Chapter 224: Holiday
Li Mu’s life settled into a calm routine.
She woke up early every day to clean, made lunch around 10 AM, and Yu Fan would usually show up to join her. After lunch, she took a nap, played games with Yu Fan, and in the evenings, she either watched TV or went out with Xiao Jing to wander around.
This kind of life was simple but Li Mu liked it a lot.
There was no pressure, no motivation, just like a lazy fish. The only thing she had to think about was what to eat for each meal, and there were no worries.
But she also knew this peaceful life couldn’t last too long, so she planned to find a job after the New Year. Only one month was left until the holiday.
Li Mu had never been fond of the New Year. As a child, she hated the smell of fireworks, disliked visiting relatives, and couldn’t stand their chatter. After growing up and being alone, the New Year had no special meaning for her. She would only visit her grandfather’s house for half a day.
But this year, she was actually looking forward to it. With Xiao Jing’s energy, the holiday was bound to be lively enough. And Yu Fan...
“Xiao Jing, is there anything Yu Fan is hiding from me recently?”
After finishing her daily floor cleaning, Li Mu looked up and saw Xiao Jing, barefoot on the clean floor, leaving a trail of foot prints.
“Huh? Are you talking about the trip?”
“Trip?”
“Yeah, brother-in-law said he has a surprise for you!” Xiao Jing paused for a moment, then suddenly realized, and pouted in a playful complaint, “Sister! You tricked me!”
It was clearly Xiao Jing's own fault for speaking too soon.
Li Mu, holding a rag, walked over to Xiao Jing and crouched down to wipe the foot prints off the floor.
Xiao Jing had just touched up her makeup, and she was covered in powder. If she jumped around, she might shake off a good amount of it.
Otherwise, Li Mu wouldn’t need to clean up after her every day.
“Go to your room and stay there. I just cleaned the floor, don’t come out and make a mess,” Li Mu casually ordered, but then suddenly looked up and called out, “Is there anything else Yu Fan is hiding from me?”
“Nope.”
“Then don’t eat lunch today. You’ll just waste food.”
“That's an unfair threat!”
“Yep.” Li Mu nodded shamelessly.
Although Xiao Jing was a ghost, her love for food came first, so she immediately sold Yu Fan out.
“The place is Longfeng Mountain, he’s going to take you out to play tomorrow, then he’ll take you to the train station and tell you about it.”
“Tomorrow?”
“Yeah, because tomorrow will mark one full month of you two being together.”
That soon?
Li Mu sat on the couch, took out her phone, and checked the information about Longfeng Mountain.
It was a famous tourist spot, but since it was located in a remote area, not many tourists visited. It was more like a wild mountain area. Although the local government had been trying to develop and promote it, every time they made progress, something unexpected would happen.
“This is the place I carefully chose!” Xiao Jing bounced over excitedly. “The scenery is absolutely beautiful! Plus, there are few tourists, so even if you two go out into the wild...”
Li Mu slapped her on the head, then leaned back on the couch.
If they were really going on a trip tomorrow, and if this was the surprise Yu Fan planned for her, should she put on makeup as a response?
Her makeup skills came from Lin Xi, but she had long since surpassed her. After all, she had to do Xiao Jing’s makeup every day, even full-body makeup for her.
Even if she doesn't go to university later, her skills are probably good enough for her to become a makeup artist.
As a man, Yu Fan definitely liked his girlfriend to wear something sexy and beautiful, but not too revealing, because if others saw her, he would definitely feel jealous.
This made Li Mu remember the short skirt she wore when she participated in the Top Ten Singers competition.
Maybe because she had worn a short skirt before, she didn’t mind as much now. After all, if she wore safety shorts underneath, it was almost the same as wearing shorts.
The doorbell rang, interrupting Li Mu’s thoughts.
She hurried over to the door, looked through the peephole, and then opened the door.
It was her neighbor, Ren Tianyou.
"Brother Tianyou? You’re not working today?"
Since Ren Tianyou’s job had become stable, Li Mu hadn’t seen him much.
"I'm off today." Ren Tianyou yawned as he entered, casually closing the door behind him. He walked to the coffee table, grabbed a small orange, and peeled it while talking. "You’re on vacation now?"
"Yeah, I finished my spring exams."
"Want to come over to my place for lunch?"
Li Mu hesitated. "What about Auntie?"
"It’s fine, she’s the one who asked you to come," Ren Tianyou said, sitting down on the couch. He was about to eat the whole peeled orange but noticed Xiao Jing staring at him.
With a sigh, he handed the orange to Xiao Jing, then turned to Li Mu and reminded her, "Don’t bring her. My mom has a weak heart."
"Why not! I want to eat too!"
"Absolutely not. I'm going to call someone, please be quiet."
Li Mu ignored Xiao Jing’s protest and quickly called Yu Fan to explain the situation briefly. After a few minutes, she hung up the phone and noticed it was already 11 AM.
"Should we go now?" she asked Ren Tianyou.
"Sure, the food should be ready by now," Ren Tianyou nodded, taking another orange. "Where did you buy these? They're really sweet."
"Someone gave them to me."
Aunt Cai had visited a couple of days ago and brought a big bag of small oranges, but Xiao Jing had already eaten most of them.
"Oh, your boyfriend, right?" Ren Tianyou gave a teasing smile and leaned in, his curiosity showing. "How’s it going between you two?"
Li Mu instinctively took a couple of steps back, creating some space between them. Ren Tianyou immediately acted dramatically, "Xiao Mu, you don’t love me anymore."
"......"
In the past, Li Mu didn’t mind hanging around with Ren Tianyou like that, but now that she was a girl and had a boyfriend, she was more self-aware.
She knew that even if Yu Fan didn’t say anything, men had a strong sense of possessiveness.
"Sister! You don’t love me either!"
Xiao Jing clung to the doorframe, sounding pitiful.
Li Mu gave her a blank stare and quickly shut the door. She followed Ren Tianyou to his neighbor’s house.
Auntie was just coming out of the kitchen holding a plate of braised eggplant. When she heard the noise, she looked up and made eye contact with Li Mu.
"Looking even prettier," Auntie smiled and nodded at Li Mu.
"See? She’s already completely accepting you," Ren Tianyou whispered to Li Mu.
"Yeah."
Li Mu seemed quite nervous and forced a smile at Auntie.
"I’ve explained everything to her. Actually, she feels quite guilty," Ren Tianyou continued. He still believed that Li Mu’s change into a girl was due to a congenital illness, and he had also explained this to his mother.
"You two sit down, I’ll go serve the food." Auntie waved them over. "The crabs aren’t steamed yet, should we wait or eat now?"
"Either way."
Li Mu sat down in her usual spot. She always had a designated chair in Ren Tianyou’s dining room.
Through the glass partition between the dining room and kitchen, she quietly observed Auntie’s expression.
It looked like... she really had accepted her.