Chapter 308: Chapter 308: Are You Avoiding Me?
An Family.
“Uncle An, I’m disturbing you.”
“You’re not bothering me at all. On the contrary, I’m happy you could come.”
Wan Muqi helped the An Group win two lawsuits. To be honest, An Chengyuan had no confidence at the beginning, but thankfully he had Wan Muqi on his side.
These two cases were problems left over by the Old Madam, which had always been unresolved and were the reason why the An Group hadn’t been able to go public.
If he wanted the An Group to go public, he had to resolve these two issues; otherwise, he couldn’t apply for the IPO.
Before, he had no interest in managing the company and didn’t care about whether it went public.
But now, with the Old Madam gone and the An Group in his name, and the second child not taking care of business, plus the fact that the An Group was saved by Wanqiu’s efforts, he was unwilling to give up on it.
The two men discussed business matters, which were both incomprehensible and uninteresting to An Rui and An Mi.
An Rui didn’t leave, but An Mi went upstairs to her room on her own.
It wasn’t until dinner time that An Mi was called down by the domestic helper.
Mr. An noticed something off about An Mi and asked, “Girl, are you not feeling well?”
Ever since she returned, she hadn’t spoken a word. Although he knew his daughter was somewhat introverted, she was never like this at home.
She was acting unusually today.
An Mi answered, “Not at all.”
Mr. An: “Could it be shyness? Mr. Wan is no stranger; you know him, so there’s nothing to be embarrassed about.”
An Mi: “…”
“Dad, I’m just hungry, not shy. Let’s start the meal quickly, I need to go back to school after eating.”
“…”
If she had known that her father invited this man, she would not have come back no matter what.
–
After finishing dinner, An Mi said she needed to return.
All she wanted now was to leave as soon as possible.
It was the first time Mr. An had seen her wanting to leave home in such a hurry.
“Wait a moment, I’ll have the driver take you back,” said Mr. An.
An Mi: “Dad, it’s not necessary, I…”
“Uncle An, if you’re okay with it, let me take her back. I need to go back to the school for something too,” Wan Muqi interrupted.
Mr. An was startled but saw nothing wrong, “I’m not worried, I’m just concerned it might inconvenience you.”
The man said: “It’s no bother.”
Then he looked towards An Rui, “An Rui, are you going back too?”
An Rui didn’t really feel like returning to school; he didn’t have classes the next morning: “I’m not going back; I’ll return tomorrow morning.”
An Mi: “…”
Is it still timely for her to say she’s not going back to school now?
Would it seem too deliberate?
But before she could refuse, the man already spoke out: “Let’s go, I’ll take you.”
After speaking, he left first.
An Mi stood there, caught between leaving and staying.
She looked up at Mr. An.
Mr. An asked, “What’s wrong?”
An Mi opened her mouth, unsure of what to say, and eventually, she said, “Dad, take good care of yourself, I’ll come back when I have a break.”
Having said that, she left.
Mr. An looked puzzled, “What’s gotten into this child?”
He turned to An Rui and asked, “Is your sister being bullied at school?”
An Rui: “No, I haven’t heard anything about that.”
Mr. An: “An Rui, you need to look after your second sister more at school. Keep an eye on her and don’t let others bully her. Although she’s your sister, you are a boy and she’s a girl, understand? Your second sister is introverted and simple, she just focuses on her studies.”
An Rui replied, “I got it, dad, and stop talking about An Mi like she’s some naive girl. She’s not dumb. She’s very astute, nobody is going to bully her.”
Outside the An family’s gate.
An Mi tried to open the back seat door of the car, but it was locked.
Just then, the front passenger window rolled down.
The man’s deep and indisputable voice rose in the night, “An Mi, sit in the front passenger seat.”
An Mi stood beside the car, torn for a long while, but Wan Muqi was patient and didn’t urge her on.
After that, she reluctantly opened the passenger side door and then sat down.
Having sat down, she stayed motionless.
Meanwhile, Wan Muqi kept looking at her from the side.
