When Lin Yuan met Mu Nanqiao, Mu Nanqiao had already been living with the Mu family for a year. His first impression of Mu Nanqiao was that he was timid, docile, and shy.

Like a small animal with no attack power.

At that time, Mu Nanqiao was not living a good life with the Mu family. Lin Yuan knew this, and even deliberately made matters worse by asking people at school to gang up and isolate him.

In the end, he got his wish and appeared in front of Mu Nanqiao as a savior. And Mu Nanqiao indeed befriended him, relied on him, and trusted him.

It was only that the year Mu Nanqiao graduated high school, he returned to his biological father.

Looking back on the year and more that he and Mu Nanqiao had been friends, in fact, Mu Nanqiao never invested anything in the friendship at all. With a weak word or a tearful look, Lin Yuan would deal with Mu Rui for him, which even led to enmity between the Lin family and the Mu family later on.

Lin Yuan thought, if Mu Nanqiao had not gone abroad, would he have come out to his family for him? But there was no way to verify this until Mu Nanqiao returned to China.

With Mu Chuanbai taking power, Mu Nanqiao suddenly became the head of Mu Group. With a wave of his hand, hundreds of people were willing to serve him. He was no longer that pitiful person from back then.

But Lin Yuan had always believed that the first person Mu Nanqiao wanted to see when he returned to China must be him. After all, they were close childhood friends and hadn’t seen each other in a long time. Mu Nanqiao had even avoided some public occasions, whether intentionally or unintentionally.

He had imagined many scenarios of them meeting again, but never thought it would be like this.

He saw his own white moonlight in the house of his chosen substitute.

Not even fully clothed.

And…..

Lin Yuan looked at Mu Nanqiao’s muscular upper body in shock. Those were not exaggerated muscles developed for fitness. Clear abdominal muscles and mermaid lines tucked into the waistband, and explosive power lurked in every smooth contour.

Lin Yuan had been hospitalized recently and had neglected to exercise, so it was difficult to restrain Lu Qi just now. He subconsciously took a step back.

After taking that step, he discovered that Mu Nanqiao was even half a head taller than him, and his narrow, fox-like eyes were filled with a chill as they gazed at him condescendingly.

His facial features were still like those of his youth, but the youthfulness had faded away, and his features had grown. There was no trace of softness or shyness anymore, and his aura was as sharp as a knife. When standing in front of Lu Qi, he looked like a beast king defending its territory.

Lin Yuan found that the white moonlight’s face in his memory was blurred by this assault. On the contrary, it became confused with Lu Qi, and gradually became indistinguishable.

He gaped, muttering in disbelief: “Nanqiao? Why are you here?”

He looked at Lu Qi standing behind Mu Nanqiao and subconsciously tried to explain: “Xiao Qi, I don’t know how you met, but he and I used to…..”

Before he could say the words “used to be friends,” Lin Yuan saw Lu Qi step forward and shield Mu Nanqiao behind him, opening his hands to block his line of sight. His round eyes were full of vigilance and disgust.

“Mu Nanqiao, don’t be afraid!” Lu Qi said loudly: “Let’s call the police! I can’t believe it, this scumbag is still lawless!”

Lin Yuan: …….

Wait, no. This man was nearly 1.9 meters tall. What could he be afraid of? Was he afraid that he wouldn’t be able to kill him in one punch?

However, what stunned him even more and collapsed his three views was still to come. Mu Nanqiao, whose eyes were dark and cold just now, raised his eyebrows and suddenly changed his expression.

“Lu Qi…..” He held the hem of Lu Qi’s house clothes and lowered his gaze, saying: “Is he here to see me?”

Lin Yuan was astonished: “Nanqiao, I really want to see you, but today…..”

Mu Nanqiao appeared to be very frightened. He raised his hands and tightly wrapped them around Lu Qi’s waist, and this big person tried to shrink down. He put his head on Lu Qi’s shoulder and said in a low voice: “But I don’t want to see him.”

Patting the hands around his waist, Lu Qi felt his desire to protect swell to the extreme at this moment. “Go to the kitchen and take out the new chili powder I bought yesterday!”

As Mu Nanqiao held back his laughter, his shoulders trembled slightly, making his “fear” more genuine.

Lu Qi had his back to Mu Nanqiao and couldn’t see the expression on his face, but Lin Yuan could see it clearly.

He encircled Lu Qi with his arms, his tall figure and broad shoulders like an unseen barrier. He was like an evil dragon entrenched on a rare treasure, his expression arrogant and proud, eyes staring coldly at the intruder.

