The moonlight tonight is especially enchanting, like a sheer veil draped over the bright city, mysterious and romantic.
Luo Shangqing’s car stopped at the entrance of Mu Chenxi’s residential complex. The two did not rush to get out, but sat quietly in the car, neither speaking. They simply enjoyed the peaceful night together.
After a while, Mu Chenxi turned her head to look at him, just as his gaze t hers—four eyes interlocking, one playful, the other serene. Under the moonlight, there seed to be a lingering sentintality, and the beautiful feeling slowly spread throughout the car.
Mu Chenxi felt a bit embarrassed and cracked a sheepish grin: "I should go up then."
"Okay," Luo Shangqing’s eyes were exceptionally clear in the moonlight.
Mu Chenxi opened the car door, not forgetting the pile of soft toys on the back seat, which she clutched in her arms, making her walk a bit awkwardly.
Through the gap between the toys, she said "bye" to him.
"Goodbye," Luo Shangqing’s arm rested on the car window as he watched her enter the building.
Just as she was about to step inside, she suddenly turned around, winked at him, and said: "Goodnight."
Luo Shangqing gave a small smile, casually leaning his arm on his chin: "Goodnight."
Only when the lights from the first to the fourth floor lit up one by one and then all went out did Luo Shangqing slowly retract his gaze.
He did not hurry to leave, but instead sat in the car listening to music quietly. Unintentionally, the familiar features appeared before his eyes. The first thing he rembered about her were her dimples—he had always liked girls with dimples since he was a child, feeling their smiles were especially sweet, smiles that could lt sorrow.
He clearly rembered her on the day she kept sneezing during his lecture, obviously severely stricken by cold, her eyes nearly unable to open, yet she insisted on sitting in the front row to listen. Now in retrospect, he realized it wasn’t the lecture she was there for; she was actually infatuated with him. If she were that attentive, would she still fail at least three subjects per sester?
So people, seemingly inadvertently, have already made a ho in your heart without you realizing it. At first, it’s a simple nest, then gradually it becos a kingdom, until eventually, it’s packed full to the brim.
Luo Shangqing admitted, after seeing her secret diary of infatuation, he felt a bit panicked and wanted to escape because of the age difference, feeling guilty. But as the song goes, "when love cos it’s a beautiful feeling," it was in recurring midnight dreams and monts of lost contemplation that he gradually realized he liked this sowhat silly girl, liked her enough to want to spend his life with her.
Mu Chenxi opened the door to find Luo ijuan watching TV on the sofa. Seeing her with a bunch of fluffy toys, Luo ijuan cracked so lon seeds and asked, "Where did all these toys co from?"
"Won them at the arcade," Mu Chenxi carried the toys straight to her room, "Where’s Dad?"
"At the hospital in a eting."
Mu Chenxi responded with an "oh" and closed her room door. After changing her clothes, she displayed all the plush toys at the head of her bed. Once done, she suddenly thought of sothing and ran to the window barefoot, pulling the curtain aside to look down. The familiar Audi was still parked at the entrance of the complex, its tail lights blinking in the dark, like two fireflies.
She hurriedly picked up the phone and dialed the number she knew by heart. The call was picked up after only one ring.
"Hello," a llow and husky voice was adorned by the night, mysterious and deep.
Mu Chenxi lightly tugged at the curtain, half her body leaning out: "Why haven’t you left yet?"
After saying that, she saw the door of the Audi open, followed by a tall figure standing in front of the car, looking up at her.
The two gazed at each other across the considerable distance. Mu Chenxi felt an impulse to run downstairs again, but she sensibly chose to continue the telephone conversation: "Don’t you have surgery tomorrow? You should rest early."
"Mhm," Luo Shangqing softly agreed, "Goodnight."
"Goodnight." Mu Chenxi finished speaking but did not hang up the call, nor did he. After a mont of silent stillness, Luo Shangqing finally reopened the car door and got in.
"Mu Chenxi, go to bed early, no surfing the Internet," his voice ca through the phone with a stern warning.
Mu Chenxi wondered how he knew she often stayed up late online, but obediently nodded: "I’ll sleep after I shower."
He was silent, so she cautiously asked: "Can I hang up?"
"Mhm." This ti his answer was decisive.
Mu Chenxi didn’t know when she had beco so hesitant. She could simply press the red button to end the call, but she still felt reluctant, lingering for a long while before saying: "I’ll watch you leave from here."
Luo Shangqing was always straightforward, never dragging his feet, yet he was willing to indulge in this clingy mont with her. She didn’t hang up, so he went ahead and placed the phone on the holder.
Only when the car started and rged into the traffic did Mu Chenxi, concerned about his driving, decisively hang up the call.
So say love can bewilder and consu, even to the point of losing one’s sanity. Mu Chenxi felt she was beyond cure with her deep affection, and she, for one, didn’t want any redy, content to be in this helpless state.
