Loving With My Mind

Chapter 26 - Secrets 3

Han Mufeng arrived at the banquet and sent his greetings to his third uncle.

"Mufeng!" Han Jishen is fond of this nephew. The Han household made him head at a young age due to his help.

They basically handed him Han Hotels. However, he built his own hotel and resort chain from his savings and even shared the name with his wife's.

"You seem to be alone today. Did you do something to make your wife angry?" Han Jishen teased.

Han Mufeng forced a chuckle. "No, uncle. She is just a little bit under the weather."

"Oh...are you expecting again? Haha! And your eldest just got married!" Han Jishen guffawed.

Now, Han Mufeng forced a laugh. "It's hard to raise toddlers, Uncle."

Han Jishen continued to laugh. "Right, right. You should be waiting for grandkids now while you can still carry them."

"Right..."

Han Jishen was distracted by another elderly man and Han Mufeng successfully made his escape from the conversation.

"Brother..." Han Muzhen's voice rang from behind him.

Han Mufeng turned around.

He saw his brother holding a glass of whiskey on one hand and a beautiful lady on the other.

This is a new date for his brother. Han Muzhen changes women not on an annual basis but on every occasion he can be seen in.

Han Mufeng sternly criticized the young lady with his eyes. It seemed that his brother had been getting younger girls after another.

"Brother, don't tell me you are eyeing my girlfriend again?" Han Muzhen had a teasing smile, but the last word had an unexplicable weight into it.

Han Mufeng flashed a diplomatic smile. "Of course not." He subtly nodded towards the young lady as recognition before walking away.

Han Mufeng did not want to have this kind of conversation with his brother.

He strode out towards a balcony of the estate and took a deep breath as if he had been suffocating for awhile.

He walked towards the railing. He took out a cigarette and lit it with his lighter disguised as brass pen. He took a long drag and puff out the smoke gradually.

He sighed. Li Qiaolian never liked him smoking.

Then again, did she even like him one bit?

...

Han Mufeng first met her when she was a high school freshman with no sense of direction.

He had just given his little brother a ride to school when his car passed by a confused teenager bearing the female uniform for his brother's school.

Han Mufeng was very familiar with it since he also went to the same high school. Whose stubborn miss would rather walk to school?

It was an elite school and even scholars tend to take the bus ride. No one really walks towards the school in the morning.

He rolled down his window. "Hey, are you lost?"

To his surprise, she looked back at him like he was some kind of pervert.

He just chuckled. "M High School? It's a block away. If you continue to walk, you will come across the entrance in about...10 minutes." he checked his watch.

"Oh...thank..."

"Well, that's it." he stepped onto the accelerator before she could thank him properly.

The young Li Qiaolian followed the speeding car with her stare, mouth gaping.

Han Mufeng glanced at her features once more by the rearview mirror and smiled.

He had caught her several times for staring at his younger brother's back, whenever he gets the time to drop him or pick him up from school.

So the little lady he met seemed to have a crush on his brother. Well, it was puppy love so he was never bothered by it.

Until he represented their parents for his brother's graduation. At this time, he had just graduated from college and is a proper a.d.u.l.t with a job.

"Han Muzhen, I like you!"

Han Mufeng was as baffled as his brother who just stood there like a statue.

He watched as the little lady bid goodbye with regretful eyes.

He decided to push his brother a little by hinting a change in university. At that point, even if his brother did not change schools, Han Mufeng was determined to make opportunities himself.

For the first time in his life, he was truly interested on something, and it was a person. This time, he would not yield to his brother.

She majored in interior design, and he gave her opportunities to compete in contests. He even had to persuade old colleages who happen to be her professors.

He even involved the company and hosted one of the competitions.

Good thing she was talented enough to deserve her win, and the lobby design of one of the Han Hotels was a sight to unravel for guests who first step into the building.

His interest in her deepened each day. However, she never bothered to look at him properly. She did not even remember his face when he once turned up as judge for the competition.

It was as if this woman only had eyes for his brother.

As if fate was on his side, his parents gave him sets of data for the candidates for his fiancée, and when he was about to reject everyone, he saw her smiling bright face on the last page.

Han Mufeng pretended to nonchalantly pick it out. "This one. I want her."

"Good...good." Even their father was unsuspecting.

At that meal when they announced the engagement, his mind went crazy when he saw her expression as she looked past him towards his brother.

'No, not this time.' he thought.

He had always given up everything he had whenever his brother fancied one. He might even be willing to give him the company if he asks.

But this woman...he cannot let her go.

When he saw his opportunity on their graduation night, he took it.

That night, he knew she was going to hate him. However, he wanted to be selfish, even just for once. Even if she hates him, at least she would look at him.

Finally, she looked at him with such a complicated expression.

She looked hurt and it hurt him more.

If only she looked not at his brother but him.

His brother decided to elope with her, but they were still both naive.

It was easy for him to find them and to take his woman back. Indeed, he had claimed that she was his.

After Han Muzhen was taken away, Li Qiaolian almost looked lifeless.

Han Mufeng supported her. "What's wrong?"

She was clutching her lower abdomen. "It...it hurts..."

At the hospital, Li Qiaolian awoke to find Han Mufeng sleeping by her side.

As if sensing her movements, he woke up attentively.

"Does it hurt anywhere?"

She gently shook her head.