Mr.CEO, Please Sign the Divorce Agreement
Chapter 229 There’s No After

Chapter 229: Chapter 229 There’s No After

From cremation to Su Mu receiving the ashes, it took only a brief two hours. She cradled the small urn, as if she could still feel the heat left after the cremation. She couldn’t believe that someone who once was so vibrant could now be held in her hands as merely a handful of ashes, so light and insubstantial.

But the pain in her chest told her that this was real.

Even though she wished it was all just a dream.

When she arrived at the cemetery, snow began to fall from the sky. Su Mu looked up at the sky and stepped onto the stairs.

The gravesite Fu Shinian had chosen was clearly a Feng Shui treasure upon first glance. That her father and mother could be buried here provided Su Mu with some solace, as if though they had left her, they might meet in another world and continue to live happily ever after.

Even if that world did not include her.

After the funeral rites concluded, Su Mu showed no intention of leaving, so Fu Shinian let the others go first, remaining with her. Over the past few days, Jiang Bei had come to trust Fu Shinian’s care for Su Mu, therefore he didn’t say much and left with Qiao Yu and the others.

Fu Shinian stood with Su Mu for a long time, never urging her to leave, until the snow became lighter and the cold wind started to blow more ferociously. Fu Shinian held an umbrella, changing his position to shield Su Mu from the wind and snow.

The hem of his trench coat gently flapped against Su Mu’s shins due to the cold wind, and the usually so calm Su Mu finally showed some reaction. She looked up at Fu Shinian and spoke,

"You’ve had a rough few days. Now that she’s been laid to rest, and can be with my father, there’s nothing inappropriate left. You don’t have to stay here with me. You should head back earlier."

"What about you?"

Su Mu gazed at the photograph of her parents on the tombstone, the corners of her mouth lifting slightly,

"I want to stay with them a little longer."

"I’ll stay with you."

"There’s no need."

"Everyone else has left, and if I leave too, you’ll probably end up spending the night here," Fu Shinian looked at her. "Aren’t you afraid?"

"What’s there to fear from the dead? Shouldn’t the living be the most frightening thing in this world?"

The machinations and heart of a scorpion will always be more terrifying than the dead. Involuntarily, you wonder, why can a person become so utterly malevolent? But you’ll never get an answer.

Su Mu stood before the grave for a long time, but Fu Shinian, who stayed by her side, didn’t speak another word, just quietly accompanying her until Su Mu noticed that his hand holding the umbrella had turned red and purple. She frowned slightly at him,

"What are you doing?"

Fu Shinian looked at her, "I said I’d stay with you."

Upon hearing this, Su Mu stiffened for a few seconds. If she wasn’t misinterpreting or overthinking, what Fu Shinian meant by those words was care, tenderness. But Su Mu, having faced disappointment too many times before, dared not so easily believe it, nor did she want to believe it again,

"Fu Shinian, have you forgotten the words we’ve said before?"

"No, I remember every single sentence we’ve said to each other," he responded.

"You said you didn’t want to see me anymore, remember?" Su Mu looked at him. "If everything you’ve done these days was just to deal with Grandma, then now that it’s all over, you don’t have to keep this up."

Fu Shinian was silent for a few seconds, quietly observing Su Mu, before he finally sighed softly,

"Su Mu, we’ve lived together for two years. You should understand that if there’s something I don’t want to do, nobody can force me. If I were just dealing with Grandma, I could’ve simply told her I was with you then turned around and done something else; she wouldn’t have any way to verify it. It would have been enough just to show up today, right? But I didn’t do that."

"Furthermore, even if I really did what you suggested, just to deal with the old lady, why do you think I’m standing here in the cold wind with you now that everything is over? Do you think the scenery on this graveyard is so beautiful?"

Su Mu looked at him, and though she seemed to vaguely understand the meaning behind his words, it wasn’t clear to her:

"I don’t quite understand."

"I don’t need you to understand, you’ll gradually get it over time."

Su Mu shook her head slightly, her demeanor lifeless and devoid of vitality as she said:

"There’s no ’over time’ left."

Upon hearing this, Fu Shinian abruptly looked up at her, his gaze as deep and still as a stagnant pond:

"No ’over time’? I don’t quite get what you’re saying."

It was evident that Su Mu had much more to say, with a look in her eyes that seemed to hold a thousand words, but maybe she was tired, or perhaps she felt it wasn’t the right time to speak. So, in the end, she didn’t open her mouth, but slowly averted her gaze and simply said:

"It’s nothing, let’s go back."

Fu Shinian gave her a deep look:

"Alright."

On the way back, Song Yi drove, while Fu Shinian and Su Mu sat in the backseat. After leaving Mt. Xi, Su Mu realized that the car was heading in the direction of the old residence, and after some thought, she finally spoke up:

"Just drop me off at Jiang Bei’s place."

Hearing this, Song Yi glanced at the rearview mirror and saw Fu Shinian, who had been resting with his eyes closed, slowly opening them. Their gazes briefly met, and Song Yi understood he couldn’t follow his wife’s wishes and simply continued driving.

Fu Shinian turned to Su Mu:

"If you think the old house isn’t quiet, we can go back to Bishui Yuntian. Even the best of friends shouldn’t be disturbed so often."

"Xiaobei won’t mind."

"She naturally won’t mind in front of you, but everyone has their own life. If Jiang Bei really thought having an extra person around was no big deal, why would she bother moving out to live on her own?"

Fu Shinian’s words were not something Su Mu hadn’t considered before. Considering Jiang Bei was going abroad in a few days and had many things to take care of, it didn’t seem great to continue imposing on her. She paused for a few seconds:

"Then, let’s stop at a hotel nearby."

Fu Shinian thought he could hold back, but after Su Mu finished speaking, he still furrowed his brows, and his tone worsened significantly:

"Is the Fu family going to devour you? Leading you to prefer staying in a hotel over going back to the Fu family’s house as the year end approaches?"

"No, it’s just that I don’t have the energy to deal with too much."

"There aren’t many people at the old house who need your attention. With such an incident, Grandma is more likely to feel sorry for you than to press you for anything. Now that it’s all over, and you still insist on not going home, what do you expect Grandma to think?"

At his words, Su Mu let out a soft laugh, and Fu Shinian found he couldn’t decipher the meaning of her smile:

"What are you laughing at?"

"That’s your reason for wanting me to come home, isn’t it? Worrying about Grandma’s health, concerned about her feelings, afraid she might think there’s some unpleasantness between us?" Su Mu turned her head to look at Fu Shinian, "Fu Shinian, I understand there’s nothing wrong with what you’re doing, but could you please show a little understanding for me at this time? Do you think I’m in the mood to play the part of a loving couple with you in front of Grandma?"