Lin Yuan only felt it was absurd, so absurd that it made him dizzy.

Even if he was blind, he could still see that his white moonlight and his substitute were mixing together!

In recent years, many of the gang of scoundrels around him were just for fun and entertainment, but on the day the plot was exposed, which one was not a lover or an ex?  It was good he had come, his white moonlight and his ex-boyfriend were embracing right in front of him!!

The moment Mu Nanqiao came out, he was still a little hesitant. Should he choose his white moonlight or the more controllable substitute? Now it seemed that it was simply a matter of getting 200 points on the mock test and wondering whether to study at Tsinghua University or Peking University. Even saying it made a person feel like a fool!

But it was also at this moment that Lin Yuan realized that he could not tolerate Lu Qi standing at the side of another person. He thought of the light Lu Qi would leave on for him when he came home late at night, the porridge delivered to his bedside when he had a stomach ache, and the painting he had picked out of the trash can.

Lu Qi once took this relationship seriously and hoped that the two of them could hold hands without letting go or getting separated even if they were walking backwards in a milling crowd.

This was who Lu Qi was. When he had someone, he put his heart and soul into them. After experiencing this heart that was bright like the sun, Lin Yuan found that he was used to seeing this light and could not let go.

He looked at Mu Nanqiao, the white moonlight he had admired as a boy, but he only wanted to get him away from Lu Qi. 

To him, Lu Qi was no longer anyone’s substitute. He was just Lu Qi.

“Xiao Qi, I really know I was wrong.” Lin Yuan no longer looked at Mu Nanqiao, but said to Lu Qi in a hoarse voice: “I picked up the painting. You see, I still picked it up even after you threw it away. We have a destiny, right?”

“When I threw it away, it was no longer my painting,” Lu Qi said. “It was just a piece of garbage.”

As if he could no longer bear this atmosphere, Lin Yuan wiped his face and took a deep look at Mu Nanqiao, who was standing behind Lu Qi. “You come out, let’s talk.”

Lu Qi was vigilant: “What do you have to talk about with him? Your glorious past of secondary school bullying?”

Lin Yuan smiled bitterly. “Xiao Qi, you didn’t even know how to curse before, but now you’re so sharp-tongued just to protect him.”

Lu Qi pursed his lips, but still stubbornly spread his hands to block the two of them.

“Let’s go out and talk.” Mu Nanqiao straightened up. He finally removed his hands from Lu Qi’s waist and raised a hand to rub Lu Qi’s hair. “It’s all right. I’ll just tell him clearly so that he doesn’t pester us in the future.”

Lu Qi hesitated, then pushed Mu Nanqiao into the bedroom. “Then I’ll find some clothes for you.”

The bedroom door slammed shut.

Lin Yuan was just tossed like trash into the living room. He looked around, and the hands hanging by his side slowly clenched into fists.

The furnishings in the small living room were completely Lu Qi’s style, and many things were familiar to him. This apartment was small and narrow, and he would have looked down on it in the past, but now he envied the little kittens crawling around in it.

When he thought of something, his whole body froze.

With the layout of one bedroom and one living room, everything in this small residence could be seen at a glance. He didn’t see another bed, and the small sofa in the living room was not something to sleep on at all. What Mu Nanqiao was wearing didn’t make it seem like he was a guest. He simply wasn’t wearing anything at all!

In that case……

Lin Yuan stared at the bedroom door, and an unbelievable idea came to his mind. 

Did Lu Qi and Mu Nanqiao sleep together on the same bed?!

. . . . . . .

In the bedroom, Lu Qi found a light blue sporty short-sleeved shirt that was looser on him and handed it to Mu Nanqiao. Still feeling uneasy, he said: “What will you do if you’re bullied by him?”

Mu Nanqiao put on the short-sleeved shirt. It was a bit tight, but not too bad. When he heard this, he glanced at Lu Qi with his fox eyes curved and gave a sly smile. 

“In your eyes, am I so weak?” He tilted his head and took a step closer to Lu Qi. “En, then let me prove myself?”

The bedroom was already very small, and when he took such a big step forward with his long limbs, Lu Qi was almost pressed against the cabinet door. His instincts, like a small animal, sensed a hint of danger. But he trusted Mu Nanqiao very much, so he blinked and asked in confusion: “How will you prove it?”

As soon as he spoke, Mu Nanqiao leaned over and grabbed his legs, using his arms to lift him up.

