.

But when it was about to be touched, the fingertips paused, stopped for a moment, and then took it back.

Mu Xueyi, who was curled up in the quilt, looked very thin, her wrists were nowhere near as thin as a grasp, and she was as fragile as the thinnest layer of ice in late winter, as if a slight touch would produce chapped lines.

Zhou Zhenyue suddenly remembered the first time she saw Mu Xueyi.

In Mu Xueyi's perception, their first encounter should have been a deliberate approach five years ago.

But in fact, Zhou Zhenyue had already met her at a business dinner many years ago.

That night, Mu Guocheng followed Mu Ruqing by his side, the father and daughter chatted and laughed happily. Holding the cake holder, Mu Guocheng proudly introduced his eldest daughter to the bosses, while he filled Mu Ruqing's plate with various desserts.

And Mu Xueyi followed them far away, no one accompanies her, and no one brings her cakes. She holds the edge of the empty plate with both hands, and she is so quiet as if she and her father and sister are two worlds.

Generally speaking, this kind of unloved daughter always has jealousy and hatred in her eyes.

But Mu Xueyi did not.

There was only calm in her eyes, as calm as stagnant water.

Although she was so quiet, Zhou Zhenyue saw her in the crowd, and for the first time in her life, she stared at a stranger for ten seconds.

She often thinks that Mu Xueyi must not know how much she wants to be protected.

Wanted to put a small cake on her empty plate.

She wants to make up for the life that all her sisters can reach, but she dare not ask for.

Zhou Zhenyue lowered her head, took out the Princess Cake toy she had just begged for from the banquet, carefully opened the drawer of the bedside table, put it in gently, and slowly closed it.

"Good night."

She murmured softly, as softly as she was coaxing a child.

"Good night, Xueyi."

The wind blew the curtains again.

It was just a period of time when Ye Yun passed by the moon, and the room returned to silence.

I don't know when, there is no one by the bed, and there are no traces of all visits.

The only gift that man left behind was quietly and deeply hidden in the darkest corner of the drawer.

It was also late at night, in the Mu family mansion.

Mu Ruqing obviously drank a little too much, and Zhong Wan almost fell when helping her out of the car. Butler Lin helped him over, and nodded to Zhong Wan: "Excuse me, Assistant Zhong."

Zhong Wan shook her head: "No."

Saying that, she took out a box of medicines from her bag and handed it over: "If she wakes up in the middle of the night with a headache, please give her two tablets."

Butler Lin took it up with a smile, and asked again, "Aren't you going to stay with the eldest miss today?"

Mu Ruqing often kept this assistant at home for the night, and of course Butler Lin knew what they would do at night. In fact, he is responsible for purchasing the finger cots and lubrication supplies every time.

There was no nostalgia in Zhong Wan's eyes: "No."

She just turned around, but heard Mu Ruqing's unusually sober voice: "My dad called me this afternoon, and he said, let me find a way to get Zhou's latest quotation."

Mu Ruqing, who was too drunk to get up on Zhong Wan's body the last second, stood up and sneered, "Wanwan, do you want to guess, how will I get it?"

Zhong Wan gritted her teeth and stared fiercely at Mu Ruqing:

"Are you going to think of Xueyi again? She's your half-sister after all! What do you and your dad want? You've used her mother to threaten her to steal once. Can't you see her mental state every day in the three years since Zhou's return? Are you really not afraid of driving her to a dead end?!"

Mu Ruqing just smiled, very charmingly: "Do you feel sorry for her?"

Zhong Wan didn't speak, don't look away.

Mu Ruqing narrowed her eyes: "Wanwan, I'll show you how my good sister, who you always wanted to protect, betrayed a person who loved her to the bottom of her heart, again and again. Wait for you to see. Understand, you will know how stupid you feel for such a person."

Zhong Wan said word by word, "Xueyi is different from you."

Mu Ruqing sneered: "Yes, it's not the same. She is just a child of the third child. Like her mother, she is a first-class cheap, bone, and head."

Zhong Wan was silent for a while, then suddenly smiled: "I'm afraid I'm not as cheap as I am? I obviously hate you so much, but I have **** with you again and again for money. Tell me, who in the world can be cheap with me?"

Mu Ruqing's expression stagnated for a long time, and the end of her eyes twitched: "You like her so much, you want to protect her at all costs?"

The smile on Zhong Wan's face slowly disappeared, and she said slowly, "I'll tell you again, I don't like her. I just pity her. I pity her, like me, and have to get involved with people like you. Mu Ruqing, believe me, if there is a choice, Xueyi will definitely not want to be born as the second daughter of the Mu family, just like me, if I had known that my life would be ruined by you, I would definitely not have been in elementary school. when-"

The words come to an abrupt end here.

Mu Ruqing was stunned when she heard the word "primary school", and then laughed angrily: "Really? That's really a pity, your lives can't be changed. You are destined to lose your life after primary school. They were all sold to me, and she, too, is destined to embark on the old road of betraying Zhou Zhenyue."

There was a bit of chill in her eyes: "Let's wait and see."