Chapter 81: Zheng An, the Stumbling Block
Mu Mu stood before the iron gate, holding his datapad, softly muttering the password displayed on the screen, tapping the numbers one by one.
After entering all eight digits, Mu Mu heard a “click” as the lock sprang open. He quickly stuffed the datapad into his pocket, grabbed the doorknob with his other hand, and opened the door.
Mu Mu first peeked through the crack, looking at the dimly lit interior, politely saying, “Mu Mu’s coming in~” before entering.
“It’s so dark. Why didn’t An An close the curtains?” The room was too dark. Mu Mu didn’t see any extra slippers by the entrance, so he walked in wearing only his socks.
Autumn on Liu Li Star was similar to summer, except that the indoor air conditioning didn’t need to be as strong.
Zheng An’s new apartment had wooden floors; it wasn’t cold to walk on barefoot.
Mu Mu first opened the living room curtains. The slightly glaring midday sunlight streamed in through the floor-to-ceiling windows, revealing the messy state of the living room.
Mu Mu looked at the clothes and blankets piled on the beige fabric sofa, the colorful socks hanging on the edge of the glass coffee table, and sighed maturely.
He carried the clothes and socks into the bathroom, put them into the washing machine in the corner, set the timer, and returned to the living room to fold the crumpled blanket on the sofa.
Mu Mu figured that if the living room was this messy, the bedroom must be even worse. The layout of this apartment was similar to their previous one, with the bedroom to the east of the living room.
As he approached the bedroom door, which was closed, the door opened by itself before his hand touched the doorknob.
Mu Mu’s eyes widened in surprise, and he took a step back. He had always thought that Zheng An was at work at this time and that the house should be empty. Now that the door opened from the inside, it was likely a thief!
Just as Mu Mu was wondering how to deal with the unexpected encounter with a thief, Zheng An, with a messy hairstyle, wearing a loose white short-sleeved shirt and blue checkered shorts, walked out in slippers.
Mu Mu: “? An An?!”
Zheng An yawned, rubbing his sleepy eyes, and said in a hoarse voice, “You came back, why make such a fuss? Are you afraid that others won’t hear you?”
He didn’t seem to notice Mu Mu’s surprised expression or show any excitement at seeing Mu Mu after a long time. It was as if Mu Mu had disturbed his sleep every time he returned home from work.
Zheng An walked past Mu Mu to the sofa, throwing himself onto it, one leg draped over the back, one arm hanging over the side, sprawled out.
“An An, why are you home at this time? Aren’t you at work?” Mu Mu followed, sitting on the edge of the sofa, facing Zheng An.
Zheng An lazily glanced at Mu Mu. “Shift work, you know? I’m off today. I planned to sleep all day, but you, little simpleton, ruined it.”
Mu Mu nodded, indicating he understood shift work. He leaned closer to Zheng An and chatted with him.
After a few sentences, a “gurgling” sound echoed between them. Both Mu Mu and Zheng An simultaneously clutched their stomachs; neither of them had eaten, and they couldn’t tell whose stomach was rumbling.
Zheng An originally wanted to grab a couple of nutrient solutions to make do, but he thought that Mu Mu had been well-fed by Yan Gui Xing for the past few months and probably wouldn’t like nutrient solutions.
He was worried about what to give the simpleton to eat. He wandered around the kitchen twice, just about to order food using his datapad when he saw the noodles in the corner of the cupboard.
The noodle was given by the chubby owner of the restaurant, who disapproved of Zheng An always drinking nutrient solutions, urging him to try something different.
Perfect, now he could give Mu Mu something different.
Zheng An picked up the noodles, raised them towards Mu Mu, who was sitting obediently at the dining table, and asked, “Do you want clear noodle soup?”
Mu Mu obediently nodded, then looked at Zheng An worriedly, asking, “An An, can you really cook noodles?”
Zheng An habitually rolled his eyes at Mu Mu, grumbling, “Just wait to eat! Don’t ask so many questions! Whether I can or not, you’re eating whatever I make.”
Mu Mu wasn’t angry at being scolded by Zheng An. He looked at Zheng An’s busy back with a contented and mature gaze, occasionally praising, “An An is amazing, you can even cook noodles now.”
Zheng An told Mu Mu to shut up, but his ears turned red.
The clear noodle soup was truly clear, without a single vegetable leaf or spring onion.
There was no helping it; the chubby restaurant owner only gave him noodles, no vegetables. Even the seasoning salt was from the apartment itself.
It didn’t know how long it had been there; the salt had clumped together due to dampness.
Zheng An could eat anything, but he was afraid Mu Mu, who was used to fine dining, wouldn’t like it. He looked at Mu Mu from time to time, afraid he wouldn’t like it and wouldn’t say anything. When Mu Mu finished the noodles, even drinking the soup clean, Zheng An finally breathed a sigh of relief.
Zheng An finished his soup in two gulps, tossed his and Mu Mu’s bowls into the sink, poured two glasses of water, and sat back down at the table.
