Chapter 43: Suspicion
Most of the people passing by Mu Yi were residents of Ruolan Town. They did not know each other at all, but when two children walked past her, she suddenly stopped.
Both children were holding small pinwheels, smiling brightly.
Her pupils shrank slightly.
She remembered something from many years ago.
Back then, she had taken Little Chubby, who had only recently come to the town, around to get familiar with the area. Of course, the main reason was simply to take him out to play together.
For the children in town, they did not need special toys. Trees and mountains could already become their playground.
While walking, Little Chubby suddenly cried out, and then disappeared.
She loudly called his name.
Little Chubby answered her, but his voice sounded distant and even echoed!
Not long after, she found him waving at her from inside a dark hole.
The bottom of the hole was very far from the ground, about the height of a two-story building. The stone walls were steep, and even an adult would have trouble climbing back up after falling in.
But there was nobody else nearby. She also did not want to leave Little Chubby there alone while she went for help, so she encouraged him to climb up while preparing to pull him out.
But she had overestimated her own strength and underestimated Little Chubby’s weight.
In the end, there were two people trapped in the hole.
She panicked, though she acted calm on the surface. However, Little Chubby seemed to notice the fear in her heart. Somehow, he picked up an old broken pinwheel from somewhere and gave it to her.
“Don’t give up. Someone will definitely come to find us! My grandma said pinwheels have magic that can make people happy. Mu Yi, now I’m giving this pinwheel to you.”
……………………
Maybe Little Chubby was right.
Maybe pinwheels really did have that kind of magic. Otherwise, why were those children smiling so happily...
Just like she had back then.
Mu Yi slightly pulled in her shoulders as she thought about it.
She stopped looking at the people around her and continued searching for a chance to throw away the sanitary pad in her pocket.
“Are you cold?”
Gu Zhiren seemed to misunderstand something and turned back to ask.
“No! I’m wearing a lot of clothes. Just walk properly and stop worrying about me all the time.”
Mu Yi grumbled unhappily and pouted. Soon, her searching eyes locked onto a public restroom not far away. Her crimson eyes moved slightly, filled with hope.
“Here.”
Gu Zhiren bought an orange-red pinwheel from a stall and directly handed it to Mu Yi.
“Hm?”
Mu Yi glanced at the pinwheel, confusion appearing in her eyes as she slightly raised her gaze to meet Gu Zhiren’s eyes. He narrowed his eyes a little, and her long eyelashes trembled softly.
For some reason, she suddenly felt that his gaze had become much gentler.
It no longer gave off such strong pressure.
He completely did not match the cold and annoying image from before. It felt as if another soul lived inside the same body, like a demon and an angel somehow becoming neighbors.
It was not just the difference between a scary tiger and a big cat without claws.
Looking at the pinwheel in his hand, Mu Yi slightly puffed her lips and tilted her head before asking in a rising tone,
“You’re really strange. Why are you giving me a pinwheel?”
“……”
Gu Zhiren gave Mu Yi a strange look, lowered his eyes slightly, and let out a soft laugh with the corner of his lips raised. Then he tilted his head, frowned slightly, and said,
“Didn’t you say being in a bad mood affects your writing? Someone told me that pinwheels can make people feel better, so I wanted to try it too.”
After saying that, Gu Zhiren looked at Mu Yi carefully, with a hint of caution in his eyes.
“The person you’re talking about now... is it the same person as before?”
Mu Yi looked like she was trying to hold back a laugh. Tilting her head, she blinked cutely.
Her snow-white hair moved gently in the breeze, lightly brushing against her pale and delicate cheeks.
“Why aren’t you answering? Don’t tell me I guessed right?”
Mu Yi tilted her head a little more, a crafty look flashing through her eyes.
Hearing that, Gu Zhiren’s lips moved slightly. He wanted to explain, but after seeing her expression, he suddenly did not feel like saying much anymore. So he only muttered softly,
“Even if you guessed right, there’s no reward for it. If you don’t want it, then I’ll throw it away.”
“Hey, hey, hey... who said I don’t want it?!”
Mu Yi quickly grabbed the pinwheel from Gu Zhiren’s hand.
“I was just asking why you gave it to me. Seriously, rich young masters like you really just buy things whenever you want and throw them away whenever you want.”
She took a light breath, puffed up her cheeks, and argued confidently.
Hearing that, Gu Zhiren’s lips curved into a smile as he looked at her in amusement. It felt like her mood really was getting better.
Above the girl’s head, it was almost as if a pair of invisible white ears had appeared again, lightly swaying back and forth, making people feel itchy inside and even making their hands itch too.
Then suddenly those “ears” stood straight up.
Right after that, her gaze suddenly shot toward him.
Gu Zhiren instantly looked away and pretended nothing happened, turning to look at the nearby stalls instead. Still, he felt strangely guilty and could not help swallowing nervously.
“No matter what, thanks.”
Mu Yi also looked in another direction. Covering her mouth with one hand, she secretly smiled. Then a gentle smile appeared on her face as she puffed her cheeks and softly blew on the pinwheel.
The small pinwheel spun and spun while her hair fluttered in the wind.
As Mu Yi stared at the spinning blades, a sudden thought flashed through her mind.
What if...
What if the person beside her right now was actually Little Chubby?
And maybe he had recognized her first.
No, wait.
Maybe from the very beginning, he only agreed to help the beautiful girl because he already knew who she was. Then was there another possibility, that he had gotten close to her with bad intentions?
If this were a novel instead of real life, that possibility would be huge.
Weren’t there already plenty of stories on Danhuangbao’s website where friendship slowly turned into romance?
Still, childhood friends usually lose to the “new arrival” in many novels. She had even written stories like that herself before.
Bad intentions, huh...
Thinking this far, Mu Yi secretly looked at Gu Zhiren a few times before shaking her head in disgust, rejecting the unrealistic idea.
No way. No matter what, Little Chubby could never grow up to look like this.
Besides…
How could she doubt the friendship between herself and Little Chubby?
I treated him as a good friend, but he secretly wanted me to become his wife? Something that ridiculous could never happen.
Seeing Gu Zhiren stop in front of a fried noodle stall again, Mu Yi’s little nose twitched as she smelled the spicy sauce. She blankly moved closer to him.
The soft curves of her mature chest lightly pressed against Gu Zhiren’s firm arm, slightly changing shape.
The soft feeling made Gu Zhiren freeze for a moment. In a daze, he even felt like he could smell a sweet milky scent mixed with the girl’s natural fragrance, causing him to frown slightly.
Completely unaware of any of this, the girl focused her eyes on the menu.
Her mind was fully absorbed in choosing delicious food.
Then suddenly, a large hand lightly pushed her shoulder.
The one pushing her was Gu Zhiren.
“Hm?”
The two looked at each other. The girl’s bright eyes widened slightly, while Gu Zhiren lowered his eyes and pressed his lips together.
Then he deliberately looked away, pretending to stay calm.