Chapter 199: Does True Kindness Really Exist?
In the early hours of the morning, Lin Muqing had a dream.
The dream was in two parts.
In the first part, she saw two blurry figures. They treated her very well, caring for her deeply. It was a good dream, except for one thing. She couldn’t see their faces clearly, and everything in the dream was hazy.
The second part, however, turned into a nightmare. She saw several strange people who tied her up, and then those two blurry figures slowly disappeared. At that moment, she felt extreme unease and fear, because those people were taking her somewhere far away from the two figures.
When she was feeling the worst, a familiar voice suddenly appeared, and the world she was seeing shattered in an instant.
"Muqing..."
Hiss!
She suddenly opened her eyes wide. After realizing she was awake, Lin Muqing lay on the bed, taking several deep breaths. Then she noticed that the bedside lamp was on, and her good buddy was half sitting up, looking at her with deep concern.
"Bo–Big bro?"
She looked at him in confusion. Just waking up, she didn’t know what she had done while having the nightmare.
Because of her movements and the few words she muttered in her sleep, Ye Ziming had woken up and turned on the lamp to check on her.
"Had a bad dream?"
Thinking about her reaction just now, Ye Ziming frowned slightly, asking with a worried look.
He didn’t really need to ask. If it wasn’t a nightmare, she wouldn’t have looked so tense while sleeping.
"Uh… yeah."
Looking into his eyes, then thinking for a moment, Lin Muqing nodded.
After hearing her answer, Ye Ziming didn’t ask what the nightmare was about. Instead, he asked if she was thirsty, speaking gently. While talking, he also took out a tissue and gently wiped the sweat from her forehead.
Facing his care, Lin Muqing suddenly felt her heart beating a little faster, and her face felt hot.
Especially when he heard she was thirsty and got out of bed to pour her some water, that feeling grew even stronger. So much so that after she drank the water, she didn’t dare meet his eyes, turning her head shyly to look elsewhere.
During all of this, Lin Muqing just sat on the bed while Ye Ziming fussed over her, comforting her in different ways.
"Th–thank you."
When everything was done, Lin Muqing lay back down, most of her head buried in the blanket, only two big eyes peeking out at him. Her face felt so hot, and her heart was beating so fast, that when she spoke those two words, she stuttered, and her voice was very soft.
Normally, after a nightmare, her mood should have been bad. But after his care, Lin Muqing felt fine.
"Still feeling uncomfortable?"
Hearing her mosquito-like soft voice, Ye Ziming chuckled lightly, patting her head as he asked in a gentle tone.
"Emmm."
Seeing his hand reach out, Lin Muqing closed her eyes in comfort, then shook her head lightly without saying anything.
"Then go back to sleep."
After giving her head a pat, Ye Ziming smiled at her, then pulled back his hand and turned off the light.
He didn’t tell her that she had woken him up, there was no need. He didn’t want her to feel guilty or anything because of it.
After turning off the light, he slowly lay down.
Before falling asleep, he reached out one more time to pat her head. Then, because he was so sleepy, he drifted off very quickly.
What he didn’t know was that, after he fell asleep, Lin Muqing lay there in the dark with her eyes wide open, staring at him the whole time.
At that moment, her heart whispered, ‘Big bro, you’re really so gentle.’
Before, Lin Muqing didn’t believe that “kindness” like in stories really existed. She thought it was just something from anime, impossible in real life. But today, just now, she proved herself wrong.
The Mid-Autumn Festival had just passed. Through the moonlight shining in from the window, Lin Muqing could faintly see her good brother’s head sticking out from the blanket.
Looking at him, she felt a deep sense of safety from the bottom of her heart. She thought that if she moved a little closer, she would feel even safer. With a shy and cautious thought she had never had before, she slowly shifted her body toward Ye Ziming.
She was nervous and embarrassed, afraid she might accidentally wake him up, but she still wanted to be closer.
Only when she touched his body and could clearly feel that he was right beside her did she stop moving. She turned her head to look at her good brother who was so close, feeling both happy and a little shy.
In the end, she leaned against him, smiling in contentment, and slowly drifted off to sleep.
This time, she had a sweet dream, and in that dream, he was there.
The next morning, Ye Ziming slowly opened his eyes, surprised to find a cute Lin Muqing lying in his arms.
“Big brother, don’t steal my chicken drumstick…”
Before he could react, Lin Muqing mumbled in her sleep with an adorable voice. It was obvious she was talking in her dreams. Looking at her in his arms, Ye Ziming almost couldn’t stop himself from laughing, and in his heart, he muttered, “Little foodie…”
“Alright, I won’t steal it,” he replied softly, trying to hold back his laughter.
About ten seconds later, maybe due to “server delay”, he saw a smile appear on Lin Muqing’s face.
Pfft.
Ye Ziming: “Sorry, I couldn’t hold it in.”
It was already late in the morning. Because they had gone to bed late and were up for a while at dawn, the two of them were still sound asleep when Ye Ziming’s parents had already left the house.
Early that morning, they went to the Lin family’s house nearby.
Ye Mingxu met with Lin Chong, while Li Muning met with Meng Yue. The four adults gathered together to talk about something big, really big.
It was about the Lin family’s daughter and the possible marriage alliance with the Ye family.
They had to discuss it properly.
So, Ye Mingxu asked Lin Chong to clear out the study room, saying they needed a place where they absolutely wouldn’t be disturbed. Otherwise, it would be hard to talk.
“What I’m about to say—please, don’t get nervous.”
As usual, Ye Mingxu gave a little warning before getting to the main point. But when he finally did start talking, not only did Lin Chong and Meng Yue get nervous. They almost reacted impulsively.
“Emmm… good morning, brother.”
Early in the morning, when Lin Muqing woke up and found herself in her good buddy’s arms, she looked a bit surprised.
But not too surprised. After all, before falling asleep, she had already moved over to his side.
So, being hugged by him now didn’t really feel like a problem.
“Mm, morning.”
Ye Ziming greeted her back and casually patted her head, as if checking off his morning routine.
Daily pet the cat (Task completed: 1/1).