An Mi bit her lower lip and asked, “What’s the matter? Aren’t we leaving?”
The man chuckled softly: “Do you want me to help you with your seat belt?”
An Mi’s face flushed with awkwardness as she quickly grabbed the seat belt and fastened it.
“I’m sorry, I forgot,” she said.
Wan Muqi didn’t say anything and immediately started the car and drove off.
From the An Family home to A University, it’s about a forty-minute drive.
Halfway through, as they were stopping for a red light, Wan Muqi asked, “An Mi, are you avoiding me?”
Throughout the ride, she had been looking out the window, silent.
The sudden sound of the man’s voice in the quiet space made her body tense up slightly.
The obvious change in her did not escape the man’s eyes.
His eyes darkened.
An Mi swallowed and then replied, “No, I’m not.”
The man’s voice was low and husky, with a touch of grit: “An Mi, you know?”
Upon hearing this, An Mi turned to look at him, confusion on her face, “Huh?”
“You can’t lie.”
His gaze fell upon her hands tightly clasped together.
“Whenever you lie, your hands clasp together.”
After hearing this, An Mi hurriedly let go of her hands, but the act made her seem even more flustered.
This was a little habit of hers, one that very few people knew about; even her sister was unaware. Yet he knew…
Could a lawyer’s eyes also be so sharp?
“I…”
She struggled for words for a long time but couldn’t come up with an explanation.
He didn’t press her to answer right away, simply saying, “After you return to school, give me a reason why you’ve been avoiding me.”
“…”
This time, he didn’t stop the car outside the school gates but drove directly to the dormitory parking lot.
An Mi, seeing people coming and going, panicked instantly.
“Why, why did you drive in?”
“Are you afraid to be seen by others?”
“…”
An Mi frowned slightly, he wasn’t like this before.
“An Mi, have you figured it out?”
The man’s voice was deep, carrying a seriousness that was not meant to be taken lightly.
This made An Mi feel like she was being reprimanded by a teacher.
“I…”
“An Mi, speak when you’ve thought it through!”
After Wan Muqi finished speaking, An Mi bowed her head, staying quiet.
Then, the man heard sobbing.
He was taken aback, his long arm reached out, took hold of her shoulder, and turned her towards him.
“Why are you crying?”
The man’s heart suddenly felt anxious.
He hadn’t been harsh to her.
An Mi herself didn’t know why, but she felt the urge to cry, and suddenly, tears started swirling in her eyes.
She just felt wronged.
After struggling internally for a while, she bit her lip, raised her head, and asked: “You like me, don’t you?”
The man was taken aback, then quickly realized, “So, you’re avoiding me because of this?”
An Mi made a humming sound, and with a slight cry in her voice, she said, “Because I’m scared.”
Looking at her slightly reddened eyes, Wan Muqi didn’t know what to do with her for a moment.
The fact that the girl was avoiding him just because she knew he liked her was not a good sign.
It also indicated, she did not like him back.
He said, “An Mi, everyone has the right to pursue the person they like, and it’s your right to avoid me. I won’t blame you. Besides, when you say you’re afraid of my affections, is it because you’re worried I’ll hurt you?”
“Rest assured, I will never do anything to hurt you, and you don’t need to be afraid. If you don’t like me being in front of you, then I will just keep my distance in the future, but you can’t deprive me of my right to like you.”
An Mi blinked her eyes, tears swirling in them, but she didn’t speak.
Wan Muqi asked, “Or is it because you have someone you like?”
An Mi immediately shook her head: “I don’t.”
Hearing her say that, the man felt somewhat relieved at heart.
“An Mi, listen, you also have the right to like someone else, whoever you like is your right. Just know that I will never hurt you, I can’t make the same promise about other people,” he said.
Yet An Mi obediently replied, “But I don’t want to be in a relationship right now, I just want to study.”
Wan Muqi: “…”
At this, he helplessly smiled, reached out his hand to take a tissue and wiped away the tears at the corner of her eyes.
But with her saying this, he felt reassured in his heart.
