Inside the Mu Family's study.
Mu Wanrou wore a light purple silk blouse paired with a well-fitted grey pencil skirt, which not only highlighted her gentle and intellectual scholarly aura but also perfectly accentuated her shapely, graceful curves, with a hint of allure.
She sat behind the desk, focusing intently on various Mu Family affairs.
This was a world of difference from her former destitute self, when she was kicked out of the family and struggled at the bottom, now exuding the composure and authority of a person in power.
"Knock, knock, knock."
The study door was gently knocked.
The butler's respectful voice sounded from outside the door: "Patriarch, Mr. Lu has arrived."
Mu Wanrou's previously somewhat serious face instantly blossomed into a gentle, joyful smile, as if a gloomy sky had been suddenly illuminated by sunlight.
All fatigue and worries vanished.
She immediately put down the documents in her hand, quickly got up, and went to greet him personally.
Lu Cheng pushed open the study door and immediately saw Mu Wanrou, who was smiling at him.
Without unnecessary pleasantries, he walked straight up to her, pulled her into his embrace without a word, and lowered his head to give her a possessive, light kiss.
Then, with a hint of playfulness and indulgence in his tone, he whispered in her ear:
"Patriarch Mu is busy with a myriad of affairs. I wonder if she has time to grace a idler like me with her company for a meal?"
"What are you saying, Brother Cheng…"
Mu Wanrou's cheeks flushed slightly as she leaned happily against his firm chest, feeling his familiar, reassuring scent, her voice as soft as water.
"For you, I always have time."
She paused, looked up, a hint of anticipation in her eyes, and naturally mentioned the other most important person in her life.
"What about Tao Tao? Did you… go pick her up from school?"
Lu Cheng was not only her savior but also the daddy her daughter Tao Tao talked about all day long… Lu Cheng lightly flicked her upturned nose, his eyes full of doting affection.
"Don't worry, my esteemed Patriarch."
"Our little princess is having a blast at the parent-child play area, just waiting for her beloved mommy to give her a big surprise."
He took Mu Wanrou's hand, their fingers intertwined.
"Let's go, for our family day."
Family day… Hearing these three words, a warm current surged through Mu Wanrou's heart, and her eyes even became slightly moist.
Once, for her, "family" was a cold place, full of schemes and humiliation.
To resist the arranged marriage by her family, she did not hesitate to go all out.
She randomly pulled a seemingly down-and-out homeless man off the street, paid him ten thousand yuan, "bought" him to cooperate in a play of "secretly betrothed," and the two of them thus obtained a marriage certificate.
To make the act more convincing and cut off the last possibility of a family marriage alliance, she even adopted a one-year-old baby girl from an orphanage, claiming she was her and the "homeless man's" biological daughter, naming her Mu Taotao.
In this way, she successfully ruined her reputation and completely lost her value as a tool for marriage alliance.
The price was that the enraged Mu Family kicked her out, cut off all financial sources, and regarded her as a disgrace to the family.
However… she probably didn't know that the homeless man was Xiao Zhan, who was at the lowest point of his life at that time.
And Xiao Zhan indeed took the ten thousand yuan she gave him as startup capital, went overseas, and began his bloody path as the "Dragon King."
For more than two years after that, she became a single mother struggling alone in a bustling city.
But just half a year ago, the Mu Family intensified their actions, forcing companies to fire her, and no one in the industry dared to hire her.
In the original plot, the next six months were the time when she, with her adopted daughter Mu Taotao, struggled at the bottom and suffered endless humiliation.
Living in a dark, damp basement, being exploited and bullied by unscrupulous landlords, and at the most difficult times, even being forced to sleep in a doghouse in someone else's yard, surviving by scavenging leftover food… Then, just as she was pushed to the brink of despair and about to completely collapse, Xiao Zhan, who had achieved great success overseas and transformed into the "Dragon King," would descend like a god, returning powerfully to save her from her predicament, starting a refreshing urban novel about a domineering Dragon King doting on his Lovely wife and cute baby (delicate wife and cute baby)… What a pity.
