Chapter 25 Obedience: "Are you two dating?"
Mu Tingyu blinked but didn't say anything.
The girl's face was flushed, and her expression seemed somewhat dazed; she was completely drunk, yet her eyes remained remarkably clear.
Xing Ze stood facing her for a long while, then finally lowered his eyes and released her hand: "Alright, drunkard, go back to sleep..."
"Nothing is done casually."
Xing Ze was taken aback: "What?"
She looked slightly drunk, but her voice was clear: "It's not just anyone, you're not just anyone."
—You're not just anyone.
The girl's words carried a hint of trust that she herself was unaware of. She looked at the person in front of her with all her heart, her pupils reflecting his image.
Xing Ze's Adam's apple bobbed as he avoided her gaze: "...Don't say things like that."
Mu Tingyu looked at him seriously and asked, "Why?"
Her eyes were pure and bright, without any impurities, staring straight at him with a look that was both innocent and remarkably bold.
Xing Ze closed his eyes, suppressing the guilt that filled his heart, and ordered her in a hoarse voice, "Go to sleep."
Mu Tingyu placed her hands on his shoulders, leaned closer, and tilted her head: "What are you thinking about?"
The girl's warm breath brushed against my face, as if igniting a wildfire.
"......"
“I’m thinking,” Xing Ze said, almost gritting his teeth, “Mu Tingyu, what’s with the pectoral and abdominal muscles you were talking about just now?”
In a flash, the person in front of them instantly looked away.
She pushed him away without looking at him, swayed as she stood up, and mumbled, "Ugh, I'm suddenly so sleepy, what's wrong?"
"I'm so sleepy, I can't keep my eyes open anymore, I'm going back to sleep."
She continued talking to herself, ignoring the tangible gazes behind her, and walked towards the room with somewhat hurried steps. She almost tripped over the straw mat and quickly reached out to hold onto the wall.
Then he dashed into the room and slammed the door shut.
Xing Ze sat back on the ground, staring at the tightly closed room door, and helplessly closed his eyes.
After a long pause, he gave a self-deprecating laugh and muttered, "This is really killing me..."
.
The weather in Haicheng was sunny and the sky was a clear blue.
As summer approaches and temperatures continue to rise, a cool breeze still blows along the beach in Shitang.
With no classes on the weekend and having drunk alcohol the night before, Mu Tingyu originally planned to sleep in late, but unexpectedly received a call from Shaoyue early this morning.
"Tingbao! We've arrived!"
She was still half asleep when she heard this and immediately sat up with a start: "What? We're here? Where are we?"
Shaoyue's voice was bright: "Shitang Village? We haven't gone to the wrong place, have we?"
A voice came faintly from the side: "No, it's marked here."
Mu Tingyu rubbed her throbbing head, forced the phone to turn on, and then quickly got up and started putting on her clothes: "Where are you? Take a picture and send it to me, I'll come pick you up."
"Hey, there's this tiny bus stop sign-like thing here, do you know where it is?"
"I know, I know, wait for me there." Mu Tingyu hurriedly pulled on her pants and rushed into the bathroom. "How did you guys get here?"
The phone was on speakerphone and placed on the sink. A voice came through: "We rented an SUV and a campervan, and we're planning to travel around here. We'll stay here for a couple of days first."
Mu Tingyu squeezed out some toothpaste, put the toothbrush in her mouth, and looked up to see Xing Ze leaning against the door, staring straight at her in the mirror.
She was so startled that she stumbled and almost fell into the bathroom, but luckily Xing Ze caught her in time.
She steadied herself by holding onto Xing Ze's hand, and, still shaken, began brushing her teeth, mumbling, "You scared me to death..."
A puzzled voice came from the other end of the phone: "Who are you talking to?"
“Uh…” Mu Tingyu glanced at Xing Ze, “Landlord.”
The latter leaned against the door frame with his arms crossed, and raised an eyebrow upon hearing this.
"Oh, right. I forgot you're staying at someone else's house." Shaoyue asked again, "By the way, Tingbao, could you talk to your landlord about having lunch at his place today? We haven't found anywhere to eat yet, and where can we buy the groceries?"
Mu Tingyu spat out the foam and rinsed her mouth: "Wait, let me ask you something..."
"Can."
Mu Tingyu raised her head: "Huh?"
Why did he agree so easily?
She was thinking of making up some excuse and then taking them to town for a meal.
After all, given Xing Ze's personality, he probably wouldn't like strangers coming to his home.
