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Chapter 88: Fingers Interlocked

Lu Xiaoxi had finished lunch, and Li Mu had just finished washing up. He scooped a bowl of hot porridge, pulled out a stool, and began to eat.

What was it like to have a little green plum at home who could cook?

When hungry, there was food to eat; when watching TV, there were hands to hold; before sleeping, there were hugs; while playing on the computer, the little green plum would run around the room to keep you company… This little taste, who wouldn’t be enchanted by it?

Li Mu felt fortunate; without Lu Xiaoxi, his college life would have been incredibly dull.

“Hehe, hurry up and eat, I can’t wait any longer,” Lu Xiaoxi said as she pulled out a stool and sat across from him, propping her face up with her hands, her eyes sparkling with excitement.

“What can’t you wait for? Is there something going on?”

“We’re going to the vegetable market to buy groceries! We need to buy a lot of things and seasonings, and we have to slice and marinate them. It will take a lot of time, so we should prepare early and start grilling at six.”

“Six o’clock? Isn’t that too early?” Li Mu took a bite of porridge, slurping his chopsticks, and picked up a piece of stewed potato to hand to Lu Xiaoxi.

Lu Xiaoxi opened her mouth and took a bite, chewing, “It’s not too early! We still have to give Yuanyuan a class later, so hurry up and eat!”

Li Mu picked up another piece of potato for her.

Only when Lu Xiaoxi had something in her mouth could she settle down for a moment.

Wasn’t it just a barbecue? Why was she so excited?

Under Lu Xiaoxi’s urging, Li Mu hurriedly finished eating, changed into his outing outfit, and accompanied her to the vegetable market.

The vegetable market was the domain of young girls, and Li Mu only needed to carry the groceries.

Lu Xiaoxi was very excited, not sure if she was looking forward to the barbecue dinner that night. She looked left and right along the way, full of curiosity about the world, like a little bird flying out for the first time, but this wasn’t Lu Xiaoxi’s first visit to the vegetable market.

The vegetable market changed every day; no matter how many times one visited, it always felt fresh.

In no time, they had bought a big bag of groceries.

There was a new store opening near the market, with drums and gongs, and Lu Xiaoxi would glance over from a distance to join in the excitement.

The vegetable market had all kinds of smells; near the raw meat stalls, there was the smell of meat, and near the cooked meat stalls, there was the aroma of food. Some small stalls even sold spicy chicken feet, which Lu Xiaoxi wanted to check out and smell, then leaned close to Li Mu, enjoying his fresh scent.

“Be careful, there are a lot of people,” Li Mu held onto the excited girl’s small hand, preventing her from running around.

“There are so many activities here! Look over there, they have beef offal! I haven’t eaten it in a long time. Can we go eat some?”

“I just ate.”

“Then I’ll eat,” Lu Xiaoxi cheerfully ran to the beef offal stall.

The beef offal in Cangnan wasn’t actually beef; it was a mix of various ingredients thrown into a pot to stew together, including tofu puffs, pig lungs, white radish, and more.

Lu Xiaoxi bought a skewer of meatballs, popping one into her mouth after another, her little mouth moving busily. Li Mu wished he had three hands: one to carry the groceries, one to hold hands, and one to gently rub Lu Xiaoxi’s cute pink lips.

There were only four meatballs on a skewer; she ate three herself and gave the last one to Li Mu. With both hands full, he could only awkwardly let her feed him.

What she was really looking forward to was the barbecue that night, so she couldn’t eat too much now; she needed to save some room for it.

After a long trek, Li Mu had to use both hands to carry the groceries.

His right hand was holding meat, and his fingers were already marked red by the plastic bag, feeling hot and painful.

Although it wasn’t very heavy, it was hard to bear for a long time.

While waiting for the bus at the bus stop, Li Mu finally had time to put down the groceries and rest his hands.

“Look, it’s all red now.”

“Oh,” Lu Xiaoxi glanced at his hand and quickly looked away.

“Cold-blooded.”

“That’s how a childhood friend is used,” she pulled out some tissues from her versatile little bag. “Use a tissue to cushion it when you hold it; it won’t hurt as much. I’ll help you carry some.”

“A hug will make it stop hurting.”

“We’re still outside!” Lu Xiaoxi said irritably, taking back the tissues, not wanting to give this shameless guy anything.

“Then let’s hug when we get back.”

“Not even when we get back!” Lu Xiaoxi ignored him and turned her face away to look at her phone.

The bus arrived, packed with people. Li Mu and Lu Xiaoxi exchanged glances and decided to wait for the next one.

After all, they weren’t in a hurry.

He looked down and found Lu Xiaoxi was watching a horror movie commentary again. She tilted her phone to avoid any sudden scary faces, truly a mix of being naive and addicted.

“Let’s watch a horror movie tonight,” Li Mu said softly.

“No way,” Lu Xiaoxi shook her head vigorously.

She was already scared watching horror movie commentaries; if she watched the movie, she would be terrified.

“Then what’s the point of watching the commentary every day?”

“I’m a little scared.”

“What’s there to be scared of? There are no ghosts in this world.” Li Mu paused, “Besides, I’m right next to you. What is there to be afraid of?”

“But I’m scared.”

“Don’t you have a dog tooth necklace to protect you?”

“This black dog tooth necklace can ward off evil, but I’m still scared.”

“…… Then why do you still watch the commentary?”

“Because I’m scared, that’s why I watch the commentary…”

“You’re naive but still have a big appetite.” Li Mu naturally took her hand to play with, slowly pressing down, their hands interlocking.

Could Lu Xiaoxi already accept their fingers interlocked? Li Mu felt a bit proud; if they could do this symbolic gesture, how far was sleeping together?

They had taken another step closer to being “complete childhood sweethearts.”

Li Mu’s hand felt warm and hot, and Lu Xiaoxi actively squeezed it, using her slightly cooler hand to help Li Mu cool down.

“Anyway, I’m just not watching. Don’t think I don’t know your intentions; you just want to scare me so I’ll hug you, right?”

“Mm-hmm.”

“Such a cliché tactic,” Lu Xiaoxi huffed. She thought she was very clever; did he really think she had watched so many sweet dramas for nothing?

Those male leads could easily make the female leads submit with simple tricks because that was what the plot needed in dramas. In reality, how could a girl not see through it?

Even if she agreed, it would only be pretending not to know, just to make her partner happy. She didn’t even want to pretend.

“Then let’s skip the horror movie, and you can just hug me, okay?”

“No, only a goodnight hug is allowed.” Lu Xiaoxi spoke softly; the goodnight hug was a special ‘goodnight’ just for childhood sweethearts, and it would be very awkward and embarrassing if others heard it.

Lu Xiaoxi tightened her grip on Li Mu’s hand, observing his expression changes, as if she could see the dog ears he had pulled down.

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