Although Lu Qi was thin, he was not short. He was slender and well-proportioned, at a standard weight for an adult male. He had never imagined that after the age of fifteen, he could be picked straight up like a child.

His line of sight was suddenly elevated. Lu Qi bent over and immediately pressed down on Mu Nanqiao’s shoulders. Unexpectedly, Mu Nanqiao still had the strength to spare, and hefted him twice casually before turning around. Raising his eyes, he asked with a smile, “Are you still worried? Hm?”

His face was full of pride, as if he was holding a teddy bear, but the small red mole at the tip of his eye had a different kind of charm. Lu Qi looked at his face so close at hand, and his cheeks suddenly warmed up. He grabbed the clothes on his shoulders and exclaimed in a low voice, “Okay! I know you won’t be bullied!”

Mu Nanqiao put this person down securely and pinched Lu Qi’s ear, asking with feigned surprise, “Your ears are so red, do you have a fever again?”

“No fever.” Lu Qi averted his eyes. “Ahem, go ahead and tell him clearly. Be careful.”

Lin Yuan stood outside the door, his face as dark as the bottom of a pot.

Why did it take so long to change clothes? Was there laughter coming from inside?

His patience ran out, and when he was about to kick the door open, Mu Nanqiao opened the bedroom door and walked out.

Facing Lin Yuan, the warm and innocent smile on his face disappeared, and a sarcastic and indifferent look took its place. 

Mu Nanqiao closed the door at once, blocking Lin Yuan’s prying eyes, and raised his chin toward the front door.

“Let’s go.” He chuckled, but his eyes were like a frozen lake. “Old classmate, let’s go out and catch up on old times.”

. . . . . . . .

Neither of them spoke, and they went downstairs one after the other.

Coming out of the north gate of the Garden Community was an open park, and there were not many people at this time. Old men and women walked in twos and threes. Lin Yuan found a relatively secluded corner and stood beneath a pavilion. 

Mu Nanqiao followed slowly.

Lin Yuan turned and looked carefully at Mu Nanqiao once more.

Mu Nanqiao was wearing a light blue sporty short-sleeved shirt and a pair of casual white trousers, along with a pair of cinnamon dog slippers on his feet. The hair on his forehead that had been splashed by Xiao Sanhua hung down casually. Putting one hand in his pocket, he watched a group of puppies playing in the distance with unfocused eyes.

Although his posture was undisciplined, he was elegant and casual with a tall and graceful body. Anyone with discerning eyes could see that he was noble.

After walking all this way, Lin Yuan became much calmer. He stood on the steps and looked down at Mu Nanqiao from a high position, saying calmly: “Mr. Mu, you are really different from how you used to be. Right now, who would recognize you as the timid secondary school student you were?”

Mu Nanqiao finally laid eyes on him, and after looking at him for a long moment, he laughed.

Lin Yuan frowned: “Why are you laughing?”

“Hah, it’s really hard for old classmates to recognize me. After all, they’ve never known me before.” Mu Nanqiao shook his head. “But you’re still the same as before. You don’t dare to speak directly, and pretend to be sophisticated, setting traps, using indirect metaphors and making insinuations…..”

He chuckled: “Lin Yuan, you’re still like this. Very good, it won’t be too difficult to deal with you.”

Lin Yuan was not at all concerned about his threat. After all, the image of that little white flower was still deeply rooted in his heart. He asked Mu Nanqiao coldly: “Do you know everything about the past? All right, I admit that what I did was wrong, but when you and I hung out together, I got you out of a lot of trouble, right? Even if we can’t be friends anymore, at least we were classmates. You don’t have to be so cruel and steal my person, right?”

“Your person?” Mu Nanqiao seemed to have thought about something amusing. “Ah, right. Lin Yuan, did you like how I pretended to be before? Gentle, kind, like a shining little sun…..”

He smiled and asked, “What, am I not your white moonlight?”

The words ‘white moonlight’ came out of Mu Nanqiao’s mouth with such mockery that Lin Yuan felt his blood pressure rise and his eardrums buzz. He gritted his teeth and said: “You say you were pretending.”

“En, pretending.” Mu Nanqiao’s smile became more friendly, but his fox-like eyes were full of malice. “I just suddenly remembered that I wasn’t good at pretending in the beginning, but then I met a boy later who went to Hengjin Secondary School to participate in a competition. In order to keep me awake, he kept talking to me and telling me of his experiences……”

He enunciated every word, doing his utmost to make Lin Yuan hear every word clearly. “Later, when I encountered a problem, I thought, ‘what would that little sun do?’ I imagined what he looked like and tried to imitate it, and some fool really took the bait.”