Shaoyue had already heard Xingze's voice and immediately smiled and said, "Thank you, Mr. Landlord!"
Seeing that they had already communicated remotely, Mu Tingyu had no choice but to hang up the phone and bend down to continue washing her face.
She casually splashed some water on her face, squeezed out some facial cleanser and rubbed it on, then washed it off with water after a few rubs, grabbed her phone and hurriedly headed out.
Xing Ze blocked the doorway, preventing her from leaving, and reached out to grab a towel hanging nearby.
Before she could even utter the words "What are you doing?", he smeared a towel all over her face.
"Hmm..."
Xing Ze's voice rang out: "You didn't even wipe your face properly."
Despite saying that, his movements were very gentle. Mu Tingyu squinted and let him wipe her eyes, her hand instinctively grabbing the corner of his clothes.
Xing Zezai carefully wiped away the remaining face wash foam from the edges of her hair, and then wiped away the water stains left on her chin.
"Hey, alright, alright..." Mu Tingyu was in a hurry to leave and gently pushed him away.
Xing Ze stepped aside with a towel in hand, and seeing her rushing downstairs, he called out to her, "Eat breakfast!"
Mu Tingyu's figure disappeared at the top of the stairs, her voice drifting back: "It's too late! I'll come back to eat after I pick them up!"
Xing Ze lowered his eyes, turned off the light without a word, and went downstairs. Then a clear voice came from the first floor: "Xing Ze, can I take them home first?"
Xing Ze stood on the escalator, looking down at the girl who was leaning on the handrail on the first floor, smiling brightly and tilting her head towards him. He relaxed his brow and replied, "Okay."
"Okay!" Mu Tingyu replied cheerfully, "I'm off!"
"Ride slowly."
Xing Ze went down to the first floor and saw her figure on the bicycle disappear in a flash at the end of the path.
He went back to the kitchen and put the porridge back into the pot to keep it warm.
-
"Tingbao! Over here!" Shaoyue waved vigorously at her from in front of the bus stop.
Mu Tingyu slammed the car to a stop and threw herself into Shaoyue's arms, crying, "Ah Yue, waaaaah, it's been so long!"
Shaoyue pulled her into her arms and ruffled her fur, then pinched her chin and looked her up and down: "Tingbao, are you tired? You look a little haggard, and you even have dark circles under your eyes?"
Mu Tingyu nestled in her arms and rubbed against her, saying, "No, no! I just went to bed a little late last night! But you, have you lost weight?"
After the two of them chattered away like little sparrows, they finally remembered the few people beside them who had been ignored.
Mu Tingyu touched her ear shyly and greeted everyone: "Sister Xiaojing, Sister Yaxi, Brother Xin... Oh, Brother Le is here too?"
The boy called Brother Le raised an eyebrow: "What, can't I come?"
One of the girls came over and pinched Mu Tingyu's cheek, laughing, "Tingbao hasn't changed at all, so cute, so cute!"
Mu Tingyu replied with a smile, "Sister Xiaojing has changed! She's getting prettier and prettier!"
Huang Jing couldn't hide her smile: "You're so good with words."
Cao Yaxi was a quiet and gentle girl. She wasn't as familiar with Mu Tingyu as Huang Jing was. She just smiled and greeted her.
Zhang Xin, waving his car keys, said casually, "Don't just stand there! Where can I buy vegetables in Xiao Mu? Let's buy some and cook!"
"Going now?" Mu Tingyu asked in surprise. "Have you had breakfast yet?"
“We’ve already eaten,” Wang Jiale stepped forward and patted her on the shoulder. “Is your landlord easy to talk to? We’d like to find a place to have a barbecue. Does he have any open space or anything?”
This question stumped her a bit. After thinking for a moment, she replied, "Easy to talk to, yet difficult to talk to."
Wang Jiale was stunned: "Two landlords?"
"Oh no," Mu Tingyu thought she would ask Xing Ze on her phone later, and then told them to get in the SUV. "Let's go, I'll take you to buy some things first. We don't sell them here, we have to go to town. You guys drive behind me."
Shaoyue called out to her, "Why don't you come with us on the bus? You can squeeze in."
Mu Tingyu thought about it and realized that this was indeed faster; she needed to hurry back to eat Xing Ze's breakfast. "Then what about this bicycle..."
"It'll be fine to put it in the RV." Wang Jiale opened the door and helped her lift the bicycle into the RV, barely managing to squeeze it in.
