Sheng Mumu raised her head from the pillow.
Resting her chin on her fist, she reminded herself to stay calm and poised.
Yet she could not ignore the fact that her heartbeat was gradually speeding up.
Unable to control herself, she opened her phone again.
Having just ended a long call, her phone was a little hot.
Her earlobes and palms were also hot, but she hadn't noticed.
She tapped into her WeChat conversation with Qi Mo.
Her fingers scrolled up and down a few times.
She read through their chat history from the very beginning of their plain conversations, all the way to the latest message.
She pressed her lips together lightly, her long eyelashes slowly drooping down.
To cover up the continuously rising pink bubbles in her eyes.
So it's already been half a year, she mused.
But it was only...half a year.
The topics, tones, and even reckless use of emojis in their chats.
Had obvious changes.
Adhering to rational thinking, she carefully reviewed this man's merits.
She had only listed up to the eighth point.
When his handsome visage suddenly popped into her mind, completely disrupting her train of thought.
It was as if a movie was playing before her eyes, frame by frame.
All of him.
His frown when thinking of marketing strategies for her flower shop opening.
His slow, starry eyes opening in the darkness when she was caught peeking at him sleeping.
His shirt cuffs rolled up as he slowly paced by the floor-to-ceiling windows during a work call.
Later, his handsome face gradually blurred.
Replaced by more abstract snippets.
It was his warm, smooth palm that lingered briefly in her hair before withdrawing.
It was his suit jacket laid over her legs to shield her from the cold at the No. 1 Middle School stadium.
It was his broad chest her back collided with when Shenglei pounced at her in madness.
It was his steady heartbeat when he held her after she fell into the water.
It was the gentle evening breeze when they strolled through Flower Plaza.
In just a few minutes.
Sheng Mumu had slowly painted every image of Qi Mo in her heart.
The contours becoming clearer.
Her thoughts returned to the present.
She leaned her chin on her phone.
After a pause, she lightly pursed her lips.
Her eyes gradually filled with determination.
At first, what attracted her to Qi Mo was his perfect face and physique that appealed to her aesthetic.
Gradually, it was his intelligence, emotional stability, and rationality that she valued.
Later, she was moved by his gentleness, sincerity, and directness.
And today.
Learning he went to Germany.
The "filial" and "reliable" columns in her imagination of an ideal partner were also filled with Qi Mo's name.
At this thought, her heart quivered lightly.
Her eyes grew moist and soft.
Some unnamed emotion inside her began to clamor, wanting to flip open the lid named "rationality" and pour out in one go.
Her finger hovered over the phone screen.
She paused, then slowly typed a line and sent it to Qi Mo.
Though her heart was full of tenderness, for some reason, the message she sent unconsciously mimicked Shengbai Qi's petulant tone.
Sheng Mumu: "Let me tell you something."
At that time.
Qi Mo had just returned to his hotel, taking a quick shower before coming out of the bathroom.
Seeing the message, his still damp eyes filled with confusion.
Just as he was about to ask what it was about, a new message popped up on the screen.
Sheng Mumu: "Qi player, just now, your favorability has accumulated to 97 points."
Qi Mo was suddenly stunned in place.
His movements stopped as he dried his hair.
His dark, ink-like eyes slowly lit up.
He clearly remembered.
It was only 67 points before, barely passing.
How did it suddenly...increase so much.
The corners of his lips turned up in pleasure, and he casually threw the towel aside. Ignoring his still dripping hair, he carefully typed a reply.
Qi Mo: "Judge, are you going easy on me?"
He was deliberately teasing her.
Qi Mo: "I'm not afraid of points increasing slowly, I'm just afraid of getting points illegally, and you won't acknowledge them later."
It was also to confirm with her again.
Was this real?
On the other side.
Sheng Mumu's eyebrows suddenly furrowed.
???
After interacting for so long, she understood Qi Mo's hidden slyness and possessiveness to some extent.
She was certain this crafty man was subtly teasing her with his rhetorical questions, wanting to implicitly elicit gentle, conciliatory words from her.
Push and pull, wasn't it?
Come on then, she wasn't afraid of him!
Sheng Mumu suddenly felt rebellious.
The corners of her lips curled up in a faint sneer as she replied:
"Qi player, why don't you ask how high the total score is?"
Qi Mo: ......
Qi Mo: "Isn't it a percentage system?"
Sheng Mumu didn't reply immediately, deliberately leaving the sly man hanging for a minute.
After tidying up the takeout trash on the table, she slowly picked up her phone.
Pretending nothing had happened, she casually asked:
"By the way, what's the total score for the college entrance exam again?"
Qi Mo: "......"
His hair was still wet.
Droplets slid down his hair strands, dripping onto his broad shoulders, leaving damp patches on his dark shirt.
The dampness wasn't too obvious.
But his calm heart lake was clearly disrupted by Sheng Mumu's words.
After a long pause, it was as if he had accepted reality, a low chuckle emerging from deep in his throat.
His jet black eyes flashed with determined light.
No matter.
Even if it was based on the college entrance exam scoring system, he was confident he could get full marks.
As long as she gave him the chance to take the exam.
Qi Mo went along with her words and asked again:
"Judge, I'd like to understand the scope of assessment, so I can better grasp the key points for scoring."
Sheng Mumu gave a soft laugh.
The phone screen light shone on her face, her dimples brimming with sweet laughter.
She pictured Qi Mo's helpless yet humble and willing to learn appearance through the texts.
The Qi Mo in her mind had completely lost his usual aloof CEO air.
The more she thought about it, the more amusing she found it.
But gradually.
Her smile disappeared bit by bit.
Her lips slowly straightened.
She couldn't help thinking, was she going a bit overboard?
Teasing him like this didn't seem right.
It was Sheng Mumu's good habit to correct mistakes as soon as she became aware of them.
She slowly typed on her phone:
"I'm kidding, the full mark is 100."
On the other side.
The man who had been waiting for a reply, griping his phone, relaxed his shoulders.
His eyes instantly filled with laughter.
Staring intently at the message on the screen, the corners of his lips quirked up.
He was not angry at Sheng Mumu's teasing, on the contrary, it gave him a bit of an opening to take liberties and obstinately continue the previous topic.
Qi Mo: "I still want to consult on the scope of assessment."
Sheng Mumu flipped over to lie on the bed. The ceiling light shining down illuminated her faintly flushed cheeks even more clearly.
She took a light breath, bringing the phone close to her lips, and pressed the voice message button.
Her voice was tinged with some reproach:
"Just three points short and you still want to cheat, aren't you ashamed? Qi Zong."
She deliberately emphasized "Qi Zong."
She thought her tone for this line was cool and sarcastic.
After pressing play to listen back.
She suddenly widened her eyes.
Sheng Mumu: "!!!"
That's not right.
How come...
It sounds more like...whining?
