Chapter 73

A wall of blue hydrangeas bloomed at the entrance of the Wetland Park, their petals trembling slightly, stirred by the gentle breeze.

From a distance, it looked like a sea of blue-green ocean waves.

Yu Mo wore a simple, dark blue short-sleeved shirt, paired with black cargo shorts convenient for movement.

Fortunately, Yu Mo relied on her good body proportions. The wide, straight, knee-length shorts instead made her legs look slender and long.

Amidst simplicity and casualness, there was also a touch of capable efficiency.

Yu Mo glanced at her phone. She had arrived fifteen minutes earlier than the time everyone had agreed upon.

Considering that Wei Lai and the others habitually arrived late, and even Shen Shuyu probably was punctual, Yu Mo pushed down her black bucket hat and found a random spot by the entrance to sit down.

Just then, a silver-white Bentley slowly stopped at the gate.

It seemed as if the sun cast all its brilliance onto this car. Pedestrians coming and going all found the car dazzlingly unable to look away.

Even Yu Mo, who didn’t usually care much for such things, looked up.

“Young Miss,” the driver exited the driver’s seat and respectfully opened the door for the passenger in the back seat.

A small section of creamy-white ankle, stepping in a pair of exquisite teal-green Mary Jane vintage-style leather shoes, slowly emerged from the car, followed by the hem of a simple yet refined cream-white cotton skirt.

Shen Shuyu lightly supported the car door frame, wearing a flat cap of light wood color adorned with various floral decorations, standing in the sunlight.

Deep green ribbons softly adhered to her cheeks. For a moment, it was hard to tell whether her cheeks were more delicate or the ribbons themselves.

Surrounded by clusters of flowers, the image of a demure, elegant, and aloof young girl was perfectly embodied by Shen Shuyu.

Yu Mo watched, entranced, almost forgetting to breathe.

The driver took a beige woven picnic basket from the trunk and handed it to Shen Shuyu, saying to her: “Miss, I’ll be leaving then.”

“Mm.” Shen Shuyu nodded slightly, looking around in all directions for Yu Mo, who had just said in the group chat that she had already arrived.

Finally, under the flower wall not far from the entrance, she saw Yu Mo also looking her way.

A flash of liveliness passed through Shen Shuyu’s eyes. She lifted the basket and walked towards Yu Mo, greeting her: “Yu Mo.”

Yu Mo came back to her senses and hurried forward to meet Shen Shuyu.

“You came so early,” Yu Mo said, taking the not-so-heavy basket from Shen Shuyu’s hand.

“You came early as well,” Shen Shuyu replied calmly.

Who knows how many times she had made the driver push to the edge of speeding after seeing Yu Mo’s message that she had already arrived.

“Who knew the ride would be so smooth? I barely hit any red lights taking the taxi here,” Yu Mo was complaining when suddenly her eyes changed. She tilted her head slightly and looked behind Shen Shuyu.

Shen Shuyu also followed Yu Mo’s gaze.

Today was a workday, so there weren’t many visitors to the Wetland Park. The entrance had far fewer people than on weekends.

A comfortable summer breeze blew, large swaths of hydrangea petals swaying in the wind.

Shen Shuyu’s sight passed through them. At the entrance, she saw a blurry figure that felt familiar.

… No, two figures.

“Isn’t that Qu Wenyao?” Yu Mo struggled to identify.

The spot where they stood was really too far from the entrance. They could only vaguely make out two backs among the crowd.

An answer slowly surfaced in Shen Shuyu’s heart, but she remained silent.

— Zhou Yan and Qu Wenyao.

A butterfly flaps its wings, and a storm brews in South America.

In this life, just one small change between her and Yu Mo caused countless lines originally without a chance to connect, to reconnect.

“Probably not.” Shen Shuyu’s eyes were full of piled-up suspicion.

Persuading Yu Mo, and also attempting to persuade herself.

“What are you looking at!” Wei Lai’s voice came from the other direction.

Immediately followed by a flying pounce, Yu Mo was thrown backward several steps.

Unprepared, she crashed into Shen Shuyu’s embrace.

In summer, no one wore many clothes. Exposed skin pressed together without any warning.

