Chapter 10

7:00 AM (1)

At exactly seven o’clock, the music clock rang.

“Silent Night.”

The gentle rhythm startled the three cats, who were curled up sleeping in the wooden box.

Someone was already squatting next to the box, watching the cats. It was a guy with tanned skin who had checked in around five.

Like Xu Muzi, the guy wasn’t wearing warm clothes; he was dressed in shorts and a tank top, with a bathrobe thrown over his shoulders. He was playfully waving the bathrobe’s belt above the box, trying to tease the three-color cat that had just woken up.

The three-color cat hissed back fiercely, and the two little cats next to it imitated her, meowing in a high-pitched voice.

Their tails stood straight up like antennas in anger.

The guy said, “Hey,” retracting the belt he had been holding, and rubbed his nose while looking back, “She really has a bit of a temper.”

He was speaking toward Xu Muzi, and his tone was too familiar and natural. She turned to look behind her, confirming that he was indeed talking to her.

The guy continued, “I heard from Xia Xia that you brought these cats back? Did they scratch you?”

The one who actually brought the cats back…

Was still outside chatting away with the beautiful woman.

The wind ruffled the woman’s long curly hair, and she raised a hand to tidy it up.

She had a mature beauty about her, and Xu Muzi saw her smile bashfully, though she didn’t know what Deng Yun had said.

Xu Muzi averted her gaze, not wanting to mention Deng Yun, and told the guy that there was cat food provided by the inn, so bringing them back was relatively smooth.

The guy’s name was Xing Pengjie, and he was very outgoing, enthusiastically recounting how he and his friends once adopted stray kittens and ended up with scratched arms.

“That cat was fiercer than these three; I even had to get a tetanus shot at the hospital.”

When talking face to face, Xu Muzi noticed that Xing Pengjie had varying shades of red on his forehead, cheeks, and nose, resembling sunburn, almost like an exaggerated highland red effect seen in artistic photos.

He mentioned he had just returned from the desert.

Xia Xia came over with a thick bathrobe. “You should wear this before going out.”

Xing Pengjie thanked her repeatedly, and after a few more words, Xia Xia hurried off to prepare breakfast.

Xing Pengjie was talkative and turned back to chat with Xu Muzi.

He said he had originally planned to come here a few days earlier to enjoy the place, but he couldn’t book a room, which forced him to stay longer in the desert.

His concluding remark was, “This inn is great in every way; it’s just too hard to book. I booked this five days in advance.”

He also asked Xu Muzi how far in advance she had booked the room on the second floor with a terrace.

Xu Muzi was momentarily stunned. “I booked it last minute.”

Xing Pengjie’s voice suddenly shot up. “No way, you managed to get a last-minute booking?”

She really did book it last minute.

After getting tired of hearing nagging at home, she booked the room shortly before eleven at night and even received a confirmation call from the inn, asking if she wanted to extend her stay for the next day.

At the time, Xia Xia mentioned that extending the stay might not guarantee a room and that they would contact her once everything was confirmed.

Xu Muzi said, “Maybe someone checked the weather and knew it would rain heavily these days, so they canceled their bookings.”

“Ah, that’s also possible.”

In the common area on the first floor, there were about ten people. The couple wanting to watch the sunrise was there, taking photos by the window.

A few others lounged on the sofa playing on their phones, probably waiting for breakfast.

When Xia Xia said it was time to eat, everyone stood up, and Xing Pengjie immediately followed suit.

Was Deng Yun still chatting over there? Were they not going to eat?

Xia Xia explained that due to the weather, there were some changes to the breakfast menu. The refreshing lotus root and pork rib soup was replaced with warming truffle and pork rib soup.

Xing Pengjie’s personality clearly made it easy for him to get along with others. He gave a thumbs-up and said, “So thoughtful and considerate! I have to give your inn a five-star review. Do I need to mention your name in the review? Is there a bonus?”

Xia Xia blushed and shook her head. “No need! Just praise our inn!”

