Yuan Chengmo left, and Qin Muni also knew it was impossible to visit the village committee today; she had to leave with Xu Yisen, so she had no objections to his instructions. She returned to her room to grab her toiletries and went to the bathroom.
Because she was feeling unwell, her movements were much slower than usual. By the time she finished freshening up, changed her clothes, and packed her luggage, over an hour had passed. During this period, Xu Yisen patiently sat in the chair waiting for her.
Qin Muni clearly felt that Xu Yisen’s aura was different today, as if it was back to when they first got married, emanating a cold and distant atmosphere.
Having become accustomed to his gentle and occasionally rogue side, suddenly facing the formerly indifferent Xu Yisen made her inexplicably uncomfortable.
"Okay." Xu Yisen stood up from the chair, picked up Qin Muni’s suitcase, and walked out of the room first.
Qin Muni slowly followed behind him, enduring her bodily discomfort.
Xu Yisen felt the distance between them had stretched, so he slowed down to let her catch up with him.
As they walked downstairs, Tang Haoliang was standing in front of the car waiting for them.
He respectfully stepped forward to take the suitcase from Xu Yisen’s hands and placed it in the trunk.
Xu Yisen opened the car’s back door and invited Qin Muni to get in.
Qin Muni glanced at him, slightly bent over, and got in the car.
He then walked around the car to get in from the other side.
Tang Haoliang, upon sitting in the front passenger seat, clearly sensed the unusual atmosphere in the back.
He picked up the breakfast he had just bought from the front passenger seat and turned around to hand it to Qin Muni, "Miss Qin, the chairman asked me to get this breakfast for you."
Qin Muni glanced at the breakfast he handed over, shook her head, and answered in a slightly hoarse voice, "No, thank you. Could you please pass me a bottle of water?"
"One moment, please."
After he spoke, he immediately unbuckled his seatbelt, got out of the car to buy a bag of mineral water from a small shop, and then returned to the car to hand a bottle of water to Qin Muni.
Qin Muni took the water, twisted off the cap, and tilted her head back to gulp down the entire bottle of water.
Xu Yisen cast a glance at Qin Muni, who had put down the bottle and was leaning back in the seat with her eyes closed, resting, then instructed Tang Haoliang, "Let’s go."
The car slowly drove on the narrow street, and Qin Muni did not open her eyes even as they left the village.
Xu Yisen inexplicably felt a sense of frustration; he finally couldn’t help but ask, "Don’t you have anything to explain to me?"
Qin Muni did not answer him, keeping her eyelids lowered, her long eyelashes like butterfly wings casting soft shadows on her cheeks.
It wasn’t until Xu Yisen thought she had really fallen asleep that she slowly opened her mouth to reply, "No!"
The car was filled with an awkward silence; Qin Muni did not speak again, and Xu Yisen seemed choked by her simple response, not speaking either.
Finally, after the car had been driving for another thirty minutes, he couldn’t help but turn his gaze from the window to look at Qin Muni beside him, and asked, "What were you and Yuan Chengmo doing in River Village?"
Qin Muni slowly lifted her eyelids, opened her eyes, and turned her head slightly without expression to look at Xu Yisen: "Yisen, you’re asking too much."
As she spoke, she suddenly couldn’t help but start coughing.
Xu Yisen, who was dissatisfied with her reply, immediately showed a hint of worry in his brows when he saw her coughing.
It was only then that he seriously noticed that Qin Muni’s cheeks were uncharacteristically flushed.