Mu Shanyi’s location pin pointed to a bar called Moon, about twenty minutes’ drive from Moon Reflection Villa. Under Miao Ling’s enthusiastic urging, Miao Zhu changed into casual clothes, picked up the rattan basket filled with rice cakes and zongzi, and had the family driver take her to meet Mu Shanyi.
Still some distance from Moon, Miao Zhu spotted her own car parked by the roadside.
The driver dropped her off at the bar’s entrance.
This area wasn’t part of the nightlife district crowded with bars. Moon’s spot was unique—a standalone two-story building perched on a slope. Its milky-white exterior walls featured a full wall of floor-to-ceiling windows along the street.
It looked more like an artsy studio than a bar.
At that moment, the warm yellow lights inside filtered through the windows. The place seemed reserved, with only four or five customers gathered at the bar, chatting away.
Miao Zhu spotted Mu Shanyi bathed in that light.
Mu Shanyi wore a loose linen shirt, with two buttons undone and sleeves rolled up. She leaned casually against the bar when a woman stumbled into her arms. Mu Shanyi leaned back slightly, steadily catching her.
The woman was petite, clearly drunk and not fully conscious. She nuzzled haphazardly in Mu Shanyi’s embrace.
Mu Shanyi patted the woman’s back soothingly. The woman quieted down against her, and Mu Shanyi’s hand slid down to rest lightly on her waist.
The conversation didn’t pause throughout; everyone seemed used to it.
Miao Zhu watched calmly, thinking to herself: Whoa~
This was a side of Mu Shanyi she’d never seen before.
Someone noticed Miao Zhu standing outside the window and said something. Mu Shanyi turned her head.
Their eyes met through the glass.
Miao Zhu didn’t go inside. Mu Shanyi pushed open the door to meet her.
Miao Zhu’s mood felt subtly off, and as Mu Shanyi approached—close enough to see her cheeks flushed thin from alcohol, and the messy red lipstick smudges on her collar—that subtlety peaked.
The “elder” aura seemed shattered. The Mu Shanyi everyone held high, the one Miao Ling drilled into her to always respect, the one she tiptoed around every meeting—turned out she was just an ordinary person in the mortal world, not so unattainable after all.
Mu Shanyi followed Miao Zhu’s gaze to her shirt. “Xiao Hui got drunk.”
Miao Zhu didn’t know Xiao Hui. Her tone lifted playfully. “Girlfriend?”
This was the first time Miao Zhu spoke to Mu Shanyi without that proper, polite tone.
The playfulness was rare. Mu Shanyi looked at her for a few seconds, a smile melting into her eyes. “Not yet.”
“Not yet” implied “could be.” Mu Shanyi controlled the pace of this relationship.
Miao Zhu caught the subtext. She glanced inside the bar and noticed several pairs of eyes watching them surreptitiously.
She might have interrupted their gathering.
Miao Zhu pulled back her gaze and got to the point, handing over the rattan basket Miao Ling had entrusted to her. “Sister A-Heng, the rice cakes inside are made from japonica rice, kneaded with mugwort leaf juice—you can have a bit. The zongzi are just for tasting; they’re glutinous rice.”
“Okay.” Mu Shanyi took it.
Her car was right at the bar’s entrance. She stowed the basket inside and said to Miao Zhu, “Let’s go. Your car’s down the slope.”
They walked down together. The streets were quiet at this hour, few pedestrians around. Under the hazy yellow streetlights, a silent breeze teased Mu Shanyi’s hair and the soft fabric of her clothes. Miao Zhu trailed half a step behind, catching faint notes of alcohol and a warm, woody scent in the night air.
They had no shared topics, so they walked the three or four minutes in silence. Mu Shanyi led her to the car and handed over the keys.
The keys still carried Mu Shanyi’s warmth and fragrance. Miao Zhu took them with a smile. “Sister A-Heng, thanks. I’ll head out then.”
Mu Shanyi nodded and watched from the roadside as she drove away.
The rush of night wind sobered her a bit. Mu Shanyi stood there a moment before returning to Moon, where the thoroughly sloshed Mu Huiren was now slumped on Li Baozhu’s shoulder, humming and whining.
Li Baozhu was beyond annoyed. The moment Mu Shanyi arrived, she shoved Mu Huiren off her. “Hurry and get your driver to pick her up. This little ancestor can’t hold her liquor but has guts for days—every time she gets drunk, she’s like this, clinging to anyone she grabs.”
Mu Shanyi’s grandmother and Mu Huiren’s were cousins. The elderly woman adored Mu Huiren’s lively personality, so Mu Huiren had practically grown up by her side. Though Sheng Xingran was Mu Shanyi’s half-sister from the same father, she actually spent less time with Mu Shanyi than Mu Huiren did.
Mu Shanyi steadied Mu Huiren by the arm to keep her from falling. Li Baozhu kept ranting. “You too—want to see Ice Latte, just ask her out properly. Making Tulip come get her car in the dead of night? Classic you.”
Only Li Baozhu could talk to Mu Shanyi so bluntly. The other two friends didn’t get the code and just stifled laughs.
Mu Huiren slurred fuel to the fire. “…What latte? …What… what flower?”
Mu Shanyi’s glance swept over Li Baozhu, who shrugged innocently.
She didn’t want to know either, but she’d been there both times by coincidence?
Why were both cars at Moon?
Miao Zhu pondered this at a red light. Mu Shanyi had accepted Miao Ling’s rice cakes and zongzi, knew she’d come, so she had Lu Zheng deliver the repaired car too?
No other explanation made sense.
It was past ten-thirty when she got home. Before bed, she remembered He Zizhou’s unread message. Miao Zhu opened WeChat, mustered her energy, and watched the piano video.
It was a piece she’d performed recently.
Miao Zhu pointed out a few rhythmic flaws and offered sincere advice.
Her message was long. When He Zizhou received it, she completely overlooked the late reply. She felt sorry that Miao Zhu was so busy yet took time to guide her seriously—and she couldn’t contain her touching joy.
