‘If it’s troublesome, I’ll stay home,’ Yuan Gun Gun said.

Yuan Gun Gun let go of Hao Yan Che’s arm.

Hao Yan Che held Yuan Gun Gun’s hand.

‘Let’s go,’ Hao Yan Che said.

Yuan Gun Gun wanted to say to Hao Yan Che that she loved him, and his sudden change made her insecure. She was used to him taking charge, and nagging her. But lately he stopped caring if she ate junk food and that she did nothing productive. Most of all she hated the distance between them. She felt like he didn’t need her. Was he still angry at her for running away, and didn’t want to forgive her?

‘What’s wrong?’ Hao Yan Che asked.

Hao Yan Che hated when Yuan Gun Gun guarded her feelings, and kept her distance from him. It made him scared that any second she would say she wanted to divorce him, and she regretted marrying him. He didn’t expect the hardest person to hold onto was a simpleton. He didn’t understand what she thought about in her head like how she didn’t understand his thoughts. Should he let her know his feelings toward her directly?

‘Nothing,’ Yuan Gun Gun said.

Hao Yan Che saw Yuan Gun Gun forced herself to smile at him, and he had enough. After work, he planned to tell her everything. He wanted to tell her how much he loved her. Tell her that he was willing to change to make her happy for the rest of her life. Then if she was willing, he wanted to sleep with her at night.

Yuan Gun Gun looked at Hao Yan Che’s hand holding her hand tightly. She didn’t want to lose his protectiveness. After work she wanted to say sorry to him for running away. She wanted to tell him how much she loved him. Tell him about her insecurities. That she was scared he was forced to marry her, scared he didn’t need her anymore and scared he didn’t care about her anymore. There were too many other insecurities she bottled up. Like she was scared another woman would take him away from her. Then she would use the other seductive ways Long Liu Bao taught her on him. Would he desire her again?

Hao Yan Che and Yuan Gun Gun silently planned their love declarations on the way to work.

Later that morning, one of Hao Yan Che’s secretaries entered his office.

‘Take these reports to the marketing department,’ Hao Yan Che instructed.

‘Yes CEO Hao,’ the secretary said and left Hao Yan Che’s office.

‘Che, if you want I can help you at work like in the past,’ Yuan Gun Gun said.

‘You don’t need to work,’ Hao Yan Che said. ‘If you’re bored, you can browse online or go shopping. I can ask Yi Tu to be your bodyguard.’

‘I…’ Yuan Gun Gun said.

Hao Yan Che saying he didn’t need her made Yuan Gun Gun want to cry.

‘What’s wrong?’ Hao Yan Che asked. ‘If you don’t want to go shopping, I’ll ask Yi Tu to buy desserts for you.’

‘Nothing,’ Yuan Gun Gun said. ‘I want to go see big sister Feng.’

‘Why do you want to see her?’ Hao Yan Che asked.

Yuan Gun Gun waited for Hao Yan Che to ask her to stay.

‘Alright,’ Hao Yan Che said. ‘You can go see her.’

Yuan Gun Gun silently walked out of Hao Yan Che’s office.

Jia Tu and Yi Tu exchanged another confused look at each other. They didn’t understand why Hao Yan Che and Yuan Gun Gun were behaving oddly.

‘Young master, I don’t know why you suddenly behaving strangely,’ Yi Tu said. ‘Young master, can’t you see how unhappy Gun Gun is by your sudden change? Did something happened between young master and Gun Gun?’

Hao Yan Che gave Yi Tu a disapproving look.

‘Young master, I’m sorry for overstepping my boundary,’ Yi Tu said.

Hao Yan Che thumped his desk.

‘I’m unhappier,’ Hao Yan Che said.

Yi Tu closed his mouth. He was lucky he wasn’t Hao Yan Che’s desk.

Hao Yan Che took a deep breath, and silently worked.

Yuan Gun Gun didn’t go to look for Feng Ting. Yuan Gun Gun sat on the toilet seat in the women’s bathroom. She didn’t know when it became a habit for her to cry on the toilet seat at work. She hated hearing people gossip about her, but she felt better after crying on the toilet seat.

‘Have you heard CEO’s ugly and dumb wife hasn’t been coming to work with him for a long time?’ the first woman asked.

‘No,’ the second woman said. ‘But I wouldn’t be surprised if CEO Hao had enough of seeing her at work and at home. If he doesn’t let her come to work then he must be seeing his mistress at work.’

‘I heard CEO’s wife ran away,’ the third woman said. ‘Not only is she ugly and dumb, she’s also a burden. She ran away to get his attention. How laughable, even if she got his attention by running away, it would only make him hate her more.’

The three women laughed at Yuan Gun Gun’s expense.

Yuan Gun Gun heard enough. She opened the toilet door, and confronted the women who gossiped about her.

***

End of Chapter 162