Chapter 109: It Wasn’t That Scary After All
"Hold my hand. I’ll take you out."
Ye Ziming reached out his hand to Lin Muqing, speaking softly with a faint smile.
“Mm.”
This time, Lin Muqing didn’t say anything extra. She didn’t push his hand away like she did earlier. Instead, she grabbed it and the moment she did, she suddenly felt a lot calmer, like the fear around her had just faded away.
The only downside… was that when she held his hand, she felt like her face was getting even hotter. Probably because there wasn’t any air conditioning inside the haunted house.
Yeah, that had to be it.
For the next little while, Lin Muqing followed Ye Ziming closely, too scared to walk on her own.
After stumbling around for a while, the two of them finally found the exit, and with the staff’s help, they made it out safely.
“Whew~ I guess it wasn’t as scary as I thought it would be.”
As soon as they walked out, Lin Muqing let go of Ye Ziming’s hand and let out a long breath. She patted her chest to calm her racing heart.
“……”
Ye Ziming glanced at the girl beside him, then at his own arm, which still felt kind of numb. His expression became a bit complicated, and a little awkward.
He couldn’t help but think: just now, someone started by just holding hands, but then suddenly clung to his whole arm like an octopus.
Still, he couldn’t really complain. Because when she hugged his arm like that, he felt two soft, squishy things pressing against him.
It made him think of a meme, ‘Sir, why are your chest muscle so unnecessarily huge?’
Ahem ahem…
“Hmm?”
Just as she was calming down, Lin Muqing suddenly remembered something very important. With a sweet smile, she turned to Ye Ziming and gently called out.
“Do you remember what you promised me earlier?”
Her pretty eyes blinked with hope, full of stars like she had literal sparkles coming out of them. Her cute little face lit up with a playful smile. It was unbelievably adorable.
“I remember.”
Ye Ziming nodded gently and slowly opened his mouth to reply.
What he didn’t realize… was just how soft his gaze had become while looking at her. Right now, he was thinking, ‘Whatever she wants, I’ll find a way to get it for her.’
“Hehe, then it’s a deal!”
“Mm.”
Under the glow of the streetlight, Lin Muqing couldn’t hide her excitement. She looked like she was about to bounce with joy, all because she was about to get the new outfit she wanted.
Watching her so happy made Ye Ziming smile too. He felt genuinely happy inside. A kind of happiness he couldn’t quite explain.
After finishing the haunted house, the two wandered around the amusement park aimlessly. The only thing Ye Ziming felt a little disappointed about was that Lin Muqing didn’t hold his hand again.
Then, as if by fate, they suddenly came across a bubble tea shop.
“Ahem ahem.”
Lin Muqing gave a little cough, turned to her good buddy, and shot him a look. One she was sure he’d understand. After all, they were besties, right?
Just like she expected, Ye Ziming understood the hint in one second. He didn’t say anything, but he got the message.
His dear Lin Muqing… was a cute little foodie, especially when it came to sweet things. Just like her, sweet and bubbly.
That’s why she loved bubble tea. But it had to be full sugar, anything less just wouldn’t make her happy.
"Umm... I want to go to the bathroom. How about you go buy the milk tea first, and I’ll come over later?"
Just as she was about to go with her good buddy to buy milk tea, Lin Muqing suddenly felt the urge to go.
She looked at the milk tea shop on one side, then the bathroom on the other. She really wanted milk tea, but she also really needed to go. So, after thinking it over, Lin Muqing came up with the idea that they should split up for now.
"Okay."
Ye Ziming hesitated for a moment. He didn’t really want to separate from Lin Muqing, but then he remembered that he couldn’t go into the women’s restroom anyway. Plus, the bathroom and milk tea shop weren’t far from each other, so he nodded and agreed.
"Wait, did you bring tissues?"
Just as Lin Muqing was about to walk away, Ye Ziming suddenly thought of something and quickly stopped her. If he remembered right, she had used up all her tissues earlier.
Luckily, he still had a pack with him. As he spoke, he pulled out a pack of tissues and handed it to Lin Muqing.
"Uhh… public bathrooms usually have them, right?"
A little embarrassed, Lin Muqing reached into her pockets and was surprised to find that she really didn’t have any. For some reason, she didn’t take the tissues right away and replied awkwardly, “Maybe…”
Ignoring the awkward look on her face, Ye Ziming firmly pressed the tissue pack into her hands, clearly not going to take no for an answer. After making sure she had it, he turned and walked toward the milk tea shop to get her a nice drink.
Holding the tissue pack, Lin Muqing walked to the public restroom entrance and quickly chose the women’s bathroom. After finishing, she checked the tissue dispenser, and sure enough, it was empty. Her good buddy had been right!
She opened the tissue pack, pulled one out to use, and felt a little conflicted inside.
Now she was starting to wonder… Did he notice something? How else would he know she needed tissues?
“No way, right? My disguise is perfect…”
As she stood by the sink washing her hands, Lin Muqing mumbled quietly to herself.
She thought about it but still couldn’t figure out what gave her away. In theory, there was no reason her good buddy should know that little secret of hers.
Just as she finished washing and shaking the water off her hands, ready to go find her good buddy at the milk tea shop, a guy suddenly appeared in front of her.
Just like in the morning, the guy showed up and blocked her path.
“Hey, pretty girl.”
“...?”
Hearing the voice, Lin Muqing felt like it sounded familiar.
And looking at him more closely, he did look kind of familiar too. She felt like she’d seen this face somewhere before.
“Looks like we’re really meant to meet, fancy seeing you again here.”
“Huh? Who are you? You’ve got the wrong person, right?”
Watching the boy talk to himself in front of her, Lin Muqing was confused. She had no idea who he was.
Then she looked at the smug smile on his face and the way he randomly tried to chat with her, and she immediately didn’t like him. Her brows furrowed slightly, and her eyes showed a bit of annoyance.
“I…”
Hearing what she said, the guy froze for a second. It was like all the things he wanted to say were suddenly stuck in his throat. What he didn’t know was that Lin Muqing’s brain had a built-in filter. It automatically blocked out annoying people.
“You don’t remember me? We just met this morning.”
The guy quickly hid his awkwardness and smiled again.
“This morning? Oh oh oh, you're that flower thief!”