Chapter 38

During one of their dates, Mu Chi slowed down his pace of eating lunch to match Song Wenzhou’s, while thinking about what to do next.

They had almost watched all the movies that were currently showing, and they had tried all the fun places, delicious food, and beautiful sceneries nearby. Coming up with a fresh idea for a date was becoming increasingly difficult.

While he was pondering, Mu Chi received a phone call informing him that there was an urgent package that needed to be signed for, and the delivery person would arrive within half an hour at Mu Chi’s residence.

After hanging up, Mu Chi apologetically explained the situation to Song Wenzhou, feeling regretful that their time together had been less than two hours, and now they had to part ways.

Song Wenzhou, wiping his mouth with a tissue, seemed unconcerned and said, “It’s fine, everyone has unexpected situations. Don’t worry about me, go ahead.”

“How about…?” Mu Chi thought for a moment and came up with a good idea. “Why don’t you come with me? We can sign for the package, and then we can go play. It won’t take long.”

Song Wenzhou hesitated for a moment, but seeing the full expectation in Mu Chi’s eyes, he couldn’t bring himself to refuse and nodded, saying, “Okay.”

After all, today’s time was set aside just to spend with Mu Chi.

Mu Chi cheered inwardly, and when he saw Song Wenzhou stop eating, he quickly took the remaining food and finished his meal.

After returning to China, Mu Chi had been living in the attic where he had stayed with his grandparents. Song Wenzhou had been there before, so it wasn’t unfamiliar to him.

When they arrived home, the delivery driver was just pulling up in front of the house. Mu Chi stepped forward, took the package from the delivery person, and signed for it.

Song Wenzhou glanced over casually, noticing the overseas express label on the package. It was easy to guess that the package was from the UK. The packaging was thin and seemed to contain some documents.

While casually speculating, Mu Chi thanked the delivery person and turned to Song Wenzhou, saying, “I’ll go inside and put this away. Since you’re already here, why not come in and rest for a bit?”

“Okay.”

The house had been empty for years, and even though Mu Chi had been living there for some time, it still felt a bit lonely. The yard was a bit messy, and the vegetable garden where his grandmother used to plant was now overrun with weeds.

Song Wenzhou glanced at the “grass patch” several times, as if recalling the Lantern Festival three years ago, when he had snuck into the garden to steal vegetables and ended up getting himself dirty.

The footprints from back then had long been covered by the weeds, and Mu Chi would probably never know that he had done such a foolish thing.

Once inside, Mu Chi rummaged through his belongings, bringing out all the food he had been living on during his time alone. It was nearly piled up into a small mountain in front of Song Wenzhou.

But since they had just eaten lunch before coming home, Song Wenzhou had no appetite. Not wanting to dampen Mu Chi’s enthusiasm, he picked up a small orange and slowly peeled it, carefully removing all the white fibers from the fruit.

Mu Chi sat on the sofa, just an arm’s length away from Song Wenzhou. Once he saw that Song Wenzhou was settled, he picked up the package that had been casually thrown on the couch earlier and began to open it.

The packaging paper was torn along the perforation, and Mu Chi took out several pages, quickly scanning through the content, finally stopping at the last page where he seemed to read the words more seriously.

Finishing the last piece of the orange, Song Wenzhou wiped his fingers and glanced at Mu Chi.

They say that men who are serious about their work are the most attractive. At this moment, Mu Chi, holding the papers in both hands, had his brows slightly furrowed and his eyes lowered. Only his eyes moved slightly with the reading, which certainly captured Song Wenzhou’s attention.

After finishing the last line, Mu Chi gave a satisfied smile and turned his head, meeting Song Wenzhou’s gaze.

Song Wenzhou was caught red-handed, quickly blinking a few times to divert his gaze and asked, “What are you looking at so seriously?”

He had originally asked to cover up his embarrassment, not genuinely trying to inquire about Mu Chi’s matters. But to his surprise, Mu Chi directly spread the papers in front of him.

“I applied to be an exchange student,” Mu Chi said with a smile he couldn’t hide. “I finally received the invitation from the school.”

“Exchange student?” Song Wenzhou only glanced at it, not even fully seeing what was written, and impatiently asked, “Which school?”

Mu Chi told him the name of the school, and coincidentally, it was next door to the university that Song Wenzhou was currently attending.

Song Wenzhou still couldn’t believe what he had seen and heard. He licked his lips and confirmed, “But why was it a package from the UK?”

“Ah,” Mu Chi frowned, “It was originally sent to my school, but my mom received it and sent it to me.”

So it was true.

Mu Chi was really going to study at the school next door, and they were going to be so close.

Song Wenzhou muttered, “Why… would you want to come here as an exchange student?”

It was a rather inappropriate question, and Mu Chi gave him a knowing look before retorting, “For the prestigious exchange student certificate!”

