After Mu Liuli said those words, a deathly silence fell over the vehicle, broken only by the steady beeping of the medical pod.
Mu Qingqing’s eyes darted between the two. At this point, the only thing she was missing was a handful of sunflower seeds to enjoy the show.
In that short span of time, several brainstorms had already surged through Lin Yu’s mind. He nearly blurted out a request for Mu Qingqing to get out so he could have a proper talk with Mu Liuli. However, the moment the thought surfaced, he clamped his mouth shut. Wouldn’t that be completely out of line?
After a moment of deliberation, he gave Mu Qingqing an awkward yet polite smile.
“Uh… Section Chief Mu, we have something to discuss. We’ll step outside for a couple of sentences. We’ll be quick.”
Having said that, he reached out and almost forcefully grabbed Mu Liuli by the wrist.
The girl’s wrist was slender and slightly cool. When he took hold of her, her eyelashes merely fluttered. She didn’t struggle, following him obediently as he led her out of the medical vehicle.
Mu Qingqing watched the closed door and clicked her tongue in regret. Shaking her head at the missed drama, she turned back toward Lin Mowei, who was still fast asleep in the medical pod.
She shrugged. “Section Chief, oh Section Chief, your younger brother really is incredible. One moment he’s involved with Dr. Qin, and the next he’s hooked Mu Liuli. My, my.”
After speaking, she picked up a nearby report and began flipping through it. Because of this, she failed to notice that Lin Mowei’s brow furrowed slightly inside the medical pod, her fingers clenching tight.
—
“Bang!”
In a blind spot at the corner of the vehicle, Lin Yu pulled Mu Liuli to a stop. He braced one hand against the cold metal wall beside her ear and leaned in slightly. His voice was thick with suppressed helplessness and a hint of irritation.
“I say… don’t you ever look at the occasion before you speak? There were other people there. What if someone misunderstands?”
His expression was complicated. He wanted to look angry, but looking at Mu Liuli’s face—which was filled with pure confusion—his frustration felt like a punch landing on cotton. He couldn’t stay truly angry, but the girl’s way of speaking really made his head throb.
Mu Liuli blinked blankly, seemingly unable to understand the meaning behind his words.
“Misunderstand? Misunderstand what? Wasn’t I telling the truth?” As she spoke, a trace of grievance entered her tone. “You promised that when I came back, you would tell me… you, you…”
She didn’t finish the sentence. Feeling a bit embarrassed, she lowered her eyes, and a faint blush crept onto her fair earlobes. She was simply straightforward and disliked beating around the bush, but she still possessed the sensibilities of a normal young woman.
This reaction left Lin Yu stunned. Right, he remembered what kind of personality the girl in front of him had now. Reasoning with her was basically useless. Social etiquette and worldly wisdom were nothing in her eyes; she did whatever she wanted.
Then again, it made sense. She had the ability and the wealth to be willful.
Lin Yu had a stomach full of words, but in the end, he could only swallow them all. He let go of her and leaned against the vehicle beside her, looking up at the sky.
“Monitor.”
“Hmm?” The overly formal and distant title made Mu Liuli’s brow knit together.
“Can you just act like what happened earlier never happened?” Lin Yu turned his head to look at her profile. “Including… the matter I asked you to keep secret.”
Mu Liuli turned to stare at him. “Why? My business aside, why must your ability be kept a secret?”
‘So you all don’t team up and kill me in the future!’
Of course, he couldn’t tell her the honest truth.
“Because I want to keep a low profile. I don’t have such great ambitions, okay?”
Lin Yu met her gaze. His eyes were filled with nothing but bright sincerity. For a seasoned actor, this kind of performance wasn’t difficult.
Mu Liuli stared into his eyes silently for a few seconds. Then, she slowly looked away and lowered her gaze again, staring at the tips of her shoes.
“Oh. If that’s how it is… fine.”
Lin Yu felt a sense of relief, but at the same time, his conscience pricked him slightly. It wasn’t easy to trick a girl like Mu Liuli, mostly because she usually didn’t give anyone the chance to get close enough to deceive her. She effectively isolated everyone from her world.
But once you accidentally stepped across that invisible boundary, even by a small step, she would drop most of her defenses and include you in her circle of acceptance. To her, that meant near-absolute trust. Tricking a girl who was so lonely, closed off, and yet starved for affection didn’t feel good.
Sigh…
Lin Yu sighed inwardly.
“So…” After a moment of silence, she spoke softly. “You don’t like me, right?”
“?” Lin Yu’s eyes widened as he looked at her. What was this now? How did she jump to that conclusion?
This time, Lin Yu didn’t dare look at her. He turned his head away and whispered, “Yeah, I don’t…”
Mu Liuli pursed her lips and said nothing more. She simply gave a small nod, intending to turn and leave this corner that was making her feel embarrassed.
Just then, an urgent female voice suddenly drifted over from the edge of the camp.
“Where is Lin Yu! I want to see him! I want to see him!”
“!”
Lin Yu knew exactly whose voice that was. This was bad—he had forgotten about that woman!
The owner of the voice was naturally Xin Yao. She was currently in an “overload” state and had no sense of logic left. She would basically blurt out whatever she was dreaming about. If she happened to reveal the fact that he was a Resonator, everything would be ruined.
Mu Liuli, who was halfway through turning around, also heard the captain’s voice. Just as she was about to walk toward her, her hand was suddenly seized.
She turned back to see Lin Yu’s face full of anxiety. “?”
“Monitor, do me a favor. Use your ability to hypnotize Captain Xin Yao for a moment. Make sure she doesn’t say anything reckless.”
“…” Mu Liuli felt somewhat speechless. She felt Lin Yu was being a bit much.
The conversation they’d just had was essentially a rejection. Who acts like this? Who asks for a favor immediately after rejecting someone? ‘Is your skin thicker than the armor of a King Beast?’
Lin Yu realized this too, but he really had no other options. His face was full of pleading.
Then, he watched as the corners of Mu Liuli’s mouth slowly curled up into a chilly arc.
“Uh…?” Lin Yu felt an inexplicable chill.
“Student Lin Yu.” The world was always like this; one moment you were in control, and the next you were at someone’s mercy.
“Yes, please speak.” Lin Yu’s face was covered in a fawning smile, and his tone became much more respectful.
Heh, a real man knows when to yield!
“Pfft…” His rapid descent into groveling almost made Mu Liuli lose the cold mask she was trying to maintain. She then pretended to be serious and said, “From now on, don’t call me Monitor.”
“Then…”
“Call me by my name.” The girl took a half-step forward, closing the already small gap between them.
She extended a single finger and tapped it against Lin Yu’s chest, emphasizing every word. “Liuli.”
A threatening smile hung on the girl’s cool face, making Lin Yu’s heart skip a beat. To be honest, the occasional aggression Mu Liuli showed had truly made his heart flutter in the past. Even now… it seemed things weren’t any different.
“Cough, Liuli. Help me out, okay?”
Mu Liuli looked at the boy’s softened posture and heard her own name being called from his lips. Her heart was also thumping wildly, and her cheeks felt hot. She struggled to maintain her outward composure, even tilting her chin up slightly.
“Fine.”
She withdrew her finger and took the initiative to grasp the hand Lin Yu had used to pull her. Their palms pressed together, conveying a warm sensation.
“Let’s go.”