Chapter 31 – Tears: So She Can Cry Too
Mu Qing had always known that her husband had a strong grip. He’d occasionally caught her hand in the past, and it would sting a little. But she hadn’t expected that “painful” could actually get worse. This time, he seemed far too agitated to control his strength—he nearly crushed her wrist outright.
Seeing that verbal reminders were getting her nowhere, Mu Qing resorted to her ultimate move.
She cried.
In truth, from childhood until now—even in her previous life—she’d rarely ever cried for herself.
Because crying never helped. No one would care, and it only made her feel more miserable. So why bother?
But that didn’t mean she was an emotionless machine. In fact, her tear ducts worked just fine—she often teared up while watching touching scenes in films, dramas, or even comics and novels.
It was just that she always forced herself not to cry.
So, this time, when she finally allowed herself to cry for her own sake, it actually came quite easily—especially since her wrist genuinely hurt under his vice-like grip.
As long as she didn’t deliberately hold back, her tears flowed naturally from the physical pain.
Soon enough, she noticed that her usually tense and anxious husband had completely frozen.
Her wrist was finally released.
She gently rubbed it, letting her tears flow without resistance. While quietly relieved, she also couldn’t help but reflect:
As expected, no matter what kind of man he is, they’re all helpless in the face of a woman’s tears.
Even someone like her husband was no exception when the woman crying happened to be her.
Watching him wear that rare expression of guilt, remorse, and flustered awkwardness, Mu Qing found it all rather amusing. Suddenly, her wrist didn’t hurt that much anymore.
While she felt more at ease, her husband was in complete disarray.
Chu Yu looked at the woman who always carried a subtle smile at the corners of her eyes, and now, in front of him, her eyes were red and tears streamed down her face. It felt like he had been struck by lightning—his mind went blank, and even his chest seemed to ache in a strange, unfamiliar way.
He had never imagined that someone like his wife could cry.
From the moment they met, he’d never seen her shed a single tear.
It felt as though no matter the situation, no matter what happened, she always wore some form of a smile.
He had subconsciously erased the idea of “crying” from her being.
Now, faced with it so suddenly, he realized—she could cry.
And when she cried like this, it hurt him more than anything he’d ever known.
He didn’t know what to do.
He’d heard that when women cried, they needed to be comforted.
But he’d never had to comfort anyone before… he’d never needed to… until now…
So what should he do?
He was completely lost.
But as he watched her cry, he knew—he couldn’t just stand there and do nothing.
So, gritting his teeth, he pulled something from his robe and hurried toward her.
Mu Qing was still rubbing her wrist and secretly watching her husband’s flustered expression with some amusement, when suddenly, after much internal struggle, he approached with something in hand, his teeth clenched tightly.
He looked a little… fierce.
Mu Qing instinctively stepped back two paces, but her legs weren’t as long as his. He backed her straight into the wall by the door, leaving her no escape.
Judging by his expression, Mu Qing began to worry—was he about to lash out from embarrassment and silence her forever or something?
But instead, he took her hand again… and thankfully, this time, not with the same terrifying force.
Still… he was being a bit too gentle now.
Mu Qing looked at the way he gingerly cradled her wrist like it was porcelain and couldn’t help but want to laugh.
But she was too curious to stop now—what was he trying to do?
The moment she saw what he pulled out, she couldn’t hold it in anymore and let out a snort of laughter.
It was a bottle of high-quality trauma salve.
Her wrist had hurt a lot earlier and was still red and slightly swollen, but it wasn’t serious enough to need something like that.
She was about to tell him it wasn’t necessary when he gave her a faint glare—a beautiful man showing even mild displeasure was extremely potent, regardless of gender.
Mu Qing wasn’t immune. She was instantly disarmed by the stunning expression he gave her.
By the time she snapped out of it, he had already applied a generous layer of the salve to her wrist, gently and meticulously.
She didn’t know what was in the ointment, but it felt wonderfully cool and soothing. Not only did it relieve her lingering discomfort quickly, it also lacked the usual pungent smell of medicinal balm. Instead, it carried a faint, pleasant fragrance—clearly no ordinary remedy.