Mu Tingyu smiled and thanked him, "Thanks, Brother Le!"
Wang Jiale snapped his fingers at her: "Don't be so polite, I'm leaving!"
Fortunately, the girls were all slim, so the four of them sitting in the back row weren't too cramped. Mu Tingyu had been to the market once before and roughly remembered the directions, so she sat in the back and started directing the route.
"Turn right at that intersection, yes, the one just ahead..."
“Tingbao,” Shaoyue tugged at her and asked softly, “Have you had breakfast yet? When I called you, were you just getting up?”
"No, I was still sleeping when you called, hehe."
"Then go to the market later and buy some to eat."
Mu Tingyu remembered that they were going to have a barbecue, and they would probably need to buy some barbecue ingredients and equipment, so it wouldn't be finished anytime soon.
She frowned, looking somewhat troubled.
"What's wrong?" Shaoyue asked her, puzzled.
"No, Xing Ze is probably waiting for me to come back for dinner," Mu Tingyu said, pulling out her phone to send a message to Xing Ze.
"Xing Ze? Is he the landlord?"
"Hmm," Mu Tingyu replied, typing away.
[He didn't listen: I'm going to the market with my friends first, I might not be able to eat breakfast, don't wait for me.]
[Ignoring: [The kitten is pitiful.]]
The other side replied quickly.
[X: Let's eat in town. Don't go hungry.]
[X: There's a breakfast shop next to the plum blossom cake stall that sells tofu soup.]
[I won't listen: Okay!]
[X: And you're not allowed to go to the liquor store either.]
Mu Tingyu, who was planning to chat with the boss again and maybe snag a jar of wine, thought to herself: "..."
[I won't listen: How do you know I want to go?]
[Not listening: [The kitten is scared.]
[I won't listen: Did you install a camera in my mind?]
[X: We haven't finished our drinks at home yet, we'll go after we finish those.]
Mu Tingyu sent a meme of turning her head away and ignoring her.
"Tingbao..." Shaoyue's voice sounded hesitantly, "Is this your landlord?"
“Yes, that’s right.” Mu Tingyu showed her the chat history. “He doesn’t talk much, we don’t chat much.”
After reading the previous few messages, Shaoyue stared at the word "be obedient" that had just been sent on the screen, fell silent, and then suddenly asked a surprising question: "Are you two dating?"
"Who? Who's in a relationship?" Huang Jing asked in surprise, looking across Cao Yaxi. "Tingbao's in a relationship?"
Mu Tingyu was so frightened that she quickly turned off her phone: "No, no, A-Yue was just talking nonsense."
“Oh,” Huang Jing shrank back again, “I thought Tingbao had finally come to his senses.”
Cao Yaxi asked curiously, "Tingyu is so beautiful, has she never been in a relationship?"
“No,” Wang Jiale said without turning her head from the passenger seat. “I find it strange that so many people have confessed to Mu Tingyu. Even if you’re picky, you should be able to find someone you like, right? But you haven’t dated anyone in four years of college.”
Huang Jing teased, "Including you?"
"Hiss—" Wang Jiale turned her head, "We agreed not to mention this anymore."
Huang Jing, who had a good relationship with him, boldly teased, "What's there for a man to be shy about? What's there to be embarrassed about after confessing your feelings? Even Tingbao didn't say anything!"
Mu Tingyu was suddenly called out, and looked up with a smile to defuse the situation: "That happened so long ago, I almost forgot about it."
Huang Jing laughed loudly, "It's just that Wang Jiale's love letters are too unmemorable!"
Wang Jiale said angrily, "Huang Jing! Are you trying to make me reveal your heartbreak and drinking spree too?"
Cao Yaxi sat in the middle of the back seat, looking left and right, as if she had caught up in quite a bit of gossip.
Amidst the noise, Mu Tingyu sent a message to Xing Ze: "I understand."
Shaoyue sat to the side watching, her doubts growing stronger, and she couldn't help but speak up.
"...Tingbao, how old is your landlord?"
Mu Tingyu replied without looking up, "Twenty-eight."
Shaoyue breathed a slight sigh of relief, then asked, "What does he do for a living?"
"Him?" Mu Tingyu thought for a moment, "An unemployed bum, I guess."
Shaoyue was taken aback: "Then he... he doesn't have any income normally?"
"I don't think so."
"......"
Remote rural areas, unemployed people, and no income.
Shaoyue gasped in shock and screamed inwardly.
—Listen, you've been scammed! Run!
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