Chapter 328: Chapter 300 I’m Back
After finishing his words, Uncle Yu waited at the door for a while. There came the sound of a water cup gently placed on the table from inside, and soon after, Mu Shuoqian pushed the door and walked out.
"Sir," Uncle Yu followed behind him, hesitated to speak, and finally mustered the courage to say, "The young master is still young, sir, don’t rush for success. Being able to reach such heights at this age, he is already a genius."
Mu Shuoqian didn’t speak, his steps firm and steady.
Seeing that he wasn’t angry, Uncle Yu added, "Sir, I think you should communicate more with the young master, try to understand more of his inner world."
Mu Shuoqian suddenly paused in his steps, his expression darkened, and the aura he emitted made Uncle Yu hold his breath. Just as Uncle Yu was about to apologize, he heard the man’s distant voice, "When he is with you, has he ever asked about his mother?"
Uncle Yu shook his head: "No."
Mu Shuoqian gave a faint nod. The French tutor Bruno was already striding over, greeting him in fluent Chinese, "Mr. Mu, hello."
Bruno took out a document and handed it over: "Mr. Mu, please take a look, these are a few topics I’ve selected."
Mu Shuoqian took it and looked through carefully; they were all fairy tales. He selected one of them, "Let’s choose this one, have him prepare well for it."
"Alright, Mr. Mu."
As Bruno was about to go upstairs, Uncle Yu reminded him from behind, "Teacher, the young master had a bit of a tantrum this morning. If he’s not cooperative later, talk some sense into him. He’s just a child with a tough exterior but a soft heart."
Bruno nodded with a smile, "Don’t worry, I know how to handle him."
Bruno had just gone upstairs when Xiao Ran arrived, and after exchanging a greeting with Uncle Yu, Uncle Yu went into the kitchen.
"Young Master Qian, you are flying to F country tomorrow. Let me pack your luggage."
F country?
How many times has it been this year, going there? Although he knows the likelihood of bumping into her is close to none, he still harbors a glimmer of hope—just to stay one second longer in the place where she lives, to breathe the air she has breathed one more time would be good.
Mu Shuoqian turned to look out the window. The two grapevines, under his meticulous care, had already climbed all over the trellis and would soon bloom and bear fruit, while the yard full of lavender had blossomed into a small purple sea, prompting passersby to take extra glances.
She once said that when the grapes bear fruit, they would sit under the grapevine, sipping wine and admiring the moon.
Two years ago, he bought the second floor of this building and expanded the living space by connecting it with the first floor, yet he still lived in the same room on the first floor, with the entire second floor belonging to Mu Qinian.
Xiao Ran was packing in Mu Shuoqian’s room when he suddenly heard a small noise behind him. Turning around, he saw a little figure hiding behind the door.
Xiao Ran smiled helplessly, folded the clothes, and put them into the suitcase.
A marble fell to the ground, making a loud noise, bouncing twice and landing right at his feet. He turned around once more, and this time, the little figure dashed behind the door.
He knew the little guy was trying to get his attention on purpose, so he stood up and walked over, peering behind the door to see the child barely up to his knees: "Qini, are you looking for uncle for something?"
Mu Qinian pretended to be passing by, tilting his small chin up and asking solemnly, "Uncle Xiao, what are you doing?"
Clearly seeing him packing, but deliberately acting as if he hadn’t seen anything.
Xiao Ran smiled, reached out to ruffle his hair: "Packing luggage for your dad."
"Is he going on a business trip again?" Mu Qinian’s little brows furrowed, an expression that particularly resembled Mu Shuoqian, "Then how many days will he be away?"
"A week," Xiao Ran answered truthfully.
Mu Qinian fiddled with his chubby fingers, calculating, and his little face suddenly fell. He stopped paying attention to Xiao Ran, turned around, and stomped off in a huff.
Xiao Ran looked puzzled, thinking the child just couldn’t bear to part with his dad going on a business trip and didn’t take it to heart, turning back to continue folding clothes.
Mu Qinian was really angry because in three days, he would be participating in the citywide children’s French speech contest. He had thought that Mu Shuoqian would be there to support him, but instead, he had to go on a business trip. This obviously showed that he didn’t regard his affairs as important and that, in his eyes, the most important things were work, work, and work.
"Qini, what’s wrong, you get so upset just from a trip to the bathroom?" Bruno concernedly asked the child who slammed the door heavily upon entering the room. Since he wasn’t strong and the door was heavy, he hurt his arm without making much noise—probably trying to let Mu Shuoqian on the first floor hear, then he turned around and kicked the door hard, only to miss and land awkwardly on his bottom.
Quickly, Bruno got up and came over, "What happened, why are you taking it out on the door?"
He helped the little one up, dusting off his clothes: "Didn’t hurt yourself anywhere, did you?"