And when she inhaled more carefully, she realized the scent was reminiscent of the one she’d detected on her husband before—so back then, he hadn’t been wearing perfume after all. He must’ve been injured and using this balm?
Lost in thought, Mu Qing stared blankly until a soft cough brought her back to the present.
She realized she had been staring at him in a daze… maybe not entirely because of his good looks, but—well, it was hard to explain.
Still, what was with that shy, fidgety, pink-cheeked look on his face?
Oh no… could it be…?
Mu Qing took a deep breath and said, “Thank you, husband… this ointment is amazing. It must be expensive, right?”
…
She was just asking out of a businesswoman’s instinct, but instead of an answer, she thought she heard something inside him… crack.
She looked at him in confusion, only to see that listless expression had returned to his face, and she suddenly felt a little guilty—was he upset again?
No way. Really?
Then… maybe she should cheer him up?
After thinking about it, Mu Qing very generously decided to forgive her husband for his earlier “rudeness.” After all, this wasn’t the first time he’d been too rough, and he’d clearly tried to make it up to her. He’d even used such a rare ointment on her.
So let’s just move on.
She still didn’t get why he was unhappy just from a casual question about price. Maybe it had some sentimental value or something? Men… so complicated. Might as well tell him what he most wanted to know and make him happy again.
Then he wouldn’t dwell on this little hiccup.
With that, Mu Qing said, “Ahem. What I meant was thank you, husband. My hand’s fine now. You were asking earlier where the jade pendant came from, right?”
As expected, his expression changed immediately.
Mu Qing instinctively wrapped her arms around herself and took half a step back, bracing for him to grab her again. But he didn’t move, only let out a bitter smile and said,
“That’s right. This item is very important to me…”
Mu Qing nodded, ready to explain, when he looked at her and continued,
“Because it belonged to Aunt Feng. It’s the only keepsake she left with her daughter, who went missing at the age of six.”
Mu Qing was stunned. She hadn’t expected the pendant to have such a backstory.
So how did something like that end up in a jade shop in Tongzhou?
Even the shop owner couldn’t explain its origin… this was starting to feel like a very complicated situation.
Just as she was wondering how best to respond, her husband spoke again.
“I want to ask you for a favor.”
Mu Qing blinked. Her instincts told her this was probably going to be troublesome—last time he made a request with that look on his face, what happened?
Right. She ended up escorting his formidable stepmother around for half a day.
She’d lost so many brain cells, she was sure a few clumps of hair had gone with them.
Yeah… not a pleasant memory. She didn’t want a repeat.
But despite that, when she saw how sincere he looked, she nodded without thinking. Definitely not because she was distracted by his face. She was moved by justice. Definitely.
A six-year-old child going missing… how heartbreaking. If she could help, then why not?
Surely it wouldn’t be too much trouble.
That’s what she thought… but she had no idea how complicated things would get.
What shocked her even more was that her husband, in a show of full sincerity, didn’t hold back at all. He laid out the entire backstory—and if she hadn’t interrupted him, he might’ve gone so far as to recount his entire past life and previous incarnation too.
Because, as it turned out, the little girl who went missing was technically his sister—Aunt Feng was his foster mother, and her daughter… was his elder sister.
“Before she passed, Aunt Feng made me promise to find her daughter… that’s why I reacted so strongly when I saw that pendant. I truly apologize for hurting you earlier.”
It was a bit late, but at least he apologized sincerely.
After hearing all that, Mu Qing felt like she couldn’t really refuse. Saying no now would make her seem heartless.
She definitely felt like she’d been dragged onto a pirate ship.
Yet, seeing him so solemn and apologetic… for some reason, she started to blush and her heart skipped a beat. And why was she… kind of happy?
Mu Qing quickly forced those nonsensical thoughts out of her mind. She steadied herself and said seriously, “Since that’s the case, there’s no time to waste. Let’s go to the jade shop and ask where this pendant came from.”
Her husband glanced at the sky and nodded.
The two of them quietly slipped out, avoiding the academy’s patrolling seniors and instructors, and made their way to Chengguan Street.
They had planned to just ask a few questions and return before curfew, but unexpectedly, what awaited them was a completely unforeseen development.
