"What, going to the neighbor's sister's wedding, feeling too flustered that you can't even pick out an outfit?"
She had just blurted that out when Sheng Mumu realized something was off about the atmosphere.
However she listened, it sounded like...jealousy?
The steady, composed man before her visibly tensed his shoulders.
Then, let out an almost imperceptible low chuckle.
His broad shoulders and chest lightly trembled with the laughter.
Sheng Mumu pursed her lips, propping herself against the table corner as she stood up.
She was going to end this topic.
Go to the bathroom to take a shower.
But as soon as she turned around and took a few steps, her wrist was suddenly caught by a faint strength.
The man's broad palm encircled her wrist, forcing her to stop.
Warm sensations slowly crept up from her wrist.
"Mumu..." Qi Mo bent his lips, a trace of smugness in his expression, but his tone weakened as he looked into her eyes and slowly spoke.
"I've thought about it, and I was indeed wrong about this."
Sheng Mumu blinked, lightly arching her brows, "Where were you wrong?"
As soon as she spoke, she regretted it again.
This tone was just like those online skits between couples that she had seen before.
- When a man says "I'm wrong" to his girlfriend, she will likely ask "Wrong where?" and "Will you dare do it again?"
Sigh~
The inexplicably brought up topic tonight seemed to be going in an increasingly bizarre direction.
She wanted to take it back but it was too late.
Qi Mo's pitch black pupils reflected fragmented warm lamplight, with still damp bangs hanging over his forehead after his shower, looking very different from his usual aloof and unapproachable image.
He seemed especially...gentle.
His eyelashes lowered as he looked straight at her, his tone gentle.
"I've reflected that I should have told you earlier about all women around me, even a neighbor from over a decade ago."
He didn't have experience with charming women.
He had never pursued anyone before.
Or rather, he had never been attracted to any woman before.
Previously, he had never even considered that he should report all his female friends and acquaintances to her honestly.
Fortunately.
It wasn't too late to confess now.
Sheng Mumu felt the warm palm around her wrist tighten slightly.
Then, the man's steady, low voice sounded.
"You've met Qiao Li, she's my cousin--"
Sheng Mumu was stunned, blankly looking at him.
"--At the company, I interact more with three female executives for work."
"..."
"--But only limited to work."
"..."
"In the old neighborhood, there were two neighbor's sisters, one was Fang Uncle's daughter, and another was from the alley..."
"..." Sheng Mumu's gaze gradually tightened as he spoke.
"--Since moving to Xiyu Yue Ting, there are no more familiar neighbors."
"..."
As their gazes met, she felt her heartbeat getting faster and faster.
The man's low and steady voice was gradually completely drowned out by the clear sound of her heartbeat.
The sounds around her ears became blurred.
Her heart pounded like thunder.
Compared to when Qi Mo had given her a complete list of his assets,
His current earnest appearance made her unable to look away.
The bedroom lighting was soft.
With his back to the light, Qi Mo's silhouette was indistinct, but still rugged, his fair skin seeming to be covered by a layer of soft light.
Handsome, beguiling.
Perhaps because his expression and tone were so sincere, Sheng Mumu somehow felt a stir of guilt well up.
In all honesty.
She really hadn't expected that the authoritative Qi Mo Group CEO would seriously reflect just because of her casual remark.
To be fair.
Was she curious about Qi Mo's romantic history?
Yes, she was curious.
But now that they were only contract spouses, she wasn't ready to start a real relationship yet. She could still restrain that slight curiosity.
Yet unexpectedly, with her unintentional words, that tiny hidden thought had slipped out.
Even she herself hadn't noticed.
After a while, Sheng Mumu breathed lightly and finally spoke his name.
"Qi Mo..."
The man who had been speaking stopped and looked at her.
It was quiet for a moment.
Sheng Mumu's eyes were misty, she paused briefly, then said, "You being like this--"
"--Will make me want more and more."
Qi Mo was stunned, clearly not expecting her to say this.
Or perhaps he didn't fully understand the meaning behind her words, a hint of indiscernible emotion flashing through his deep eyes.
Sheng Mumu slowly retracted her hand, her gaze meeting his as she slowly curled her fingertips and spoke.
Her tone was extremely patient.
As if introducing her true self to him, and also pushing him away.
"I know I've always been an insatiable person, just like with making money - even though I'm now financially secure, I'll still think about doing better and better, and then..."
She stopped, gazing into his attractive eyes.
Qi Mo's eyes were deep and unfathomable, his voice a little hoarse. "Then what?"
Sheng Mumu steeled herself and finished the second half of her sentence:
"I guess this is just my nature."
"If I readily accept even a little bit of your kindness to me, I'll become greedy and want more and more."
"...More and more."
So you see.
I'm hard to move, and very greedy.
Do you still want to like someone like me?
As her words fell, the sounds around them seemed to still.
One second passed.
Two seconds.
Three seconds.
The gaze fixed on her grew more and more scorching.
It was the only thing with substance in this tranquil world.
His pleasant scent drifted over strand by strand.
Burning the air around her until scalding hot.
He took a step forward.
His tall figure obscuring her slender shadow.
The next second.
The scent of the man's shower gel enveloped her overwhelmingly.
He stretched out his arms, leaning down.
Sheng Mumu's body stiffened as she was trapped in a warm, powerful embrace.
Qi Mo's breathing became shallow as he lightly rested his chin on top of her head.
It was a restrained, gentle hug.
As if she were a treasured item that he cherished but didn't dare touch, extremely careful.
The boundary between contract spouses was on the verge of being broken through but not quite.
Sheng Mumu's cheek collided with his chest, hearing the muffled thumping within.
Her heart was also racing wildly, her nose full of his clean, crisp scent.
It made her dizzy and overwhelmed.
Amidst the booming heartbeat, Qi Mo's low voice, wrapped in lingering warmth, sounded above her head.
"You can try being more greedy."
"I can afford it."
*
Sheng Mumu couldn't remember how she had escaped from that warm yet suffocating embrace.
Not until she fled into the bathroom and shut the door.
Her cheeks remained burning hot for a long time.
Just thinking about Qi Mo's hug from earlier.
Made her feel like a faint electric current was coursing through her body, leaving her short of breath.
She soaked in the bathtub again.
She had already showered and done her skincare earlier, but now her palms and back were covered in fine beads of sweat, forcing her to wash again.
She submerged her head in the water.
Blocking out all ambient sounds.
Abruptly, that sentence echoed in her ears again.
--"You can try being more greedy."
--"I can afford it."
Along with the splashing water sounds, she lifted her impossibly red face.
Rubbing her cheeks vigorously.
No matter how hard she rubbed.
That voice lingered.
Her phone suddenly vibrated.
She picked up her phone from the ledge beside the bathtub.
Clicked open.
Qi Mo: "Seeing how honest I'm being, will you consider helping me pick out clothes?"
