Chapter 21

12:00 PM (1)

In the early hours of the morning, the street was deserted, and a bright moon hung at the end of the road.

A long gust of wind swept through, stirring up bits of dried leaves nestled along the curb. They rolled a short distance before finally coming to a halt, floating lightly against the edge of the road.

Streetlights guarded the quiet night, and an orange stray cat sneaked out from the leafless bushes, startled by the sudden “bang” of a car door closing. It froze, tail up in alert, watching cautiously.

Xu Muzi, in a burst of energy as if in a hundred-meter sprint, dashed forward, scaring the orange cat back into the bushes.

What she was doing now could only be described as “kiss and run.”

The gate to the villa courtyard was open, and she didn’t have time to worry about “whether her parents would catch her,” “how she would explain why she went out so late,” or “who she was with.”

With a flushed face, she pressed her fingerprint to unlock the entry door and dashed up to the second floor, heading straight to her bedroom.

Her heart felt like it was about to leap out of her throat.

Xu Muzi even wondered if she was going to experience another bout of respiratory alkalosis.

… Forget whether she’d end up having it or not—she had just kissed Deng Yun.

Actually, the attempt to kiss Deng Yun hadn’t gone very smoothly.

They were separated by the center console in the car, with two nearly empty drinks sitting in the cup holders: a hot cola with ginger and an iced cola with lemon.

The large paper cups blocked Xu Muzi from moving freely, so in her haste, she wasn’t even sure exactly where she had kissed him.

She had quickly pulled away, flustered.

Deng Yun’s eyes remained calm, with a hint of amusement as he quietly looked at her.

Did he think she was crazy?

Xu Muzi was now crouched by her bed, her heart racing. She grabbed her tablet on the carpet and opened her social media app, typing out countless “ah’s” and “so embarrassing,” filling over ten lines of text with frenzied messages, which she finally posted.

This account had only about a dozen followers.

She’d checked them all before. Either they were phishing accounts leading to sketchy sites or bot accounts with generic usernames and no profile pictures.

No one cared what Xu Muzi posted, so she treated it openly as her private venting space.

The room’s lights were off, and no one in the house noticed her panicked return in the middle of the night.

After posting, she stared at the tablet in a daze, her mind feeling like a train roaring by.

She couldn’t calm down.

It was even more thrilling than skipping a piano competition to go shooting at the Megalos shooting range, sneaking out to a bar at night, or challenging elementary school kids to a game of stone skipping.

The excitement was like a live round being fired at the shooting range, her heart pounding wildly in her chest.

But what would Deng Yun think?

After crouching for a long time, when Xu Muzi finally came back to her senses, she realized that her shadow on the wall wasn’t alone.

There was another figure by the window.

He stood with his head slightly lowered, looking at his phone, his tall, lean frame accentuated by a high nose and defined jaw.

Xu Muzi whipped around and saw Deng Yun leaning on the platform outside her bedroom window.

“What are you…”

She thought, Oh no, he must have been annoyed by the sudden kiss and actually followed her home.

Deng Yun turned off his phone screen and slid it into his pocket. He raised a hand and tapped twice on the glass window, signaling for her to open it.

Xu Muzi, trying her best to maintain a brave front, walked over slowly and opened the window.

He said, “You ran off and didn’t answer my call?”

Yes, she had seen the missed call, but at the time, she’d been going crazy, unsure of what she’d even say to him.

Could she possibly admit that she’d been thinking about him since last night?

Xu Muzi felt deeply regretful.

She’d been putting on a tough act so often lately that she’d almost convinced herself she could be as wild, unruly, and rebellious as Deng Yun. But after what just happened, it was clear she wasn’t cut out for it—her heart couldn’t handle it, and she was even a bit afraid that Deng Yun might be upset with her.

Even rabbits don’t graze close to home.

How could she allow herself to desire her only partner in mischief?

Deng Yun leaned in slightly to look at Xu Muzi and asked, “Mind if I come in?”

Xu Muzi nodded.

Without saying a word, she moved aside, standing silently like a well-behaved student waiting to be scolded, expecting Deng Yun’s “judgment” as he stepped inside.

Unexpectedly, Deng Yun leaned against the window and chuckled softly.

He said, “Xu Muzi, you were the one who took liberties with me, and I didn’t say anything. Why are you so tense, running faster than a rabbit?”

Back home for quite a while now, Xu Muzi still hadn’t taken off her down jacket.

