Chapter 594: Chapter 594

Song Qiao knitted her brows and glanced up at him, but quickly shifted her gaze to the flickering numbers, bit her lip, and spoke in a faint voice, "No need, after all, you are the one with the money."

Whether he knew what she liked or disliked made no difference. How could a man like Lu Jingchen—with status, position, and a powerful background, virtually unchallenged in An City—possibly go out of his way to cater to her?

Sometimes it’s enough to just listen to some things; there’s no need to take them seriously.

Just then, the elevator doors opened. Lu Jingchen, seeing that face suddenly become quiet, wasn’t sure if he was overthinking or if it was indeed so, but now Song Qiao seemed a bit more distant, even slightly resistant to his closeness. He narrowed his eyes, a faint undercurrent flickering in his gaze, yet said nothing. He simply reached out, took the girl’s hand, and stepped out of the elevator that had just opened.

Looking at her hand that was naturally taken by him, Song Qiao only furrowed her brows but didn’t immediately pull away.

Just as Lu Jingchen led Song Qiao out of the elevator, Mu Shinian came towards them and, somewhat surprised, called out to Song Qiao, then turned his curious gaze upon Lu Jingchen.

"Shinian." Upon seeing Mu Shinian, Song Qiao paused slightly, about to free her hand from Lu Jingchen’s, but found she couldn’t. Frowning, she turned to the man beside her with a glare and then to Mu Shinian, who was holding a wallet, and asked in a gentle voice, "Where are you heading off to now?"

Mu Shinian looked down at the wallet in his hand and a nice smile appeared on his face as he unconsciously scratched the back of his head, "Grandpa suddenly wanted to eat wontons from the shop on South Street, so I’m about to go and buy some for him."

He had been over since this morning, doing homework and studying in the ward while keeping his grandfather company.

Since his cousin told him those things yesterday, he hadn’t been able to do anything, even skipping his tutoring job today.

Perhaps Song Qiao didn’t believe that Mu Shinian would really quit his tutoring job. Last night, in front of him, she personally called the parents of the student he tutored and resigned on his behalf.

Song Qiao looked at Mu Shinian in front of her, knitted her brows, and yet said, "South Street is so far from here, do you want me to accompany you?"

Mu Shinian shook his head subconsciously, smiling as he said, "Sister, don’t worry. I’m not that little kid who used to get lost all the time anymore. I can go by myself. You should head in and see Grandpa; he’ll definitely be happier to see you at the hospital. You don’t know how much he’s been talking about you this morning!"

"Okay, just be careful on your way then!" Song Qiao hesitated a moment before relenting.

Actually, she was still not quite at ease with Mu Shinian going alone, because a few years earlier, Mu Shinian had been a complete directionally-challenged person; it was only in the last few years that he had gotten much better. Typically, he would be driven to and from the hospital by a chauffeur!

This morning, the chauffeur called her to say that something had come up at home and he needed to take a few days off. She agreed but forgot about her directionally-challenged cousin, Mu Shinian! Thıs text ıs hosted at NovєlFіre.net

"I’ll go with him!" Lu Jingchen, who had been standing beside Song Qiao without saying a word, finally spoke up, simply saying, "We forgot to buy some fruits when we came up earlier, I’ll go buy them. You wait for me at the hospital, okay?"

Song Qiao looked up at Lu Jingchen, hesitated for a moment, then nodded, and turned to Mu Shinian.

Knowing what Song Qiao was about to say, Mu Shinian preemptively spoke, "Sister, I know what you’re going to say, don’t worry!"

In front of Song Qiao, Mu Shinian had always been very obedient. In fact, in Mu Shinian’s heart, Song Qiao was not just like a sister to him, but she also stood in the position of a parental figure.

In this world, he only had two relatives left—his grandfather and his cousin—and he cherished this kinship immensely, no matter what.

Regarding his birth, Mu Shinian always felt he was a mistake. Being abandoned at a young age had long cast a psychological shadow in his heart.

He was also well aware of just how much effort and sacrifice Song Qiao had made because of him.

Sitting in Lu Jingchen’s car, Mu Shinian looked utterly astonished, not even sure where to place his hands or feet.

The understated yet luxurious car was bound to attract the attention of someone his age, who loved cars and followed soccer stars; he naturally recognized some famous brands, especially having seen plenty of expensive cars before the Mu Family went bankrupt.

Before getting into the car, he had seen the winged emblem on the hood; it wasn’t something he hadn’t seen in real life, but even back when the Mu Family was wealthy, he had never touched one.

