Chapter 693: Chapter 692: Having a Girlfriend Like This Is Strangely Reassuring

The drawn-out voice was soft and gentle. Cheng Zhirang hadn’t even replied to her before he instinctively started lowering the air conditioner’s temperature.

"A little lower, a little lower, it’s really hot."

Although it was hot outside just now, there was a breeze when running, making it feel cooler. Now that they’ve stopped and are stuck inside the car, even with the air conditioning on in advance, she still feels hot everywhere.

After lowering it by a few degrees in a row, Cheng Zhirang patted her hand on the driver’s seat and said, "Not too low, or you’ll catch a cold. You both sit to the sides, don’t face the vent."

"But it’s hot."

"Bear with it, you can change once we get back."

Despite her whining, he wouldn’t lower it further, so Mu Qiu sat back down sulkily.

Cheng Zhirang glanced at her through the rearview mirror, seeing her frowning look, chuckled, and then brought up another topic.

"Did you have fun today?"

"Fun——"

"Had dinner?"

"Yes——"

The voice was long-drawn and listless.

He couldn’t help but laugh: "You look very pretty today."

At this, Mu Qiu didn’t feel down anymore.

"Really? This is my first time trying on heavy makeup. Does it look good?"

"Very good. Your eyes look beautiful."

"Zhao Yu helped me with it. We even took some photos, do you want to see them?"

He nodded: "Sure. You can choose a few to frame and hang on the wall. There’s none of your photos at home."

His thoughtfulness was much appreciated, and Mu Qiu no longer cared if the air conditioning could be set lower. She sat back and started discussing with Zhao Yu about which pictures to send to her phone.

"Just wait a moment, I’ll send over a few that look super nice."

Sending them now?

While keeping an eye on the road ahead, Cheng Zhirang smoothly turned the steering wheel for a maneuver, then casually asked:

"Did you take group shots? I know someone who paints art portraits. They can transform photos into works of various styles and proportions, then directly design items with their team using these paintings, like art avatars, phone cases, keyboard patterns, car accessories, cups, lipsticks, pendants."

This sounded innovative, and Zhao Yu was very interested. So Mu Qiu leaned over and asked, "Can you have an entire set designed directly? Like I give the painting and the items, and then receive cups, lipstick tubes printed with our images, and digital patterns to use freely?"

"Yes."

"That’s awesome! We want some anime-style ones, small and cute, and...

She chattered on, while discussing with Zhao Yu in the back. Excitedly, she couldn’t wait to show him the pretty group photos on her phone.

They were all pictures taken by a third person, with them standing relatively far from each other.

Cheng Zhirang nodded, indicating that these photos turned out well.

Then he asked: "Who took these? Qing Rong?"

Zhao Yu broke out in a cold sweat in the back seat.

Then she heard Mu Qiu say without looking up: "Yeah, the skills are pretty good."

"Yes, they are. Judging by the watermark, it wasn’t your phone used, right?"

Only then did Mu Qiu look up at him: "Uh-huh, used Zhao Yu’s phone."

"The phone’s resolution is quite good," he calmly shifted the topic, getting down to the main issue, "So, how did you two end up fighting?"

Mu Qiu sat back, put her phone away, and lazily replied, "He said something that upset me, want to hear the details?"

"Tell me, I’m listening."

"He thinks being with a celebrity like you makes me lack freedom, and believes I’ve been so enamored by your good looks that I’ve lost myself, and he wants to rescue me."

Sounds like a well-meaning good person advising someone to mend their ways.

Zhao Yu mentally gave Mu Qiu props for her summation skills.

Saying this openly in front of her boyfriend about a pursuer’s ambiguous words is quite impressive.

Cheng Zhirang: "Oh? How does he plan to rescue you?"

"By playing the role of a secondary male lead, hoping to turn the affection of a crazy female side character away from the male protagonist. I actually suspect he’s interested in you, he’s always wanted to set you free."

Listening attentively to the news about his girlfriend and her admirer, Cheng Zhirang couldn’t dodge this line, and unexpectedly choked.

"Speak properly."

Mu Qiu innocently replied, "That’s my honest thought. He’s gotten a bit carried away writing in seclusion, with his world views wavering, anything’s possible."

Pausing, she added: "From my personal view, there’s indeed something off about him. You actors play and immerse in a story, sometimes too immersed that you get emotionally attached. We writers, might also immerse too deeply, thus incorporating a character’s traits into ourselves, especially those popular ones."

"You think he’s pretentious?"

"He sometimes speaks with a hint of deliberateness," Mu Qiu recalled, speaking of when she and Qing Rong were just online friends: "Online chats were fine, but face-to-face interactions always felt a bit odd."

Qing Rong’s gentlemanliness, humor, and sense of fun always had a touch of deliberateness. From his behavior towards that little girl writer, whether Mao Duoduo or whatever, you could tell his real personality tends toward being domineering and cold.

He doesn’t like to mince words, and does things as he wants.

If he were a character in a novel, he’d likely be the male second lead with the highest obsession and darkness index.

Rather than a gentlemanly, sophisticated elite male.

She thought deeply about it, but the other two listeners only found her thoughts too unconventional.

Who analyzes a pursuer’s every move as an infatuated writer? Isn’t that too formal?

At this point, Cheng Zhirang didn’t know whether to feel sorry for Qing Rong or relieved for himself.

Ultimately, he decided to side with his girlfriend’s opinion.

"It’s not impossible, when he harbors a bit of such a thought, combined with the character’s personality he created, resulting in some deliberateness. Did you directly tell him just now?"

"Of course not."

Mu Qiu patted her skirt and lightly said, "I just warned him not to interfere with us and you, and additionally advised him to rescue his own shaky world views."

Cheng Zhirang: "......"

He truly didn’t know what to say, so he could only chuckle and shake his head, after a while, he said: "Hmm, well done."

Then he checked the route on the GPS and added:

"After changing clothes back home, I’ll take you guys out for a late-night snack. Dinner with just some small bites isn’t filling. There’s a white-cut chicken place near you with several good dishes. Just right for celebrating Miss Zhao’s birthday."

Zhao Yu was once again flattered for the nth time.

"It’s too much trouble for Brother Cheng."

"Not at all. That place is nice, if you guys find it tasty tonight, you can keep getting takeout from there, the bill will be on my card."

Zhao Yu excitedly tugged on Mu Qiu’s arm, but tried to remain calm: "Then thank you, Brother Cheng. Mu Qiu does love white-cut chicken."

Mu Qiu: "?" When did she ever love white-cut chicken?

————

ps:

Mu Qiu: No need for a man, I can handle my boyfriend’s rival myself.