He laughed without restraint: “Lin Yuan, can you guess who I was imitating? As a friendly reminder, Lu Qi has been to Hengjin Secondary School.”

This sentence was somewhat roundabout. Lin Yuan spent some time thinking about it, and slowly, his expression changed. It only took a few seconds for him to go from pretending to be calm to looking ferocious. He roared and rushed toward Mu Nanqiao with his fist raised. 

Mu Nanqiao turned sideways and his fist brushed the corner of his lips. He whispered: “Now it’s self-defense……”

He raised his hand to clasp Lin Yuan’s wrist, then violently slammed it down and raised his foot to kick Lin Yuan’s knee.

Crack— the sound of his knees colliding with the floor tiles was shocking, and Lin Yuan immediately groaned in pain.

“Tsk…..” Mu Nanqiao was speechless. “And Xiao Lu was still worried that I would be bullied…..”

He raised his hand and slapped Lin Yuan twice. “Mr. Lin hasn’t been exercising. If Lin Group goes bankrupt in the future, moving bricks will be a laborious job. Even if you go to prison, you will still have to undergo labor reform, don’t you know?”

From childhood to adulthood, Lin Yuan had never suffered such humiliation. He knelt on the ground, suppressed, but what he cared about more was what Mu Nanqiao had just said.

“You said you…..ugh…..imitated Lu Qi…..” He gritted his teeth. “How do you know him?! You knew him back then? So I…..I…..”

So he didn’t like Mu Nanqiao, but a shadow who was similar to Lu Qi. He had always liked a person like Lu Qi, who was gentle, honest, and passionate.

He was simply going crazy. The moment Mu Nanqiao released him, he ignored the pain in his wrist and tried to attack, but was kicked in the chest by Mu Nanqiao and fell to the ground.

A cinnamon dog slipper stepped on his chest, and Mu Nanqiao lowered his eyelashes calmly. With the streetlights on, his expression was half hidden in the darkness and looked a bit sinister.

“Lin Yuan, I truly appreciate your stupidity. Thank you very much for bringing him to me with your own hands. To express my gratitude, I will call an ambulance for you.”

“Have a good rest. Our ‘reminiscing about the past’ has just begun.”

. . . . . . .

Lu Qi bathed the semi-wet Sanhua, dried her, and put her into the box, carefully observing the reactions of the mother cat and her kittens. As expected, Sanhua no longer recognized her babies, and slapped the kittens away one paw at a time.

After all, their smells had changed and so much time had passed. Lu Qi was not surprised. In order to prevent Sanhua from harming the kittens, he locked her in the bedroom first and then took his coat, planning to go out and have a look. 

The sky had darkened, and Mu Nanqiao had not yet returned. Although this man had childishly shown off his strength before going out, Lin Yuan was a member of the Lin family, after all. Even if he was a person only fit for guzzling and boozing, he was still rich and powerful.

What if he was unsportsmanlike and hired a bunch of bodyguards? Would Mu Nanqiao suffer a loss?

Just as he was about to go out, footsteps sounded in the corridor.

Lu Qi would never open the door without looking through the peephole again. He leaned down to look, and when he saw the familiar blue color, he quickly opened the door. 

The living room lights fell warmly on Mu Nanqiao. He stood at the foot of the steps and smiled up at him, raising his hand to let him see the bag in his hand. “I found a good barbeque restaurant and brought it back for dinner.”

His suspended heart finally dropped. Lu Qi let out a small breath and turned sideways to let Mu Nanqiao in.

The cinnamon dog slippers were dirty. Mu Nanqiao walked into the living room barefoot, put down the package, and then rubbed his nose with a bit of embarrassment: “I forgot to change my shoes just now, and they got dirty. I’ll clean them for you tomorrow.”

The actual situation was that it was good that the slippers were still there. He had kicked someone with the slippers still on, and they could have gone on a long journey.

“A small thing like that isn’t important.” Lu Qi waved his hand and looked at Mu Nanqiao carefully. Sure enough, he found a small bruise at the corner of his lip, which was bleeding even though it was a small cut.

“He hit you?” Lu Qi rolled up his sleeves angrily. “It turns out that this piece of garbage actually has time to hurt others!”

