A Bite of Love

5. A Tasty Result

Mu Ran checked his phone for the thousandth time, but there was no new message. Dejected, he threw his phone to the sofa and decided to take a long shower to calm himself down. After what that stupid Ou Yang did, chaos came to the town and his life was ruined. They had to pay Miao Miao four times more than she paid as a fee, which would probably be deducted from his salary. Still, she caused a scene and the man she first matched also kicked a rumpus and demanded his money back. In order not to make it more complicated, Ge Lin sent him home where he could overthink.

How much longer would this situation drag? Would he be fired? How to pay the rent if Ge Lin decides to cut all his salary once? Would the house owner kick him out immediately?

Although Mu Ran took a very long and hot shower, it didn't help either with his wretched nerves or with the haunting questions in his mind. Sighing for the millionth time, he slumped onto the sofa with the towel on his hand, water dripping down from his long hair. He didn't even have the energy to dry his hair.

Just as he was about to drown back in his anxiety, his phone vibrated, informing him about a new message. Mu Ran's heart hammered against his rib cage with fear as he grabbed the phone from the coffee table with his shaking fingers.

It was from Ge Lin and there was a photo. Seeing the photo, the phone fell from Mu Ran's grip. They were played! Hastily, he got the phone back and called Ge Lin who answered at the second ring.

"Who saw them?" he asked, skipping the hello part.

"Ou Yang," Ge Ling replied, "he saw them today at a cafe and took that picture."

Mu Ran was flabbergasted, "how come that bastard decided to help?"

"I have no idea, but he said that I could bring you back."

Mu Ran couldn't be more shocked than that. Although he was still angry at him, he felt a little grateful, at least he had a piece of conscience in his spoiled heart. "What do you think? Can we use it against Miao Miao?" he asked with hope.

"I already called her here to discuss the matter, I am sure she will back off when I threaten her with a lawsuit."

"I hope so," Mu Ran uttered, too shy to ask about his situation.

"So, be here at nine tomorrow."

Yes! Mu Ran almost kissed the phone with happiness, "yes boss," he replied, trying to sound neutral and hung up.

That night he couldn't sleep well and was up at six. As he was too nervous to do anything, he decided to go to the company, not waiting until nine. He got dressed in a simple black suit and ate some cereal before taking the bus to the company. After one hour of a ride, he arrived at the company at eight.

"You are early," the twins welcomed him at the same time.

Mu Ran shrugged with a smile and rushed to Ge Lin's office. He knocked two times and opened the door ajar. "Good morning," he waved at Ge Lin who was getting ready for the confrontation.

"Good morning," Ge Lin gestured at him to come in and Mu Ran took his seat, "she will be here at nine fifteen, I also called him to come, saying it was because of the refund I promised."

"Nice move," Mu Ran gave her a thumbs up, "I hope everything will be handled today."

"I agree."

In a foreboding silence, the team waited for the person of interest. Like she promised, she was there at nine fifteen sharp.

"What is the liar doing here?" Miao Miao asked wryly, pointing at Mu Ran who was sitting next to Ge Lin.

"Isn't it you?" Ge Lin snapped at her and she gaped. Showing the chair opposite of them, Ge Lin said "sit down."

Reluctantly, Miao Miao sat on the shown chair, "why did you call me here?" she asked with a hesitant tone. After Ge Lin's accusation, she wasn't that confident anymore.

Ge Lin smirked with cold eyes and put the printed picture onto the table, pushing it towards Miao Miao, "look what I have."

Seeing the picture, Miao Miao paled profusely, "that's fake! It's not me!"

"Really?" Mu Ran asked threateningly, "what a coincidence, you are wearing exactly the same clothes as the woman in the picture."

Miao Miao hastily checked her clothes as the realisation hit her hard.

"Somebody didn't go to her own house last night, I guess," Ge Lin added fuel to the fire as she put a few more pictures of them onto the table. From the images, it was obvious it was her and she was happy to be there.

Miao Miao opened her mouth to say something, but the door opened and Ma Ke entered.

"What's going on in here?" he asked, his eyes fixed on Miao Miao.

"Please sit, we called you here to celebrate the success of your first date," Ge Lin said with a fake smile.

"I don't know-" Ma Ke uttered, but seeing the picture Mu Ran was shaking, he stopped abruptly.

"Now tell us everything or we will sue you."

The exposed lovers exchanged a glance and Miao Miao said, "we just got along well."

"But you didn't want to pay for the service," Ge Lin said all-knowingly and they nodded.

"I took Ma Ke's Wechat under the table and wrote to him to act like we didn't like each other. We did that, but then, that waiter told me about Mu Ran and I thought it was a golden opportunity."

"So, you just acted out to gain some money?"

They nodded again.

"Do you have any idea how your selfish act affected our business? Mu Ran?"

They lowered their heads, not knowing what to say.

Ge Lin sighed, of course they didn't think about it, "now, I will tell you what we will do," she looked at them in turns, "you will returned the money we paid you," she said to Miao Miao and "and you will get no money, okay?" to Ma Ke.

They pouted, but nodded anyway, the fear of lawsuit lurking around their heads.

"Good, then you will shoot a short video, saying it was a set-up, okay?"

Another nod and Ge Lin clapped her hands, saying "very well, now follow Tian Hua for the video shooting."

When the lovers left the office, Mu Ran sighed in relief.

Later, the video of the lovers was posted on the company web page and the money was returned. With that, everything went back to normal and Mu Ran returned back to work.