The next morning, Mu Chenxi was rrily singing as she helped Luo ijuan mop the floor at ho, even kindly ushering Kong Tai aside when it stepped onto the freshly cleaned surface.
Luo ijuan was picking vegetables while watching TV, and suspecting Chenxi’s drastic change in deanor, she quipped, "Oh, why all the help this morning with this and that, did you do sothing guilty?"
"Miss Luo, if you keep wronging good people like this, you won’t have anyone to help you with chores." After finishing the mopping, Mu Chenxi went to the bathroom to retrieve two more cloths.
Luo ijuan hurriedly asked, "What are you up to now?"
"I’m cleaning the windows." Mu Chenxi responded as she crouched in front of the floor-to-ceiling windows and began wiping.
Befuddled, Luo ijuan shook her head; this was utterly abnormal behavior.
After lunch was prepared, Luo ijuan packed a lunch box: "Xixi, go take this to your dad."
Mu Chenxi ca running over cheerfully, glanced at the dishes on the table, then turned and rummaged through the kitchen: "Mom, don’t we have an insulated lunch box sowhere?"
"Why do you need so many lunch boxes?"
"You don’t know, my dad’s been having a voracious appetite lately; last ti, a whole box of dumplings weren’t enough." After scalding it with boiling water, Mu Chenxi began to fill the lunch box.
"Put more braised pork in for your dad."
"Why eat so much at, it’s not good for the health." In no ti, Mu Chenxi packed a box of vegetables, sealed the lunch box and said, "Alright, I’m off to deliver the al."
Mu Chenxi wheeled out her bicycle from the garage, placed the lunch box in the basket, and rode towards the hospital.
～
Luo Shangqing had just finished a surgery and was sitting outside the operating room, resting. A nurse brought his water bottle, and after taking a couple of sips, he leaned his head against the wall behind him with his eyes closed, taking a brief rest.
A surgery lasting a full four hours is a grueling test of both focus and physical stamina. One doesn’t feel tired during the operation, but the mont it ends, fatigue floods over the body like a tide. Although Luo Shangqing always took care to stay fit, the exhaustion was still hard to bear.
Mu Chenxi, upon hearing he was in surgery, refrained from disturbing him, and instead, wandered the corridors outside the operating room, only to find him sitting on a chair.
He was still in his blue surgical garb, a corner of his mask hung loosely against his chest. He was leaning against the wall, seemingly asleep.
Seeing him like this, Mu Chenxi imdiately felt a surge of tenderness. She tip-toed over, making as little noise as possible, but just as she sat down, the man awoke. His gaze found her – dressed in a white three-quarter sleeve pullover, loose braids in her hair, unnecessary oversized black glasses framing her non-myopic eyes – she looked more like a high school student.
"Why are you here?" Luo Shangqing straightened up, a flicker of joy in his eyes. Just the sight of her seed to sweep away his fatigue, rejuvenating him considerably.
"I’m here to bring lunch to my dad." Mu Chenxi asked with slight guilt, "Did I disturb you?"
"It’s fine, I wasn’t really asleep. Let’s go, to my office."
Luo Shangqing changed clothes in the break room and saw her sitting at his desk flipping through a book upon exiting. Her presence brought life to the otherwise sterile office.
His gaze then shifted to the lunch box on the desk, "Aren’t you supposed to deliver lunch to your dad? Why haven’t you gone yet?"
Mu Chenxi quickly closed the book, scratching her head sheepishly. She wasn’t quite sure if Luo Shangqing would even eat the lunch she brought, specially tailored to his preference for light als.
"I’ve already delivered my dad’s. This one’s for you. My mom cooked it; I’m not sure if it’s to your taste."
Luo Shangqing sat down in a nearby chair, reached for the lunch box, and with a smile said, "It’s not like I haven’t eaten your mom’s cooking before," and added after lifting the lid, "Who knows, I might have to eat it often in the future."
In front of Luo Shangqing, Mu Chenxi often behaved like a child with learning difficulties. It took her a mont to process his words, and by the ti she ca to her senses, Luo Shangqing was halfway through his al.
"Professor Luo." Chenxi suddenly called out, almost causing him to choke on his rice. With a resigned lift of his head, he saw her leaning over the desk, grinning sheepishly at him. After her silent laugh, she covered her face with her hands and then giggled audibly, the laughter filtering through her fingers, prompting an affectionate chuckle from him as he ruffled her head firmly, "Silly girl."
The person Luo Shangqing was set on was his for life – so, a son-in-law eating his mother-in-law’s cooking was the norm, wasn’t it?
Of course, he knew it was too early to say this now. She was just in her sophomore year of college – they would have to plan their future after her graduation. But if there was one thing he wasn’t short of, it was patience.
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