Mu Qiu touched her nose, feeling a bit guilty.

In fact, the signed photo of Su Yan she promised to Zhao Yu was still on its way, but this didn’t stop Mu Qiu from embellishing the reward like it was true.

Zhao Yu was already willing to come, and with Su Yan’s signed photo as bait, she was even more eager. In the last call, she practically jumped up out of her bed, wishing she could fly to Hai City right that minute.

She coughed lightly: "Then you fly over after work tomorrow, I’ll pick you up at the airport. Oh, and remember to bring a couple of extra outfits."

"Got it, I’m already too distracted to work, my heart’s already flown over to you."

"It’s better not to then, your heart might see something inappropriate for minors."

Zhao Yu: "...Bye."

With that, she succinctly hung up the phone.

One second, she was calling her a sugar mamma, and the next, she was saying goodbye out of jealousy for her showing off romance. Women are just so changeable.

Also, doesn’t she realize her period hasn’t completely ended yet, even if it’s inappropriate, it won’t be too intense.

Or maybe her head is filled with too much scrap material, always making up stories.

Mu Qiu put away her phone and snuggled into Cheng Zhirang’s arms.

"My friend is coming tomorrow, so I’ll take her back to my little villa, okay?"

Cheng Zhirang nodded: "I’ll come pick you guys up tomorrow night and take you to meet with the production team."

"No need for the hassle, we can just take a cab together... Alright, you can come pick us up."

With those eyes looking at her, she was helpless, just had to comply with his wishes.

Cheng Zhirang explained a bit more: "It’s not safe at night, and we’re heading to the same place anyway, so it’s convenient."

"Okay, hold me."

She became much clingier, and Cheng Zhirang hugged her with a smile and walked towards the room.

Along the way, they whispered to each other, Mu Qiu’s laughter was nonstop, and Cheng Zhirang’s arms tightened more and more.

She wore a light mature style shirt with a skirt, when he held her, she wasn’t wrapping her legs around his waist, instead, she lifted her legs, cheerfully leaning on his shoulder, occasionally reaching up to flick her hair.

This is just the usual state of a relationship between adults, as if the next moment they would continue this joy on the bed.

Unfortunately, Cheng Zhirang didn’t get that privilege for now.

Mu Qiu went to sleep after washing up, her back to Cheng Zhirang. Usually, she would either bury her head in his embrace or turn her back to him, letting him hold her from behind, very rarely facing him.

The matter with Wei Ling and Lin Huanyue they encountered during the day was not brought up again, as if it was already unimportant and past her.

But Cheng Zhirang felt his emotions had suddenly become a bit strange.

She didn’t ask much, yet he wanted to explain a bit more, afraid she would overthink, worrying she might misunderstand.

His fingers tapped lightly twice on her earlobe, thinking again about her rationality, feeling like she didn’t ask much probably because she had already figured it all out in her heart.

Maybe she thought those two people weren’t threatening, or perhaps, she trusted him enough that she didn’t need to worry too much.

If she thought that way, it was a good thing.

But, how could she trust him so much?

Cheng Zhirang sighed, closed his eyes, placed his palm on her waist, and fell into a deep sleep.

...

It was Friday already, and Mu Qiu, filled with excitement, got up early, wearing that familiar sleek pink wide-strapped fitted dress, while humming a song and making breakfast.

Sandwiches and freshly squeezed soy milk.

Back when they just met, that little corner of a sandwich Chengcheng gave her stayed on her mind for a long time, leading her to make sandwiches for a long period afterwards.

Dressed beautifully, her face glowing with a bright smile, holding a sandwich and winking at him, as soon as Cheng Zhirang stepped out and saw her, he felt his mood lifted for the entire day.

"So happy?"

"Extremely happy, I even baked sweet custard tarts, want some?"

"Okay."

"But you shouldn’t eat too much, right? Although you don’t need to lose weight, high-calorie stuff shouldn’t be eaten too much, I’ll give you a couple to taste."

As she blew on them, unwrapped the tin foil from the tarts, and handed them to him on her tiptoes.

"Take a bite."

Cheng Zhirang looked at her, bowed his head, and took a bite.

"Is it good?" Her eyes seemed to sparkle.

Cheng Zhirang swallowed, then ate the entire tart from her hand: "Very delicious. Did you get burned?"

"No, as long as you like it." She tilted her head and smiled at him.

The smile melted his heart into a puddle.

He couldn’t deny that what Jiang Lu told him before was true — if you haven’t experienced a girl’s wholehearted devotion, you can’t truly understand the beauty of love.

He was feeling it now.

So wonderful.

He gently stroked her head, leaning down to give her a kiss.

"A morning kiss."

Mu Qiu raised an eyebrow: "Today’s morning kiss tastes sweet, like orange juice."

Though she mentioned the kiss, looking into her straightforward gaze, Cheng Zhirang felt that by "sweet," she might mean him.

Fortunately, Mu Qiu was in a generous mood and didn’t plan to tease him further, instead pulling him to serve the sandwiches and soy milk from the dish.

She had been living here for quite a while, aside from those rooms she hadn’t ventured into, she was quite familiar with the rest.

Placing the dish on the table, she switched to a soft music piece, then went to the living room to draw the curtains wider, allowing more light to flood into every corner.

According to Cheng Zhirang’s explanation, she now knew there was almost no chance of being spotted by paparazzi and reporters here, even if someone did see, they’d just be neighbors living in Yishan.

Thus, Mu Qiu wasn’t as tense as she was before.

After opening all the curtains, she fluttered back like a butterfly, casually pulling her hair into a ponytail, and cheerfully took a sip of soy milk.

A ring of white remained around her mouth, and Cheng Zhirang smiled, wiping it away with his thumb, gently saying: 𝙛𝓻𝒆𝒆𝒘𝙚𝓫𝙣𝙤𝒗𝙚𝓵.𝙘𝙤𝙢

"Good girl."

The light shone on her, cheeks blushing, eyes bright, her whole being seemed incredibly refreshing.

Mu Qiu went to kiss his fingers, raising her soy milk cup for a toast.

"To a good mood today!"

Cheng Zhirang’s compelling eyes curved into a smile.

From outside the window to the opposite building, on the high-floor balcony, a telescope stood upright.

Qing Rong sipped his coffee, leaned against the balcony railing, scanning the windows of a particular floor across the street.

His posture nonchalant, taking another two sips of coffee, frowning slightly, then setting his coffee cup aside, he leaned over to look through the telescope.

On the opposite floor, the two people he expected had indeed moved back in.

The girl wore the same sleek pink skirt from their last meeting, smiling as she drew the curtains, and when that smile aligned with him, almost the light through the telescope blinded him.

His gaze traced her form.

In the backlit position, he could only see her fuzzy silhouette, watched her lift her hands high to tie her hair, watched her seemingly cheerful return, watched the man across from her reach out and affectionately touch her lips...

Qing Rong suddenly lost the mood, covered the telescope, and continued to suppress the emptiness in his stomach, sipping again the bitter coffee without changing his expression.

Sometimes, he had to admit that fate was a mysterious thing.

They had known each other online for so long, shared the same hobbies, and had a great relationship.

But during that one month when he secluded himself to write a book, she went on a TV show, and next to her appeared a legitimate man.

Heh, Cheng Zhirang really was at ease, letting her dress so beautifully when meeting him last time.

Finishing his coffee in one gulp, he took the cup back inside.

And on Mu Qiu’s end, just after clinking her cup with Cheng Zhirang’s, Cheng Zhirang glanced meaningfully at a certain spot on the window, then immediately withdrew his gaze without missing a beat, softly reminding Mu Qiu:

"Eat slowly."