It’s not that she can’t take the initiative to pursue a man, but the thought that she mostly does it because of his looks makes her want to laugh.

Yuan Chun gave her a half-serious, half-teasing look: "You pursued him, and he agreed?"

"Of course!" She responded as if it was only natural, "He was immediately moved by my talent and sincerity!"

Mu Zhi let out a timely snort.

Making her previous words seem a bit awkward.

Mu Qiu coughed, lowered her head, and continued gnawing at the chicken leg.

Su Jin also remained silent, calmly dealing with the vegetables Zhou Jilin put in her bowl.

The topic continued with Zhou Jilin, Mu Zhi, and Yuan Chun chatting, but it no longer involved Cheng Zhirang.

...

After Zhou Jilin and Su Jin left and as time was getting late, Yuan Chun and Mu Zhi tidied up and prepared for bed.

Mu Qiu deliberately avoided the "pre-bedtime heart-to-heart talk," carefully arranging their sleeping environment, and then, using the excuse of washing up and sleeping, stayed quietly in her room without a sound.

Mu Zhi originally wanted to ask her in detail about fainting, but couldn’t find the opportunity. Yuan Chun noticed her daughter’s reluctance, sighed, and advised Mu Zhi not to ask.

Children grow up and don’t want to discuss everything with their parents, which is understandable.

They gave up on asking, and before long, the light in the side bedroom went out.

Meanwhile, Mu Qiu was already in the bathroom, talking on the phone with Cheng Zhirang for half an hour.

Don’t misunderstand; it wasn’t that kind of restricted phone call.

She finished her bath and was putting on a face mask, sitting on the toilet lid, dazedly looking outside the bathroom, not saying a word.

Cheng Zhirang wasn’t speaking either, but there was a constant rustling sound from his side.

It was the sound of the wind blowing through the forest outside Half Mountain Villa.

After a while, she closed her eyes, rolled her eyes to relieve the discomfort, and asked, "Haven’t you closed the window yet? Is the night breeze there that comfortable?"

Cheng Zhirang’s voice, amplified through the speakerphone, resonated throughout the bathroom, carrying a bit of a deep magnetism, fitting perfectly with the nighttime theme.

"It is quite comfortable, no need to turn on the air conditioning, and the ventilation can also take away the room’s smell. When it gets a bit hotter, come stay here?"

"Sure," she agreed, "consider it a vacation."

After all, he wants to live together.

She looked into the camera and felt that the mask time was about right, peeled it off, and started massaging. The rustling sounds continued on the other side, along with occasional noises from Cheng Zhirang, making it unclear what he was doing.

She suddenly called out: "Zhirang."

There was a brief silence on the other end.

Then came Cheng Zhirang’s deep response.

"Hmm. Do you like this name?"

"I do. But saying it feels a bit weird. I still prefer another nickname."

Cheng Zhirang thought maybe she meant calling him Brother Cheng, but she immediately followed with a different nickname:

"Chengcheng." She said it coyly, like coaxing a child.

"Cough! Cough, cough..."

Mu Qiu laughed uncontrollably, shaking with amusement.

Cheng Zhirang couldn’t do anything about her antics, so he sincerely suggested, "Let’s stick with the original nickname."

"I won’t."

She finished massaging and went to wash her face; the sound of water was loud, drowning out the sound coming through the phone’s speaker.

Once the bathroom became quiet again, a somewhat odd noise came from the other end.

"What are you still doing so late?"

Cheng Zhirang: "Tidying up the room."

"Tidying up the room? In the middle of the night? Are you nervous too?"

A light laugh came from the other side, "A little bit. I’m afraid my uncle and aunt will see the house in a mess."

"Your house is messy?" She wanted to say he was worrying too much; there weren’t many things in the Half Mountain Villa, and he loved tidiness, so how could it possibly be messy?

But he immediately asked, "Do you want your underwear to be kept in the side bedroom or in my closet?"

Mu Qiu: "..." Damn, she completely forgot about that.

She quickly leaned closer to the receiver: "In your closet, and put the other stuff there too, preferably covering my clothes. Anything left in the side bedroom doesn’t matter, but did I leave a lot of clothes there?"

"Not much. Only three sets of underwear."

"...Isn’t that a lot? I only bring three sets for a month-long trip. But that’s not the point; the point is, are you sure you’ve put everything away?"

"I’ve put all the clothes away."

She pondered and then asked, "What about the condoms?"

The other side was silent, then a moment later replied, "They’re away."

"Great, there shouldn’t be anything else my parents can’t see. Come to think of it, you’re the one at risk tomorrow, good luck."

Cheng Zhirang didn’t respond, instead changed the topic, "My mom reminded me about sorting today."

Mu Qiu: "!?"

Even when she went to bed, Mu Qiu’s face remained flushed.

...

There was a light rain in the middle of the night, and when morning came, the sky was clear and bright, the air was a bit more humid, and it was no longer as stuffy as before.

Mu Qiu woke up early, made a good-morning call to Cheng Zhirang, wrapped herself in her quilt, stared blankly as she listened to him speak.

His voice was pleasant, a bit husky in the morning, sounding soothing.

Mu Qiu enjoyed this morning wake-up service.

When she was fully awake, she affectionately asked, "What do you think I should wear today?"

"Today’s weather is nice, with a little breeze. How about a dress?"

"Sure, which dress do you like?"

"The light blue chiffon dress."

Mu Qiu got out of bed, jokingly saying, "Ah—so you like little florals."

"I like you in little florals. Come on, have breakfast and you can change into it later in the afternoon."

"Okay~ mua, morning kiss."

Cheng Zhirang chuckled softly. He seldom laughed so pleasantly and lightly, but upon hearing it, one felt as if they were under a blue sky blooming with green buds and flowers, windswept, with eyes closed, basking in the gentle spring breeze of March.

He truly was her muse, indeed.

The morning passed quickly until the afternoon.

Mu Qiu took a thirty-minute nap, only to be forcibly woken by Yuan Chun, and then she could only droop her eyebrows and sit in front of the makeup mirror to start preparing.

Goodness, there are still three hours left, and her mom was even more nervous than she was.

She sighed and put on the dress Cheng Zhirang specifically wanted her to wear.

The blue and white floral prints gave the dress a gentle misty blue hue, with an elastic waist, a row of off-white buttons down the front center, adding visual appeal. The irregular skirt hem flowing from the waist added an extra touch of liveliness.

Wearing it felt gentle and cool since it was chiffon.

She twirled around in front of the mirror, feeling quite good about it, with prominent collarbones, firm chest, slender waist, fair skin. Then she curled her hair, braided two thin braids in front, pinning them together at the back.

Oh, isn’t she the fairy herself.

She admired Cheng Zhirang’s taste and was very satisfied with her look today, even in a great mood, she went online to search for a summer gentle makeup tutorial and followed it bit by bit.

Yuan Chun wanted her to get ready early, worrying Cheng Zhirang would arrive too soon. But unexpectedly, she really "prepared for a full three hours," prompting twice or three times, and she always replied from the bedroom, "Just a moment."