The black Bentley Mulsanne—if he wasn’t mistaken, this car was worth at least eight to nine million.

This man appears to have a non-simple status.

"Are you Qiaoqiao’s younger brother?" After Lu Jingchen got into the car, he turned his head and glanced at Mu Shinian, who was sitting in the passenger seat with a proper posture like a good student, and asked with a gentle tone.

Mu Shinian felt nervous inside and didn’t dare to move recklessly for fear of accidentally bumping into something and causing damage!

Hearing Lu Jingchen’s words, he quickly nodded his head like pounding garlic. Maybe because of his age, his voice was somewhat deep and exceptionally pleasant, "Hello, my name is Mu Shinian. Song Qiao is my older female cousin."

The sixteen or seventeen-year-old boy’s face still held a bit of naive innocence, and his clean face was adorned with a handsome smile.

Mu Shinian was very good-looking, almost inheriting the appearance of Song Qiao’s uncle. At such a young age, he was already considered a school hunk, and because of his quiet and somewhat genteel temperament, many girls in school saw him as a godlike figure.

Lu Jingchen looked at Mu Shinian in front of him and felt a sense of familiarity. After a closer look, he realized he seemed to have seen Mu Shinian’s photo at his own little nephew’s place.

Perhaps because this kid was Song Qiao’s cousin, the aura of keeping others at a distance wasn’t emitted. Lu Jingchen instead softened his expression, started the car, and then said, "I am your sister’s husband, by our family hierarchy you should call me ’cousin-in-law’."

Without any hint of concealment, Lu Jingchen directly revealed his identity as casually as if he was remarking on the nice weather of the day.

However, the big boy who had been somewhat nervous and tense now widened his eyes incredulously, staring at Lu Jingchen before stammering out, "Do you mean to say... you and my sister got married?"

How could this be? His sister was only twenty-one years old now, and Song Qiao had said before that she wouldn’t get married until she was at least twenty-five or twenty-six.

And if she got married, why wouldn’t she tell him and grandpa?

Lu Jingchen remained calm and composed, steering the wheel and humming a response with a hint of a smile, "So, if you call Qiaoqiao ’sister,’ you should logically call me ’brother-in-law’ by that reasoning."

Seeing the well-behaved Mu Shinian, Lu Jingchen couldn’t help but think of his own wild nephew at home, and he immediately felt a headache. If given a choice, he wouldn’t mind choosing Mu Shinian.

Compared to his own nephew, Mu Shinian’s temperament and obedience were like day and night.

"I won’t call you that." Mu Shinian bluntly refused to call Lu Jingchen ’brother-in-law’, as if it were completely natural, "My sister didn’t tell me she got married. How can I know whether you’re lying to me or not?"

Even though he had just seen this man being so close with his sister, it could be that this man was pursuing his sister, right?

"You don’t believe that I’m already married to your sister?" Lu Jingchen was not annoyed, raising his eyebrows slightly and speaking in a calm and expected manner.

Mu Shinian felt his mind was in a bit of chaos, as if doubting Lu Jingchen’s words. Hearing Lu Jingchen’s counter-question, he certainly nodded, his tone firm, "I don’t believe you."

At the red light, the car stopped briefly, and in the blink of an eye, he took out a red booklet from the storage drawer in front and handed it to Mu Shinian, "This is mine and your sister’s marriage certificate."

The most straightforward and brute-proof method was to show Mu Shinian his and Song Qiao’s marriage certificate. Anyway, whether he believed it or not, he had to believe it now.

When Lu Jingchen took out that red booklet, Mu Shinian already had an ominous premonition. Now, hearing Lu Jingchen say it was his and his cousin’s marriage certificate, his mouth was agape, almost big enough to swallow an egg.

He shakily took it with trembling hands, quickly flipped it open and saw the two people photographed together, and then looked at the registered names below. Mu Shinian didn’t know what to say or even how to describe his feelings.

As the green light came on, Lu Jingchen started the car and didn’t break the ensuing silence first.

Mu Shinian flipped through the marriage certificate over and over again for a long time, trying to find something different, but when he failed in the end, he turned to look at Lu Jingchen again, his lips moved slightly, and he said, "Did you really marry my sister? Then do you love my sister?"

Lu Jingchen’s hand, holding the steering wheel, tightened, his gaze straightforward. A fleeting unusual emotion flashed through his eyes, but he responded with a smile, "I like her."

He said ’like’, not ’love’.

However, Mu Shinian obviously didn’t catch this nuance and continued to ask, "The marriage certificate lists your name as Lu Jingchen. You can’t be that very wealthy and rich person from the Lu family, can you?"