Body heat exchanged.

In just that split second, brilliant sparks flew like lightning.

Yu Mo felt Shen Shuyu’s palm temperature, always cool regardless of the season. Her heart skipped a beat.

Time seemed to slow down.

Falling hydrangea petals rustled down onto Yu Mo’s heart.

A second later, it started beating wildly.

This inexplicable, uncontrollable heartbeat made Yu Mo very uncomfortable.

She habitually turned her head to look at Shen Shuyu, wanting to see if she had been hurt by the collision.

She saw, under the light and shadow, Shen Shuyu’s gaze was faint, yet seemed to hold towering waves surging within.

A tenderness within the coolness, magnified in Yu Mo’s pupils.

She had been shielding her just now.

Before Shen Shuyu could speak, a wave of tingling numbness rose in Yu Mo’s heart.

Her heart pounded even more chaotically.

As if to cover up the panic in her heart at this moment, Yu Mo put down the picnic basket and chased after Wei Lai fiercely: “Wei Lai, did you eat too much this morning, running over like that?! Stop! Don’t run!”

Weeping willow branches gently brushed across the mirror-like lake surface, causing ripples.

The summer wind, carrying moisture, settled on the group of six, cool and comfortable.

A red-and-white checkered picnic blanket spread out on the verdant green grass, several picnic baskets of different styles placed on it.

Fruits, snacks, and sandwiches were taken out by the six of them, hands busy, spreading across the picnic mat.

The shade of the trees blocked most of the scorching midday sun, making it very pleasant.

Wei Lai used a bottle opener on several colas and juices, various colored straws leaning against the bottle openings.

Silent bubbles endlessly clung to the straws, rising and falling from bottom to top.

After playing around for the whole journey, the few of them were also a bit hungry. They picked up the very appetizing-looking sandwiches and started eating.

“Hey, who brought these sandwiches? They’re so delicious!” Feng Ruoyu was completely surprised as soon as she took her first bite.

“I brought them,” Shen Shuyu said modestly.

“Aunt Zhao must have made these, I didn’t expect her to make even simple food like this so well,” Li Qingqing was extremely satisfied. Then she felt something was off, and leaned slightly closer to Shen Shuyu, asking quietly: “Did you make them together with Aunt Zhao?”

“Mm.” Shen Shuyu nodded, also opening a sandwich.

She looked at the tomatoes and lettuce peeking out between the brown bread in the center.

Far more than that.

Last night, in the vast Western-style kitchen of the Shen household, Aunt Zhao’s shadow was silently cast by the doorway the entire time.

From preparation to assembly, Shen Shuyu hadn’t let Aunt Zhao interfere at all.

She busied herself alone in the kitchen, from seven o’clock until nine o’clock, before finishing these six delicious Aunt Zhao’s secret-recipe sandwiches.

“Then our face is really huge today,” Li Qingqing’s head lightly rested on Shen Shuyu’s shoulder as she teased softly in her ear.

Shen Shuyu merely glanced lightly at Li Qingqing and didn’t respond.

Li Qingqing thought for a moment, then said: “Then I must repay you properly.”

Shen Shuyu looked at Li Qingqing with a slightly puzzled expression as she playfully raised an eyebrow at her. Then she turned her head, looking past herself towards Yu Mo, who had already eaten a small half of her sandwich: “Yu Mo, how is it? Tasty, right?”

Yu Mo’s mouth was still filled with the lingering flavor of well-marinated black pepper chicken breast. She nodded emphatically while chewing the sandwich: “Not bad.”

Just like a little hamster.

Filling Shen Shuyu’s heart with a heavy sense of satisfaction.

“It’s hard to forget the moment I first saw you, a pair of mesmerizing eyes…”

Crisp string sounds came bounding from under the willow tree where the six were seated.

Willow branches swayed, making rustling sounds, the wind seemed to become lighter along with it.

Li Qingqing’s nimble fingers swept across the ukulele strings. Her singing voice was melodious and lilting, like birds jumping on branches in the early morning.

Feng Ruoyu pointed at Wei Lai, smiling with eyes narrowed: “Look, Wei Lai’s eyes have gone straight!”