Xu Muzi felt she had learned something and opened the inn’s order information to write a review.

The inn had excellent reviews.

Before booking, she was in a hurry to leave and only glanced at the ratings without looking closely at the comments.

The guests who reviewed this inn were surprisingly thoughtful, many included photos in their comments.

From their own descriptions, there were photography enthusiasts and those who came to relax after feeling exhausted from work…

It was indeed more beautiful on sunny days, with some people capturing images of wild rabbits, squirrels, and owls.

Xu Muzi was drawn to these photos and started scrolling through them one by one.

She came across a review that mentioned the guesthouse owner’s story as the reason for their visit, and it indeed sounded great.

What story?

Someone shared the same question as Xu Muzi and asked below, “What story does the guesthouse owner have?”

The reviewer replied: “Go look at the earliest review, the longest one.”

Xu Muzi, curious, kept scrolling down.

After all, she had played the piano for twenty years and had quick fingers, flipping through those photos and descriptions until she found the inn’s initial reviews.

One review was particularly lengthy—

Review by Creampuffs0319:
—-
“It is now 7:43 AM, light rain. I’m enjoying the breakfast prepared by the inn while writing this. It’s worth mentioning that the breakfast is not made from frozen ingredients or pre-packaged meals; the soup is genuinely delicious.”

Xu Muzi glanced at the soup in her spoon, feeling a strange sense of familiarity.

On a rainy day two years ago, someone was also drinking soup in the restaurant around the same time.

She continued reading:

“Choosing this inn was my friend’s decision; I was initially quite skeptical (I hope my friend doesn’t see this and get mad at me). After all, it’s newly opened, and there were only two reviews, both five stars, which seemed suspicious. The likelihood of hitting a dud was very high, haha!”

“After staying here for one night, I feel that five stars aren’t enough; this place is definitely worth visiting!

The room is very clean, and since there weren’t many guests, the staff almost took us on a tour of all the vacant rooms at our request (we really insisted). Each room’s terrace has different flowers; they really put in a lot of effort.”

Xing Pengjie suddenly asked, “Oh right, beautiful lady, I haven’t asked your name yet.”

Xu Muzi briefly looked up, gave her name, and then shifted her attention back to her phone.

“The common area is the same; every window looks like a painting. How can I put it? It has so much style.

My friend was also considering investing in a bed and breakfast, so I shamelessly asked the staff if they hired any professional design team for the decor. The result! It turned out to be designed by the owner himself!

So, so, so impressive.”

“Also, speaking of the inn owner, I have a little gossip to share. I heard that this inn was originally a gift the owner intended to give away…”

The comment was quite lengthy.

It was breakfast time, and guests trapped in the inn by the heavy rain were gradually starting to converse.

Xu Muzi was called by Xing Pengjie sitting across from her for the second time, feeling embarrassed to continue reading.

She had no choice but to put down her phone, suppress her curiosity, and respond to him.

Xing Pengjie asked, “Xu Muzi, do you have cats at home?”

Xu Muzi replied, “No, I don’t keep cats. I don’t have enough time to care for pets, and often…”

At that moment, Deng Yun, who had just finished chatting with the beautiful woman, brought over a plate of breakfast.

He sat down beside her.

Xu Muzi paused for two seconds before continuing, “Often, I can’t even take care of myself properly, so I’m afraid of disappointing a pet.”

Xing Pengjie glanced at Deng Yun and continued, “That’s true. When I’m not home, I send my cat and dog to my parents’ place to help take care of them.”

Xu Muzi nodded as she sipped her truffle and pork rib soup.

She initially thought Xu Muzi would ask about his cat and dog, but after waiting for half a minute, there was still no response from her side.

Xing Pengjie cut a piece of dessert and placed it on his plate. “But you should really like little animals, right?”

Xu Muzi said, “Yeah, I do.”

Not far away, Xia Xia was already getting familiar with a box of cat food and the three cats.

