Chapter 53: Beauty in the Eyes of the Lover

I didn’t know what Mi Dan had eaten; half an hour had passed without a solution.

Li Mu accompanied Lu Xiaoxi to play some ball. When he got tired, he sat at the table playing on his phone.

Originally, Lu Xiaoxi was sitting on a bench in the shade of a tree. Seeing Li Mu sitting at the table, she also took small steps and plopped down beside him.

“You are too heavy; it’s going to collapse.”

“If you keep talking back, I’ll hit you.”

“I don’t believe it.”

Lu Xiaoxi stretched out a finger and poked towards Li Mu’s armpit.

“Whoa, what the hell.” Li Mu shivered all over and jumped down. He covered his armpit, looking completely shocked.

Caught off guard and being teased, Li Mu almost lost his composure. If he had been mentally prepared, Lu Xiaoxi wouldn’t have been afraid to use both hands.

“Who told you to show off?”

“I think you are the one showing off the most.” Li Mu poked her back with his finger.

The girl was sensitive all over and didn’t have muscles like Li Mu. Being poked by his finger made her feel itchy all over, and she could only use her hands to protect as many spots as possible to prevent Li Mu from poking her.

“Hey, stop, stop poking! I’m going to laugh to death!” Lu Xiaoxi was almost in tears from laughing.

The sweat on Li Mu’s body had dried, and that smell gradually spread out.

He could always smell his own stench at the tip of his nose.

“You really stink this time.”

“Are you a pervert? Always smelling me.” Li Mu looked horrified, covering his chest and pretending to be a little girl encountering a bad person.

“You’ve been next to me; I can’t not breathe, right? It stinks to death. Have you got a hormonal imbalance?”

“You still say you’re smart; you don’t even know why sweat stinks. Let Teacher Li tell you, sweat smells because bacteria metabolize the lipids in sweat.”

“You are the smartest; stay away from me, stinky.”

“Okay, okay, I’ll move further away.”

Li Mu spread his hands, feeling ridiculous, and ran to sit at the other end of the table.

The quality of these tables was pretty good. In the evenings, you could occasionally see many kids jumping on them, and no one came to manage it.

He vaguely remembered that the tables in the community used to be made of cement and red bricks, very rudimentary, and a ping pong ball would break immediately if it hit them.

He also had a special ping pong paddle, with the rubber removed from both sides, leaving only a piece of wood in the middle, which he wrapped with various colored bandages.

At first, he wrapped it with black bandages, but then Lu Xiaoxi said it was too ugly and helped him rewrap it in rainbow colors, all flashy and showy…

In the past, it didn’t matter if it was usable or not, as long as it looked good.

That ping pong paddle was hidden in a small box in his wardrobe.

Since their relationship had soured, he had hidden everything away.

Lu Xiaoxi lay on the ping pong table with her arms outstretched.

Occasionally, leaves would fall, and she would raise her hand to catch them, waiting for the next leaf if she missed.

Feeling a bit bored, she tilted her head to look at Li Mu, who was sitting on the other side, only able to see his back as he played on his phone.

“Li Mu, come sit over here.”

“No, I stink.”

“My nose is blocked; I can’t smell anything.”

“…If you had found a better excuse, I would have gone over.”

“Are you feeling rejected by me and getting sad?”

“Who do you think you are?” Li Mu replied without lifting his head.

Lu Xiaoxi frowned, as if she had really hurt Li Mu’s feelings.

Should she not have said he stank? He had just exercised, and sweating was normal; sweat smelling bad was even more normal. Anyone would feel bad if they were told that.

Lu Xiaoxi took a deep breath and quietly walked over to him, peeking her little head out to see if Li Mu was feeling down.

She didn’t see any disappointment, but she did see his smugness.

“Hey, did I trick you?”

“I have never seen such a shameless person…”

“Hurry up and say you were tricked by me!”

“Well, when are you debuting? I’ll hire some internet trolls to give you the Best Actor award.”

Lu Xiaoxi flipped her hair and lay down next to Li Mu, her fair little legs swinging.

“If I became a star, my life would be over.”

“Why?”

“Don’t those crazy fans sneak into their favorite stars’ homes to take pictures? If I was home alone wearing only my underwear and got photographed, wouldn’t I be dead?”

“Idiot.”

“Little Pig Lu has learned badly; she can even curse now.”

“Narcissist.”

“Am I not handsome?” Li Mu flashed a big white smile, pointing at his face.

Lu Xiaoxi glanced at him.

“Pretty handsome.”

Last time she wore glasses, this guy had even praised her for being pretty. This time, she reluctantly praised him once.

“Beauty in the eyes of the lover.”

“Does your friend know you’re this oily?” Lu Xiaoxi looked at him with a dumbfounded expression.

Of course, his friends didn’t know.

He was only like this with her.

Li Mu wasn’t angry at all; he lay down too, resting his hands behind his head and letting the smell from his armpits waft out, just to gross Lu Xiaoxi out.

Lu Xiaoxi only smelled a little bit; compared to other boys, Li Mu’s sweat smell was already very pleasant, with no body odor or pungent smell.

“Can you smell my sweat?”

“Get closer, and I’ll smell it.”

Li Mu moved his nose, able to smell his own sweat and the fragrance of osmanthus nearby. As for Lu Xiaoxi’s scent, he would definitely have to get very close to smell it.

“Don’t! You’re a pervert.”

“Then I can’t smell it; maybe you smell bad too, and your scent mixed with my sweat, so I can’t smell it.”

“I don’t smell; girls always smell nice.”

“And you say I’m narcissistic; I think you’re pretty narcissistic too, so oily.”

Li Mu smiled without sincerity, mimicking her words and tone, teasing her.

The two of them laughed in unison.

Li Mu stared at a leaf as it floated from one end to the other and then back again, finally landing on the girl’s abdomen.

The girl lay flat, her body curves fully displayed, the small rises and falls showcasing her youth and innocence, her little belly breathing rhythmically.

Li Mu wanted to reach out and take the leaf off, but he was afraid Lu Xiaoxi would call him a pervert.

Usually, it was fine to sneakily touch her hand or poke her face, but if it came to other places, even he couldn’t handle it.

A leaf also landed on him.

The old community had many green plants; in spring, flowers bloomed everywhere, and in autumn, it was filled with osmanthus.

It was like this every year; when autumn came, the community turned into a sea of osmanthus, and some elderly people would make many osmanthus cakes to give to other residents for free.

It was hard to imagine that in this restless society, there was such a peaceful community.

“I feel that autumn is great; it’s cool and refreshing.”

“Who says it isn’t? I love this kind of weather with autumn breezes, not too cold or hot. It’s better than wearing a cotton coat in winter or short sleeves in summer.”

“You are wearing shorts and short sleeves now.”

“Good constitution, you know.”

“Indeed, the muscles on your hands would taste great if roasted.”

“You are a cannibal.”

Lu Xiaoxi was amused by his exaggerated tone.

Actually, she also really liked autumn.

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