Incurable Chapter 26 Come With Me (1)

Because You’re Happy

“Can I really go?”

After lunch, Liu Qianxiu stood at the sink washing dishes while the woman beside him asked for confirmation yet again.

Mu Wan looked like a child who had not finished her homework but had somehow been given permission to go out and play anyway.

Excited.

And still not quite able to believe her luck.

“Mm.”

Liu Qianxiu finished washing another bowl.

Once she received another definite answer, Mu Wan smiled.

She leaned against the kitchen counter and tilted her head.

“Is the temple far away?”

“Far.”

“Then are we taking the train?”

“Driving.”

“We’re driving ourselves?”

She drew out the words, happiness filling her voice.

“Are there a lot of other Daoists at the temple?”

“No. My master is away. Only my senior brother is there.”

“Huh?”

Mu Wan looked surprised.

Then she quickly understood.

Liu Qianxiu cultivated in solitude and preferred quiet.

Of course he would not choose one of those large Daoist temples crowded with worshippers and thick with incense smoke.

The temple he had chosen was probably somewhere remote and rarely visited.

While she was thinking, Liu Qianxiu finished washing the last bowl.

He turned off the faucet, pulled out a paper towel, and dried his hands.

Then he checked the time.

“You don’t have filming today?”

The curiosity in Mu Wan’s eyes faded.

Her attention shifted back to herself.

She braced both hands against the kitchen counter and glanced out the window.

“No filming today.”

She counted.

“None tomorrow either. Or the day after.”

Then she concluded,

“I don’t have any work for the rest of the week.”

Looked at that way, she supposed she should thank Mu Qing for having all her scenes cut.

Otherwise, she would not have had time to follow Liu Qianxiu to Qingyuan Temple.

A blessing in disguise.

As she spoke, Liu Qianxiu kept looking at her.

Mu Wan turned and met his gaze.

She rubbed her nose.

“It’s not because I’m slacking off. I was supposed to have shoots these next few days, but they were…”

She stopped.

Then smiled.

There was no need to tell Liu Qianxiu about any of that.

All she wanted was to spend the week happily going to the temple with him.

The brightness returned to her eyes, sweeping away the brief shadow from before.

She looked up at him, careful but delighted.

“Why are you taking me to the temple?”

Her voice was sweet and clear, like dew resting on lotus leaves at dawn after rain.

Liu Qianxiu looked at her.

“Are you happy?”

“Yes.”

The answer came immediately.

Certain.

Liu Qianxiu said nothing more.

Apparently, that was the answer.

He checked the time again.

“I have to go to work.”

Liu Qianxiu went to the hospital.

Mu Wan went home to pack.

They would leave Thursday and stay until Monday.

Four days in total.

Summer clothes were light.

Packing should have been easy.

For Mu Wan, it was anything but.

Nearly everything in her closet ended up scattered across the bed.

Cool air from the air conditioner stirred the corner of a chiffon blouse.

Mu Wan stared at the small mountain of clothes.

After all that effort, only two pieces had actually made it into her suitcase.

Eventually, she gave up choosing.

She dropped facedown onto the bed.

Her soft body sank into the equally soft pile of clothes.

A few seconds later, quiet laughter came from somewhere inside them.

Mu Wan rolled onto her back.

The smile had not left her face.

She held her phone above herself and called Lin Wei.

Lin Wei was working on a design when the call came.

After answering, she walked to the pantry to get coffee.

She had worked late into the night and still had not finished the project.

Exhaustion showed in her voice.

Lin Wei might be a wealthy second-generation heiress who treated romance like entertainment, but her professional ability was beyond question.

And she genuinely loved interior design.

Working through the night was nothing unusual for her.

“You stayed up again?” Mu Wan asked.

She could hear the fatigue immediately.

“Mm.”

Lin Wei took a sip of bitter coffee and winced.

“God, that’s awful.”

Then she asked,

“Why aren’t you filming today?”

Mu Wan’s smile paused.

She pushed herself upright from the pile of clothes and sat cross-legged.

“I don’t have any shoots this week.”

