Chapter 47

1:00 AM (1)

This time, there was no reliance on any external force, not even red wine.

Xu Muzi was completely sober, her heart racing in clarity, being kissed by Deng Yun in full awareness, cooperating with him as he removed the oversized men’s coat and breathable fabric dress from her body…

The sliding door to the terrace was closed, and a sliver of moonlight slipped through the curtain’s gap.

Xu Muzi lay on the freshly changed sheets, her body soft, her breathing erratic. With her head turned to the side, she quietly watched Deng Yun kneeling on the bed, using one hand to pull up his shirt to take it off.

They didn’t speak; he kept his gaze fixed on her.

Leaning down, he helped her untangle the long hair that had fallen by her neck and then kissed her.

The kiss was long, with lips and tongues gently sucking, nibbling, and entwining, lasting until the outside rain, which had almost subsided, began to fall again.

The astronomical telescope stood quietly by the terrace door, and a purple-red flash of lightning passed through the gap between the curtains.

Thunder rumbled, and the moon hid behind the clouds as a new downpour began.

Xu Muzi felt as if she were enveloped in a misty rain, with only each other’s breathing and whispered sweet nothings remaining in her ears.

Sweat soaked the sheets and pillowcases, her hair sticking to her back.

Her cheeks were hot, enduring some kind of force, her soul swaying like the flower stems on the terrace.

With a weak voice, Xu Muzi asked Deng Yun, “At three in the morning, were you downstairs brewing tea with white chrysanthemums, really waiting for the honeysuckle to bloom?”

“No, I was waiting for you to come.”

The night before, Xu Muzi had just submitted her order information when Xia Xia saw it in the backend.

Xia Xia hesitantly ran upstairs to knock on Deng Yun’s door, reporting Xu Muzi’s name to him.

In the heat of summer, many people came to the mountains to escape the heat, and the inn had been fully booked.

Thanks to a sudden downpour, it was inconvenient to go up the mountain, and someone canceled their reservation at the last minute, freeing up one or two rooms the night before.

However, Xu Muzi had submitted her order around eleven the previous night, and Deng Yun knew that due to the heavy rain, she would likely have to struggle until the early hours to reach the inn.

If Xu Muzi arrived at dawn, she could only use the room until noon, after which she would have to check out.

.Others had already booked the room afterward.

Logically, Xia Xia should have called Xu Muzi to advise her to cancel her reservation…

However, it was Deng Yun who personally called the guest who had booked the room, promising to compensate them three times the room fee to secure it.

This reunion was partly destined by fate.

And partly due to someone’s efforts.

Things had gotten too deep…

Xu Muzi was caught off guard, furrowing her brows as tears slipped from the corners of her eyes into the damp roots of her hair. She tightly gripped the corner of the pillow, muffling her voice against Deng Yun’s neck.

Her awareness took precedence, and she could only postpone the previous topic until this activity ended…

While they were entwined, the rain outside poured heavily.

As they entered the bathroom, thunder and lightning erupted outside.

Xu Muzi sat on the edge of the bathtub.

Wrapped in a large, soft bath towel, she waited for Deng Yun to adjust the water temperature. When cool water splashed onto her feet, she looked up and smiled at him.

He chuckled, tapping her forehead lightly, “Are you happy after sleeping with me?”

She adjusted the towel to cover her eyes and nose like a hat, tilting her head back so that only her red lips and white teeth were visible, nodding, “Yeah, I’m happy.”

After a night of tossing and turning, the two sleep-deprived individuals lay embraced in bed.

With the sound of wind and rain, sleepiness washed over them in waves. Xu Muzi kept thinking about leaving and resisted falling asleep. She felt completely drained but mumbled sleepily, “When I wasn’t here… were you thinking about dragging me into mischief?”

Deng Yun replied, “Not really. Before you came, I still had some rationality and morals.”

When he first learned Xu Muzi had a boyfriend, he had intended to keep some distance.

He just wanted to see for himself if she was doing well.

Deng Yun’s palm was warm as he held Xu Muzi’s wrist, which was damp with either water or sweat. He kissed her fingertips and said, “Seeing you, I just can’t help myself.”

As her consciousness faded, Xu Muzi struggled against sleepiness, “I really like the piano room; it will be mine in the future.”

Deng Yun smiled but didn’t answer immediately. When Xu Muzi urged him, asking why he wasn’t speaking, he replied, “I’m thinking about how to say it. It’s an honor for the piano room and me that Teacher Xu Muzi can look up to us.”

“Then you can’t go back on your word.”

“Yeah, I won’t go back on my word.”

Xu Muzi’s forehead touched Deng Yun’s chin, reminiscent of the sleepy moments in afternoon classes, with intermittent clarity as she vaguely heard his words.

He said that not just the piano room, but the inn would also belong to her in the future.

After she finished her performances in a couple of days, she could come and stay anytime she wanted. How to run the inn in the future, or whether she wanted to continue running it, would all be up to her.

Xu Muzi didn’t have such grand ambitions.

She only craved a bit of the scenery in this place, her mind drifting to the three little stray cats. Before fully falling asleep, her last question to him was whether “Lai Cai,” “Yuan Yuan,” and “Gun Gun” had been picked up from the pet hospital by the time she returned.

