Chapter 71: A Chance Encounter with Ye Mengze
Not long after she got home, Lin Muqing heard someone knocking on the door. The people outside said they were staff from the comic convention.
When she opened the door, she saw two tall men standing there, each carrying several large bags filled with things meant for her.
"I don’t remember buying this much stuff..."
Looking at the bags in their hands, Lin Muqing scratched the back of her head, feeling something was off.
She thought about how she hadn’t bought much, maybe one bag for each item, but this was way too many.
“We’re not sure about that. We’re just the delivery guys,” one of them said with a smile after glancing at the bags and then at the puzzled Lin Muqing.
“Well, alright then. Just bring them in and put them over here.”
Even though it still felt strange, Lin Muqing didn’t want to cause trouble for the workers, so she let them carry the bags inside.
Once they set everything down near the entrance, the two delivery guys left without saying another word.
Before they exited the apartment complex, both of them reached into their pockets. When they found two crisp hundred-yuan bills, they suddenly felt that working overtime to deliver things wasn’t tiring at all.
In fact, they thought they could take on a few more jobs like this.
Back in Lin Muqing’s apartment, after closing the door, she looked at all the bags on the floor, her expression a bit complicated.
She thought for a moment, then picked up her phone and opened a voice chat with her good friend on WeChat.
“Hey, boss, about the stuff you had delivered…”
“They're all for you,” Ye Ziming interrupted before she could finish.
“Huh?”
Lin Muqing was stunned after hearing that, surprised by what her good buddy just said.
She glanced at the bags again. These things looked expensive. Getting so many gifts all of a sudden made her feel a bit embarrassed.
Even though they were close friends, she didn’t feel comfortable just spending his money like that.
“Those are just things from the storage room. They’re not worth much. You can think of it as helping me clear out some old stock.”
It was like Ye Ziming had read her mind. Before she could say no, he spoke again.
She could tell from his voice that he was in a good mood, probably even smiling.
“Well… alright then.”
Since she couldn’t refuse, she might as well accept it. She could find a way to return the favor later. It’s what good friends do, after all.
That reminded her of what happened at the café a few days ago. She still owed him a favor.
Maybe she could take him to a movie and give him a small gift as thanks. Next weekend sounded like a good time.
That gave her a few days to think about what kind of gift would be best.
“Well, I’m gonna hang up now.”
After chatting a bit more, Lin Muqing ended the call and finally started opening the mystery boxes.
Her friend had told her he didn’t even know what was in them, so she could just enjoy discovering it herself.
What she didn’t know was that Ye Ziming had prepared everything in advance. A complete set of merchandise from her favorite anime.
Figures, posters, cosplay outfits… basically a big surprise gift bundle.
“Wow~ This is amazing!”
While unpacking, Lin Muqing simply sat down on the floor and looked at all the merch in front of her, everything was from her favorite characters.
Saying she was “excited” wouldn’t even come close to describing how she felt.
It took her quite a bit of time to bring everything into her room and carefully place each item where it belonged.
Sitting in her room, she looked at the keychain in her hand, the figures on the shelf, the cup on her desk, and the pillow on her bed…
“This is just too perfect.” Right then, Lin Muqing felt really, really happy.
After everything was sorted, her eyes moved back to the cosplay outfits.
“Umm… these seem like girl’s clothes,” she mumbled.
The outfits were ones often worn by the main character in the anime. They were all casual home clothes, or more accurately, pajamas.
There were no skirts, but the tops were long and loose, the kind that almost reached the knees.
Sitting cross-legged on the floor, Lin Muqing rested her chin on her hand, deep in thought.
Then, she glanced at her closet and the mirror inside it. Should I try them on?
“Ahem… it's just pajamas, that's all.”
Blushing a little, Lin Muqing muttered to the empty room while looking at herself in the closet mirror.
She didn’t even know who she was trying to explain things to.
She only knew that the clothes fit really well, and they felt like they’d be great to wear as pajamas.
Much more comfortable than her usual ones.
Hmm… maybe I should wash them first and then start wearing them tomorrow night?
……………………………
Saturday flew by, and just like she expected, she ended up playing all day and had zero motivation to do homework.
Luckily, she had worked hard Friday night, so if she spent a little time on Sunday, she could still finish everything.
So when she woke up Sunday morning, she didn’t rush to do homework. Instead, she changed into an outfit for going out and headed to the nearby market to buy groceries.
“Auntie, can I get one cabbage, please?”
“Sure! What are you planning to cook today?”
“Stir-fried cabbage, and maybe some cola chicken wings.”
As she spoke, Lin Muqing held up the plastic bag in her right hand. It had a few still-frozen chicken wings inside.
While shopping, she chatted casually with the stall owner and scanned the QR code to pay.
“You're amazing, Lin Muqing! Taking care of yourself so well!”
“Hehe~ Not a big deal.”
She felt a little shy being praised all of a sudden, but she grinned and took the bag from the lady.
Inside the bag, besides the cabbage, was also a bunch of green onions.
As a regular customer, Lin Muqing wasn’t surprised and just waved goodbye with a smile before turning around to head home.
With several bags in her hand, she was almost back at her apartment complex when she suddenly spotted a figure that looked kind of familiar.
Before she could figure out who it was, the person turned to face her and waved.
“What a coincidence! Didn’t expect to see you here.”
In just a few quick steps, the girl walked up to her. It was Ye Mengze, who greeted her warmly and spoke in a friendly tone.
Only then did Lin Muqing realize—Oh! This is Ye Ziming’s older sister, Ye Mengze!
“Uh? You’ve got the wrong person.”
Even though Lin Muqing recognized her, she didn’t say who she was and pretended not to know her at all.
The reason was simple she was wearing her jade pendant, which made her look like a boy right now, short hair and all.
If she admitted who she was, wouldn't that make her seem like some weirdo!?
“No way! I never forget a face. You’re Lin Muqing, right?”
To her surprise, Ye Mengze didn’t believe her for a second and confidently stopped her.
As she spoke, she gave Lin Muqing a once-over and suddenly noticed something odd.
“Did you cut your hair?”