Slow to mature after marriage

Appraisal Center.

When Mu Siwan pushed open the door to the forensic room, Xiao Qin was holding a coffee and looking at her phone. Hearing the noise, she looked up and almost spilled her coffee.

"master?!"

She stared wide-eyed and looked Mu Siwan up and down.

"You're late!"

Mu Siwan walked to her workstation, sat down, and put her bag away.

"Um."

Xiao Qin leaned closer, her eyes practically popping out of their sockets.

"It's been three years, Master. A full three years! No matter how late you're away on a business trip the night before, you're always on time the next day." She lowered her voice, her face filled with shock. "This is the first time I've ever seen you late!"

Mu Siwan opened the documents in front of her and frowned.

It doesn't feel good to break the rules.

There won't be a next time.

Xiao Qin stared at her for a few seconds.

That face was still the same, expressionless, with calm eyes, revealing absolutely nothing.

Sometimes Xiao Qin really wonders if her master is a robot.

Perhaps robots have already taken over the world, and her mentor is the advanced model that has infiltrated the forensic team.

"Master," she leaned closer, her eyes shining, "what did you do last night?"

Mu Siwan paused for a moment.

last night.

Those images flashed through my mind—a kiss on the sofa, the steam in the bathroom, the feeling of being tossed and turned in bed.

Finally, there's the man's line—"I'm going to England on a business trip in five days, for at least two months."

She lowered her eyes.

"sleep."

Xiao Qin moved even closer, her smile ambiguous.

"Which kind of sleep? A verb or an adjective?"

Mu Siwan glanced at her, rolled up the report in her hand, and gently patted her on the head.

"The kind of sleeping with a corpse."

Xiao Qin covered her head and shrank back.

"Master, you—"

Mu Siwan had already lowered her head and continued writing her report.

Her body still ached, a pain that seemed to seep from the very bones. From an osteological perspective, Bo Yan had probably rearranged all the joints in her body last night.

What on earth was wrong with him last night?

Mu Siwan frowned slightly, suppressed the thought, and continued working.

-

in the afternoon.

"Siwan".

Li Jiliang's voice came from behind.

Mu Siwan stopped and turned around.

Li Jiliang walked through the workstations, holding a file folder in his hand, and stood in front of her.

"Send this report to the Municipal Public Security Bureau's Criminal Investigation Division." He handed it over, "They're waiting for it."

Mu Siwan accepted it.

"Now?"

"Okay." Li Jiliang nodded. "You can go straight home after you finish delivering the goods."

He turned around and walked back, but stopped after taking two steps.

"Oh, and don't forget about the variety show. Filming starts in two weeks. The first episode will be a collaboration with the Criminal Investigation Division. Keep that in mind."

Mu Siwan responded.

Li Jiliang waved his hand and went back to his workstation.

Mu Siwan glanced down at the file folder in her hand and walked out.

She had been to the Municipal Criminal Investigation Division several times and knew the way well. As she took the elevator to the sixth floor and turned into the corridor, she bumped into someone.

Meng Wan.

She was dressed in a smart casual outfit, holding a folder in her hand. She paused for a moment when she saw Mu Siwan, then smiled.

"Siwan? Here to deliver materials?"

Mu Siwan nodded.

Where is Meng Qing's office?

"Is this for my brother?" Meng Wan took the file and glanced at it. "Then just give it to me. I'm going to see him anyway."

"Okay, thank you."

Mu Siwan nodded and turned to leave.

Meng Wan stared at that crisp, clean back view, her eyes filled with complex emotions.

After a while, she lowered her head and pouted unhappily.

"Tch, what's with the attitude?"

-

Meng Wan pushed open the door to Meng Qing's office with a file bag in her hand.

Meng Qing was typing something on his computer when he heard a noise and looked up.

"Brother, here are your documents." Meng Wan placed the document bag on his desk. "They were sent by the forensic center."

Meng Qing reached out and took it, casually asking a question.

"Who sent it?"

"Mu Siwan." Meng Wan sat down opposite him. "I think she's a bit too arrogant. I guess it's because my parents spoiled her from a young age, which made her temperament a bit strange."

Meng Qing didn't respond, but tapped the file bag with his fingertip.

Meng Wan suddenly remembered something.

"By the way, brother, you don't know who Mu Siwan is, do you? She's my biological parents' adopted daughter. She's about my age, and I think she even shares the same birthday as me."

She paused, her tone softening.

"Actually, I'm quite envious of her. She was able to grow up by her parents' side and be loved by them. Unlike me, I spent a long time in an orphanage before you and Mom came to adopt me."

"Now that I'm back in the Mu family, my biological parents treat me very well, but something feels off, like I'm not really part of the Mu family. And then there's my nominal biological brother—"

Meng Wan frowned: "His temper is even stranger. I feel like he and Mu Siwan are both trying to exclude me from the Mu family."

Meng Qing looked up and frowned.

"Your biological parents... are they from the Mu family?"

"Yeah, right." Meng Wan nodded. "Didn't I tell you? You weren't listening."

Meng Qing lowered his eyes, pulled the document out of the bag, and stared at it, but didn't flip through it for a long time.

"And Mu Siwan..." he tried to keep his tone casual, "is she really married?"

"Yes, we got married three years ago. My parents are very good to her and found her a very rich husband, extremely rich," Meng Wan said. "But she's busy with work, so she's been living abroad for the past three years since we got married."

Meng Qing lowered his eyes and fell silent.

After a long silence, he finally spoke.

"Is her husband... good to her?"

"She looked alright at the last gathering." Meng Wan finished speaking, then looked at him suspiciously. "Brother, why are you suddenly asking me so many questions about Mu Siwan?"

"It's nothing, just asking."

After Meng Wan left, the office became quiet.

Meng Qing sat there, staring at those few lines of text, without moving for a long time.

Sunlight streamed in through the window, falling on his hands. He turned to the last page of the document, where her name was written at the bottom.

Mu Siwan.

three years ago.

They really got married.

He leaned back in his chair and slowly closed his eyes.

-

After that night, Mu Siwan didn't see Bo Yan for several days.

On the evening of the fifth day, she opened the door and found several suitcases standing in the living room.

Bo Yan squatted by the sofa, tidying up his things. Grace was coiled around his legs, its tail hooked on the zipper of his suitcase, trying to crawl inside. He reached out and pushed it away, but it wrapped itself around the zipper again and wouldn't let go.

"If you cause any more trouble, I'll stew you."

He was lazy and his voice was soft, so he wasn't threatening at all.

Grace flicked her tongue and continued climbing into the suitcase.

Then he looked up.

He met her gaze.

The two people stared at each other across the living room.

No one spoke.

An eerie silence fell over the living room.

The silence was broken when Aunt Chen brought out the soup.

"Madam, I've made you some soup." Aunt Chen placed the bowl on the coffee table, glancing cautiously at the two of them. "You've had your period these past few days, so drink some to warm yourself up and don't overexert yourself."

"Okay, you can put it down now, I'll drink it later."

Aunt Chen responded and quietly retreated back to the kitchen.