Falling For The Contract Bride

Chapter 41

Chapter 41 Breakdown

Just as Mu Zhi was losing her mind, she watched from afar as Mu Xiaomu reached out to grab onto Lu Jinye’s hand with her own.

It looked as if she was pulling Lu Jinye along.

Mu Zhi was anxious beyond belief. She frowned as she watched them.

But it was too late. She couldn’t exactly run up and stop them. She watched as Mu Xiaomu tugged Lu Jinye out of the washroom and disappeared around the corner.

Mu Zhi rushed out of the washroom, ready to chase Mu Xiaomu down. Mu Xiaomu was holding onto the leg of Lu Jinye’s pants. He continued to walk, not slowing nor rushing with Mu Xiaomu following with toddling after him.

That was it. From today onwards, she was going to instill upon Mu Xiaomu the dangers of speaking to strangers. Especially good-looking ones!

Mu Zhi called the babysitter and asked her where she was. To her astonishment, she replied her, “Miss Mu, you told me that you didn’t need me to watch her because you’ve met up with her. I’ve just gotten home.”

“What’s happened now?”

Mu Zhi had initially wanted her to save her from this predicament but when she heard that the babysitter had reached home, she couldn’t bring herself to ask her. After all, she lived quite far, and her husband had been sick recently.

“Nothing. Nothing…”

Mu Zhi struggled to control her emotions, “I just… Wanted to check if you’ve gotten home safely.”

“Oh. Thank you Miss Mu for your concern. Yes, I’ve just reached home.”

The babysitter replied.

Mu Zhi hung up in a rush. She scrolled through her contact list but couldn’t find anyone who could help her out of this. ConTEent bel0ngs to Nôv(e)lD/rama(.)Org .

Just when she thought she was at the end of her rope, her phone rang. It was Jian Xiaoning.

“Hello? Have they started? I’ve just gotten off the toll booth and will be there in a jiffy.”

“They haven’t started yet.” Replied Mu Zhi.

“That’s good then… I can still make it.”

On the other end of the phone, Jian Xiaoning sighed.

“Where’s Mu Xiaomu? I’ve missed her. Pass the phone to her,” Jian Xiaoning requested. Mu Zhi sighed, “She’s with Lu Jinye.”

“Huh?”

Jian Xiaoning was flabbergasted. She pushed on the horn to urge the cars in front of her to hurry. She hung up without asking for the details and focused on getting to Mu Zhi as fast as she could.

Mu Zhi pocketed her phone and sighed. But she could not dally any longer. She rushed to the event hall and waited for Mu Xiaomu there.

When she finally reached the hall, Mu Zhi had already gone backstage to get ready. Lu Jinye, on the other hand, was sitting dead center watching the stage.

Mu Zhi’s designated seat had ‘Mu Xiaomu’s parent’ written on it. And unfortunately for her, it was directly behind Lu Jinye.

Mu Zhi did not dare to claim her seat. Instead, she stood at the entrance and watched the stage from there.

At that moment, Lu Yunxi turned. Mu Zhi did not have time to hide. She watched at Lu Yunxi leaned towards Lu Jinye to say something. In the next minute, the both of them were walking towards her direction.

Mu Zhi couldn’t hide even if she wanted to. When they got near, she laughed gently, “I popped by because I heard that there was a performance here.”

“Mu Zhi, I’ve just spoken to the organizer and he gave me two good seats. They are right in the middle. You’ll be sitting next to Jinye. I have to get going to check on how my own event is going.”

Lu Yunxi smiled at Mu Zhi.

“There’s no need… I…”

Before Mu Zhi could even finish what she had to say, Lu Yunxi had left.

Mu Zhi turned back towards her husband. She tried to pretend that everything was fine, but it came off as awkward.

She had never felt this unsettled… Her nerves were frayed beyond belief.

There was nothing else she could do but act as if everything was fine. “Honey, what are you doing here?” She asked.

“There’s a little girl who wanted to show me her dance.”

Lu Jinye replied softly. His gaze on her was assessing.

Mu Zhi tried to keep her expression natural. “A little girl?”

“I met her outside the toilets.”

While they had been talking, Mu Xiaomu and her peers took to the stage.

When Lu Jinye saw her, he grabbed Mu Zhi by the hand to pull her towards their seats.

Mu Zhi, realizing what he was about to do, she quickly retrieved her hands and held them to her chest. She could not let Lu Jinye find out how sweaty her palms were.

But she had no other choice but to follow Lu Jinye to the seats.

Mu Xiaomu slowly walked on stage. She was dressed in the ugly duckling’s costume.

It was starting… It was a musical play choreographed by the kindergarteners.

It told of when Mu Xiaomu was young. She found herself in a forest without her parents. She searched throughout the forest, trying to find them. During her journey, she met a big grey wolf, and almost became its dinner. She met a fox who wanted her to stay with him and a rabbit. Finally, at a lake in the center of the forest, she met a group of beautiful swans. She told the swans of her journey to find her parents.

Mu Zhi had never noticed how talented Mu Xiaomu was in acting before. In fact, these few years… She had never been able to spend much time observing Mu Xiaomu at all.

And now, Mu Zhi’s heart broke as she watched Mu Xiaomu on stage in her little grey costume, wandering helplessly in the forest as she called out for her parents.

Mu Zhi tilted her head up to prevent her tears from dripping onto her face. She had to get herself back under control.

She could not let Lu Jinye find out.

But Lu Jinye chose this exact moment to turn to look at her.

He stared and raised his eyebrow at her. “Are you really that moved just from a kindergarten play?” He asked.

“I get moved easily.”

Mu Zhi hurriedly tried to disguise her response.

At that moment, a song started to play and on stage. Mu Xiaomu started to dance. Mu Zhi pointed at her urgently, “Look! The little girl that invited you has started to dance.”

Lu Jinye turned his attention towards the stage, but he placed his hand silently atop hers.

Instead of withdrawing her hand like she should have, she left it there. His hand was warm whereas hers was like ice.

Mu Xiaomu was beautiful as she danced. She was considered among her peers to be adorable and now with the spotlight on her, Mu Xiaomu was stunning.

Her little wings struggled to fly, her lost, confused expression and her large eyes, tearfully calling for her parents… Mu Zhi could not bear to keep watching.