Someone Who Belongs Here
The car pulled away from the villa and soon joined the coastal highway.
It was six in the evening.
Clouds had spread across the sky.
Even the sunlight looked as though it had been covered by a thin gray cloth.
Mu Wan sat in the passenger seat holding the plum Xu Xingkong had given her.
The fruit was cool in her hand.
Its skin was glossy red.
It looked sweet.
Mu Wan thought about Xu Xingkong again.
There was something unusually comforting about her presence.
Like a soft breeze carrying the faint scent of lavender.
Mu Wan looked toward Liu Qianxiu.
“Your friends are really nice.”
She had not properly met Huai Jing.
But Xu Xingkong alone told her enough.
She was gentle.
Whenever she mentioned her husband, happiness appeared at the corners of her eyes.
A man capable of making a woman like that happy, while also being one of Liu Qianxiu’s closest friends, could hardly be a bad person.
“Mm.”
Liu Qianxiu kept his eyes on the road.
Mu Wan continued watching him.
“I want them to be my friends too.”
Liu Qianxiu turned his head.
Mu Wan tilted hers toward him.
The red plum was already near her mouth.
When she noticed him looking, she paused and smiled.
“Can’t they?”
His gaze moved from her eyes to her lips.
Then to the fruit in her hand.
“Don’t eat that on an empty stomach.”
Her teeth had already touched the plum.
The thin skin broke.
A trace of sweetness reached her tongue.
And somehow seemed to spread through her entire body.
Mu Wan lowered the fruit.
Her slender fingers curled around the glossy red skin.
“Oh.”
She sounded perfectly obedient.
“Got it.”
By the time they returned to Liu Qianxiu’s apartment, it was after seven.
Mu Wan carried the kitten carrier into the nursery and released the three little ones.
Liu Qianxiu went to the kitchen to prepare dinner.
They had only been apart for a few days.
Yet the kittens had already learned to stand.
Their bodies were still tiny.
Their legs short and thin.
They looked like little balls of fur as they staggered toward her hand.
Mu Wan stroked one.
Then another.
Their baby meows softened something inside her.
Once all three had been fed and settled, she stood and headed toward the kitchen.
Before she could leave the nursery, her vision suddenly went dark.
Mu Wan focused.
Zhouyi was sitting in the doorway.
Its pale gold eyes were fixed on her.
Zhouyi was not particularly affectionate.
At least, Mu Wan had never seen it cling to anyone.
It was already a dark shadow of a cat, and it seemed to enjoy disappearing into corners.
Usually, it would not wander over until after she and Liu Qianxiu had eaten.
Now it simply sat there watching her.
Mu Wan had no idea what it wanted.
She crouched.
After a moment of hesitation, she reached out.
Her hand moved toward Zhouyi’s head.
The cat did not dodge.
Mu Wan lowered her palm.
Zhouyi closed its eyes and pushed its furry head into her hand.
“Meow.”
Mu Wan’s eyes shifted.
It was acting spoiled with her.
What did that mean?
It meant Zhouyi had grown accustomed to her presence.
More than that.
It had begun to accept her as someone who belonged in this home.
Something blossomed inside Mu Wan’s chest.
She stood and hurried toward the kitchen.
“Liu Qianxiu!”
He looked up.
“Zhouyi just acted cute with me!”
Warm light filled the kitchen.
Liu Qianxiu stood beside the dining table.
Every dish Mu Wan had asked for that evening was already arranged across it.
Outside the windows were thousands of city lights.
Liu Qianxiu looked at her.
Then the corner of his mouth curved very slightly.
“Dinner’s ready.”
In that instant, Mu Wan wished the rest of her life could look exactly like this.
After dinner, Liu Qianxiu stood and began clearing the table.
Mu Wan quickly raised a hand.
“I’ll wash the dishes.”
Ever since she started coming here, Liu Qianxiu had cooked.
He had also washed everything afterward.
Mu Wan’s only contribution was playing with the cats.
It was not that she had never offered.
The first time she ate here, she had asked whether he needed help.
He had refused.
Liu Qianxiu had his own order for everything.
He did not like other people disrupting it.
Afraid he would refuse again, Mu Wan hurried to explain.
“I can’t just keep doing absolutely noth…”
“All right.”
Liu Qianxiu agreed.
Mu Wan looked up in surprise.
He gathered the plates and bowls, carried them to the sink, and set them down.
She immediately followed.
The living room in Liu Qianxiu’s apartment looked as though it were furnished with antiques.
The kitchen was much more modern, though mainly because of the appliances and utensils.
Even the dishes had an old-fashioned elegance.
His cooking was lightly seasoned, which meant the bowls were easy to clean.
Mu Wan did not bother with gloves.
She picked up a translucent white porcelain bowl.
Its walls were thin.
Light.
Beautiful.
Before she started, she tied up her hair.
Her thick waves became one soft, fluffy bundle behind her head.
Without them framing her face, her features looked even smaller and cleaner, almost like white porcelain themselves.
Outside, the sky was completely dark.
Not a single star could be seen.
Inside, the kitchen lights were warm.
Mu Wan stood beside the sink in her long dress.
Her lashes were lowered.
Her expression peaceful.
She did not look like someone washing dishes for the first time.
And yet she somehow washed each one as carefully as though she were.
Her slender fingers supported the inside of the bowl.
She moved slowly around its rim.
Careful.
Precise.
Water ran steadily from the faucet.
In the quiet kitchen, it sounded almost like a mountain stream.
Liu Qianxiu remembered what Huai Jing had said earlier.
Mu Wan continued washing.
Liu Qianxiu remained beside her the entire time.
Eventually, his presence made her nervous.
She looked up.
A small bowl was still in her hands.
Her eyes shone.
“Are you worried I’ll break one?”
She smiled.
“Is it an antique?”
Liu Qianxiu looked at her.
Before he could answer, a sharp crack sounded.
The bowl slipped from Mu Wan’s hands and shattered inside the sink.
Northern Song dynasty Ru ware.
White porcelain.
“Oh!”
Exactly what she had feared.
Mu Wan’s heart jumped.
She stared at the fragments and immediately reached toward them.
Before her fingers could touch the broken porcelain, someone caught her wrist.
Long fingers circled it.
There was no force in the grip.
Mu Wan looked up.
Liu Qianxiu drew her hand safely out of the sink.
Then he reached over and turned off the faucet.
He took a paper towel and carefully dried her hand.
His lashes were lowered.
Without the sound of running water, his voice became particularly deep and clear inside the kitchen.
“It’s broken. That’s all.”
He finished drying her fingers.
“It isn’t anything valuable.”
His gaze settled on her hand.
“Don’t cut yourself.”
— End of Chapter 19 —
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Oowww so sweet... There are many bowls, but there is only one Mu Wan.
ReplyDeleteThank you for the hard work.. it makes my day so sweet
Well, if he thought it's a treasured antique, he would display it instead of using it. For the real rich people, utensils are just utensils which should be used no matter how expensive it's. They buy it because it pleased them to use it.
ReplyDeleteWell, if he thought it's a treasured antique, he would display it instead of using it. For the real rich people, utensils are just utensils which should be used no matter how expensive it's. They buy it because it pleased them to use it.
ReplyDelete