She could not only pet them but also hold them.

Xu Muzi looked over enviously a few times. “But I don’t really have a way with small animals; the pets in my relatives’ homes don’t like to play with me.”

In the past, when she practiced the piano, there were also stray cats outside the practice room that she fed frequently.

But they were all timid little cats that would run away after eating, so they weren’t very close to her.

From childhood to now, the only small animal she had ever held was a short-legged corgi.

And it was purely by chance.

Just then, Xing Pengjie asked her if she preferred cats or dogs. Xu Muzi thought of how she felt holding the corgi and said that she probably had more of a connection with dogs.

Xing Pengjie was someone who liked to dig deeper, asking Xu Muzi why she felt that way.

With Deng Yun sitting beside her, Xu Muzi didn’t want to turn her head.

Maybe their relationship wasn’t clear enough, which made it feel strange and awkward. They couldn’t become friends who could chat easily, unlike how relaxed and carefree he was with the beautiful woman earlier.

Xu Muzi collected her thoughts and focused on answering Xing Pengjie.

Since she wasn’t good at telling stories, she only gave a brief overview, mentioning that she once rescued a little corgi by stopping a car.

For Xing Pengjie, the first time he saw Xu Muzi was in the hallway. At that time, she was smiling, so his impression of her was not that she was “hard to approach.”

Xu Muzi was also very beautiful.

Xing Pengjie really wanted to strike up a conversation. He not only chatted with her but also brought over a large plate of desserts.

“Try this; it’s incredible, really delicious. Don’t all you girls like little desserts?”

That was a grilled pineapple tart, which was cut down to just a small piece. It looked delicious, but Xu Muzi was allergic to pineapple.

She said she had already eaten enough and wouldn’t have any for now.

Xing Pengjie continued to recommend it vigorously, and then, as if moved by Xing Pengjie’s enthusiasm, Deng Yun, who had been quietly sitting beside her, reached out and placed that piece of pineapple tart onto his plate.

Xing Pengjie looked speechless, as if he were watching someone with emotional intelligence as low as the Mariana Trench. After hesitating a few times, he couldn’t help but comment, “I mean, brother, do you really want to eat dessert that badly?”

Deng Yun slowly replied with one word: “Yes.”

Xu Muzi knew that Deng Yun was helping her out.

She had previously told him that because she had been called boring and not easy to get along with, she became even more unsure about how to communicate with others and had once been afraid to refuse people.

Did Deng Yun still remember those words?

But Xu Muzi wasn’t moved; she felt inexplicably angrier.

She didn’t look at him or acknowledge him and picked up her phone to scroll through the screen.

Since her phone had been idle for too long, the page she had just browsed refreshed automatically.

A new review appeared in the guesthouse comments.

It was posted three minutes ago.

“I was supposed to stay here today, but the guesthouse called to say there was a problem with the reservation and not enough rooms. They offered three times the compensation, which I accepted. I just checked the weather; it’s pouring rain in the mountains, so I’m glad I didn’t go. Maybe I’ll go another time, but I have to say, the owner is quite generous, haha!”

It was indeed pouring rain.

They said the rainfall would decrease around ten o’clock, but outside, there was no sign of that at all.

The rain fell like pearls, pounding into the fertile soil, slowly rising in mist.

Someone suggested that since they had just made a call, the small shop down the hill agreed to help deliver beer up here.

Since the rain was getting heavier and they couldn’t go out anyway, they might as well head to the third-floor screening room to enjoy a few drinks together.

Xing Pengjie immediately asked Xu Muzi, “Want to go have a drink?”

Xu Muzi straightened her back, keeping her gaze forward: “Sure.”

With her response, Xing Pengjie happily ran off to discuss the impromptu drinking session with others.

Deng Yun lightly tapped the table: “Can you drink?”

Xu Muzi didn’t even look at Deng Yun and replied irritably, “Of course I can. Didn’t you teach me to drink?”