Chapter 23: Su Mu Comes to Visit

At first, Li Zhuoran had a fairly good impression of Su Mu. When the engagement rumors started, Su Mu was willing to come forward and clarify things, which made Li Zhuoran think this guy was rather straightforward.

But later, after seeing Su Mu frequently hanging out with Shen Nian and Nan Qiao, he inevitably overheard some idle gossip from Qin Fang and Dong Jiayan. From there, it wasn’t hard to piece together their relationships.

It seemed Su Mu was interested in Nan Qiao, but what Li Zhuoran couldn’t understand was why he was being so hesitant and cautious.

Being thoughtful was a good thing—but overthinking could be a burden to others.

Li Zhuoran did have a fondness for Nan Qiao, but it was more like a man’s appreciation for a pretty girl, without any ulterior motives. That’s why he had been subconsciously paying attention to and helping out Shen Nian and Nan Qiao.

More than seeing them as women, he treated them like younger sisters—feeling a bit sorry that these two beautiful girls had to toil away in the fields.

So now, watching Su Mu being so wishy-washy and creating problems, he couldn’t help but feel annoyed.

If Su Mu really wasn’t interested, then he should stay away from Nan Qiao, and stop letting his little childhood friend constantly look for trouble with her.

But if he was interested, then he should be upfront about it and completely cut off his childhood friend’s hopes.

Yet Su Mu did neither—he just kept hovering in the middle, muddling through things. How infuriating!

Still, even though he couldn’t stand it, Li Zhuoran figured a few pointed words would suffice. After all, he had no authority to dictate how others should act.

Better to get a good nap and spend the afternoon gossiping with little sister Shen Nian—maybe even help sister Nan Qiao out with some work.

With that thought, Li Zhuoran followed behind Su Mu and went inside for a nap.

---

In the afternoon, work resumed as usual. Nan Qiao sat alone in the courtyard, flipping through her high school textbooks.

Before transmigrating into the book, she had just finished taking the college entrance exams—and had even gotten into Qingda (Tsinghua University). So now, flipping through these textbooks felt too easy and unchallenging. After a while, she got bored, and from her space, she pulled out a German original novel she hadn’t finished yet—Elective Affinities.

The novel tells the story of a couple who, after enduring many trials, finally get married in middle age. Their peaceful and happy life is disrupted when friends come to stay, leading to a story full of passion, pain, fleeting happiness, and prolonged sorrow.

Nan Qiao carefully removed the book’s cover before taking it out.

Only the olive-colored inner cover remained, with the German title Die Wahlverwandtschaften embossed on it—not too obvious.

For Nan Qiao’s level of German, the book was just right—not too obscure or difficult, and flowed quite smoothly.

So for the entire afternoon, Nan Qiao read under the dappled shade in the courtyard. The breeze was gentle, the rocking chair swayed softly, and beside her was a table with some high school textbooks and a lidded olive-green thermos.

If one didn’t open the lid, they wouldn’t know it was filled with iced coffee.

When Sheng Yanchuan came in, this was the scene he saw:

Sunlight filtered through the tree canopy, casting flickering light on Nan Qiao. Her elegant figure seemed to glow slightly, so beautiful she didn’t seem quite real.

Even the somewhat shabby courtyard looked cleaner and brighter with her there.

The sound of the gate opening startled Nan Qiao. She lifted her gaze from the book to see who it was.

When she saw it was Sheng Yanchuan, a smile bloomed on her face.

“What brings you two here?” Nan Qiao looked at him and the sleepy Tao Hua behind him, asking in surprise.

“Brought you some watermelon,” Sheng Yanchuan said as he placed a basket on the table in front of her.

Tao Hua looked like she’d been dragged from her nap by her brother to serve as a decoy. Still half-asleep, she mumbled a “Hi, sis,” before curling up sleepily in the chair beside Nan Qiao.

“Weren’t you going to town this afternoon?”

“I’ll leave in a bit. Wanted to bring you the watermelon first.” Sheng Yanchuan took the fruit out and handed it to her, and happened to glance at the book she had been reading.

The book had been casually set on the table, its pages open, filled with German that Sheng Yanchuan couldn’t understand.

“Were you reading this? What language is it?” he asked curiously.

Crap. I forgot about this! Nan Qiao stammered, “Uh… It’s in German. Is it… not allowed?”

“It’s fine to read it indoors, just don’t bring it out too often. The villagers won’t understand—it might cause you trouble.”

“Okay…” Nan Qiao quickly shut the book and slid it under the other textbooks.

She’d overlooked that. She had thought everyone would be out working at this hour, so she let her guard down.

“You know German?” Sheng Yanchuan asked.

“A little—just the basics. My little uncle works in the foreign ministry. He taught me some when I was younger,” Nan Qiao answered smoothly.

