Chapter 166: We Have a Guest
After taking three light smacks, Lin Muqing held her butt and blushing, got up from the bed to look for her pants.
Ye Ziming didn’t actually hit her very hard. It sounded loud, but it didn’t really hurt. Still, for some reason, Lin Muqing’s face turned even redder after being spanked. She quickly picked up her pants from the floor, put them on, and rushed to the bathroom like she couldn’t wait to… relieve herself.
It was really strange. Just a moment ago, she felt like she almost couldn’t hold it in, like she was about to flood the place on the spot.
After relieving herself, Lin Muqing gave her own butt a little pat in the bathroom but didn’t feel that weird sensation again. That made it even stranger. But the good news was, she wasn’t some kind of masochist. Being hit didn’t actually turn her on.
“Boss, should I change clothes?”
After washing up and brushing her hair, right when she was about to leave the room, Lin Muqing gently tugged on her “buddy’s” sleeve and asked softly. She was still wearing light blue pajamas, and it felt kind of inappropriate to be dressed like this in someone else’s house during the day.
“No need. From now on, just wear that at home.”
Ye Ziming gently shook his head, smiled at Lin Muqing, and held her little hand as they walked out of the room together. He actually didn’t want her to change clothes. He’d love it if she always wore her home clothes here. After all, this place would be her home from now on.
Also, dressing like this made her blend into the lifestyle here better. After all, no one in the Ye family wore outside clothes while at home. And beyond that, he had a tiny selfish thought. He wanted to take advantage of this morning’s moment to do a little something.
“Auntie.”
Just as the two of them stepped out of the room, they ran into Ye Ziming’s mom walking toward them. Lin Muqing politely raised her hand and greeted her.
“Oh, such a well-mannered girl.”
Hearing the sweet and polite greeting, Mother Ye nodded in satisfaction, smiling as she responded and praised her again.
Maybe she was biased, but at that moment, no matter what Lin Muqing did, Mother Ye found her adorable and couldn’t stop smiling.
“Breakfast’s ready. Let’s go down together.”
After saying that, she chuckled softly and even gave Ye Ziming a little knowing look before heading toward the stairs on her own.
Noticing his mom’s signal, Ye Ziming smiled meaningfully, then turned to look at Lin Muqing.
“What is it?”
Seeing him look at her like that, Lin Muqing felt like something was up.
Ye Ziming didn’t answer right away. Instead, he leaned in closer, smiling gently as he moved toward her.
When he got close to her ear, so close that she didn’t even have time to react, he softly whispered.
“You’re really cute today too.”
Because he was so close, Lin Muqing could feel his warm breath brushing against her ear as he spoke. Her face instantly turned red, and she instinctively tried to step back.
“W-What are you saying…”
Once she snapped back to her senses, Lin Muqing acted all shy and glared at Ye Ziming in pretend annoyance.
Her heart was pounding, her face was burning, and strangely enough, she didn’t dislike that feeling at all.
“Just being honest,” Ye Ziming replied with a smile.
Seeing Lin Muqing’s cute reaction, Ye Ziming nodded in satisfaction and held her hand as they went downstairs. It went even better than he expected, shy Lin Muqing was absolutely adorable.
“You— mmph…”
The little kitten got even more shy, and at the same time, she remembered her "tragic" experience from last night, being surrounded by the two older ladies.
They kept saying how cute and pretty she was, treating her completely like a girl and complimenting her nonstop.
To avoid getting brainwashed and forgetting that she was a “strong man,” Lin Muqing had kept repeating in her heart.
“I’m a macho man, I’m a macho man.”
But after that situation passed, every time she thought about it or something similar happened, a phrase would pop into her head.
"I'm the cutest person in the world!"
It was over. She was mentally trapped. That sentence was stuck in her brain and wouldn’t go away.
No! She had to do something, like maybe talk to her buddy later and ask him not to call her cute anymore.
While thinking about that, she was already being led downstairs and arrived at the dining table on the first floor.
The delicious smell of breakfast snapped her out of her thoughts, and at the same time, she felt her stomach start to complain.
“Wow~ This breakfast looks amazing!”
“Brother Ye~”
Just as Lin Muqing softly gasped in surprise, a voice suddenly called out from the living room sofa.
It was only then that she realized. There were guests in the house, and they were three girls about the same age as her.
It’s not that she was ignoring them on purpose. She had just been lost in thought earlier and didn’t really notice their presence.
Now that she did notice, she realized the girl who spoke seemed kind of familiar. She felt like she had seen her somewhere before.
But since the girl wasn’t calling out to her, and was clearly calling out to her buddy, she didn’t think much about it and quickly looked away.
“Good morning, Aunt Lin.”
Just then, Meng Yue walked out of the kitchen holding a pot of porridge. Lin Muqing gave her a sweet smile and politely greeted her.
“Oh, you're up early. Why not sleep a little longer?”
Putting down the pot, Meng Yue looked at the two holding hands, then at Lin Muqing’s blushing face, and gently teased her.
“Huh? Is it early?”
With her big pretty eyes wide open, Lin Muqing looked confused. Wasn’t it already kind of late?
But honestly, she did want to go back and sleep a bit more. She had gone to bed really late and was so tired last night.
What she didn’t realize was, her tired expression and the blush that hadn’t yet faded from her face made the others start imagining things.
After a few short exchanges, Lin Muqing was invited to sit at the dining table, with Ye Ziming sitting beside her.
Everything was already prepared, so there was no need to go back to the kitchen for anything.
Soon, Mother Ye greeted the three girls briefly and also sat down. Then everyone began eating breakfast.
This morning, Ye Ziming was showing peak boyfriend energy.
Even though breakfast had just started, he was already acting so gentle, understanding exactly what Lin Muqing needed.
Even though Lin Muqing didn’t fully notice it yet. She just felt that her good buddy was really caring and treated her very well.
But that didn’t change the impact. While taking care of her, he also made sure certain other people saw how sweet he was being.
“Ugh, he’s supposed to be my Brother Ye...”
From the sofa, the three girls, the defeated trio, had been staring at Ye Ziming and Lin Muqing this whole time, all thinking the exact same thing.
Only heaven knew how shocked they were when they saw the two walking down the stairs hand in hand.
And when Ye Ziming ignored them completely, choosing instead to be super gentle and attentive toward Lin Muqing. It felt like a critical hit straight to the heart.
Even so, the three of them hadn’t completely given up. They still thought there might be a chance.
But what they didn’t know was, this was only the beginning.