In the middle of their meal, Mu Feichi received a notification on his phone. As he read through the message, he stood up and took his laptop out from the bedside table.

After a few clicks, he turned the laptop screen toward Yun Xi. “Take a look,” he said, as if that was all the introduction he needed.

Yun Xi eyed the video playing on the laptop curiously. The video showed her mother thrashing about in her prison cell, a sight that was not the prettiest one to witness.

The video was shaking and chaotic, but she could see Liang Xiuqin pointing to the television screen and yelling, “This is my daughter…”

She looked no different from a crazy woman. Yun Xi smiled in amusement, but her eyes remained composed as she finished the video. She could no longer view this woman as her mother. She was a stranger to her.

It had taken all this suffering and struggle for Liang Xiuqin to finally see Yun Xi as her daughter and to finally realize that Yun Xi was more talented and brilliant than any of her other siblings. This realization had come too late. Yun Xi had already moved on.

Her mother had always been nothing more than a burden for Yun Xi. She did not need her mother’s validation then, and she did not need it now.

She had cut off all her ties with her mother. There was no anger and no hatred. She was a nobody in Yun Xi’s life.

She had taken revenge from her last life, and she had returned her suffering in double to Liang Xiuqin. She did not see a reason to pursue this matter any further.

“You don’t need to update me about her anymore. I’m done with her. We are strangers from now on.”

“Of course.” Mu Feichi closed the laptop and picked up a piece of candied ribs to put in Yun Xi’s bowl. “Eat up, we still need to discuss how you want to spend your birthday.”

“There’s another banquet tonight, and once that is over my birthday will have passed. I don’t have the time to celebrate it.”

Yun Xi looked up from the mountain of food that Mu Feichi had requested for her and shot him a look of annoyance. Birthdays were simply another day for her. What truly mattered to her was that Mu Feichi was with her.

Mu Feichi was closer to Yun Xi than her own family. In fact, he was the only person who had cared deeply about her and who had worried deeply about her ever since she had returned to Jingdu.

Yun Xi was unlike other women in love. She had the foresight from her previous life, a strong ambition, and a willingness to work hard toward her goal.

It had never been Yun Xi’s intention to be a woman who was protected by Mu Feichi. She wanted to become someone who was capable of fighting by his side.

She wanted to become a pillar of support and a source of strength in his battles and not a weak and small woman who curl up in his arms for protection.

“If that’s the case, let’s turn this socialite banquet into your coming-of-age ceremony,” Mu Feichi suggested as he took a sip of the soup. “I had planned for this from the start. We can use this to go public with our relationship as well. The whole world will know you are my woman!”

Yun Xi could not help but let out a loving laugh at the sight of the seriousness in the man’s expression. Mu Feichi looked as though he was declaring a nationwide service announcement. “So this was your plan all along? I’ve always thought the date of the banquet was too much of a coincidence. This is quite sudden though. Won’t Commander Mu stop you from doing what you intend to do?”

“Over my dead body. Besides, if I don’t marry, then who will carry on the Mu family bloodline?”

Yun Xi yelped in shock, and her face got flushed. “T…that’s a little…too far ahead in the future, Young Commander.” Yun Xi shot him another annoyed look as she felt the burn in her face go up to her ears. “I didn’t even agree to that…”

Mu Feichi looked up with a smile of anticipation. “Exactly, I need your consent. Going public with our relationship will bring more perils than ever before. It might even go beyond the circles of Jingdu.” He took another sip. “I’m afraid your battles will be worse than mine now that the world knows about our relationship. The easiest way to me is through you.”