Belated Romance (Mu Tongrui)

Mu Tongrui was loath to carry out the mission. However, she gave in to Fu Lingye's insistence.

The store had quite a selection of men's underwear. Despite having chosen two black ones, Mu

Tongrui changed her mind and got two floral ones instead.

Since Fu Lingye's usual colors are black, white, and all the shades in between, these patterns would

really pop on him.

Mu Tongrui chuckled mischievously, clearly entertained by the picture in her head.

She returned to their hotel room and casually tossed them at him. “I got what you asked for.”

Fu Lingye noted their bold patterns along with the bright colors.

He pulled her in by her waist and interrogated, “Is this a prank?”

Mu Tongrui took a step back, “I don't know what you usually wear, so I just picked whatever.”

“You didn't look when you took off my underwear last night?”

Mu Tongrui was at a loss for words.

Her cheeks went bright red.

Fu Lingye opened the packaging of the disposable underwear and placed it in her hand. “You should

put it on for me since you bought it.”

That illogical justification caught Mu Tongrui off guard.

She refused, “You wish! You had no problem taking off clothes but you can't put them back on?

“But I'm hurt.”

“Your hands are fine!”

He only hurt his back. How does that affect this?

Fu Lingye gave her a serious yet sly look before dropping his hand, “Oops, I broke it.”

Mu Tongrui took a second to process this.

He tricked me!

...

After getting ready, Fu Lingye and Mu Tongrui came down to the hotel's dining room for breakfast. They

ran into Qiu Zekai at the entrance.

“Hey, Tongrui. What a coincidence. Let's have breakfast together.”

Qiu Zekai and Mu Tongrui had been eating together for the past two days. Even though Mu Tongrui

was now accompanied by Fu Lingye, Qiu Zekai still invited her out of habit.

Mu Tongrui was never a sensitive person in trivial matters like this. Hence, she agreed without much

thought, “Sure! We're also staying for two more days. Let's go diving after this.”

Mu Tongrui immediately felt a gush of cold air coming from behind her, prompting her to look at Fu

Lingye.

Keeping his hands in his pockets, Fu Lingye glanced at her gloomily then went straight ahead.

Qiu Zekai was oblivious to the nuances of the dynamic between couples. He bluntly asked, “Is he not in

a good mood?”

Mu Tongrui smiled awkwardly, “Ah... Don't mind him. He's an introvert.”

At the breakfast buffet, Fu Lingye came to a bucket of congee. He beckoned Mu Tongrui, who was still

talking with Qiu Zekai, “Rui, come over.”

Called upon by that cold voice, she hastened over and handed Fu Lingye a bowl. Reading his

displeasure, Mu Tongrui started a conversation, “What kind of congee do you like?”

After knowing him for so long, she was still unclear about his personal preferences.

The last time she went with Xiang Nanqian to buy Fu Lingye food, Xiang Nanqian got him a tuna

sandwich without hesitation. She even bragged about how much better she knew him compared to Mu

Tongrui, his girlfriend.

Fu Lingye disregarded her question and poured some millet congee for himself. Seeing it, she tilted her

head, “You like millet?”

Fu Lingye still gave her the cold shoulder. Without a word, he went away for other breakfast items.

Did he get mad because I asked Qiu Zekai to join us?

“If you don't want him to join us, I can go tell him.”

Fu Lingye saw a middle-aged woman charge toward Mu Tongrui with piping hot congee. He quickly

pulled Mu Tongrui out of the way and into his embrace.

Mu Tongrui's head bumped on his firm chest. Despite the noisy environment, she could still hear his

reassuring steady heartbeats.

Fu Lingye gave the middle-aged woman a death stare. Mu Tongrui looked up shyly, “Nothing

happened. Why the long face?”

She laid her fingers on the side of his lips, gesturing him to curl them. Fu Lingye indifferently replied,

“Find a table.”

Mu Tongrui nodded her head and requested, “I like purple potato congee. Can you get me some?”

When Fu Lingye finished getting food for both of them, he found Mu Tongrui sharing a table with Qiu

Zekai.

She explained, “All the tables were taken so I came to join him. Come on.”

Fu Lingye was always hard to read. He also didn't like to talk during meals. On the other hand, Qiu

Zekai was talkative on all occasions. He enthusiastically talked about their plans for the day. Out of

courtesy, Mu Tongrui went along with that conversation.

Fu Lingye put a spring roll in Mu Tongrui's mouth, “Focus on the food.”

Mu Tongrui took a bite of it then kept her silence.

Qiu Zekai followed suit, as a result of Fu Lingye's domineering mannerism.

After breakfast, Mu Tongrui dragged Fu Lingye to the beach.

She tried to cheer Fu Lingye up, “We finally got rid of that third wheel. How about we go diving later?

We can take pictures with the pretty corals and fish.”

Arm in arm, she savored the soft sand as well as his company. However, she observed Fu Lingye's

face to be sickly pale.

“What's wrong? Does your wound hurt? Should we find a clinic?”

She reached her hand up for his forehead to check his temperature, but he put her hand away, “I'm

fine.”

The image of the clear blue ocean was soothing and mesmerizing to many people. Yet to him, it was

daunting.

Mu Tongrui had been walking on thin ice all morning. She carefully proposed, “If you're unwell, let's

relax in our room instead.”

Instead of Mu Tongrui's face, Fu Lingye saw an unnerving double-image of Mu Tongrui and another

woman. His facial expression grew grim, and he eventually shook off her hand, “I need to go onshore.”

He turned around and sped away.

Left behind on the beach, Mu Tongrui stared at his distant figure bewilderedly.

Is he still mad at me?

What did I do wrong?

Fu Lingye subconsciously checked his pocket for a cigarette. To his dismay, the pocket was empty.

Fu Lingye then bought a pack of cigarettes and a lighter from a little store. Smoking in a corner, Fu

Lingye zoned out.

The sounds of crashing water and the view of fluctuating waves put Fu Lingye on edge.

Even his cigarette started to shake due to his shivering hand.

“She's gone because of you!” The voices came back.

“Fu Lingye! Look at this cold corpse. If it wasn't for your stiff-neck, she'd still be alive.”

Those contemptuously soul-crushing remarks haunted him. They continued to kill his spirits and shake

him up. Fu Lingye shut his eyes tightly. With a thumb and an index finger, he killed the faint twinkle of

the cigarette.