It was a story she had prepped in advance. Ever since Shen Nian said she wanted to major in foreign languages, Nan Qiao had started thinking about how to justify her own knowledge.

In her original world, she did have a little uncle who worked abroad in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs… just not in Germany.

“Mn. Have some watermelon.” Sheng Yanchuan nodded and urged her to eat, though his mind was elsewhere: What should I do? The gap between me and Nan Qiao seems to be getting wider… I need to hurry with those watermelons from the mountain.

“You have some too—there’s plenty,” Nan Qiao said.

“I already had some at home. If you can’t finish it, save it for the evening and share it with Shen Zhiqing.”

“Okay.” Nan Qiao nodded and nibbled at her slice.

---

“Qiao Qiao, how did you sprain your ankle?” Su Mu’s voice rang out along with the creak of the gate. He had been trying hard to control his emotions—but seeing Sheng Yanchuan and Nan Qiao chatting and smiling in the courtyard had filled him with rage.

She was supposed to be his, so why was Sheng Yanchuan always trying to take what was his?

Su Mu’s tone toward Nan Qiao was still warm and gentle.

But the way he looked at Sheng Yanchuan was sharp and hostile. In his mind, Nan Qiao already belonged to him. They were just a step away from making it official, so to him, Sheng Yanchuan was nothing short of a thief—breaking into his house. Naturally, he didn’t have a good attitude.

Hearing his voice, Nan Qiao turned to look. She saw Su Mu push the gate open and stride in as if it were his own home, sitting down familiarly in front of her. She felt a twinge of irritation. Does this guy think this is his house? He didn’t even knock or greet anyone.

“Su Zhiqing, aren’t you working this afternoon?” Nan Qiao’s annoyance leaked into her tone, carrying a faint trace of interrogation.

Su Mu was momentarily stunned by her tone.

He had always known Nan Qiao to be arrogant and willful, but she used to be gentle and eager to please him, because she liked him.

Even during this time in the countryside, although Nan Qiao hadn’t been particularly close to him, she had always been gentle and courteous.

So Su Mu had never seen Nan Qiao lose her temper before. Her current displeased tone caught him off guard, and the words he’d meant to say were stuck in his throat.

“I’ll be going to work soon. I just wanted to check on you since I heard you twisted your ankle. These are for you.” As Su Mu spoke, he placed the pastries in his hand down.

At this moment, he couldn’t even be bothered by Sheng Yanchuan, who was leaning lazily in his chair enjoying the show. Looking at Nan Qiao’s displeased expression, Su Mu’s tone took on a slightly ingratiating edge.

Seeing his attitude, Nan Qiao’s tone softened a bit. “You can take those back. I’m fine, I’ll recover in a few days.”

“Just keep them. Girls usually like these. I don’t really have a sweet tooth,” Su Mu said.

Nan Qiao frowned slightly at that. She didn’t want to accept anything from Su Mu. Judging from what he said yesterday, he clearly had feelings for her. But it was the original host who liked him—not her. So now, she was even more unwilling to accept his gifts.

“Take them back. It’s not appropriate for me to accept them.”

Maybe it was because Nan Qiao had accepted Sheng Yanchuan’s watermelon but rejected his pastries—or maybe it was Sheng Yanchuan’s smug and confident expression—that made Su Mu feel provoked.

He suddenly felt an urgent need to get an answer from Nan Qiao. His words became inappropriate for the situation, not caring who was around. He directly asked, “Qiao Qiao, about what happened in Shanghai—I told you my concerns yesterday. But those issues no longer exist. Are you still willing?”

Sheng Yanchuan’s heart skipped a beat at those words. He looked nervously at Nan Qiao. Just yesterday, he had confessed his feelings to her, but Nan Qiao had only responded with a desire to get to know each other—she hadn’t given him a clear answer.

Besides, Su Mu had known her longer… and judging from what he and Li Zhuoran had said, it was obvious something had once happened between Nan Qiao and Su Mu.

Sheng Yanchuan sat frozen, brain completely blank, waiting for Nan Qiao’s answer.

Nan Qiao felt a headache coming on when she heard Su Mu.

The Su Mu she remembered had always been polite, gentle, and rational.

What happened to that composure now? Even if we put their relationship aside, there were two outsiders—Sheng Yanchuan and Tao Hua—present. Wasn’t this kind of question inappropriate?

She didn’t even need to turn around to know how Sheng Yanchuan must be looking at her. His gaze practically pierced her back. It was like sitting on needles—completely unbearable. And with her twisted ankle, she couldn’t even walk away.

