Ever since their divorce, every time he talked to her, his tone would be pointed and filled with impatience.

Even though she had heard it many times already, Cheng Qingchong still couldn’t stop herself from being affected by it. Her finger rubbed the screen of the phone to distract herself from the pain in her pain, and she said carefully, “Mother will be arriving at Beijing by 5 pm tomorrow, so she might need to stay…”

Even though he had promised to help her, he had done nothing to that effect. She had moved everything away from his home, and when her mother arrived at Beijing, it would seem out of place to have her located at the hotel when there was an empty guest room at his place…

Cheng Qingchong bit on her lower lips and summoned her courage to continue.

“…at home, so… can I come over to your place to decorate it…”

Qin Yinan, on the other end of the phone, didn’t say anything. Cheng Qingchong didn’t know what this meant, so she had no choice but to carry on. “Don’t worry, I will not leave too many things at your place. After Mother leaves, I’ll clear away everything. I promise I will not be too much trouble…”

Cheng Qingchong didn’t know how long her mother was going to stay at Beijing, but she added, “…I’ll also try my best to get my mother to leave as soon as possible, so she won’t be too much of a disturbance to your life…”

Qin Yinan suddenly hung up. The dial tone on the phone was long and empty, causing Cheng Qingchong’s heart to be unnecessarily worried.

Before hanging up on her, Qin Yinan concluded the phone call with a simple sentence. “I’ll give you my key tomorrow morning.”

…

Before Cheng Qingchong left work, she applied for several days of holiday. After she changed out of her uniform and left Four Seasons, she heard a car honking not far away. She turned towards the sound and saw Qin Yinan sitting inside his car.

Cheng Qingchong walked towards him, but before she could say anything, Qin Yinan dropped the key through the window into her arms, turned the steering wheel, and left.

When she returned home, Cheng Qingchong didn’t rest. She packed some of her stuff and hurried to Qin Yinan’s home.

Cheng Qingchong didn’t carry many things with her, she placed several pairs of shoes in the shoe rack, planted some female everyday items in the bathroom, and hung two of her clothes on the balcony to create the illusion that she was living there.

After unpacking, Cheng Qingchong returned to her own rented home and rested until 3 pm before she departed for the airport.

Cheng Qingchong’s mother arrived punctually at 5 pm.

The pair of mother and daughter hadn’t met for a long time, so they chatted for a while. When they were ready to leave the apartment, Mrs. Cheng looked around like she was searching for something. Then she asked, “Qingchong, Yinan didn’t come with you?”

The day of her wedding aside, this was the first time Mrs. Cheng had been to Beijing. As the son-in-law, Qin Yinan had all the reason and responsibility to be there. Cheng Qingchong knew about this as well, but she was no longer in a married relationship with Qin Yinan. It was already one thing for him to agree to play along with her; she really didn’t have the guts to ask for more.

Cheng Qingchong lowered her head to hide the dimness in her eyes, and she said with forced levity, “He did want to come fetch you, but he has an important client to meet this afternoon, so he couldn’t pull himself away.”

“I see…” Mrs. Cheng nodded understandingly and didn’t show any sign of displeasure. “Then, let us go home quick to prepare dinner lest Yinan comes home to an empty table.”