Mu Nanqiao’s body contained a light, woody fragrance, which mixed with the scent of vegetation on the hillside like a gentle breeze.

Lu Qi was not much shorter than him. Looking over his shoulder, he took a furtive peek and found that Mu Nanqiao’s parents and the engineers had magically disappeared. Mu Chuanbai’s helpless voice could be heard on the hillside road.

“Mrs. Mu, you’re speeding, please drive slower……”

Lu Qi’s ears burned, and he buried his head in the crook of Mu Nanqiao’s shoulder. He raised his hand and patted that broad shoulder. 

“Okay.” He reminded in a whisper, “Uncle and Auntie are still waiting below…..”

“En, hold me for a while longer.” Mu Nanqiao tilted his head slightly and gingerly touched his forehead to the other’s hair. “You gave me a hug and held my hand, so when will you become my boyfriend?”

Lu Qi deliberately pretended to be confused: “If it’s like this already, does it make any difference?”

Mu Naniqao let him go, but didn’t move away, looking at him with deep eyes. His gaze fell on Lu Qi’s eyelashes, the bridge of his nose, and finally his lips. His Adam’s apple moved as he said: “No difference? You ask what you already know.”

He looked away and raised his hand to rub Lu Qi’s hair: “It’s okay, I won’t force you. It’s fine if we reach the next level when the flowers bloom in the ruins next year.”

Lu Qi: …..

That might not be the case.

Lu Qi let out a long sigh and whispered: “I feel really sorry. It’s just that person back then…..”

Mu Nanqiao nodded understandingly, knowing he was talking about that idiot Lin Yuan.

“That guy had been pursuing me for two months, and I agreed to date him because he brought me food.” Lu Qi lowered his head as if he had made a mistake. “But if you compare him…..ah, no, humans can’t be compared to dogs.”

Mu Nanqiao laughed out loud and raised his hand to tap the other’s forehead gently. “Didn’t he say he’d cooked it himself and drove halfway across the city to deliver it to you, and how difficult it was? But you never considered it, and it wasn’t you who asked him to deliver food.”

He rubbed Lu Qi’s soft hair. “You’re so kind, Lu Qi. So good and easily held hostage by morality. So I’m actually very happy that you’re willing to start as friends with me.”

“Rather than impatiently taking you into my hands, I would rather gather your heart little by little until you feel perfectly content, so that you can run toward me with joy…..” He paused as if he was joking, but his fox eyes were full of firm tenderness: “You really need to think carefully. Once you take my hand, you can’t let go.”

“So you and Lin Yuan are different, ah…..” Li Qi’s small animal radar dinged a warning, and he murmured in a low voice: “When I was with him, I didn’t think too much about it. It was just a relationship, and if it wasn’t right, we would break up. But you…..”

Sometimes he couldn’t read Mu Nanqiao’s eyes.

They looked like a calm blue sea that could smoothly hold up a small boat and let it drift with the slow waves to any corner of the world.

But under the sea, where the sun didn’t shine, there were deep, cold currents constantly surging. This sea was actually bottomless.

Lu Qi was a slow person, but in some aspects, he was surprisingly sensitive. He was not afraid of diving into the deep sea, but he worried that he would not be able to accurately dig out the pearls buried in the sand on the seabed.

So he was moved, but also hesitated.

“That’s right, I haven’t looked at the birthday gift you gave me yet.” Mu Nanqiao looked at the small dark blue box in his palm and asked with a smile, “What is this? An engagement ring?”

Lu Qi breathed a small sigh of relief when he changed the topic. “It’s not. You open it and take a look.”

Mu Nanqiao opened the lid.

Inside was a pair of cufflinks.

With platinum as the base, two small paintings were embedded into the shiny metal. Mu Nanqiao carefully picked one up and inspected it in the sunlight.

One was the starry sky and the other was the ocean, in small miniature circles. Although the paintings were small, the details were perfect if one looked closely. Whether it was a hair-thin meteor or millet-like wave, they were all drawn with great care.

Seeing Mu Nanqiao staring intently, Lu Qi rubbed his nose with a bit of embarrassment. “I learned miniature painting with my senior in university, but I’m not very good at it…..”

What’s more, the birthday gift given by Mrs. Talia was too explosive, and couldn’t be surpassed by ordinary people.

But this kind of small, extremely detailed painting actually consumed a lot of effort. Mu Nanqiao fastened the small box and decided to wear them on the cuffs of his outfit during their wedding.

“Thank you, I like it very much.” He motioned for Lu Qi to go down the hillside with him. The two of them walked side by side down the stone hillside steps. Mu Nanqiao asked: “How long did it take to paint them? This is such a small thing, too tiring for the eyes.”

Lu Qi rubbed his eyes. “Fortunately, it didn’t take long.”

The final successful ones really didn’t take long, but there were several previous ones that failed before the layer was finally sealed.

The two descended the hill and saw Mu Chuanbai and Talia waiting below. Talia’s beautiful brown eyes stared at Lu Qi’s lips for a moment, and then she turned to her son and said: “Дорогой， янемногоразочарованвтебе.”^[1]

Mu Nanqiao: ……

Lu Qi tugged on Mu Nanqiao’s sleeve in confusion: “What did Auntie say?”

“You are good-looking, and she likes you very much,” Mu Nanqiao said.

Talia rolled her eyes, wondering how much face she should save for her son, although she indeed liked this boy. She pushed Mu Chuanbai, who wore a half-smile, and said to Lu Qi in a friendly manner: “Xiao Lu, you must be hungry after working hard all morning. Auntie has prepared a lot of delicious food for you.”