She was discovered early by Lu Cheng—a single mother, a missing husband, a malicious landlord, a doghouse in the yard, and most importantly, all of them were very good-looking. If this wasn't the female lead, who was?
How could he just watch such an exquisite "wife" fall into someone else's hands?
Mu Wanrou was also the first female lead he successfully captured.
Lu Cheng did not immediately appear as a "savior"; he was more like a cold director, orchestrating things behind the scenes.
He bribed the already greedy and harsh landlord.
He made the landlord intensify his eviction and harassment of Mu Wanrou and her daughter.
He accelerated the arrival of their moment of despair.
Finally.
On a cold, rainy night.
The malicious landlord, citing overdue rent, kicked Mu Wanrou and her daughter out.
Pointing to the dirty doghouse in the yard, he told them to either get out or live there.
Just as Mu Wanrou held her shivering, wailing daughter, standing in the cold rain, feeling an unprecedented sense of despair and helplessness.
Lu Cheng appeared, as if sent by heaven to save them.
With decisive action, he had his bodyguards break the malicious landlord's limbs and throw him into the Huangpu River to feed the fish.
Then, for the startled mother and daughter, he arranged the best accommodation and provided the most luxurious living conditions.
Clothing, food, housing, transportation—everything was meticulously taken care of.
Lu Cheng precisely grasped Mu Wanrou's psychology.
Although the Mu Family was only a second-rate aristocratic family in Modu, her ability to abandon everything and leave showed her inherent resilience, and ordinary material temptations could not truly move her.
However, she had one sole weakness—her daughter, Mu Taotao.
Even though she was an adopted daughter, Mu Wanrou poured all her heart and soul into her.
Thus, Lu Cheng showed extraordinary patience, tenderness, and affection towards Tao Tao.
He would personally play with Tao Tao, tell her stories, buy her the most beautiful princess dresses and the most expensive toys, fulfilling all her wishes.
Of course, Lu Cheng's affection for the child was not entirely feigned.
Who wouldn't like a delicate, intelligent, and adorable little girl?
Watching Lu Cheng's heartfelt love and care for her daughter, and seeing her daughter's innocent and bright smile.
Mu Wanrou's heart, which had been battered and scarred by reality, was gradually taken over by this man.
Her gratitude towards Lu Cheng slowly transformed into deep dependence and adoration.
She had completely fallen.
She regarded Lu Cheng as her and her daughter's only reliance, their only salvation.
Willingly, she gave everything she had to this man… Back to reality.
Lu Cheng put his arm around Mu Wanrou's waist and walked out of the Mu Family villa's main entrance.
"How are things with the Mu Family being handled?" he asked gently, "Don't push yourself too hard."
Lu Cheng would never mistreat his women; after securing Mu Wanrou, he cleared out the old guard of the Mu Family, allowing Mu Wanrou to return and take charge.
These past few days, she had been busy handling family affairs.
Mu Wanrou nestled happily in his arms, her cheeks flushed, her voice carrying a hint of lazy contentment.
"Don't worry, Brother Cheng, everything is fine."
"Speaking of which… it's all thanks to you…"
She looked at Lu Cheng with eyes full of admiration and love.
Just as the two were about to get into the car to start their family day.
Not far away.
Inside a car parked in the shadows.
Ye Shuying held a pair of binoculars, taking in the intimate and ambiguous scene between Lu Cheng and Mu Wanrou.
Her brows furrowed slightly; she could hardly believe what she was seeing.
This woman… should be Miss Wanrou, whom the Dragon King asked her to investigate and longed for, right?
But… she and Lu Cheng… were so intimate.
And wasn't Lu Cheng Qingcheng's boyfriend?
This Lu Cheng was actually two-timing, deceiving her best friend while having an ambiguous relationship with the Dragon King's wife… Scumbag! Scumbag! A total scumbag!
How should she report this?
Lu Cheng… he was Qingcheng's boyfriend after all… Qingcheng liked him so much.
Just as she was internally conflicted.
She saw Lu Cheng in her binoculars, looking in her direction.
He revealed a meaningful smile… Was she discovered?
The car slowly started and disappeared at the end of the street.
Only Ye Shuying remained, her heart filled with shock and uncertainty.