She clutched the dangling strap on her coat, looking as if she were genuinely reflecting, and mumbled, “Did I scare you?”

“Not exactly.”

Deng Yun’s reaction surprised her.

It didn’t sound like reproach or anger. Instead, it felt like a casual joke, the same way he teased her for “acting like a primate,” indulgent and relaxed.

The truth was, Xu Muzi could never quite figure out the mysterious person before her. He always acted in unexpected ways.

But tonight, she was the one doing something completely out of character.

Xu Muzi glanced at Deng Yun and quickly looked down.

Deng Yun laughed again, asking her, “So, your idea of something exciting was…kissing my chin?”

Yes…wait, no!

Xu Muzi’s head shot up. “You’re saying I kissed you…where?”

Deng Yun raised his index and middle fingers, pointing to the right side of his chin. “Here.”

Xu Muzi paused, then honestly replied, “Oh, it was my first time, so…maybe I lacked experience…”

Just then, a car with its headlights on drove into the courtyard.

It was nearly 3 a.m., and Xu Muzi’s parents had only just returned home.

The driver got out, helping Xu Muzi’s father, who was quite drunk, into the house. Then he went back to the car to assist her mother, who was also tipsy and leaning on the car window, rambling on.

A woman also stepped out of the car, politely bidding them goodbye.

Xu Muzi’s mom, wearing pointy high-heeled boots, staggered, loudly reminding the driver, “Old Hu, make sure you take Ms. Chen home safely, okay?”

Standing by the second-floor window, Xu Muzi and Deng Yun were in a position where they could easily be spotted.

Seeing Deng Yun looking out at the people in the courtyard, Xu Muzi kindly explained, “That’s Ms. Chen. She’s around forty, and it’s my first time meeting her too…”

As she spoke, the people in the courtyard suddenly looked up. Deng Yun reacted quickly, pulling Xu Muzi into the shadows.

By the window, in a darkened corner, they stood close, looking at each other in the faint moonlight.

Instead of following up on Ms. Chen, Deng Yun asked her two questions.

“Kissing me just now, was that exciting enough?”

Xu Muzi blushed.

She thought, absolutely—it was so exciting her heart nearly burst.

“And that level…does it count as your first kiss?”

Xu Muzi thought it did and nodded.

“If that’s the case, your first kiss was pretty lackluster. Come here, let me show you a real kiss.”

That early morning, Deng Yun did exactly that.

He didn’t hold her chin but instead slipped his hand into her hair, holding the back of her neck under her hair, and lowered his head to kiss her lips…

The taste of kissing Deng Yun left a lasting impression.

Even years later, just thinking about it made Xu Muzi clear her throat to calm her racing heart.

Thankfully, there was someone around to break her train of thought: the ever-chatty Xing Pengjie.

Several meters away, Xing Pengjie waved a straight tree branch he’d picked up from somewhere, calling out to Xu Muzi with excitement.

“Xu Muzi, come over here! Wow, there are so many mushrooms!”

Xu Muzi, who hadn’t grown up in the mountains, was seeing so many wild mushrooms for the first time. They were yellowish-white and impressively large, washed clean by the rain.

They seemed to be lined up in an orderly way, growing in a neat formation.

Recalling something she’d heard about “fairy rings,” Xu Muzi momentarily set aside her worries about Deng Yun and joined in the excitement.

She said, “I remember a classmate abroad once saying that fairy rings are the footprints of fairies.”

Xing Pengjie, never one to miss an opportunity, immediately asked, “You mentioned studying music-related subjects before. Did you study abroad? Which school?”

Xu Muzi crouched down, intending to take a photo of the mushrooms, and looked up at him when she heard the question.

Xing Pengjie quickly realized she didn’t want to answer.

Sometimes, he felt like Xu Muzi was quite easygoing, not even caring when someone stole her pineapple tart at breakfast or when she felt unwell from drinking.

But other times, he felt she wasn’t as approachable as he’d thought.

She never responded to questions that might bring them closer.

Of course, beautiful girls aren’t always easy to chat up.

Xing Pengjie swiftly changed the subject, “How about I video call Xia Xia and ask if these mushrooms are edible? If they are, we can bring them back for a little feast.”

Xu Muzi nodded. “Sure.”

They got confirmation from Xixia, who said these were mushrooms that locals often ate and could be brought down the mountain for processing.

