From Breakup to Vows, Marrying My Ex to Prove a Point - Chapter 7

I had been staying at Mu Shi’s for three days when my mom suddenly called.

“Xiao Qin told me you two have made things clear. What exactly is going on?”

Qin Xuan? I had almost forgotten he existed.

“It’s nothing. I just don’t like him,” I said, zipping up the finished drawings and sending them to my editor’s email before shutting down my computer. “What did he tell you?”

“Xiao Qin said you’re entangled with another man.” My mom’s voice was laced with disappointment. “Nanjia, Mom wants you to settle down and get married, not to play with people’s feelings. Tell me, who is this man?”

I was silent for two seconds. “Mu Shi.”

My mom was furious.

“Are you crazy, Chen Nanjia? Who was it that came home crying in a taxi, saying he never replied to your messages, didn’t celebrate your birthday, and didn’t love you? You said you would never forgive him for the rest of your life. I tried to get you to make up with him, and you refused to your dying breath. What are you doing now?”

I bit my lip and said in a small voice, “Mom, I still like him.”

My voice held a tremor I could barely suppress.

“…Forget it. Do what you want,” my mom sighed. “I’ll clear things up with your Uncle Qin about Xiao Qin. Mom has to get back to work. I’m hanging up now.”

Before she hung up, she added one last thing: “Nanjia, you’re twenty-six now. You can’t be this willful forever.”

I felt awful. I stared blankly at the orchid on the balcony.

I had bought it at a nearby flower market right after I moved in. Unfortunately, I was terrible with plants. After a few days of watering, it withered. In the end, I had to pitifully ask Mu Shi for help.

He took over the plant’s care. He said he had asked a colleague who loved plants for advice, and after a period of meticulous care, he brought it back to life, and it even sprouted several new leaves.

I was overjoyed and threw my arms around his neck, giving him a kiss.

He just patted the top of my head and said helplessly, “Just try not to cause so much trouble.”

He had been really busy during that time. Several expectant mothers were near their due dates, so he had to be ready for surgery at any moment. He slept lightly at night, getting up immediately to return to the hospital whenever he got a call.

Even with all that, he still had to find time to take care of my plant.

My mom was right. I couldn’t always be so willful.

I decided to do something for Mu Shi.

That evening, while Mu Shi was reading in his study, I finished watching a movie and then went to the kitchen. I took two mangoes I had bought that afternoon, cut them into chunks, and brought them to him.

He sighed. “Alright, what do you want from me this time?”

I whined coquettishly, “How can you think that of me? I just wanted to cut some fruit for you.”

He glanced at the oddly shaped mango chunks on the plate, speared one with a small fork, and put it in his mouth. He paused. “You bought these?”

“Yeah.”

“They’re good. I like them.”

With that, he finished the entire plate of mangoes, not leaving a single piece for me, and then got up to take a shower.

Not one to give up, I dipped my fingertip into the leftover juice on the plate and tasted it. The sourness made my eyes twitch.

Even though I have a sweet tooth, this was way too sour. How could Mu Shi tolerate it?

I took the plate to the kitchen. On the way, I passed the dining table where Mu Shi’s phone lay. The screen lit up with a WeChat message from his mother: “You decide. We won’t interfere.”

My hesitation lasted only two seconds. I picked up his phone and unlocked it with his fingerprint.

In the chat, Mu Shi’s mom had asked, “Are you and Nanjia back together?”

“Yes.”

“She moved back in?”

“Yes.”

“Why don’t you just make it official? Stop all this back and forth. Nanjia has been through a lot too.”

“She’s still young. I’m not considering marriage for the time being.”

Mu Shi’s mom’s final reply was: “You decide. We won’t interfere.”

I stood there, completely frozen, tears splashing onto the phone screen.

Just then, the sound of the shower stopped. I snapped back to reality, wiped the tears from the screen, and frantically exited the chat, marking it as unread before placing the phone back where it was.

Mu Shi didn’t notice I had read his messages, but I was in a daze, unable to process anything for a long time.

In the middle of the night, while Mu Shi was asleep, I secretly went online and posted a question: “Broke up with my boyfriend in a fit of anger and then got back together. He told his mom he doesn’t plan on marrying me. What does this mean?”

When I woke up the next morning, Mu Shi was already gone. I grabbed my phone and saw the top-voted answer: “He’s just playing with you.”