Mo Xiangwen truly hadn’t expected the mall Su Mengli had mentioned to be so far from the school.
Even with smooth traffic the entire way, their experienced driver took more than half an hour to reach the destination.
There wasn’t much to say about the mall itself.
True to its name, the place sprawled across an area comparable to a city square.
From every angle he looked, Mo Xiangwen couldn’t spot any difference from other large shopping centers.
He had no idea how Su Mengli and her sister knew this place carried the furniture they wanted.
Mo Xiangwen’s confusion was quickly cleared up. Su Mengli and Su Mengyao moved through the mall with the familiarity of regular visitors, turning a few corners effortlessly before arriving at a store.
The store’s decor leaned heavily on dark tones, accented by colorful light strips. If it had been any dimmer, the vibe might have rivaled an esports hotel.
But it was a retail space, after all—they had merchandise to sell.
Crank the dimness too high for atmosphere, and customers wouldn’t be able to see the furniture properly.
The array of esports desks and chairs on display proved Su Mengli hadn’t been exaggerating. She really did know where to find what they were after.
A young saleswoman noticed them entering and hurried over.
Just as Mo Xiangwen thought she was there to guide them, she headed straight for Su Mengli, exchanged a few quiet words, gave a slight bow, and rushed off.
“Let’s go sit on the sofas first,” Su Mengyao said with a light laugh. “Of course, you can browse on your own for a bit if you want.”
“Anyway, I think it doesn’t make much difference with or without a salesperson.”
“Mengyao, you can’t say things like that,” Su Mengli said, shaking her head to cut her off.
Su Mengyao glanced left and right, confirming no one else was nearby, before muttering under her breath, “I’m only saying it to you two anyway.”
Su Mengli shook her head again. “Say whatever you want once we’re back home, but not in the store.”
Seeing how firm Su Mengli was, Su Mengyao let the subject drop.
Her eyes twinkled mischievously as she flashed a smile. “Then how about Xiangwen and I go check out the chairs?”
“Sure, go ahead. I’ll just wait here.”
Given how familiar the sisters seemed with the place, Mo Xiangwen decided to follow their lead.
Still, he shot Su Mengli a questioning look. Her affirming nod put him at ease, and he followed Su Mengyao deeper into the store to check out the chairs.
In the experience area, however, he noticed that most of the seats were esports chairs. There were hardly any sofa chairs like the ones he had in mind.
Since both sisters knew their way around here, he figured he might as well ask Su Mengyao directly, Mo Xiangwen thought.
“No sofa chairs here?”
Su Mengyao blinked in mild surprise, thought for a second, and replied, “There are some, but they don’t sell as well, so they’re usually stocked toward the back.”
“But Xiangwen, why are you so fixated on a sofa chair? I think esports chairs are great. My place and my sister’s both use them.”
Mo Xiangwen explained, “Esports chairs have their advantages, sure, but for long sessions, a sofa chair lets you recline while using the computer. It’s a little easier on the spine.”
He had used an esports chair himself before, but prolonged sitting from work had led to nagging back problems. He’d been meaning to switch to a sofa chair for a try.
His old one had held up fine, though, leaving him without much excuse to replace it.
“Eh, that sounds like something an old man would say.”
Su Mengyao teased him with a grin, then hopped onto one of the chairs with a playful bounce.
It was the experience area, after all—a quick sit-down was no big deal.
A salesperson assisting other customers glanced their way but soon looked elsewhere.
“Esports chairs can recline too, you know.”
With that, Su Mengyao gently tugged the control lever and leaned back fully, letting her weight do the rest.
The chair’s joints emitted a soft sliding sound as the backrest dropped swiftly under her, the whole seat wobbling faintly before settling steadily at nearly 180 degrees.
“It can, but that doesn’t make me feel entirely safe.”
Watching her daring maneuver, Mo Xiangwen’s heart clenched. He hurried to her side.
The chair had only swayed a little before stabilizing, and he let out a breath of relief.
“Be careful—this thing reclines pretty far.”
“Don’t worry, they design them to handle it,” Su Mengyao said. She sat up straight and reclined several more times in quick succession.
Each motion made the chair rock more vigorously, but it cradled her body securely and steadied itself every time.
“See? Super stable.”
“Alright, alright, quit messing around with their chairs—they still need to sell them.”
Mo Xiangwen advised her with a helpless chuckle. “Come on, get up. If you like the esports chair, we can just get one.”
“It’s not that I love esports chairs or anything…”
Su Mengyao mumbled as she stood.
“Besides, the ones in the experience area aren’t for sale anyway, so it’s not like…”
Before she could finish, she suddenly swayed and plopped backward onto the chair.
In standing up, she’d forgotten to reset the lever fully. The backrest failed to catch her properly and snapped rearward with sudden force.
The front wheels lifted clean off the ground. There was a split-second pause before the chair tipped precariously.
Mo Xiangwen had been watching her closely, uneasy from the start. Seizing that brief hesitation, he lunged forward from beside her, grabbed her arm, and yanked her upright.
He hadn’t even caught his breath when he saw the chair fully off-balance. To keep her legs from getting clipped by the base, he pulled her sharply toward himself once more.
Bang—
The chair crashed heavily to the floor, the sharp, resounding thud echoing through the entire experience area.
Su Mengyao, flung into his arms by the momentum, flinched instinctively. She shrank her neck like a startled fawn, her whole body going rigid.
The impact of her warm, soft form against him struck far more intensely than he’d imagined, stealing his breath for a moment.
“You okay?” Steadying himself, he gripped her shoulders and eased her back from his chest.
But rather than pulling away as he’d expected, Su Mengyao wrapped her arms around him in a firm, unabashed hug.
The yielding softness of her body pressed vividly against him in that instant.
“Mm, thanks.”
Only then did she seem to register the intimacy. She loosened her embrace and stepped back half a pace.
She dipped her head briefly, but lifted her face again to meet his eyes. A shy yet radiant smile curved her lips.