Her expression cooled slightly.

“Mu Qing arranged it. She wants me to go beg her.”

“Don’t,” Lin Wei said immediately.

Mu Wan laughed.

“Obviously. Even if I stopped getting work, I wouldn’t starve as long as I had you.”

That was part of Mu Wan’s confidence.

Lin Wei gave it to her.

After so many years of friendship, there was no need to explain how deep that bond ran.

But the smile in Mu Wan’s voice was obviously not only because of the joke.

Lin Wei narrowed her eyes.

“You sound way too happy. What happened?”

There was no hiding anything from her.

Mu Wan fell backward again.

Her thick black hair spread across the colorful clothes like scattered black gemstones.

“I’m going to a Daoist temple.”

Lin Wei nearly inhaled her coffee.

She coughed twice and set the cup down.

“You’re going to a temple?”

Her disbelief was obvious.

“What are you doing there? You love the man so much you’re going to become a Daoist too?”

“I’m going with Daoist Liu.”

Mu Wan could not keep the smile from her voice.

“What the hell?”

Lin Wei was completely awake now.

“He’s taking you with him?”

Then she immediately demanded,

“What exactly is going on between you two now?”

“The same as before.”

Mu Wan rested the back of her neck against the clothes.

Cool skin brushed cool chiffon.

“But I feel like he treats me differently now.”

She could not say exactly what had changed.

Nor was she willing to make assumptions.

But there were signs.

Liu Qianxiu was a man devoted to cultivation.

Qingyuan Temple was where he went for solitude.

The fact that he was willing to share that place with her meant she had already moved closer to him.

Lin Wei had been following Mu Wan’s pursuit from the very beginning.

Now that things had progressed this far, she sounded like someone who had finally cleared a game after years of trying.

For a moment, all she could manage were excited exclamations.

“So are you going to confess?” Lin Wei finally asked.

Mu Wan stared at the ceiling.

She thought about it.

“I’ll test the waters first.”

If it went badly, she would cut her losses in time and go back to slowly wearing him down.

If it went well…

Then she would take him down directly.

After hanging up with Lin Wei, Mu Wan resumed packing.

By the time she finally crammed everything into her small suitcase, it was already five.

She sat beside it and called Liu Qianxiu.

“Liu Qianxiu, what time are you getting off work today?”

Liu Qianxiu had a meeting that afternoon and said he would finish late.

He told her to go directly to his apartment later.

But staying home alone was boring.

So Mu Wan decided to wait for him at the hospital instead.

She took a taxi to Tang’er Hospital and went straight to his office.

The evening was still hot and humid.

Hospitals, however, always felt cool and well ventilated.

The faint scent of disinfectant met her as she entered.

Mu Wan moved through the crowd and took the elevator to Liu Qianxiu’s floor.

The setting sun slanted across the corridor.

Under the curious gazes and quiet discussion of several nurses, Mu Wan walked toward his office.

Before she reached the door, she heard voices.

Then footsteps.

The door opened.

A male doctor wearing glasses stepped out.

The moment he saw Mu Wan, his eyes brightened.

He smiled.

“Who are you looking for?”

Several doctors stood near the doorway.

Men and women.

Some Mu Wan recognized.

Some she did not.

Her gaze passed through the group and settled on the tallest man.

Liu Qianxiu answered calmly.

“Me.”

The doctors glanced between them.

Someone also looked toward Xiao Yun.

Since Mu Wan was there for Liu Qianxiu, continuing to block the doorway would have been awkward.

The group gradually moved away.

Liu Qianxiu stepped outside too.

“Are you going to a meeting?”

Mu Wan watched the white-coated figures walking away.

They were still discussing something.

Several male doctors even glanced back at her, surprise and admiration obvious in their eyes.

“Mm.”

Liu Qianxiu still held a surgical report.

“Then go.”

Mu Wan smiled and pointed toward his office.

“I’ll wait for you.”

“All right.”

Liu Qianxiu started walking after the others.

Before he had gone far, he turned around and went back into his office.

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— To be continued in Part 2 —

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