From Breakup to Vows, Marrying My Ex to Prove a Point - Chapter 10

I agonized for a whole week, still unsure how to tell my mom about the marriage.

If I told her we got the license on a whim during a fight, she would be angry no matter how much she doted on me.

I was still holding my phone, deep in thought, when Mu Shi walked over with a plate of sliced cantaloupe.

He stroked my hair. “I can be the one to tell her. It was my idea, after all.”

I shook my head violently. “No, let me just organize my thoughts.”

Susu, on the other hand, found out right away.

After we made up, Mu Shi asked if I wanted to invite her to dinner. Susu flatly rejected the offer. “You two newlyweds can be all lovey-dovey. I have work to do.”

So cold. I had no choice but to hug Mu Shi tighter.

After we got married, he kept an even closer eye on me. He memorized my menstrual cycle and wouldn’t let me eat anything cold for several days before and after.

Once, I secretly ordered an iced milk tea. The delivery was a bit late, arriving just as Mu Shi got home from work.

He poured the milk tea into a small pot and heated it until it was lukewarm before giving it back to me.

I protested, “You’re torturing me.”

He said, expressionless, “If I were really torturing you, I’d make you eat a cup of ice cubes every day.”

“Can you reply to my WeChat messages with more than one word?” I protested to Mu Shi. “I send you so many messages, even telling you how many times I burped after drinking milk today, and you just reply with a ‘Yeah.’ It makes me feel like such a pathetic fangirl.”

He glanced down at the book in his hand. “Okay.”

Later, I discovered he had specifically bought a book titled “A Guide to Internet Slang for Chatting.”

So the next day, I took a picture of my lunch and sent it to Mu Shi.

He: “Looks absolutely fire.”

Me: “?”

I said: “The fried rice is a bit dry. I think I’ll make some tomato and egg soup to go with it.”

Mu Shi: “Great idea. Drinking soup, what a wonderful thing.”

Me: “???”

“That was a great chat. Let’s not do it again,” I said that night, snuggled in his arms, catching my breath. “Just go back to how you used to reply. One word is fine. This new way is scaring me.”

But he still made an effort to reply with a few more words after that, like changing “Yeah” to “Yeah yeah.”

It felt like our relationship had suddenly leaped forward from its previous stalemate. I was slowly entering his world, not just being a part of it that was dragged along behind him.

And then, I couldn’t help but start overthinking again.

“Did he refuse to open up to me before because we weren’t married, so he was wary of me? Does he not trust me?”

Susu slammed her milk tea down on the table. “Chen Nanjia, I’m warning you. Things are going well. Don’t you dare start your drama again.”

“I’m just thinking about it, I’m not going to confront him,” I said meekly, chewing on my straw. “Besides, are you my friend or his?”

“It’s precisely because I’m your friend that I have to stop you from doing something stupid. After all, this is the first time in years you’ve met someone you like this much. If you ruin it with your own drama, you’ll have nowhere to cry.”

I knew Susu was right.

After parting with her, I went to a nearby dessert shop, got a big box of swiss rolls, and took a taxi to the hospital to find Mu Shi.

But I had barely said a few words to him when a pregnant woman, near her due date, suddenly went into labor. Mu Shi rushed into the operating room.

He was busy until late at night. When he finally emerged, still in his scrubs and smelling of blood, his eyes showed the fatigue that followed intense concentration.

He stopped a step away from me. The hallway light cast a cold white glow around him.

The scent of blood reached me. He lowered his eyes and smiled faintly. “Nanjia, I really want to hug you, but I don’t smell very good right now.”

I didn’t care. I threw myself at him, nuzzling my cheek against his chest and whispering, “Hubby.”

Mu Shi’s arms tightened around my waist.

I linked my arm with his as we left the hospital building. As we were about to go down the steps, someone suddenly emerged from behind a large pillar.

Before I could see clearly, she had rushed up to me and thrown a liquid in her hand at my face.

“Nanjia!” Mu Shi grabbed my arm and yanked me back forcefully.

I fell into his arms. Most of the liquid splashed on the ground, but a few drops still hit my exposed arms and the back of my hand.

A sharp, burning pain shot through me. My nose tingled, and tears streamed down my face uncontrollably.

“It hurts…” I cried. “Mu Shi, it hurts so much…”

It was acid.

The person who threw it had been subdued by security guards. In the light, she lifted her face, her expression extreme and crazed. “If you hadn’t interfered, how could Mu Shi have betrayed me? He clearly loves me so much! He said he would only love me for the rest of his life, that if he were to get married, it would only be to me! You’re a liar, a homewrecker, a bitch!”

The pain made my back break out in a cold sweat, but I still forced myself to retort, “That’s ridiculous! I was with him a year ago, when you were still in high school. If you’re sick in the head, go get treatment. Stop fantasizing about a married man all day. Do you really think we’re your parents?”

I couldn’t even finish my tirade before Mu Shi swept me up into his arms and strode to the emergency room to have a doctor treat my wounds.

“It’s okay, not serious. The burns are only on the surface of the skin. Just apply some ointment for a few days, and it’ll be fine.”

The doctor looked at Mu Shi’s tense expression and suddenly smiled. “So nervous, Dr. Mu. Is this your girlfriend?”

He said flatly, “She’s my wife.”

I added from the side, “Legally.”

The doctor turned his head and studied me for a moment. “Hey, you look kind of familiar-aren’t you that young lady who came in alone in the middle of the night for an IV drip? You’re our Dr. Mu’s wife?”

Standing next to me, Mu Shi suddenly stiffened.

After a moment, he said slowly, “Came in alone for an IV drip… When was that?”

“Let me think… A few months ago. I don’t remember the exact date. I only remember because the girl was on a drip and threw up cream all over the floor. When the janitor came to clean it up, she was crying and asked the lady to wish her a happy birthday.”

As he spoke, the memories of that night flooded back to me.

I had been so upset that day. I had turned down invitations from my mom and Susu because I wanted to spend my birthday with Mu Shi. But not only did he completely forget, I ended up in the hospital alone that night on a drip.

But today, I suddenly realized something. While I was sick and miserable on that drip, Mu Shi was in the same hospital.

He was just like tonight, forced to maintain intense concentration at the operating table, unable to relax for even a moment.

If he had the chance, I’m sure he would have wanted to come and hug me as soon as he got out of the operating room, just like tonight.

As we were talking, a new patient came in. The doctor gave Mu Shi a nod and hurried off.

Mu Shi sat down next to me and gently took my hand. “Was it on your birthday?”

“Yes.” I saw he was about to speak again and quickly cut him off. “But it’s in the past. Besides, you were busy with surgery that night and couldn’t leave. And you did wish me a happy birthday later.”

Mu Shi looked at me, his eyes seeming to sparkle with starlight.

I curled my lips into a smile, seeking praise. “What do you think? Don’t you think I’ve grown up and become very sensible?”

He smiled, leaned in, and kissed the tip of my nose. “Yes,” he whispered.