His little girl was just a love rookie, with eyes only for studying and nobody else, which made things easier for him.
He spoke in a gentle tone, “Okay, then study well, I won’t disturb your studies, but don’t avoid me anymore, alright?”
An Mi looked at him and suddenly felt something striking her heart.
But it vanished quickly before she could even grasp what it was.
She subconsciously agreed to him, “Okay.”
The man seized the moment to press further: “Also, since you only want to study well right now and don’t want to be in a relationship, during this period, you shouldn’t think about anything related to love. Since you won’t accept me, you shouldn’t accept anyone else either, you have to be fair.”
An Mi felt that this was a bit domineering and somewhat unreasonable, but she didn’t delve into it because she really didn’t want to be in a relationship.
So, she still agreed to him, “Mmh.”
Wan Muqi looked at her so pure and obedient and felt an even stronger desire to protect her.
What if a smooth-talking man who knew how to win a girl’s heart appeared? He might sway her with just a few words.
Actually, he would later realize that his own understanding of her wasn’t deep enough.
An Mi’s innocence and obedience were only shown in front of those she believed were trustworthy.
…
A week later.
In the girls’ dormitory, room 606.
“Yay, finally done with exams, oh my goodness!”
Chen Jin cheered in the dorm room.
Zhu Zhu, one of the roommates, pushed her black glasses up her nose and said, “You’re so excited, it’s as if the college entrance exams have ended. It’s just the end of a semester’s finals, you know. There’s still next semester.”
Chen Jin said, “I don’t care, what I’m following now is to live well in the present, and we’ll talk about next semester when it comes.”
Roommate Huihui asked, “Next week is winter vacation, when do you all plan to go home?”
Out of the four, besides An Mi and Zhu Zhu who were from Yue City, Chen Jin and Hu Hui were from other towns.
Chen Jin said, “Me, I’m going back home next Wednesday.”
Zhu Zhu said, “I’ll go back on the last day we leave school.”
Hu Hui looked over at An Mi and asked, “Mimi, what about you?”
An Mi lifted her gaze from the book when she heard them calling her, “Me? I can go back anytime.”
The three of them were no longer surprised; even after exams, An Mi’s focus was still on studying and reading.
Moreover, no matter how heated their discussions at her side, she remained undisturbed.
Only when they called her name did she react.
This kind of concentration was not something ordinary people could imitate.
“Alright, then let’s get together the day before Jinjin goes back. Otherwise, it will be two months before we can see each other,” Hu Hui said.
Chen Jin sighed, “When I applied to A University, I was drawn to the long and early vacation here, a full two months, which is like heaven on earth.”
“But I didn’t expect that coming here I’d also gain three gorgeous roommates like you. Beautiful, with good figures, excellent in studies, charming personalities, kind, generous, and beautiful, you girls are really rare.”
Zhu Zhu said, “They say a man’s mouth can tell lies that fool people. Jinjin, your mouth is just like that of a man. If you were a guy, you’d definitely have girls spinning around you.”
Huihui “hmm”ed in agreement, nodding heavily to show she strongly concurred with what Zhu Zhu said.
Chen Jin joked, “If I were a guy, I’d definitely have all of you in my harem. Three thousand beauties in the harem, but I’d only want the three of you.”
“…”
In a blink, it was next Tuesday.
The four girls dressed up meticulously in their dorm room.
Actually, An Mi didn’t do much, just changing into a black-and-white polka-dotted floral dress with a short beige light jacket, her long black curly hair cascading behind her, casual yet innocently alluring.
Her skin was very pale, and without makeup, she radiated surprise beauty.
Chen Jin was mesmerized, her eyes literally gleaming.
“Jinjin, don’t ogle Mimi with such a lecherous look, you’re just like somebody who’s about to devour her,” Zhuzhu said from the side.
Chen Jin: “True to our A University’s campus belle, just Mimi’s face alone, without the need for any makeup, can make me fall for her.”
“I was even planning to put some makeup on you, but it seems there’s no need now.”
An Mi: “You guys are exaggerating too much.”
