School playground.
The faint smell of rubber tracks mixed with the scent of autumn grass and trees floated in the air.
Qi Mo and Sheng Mumu strolled leisurely along the inside lane of the track.
A gentle evening breeze blew by.
Sheng Mumu closed her eyes comfortably, enjoying the cozy tranquility.
"You're so annoying - so boring -"
A slightly impatient shout suddenly came from afar.
Looking in the direction of the voice, towards the stage, two students arranging props started horsing around.
The boy took advantage of the girl's inattention and stuck the decorative ribbons he had just taken down onto the girl's back.
The girl noticed, grabbed a foam board from the props box, and chased after him to hit him.
The boy had a naughty expression, deliberately slowed down, but laughed when he was hit on the head.
Watching this, Sheng Mumu couldn't help but smile softly.
She felt the campus was so nice.
Youth was so nice too.
She slowed her pace, leisurely turning her head.
Looking at Qi Mo walking behind her with his hands behind his back, looking like an old cadre.
A trace of curiosity bubbled up in her mind.
Sensing her gaze, Qi Mo tilted his head to look over.
Qi Mo: "?"
His brow lifted lightly, a questioning look in his eyes.
Sheng Mumu had no intention of suppressing her curiosity. She asked directly:
"Did you have someone you liked when you were a student?"
Hearing this, Qi Mo's brow twitched. Without thinking, he said in a low voice:
"No."
Sheng Mumu pursed her lips, blinking unbelievingly, and asked again:
"What about unrequited crushes?"
She held out her hand, making an inch gesture with her thumb and pinky.
"Or even just a tiny bit of affection for someone?"
Her hand gestures were too vivid. Qi Mo couldn't help but laugh softly, his eyes narrowing gently. He answered firmly and calmly:
"Really none."
After his sister died harboring resentment from a failed relationship.
For a time, he was steadfast in believing that one didn't need a partner to live in this world.
Feelings would consume one's reason, bringing unnecessary complications to an otherwise tranquil life.
"What a pity—"
Sheng Mumu sighed languidly, turning her head to look ahead.
"Missing out on young love during the best time for it."
As Sheng Mumu walked and talked, Qi Mo remained silent listening.
His gaze fell on their elongated shadows cast by the street lights.
His steps slowed, and he suddenly turned to look at her, his low voice asking:
"It's not too late now."
Sheng Mumu didn't react, looking over puzzled, "What?"
Qi Mo's shoulders sank, his tone casual and composed:
"What you said, the best time for romance, it's actually not too late even now."
His icy aura was completely gone.
The surrounding air seemed to be cloaked in a layer of gentleness.
The warm lamplight sculpted his features even more defined, his brow quirked up lightly.
Looking straight at Sheng Mumu, he said slowly:
"I've seen a line before that I always think of, on the day I confessed to you."
Sheng Mumu: "..."
Sheng Mumu was a little surprised by Qi Mo's sudden words.
Her fingers curled unconsciously by her side, eyes meeting his. She saw churning emotions in his dark pupils, growing increasingly heated.
Qi Mo's low, husky voice carried by the evening breeze reached her ears, reciting like a poem.
"This is the first time I've liked someone of the opposite sex,
Like a secluded valley suddenly laid bare,
Great winds blow in ceaselessly."
He paused, and the aggressiveness he had always suppressed floated up in his darkened pupils.
His voice also took on a touch of petulance he'd never had before:
"Sheng Mumu, once the valley is open it can't be shut again. You have to take responsibility."
Sheng Mumu: "!!!"
Buzz.
She felt something unnamed explode in her head.
Then the sound of bubbles rising.
Pop pop pop.
Then the small deer in her heart madly kicked up a dance.
Too noisy for her to think calmly.
How could this man be so smooth with words!
A faint blush crept up her cheeks unconsciously.
Warmth spread from her earlobes all the way to the roots behind her ears.
After a long pause, she lightly pursed her lips, averting her gaze.
As if a thought suddenly occurred to her, she took out her phone from her bag and walked several steps away.
Casually saying:
"Wait for me, I have something to take care of right now, immediately."
As her voice fell, a fleeting darkness flashed through Qi Mo's deep eyes.
He murmured in acquiescence, standing aside with his hands clasped behind his back, his gaze wandering into the distance.
His posture was casual, but his heart felt like it was being squeezed by invisible hands.
Tightening ceaselessly.
Perhaps he shouldn't have said it like that.
Shouldn't have let her see that aggressive, possessive side of him.
Did it make her uncomfortable?
Did it...
Suddenly.
His phone vibrated a few times in his pants pocket.
He took it out and lit up the screen.
His gaze abruptly condensed.
It was a WeChat message from her:
"Favorability +66"
Qi Mo froze.
Pleasant surprise slowly rose in his eyes, and the corners of his mouth curved up unconsciously.
He swiftly raised his eyes to look at Sheng Mumu.
"Ahem—"
To hide her embarrassment, Sheng Mumu cleared her throat.
She quickly strode forward several steps.
Away from the lamplight it was darker.
But strangely, the blush on her ears seemed even more prominent.
She briskly turned around, awkwardly changing the subject:
"Let's go, I want to buy ice cream at the school's back gate."
Right now, she felt a little hot.
Qi Mo's brow quirked lightly. He answered in his low voice:
"Okay."
With his long legs, just a few steps brought him to her side.
The man who had just earned points seemed to be emboldened. His long arm reached forward to grasp her slender wrist.
Sheng Mumu's body stiffened slightly, only feeling the warm touch creep up her wrist inch by inch. She let him hold her hand as he wished.
But...
It was just her wrist he grasped, so why did it feel like her neck instead?
Her breathing inexplicably grew tight.
Sheng Mumu could clearly hear her own quickening heartbeat.
Relying on the last shreds of her prided clarity of mind, she pressed down the stirrings in her heart without revealing a thing.
She selfishly wanted to draw out this hazy ambiguity before it was brought to light.
She had always felt that falling in love should come from an irresistible moment.
One where no matter what, you just want to be with him.
She faintly sensed that moment approaching.
The winds in her heart.
Were already blowing uncontrollably toward the valley beside her.
[This is the first time I've liked someone of the opposite sex, Like a secluded valley suddenly laid bare, Great winds blow in ceaselessly. —A Ying]