Song Wenzhou chuckled at his tone, pretending to be curious. “Is this certificate really that valuable? Maybe I should apply too?”

Mu Chi stared at him in silence.

“We don’t even know if our school or the sister university has this program,” Song Wenzhou seemed oblivious to the threat in Mu Chi’s gaze and continued, “I’ll ask around when school starts.”

Mu Chi still didn’t respond.

“Uh,” seeing he wasn’t getting any response, Song Wenzhou absentmindedly touched his nose, catching a faint scent of orange lingering on his fingers. He awkwardly softened his voice and coaxed, “Why are you looking at me like that?”

“You’re not allowed to go,” Mu Chi finally spoke, feeling aggrieved. “Don’t you know why I came back?”

Song Wenzhou’s gaze shifted uneasily. “Maybe… I do.”

Mu Chi didn’t care whether he was pretending not to know or just shy. He bluntly said, “I finally got this opportunity. If you go somewhere else, what am I supposed to do? How can I chase after you?”

“Then why didn’t you tell me earlier that you’d have so much time here?” Song Wenzhou chuckled, “You’re so confident that I’ll agree to you?”

“To be honest, I’m not confident.” After all, the time they’d be apart wasn’t short, and it was enough for Song Wenzhou to meet and form close connections with many people he didn’t know. Mu Chi lowered his eyelids and sighed but quickly regained his composure, looking directly at Song Wenzhou and saying firmly, “But as long as you don’t explicitly reject me, I won’t give up. You’ve seen it. I have plenty of time to spend with you now.”

From his tone, Song Wenzhou could hear the pride in his words and couldn’t help but laugh softly. He muttered, “I can’t be bothered to waste time with you.”

“Mm?” Mu Chi took a moment to process, then uncertainly asked, “What do you mean?”

Song Wenzhou cleared his throat and said awkwardly, “It means I agree to you.”

The point Song Wenzhou had been hesitating about was not knowing when Mu Chi would return to the UK. Whether it was lack of confidence or not being firm enough, he just couldn’t accept being in a long-distance relationship right after they got together. And not just a regular long-distance relationship—one that would also involve the torment of dealing with time zone differences.

Now that this concern had been dispelled, Song Wenzhou no longer hesitated or planned to take time to consider Mu Chi. He straightforwardly gave Mu Chi—and himself—a chance.

“Really?!” Mu Chi grinned widely and asked in rapid succession, “Really, really? You agreed to me?”

Song Wenzhou was affected by his emotions, his ears turning slightly red, and he thought reluctantly: If you ask me again, I might take it back.

However, Mu Chi gave him no chance to back out, nor did he expect a response. He suddenly jumped up and shortened the already small distance between them.

Song Wenzhou was knocked back onto the soft sofa—Mu Chi excitedly hugged him.

Mu Chi wrapped his arms around Song Wenzhou’s waist, resting his chin on his shoulder and rubbing it randomly. His messy curls brushed against his jaw and neck, causing a slight itch.

“I’m so happy, Zhouzhou. It feels like I’m dreaming,” Mu Chi confessed.

The sudden intimate contact made Song Wenzhou’s heart race, his arms wide open with no place to put them.

Mu Chi, like a large dog, held him tightly. His curly hair was all over Song Wenzhou’s neck. It took a moment for him to calm down before slowly placing his hands on Mu Chi’s back, though he didn’t dare to apply pressure, just lightly resting them there.

“Are you happy?” Mu Chi, seemingly unaware of shyness, rubbed enough, then looked up at Song Wenzhou. His eyes were smiling as they curved upward. Before Song Wenzhou could respond, he continued on his own, “I’m so happy. I can finally pick you up from class openly.”

Song Wenzhou was amused by his focus and thought to himself: Could it be that the thing Mu Chi is happiest about in their relationship is picking him up from class?

“I can also come to your house to play with you openly,” Mu Chi added.

His eager expression made Song Wenzhou’s heart flutter, and without hesitation, he said, “You’re welcome to come anytime.”

Mu Chi gazed at him with a smile in his eyes. After a moment, as if lost in thought, he rarely flushed red in the ears. With a hum, he buried his face in Song Wenzhou’s shoulder and rubbed it.

Song Wenzhou could almost see a fluffy tail wagging in front of him with Mu Chi’s playful behavior.

But the curls rubbing against his neck were unbearably itchy, and after a while, Song Wenzhou couldn’t stand it anymore and began to push Mu Chi away. He tried once, then twice, but couldn’t pull him apart.

They had only been together for a few minutes, yet Mu Chi was already so shameless.

Song Wenzhou’s fist clenched, his anger rising!

But then, thinking it over, Song Wenzhou relaxed his fist. He might as well let Mu Chi do this time, after all… he also enjoyed this closeness.

It would be hard to initiate such intimate actions on his own, so since Mu Chi was so unreserved, he pretended to push him away a few times before calmly enjoying the moment.