But she also knew this matter needed to be dealt with eventually. So she turned her gaze back to Su Mu and said coldly and firmly, “Comrade Su, you had your concerns—and that’s fine. But I, Nan Qiao, am not someone who walks the same road twice. When you turned me down, our possibility ended there.”

At those words, Sheng Yanchuan let out a silent breath of relief. His tense body slumped back into the chair.

“I… I didn’t reject you,” Su Mu argued anxiously.

“But you didn’t say yes either, did you?” Nan Qiao replied, her tone unwavering, refusing to back down even a little.

The truth was, the original host’s feelings for Su Mu were already long gone. Though it wasn’t Su Mu’s fault, Nan Qiao couldn’t be expected to carry out the unfinished story of someone else.

A rejection was inevitable.

And frankly, she just couldn’t bring herself to like someone so indecisive and hesitant.

“But… but I was afraid that after being sent to the countryside, I wouldn’t be able to treat you well. I didn’t expect you to come with me,” Su Mu tried to explain.

“Hey, stop right there. I didn’t follow you here. I just didn’t like the job my parents arranged for me in Shanghai, so I signed up for the relocation. It just so happened that the batch of educated youths was sent here too. It’s all coincidence, okay?”

Nan Qiao had to stop him there. Even if she had followed him in the original storyline, she couldn’t let him say that out loud. If that rumor spread, she’d never be able to untangle herself from Su Mu.

“But… but you used to like me. Why…” Su Mu still couldn’t understand how Nan Qiao could change so drastically in just a few days. In Shanghai, she had still been constantly around him.

Hearing that, a chill ran down Nan Qiao’s spine, and she involuntarily shivered.

“Comrade Su, you said it yourself—that was before. Haven’t we all done some foolish things in our youth? That was admiration, not romantic love. And most importantly, right now, I just want to earn my work points properly. If you really care about me, please stop bringing up the past. You should know how much something like this can affect a girl’s reputation.”

Nan Qiao’s words were ruthless, piercing Su Mu like a knife.

Something in his eyes flickered, and he suddenly shot a glare at Sheng Yanchuan. A second later, he looked at Nan Qiao again, a flicker of determination in his gaze. “I won’t give up. Get some rest.”

With that, he turned and walked out of the courtyard.

After Su Mu left, Nan Qiao finally breathed a sigh of relief—though his parting words made her frown slightly.

It’s like I’ve planted another landmine. Why didn’t I dream through the whole book when I had the chance? If I’d seen how everyone ended up, at least I could’ve been prepared. What the hell is going on now? Nan Qiao couldn’t help but complain in her heart.

“Is that your type?” Sheng Yanchuan’s voice suddenly interrupted her thoughts.

“…What?”

“Is he your type?” Sheng Yanchuan repeated.

“Not really. I just thought he looked good before, but honestly, the more you look, the more average he seems.” Nan Qiao was distracted, and her response was half-hearted.

But Sheng Yanchuan took it seriously.

“So do you think I look good?” he asked shyly.

That finally snapped Nan Qiao out of her thoughts. She looked him up and down and teased, “I think you’re pretty shameless.”

Her words made Sheng Yanchuan burst out laughing.

“Doesn’t matter if I’m shameless around you. Tell me—between me and Su Mu, who’s better looking?” he asked, leaning in closer and staring at her.

“What’s a guy doing looking pretty for? Can’t eat looks for dinner.” Nan Qiao instinctively leaned back and avoided his gaze.

“You can’t eat it—but it might just win over Qiao Qiao’s heart,” Sheng Yanchuan said, leaning forward slightly, one arm resting on the rocking chair as he lowered his voice.

His naturally deep and pleasant voice, now hushed to avoid waking Tao Hua beside them, was warm and intimate. His closeness and tone made Nan Qiao’s face turn red instantly.

She pushed him away in mock anger. “Who said you could call me Qiao Qiao? And stay away from me!”

“But even that Su Zhiqing, who isn’t as good-looking as me, gets to call you Qiao Qiao.”

“I didn’t respond to him, did I?”

“Well, you didn’t respond to me either!” Sheng Yanchuan shot back, grinning.

“You better get going! Aren’t you supposed to go to town? Don’t just hang around here!” Nan Qiao, seeing he was getting bolder, started shooing him away.

Sheng Yanchuan checked the time and figured it was about time to leave. He stood up and said, “Alright, I’m off then. I’ll leave Tao Hua here to keep you company. She can head back on her own once she wakes up.”

Nan Qiao glanced at the peacefully sleeping Tao Hua and pointed to a small blanket nearby. “Then at least cover her with that. The sun’s fine now, but she might catch a chill later.”

“Got it.” Sheng Yanchuan nodded, gently draped the blanket over Tao Hua, and said, “Then I’m really going now.”

Nan Qiao waved at him without a word. After he left, she picked up her German novel again and continued reading…