Pretending To Have Amnesia - Chapter 3

He Mu bit the tip of her tongue hard, refusing to let herself sink into that land of tenderness.

She reached out and wrapped an arm around Mu Qingran’s waist, took several steps forward, and pushed her against the wall. Her other hand landed on the side of Mu Qingran’s cheek, the backs of her fingers lightly gliding downward along the contour of her jawline…

Finally, her thumb and index finger pinched Mu Qingran’s chin.

“It really is nice to have such a pretty face.” He Mu narrowed her eyes, as though appraising an exquisitely crafted object. “I believe that even without President Sun, there would still be President Zhao, President Qian, and President Li extending a ‘helping hand’ to you. If today it had been a forty- or fifty-year-old man threatening you like this, would you still not refuse?”

He Mu had thought she was stabbing Mu Qingran in the heart, only to realize she was stabbing herself instead.

Vaguely, she was hoping for a negative answer.

She hoped that, at the very least, she was special.

Mu Qingran curved her lips. “Would it satisfy your desire to conquer me more if I struggled a little longer?”

She did not answer that question directly.

Perhaps, if He Mu had not barged in halfway through, Mu Qingran really would have appeared in that disgusting man’s bed tonight.

An inexplicable fire shot up in He Mu’s heart, but she did not want to show that she cared. She shrugged indifferently. “What I’m looking for is a bed warmer, not an actress. I don’t need you to put on a performance to cooperate with me.”

She pressed her lips against the soft flesh of Mu Qingran’s neck, sliding from the side of her throat to the base of her ear before biting down, like a little cat with no sense of how hard it was sinking its teeth in.

Mu Qingran let out a muffled groan. Her fingers instinctively gripped He Mu’s shoulder, and the veins beneath the skin on the back of her hand gradually became visible, as though they might burst through that fair, delicate skin in the next second.

He Mu drew back a little and saw that the skin, originally like ice-glazed porcelain, now bore two rows of teeth marks, slightly flushed red.

That was her handiwork.

On many nights after Mu Qingran left, He Mu had been unable to stop herself from leaving teeth marks like that on her own wrist. But no matter how painfully she bit herself, it still could not divert even the slightest bit of the pain in her heart.

Mu Qingran did not show any anger. She grabbed the collar of He Mu’s trench coat and pulled it down to her shoulders.

He Mu’s eyelashes trembled faintly. She closed her eyes and half buried her face in the hollow of Mu Qingran’s neck, cooperating as she lowered both arms. The trench coat slipped to the floor.

Mu Qingran placed one hand on the back of He Mu’s neck, her entire palm pressed against it, while her other hand gently stroked He Mu’s back.

Mu Qingran’s hand was very cold, and goosebumps rose all over He Mu’s skin.

Ever since the day they had met, Mu Qingran’s hands had been like this most of the time, like a piece of ice. When He Mu was little, she had been afraid Mu Qingran was cold and was always thinking of ways to warm Sister’s hands. But even if they grew warm for a short while, they would quickly return to their original temperature.

Her little head had been full of so many whys.

Why was Sister not always warm like her?

Why were Sister’s hands so cold, yet He Mu still loved the feeling of pressing her face against them? Even in winter, it felt so comfortable.

Why…

Later, she seemed to find the answer.

Perhaps Mu Qingran’s blood had always been cold.

No matter how hard He Mu tried, she could not warm it.

The corners of He Mu’s eyes felt a little sore. It had to be because the warm air in the room was turned up too high, she thought.

A pair of soft lips landed on her forehead, carrying a trace of coolness. They moved from between her brows to the tip of her nose, brushed past her chin, and stopped at her throat.

Only her lips were skipped.

He Mu looked at Mu Qingran’s face, so close at hand, and for a moment, her mind wavered.

She took a deep breath and bent her knees slightly.

Mu Qingran was lifted straight up, instantly becoming a head taller than He Mu.

He Mu’s arms were slender and looked as though they would break with the slightest bend. But unexpectedly, they were strong.

