Mu Nanqiu turned her head to look at Su Yao, who was avoiding her.
She wasn’t all that surprised.
Back at home, Su Yao would sometimes act like this too; she just hadn’t expected Su Yao would dare do it even in public now.
If this kept up, wouldn’t she just end up flying to the heavens?
Status needed to be maintained regularly, or someone would start unconsciously climbing over her head.
She reached out and grabbed Su Yao’s slender waist.
With only two not-so-thick layers of clothing, her great figure was hardly concealed.
Mu Nanqiu really liked this—not just her waist, but other places too.
And the waist was a sensitive spot. The moment Mu Nanqiu put her hand on it, Su Yao was startled.
She instinctively shrank back, accidentally bumping into Mu Nanqiu.
Su Yao quickly let go and, taking advantage of Mu Nanqiu’s hand still being under her control and not yet forming a full embrace, tried to dart away. But after just a step or two, she was caught in a tight grip.
Even though she was hugged from behind, Su Yao didn’t give up.
Seeing that she couldn’t pry Mu Nanqiu’s hand off, she grew a little anxious, but soon thought of a decent solution. She put on an exaggerated pained expression and pleaded pitifully, “Let go! You’re squeezing my stomach~”
Her tone was soft and plaintive, sounding just like she was wronged. This was a “safe word” of sorts that Su Yao had figured out after spending so many days together. Sometimes, when they were messing around and she wasn’t careful, Mu Nanqiu would roughhouse her too hard. After a couple of experiences, Mu Nanqiu learned when to stop and when to keep going.
This time, Mu Nanqiu let her go too. As soon as her grip loosened from Su Yao’s stomach, Su Yao switched to a triumphant grin and ran off.
Su Yao ran, but Mu Nanqiu didn’t chase. She simply stood there, smiling calmly.
Heh, keep pretending for now. Sooner or later, you’ll have to pay for what you did today, Mu Nanqiu thought, already planning it all out in her mind.
After walking for a while, the sky gradually darkened. The day had been cloudy to begin with, and now golden clouds shone in the distance, looking beautiful.
Walking close by Mu Nanqiu’s side, Su Yao suddenly sighed.
“It feels like the day just flew by. It’s almost over already.”
“Mm.”
Mu Nanqiu nodded. They didn’t dwell on that feeling, instead turning their attention to the food stalls that were starting to appear.
“Three for the small one, five for the big.”
“I want the apple one.”
“Alright.”
Su Yao eagerly took the apple covered in bright red syrup and took a big bite. Meanwhile, Mu Nanqiu also took a skewer of Tanghulu, paid, and glanced back at Su Yao—only to find her eating her own treat while her eyes wandered over to the starch sausage at the stall three meters away.
She couldn’t help but laugh.
They didn’t go to a restaurant for dinner—probably just counted the snacks on the roadside as their meal. Though Mu Nanqiu felt it wasn’t the most nutritious, sometimes the experience mattered more than health—so long as it was just once in a while.
After making a full round of the market, they got into the car and went home.
Everything after that was unexpectedly peaceful. Su Yao often watched Mu Nanqiu fiddle with those camera devices—not because she was excited about the cameras themselves, but because she was looking forward to what they’d do afterward. She could hardly contain herself and ended up focusing her excitement elsewhere.
Su Yao quickly picked up on this, so she started observing Mu Nanqiu closely in daily life. But Mu Nanqiu hid it well, never giving away any clues for Su Yao to guess. Su Yao told Luo Yu about it, hoping that her few friends might help her spot a blind spot.
“Fiddling with the camera… let me think…”
After hearing Su Yao out, Luo Yu fell into deep thought. As she pondered, she kept raising her eyebrows and pursing her lips, looking like she was about to speak but never quite did, which made Su Yao more and more anxious.
Su Yao couldn’t help showing a “hurry up, I’m dying here” expression, urging Luo Yu’s mind to turn faster.
But Luo Yu just couldn’t give her an answer, and then… then Luo Yu just crashed.
Luo Yu’s head hit the desk helplessly. She said, discouraged, “I can’t think of anything…”
“I’ve never had that kind of experience. It’s fake, all fake. She’s just messing with me. Ugh, so unfair! Just wants me to play games with her!”
Su Yao fell silent. From these words, she realized Luo Yu had been mentally exhausted for a while—it just hadn’t come out until now. Su Yao patted her back but didn’t offer any words of comfort. Nothing said at this time would be right; it was better to wait quietly until Luo Yu had let it all out, then discuss things rationally.
Luckily, Luo Yu’s slump didn’t last long. She bounced back—yes, self-healed—thanks to her powerful imagination, deciding Bei Zhi was just the type who was good at socializing but didn’t know how to deepen relationships.
So, she needed to be proactive. Only by doing that could they take things further.
Su Yao said nothing out loud, but in her heart she disagreed with Luo Yu. Maybe that person was just dabbling; maybe she was a player waiting for you to fall into the push-and-pull trap, until you were completely hooked and ended up losing everything…
She didn’t really know what kind of person Bei Zhi was. Even though she was friends with Luo Yu, Su Yao couldn’t just use that as an excuse to treat her own guesses as fact and urge Luo Yu to give up. She could only watch.
Su Yao suddenly grew curious. She still didn’t know how Luo Yu had met that person.
“How did you two meet?”
“She…”
Luo Yu glanced at Su Yao, then quickly looked away, like she had some kind of secret.
Luo Yu knew about Su Yao and Mu Nanqiu, and Mu Nanqiu and Bei Zhi were sisters. Su Yao didn’t know she was connected to Bei Zhi.
That made Luo Yu unsure what to say. She felt it was all just a bit weird.
Her desk mate was her sister-in-law?
Damn, that’s so weird!
No, wait, none of us four have a normal relationship!
Luo Yu was lost, leaving Su Yao dumbfounded as she watched Luo Yu’s mood suddenly shift.
When she got home, Su Yao used Luo Yu as a topic to chat with Mu Nanqiu, wanting to hear her thoughts.
“Me? I don’t really have any thoughts.”
Su Yao was dissatisfied with that answer and threw herself into Mu Nanqiu’s arms, acting spoiled as she said, “Come on, just say something—anything. I just want to hear your voice.”
“Oh.”
Mu Nanqiu reached out and patted Su Yao’s head, recalling the images she’d seen on the dashcam last time. She’d lent her car to Bei Zhi, and her own little sister had brought someone home—the very person who was Su Yao’s classmate.
She hadn’t planned to say anything, but seeing Su Yao’s eager look…