“Meow~” Xiao Sanhua, who had been left in the car, was frightened by the commotion just now and stretched her little paws in the carrier uneasily. Talia saw this and said with a smile: “Oh, and this little darling, bluefin tuna was delivered just this morning. I wonder if you like it.”

Lu Qi said to Mu Nanqiao in a low voice, a little embarrassed: “Um…..don’t give such good food to Xiao Sanhua. If she eats like this, she’ll become picky.”

“Okay.” Mu Nanqiao turned to Talia and told her.

Talia waved her hand nonchalantly: “Okay, then we’ll give it to you to eat.”

Mu Nanqiao: ……

Lu Qi: ……

On the way back, Mu Chuanbai got into the car with the help of his bodyguard. Seeing that Lu Qi’s eyes were full of concern that he didn’t dare to show openly, he gave a gentle smile: “I’ve made you laugh.”

“No way.” Lu Qi’s round eyes were earnest. “I watched your interview before coming here. You’re an amazing person.”

“Oh…..” Mu Chuanbai said with great benevolence and affection. “Good boy, there is not a word of truth in those interviews. Don’t believe it next time.”

Lu Qi: “You’re really…..humorous and witty.”

Talia and Mu Chuanbai got into Mu Nanqiao’s car. Lu Qi remained sitting in the passenger seat. As they passed by the ruined house, various heavy-duty construction vehicles drove in one after another to clean up the enormous amount of rubble.

Mu Chuanbai took out his mobile phone and recorded a video through the window, saying with a smile: “Getting rid of the old and welcoming the new. Your grandfather would stand up directly if he saw this video.”

Lu Qi: ……

He remembered that during a certain interview, Mu Chuanbai’s eyes reddened several times when he mentioned his paralyzed father…..

Yes, it was all an illusion.

However, Old Mr. Mu once ignored and even allowed his second son’s family’s bullying and abuse of Mu Nanqiao. The consequences of betrayal and separation were well-deserved. Lu Qi thought about it and felt rather relieved.

Mu Nanqiao lived in another villa community, in the opposite direction of the old Mu family house, with the longest straight line between them. This showed how much they disliked that place.

Lunch was indeed sumptuous. The long black slate dining table was filled with all kinds of delicacies—most of them cooked by a chef hired from a hotel. Mrs. Talia’s first creation was a Russian vegetable platter, consisting of radishes, tomatoes, cucumbers, and green vegetables that resembled Northeastern pickles. 

Mu Nanqiao whispered to Lu Qi, who was sitting next to him: “Russian food is heavy in oil and salt, and high in calories. My mom stopped cooking for many years in order to stay in shape. She personally cooked two dishes for you today, which is…..” 

Mu Nanqiao’s expression was difficult to describe.

Lu Qi whispered: “If Auntie made it, I will eat it even if my stomach is perforated!”

“Детка^[2], although your courage is commendable, what my mom did just doesn’t look good, it’s not sulfuric acid…..” Mu Nanqiao laughed in spite of himself. “There’s no need to act as if you’re facing a formidable enemy.”

Lu Qi blinked, and was about to ask him about the Russian word, but Mrs. Talia had already brought out the second Russian dish from the kitchen.

It was one black, burnt, short, fat cylinder.

Lu Qi at once earnestly picked up a small plate and said to Mu Nanqiao: “Ai, Auntie baked you a chocolate birthday cake? It looks good, ah……”

Mu Nanqiao took a deep breath. “It’s thousand-layer baked potato, with Spanish ham and cheese in it.”

Lu Qi: ……

Fortunately, the thousand-layer potato was just mushy. After cutting off the outer layer, the inside was still perfect. It was a delicious carbohydrate bomb.

Mu Chuanbai raised his glass in a graceful manner: “Happy birthday, son. Whatever your age, live a long, happy life.”

Mu Nanqiao didn’t buy it. “Where is your gift?”

“Oh, this…..” Mu Chuanbai thought, and then remembered something. “The shipment was late. But surprise, it’s always late.”

The father and son looked at each other, smiled, and clinked glasses gently.

Lu Qi felt like he was seeing two big foxes wagging their tails. And was the surprise from Mu Chuanbai just a delivery?

Mu Chuanbai returned to the company after lunch, but Talia had to perform as the lead of a dance troupe and would fly back to Russia in the afternoon. 

She stood on tiptoe and kissed the side of Lu Qi’s face, smiling enthusiastically: “My dear, will you go to my next show with Leonid next time? I will reserve the best spot for you.”

Lu Qi leaned down and hugged her with bright eyes: “It’s my honor.”

Talia turned and walked toward Mu Chuanbai.

Mu Nanqiao pulled Lu Qi away, but the little deer kept looking back: “Ah? Aren’t we going to send Auntie off?”

In his peripheral vision, Talia had already bent down, but then his vision dimmed. He was half-pulled into Mu Nanqiao’s arms, with his eyes covered. 

Mu Nanqiao half-pushed and half-hugged him to walk forward. The voice in his ear was low and smiling: “Listen to me, don’t look.”

Warm breath brushed against his earlobe, and Lu Qi blinked, his eyelashes brushing against Mu Nanqiao’s palm. 

He was a little unsure if he had been kissed just now, as light as a dandelion.

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[1] “Darling, I’m a little disappointed in you.” ⮐

[2] Детка = Baby ⮐

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Chapter Twenty-Three << Table of Contents >> Chapter Twenty-Five