Chapter 123: Helping Big Sis Out
After walking out of the living room, Lin Muqing noticed something strange. Her good buddy’s older sister kept staring at her. If it were just a regular look, it wouldn’t be a big deal, but the way she was looking made her feel weird.
“Uhmm… is something wrong?”
Noticing Ye Mengze’s gaze, Lin Muqing tilted her head and asked, confused.
“You two seem pretty close, huh?”
Ye Mengze gave her a meaningful smile but didn’t answer her question, instead speaking to herself.
At the same time, she looked Lin Muqing up and down. In her mind, this girl was just what she needed to try on the clothes at her studio. Even though Lin Muqing was a high school student, she looked super young, like a middle schooler.
She was also small and cute, giving off a soft and adorable vibe that made Ye Mengze want to reach out and pat her on the head.
“Mhm, yeah.”
Lin Muqing nodded confidently and admitted it without hesitation. In her heart, they were “good bros,” so of course they were close! To her, that was simply a fact.
Hearing this answer, Ye Mengze’s smile widened. She thought, No wonder she's my little brother’s girlfriend, she’s different from other girls. Her reply didn’t come off as shy or flirty, but rather as genuinely cute, definitely a plus.
“Ahem.”
She held back her smile and coughed lightly into her hand.
“Can I ask you for a favor? I’ll pay you, of course.”
Wearing a professional smile, she placed her hands on her thighs and winked at Lin Muqing.
She had already learned from Sister Yu that Lin Muqing loved money. As long as money was involved, she was easy to talk to. That made things simple, Ye Mengze lacked everything except money.
“A favor? What kind?”
As soon as she heard the word pay, Lin Muqing’s eyes widened, then sparkled with interest.
Smiling, she met Ye Mengze’s gaze.
This was her good buddy’s big sister, so helping her was the right thing to do, after all.
So, Lin Muqing would never help just for the money!
“I’m a fashion designer,” Ye Mengze said, pulling out a business card and handing it to Lin Muqing.
After a short pause, she continued, “Recently, my friend and I made some new clothes. We need a model to try them on, and you happen to fit the look we’re going for. As they say, ‘don’t let good stuff go to outsiders.’ So if you agree, you’ll be paid the same amount we’d normally give a hired model.”
To persuade Lin Muqing, Ye Mengze patiently explained why she was choosing her.
Meanwhile, Ye Ziming had finished washing the underwear and was now hanging it out to dry on the balcony. The whole time, his face stayed calm and composed.
But when Lin Muqing saw her good buddy holding those undies, her face turned red again and she quickly looked away. Even though they were already washed clean, she still felt super embarrassed. Just thinking about it made her flustered.
“So? Are you willing to help me out?”
Ye Mengze looked at Lin Muqing, who was still deep in thought, and smiled faintly, waiting quietly for her reply. But what she didn’t know was Lin Muqing wasn’t thinking about the job offer. She was still stuck on that moment of Ye Ziming holding that underwear.
“Uh…”
The question snapped her back to reality. Only then did she start thinking seriously about whether or not she should help her buddy’s sister.
“I have a question.”
After running the situation through her head, Lin Muqing spoke, eyes full of hesitation and a bit of awkwardness.
Because the thing she wanted to ask about… was the money.
“Oh right, I forgot to mention, that was our original budget.”
Ye Mengze looked into Lin Muqing’s eyes and seemed to guess what she was hesitating about. Then, she raised her hand and made a gesture showing a number.
“Gasp!”
Lin Muqing sucked in a breath of air. After seeing that hand gesture, she felt like she couldn’t possibly say no, because the amount was just too generous!
“So? Just nod your head, and all of this will be yours.”
Ye Mengze was very pleased with Lin Muqing’s reaction. The smile in her eyes grew, and she spoke in an even more tempting tone. Ye Ziming, watching from the side, could only smile awkwardly. He knew Lin Muqing all too well, so he was sure that she was already tempted.
But what surprised him a bit was that Lin Muqing didn’t agree right away. Instead, she turned to look at him.
From her gaze, he could tell that Lin Muqing was asking for his opinion.
“I’ll go with you.”
He gave Lin Muqing a reassuring smile and said softly.
She was his older sister, so helping her out was perfectly normal. It wasn’t like he wanted to go just to see Lin Muqing in lots of cute outfits or anything like that.
“So… when do we start?”
Lin Muqing turned back to Ye Mengze with a smile and asked.
Now that her good friend would be there, she didn’t think anything unexpected would happen. You could even say that everything felt secure now.
“If you have classes, let’s do next weekend. I’ll drive and pick you both up.”
Ye Mengze smiled happily too while talking to Lin Muqing, and at the same time, gave Ye Ziming a look full of deeper meaning. Ye Ziming returned the look, the siblings had a silent exchange of messages just with their eyes.
With this matter settled, Ye Mengze had completed half her goal. She was almost ready to wrap things up and leave.
“Oh right, I heard you made an appointment with a doctor for a health check. Did something happen?”
She turned to Ye Ziming with a puzzled look, this was actually the second reason she came over today.
Some things weren’t convenient to talk about over the phone, so their mom had arranged for her to stop by and check in on him.
“It’s not for me. She’s the one getting the check-up.”
Ye Ziming shook his head slightly and pointed to Lin Muqing beside him.
It would be too complicated to explain everything, and having Lin Muqing explain it herself might accidentally reveal too much.
Coincidentally, Lin Muqing had a bit of stomach discomfort due to her period. The ginger tea she had last night didn’t seem strong enough, so as Ye Ziming helped explain things to his sister, he also went into the kitchen and brought out the warm ginger tea he’d prepared.
“She’s not feeling well? Did she catch a cold last night?”
Hearing that Lin Muqing was uncomfortable, Ye Mengze seemed even more anxious than Ye Ziming. She immediately got up from the single-seat sofa and sat beside Lin Muqing. She also remembered her little brother mentioning that Lin Muqing had gotten a little wet in the rain last night.
“Uh… maybe,” Lin Muqing said.
Faced with the older sister’s sudden concern, Lin Muqing got a bit flustered and instinctively leaned away.
“Mm. Ginger tea is good, it helps get rid of the cold.”
Ye Mengze nodded as she looked at the ginger tea her brother had brought over. Then she reached out and gently touched Lin Muqing’s stomach, giving her brother a slightly blaming look.
“Seriously? You actually let Lin Muqing get caught in the rain? How could you be so careless?”