Slow to mature after marriage

Zhou Yu'an stayed in Haicheng for almost ten days. Her mentor, Li Jiliang, called one after another, his tone changing from "An'an, when are you coming back?" to "My little darling, if you don't come to work soon, I'm going to die on the dissection table."

Listening to her boss's loud complaints on the other end of the phone, she knew she couldn't delay any longer and had to go to work.

Shen Ruoqing stood behind her, holding a bowl of freshly stewed white fungus soup. She heard the voice on the phone, but didn't urge her. She simply placed the bowl on the coffee table and sat quietly beside her, waiting for Zhou Yu'an to hang up before speaking.

"Are you going back?"

"Hmm," Zhou Yu'an said, "My master is too busy."

Shen Ruoqing nodded and pushed the bowl of white fungus soup forward, "Then finish this bowl before you leave."

Zhou Yu'an picked up the bowl and drank it spoonful by spoonful. The white fungus was stewed until soft and tender, the lotus seeds had their cores removed, and the red dates were chopped into small pieces. It tasted exactly the same as the drink she remembered from when she was five years old.

Yes, it tastes like mom's cooking.

-

The plane flew through the clouds. The sky north of Beijing was hazy and gray, like two different worlds from the humid and warm coastal city.

Zhou Yu'an leaned against the porthole, watching the clouds churn outside, a faint sense of reluctance still lingering in his heart.

She came alone, but left with Bo Yan by her side—yet she still felt that something had been left behind in Haicheng, in that bedroom filled with the fragrance of gardenias.

My phone vibrated.

She looked down and saw a message from Shen Ruoqing, along with a photo.

"An'an, what do you think of this house? You and Ayan live in this neighborhood too, right? Your parents are planning to stay in Beijing for a while."

Bo Yan leaned over from the side and glanced at the screen. He then gave Zhou Yu'an a leisurely look.

Tsk.

My mother-in-law is coming to northern Beijing.

Will he still have the opportunity to lie in the same bed with his wife in the future?

Zhou Yu'an's heart skipped a beat.

She had a hunch that if she returned to Muyan Garden, she might be in big trouble.

-

really.

She had barely stepped into Mu Yan Garden, not even having time to change her shoes, when Bo Yan's kiss landed on her. He held her waist with one hand and closed the door with the other, pinning her against the wall in the entryway. The kiss was urgent and heavy, as if he wanted to reclaim all the longing he had felt over the past ten days.

Zhou Yu'an was stunned by the kiss for a moment, then tilted her head back and calmly reciprocated.

Zhou Yu'an had to admit that she also missed her body and desperately wanted to be intimate with him.

Bo Yan released her lips and instead bit her earlobe, his voice low and husky, like sandpaper rubbing against velvet. "When you were in Haicheng, you slept with your mother every day, huh? You didn't even make regular phone calls."

"Six minutes and thirty-two seconds, huh?"

He felt he would remember this number for the rest of his life. "I miss you so much, Zhou Yu'an."

He murmured softly.

With each word she spoke, he would bite her, not hard, but itchy, so itchy that Zhou Yu'an trembled all over. She opened her mouth, wanting to say something, but before she could speak, he scooped her up and carried her upstairs.

The bedroom door was kicked open and then slammed shut.

The curtains weren't drawn, and the afternoon sunlight streamed in through the French windows, casting their intertwined shadows onto the white wall. Bo Yan poured all his energy into her, as if he wanted to infuse all the longing he had accumulated over the past ten days into her very being.

Zhou Yu'an felt as if all the bones in his body had been rearranged.

-

In the afternoon, Zhou Yu'an returned to the appraisal center to resume work.

When Master Li Jiliang saw her, he smiled and said, "Wanwan... oh no, you should call me An'an now, right?"

He handed over the gift, saying, "Happy birthday. By the way, remember to invite your master to join in the fun next time."

Zhou Yu'an smiled gently, "Okay, thank you, Master."

I went to a crime scene in the afternoon. It was an abandoned factory on the outskirts of the city. There was an unidentified body, and the preliminary assessment was that the time of death was more than a week ago. Zhou Yu'an squatted on the ground, wearing gloves, and focused on examining the body, piecing together the disassembled bones.

By the time she finished, it was almost dark. She stood up, took off her gloves, and stretched her stiff neck.

