Chapter 16: Her Face Was So Red Part 2

She wanted to turn around and chase Mu Shanyi’s lips, but she wasn’t allowed. Mu Shanyi pulled down the collar of her loungewear from behind and leaned down to kiss the small mole below her butterfly bone.

“There…” Was this a special fetish of Mu Shanyi’s? Last night had started there too.

Mu Shanyi didn’t explain. Her right hand slid up from below along Miao Zhu’s neck, applying slight pressure. Miao Zhu instinctively tilted her head back, and Mu Shanyi’s fingers reached her lips.

In Mu Shanyi’s peripheral vision, the phone on the edge of the sink flashed silently. The contact name was a star icon.

Miao Zhu took Mu Shanyi’s finger into her mouth, unaware. Mu Shanyi gradually stopped. “Answer it.”

“Hm?” Miao Zhu hummed softly.

“Xingran’s video call.” Mu Shanyi reminded her.

Miao Zhu opened her dazed eyes, and the first thing she saw was herself in the mirror—loungewear haphazardly hanging off her body. She no longer thought this style was conservative.

The phone screen kept flashing. Miao Zhu steadied her breathing a little and obediently picked up the phone, but she switched the video to voice.

“Longlong, are you awake yet?” Sheng Xingran’s side was a bit noisy, her mood seeming overcast.

“Mm, I am. What’s wrong?” Miao Zhu held the phone to her ear, her voice still carrying a soft afterglow.

Sheng Xingran: “I landed. So unlucky—I left that hair scarf I really like in Shenzhen.”

“The ink-green plaid one?” Miao Zhu averted her eyes from the intimate figure in the mirror. “Have the hotel mail it home.”

“But I had it all planned out. I—”

Miao Zhu didn’t hear the rest. Mu Shanyi took the phone and turned on speaker. Sheng Xingran’s voice filled the bathroom. “Tomorrow I’m supposed to wear that outfit—”

Suddenly, Miao Zhu couldn’t make out what Sheng Xingran was saying. Mu Shanyi switched the phone to camera mode and snapped a photo of them in the mirror right now.

“…But thinking about seeing you this evening lifted my mood.” Sheng Xingran’s tone indeed brightened at the end. “Longlong, are you still in bed? Get up and eat something. Are you at the dorm? Want me to order food for you?”

This was too embarrassing. How could Mu Shanyi…

Miao Zhu snatched the phone back. The screen showed the photo just taken, and she couldn’t help sucking in a breath. “…I-I’m up already. Xingran, don’t bother.”

She brushed off a few more sentences before hurriedly ending the call.

“Are you like this when you’re with Xingran too?” Mu Shanyi adjusted Miao Zhu’s loungewear over her shoulders in the mirror, buttoning it up one by one. “So sensitive, so enjoying it?”

Miao Zhu: “…”

Did Mu Shanyi know what she was saying?

Mu Shanyi lowered her eyelids, her expression calm, as if those words hadn’t come from her mouth and she wasn’t seeking an answer. “I made a simple breakfast. Eat some if you’re hungry.”

Her forehead was damp with thin sweat, the corners of her eyes still holding a trace of red, but her attitude had returned to normal, completely detached from the earlier intimacy.

Miao Zhu wondered if Sheng Xingran’s call had killed the mood. But Mu Shanyi was the one who had made her answer it.

Or maybe because of her relationship with Sheng Xingran, Mu Shanyi disliked being put in this awkward position? But Mu Shanyi had known from the start that she and Sheng Xingran were “about to tie the knot.”

Miao Zhu had thought Mu Shanyi wouldn’t care about that, just like she wouldn’t mind what Mu Shanyi did with others.

But whatever the reason, Miao Zhu understood that things wouldn’t continue today.

“…Oh, okay.” She responded to Mu Shanyi’s last remark.

Mu Shanyi left first, leaving Miao Zhu in the room.

Miao Zhu deleted that outrageous selfie. After a moment’s thought, she opened WeChat, found her familiar sales associate, and sent them a message.

The living room’s entire wall was floor-to-ceiling glass, facing directly toward the Glazed Cloud Tower with a perfect view. Outside, the sun blazed, the distant green hills stretched long, and the water below the tower churned with golden ripples.

Several white sailboats skimmed the waves on the surface.

Miao Zhu sat at the dining counter. Mu Shanyi had made sandwiches, squeezed orange juice, and brewed coffee. She gazed at the scenery outside and ate some alone. Afterward, she took out a portable pill box from her bag.

As soon as Mu Shanyi came out of the walk-in closet, she saw Miao Zhu taking medicine. She draped the outfit she had picked for Miao Zhu over a nearby chair and asked, “What’s wrong? Not feeling well?”

Miao Zhu: “No, just vitamins.”

She was much better now and no longer lingered in low moods for long periods. The doctor had recommended regular vitamin supplements, which helped maintain her emotional stability.

Mu Shanyi held out her hand, gesturing for her to see.

Miao Zhu handed over the pill box. Mu Shanyi confirmed that the tablets inside were marked with vitamin abbreviations. She looked at Miao Zhu again—Miao Zhu sat in the sunlight, her brows and eyes curved in a smile, embraced warmly by the sun, her expression bright and cheerful. “I’m not lying to you.”

Not lying to her, Mu Shanyi thought. Just carrying on an immoral relationship behind everyone’s back.