Chapter 20
Mo Xingyuan stood at the door of his home. It was his house, yet he hesitated to go in.
He leaned against the wall for a long time before entering the code and pushing the door open.
The house was quiet, as if no one were there.
His eyes swept across the sofa, and involuntarily, memories of what he had done before surfaced in his mind.
What had he been thinking at the time?
Mo Xingyuan couldn’t remember.
All he knew was that when he saw Su Li’s clear eyes, he couldn’t help but want to… taint her.
Su Li had been the closest woman to him over the past year, and the one who had spoken words that had touched him the most.
She was deceptive, yet at times she could make his heart tremble violently.
Perhaps it was the long isolation, or maybe his inner world had become desolate like life itself. When he felt even a trace of warmth, it seemed to fill him with hope.
Suddenly, the door opened.
Su Li came out, yawning, heading to the bathroom.
Seeing a figure standing in the living room, her yawn disappeared in surprise.
“When did you come back?”
“Just now.”
“Oh,” Su Li said, “rest early.”
With that, she went into the bathroom.
When she came out, Mo Xingyuan was still there, holding a lit cigarette.
Su Li frowned. “Smoke less.”
“About today…”
“It’s fine.” Su Li cleared her throat. “I won’t hold it against you. Also… honestly, your kissing skills aren’t good. I didn’t enjoy it.”
“…” Mo Xingyuan narrowed his eyes, the ember of the cigarette dimming slightly.
Su Li tugged at the corner of her mouth. “I’m going to sleep. You rest early, don’t stay up late.”
Before Mo Xingyuan could respond, she quickly returned to the bedroom and closed the door.
She jumped onto the bed, pulled the covers over herself, eyes wide open, completely awake.
She didn’t want to hear Mo Xingyuan’s explanation.
Some things happen, and that’s it—no need to replay them.
Unable to sleep, she scrolled through short videos for an hour before finally feeling sleepy.
.
In the following days, neither Su Li nor Mo Xingyuan mentioned what had happened that day.
When they saw each other, they would greet one another. Su Li acted as usual, but she could sense a subtle change in Mo Xingyuan.
He no longer seemed as hostile toward her as before.
With only two days left until the New Year, Su Wei’an had called Su Li, but she didn’t answer. She had already said before: no more contact.
Madam Mo specially called Su Li, asking her to return to the old residence for the holiday.
As a daughter-in-law of the Mo family, she belonged there. She should spend the New Year with them.
“If we go back, staying together is unavoidable,” Su Li told Mo Xingyuan. “Why don’t you make an excuse so we can eat New Year’s Eve dinner and come back?”
“No excuse.”
Su Li frowned. “Then what if they make us share a room?”
“You sleep on the sofa or the floor.”
“…”
And she thought he wasn’t hostile toward her anymore—ha.
Su Li pursed her lips, grabbed her coat and laptop, and left.
.
Fewer and fewer people were at the company; most of those left were slacking off.
Su Li was no exception.
She chatted with Lu Jing on WeChat.
Lu Jing said that Wei Yu had asked her to go to the movies, so she made time for a facial and a manicure.
Through her messages, Su Li could sense Lu Jing’s excitement about the date.
She sent a voice message with a smile: “Have fun. Can’t wait to hear about it.”
Lu Jing replied with an “OK” sticker, and the chat ended.
At noon, Su Li went out for lunch with two colleagues. After finishing, as they walked out of the restaurant, they kept complaining about how exhausting work was and how they weren’t getting raises.
After all, that’s the life of office workers—complaining while working like oxen.