Mu Qinian shook her head in frustration and suddenly looked at him with sparkling eyes: "Teacher, if I don’t win first place in the speech competition this time, will my dad fire you?"
Upon hearing this, Bruno was startled: "Qinian, why would you think like that? You have outstanding abilities, and as long as you prepare well, getting first place won’t be a problem."
"Teacher, answer my question first." Mu Qinian’s expression was extremely serious.
Bruno had no choice but to say: "No, Mr. Mu is not an unreasonable person."
"Then I understand." As if Mu Qinian had made some resolution, she clenched her tiny fist tightly.
When Mu Shuoqian went to the airport the next day, Mu Qinian had not yet gotten up. He glanced at his watch with some impatience, looked upstairs again, and then sat down on a chair in the dining room to flip through a newspaper. After just turning a page, he looked at his watch again and this time had a glass of water.
Yu Bo, who was busy at work, witnessed all of this. He knew the master was waiting for the young master to get up to say goodbye, but his pride prevented him from knocking on the door of his room.
Eventually, Mu Shuoqian could no longer wait as impatience took over; if he didn’t leave now, he would be late. He picked up his jacket and car keys from nearby.
Aus City International Airport.
Xiao Ran went to handle various procedures, and Mu Shuoqian sat in the VIP waiting room looking at emails on his phone when suddenly, the announcer’s sweet voice came over the loudspeaker: Flight CZ724 from Bordeaux, France, has landed in Aus City...
Mu Shuoqian turned his head out of habit to look outside. Through the glass, the screen in the middle of the hall displayed the number of the arriving flight coming from Bordeaux, France. France is so large, he didn’t know which city she was in; although over these years, he had visited every city in France, including Provence. But things have changed, leaving behind only nostalgia.
Mu Shuoqian stared blankly at the big screen for who knows how long. Passengers gradually began to emerge from the arrival gate. Every time he came here and heard of flights from France, he would pay special attention, hoping that one day she would suddenly return. Yet, every time, his wait was doomed to end in disappointment.
Someone suddenly bumped into the table next to him, and the coffee spilled. A startled voice hurriedly sounded in his ear, fluently apologizing in English: "I’m so sorry, so sorry."
Mu Shuoqian turned his head and saw a blonde-haired, blue-eyed woman standing by the table, her face showing a hint of panic: "I’m sorry, sir, I didn’t mean to. I was looking at my ticket while walking, so..."
Mu Shuoqian replied with an "It’s okay" and called a waiter over to clean up.
The woman also offered to help, but Mu Shuoqian gave her a somewhat indifferent glance, making her retract her hand awkwardly.
"Sir, let me order another cup of coffee for you. What would you like?" the woman seemed to feel especially embarrassed, insisting on asking him.
Mu Shuoqian, feeling queasy from the unfamiliar perfume scent, got up impatiently without saying a word and walked out of the waiting room.
The woman looked puzzled, shook her head, and walked up to the bar to order.
At the seat where Mu Shuoqian had just sat, outside the glass window, a slender figure appeared at the exit. She was dressed in a khaki knee-length trench coat, black ankle-length skinny pants, and black pointed-toe high heels. Her hair was casually braided into a plait resting on her shoulder.
She had a suitcase in one hand and a phone in the other. Black sunglasses covered half of her fair little face. She had just said a word when she saw the person coming to pick her up, so she waved her hand and quickly walked over.
"What a crappy plane, delayed by an hour, my feet are going numb." Mickey complained, but still greeted her with a big, cheerful hug, "Welcome back, Qiqi."
"I missed you to death, Xiao Mi."
The two close friends embraced and jumped around, attracting countless attentive glances.
"Let’s go, my car is parked outside." Mickey took over her luggage, eager to show her new car.
After Qiqi left, fulfilling Mama Mi’s wish, Mickey found a job as a French translator and worked part-time as a taekwondo instructor on weekends. Over the past few years, in addition to paying for home expenses, she had also saved a small amount of money. To make commuting to work convenient, she bought this vehicle for herself.
"I didn’t really want to buy an Audi; it’s too expensive. But my mom insisted that this A4 looked good and pushed me to add the extra two hundred thousand." Mickey’s car was decorated in a very girlish pink, clearly that of a young girl.
Gu Qili buckled her seatbelt and squeezed a stuffed toy in her hand: "Didn’t you always like Audi when you were in school? Now your dream has finally come true."
"By the way, what about Tang Tianyou? Why didn’t he come to pick you up?"
"He’s gone back to A City, his dad is ill."
"Ah? Is it serious?"
"I don’t know, his phone is turned off." Gu Qili put the toy back and turned her head to look out the window at this city that was both familiar and strange to her.
Almost four years, it had been nearly four years since she had been back here. The joys and sorrows of the past seemed to have faded away with the passage of time. They say time is the most effective way to heal pain, but now, breathing the air of this city, she still felt the melancholic emotions being stirred bit by bit.
I’m back, Aus City!