Chapter 318 Anyway, it's not the first time.
Cui Xiao looked a little flustered, then heard Zhou Mubin say with a smile, "Anyway, it's not the first time, is it?"
Zhou Mubin was right. Over the years, he had stayed at Cui Xiao's place quite often. Sometimes when he was out socializing too late, he would simply stay at Cui Xiao's place. With her taking care of him, Zhou Mubin felt at ease.
"Lawyer Zhou, do you think our current relationship is appropriate?"
"What's our relationship now?" Zhou Mubin stepped forward, placing his hands on the sofa armrests, trapping her between himself and the sofa. "And what's inappropriate about it?"
He lowered his head, his breath gently brushing against her forehead. "Or is it that Nanzhi and the others are right, and you really do love me? My being with Jin Moli made you jealous, and now you're throwing a tantrum at me?"
Cui Xiao's face turned pale. She turned her face away and lowered her voice, "Zhou Mubin, you really don't know?"
This time, Zhou Mubin fell silent.
Then, Cui Xiao chuckled softly. She raised her head and gazed at the man she had secretly loved for many years. "You want to know..."
"Really? Okay, I'll tell you."
"I fell in love with you the very first year we were together. To make myself worthy of standing by your side, I worked hard to improve myself, afraid that one day you would think I was not capable enough and drive me away. I love you, I love everything about you, and I am willing to silently protect you forever."
"Even if you have countless women around you, even if you never give me a second glance, it's all because I love you, and it's all my own choice. I've endured this day after day, year after year, watching different women come and go in your life."
“Nan Zhi knows, Xi Bei knows, your drinking buddies know, even all the clients who work with the law firm know. Only you, Zhou Mubin, don’t know.”
Zhou Mubin was dumbfounded; his arrogance vanished instantly.
He was stunned. "You..."
Cui Xiao sneered, "You want to know why I gave up? Let me tell you, it's because I'm tired. Loving someone who can never reciprocate is too exhausting. Zhou Mubin, I'm over thirty. How many thirty-year periods does one have in a lifetime? It's time for me to live for myself."
After saying all this, Cui Xiao felt an unprecedented sense of relief.
She took a deep breath, her long, narrow eyes appearing alluring and alluring under the light. "So, please stop bothering me, okay?"
Zhou Mubin was deeply shocked; he thought their guesses were all jokes.
He didn't believe any woman would have a secret crush on him for so many years without any regrets; if she did, she must be mentally unstable.
But the fact is, what Namzhi and the others said is true.
Zhou Mubin was momentarily dazed when Cui Xiao walked past her toward the bedroom. "Lawyer Zhou, let's leave each other some dignity."
A receding figure, a face gradually blurring.
This was the first time Zhou Mubin had felt so panicked.
Actually, he had overheard her conversation with Mo Ziqian downstairs.
When Mo Ziqian asked about their previous relationship, Cui Xiao's answer struck him like a thunderbolt.
She said she was still a virgin.
Does this mean that she wants to continue dating him?
I just got back... to explain.
That unease completely threw Zhou Mubin off his train of thought.
The next second, he chased after her and forcibly blocked her path.
His gaze was focused and intense, as if he wanted to draw her in. "You're planning to date Mo Ziqian?"
Having harbored a secret crush for so long, her passion had long since been worn away by the passage of time.
Cui Xiao said almost indifferently, "If Mr. Mo is willing, I think I will give it a try."
The bright lights in the living room enveloped the two figures closely together.
As Cui Xiao gazed at his face so close to hers and felt the warmth of his palm, those emotions that had been suppressed for so long resonated in her mind.
At what moment did she decide to give up on him?
Is it his thoughtfulness when he brought Jin Moli to the banquet, or the importance he placed on her when he introduced her to his friends, or his favoritism towards her every time?
Cui Xiao couldn't explain it either.
But giving up on him is never a moment of despair.
She opened her mouth, but found her throat tight and she couldn't say a word, so she simply stopped talking.
That's fine.
Zhou Mubin felt a tightness in his chest, as if a wad of cotton was stuffed inside him, something he couldn't swallow or spit out.
In the end, all he could say was, "Mo Ziqian isn't suitable. I'll find you someone else."
Cui Xiao laughed, her voice tinged with sarcasm, "Not suitable? Wasn't Mr. Mo introduced to me by you? Isn't it a bit late to say it's not suitable now?"
Zhou Mubin was furious. "In short, I don't agree to you two being together."
Cui Xiao retorted, "Zhou Mubin, what right do you have to object?"
He introduced the person, but now he doesn't want to anymore?
The living room was quiet, with only the sound of their breathing mingling together.
Zhou Mubin glared at her, neither of them willing to back down an inch.
Suddenly, a phone call broke the stalemate.
It was Jin Moli who called Zhou Mubin.
He looked at the incoming call notification, hesitated for a long time, and finally hung up.
Cui Xiao retorted sarcastically, "Why bother?"
Zhou Mubin's face was frighteningly gloomy, but his tone was much better than before, "Mo Ziqian is not my friend, and I don't know him very well. If you want to get married, I will find you someone more suitable in the next few days, whose conditions and appearance are definitely not inferior to his."
For a long time, silence hung heavy in the living room, like cotton wool soaked in water.
When Zhou Mubin finally spoke, his voice was tinged with suppressed emotion, "I'm leaving now, you should... get some rest too."
Each word felt like it was falling on soft velvet, lacking any force, yet it pierced Cui Xiao's heart and made her clench.
She didn't turn around, but she could still feel his faint presence standing at the doorway behind her. It was his usual perfume, mixed with a hint of alcohol.
Soon, the door clicked softly, followed by a dull thud as it closed.
Cui Xiao's back stiffened, her fingers unconsciously gripping the hem of her skirt.
Then, she first tugged at the corners of her mouth, but the smile had just reached the corners of her eyes when it was pushed back by a sour feeling, and her eyes instantly welled up with tears.
My heart still aches.
I still can't... I can't forget.
After getting into the car, Zhou Mubin was still in a bad mood. He fastened his seatbelt and subconsciously looked up at the lights on the rooftop.
His brows furrowed, and his grip on the steering wheel tightened.
Just then, Jin Moli called again, which made Zhou Mubin extremely irritated.
She was always like that; whenever she couldn't reach him, she would desperately call him, something Cui Xiao never did.
Zhou Mubin answered impatiently, "What's wrong?"
As soon as the call connected, Jin Moli asked anxiously, "Where are you? Why aren't you home yet?"
At first, Zhou Mubin found it quite interesting to be controlled like this, but after a while, he couldn't stand it anymore. "Xiao Mo, you're my girlfriend, not my mother, understand?"
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