Wei Lai, exposed, instantly blushed with embarrassment.

She jumped up from the ground and chased after Feng Ruoyu, trying to cover it up.

Li Qingqing cried “Ah,” put down her ukulele, and ran after them.

Seeing two chasing one, Zhou Qin also got up and ran over.

The music abruptly stopped just like that. Shen Shuyu watched from afar as these frolicking figures quickly disappeared. She still felt a lingering sense of wanting more and strummed a couple of times on the ukulele strings beside her.

It was just a pity that she could play the flute, clarinet, and piano, but just couldn’t play the guitar.

“Want to hear something?” Yu Mo leaned over and asked from the side.

“Mm.” Shen Shuyu, hearing this, directly handed the ukulele to Yu Mo.

A bit of a coercive intent.

Yu Mo didn’t bicker with Shen Shuyu, though. She took the instrument from her hand.

While tuning the strings she had noticed were slightly off earlier, she asked: “What do you want to hear?”

“The song Qingqing was playing just now will do,” Shen Shuyu said, slightly moving closer to Yu Mo as she sat down.

The sunlight was uniquely beautiful, the sound of the strings crisp.

Shen Shuyu softly harmonized with Yu Mo.

One voice ethereal and clear, the other deep and magnetic.

The two voices blended with the ukulele’s unique string tones, carrying a somewhat light and cheerful tune, transmitted by the wind.

This was the first time Yu Mo heard Shen Shuyu’s singing voice.

Her usually cool, clear voice was tinged with a bit of liveliness because of this somewhat bubbly song.

So what would she be like right now?

Unconsciously, Yu Mo turned towards Shen Shuyu while playing the ukulele.

Shen Shuyu had already taken off the flat cap she was wearing. Her jet-black, long hair was tousled by the wind.

Beneath thick, fine lashes were eyes even clearer than the nearby lake water.

Her gaze looked into the distance, unknown where it landed.

Underneath a straight, delicate nose were gently moving cherry lips.

Her lips, just moistened with watermelon juice, were exceptionally crystalline under the light.

“I’m afraid I might fall in love with you, maybe one day I won’t be able to help myself,

Missing you only makes me suffer, falling for you is beyond my control.

Falling for you is…”

Yu Mo’s hand strumming the strings visibly increased in force.

At the very last stroke of the strum, Yu Mo freely and unrestrainedly lay back on the grass.

The sun was so bright one couldn’t open their eyes. Yu Mo closed her eyes and plucked the last string.

“Beyond my control.”

What surfaced in Yu Mo’s mind was that moment from long ago, under the starry sky that night. The night breeze drifted, and Shen Shuyu silently gazed at her face.

“This year has passed so quickly,” Yu Mo sighed, as if to divert her own attention.

“Mm, once school starts again, it will pass even faster,” Shen Shuyu agreed. Turning her head, she looked at Yu Mo, who had also lain down on the grass like herself. “Where do you want to go for university?”

Yu Mo glanced at Shen Shuyu lying beside her.

The light above and the green grass below traced the young girl’s body lines. Her creamy-white skin was faintly visible.

Subtly yet unrestrainedly displaying the graceful figure of an Omega girl, nearly fully developed.

The camellia scent, unnoticed by Yu Mo, drifted into her nose.

Hazy and soft.

Just like the lyrics of that song just now, it truly made her feel somewhat breathless.

“A University, C University, S University, I think they’re all fine,” Yu Mo answered.

Shen Shuyu squinted slightly, looking at the sky whose color had lightened a shade under the sun’s glare. “Yu Mo.”

“Come with me, let’s both aim for A University,” Shen Shuyu said, extending her hand, blocking the sunlight from the sun in the sky. She turned her head to look at Yu Mo.

Yu Mo blinked.

The grass rustled softly. She also turned her little head towards Shen Shuyu.

Their eyes met, like a silent pact for the future.

A hazy feeling grew in Yu Mo’s heart, like sprouting grass in the soil during spring, ready to break through the ground, a patch growing without her realizing it.

Under the blazing summer sun, Shen Shuyu’s outstretched hand was covered by a hand slightly larger than hers.

Yu Mo nodded and said: “Okay.”