Lin Yuan, who was lying in an ambulance, sneezed heavily. Severe pain came from his cracked ribs, and he groaned with a pale face.

Mu Nanqiao didn’t say that Lin Yuan was already on the way to the hospital. He touched the corner of his lips and gave a desolate sigh, walking to Lu Qi’s side and raising his hands to hug the anxious young man.

“What……what’s wrong……” Lu Qi cautiously raised a hand to pat his shoulder. He was a little embarrassed by the sudden embrace, but didn’t reject it. He just asked worriedly: “Are you hurt anywhere else?”

“No, I’m just a little tired.” Mu Nanqiao said softly, “When I was in secondary school, wounds of this magnitude could not be considered injuries. Even if there were bruises on my body, I had to go to school as usual the next day and work part time.”

He made a pretense of tragedy.

He had just beaten up Lin Yuan. To be honest, it was more pleasant than hitting a sandbag, but he wanted to hug Lu Qi, so it didn’t matter if he pretended to be pitiful. After all, what he said was not a lie.

Lu Qi smelled really good. The tip of Mu Nanqiao’s nose lightly rubbed the side of his neck, and then he straightened up as if nothing had happened. “Okay, let’s not talk about this anymore. Let’s eat. It won’t taste good if it’s cold.”

“How can you eat barbecue if your mouth is hurt?” Lu Qi looked at him helplessly.

Mu Nanqiao was also dumbfounded. “It’s fine, it actually doesn’t hurt very much.”

“Forget it, it’s a pity you were hurt, ah.” Lu Qi took the skewers into the kitchen. “Let me help you pull it all off, eating like this will really hurt you, ah. 

Mu Nanqiao laughed and squeezed into the kitchen with him.

After eating grilled mutton, Lu Qi took out the medicine kit and applied a bit of iodine to the corner of Mu Nanqiao’s lips.

“Ever since I moved here, I’ve been using this medicine kit.” The cotton swab touched the corner of his mouth like a cool kiss. 

Lu Qi moved closer and looked at it. “En, it’s just a small cut. Don’t worry, it will be healed by tomorrow.”

Mu Nanqiao lowered his eyes and looked intently at the small pear dimple on Lu Qi’s cheek.

“Lin Yuan hit you, will he come again?” Lu Qi was anxious. “I wanted to ask you before, do you want to rent a house together? Let’s move away. Although I don’t know if we can avoid Lin Yuan, at least the rent will be cheaper if we rent together.”

Mu Nanqiao should have been happy to share an apartment. After all, this meant that the person he liked was willing to stay in the same place as him, and this was a kind of trust. If they lived together, he could also take good care of Lu Qi. The pavilion closest to the water enjoyed the moonlight first, and all future pursuits would fall in place.

“How strange,” Lu Qi muttered. “The injury on your hand isn’t good. Be more careful, ah.”

Mu Nanqiao’s fingers curled up.

Lu Qi raised his head and asked, “Did I hurt you?”

“No.” Mu Nanqiao shook his head, then said in a low, hesitant voice, “The matter of sharing an apartment…..I’ll think about it.”

“Okay.” Lu Qi thought this was normal. After all, many people enjoyed living alone, and he may not be accustomed to living with others after living alone for a long time.

He put away the small bottle of iodine and thought of something else, saying hesitantly, “There’s one more thing…..”

Mu Nanqiao found that the ears hidden beneath his hair were red again, like a layer of creamy strawberry frosting. It looked very sweet.

His Adam’s apple moved up and down, and his voice was a little deep when he said, “What is it?”

“It’s just…..that, ahem…..” Lu Qi averted his eyes, and after a long moment, he finally made up his mind and said quickly: “You know I’m bent. I don’t know if you are. Even though you are the object of Lin Yuan’s delusions, you’re not necessarily bent, so don’t do the ambiguous things you do sometimes. If…..if you seduce me like this, I will misunderstand you!”

He finished speaking in one breath, nearly suffocating himself, and took a long inhale. Light pink spread from his ears. “If you just want to be friends with me…..”

Mu Nanqiao blinked, then gave a low, light chuckle: “You can still tell that I’m seducing you. It’s really not easy.”

Lu Qi: “Ah……”

He watched as Mu Nanqiao leaned closer, his fox-like eyes staring at him intently. The small red mole at the tip of his eye was bright and dazzling.

“I don’t just want to be ordinary friends with you. How about it, ah?”

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Chapter Seventeen << Table of Contents >> Chapter Nineteen