Looking up, I saw Meng Wan standing outside the cordon.

She was wearing a police uniform, holding a notebook in her hand. She looked up at her, and after a while, she walked towards Zhou Yu'an.

Meng Wan walked over, stopped in front of her, moved her lips, remained silent for a few seconds, and finally spoke.

"What should I call you now? Mu Siwan? Or Zhou Yu'an?"

Although the Zhou family tried to keep a low profile and did not release Zhou Yu'an's photo, only mentioning her name, the business circle in Beijing is only so big. The Zhou family has close ties with the Bo family and has also been involved in Mu Cheng's case in a high-profile manner. Meng Wan could easily guess her relationship with the Zhou family.

"Just call me Zhou Yu'an," Zhou Yu'an said.

Meng Wan nodded, as if she had already guessed the answer. She lowered her eyes, looking at the notebook in her hand, her voice not loud, but every word was spoken clearly.

"Mu Cheng's guilt has been determined. Death sentence, suspended for two years. Are you satisfied now? Our family owes you nothing."

Zhou Yu'an didn't speak, but just looked at her quietly.

"Mom doesn't care about anything anymore," Meng Wan's voice lowered, "She went to Putuo Temple to become a nun."

Zhou Yu'an's eyelashes trembled slightly.

Meng Wan suddenly felt a little tired. She knew that Zhou Yu'an shouldn't bear all the responsibility for all of this. But she couldn't bring herself to sympathize with him.

She had suffered greatly over the years. When she finally returned home, she discovered that her seemingly kind father was a domestic abuser who had even tried to marry her off to a man in his forties for personal gain. Meng Wan hadn't gained anything from the Mu family. Back home, she hadn't targeted Zhou Yu'an in the slightest, so she didn't feel she owed him anything.

I just feel wronged.

To be honest, Meng Wan really felt wronged. She knew nothing about it, yet when she returned, one of them was named Mu Siwan, and the other Mu Sigui. These two names weighed heavily on her heart, as if she were responsible for them. As if she owed them something.

She's now thankful that she insisted on not changing her surname. Her surname is Meng, and her given name is Meng Wan. She shares the same surname as Meng Qing. At least, she still has an older brother.

Meng Wan took a deep breath and raised her head.

"My brother is being transferred away from Beijing in a few days. You were part of the reason he was transferred back from another place. He's always liked you a lot."

Zhou Yu'an raised his eyes, a hint of surprise flashing across them.

Meng Wan met her gaze and gave a self-deprecating smile. "My brother is too timid. If he doesn't dare to say it, I'll say it for him. From now on, let's keep to ourselves and never see each other again."

As soon as he finished speaking, hurried footsteps sounded behind him. Meng Qing ran over, a thin layer of sweat on his forehead. His gaze swept between Meng Wan and Zhou Yu'an before finally settling on Meng Wan's face with a hint of warning.

"Meng Wan, don't talk nonsense."

Meng Wan rolled her eyes, chin held high, her tone carrying a defiant, "What the hell?" "Hmph, I'm not making this up. If I don't tell you, you can just sit here and suffer the rest of your life, until you die!"

She glanced at Zhou Yu'an, then at her brother, and clicked her tongue twice. "Do you expect that blockhead to be able to figure it out herself?"

After saying that, she turned around and strode away. Her ponytail flicked in the wind, and she didn't look back.

Meng Qing stood there, watching his sister's retreating figure. His lips moved slightly, but in the end, he didn't chase after her.

He turned his head and looked at Zhou Yu'an.

She remained the same, standing there quietly, her eyes calm and her face expressionless. Her eyes were as still as a lake, revealing nothing of the many pebbles he had cast into her heart.

Meng Qing gave a wry smile.

"She's joking." His voice was low, carrying a sense of helplessness that even he himself didn't quite believe. "Don't listen to that girl's nonsense."

Zhou Yu'an nodded. "Okay, I understand."

She didn't want to think about things any further. Since Meng Qing said it was just nonsense, she would just take it as nonsense. That would be better for everyone.

"I heard you're about to be transferred out of Beijing?" she asked.

"Hmm," Meng Qing said, his gaze lingering on her face for a moment before shifting away. "I'm leaving in a couple of days."