Chapter 26: The Sacred Place for Napping Together

September was the golden month of transition from summer to autumn, from heat to coolness.

The campus paths were covered with many withered yellow leaves, and the cleaning lady had swept them once, but they quickly fell again.

Training during this time was much better than training in the scorching summer; at least it wasn’t so hot, and the incidents of heatstroke had significantly decreased.

The patients were all gathered under a shady teaching building.

Lu Xiaoxi sat on the ground, hugging her knees, looking listless.

She finally understood a bit why Li Mu didn’t like military training.

It was really as Li Mu said, dull and uninteresting.

She picked up a small twig and scribbled on the ground; the cement floor left no marks, and only she knew she had drawn a pig’s head with someone’s name written on it.

“What are you doing?”

Lu Xiaoxi suddenly panicked, throwing the twig away, thinking it was a passing instructor who was going to criticize her, but she felt the voice was very familiar.

Slowly raising her head, she discovered Li Mu was looking at her with a teasing expression.

“Don’t scare me!” Lu Xiaoxi punched Li Mu’s knee in annoyance, “Why are you here?”

“I was selected for the flag-guarding team; the training is relatively easy, and the instructor is nice. We were just dismissed and will continue training later.”

Li Mu sat down next to Lu Xiaoxi, wiping the sweat from his forehead.

Although the sun wasn’t harsh, military training inevitably made one sweat.

“Weren’t you sitting here the whole time? Why is your face so red?”

“You’re hot and sweaty; it’s all your fault. If there was a thermal imaging device, you’d definitely show up as a red blob.”

Lu Xiaoxi covered half her face with her clothes; Li Mu radiated heat like a big furnace, and she could feel it even sitting next to him.

She didn’t know how red her face was—whether from embarrassment, anger, or both—but she definitely didn’t want Li Mu to see it.

“I’m a bit thirsty; do you have any water?” Li Mu was still panting heavily when he suddenly noticed the water bottle next to the girl, asking knowingly.

“No, and even if I had some, I wouldn’t give it to you. Why should I share my water with you?”

“I saw it.” Li Mu secretly reached out and grabbed the water bottle; he had seen Lu Xiaoxi take it out that morning and had even said there was none.

“Who told you not to buy water during military training? Go away!” Lu Xiaoxi pretended to snatch it back.

“Are you just going to watch me dehydrate?”

Having sweated a lot, Li Mu’s lips looked dry and chapped.

“You can’t drink from my mouth; otherwise, I won’t let you drink next time…”

The girl’s water bottle was very girly, shaped like a rabbit. When you opened the rabbit’s head, you could see a straw; the top of the straw was flat, and upon closer inspection, there were some bite marks, indicating that Lu Xiaoxi must have bitten the straw while drinking.

Of course, Li Mu couldn’t drink from the straw; he simply twisted off the cap, tilted his head back, and poured the water into his mouth, finishing half the bottle in just a few gulps.

It was just like sharing a bottle of drink among several friends back in the day.

“I left you some.”

“Are you still proud?”

“A little.”

Just after finishing the water, Li Mu heard a whistle and quickly ran off.

“The instructor blew the whistle; I have to go. I’ll come back to drink next time.”

“Thick-skinned…”

After half a day of military training, Li Mu felt like his body was falling apart.

It was either standing in military posture or doing high knees; his long legs felt like they were about to break.

Lunch was taken care of in the cafeteria.

Lu Xiaoxi was chatting and laughing with a few girls.

Li Mu was also having lunch with Lin Sheng.

During the nap time.

Li Mu and Lu Xiaoxi returned to that secluded napping sanctuary.

“Are you, a patient, going to sleep too?”

“I have a habit of napping.” Lu Xiaoxi said defiantly, looking as if she was saying, ‘Even though I did nothing today, I still worked hard.’

It strangely reminded her of a certain cat meme.

“Then let’s sleep together.” Li Mu set his alarm and lay down.

