Chapter 62: Let Me Take a Look
He didn’t really know why, but he actually felt that what Sister Yu said made sense.
Maybe it would come in handy someday.
He looked down at the bag, it looked really plain. As long as no one opened it, there wouldn’t be any problems.
It seemed fine, so he decided to take it home and wash it.
As for Lin Muqing, she first changed back into her own clothes like usual, then had dinner in the cafe.
While eating, she chatted with the maid on break and talked a bit about the anime convention happening tomorrow.
“You’ve never been to an anime convention before, Lin Muqing?”
They had only chatted for a bit when one of the maids noticed the confused look on Lin Muqing’s face and asked her curiously.
After she asked, the other maids also turned to look at her.
“No, I haven’t.”
She shook her head slightly, still looking a little lost. In fact, she only got into anime in high school. Before that, she had only watched anime like Doraemon.
The first anime she ever watched was Eromanga-sensei, and she immediately fell in love with the character.
She even wanted to learn how to draw ecchi manga herself.
That way, she could make her own, and look at her own spicy drawings, just the thought of it made her feel excited.
“I see, then it’d be best if someone could show you around.”
One of the maids nodded with understanding. But before she could say more, another maid next to her laughed and said,
“Why are you pretending to care? Lin Muqing is the manager’s secretary, you know.”
“Oh right, that’s true!”
At that, the maids all started smiling like teasing aunties and looked at Lin Muqing without saying anything more.
“Uhh…”
She froze for a second, not really sure why they were smiling like that.
Was “secretary” some kind of strange title?
She thought about it for a while but couldn’t figure it out. Luckily, the rest of the conversation quickly distracted her and made her forget all about it.
Before leaving, Sister Yu originally wanted to explain some things to Lin Muqing, like how to get into the convention and where to do makeup.
But after hearing that Lin Muqing lived very close by, she gave up on that idea.
Instead, she gave her a mysterious smile.
“Just stick with the manager tomorrow. He knows everything.”
She smiled, patted Lin Muqing on the shoulder, and then turned around and left on her own.
“Oh, okay.”
Standing in the hallway, Lin Muqing stared blankly at Sister Yu’s back, feeling a little confused.
Then she turned her head, and happened to see her good buddy standing at the office door. Their eyes met.
“Let’s go.”
With a faint smile, Ye Ziming softly said to her.
“Coming!”
She immediately forgot about Sister Yu’s weird smile, put on a sweet smile of her own, and quickly walked over to her good buddy.
The two of them left the cafe through the back door. On the way, Lin Muqing carefully held the bag in her hands, afraid something might slip out by accident.
If her good buddy saw what was inside, she would basically “socially die” twice in one day.
At that moment, she noticed that her good buddy was also carrying a bag.
One glance was all it took. She was shocked to find that the two bags looked exactly the same!
“Hey, what’s that, boss?”
Like a curious kitten, Lin Muqing leaned over when she saw the bag, trying to peek inside.
But Ye Ziming didn’t give her the chance. He quickly moved the bag away and raised it high in the air.
If Lin Muqing saw what was inside, Ye Ziming felt like he would socially die too.
“Eh? Is it something you don’t want people to see?”
Lin Muqing didn’t get to see what was inside the bag, but she wasn’t in a hurry. Instead, she covered her mouth with one hand and teased with a grin.
Seeing the way her eyes squinted slightly and her smile carried a hint of teasing, Ye Ziming couldn’t help but frown a little.
He didn’t try to explain or act flustered. He just quietly lowered his head and looked into Lin Muqing’s eyes.
There was something subtle in his gaze.
“What’s that?” he asked in a soft voice, pointing at the bag in Lin Muqing’s hand.
Then, copying her from earlier, he leaned forward and widened his eyes like he wanted to take a closer look.
“Is it something... you don’t want people to see?”
As soon as Lin Muqing quickly dodged and held the bag tightly to her chest with a wary look, Ye Ziming followed up with the question.
He raised an eyebrow and smiled calmly. His eyes narrowed just slightly, with a bit of a playful challenge.
Reverse uno—‘You wanna see mine? Then let me see yours first.’
Besides, Ye Zi had several physical advantages. In many ways, Lin Muqing was the weaker one.
If this little standoff kept going, she would probably end up losing. It wouldn’t even be a fair trade, she’d just lose outright.
“…Ahem, well, Uncle Liu is waiting for us. Let’s hurry up.”
Feeling the pressure, Lin Muqing instinctively took a step back, her eyes darting around nervously. She also clutched the bag even tighter.
At that moment, she noticed Uncle Liu standing by the car, smoking, and quickly used it as an excuse to escape.
She immediately called out to Ye Ziming and walked over first.
“Hmph~”
Ye Ziming gave a light snort with a smile and casually caught up with her in a few steps. Then they got in the car together and headed home.
On the way back, Ye Ziming placed his bag on the front passenger seat.
But when they sat together in the back seat, he kept glancing over. Not at her, but at the bag she was guarding so tightly.
“Boss?”
“Hmm?”
“…I was wrong.”
At that moment, Lin Muqing really just wanted to get out and walk home.
It wasn’t that her good buddy kept looking at her, that was fine. The problem was that his eyes always drifted to the bag, and the look he gave it was… dangerous.
Like he might reach out and snatch it any second.
That’s way too scary!
“What are you saying? You didn’t do anything wrong.”
Ye Ziming replied in a gentle tone, smiling like an older brother doting on his little sister.
But after saying that, he squinted again and stared at the bag in her arms.
His smile, and that look in his eyes, felt dangerously intense.
“Uuuu~”
She was pretty sure her buddy was getting back at her, just because she almost saw what was inside his bag earlier.
Ye Ziming: You like to tease? What a coincidence, I do too.
“Well then… see you later, Boss!”
Finally arriving at her apartment building, Lin Muqing quickly opened the car door, hugging the bag tightly.
Leaving those words behind, she dashed off like she was escaping.
Back at home, she felt her face burning, like it had been set on fire.
Must be from all the running, she told herself.
“Whew~ Time for a shower.”
After resting for a bit on the couch, she got up again and carried the bag to the bathroom.
Besides taking a shower, she also needed to rinse all the underwear in the bag, even if she wasn’t sure she would wear them.
While washing those things, Lin Muqing’s face turned red with embarrassment. She had never touched so many of those items before.
But to be honest… the material felt kind of special. Really smooth to the touch.
Halfway through, she even started wondering, if she wore this stuff, would it be more comfortable than her usual tank tops?
The situation earlier was kind of rushed, so she didn’t really get a feel for it.
Hmm… maybe I’ll try it on again after it dries tomorrow?