Capítulo 165: The Family Business (7)

After Joann returned from the ladies' room and sat down for the rest of the dinner, she noticed the weird manner with which her friends were acting. The boys, especially Lee Mu were caught paying inordinate amount of attention to her husband even though Xu Jing did not seem to notice it.

Joann wondered why they were doing that and whether she should approach them about it. Ultimately, she decided against it because it was perfectly harmless. Perhaps they were just admiring how fashionable Xu Jing was that night. Joann decided to just leave it be, if it was something serious, Lee Mu would talk to her about it so she did not worry herself unnecessarily over it. She turned her attention back to the scrumptious food served for dinner.

The dinner soon ended. Zao Ming stood up as it was his role to do so and said, "I'll go handle the bill."

"Thank you," Lee Mu offered.

At the same time, Joann reached for the box of tissues on the table. She wanted to grab one to wipe her mouth. However, the box felt surprisingly hollow to her touch. She reached in and frowned. It was empty.

Lee Mu saw this and was about to press the service bell when Xu Jing stood up and said, "Honey, sit tight. I'll go ask for a new box for you."

Joann nodded wordlessly.

After Xu Jing left the room, Lee Mu took a close, good look at his friend. Then, his face set in a firm line like he had come to a decision.

He began, "Joann, it is not my place to say this since this is technically your family business but do you mind if I share something with you? Something that I've observed during dinner. Feel free to tell me to mind my own business, I wouldn't mind."

Lee Mu coupled that with a disarming smile.

"Of course I don't mind," Joann answered. She thought back to the things that she had observed earlier and she added, "Is it about Xu Jing?"

Surprise registered on Lee Mu's face. "How did you know?!"

"I have my ways," Joann smiled before adding, "So, what is it about Xu Jing?"

'How can she be observant enough to notice this but not the problem of her own relationship? Perhaps it is as they say, it is clearer looking in from the outside,' thought Lee Mu.

"More than your husband, it's related to you as well," cautioned Lee Mu, "How should I put this... Joann, your husband acts more like an agent compared to Zao Ming."

"Huh?!" Joann was confused. "What do you mean?"

"Joann, do you really not notice? Like a professional agent, he waits on your every words and attends to your every needs, sometimes even without you needing to say anything. Take for example, the incident with the empty tissue box. He volunteered to go ask for a new box for you without being prompted, I have to say, that is not unlike the habit of a star agent."

"Yes, I admit Xu Jing has the tendency to be overprotective of me and perhaps a bit too overzealous in trying to be considerate and nice towards me but..." Joann wanted to say, 'Isn't that too be expected' but she caught herself at the last minute, realizing how that would reflect on her and she changed it to, "But isn't that common practice between loving husbands and wives?"

This meant that subconsciously, Joann knew it was not so right for Xu Jing to put her on a pedestal like this but she couldn't help it. Which woman in the world wouldn't want to be cherished and loved? She probably didn't think it was wrong of her husband to do so.

Lee Mu continued, "Yes, you're right. It might be common for couples to do so."

Then he added with tact, "But shouldn't it be equal? Meaning it should go both ways?" Lee Mu hoped that Joann understood the hidden meaning he was trying to express. Going into more details would mean laying everything out in the open and that would only be hurtful to everyone involved. It wouldn't be the socially-accepted thing to do because it would greatly harm people's face. After all, truth hurts.

On top of that, there was a status quo that prevented Lee Mu from going into more details. It was the marriage status. If being married is considered a success, which arguably it was or else why would there be so many stories of people being pressed into marriage after they reached a certain age, then it would make zero sense for an unmarried couple to give the married couple relationship advice. 'If you're so good at this, why aren't you married yet then?' was the common retort.

There was another detail that Lee Mu did not bring this up because he was afraid it might have crossed the line. He noticed Joann never once showed appreciation for the many things her husband did for her. It was as if she expected him to do so.

It was understandable why Lee Mu did not bring this up, it would sound like he was accusing Joann, putting the blame on her. Lee Mu knew his co-star would take that as an offense and thus go on the defensive. That would only stray the conversation sideways.

Even though Lee Mu and Zao Ming shared a professional relationship on top of their private one, Lee Mu never took his boyfriend for granted as much as Joann did Xu Jing. As evidenced above, Lee Mu reminded himself to say thank you for even the smallest thing Zao Ming did for him.

However, he did not see Xu Jing and Joann in this manner. The power hierarchy that shouldn't even exist was very obvious in their relationship. Xu Jing catered so much to Joann's needs that it had reached the extent of being slave-like in Lee Mu's eyes. Naturally, he did not think that was healthy for a relationship and was what he tried to warn Joann about.

If the relationship continued to tip so heavily on one side, it would eventually be overturned.