Li Mu was directly opposite Lu Xiaoxi; the table was small, and as they lay down, their heads were almost touching. Li Mu was restless in his sleep, moving around, and his hair tickled Lu Xiaoxi’s head.

They slept for an hour.

Lu Xiaoxi woke up.

The napping sanctuary was quiet and elegant, surrounded by greenery; everything was perfect except for the many mosquitoes.

Lu Xiaoxi’s hand had been bitten, leaving a small mosquito bump; a red dot on her fair arm was very noticeable. Next time, she had to bring some mosquito repellent or something.

The alarm hadn’t gone off yet, and Li Mu was still sleeping.

Perhaps because of the sweat, the mosquitoes particularly liked him; Li Mu’s neck and hands had several bumps from bites.

Looking at Li Mu, who was breathing evenly.

Lu Xiaoxi curiously stared into Li Mu’s eyes.

Li Mu’s eyelashes were so long, and his eyebrows were well-groomed; was this what was described in novels as having sword-like brows and starry eyes?

She suddenly realized that Li Mu’s face could fit many male leads from novels, whether it was a domineering CEO, a cold master, or a cute puppy-like boy next door…

If she married Li Mu, would she be able to experience many things that others couldn’t?

Pfft, pfft, pfft, how could I have such thoughts!

Lu Xiaoxi patted her face.

Then she continued to stare at Li Mu.

A long time ago, she had also napped with Li Mu, but back then, they were on a bed, sharing the same small blanket. Even if she put her feet on Li Mu, it didn’t matter; they were both small, and outsiders would only think they were cute. After all, children are innocent, and they were childhood friends, so being close was not excessive.

It was during that time that Lu Xiaoxi really felt she liked Li Mu a lot and wanted to cuddle with this big warm furnace every day.

If they were to sleep together on a bed now, she would definitely kick Li Mu off; how could she let some big rogue on her bed?

A faint smile appeared on her face as she gently poked Li Mu’s face with her finger. She could only poke on her phone before, but now it was real, and it felt exceptionally exciting, like something she had longed for suddenly appeared before her; how could she resist?

Buzz, buzz, buzz.

Li Mu’s phone vibrated.

Li Mu slowly woke up, and the first thing he saw was Lu Xiaoxi’s flushed face.

He felt itchy on his face, neck, and hands; looking down, he saw large mosquito bumps on his hands, then glanced at Lu Xiaoxi’s hands. Goodness, the mosquitoes had all targeted him; it was clear that Lu Xiaoxi was the more delicious one!

“Itchy! These mosquitoes are too vicious, red and itchy, not even sparing my face.” Li Mu scratched his face, clicking his tongue.

Lu Xiaoxi didn’t dare to speak because that spot was where she had poked, and there were no mosquito bumps there. She felt inexplicably guilty and prayed that Li Mu wouldn’t notice anything unusual.

Li Mu was carefree and didn’t think about other things; his mind was busy constructing a grand plan for mosquito extermination, figuring out how to start and how to finish, and after exterminating the mosquitoes, he would be hailed as a hero nationwide…

On the way back to the playground, Li Mu washed his face at the sink, instantly feeling much more awake, and dried his face with his clothes.

“I have wet wipes…”

“Too late; anyway, I have to wash my clothes tonight, so it doesn’t matter.”

“I’ll wash them with you; I’m afraid you’ll dirty my clothes.”

As they passed by the supermarket.

“Just stand here and don’t move; I’ll go buy you some milk tea.”

Lu Xiaoxi knew that Li Mu was joking and immediately pinched his waist in annoyance.

Li Mu came out with two bottles of milk tea, “This bottle is for you; this one you pour into your cup.”

“Why?”

“The instructor doesn’t allow drinks, so hide it under your blanket where others can’t see it; I’ll drink it later.”

Li Mu raised his eyebrows, having learned to be clever.

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