Without waiting for an answer, or perhaps because she hadn’t even finished her question, Xu Muzi sank into sleep.

So much had happened on this rainy day, and there were scenes related to Deng Yun in her dreams.

At that time, Xu Muzi was studying abroad and had to get up early to practice piano.

The mornings were always very rushed; she hurried through washing up, getting dressed, and grabbing her bag for sheet music.

As she reached the door, she had just put on one shoe when she hopped back on one leg to grab a slice of toast before heading out.

On the way, she received a call from Deng Yun.

It was a sunny morning on her side, while he had just finished a whole afternoon’s work in China, and it was already night; he hadn’t even had dinner yet.

She forgot what topic they were discussing, but he laughed at her being timid, teasing her for her little courage while still wanting to be part of a street racing gang.

As Xu Muzi walked toward the piano room, she didn’t think too much and blurted out her thoughts—

“I’m not going anymore; racing isn’t as exciting as…”

Not as exciting as kissing him in the piano room. She barely managed to stop her words in time, almost biting her tongue.

But Deng Yun understood.

His voice was tired, his tone lazy as he asked if she had ever thought about something more thrilling than kissing.

Having finished her toast, her heart raced as she held the phone, glancing around and forcing the topic, chatting with him about the unknown white flowers growing by the roadside.

Yet inside, she was extremely flustered and nervous because…

She indeed had imagined that aspect.

Later, when they lost contact, every time Xu Muzi passed by that patch of white flowers, looking at the beautiful peacock feather-like patterns on the petals, she no longer cared about knowing the name of the flowers; she only felt a lingering bitterness in her chest.

Those feelings that had gone unfulfilled in the past all happened on this rainy night.

Xu Muzi fell asleep lazily, not knowing when she woke up once; the room was dim, and the first thing she saw upon opening her eyes was the flash of lightning through the curtain’s gap.

The rain was getting heavier, resembling the power outage from the previous afternoon.

Xu Muzi had instinctively turned to lie on her right side, while Deng Yun was behind her, his arm wrapped around her.

Xu Muzi wasn’t fully awake.

Just having awakened abruptly from a dream, the feeling of heartache hadn’t dissipated. She recalled that after they lost contact, she had missed him.

And she hadn’t had the chance to express that longing seriously to Deng Yun.

She was afraid of waking him and gently slid her hand under the pillow to take out her phone.

She quietly lit up the screen, wanting to browse Weibo.

She had posted some updates that were only visible to herself.

She wanted to find them to show him.

The screen lingered on the chat app interface, with the top few chat boxes belonging to colleagues from the band, her cousin, and her mother…

Xu Muzi didn’t look much longer; squinting in the light of the screen, she exited the chat app.

It had been so long since she used Weibo that she needed to redownload and log in.

The screen stayed lit, and Deng Yun also woke up.

He instinctively withdrew his arm, pulling Xu Muzi closer and nuzzling her neck with his nose, making a sound of confusion: “Hmm?”

His lazy voice made her neck tingle, and her shoulders instinctively tightened.

Xu Muzi turned in Deng Yun’s arms, holding her phone to face him: “You go back to sleep. I just want to find something…”

Deng Yun opened his eyes, glanced at Xu Muzi, and kissed her sweaty forehead: “Is it hot?”

The rain was pouring outside, making it impossible to open the window, so it felt a bit stuffy.

Xu Muzi brushed her hair sticking to her neck back and softly murmured “Hmm” in the darkness.

Deng Yun got up and went to the entrance, found the switch on the wall, and turned on the air conditioning.

A refreshing breeze of cool air swept over them.

When he lay back down, Deng Yun slipped his arm under Xu Muzi’s long hair at her neck and pulled her into his embrace: “Your eyes are all red. Will you have time to find what you’re looking for after you wake up?”

“I’ll have time.”

Deng Yun took the phone from Xu Muzi’s hand, propped himself up, and placed it on the low table beside the bed: “Sleep a bit more.”

Their conversation was just a few simple sentences before they embraced and fell back asleep.

But no matter how they tried, they couldn’t sleep soundly. They woke again, this time due to thirst.

Deng Yun helped pour her some water. Xu Muzi propped herself up on the bed, didn’t take the glass, and directly buried her head to drink. After finishing, she didn’t even wipe her mouth and drowsily rolled back into the bed, pulling the blanket around herself.

Deng Yun chuckled softly, brushing his fingers against her damp lips.

The sky was dark, and no one checked the time.

After finding a comfortable position to lie back down, Xu Muzi felt less sleepy, her mind briefly clearing up a bit.

Previously, her cousin had pressed her with questions, and since she hadn’t sorted everything out herself, it was inconvenient to say much. She could only assure her cousin that she hadn’t come into contact with any bad people, so there was no need to worry.

If her parents insisted on introducing her to someone from a wealthy family as the fourth matchmaker when she returned home this time, she planned to mention her situation with Deng Yun.

Xu Muzi turned over, propped herself up on the mattress, and asked, “Deng Yun, would you say you’re pursuing me now?”

Deng Yun covered his eyes with the back of his hand, a smile playing at the corners of his lips.

Without even thinking, he countered, “What do you think? Boss lady, are you implying that you don’t want to label this after sleeping with me?”