Huihui, applying lipstick, walked over: “Mimi, do you not have any awareness of how good-looking you are? We’re not exaggerating; I don’t aspire to be as beautiful as you, I just wish I could be as fair-skinned as you are.”
“…”
At ten o’clock, the four girls left the house on time.
They planned to shop for the whole day today.
For An Mi, this was the first time in history.
Because she spent most of her time reading at home.
She didn’t know Chen Jin, Zhu Zhu, and Hu Hui before, but they quickly became friends.
And since all of their names are two characters long, they rapidly formed a close group for that reason.
Actually, Yang Jie was supposed to attend A University just like her, but ever since that incident, she needed to recuperate at home and had to put her studies on hold temporarily.
Fortunately, after her sister and brother-in-law communicated with the school, the university agreed to reserve her place at the school.
The four of them first went for lunch, then watched a newly released movie.
After the movie was done, the time for shopping spree began.
Subsequently, the four arrived at a women’s clothing store.
An Mi said to the three, “Pick whatever you like, today is on me, a New Year gift for you all. If you don’t want clothes, that’s also fine, it’s entirely up to you.”
After hearing that, the three immediately hugged her.
“We love you so much, Mimi, you’re simply a mini-rich lady.”
“Then let this mini-rich lady take care of you guys today, thanks for being so accommodating to me, as long as you don’t find it tacky.”
Upon hearing this, the three shook their heads instantly, saying in unison: “Not tacky, not tacky, we love it.”
An Mi was somewhat introverted; she only knew to study every day, and for many things, the three of them would remind her and help her unconditionally.
She didn’t know how to repay them, so she could only resort to this somewhat tacky method.
In fact, all four of them came from decent family backgrounds, and none of them were short of money, but An Mi’s family was slightly wealthier than the rest.
They only found out the day before the final exams that she was the heiress of the An Group.
And as is well known, the An Group has a son-in-law who is the president of the Jiang Family.
Previously, Chen Jin was puzzled how An Mi knew Wan Muqi, the big shot of the legal world, but after learning her identity, she finally understood.
She had an awesome sister and an equally impressive brother-in-law; she truly was a hidden little rich lady.
“Then go pick, don’t worry about the price,” An Mi said with a smile.
The three of them each planted a kiss on her fair cheeks, and then started picking out clothes they liked.
An Mi stood by watching them, seeing them so happy made her quite happy too.
…
“Mom, Aunt Wan, this store is pretty good, their clothes are all limited edition, and they’re all hand-made. Shall we go in and take a look?”
Mrs. Qin had arranged to go shopping with Mrs. Wan today and brought along Qin Mi as well.
Mrs. Qin turned to Mrs. Wan with a smile and asked, “Mu Ling, shall we go in and check it out?”
Mrs. Wan glanced at it and nodded, “Alright, let’s go.”
“…”
As Chen Jin was picking out clothes, she gossiped, “Mimi, how are things going with Mr. Wan?”
An Mi: “Mr. Wan and I are just ordinary friends, there’s nothing special going on.”
An Mi didn’t tell Chen Jin about what was said that day under the dormitory building.
Because the man had said that those words shouldn’t be shared with others, only he and she knew about them.
Zhu Zhu said from the side, “He’s obviously into you, hasn’t he asked you out yet?”
The existence of Mr. Wan was known to the other three in the dorm.
Huihui squeezed over with a giggling face, full of gossip: “Mimi, I think you should give it a try with Mr. Wan. Next year we’ll be sophomores and can start dating. You can’t just know study, you need to nourish yourself with romance. Your university life can’t be just about studying. You need to balance both, otherwise, that would be a waste of time.”
Chen Jin gave a thumbs up to Hu Hui: “Sis, I totally agree with you on this.”
Zhu Zhu adjusted her glasses and nodded: “I also support what Huihui said, it’s the truth.”
“…”
They were discussing this on the one side, completely unaware of the three individuals standing on the opposite side.
“Could it be that Mu Qi is fond of that girl?” Mrs. Wan stared at An Mi’s profile for a few moments.