He pushed a glass of water towards Mu Mu, picked up the other glass himself, took a sip, and looked at the beaming Mu Mu. “Tell me, why did you suddenly come looking for me? Did Marshal Yan give you a hard time?”
The smile on Mu Mu’s face vanished, his lips pressed tightly together. His thick eyelashes lifted, his dark eyes gazing at Zheng An before drooping again. He whispered, “No.”
Seeing Mu Mu’s aggrieved expression, Zheng An was about to explode. This little wife-like demeanor and he hadn’t been wronged?! Lies, even ghosts wouldn’t believe it!
He was about to press him when Mu Mu started recounting everything that had happened, spilling the beans.
Mu Mu spoke a little hastily; some of his words were unclear, but it was much better than before when he was using a hearing aid.
Zheng An had spent so many years with Mu Mu, acting as a Mu Mu-brand translator, able to flawlessly translate and understand what Mu Mu meant.
This time, it only took him a second to piece together the whole story.
Zheng An looked at the strawberry hair clip in Mu Mu’s hair. “So, you saw a very pretty girl and felt inferior, thinking you weren’t good enough for Marshal Yan?”
Mu Mu pursed his lips, rubbing his finger against the glass, and dejectedly hummed. “Really, An An, if you saw her, you’d feel inferior too.”
Zheng An shrugged, pursing his lips. “I probably wouldn’t feel inferior; I’d just think she’s pretty and want to date her.”
Mu Mu glared angrily at Zheng An, fiercely calling out, “An An!”
Zheng An raised his hands in surrender. Only then did Mu Mu calm down. Zheng An looked at Mu Mu’s frowning face, his cheeks puffed up, his gaze filled with both relief and heartache.
Before, he had hoped that the simpleton would become smarter, but not in a way that involved injury.
“Mu Mu,” Zheng An sighed, “Do you remember what I told you at the amusement park?”
Mu Mu’s gaze paused, taking a moment to recall the unpleasant memory at the amusement park.
He pursed his lips and nodded.
“I know you don’t want to hear this, but I still have to say it,” Zheng An said earnestly. “Mu Mu, Marshal Yan is different from us. He’s an aristocrat, a marshal; we’re just poor people. We’re different classes.”
“Also, Marshal Yan is too promiscuous. His affections are probably the same as what he’s told his previous lovers. Don’t be so naive and believe him.”
To prove his point, Zheng An took out his datapad, scrolled through the news he had collected about Yan Gui Xing, and pushed it towards Mu Mu.
Mu Mu lowered his head, his index finger tapping on the screen, carefully reading the news. He paused longer when there were pictures.
Those beauties, similar to the girl he saw at the gallery, caused the seeds of inferiority in Mu Mu’s heart to sprout rapidly.
However, he still didn’t doubt Yan Gui Xing’s affection for him. He thought that he wasn’t as good-looking as those women, but those women weren’t as handsome as Gui Gui, and he was inferior even to them, so he definitely wasn’t worthy of Gui Gui.
Seeing Mu Mu’s low spirits, Zheng An felt a pang of sympathy.
But this was a good opportunity. He had to make Mu Mu see the truth, otherwise, the deeper he fell, the more painful it would be when Yan Gui Xing abandoned him.
“Mu Mu, you said Marshal Yan would sign a marriage contract with you. Has he mentioned it again?”
Mu Mu suddenly looked up at Zheng An, his eyes blank. For some reason, even though he was talking about Yan Gui Xing, the faces of Yan Gui Xing and Mi Ya appeared in his mind.
He bit his lower lip hard, until it turned white, and shook his head slightly.
Zheng An sighed, saying nothing, but his expression clearly conveyed, “See? Just like I said.”
Mu Mu didn’t know how long he stayed at Zheng An’s place or how he got home.
He asked Xiao Ting if Yan Gui Xing was home and received a negative answer. His already low spirits plummeted.
Mu Mu didn’t go inside; he squatted on the grass outside the floor-to-ceiling window, staring blankly at the pink wildflowers sprouting from the grass.
He suddenly remembered that Yan Gui Xing had been very busy recently, busier than before, and he no longer spent time with him like before.
He also recalled the sadness and fear he felt when he couldn’t find Yan Gui Xing after coming out of the repair pod.
The beautiful and proud Mi Ya at the gallery, and Zheng An’s advice.
“Mu Mu, you can like Marshal Yan, but don’t like him too much. Otherwise, when you break up, the one who gets hurt is you.”
The unspoken affection and marriage contract, and the lack of intimacy recently.
Mu Mu didn’t know what was wrong with him; things he hadn’t cared about before now seemed so important.
He hugged his knees tightly, curling into a small ball. A large tear rolled down his cheek, landing on the petal of a pink wildflower, then sliding down the petal onto the grass, disappearing without a trace.
[Author’s Note]: Zheng An usually doesn’t go online; when he does, it’s always for big things.