Chapter 3 A Face Full of Black Lines

"Little brother, what are you thinking about?" Seeing Yun Mu in a daze, Wen Jia asked, puzzled.

Yun Mu knew he had zoned out and smiled apologetically. "It's nothing." Then he said to the driver, "Master, go to Guihe Garden."

"Two of you, Guihe Garden is quite big, with both villa areas and residential areas. Could you give me a specific address? I could take you right to your doorstep. Otherwise, if you get off at the community gate, you might have a long walk home."

Yun Mu saw that the driver was kind, and Wen Jia quickly responded, "Bihai Villa, number five."

"Got it." The driver was clearly familiar with the place and started driving. Meanwhile, Yun Mu's heart was no longer calm. He was very surprised and asked, "Jiajia, did you say you live in Bihai Villa, number five?"

"Yes! Why, little brother? Is there a problem?"

Of course, there was a problem, and it was a big one. He remembered that his wife lived in Bihai Villa, number five. He had just left that place after being beaten up and taken to Bald Mountain to be buried alive.

He hadn't heard that his wife was living with a beautiful woman. Could she have just arrived today? Sister? Impossible. They clearly didn't share the same surname, so the only explanation left was best friend.

Yun Mu tentatively asked, "Jiajia, do you know Qingcheng...?"

"Of course I know Qingcheng," Wen Jia replied, surprised that Yun Mu also knew Qingcheng. "Little brother, how do you know Sister Chengcheng?"

Damn, she really knew his wife.

Could this be what they call fate? His wife wouldn't let him in bed, he went out to flirt and ended up getting buried alive, and just by coincidence, he saved her best friend. Damn, this world is really messed up!

"Jiajia, actually, Qingcheng is my wife."

"What!..."

"Don't be shocked, Jiajia. I didn't expect to meet someone who knows my wife either."

"Are you serious?" Wen Jia was somewhat skeptical. Wouldn't her best friend know about Qingcheng's marriage?

"Hey, everything speaks for itself. Jiajia, when we get home, you can ask my wife yourself."

Wen Jia nodded, her pretty face slowly turning incredulous.

As Yun Mu and Wen Jia chatted in the car, the driver had already reached their residence, Villa number five.

Yun Mu took a wallet out of his dusty trousers, paid the fare, and got out of the car with Wen Jia. He saw that the lights in the villa were still on, so he went up and rang the doorbell.

Soon, the door opened, revealing the fabled beauty Qingcheng, Yun Mu's current wife.

The woman, about twenty-four or twenty-five years old, was around 1.75 meters tall, with jet-black hair spilling down, wearing a black satin pajama. Her dainty, exquisitely sculpted feet peeped out from her slippers, clear and translucent. Her figure was perfect, her features were picturesque as if from a fairytale, yet she carried an inherent air of aloofness.

This was Beijing's number one beauty, Yun Mu's wife, Qingcheng.

Yun Mu gazed at Qingcheng. Needless to say, his wife was truly beautiful. Compared to his senior sister, she was not inferior, but at that moment, Yun Mu wasn't in the mood to appreciate her more.

"Honey, it's so late, why haven't you gone to bed yet?"

The door opened; surprisingly, it was not Wen Jia who was the most shocked, but Qingcheng. She couldn't fathom how her best friend ended up together with Yun Mu.

Looking at them now, Yun Mu was shirtless and his pants were caked with mud. Her own sister wasn't faring much better, not to mention the dirt on her clothes; the fact that she was wearing Yun Mu's T-shirt said a lot.

However, Qingcheng had immense faith in Wen Jia's character. If Yun Mu had any inappropriate thoughts, Wen Jia was definitely not one to agree; she was very conservative.

By then, Wen Jia was also shocked to find out that Yun Mu was indeed Qingcheng's husband, which made her feel as though her world had turned upside down. At first, she didn't believe Yun Mu when he said Qingcheng was his wife because she had been close friends with Qingcheng from childhood. Therefore, when Qingcheng was assigned to clean up a mess here years ago, she followed to help out. Together at all times, they were inseparable, naturally, living together too.

In Wen Jia's eyes, apart from being her dearest friend, Qingcheng was someone she deeply admired. Not just because of her national beauty and grace, but also her overflowing talents and extreme business acumen. Taking over the company, she had revived a company on the verge of bankruptcy and increased its performance by dozens of times within three years—a sheer terror of effectiveness.

Just a few days ago, Qingcheng had indeed left Ji'an City for a while. She had mentioned that a situation arose within her family in Beijing and that she needed to handle it. How had she gotten married suddenly upon returning, and brought back a young husband?

Wen Jia's mind was filled with question marks.

Yun Mu looked at his wife, then at Wen Jia, both of them still in a daze. He said, "I'm very tired today. I'm going to wash up and rest. If you two have doubts, talk it out yourselves. If you still don't understand, I'll explain it to you tomorrow morning."

With that, Yun Mu went into the house, took a few steps, then turned his head and said, "Jiajia, honey, you both should rest early too."

He ceased to pay attention to the two women and walked into the villa's first-floor bathroom to take a hot shower. After putting on his bathrobe, he prepared to go upstairs to sleep.

But as soon as he reached the living room, Qingcheng, who was sitting on the couch, stopped him.

Yun Mu, drying his hair with a towel, walked over and sat on the couch opposite Qingcheng.

Qingcheng smiled at Wen Jia seated next to her and said, "Jiajia, you were also frightened tonight; go take a bath and head to bed early."

"Okay." Wen Jia had just recounted tonight's events to Qingcheng, her voice still carrying traces of fear.

Actually, Qingcheng had been sleepless since she saw Yun Mu leaving the villa—after all, she had forcefully drawn Yun Mu, who was originally an outsider, into this situation. As a child of a prominent family, she was inevitably treated as a tool for marital alliances by major families, and Qingcheng was no exception. To escape an arranged marriage, she had reluctantly pulled out a marriage agreement made years ago by her father with Yun Mu's father. Given Yun Mu's lecherous nature, he naturally agreed to get the marriage certificate with her.

She knew that the Zhong family in Beijing would not let matters rest; hence, danger for Yun Mu was also inevitable. This filled her with guilt towards him.

Qingcheng watched as Wen Jia entered the bathroom and quietly said to Yun Mu, "Yun Mu, I'm sorry." Her tone was sincere.

"Sorry? What are you sorry for?" Yun Mu was slightly confused. What was his makeshift wife up to now?

"Yun Mu, Wen Jia told me everything. You were buried alive at Bald Mountain and were nearly... nearly gone forever."

Yun Mu looked at Qingcheng.

Qingcheng's beautiful face was filled with helplessness and sadness as she somberly said, "Actually, that marriage paper has been returned a few years ago, before your father passed away. I kept only that yellow paper. This time, because Zhong Tianqi of the Zhong family from another major family wanted to marry me, my family had intentions to bond with the Zhong family. However, Zhong Tianqi is notorious, and I simply couldn't bear the thought of marrying such a man. That's why... that's why I had no choice but to marry you."

After hearing this, Yun Mu's expression remained calm, not showing the anger Qingcheng had anticipated.

"So, you used me as a shield?"

"I'm sorry, I really had no other choice."