She steadily carried Mu Qingran into the bedroom.

The bedroom’s automatic curtains slowly slid toward the middle along their track, and the white gauze curtains rippled softly.

The waning moon hanging in the sky lowered its head in embarrassment, grabbed two pieces of dark cloud, and covered its eyes.

…

Mu Qingran left after taking a shower.

The bedsheets had just been changed, carrying the fresh fragrance of jasmine-scented laundry beads.

He Mu curled up in the soft quilt, her chest trembling faintly.

She closed her eyes, but she could still see Mu Qingran’s flushed cheeks and slightly furrowed brows.

Even though Mu Qingran’s expression and voice had both been very convincing, He Mu could still feel that, at the final peak, Mu Qingran had been faking it.

This counted as diligently pleasing her patron, right?

Since that was the case, she, as the patron, probably needed to work a little harder and strive to improve her technique, so that the other party would not have to act so strenuously.

He Mu pulled the quilt over her head, wrapping herself in complete darkness.

Today, Young Mr. Sun had set up this trap for Mu Qingran because he wanted to knock her down a peg, to avenge the incident where Mu Qingran had made him lose face in front of everyone at the board meeting. He had merely wanted to stuff someone into the company. Such a tiny matter, yet that wretched woman just had to make it impossible for him to step down gracefully.

Of course, for a rare beauty like Mu Qingran, if he could take this opportunity to claim her for himself, that would naturally be best.

Conquering a fierce horse produced far more pleasure than keeping an obedient canary in a cage.

But unfortunately, Miss He of the He family had appeared out of nowhere.

Everyone knew that the current head of the He family doted on his youngest daughter the most. Even though Young Mr. Sun could summon wind and rain in Nancheng, he did not dare provoke this person who had descended from the capital.

But having someone snatched away from him right in front of so many people was truly humiliating!

“President Sun, I’ll drink with you.”

The woman beside him was very good at reading the room. Seeing Young Mr. Sun’s darkened expression, she immediately picked up her glass and drank three cups first.

Young Mr. Sun roughly grabbed the woman’s wrist, pulled her into the inner room, and shut the door.

Everyone present knew what was happening beyond that single door, but they all tacitly understood and pretended otherwise. Those drinking continued to drink, those chatting continued to chat, as though they were already used to it.

“I heard President Sun call that younger girl Miss He just now. Could she be He Mu of the He family?”

“If she can make Sun Xiang so scared he doesn’t even dare fart, then it should be her.”

“I’ve long heard that the youngest daughter of the He family likes playing with women. Turns out it’s true.”

“What a pity. That younger girl has such a perfect figure!”

“…”

A few seats away from Young Mr. Sun, two men were speaking in dialect, leaning close and whispering to each other.

On the other side, a girl in her early twenties had a face full of disdain. “Mu Qingran really is capable, isn’t she? Hooking up with President Sun wasn’t enough—she doesn’t even let women off.”

“I’ve seen plenty of women like her, cold on the surface but slutty to the bone. Yet so many people just happen to like that type.”

“Exactly. Someone like me, who’s the same inside and out, is very loyal to my own heart. I don’t even know how to fish for men, so I’m especially prone to being single. Luckily, there are still people with a discerning eye who can recognize a pearl. Someone chased me for months and never got tired of it.”

“Women like that are fine to play around with, but if you want a serious relationship, you still have to find someone like us, with family background and real strength.”

“That’s true. I used to feel quite insecure, thinking I was too ordinary. I was only born a little better than others and had my own villa and sports car at twenty, but I was never good at studying no matter what. But my boyfriend said girls are cute when they’re a little stupid.”

“Men don’t seem to like smart women very much. My ex-boyfriend was a hopelessly straight man. He said I was too smart and made him feel pressured. Sometimes I want to pretend to be a little dumber, but I just can’t manage it. I actually envy you.”

“…”

They were all old hands at humblebragging.

Most of the people who came to this gathering had social obligations to fulfill, and the scene just now became a very useful shared topic. The names “Mu Qingran” and “He Mu” became the two words that appeared most frequently in the room.