With so many mushrooms around, Xu Muzi was thoroughly enjoying the mushroom-picking.

Not just Xu Muzi—some of the other guests, who had wandered over from the berry orchard, were just as excited when they spotted the mushrooms, jumping up and down with joy. It felt like…

Like when she first saw Saturn’s rings through a telescope on a mountain peak. Or like the time she waited at the summit to watch the sunrise.

Her thoughts drifted back to Deng Yun.

Xu Muzi brushed a piece of dried grass off her hand, feeling as though she was considering something.

Their two woven baskets were already overflowing with mushrooms, so someone suggested using an upside-down umbrella as a container.

Everyone was so excited about these gifts from nature that they’d completely forgotten Xixia’s reminder about lunch.

Xu Muzi was just as enthusiastic.

She crouched on the pine-needle-covered ground, carefully pulling a mushroom from the soft soil, taking in the earthy scent mingled with pine.

Just as she tossed the mushroom into the umbrella, she saw a small squirrel scampering up a tree trunk.

Earlier, Xing Pengjie had said they probably wouldn’t spot any squirrels in this weather.

Xu Muzi turned and called out to Xing Pengjie, but by the time he eagerly rushed over, the squirrel had already disappeared.

Amidst all the natural wonders, Xu Muzi suddenly felt a sense of clarity.

She thought to herself, it wasn’t going to help to keep avoiding things like this. The next time she saw Deng Yun back at the inn, maybe she should just have a straightforward conversation with him.

Though she wasn’t sure if she should mention the dress she’d received.

After all, so much time had passed already.

They were all so absorbed with the mushrooms that it took Xixia calling twice to remind them about lunch, which finally got them reluctantly heading back.

On the way back, they chatted excitedly, saying they had to go mushroom-picking again if the rain stayed light in the afternoon.

Xu Muzi was equally excited, looking up with a bright smile. “The comic-style guide says the inn has special mushroom-picking tools we can use next time.”

Another guest said, “Oh, I know the kind! One side has a small curved blade, and the other has a brush, so you can clean the dirt off the mushroom roots right there and not bring them back all muddy.”

The rain was so light that they hadn’t even bothered with umbrellas, and Xu Muzi glanced at the dirt-covered mushrooms nestled in the umbrella.

She looked down, and one of the girls beside her said nervously, “Oh, Xu Muzi, there’s something in your hair!”

It was brown.

The girl didn’t dare touch it, so Xing Pengjie offered to help. He reached over, pulled it out, and, laughing, waved it in front of the girls. “Why are you so scared? It’s just a twig.”

The girl clutched her chest. “That scared me to death. I thought it was a bug.”

Xu Muzi laughed along with them.

They all entered the inn, laughing and chatting, not noticing Deng Yun standing on the second-floor terrace.

Xixia was also surprised to see so many mushrooms. “Wow, I didn’t expect this many!”

Xing Pengjie animatedly described the mushroom circle they’d found in the pine forest.

Xixia laughed, “I’ve already arranged for a local expert to come by and identify them. I’ve also set aside lunch for you, so go wash up, change out of your wet clothes, and come down to eat.”

Xu Muzi was the only one staying on the second floor. She parted ways with them in the elevator area to go change out of her damp clothes, and as she stepped out, she bumped into Deng Yun.

The elevator continued its descent without stopping on the second floor.

Faint noises could be heard from inside, the kind of chatter that filled the air during lunch breaks in a high school cafeteria hallway.

Xu Muzi had originally planned what to say and even stopped when she saw Deng Yun.

But it looked like he’d had a bit of red wine, and his lips were the same color as the night she’d pinned him down on the carpet.

Her heartbeat stuttered.

All her carefully planned words went out the window. Seeing him made her mind a jumbled mess.

Deng Yun spoke first. “Did you find some mushrooms?”

It was hard to say who was struggling more to act like nothing had changed between them—Deng Yun or herself.

Xu Muzi avoided his gaze and replied as calmly as possible, “Yeah, there were a lot over by the pine forest. I’m heading to lunch. Have you eaten?”

“Go ahead; I already ate.”

“So… I’ll be going?”

In her rush to get dressed, Xu Muzi hadn’t noticed that her long hair was caught under her shirt.

With that same indulgent, slightly rebellious air as before, Deng Yun reached out, his hand brushing her neck as he lifted her hair from under her collar.

The soft strands grazed her sensitive skin, making her want to shiver.