After a pause, Mu Wenya took a deep breath, her eyes reddening slightly, and continued with difficulty, "He might just be injured, or something might have happened, which is why I haven't received any news from him. But I believe he will come back, and he will be back soon. I've had a feeling lately that he's already back, in this city. It's just that he can't come back to me yet because of some unavoidable reasons. I don't know where he is, I can only keep waiting for him, just waiting here."

"Have you ever considered that even if he really comes back, your relationship might not be able to go back to what it was before? After all, so many years have passed and so many changes have occurred. No one can guarantee that he will still have the same feelings as you. Maybe he has already started a new chapter."

Mu Wenya: "..." This was an outcome she hadn't considered before. She only knew that she had to wait for him in the same place, waiting for him to come back one day and hold her hand again. She stayed in the same place, refusing to take a step forward, so much so that she never thought that he would have a new beginning, that he would hold the hand of another girl who was just as radiant with smiles.

“You can try to accept Ouyang. If you know him well enough, you'll like him…”

"Impossible. I will never fall in love with anyone else in my life," Mu Wenya said firmly. After thinking for a moment, Mu Wenya frowned, a hint of melancholy in her eyes. "Besides, in my current state, being with anyone would only be a burden. If you were in her shoes, would you be willing to be with a woman who has another man in her heart and who goes crazy at night because of another man?"

"..."

"You wouldn't want to either, would you?" Mu Wenya gave a bitter smile, her pale lips slightly upturned. "Ouyang just hasn't seen me go crazy at night, so he still has some expectations of me. To put it bluntly, what he likes now is just the me he imagines. But if we really get together, and he sees me going crazy like that at night, he'll eventually find me utterly repulsive. Rather than waiting until that day, it's better not to start at all."

Neither of them spoke, each lost in their own thoughts. The table was quiet; only their breathing could be heard.

After a while, Mu Wenya picked up her chopsticks again, took a piece of something she didn't even know what it was, put it in her mouth, chewed it a few times, and found it tasteless.

"Don't bring this up again. You're Ouyang's friend, you should try to persuade him to stop wandering around and settle down as soon as possible. Alright, let's eat, the food's really cold now."

"I'm going out for a bit." Mu Nanxun put down his chopsticks and stood up from the table.

"No matter where we go, we must eat first."

"I'm going to find Yi Yi and have dinner with her. There's been some misunderstanding between us that I need to clear up; I don't want to wait until tomorrow."

*

"Gurgle, gurgle..."

After leaving the Maple Waterfront villa area, Yi Yi wandered aimlessly through the streets. Outside the Maple Waterfront villa district, there was a bustling food street specializing in all sorts of delicious snacks. Pancakes, kebabs, barbecue… and various other things Yi Yi couldn't name, each one incredibly tasty.

Besides the Mu family's kitchen, Yi Yi's favorite thing to do is stroll along this street. She can eat while she walks. In the past, she would only go back when she was so full she could barely walk.