Most people openly looked down on Mu Qingran, but in truth, they were unbearably jealous. As long as they could form a connection with the He family, who cared whether they became Miss He’s mistress or lover? They would even change their gender for it.

…

Qin Xin waited and waited, but her friend did not return. She called her, but no one answered. She knew she had been abandoned.

She did not particularly care. It was just as well. She could go have some fun.

Qin Xin went to the bar on the second floor of the club and very quickly locked onto a target.

She walked straight toward the bar counter, sat down, and said to the bartender, “Give me the same drink as this lady.”

The woman beside her turned her head to look at her.

“When I saw your back, I thought you were a beauty,” Qin Xin paused briefly, then smiled sweetly. “I didn’t expect you to be a fairy.”

The woman said nothing. She took a pair of earphones out of her pocket and stuffed both ears with them.

Qin Xin: “…”

I’m this beautiful. You’re the one who got lucky, okay?!

She did not give up. She typed a string of words on her phone screen and held it up in front of the woman.

“May I ask your name?”

Seeing that the woman had no reaction, Qin Xin typed another sentence.

“Hello, my name is He Mu. I’ve introduced myself with so much sincerity, so could you please acknowledge me, hm?”

As someone with a fiancé, Qin Xin did not dare go too far. Whenever she went out hunting for beauties, the identity of “He Mu” was extremely convenient to use.

The woman finally glanced at her again.

Then she got up and left.

Qin Xin: “…”

Abandoned by my childhood friend and ignored by a woman. I truly am one miserable lady.

Early morning. The curtains slowly opened, and through the floor-to-ceiling windows, one could see the tall buildings in the distance, as well as the vast sky.

The clouds were very thick. The sun could not be seen.

Another cloudy day.

He Mu had been in Nancheng for three days and had not seen even the slightest bit of sunlight. Outside always looked as though it was about to rain.

Unlike many girls who were afraid of getting tanned, she often let herself bask in the sunlight. It felt like sunning a quilt, as though she could be warmed until she became soft and fluffy.

However, her skin was naturally fair. Even if she spent an entire day under the sun by the seaside, she would only get a tiny bit darker. After resting for a while, she would return to being so fair she seemed to glow.

It looked like she would not be getting any sun for a long time.

He Mu sighed softly, left the window, and walked into the washroom.

…

The mirror reflected the face of a beauty, misted with water vapor, like the white of a freshly peeled egg.

He Mu had just washed her face and had not yet put on makeup.

Without the deliberately upturned eyeliner, the curve at the outer corner of her eyes was soft. Her eyelids were thin and delicate, shaped like apricot kernels. Her pitch-black pupils were like obsidian, bright and clear under the light.

Ever since her school days, people had often said she resembled a pure and beautiful Hong Kong actress from the last century. As for compliments like that, she had long passed the age where she would secretly feel pleased by them.

An enviable outer shell—aside from letting others appraise it, what other use did it have?

He Mu sat before the vanity mirror and began preparing to go out step by step. Today, she would go to Mu Qingran’s company in the capacity of an investor.

When she reached the eye makeup stage, she did the same as usual and drew an upward flick of eyeliner at the corners of her eyes.

Makeup was a very magical art. Once the eyeliner was added, He Mu’s aura underwent a subtle transformation. Even her gaze gained a few sharper edges.

She was already beautiful enough like this, but in truth, if she drew her eyeliner according to the natural shape of her eyes, she would be even more beautiful.

However, He Mu favored this kind of aggressive makeup.

After Mu Qingran left.

He Mu picked up a square black lipstick tube and leisurely applied lipstick. True red, with a matte finish.

She pressed her lips together and smiled faintly.

She had spent five years running desperately forward.

Now, at last, she dared to stand before Mu Qingran again.

This time, she would definitely trap Mu Qingran firmly by her side, no matter what method she had to use.

Sister should also experience what it felt like to have a knife cut into her heart, stroke by stroke.