After several seconds of silence, Kong Ning finally couldn’t bear the way Wei Mu was looking at her.
“Did you come here by yourself? Did you hike overnight, too? How dangerous,” she said after realizing that seeing Wei Mu at sunrise meant she couldn’t possibly have arrived just this morning.
“I came with my roommates. They said they wanted to go mountain climbing. Are you worried about me?”
Wei Mu didn’t panic in the slightest. She could tell that Kong Ning was lying, whereas Kong Ning could never tell when she was lying.
Wei Mu didn’t want to tell this wooden block that she had come specifically to look for her.
They were currently in a state of “delayed” adolescence.
When facing the person they liked, there was always a bit of bashfulness.
Yet people who asked questions despite knowing the answers could sometimes be very bold. Taking an inch after being given a mile, she hooked Kong Ning’s hand and gave it a squeeze.
“No, I’m not,” Kong Ning insisted obstinately, yet she permitted Wei Mu to draw even closer.
Kong Ning wanted to try getting along peacefully with Wei Mu. She felt that the previous awkwardness might have been because she suddenly wanted to reconcile with Wei Mu, but couldn’t let go of her conflicted pride.
Yes, reconciliation.
Just as her mother, Qi Zirou, had said, Kong Ning had been throwing a tantrum for three whole years.
She felt that distance creating fondness might truly be real. Recently, Wei Mu seemed uncommonly pleasing to her eyes, with every additional meeting, she became even more pleasant to look at.
And Wei Mu, too, seemed to no longer be “targeting” her.
She liked the way Wei Mu acted spoiled around her.
She liked Wei Mu’s smile; it was as cute as when they were children.
Over the past three years, Wei Mu had never smiled at her. How wonderful it was now that she was smiling at her more often.
The world had become much brighter.
Kong Ning decided to give herself a way out. She thought generously that since Wei Mu had “extended an olive branch” and wanted to be good friends with her, she might as well just forgive her.
“Say, when do you think this show of theirs will come to an end?” Jiang Youyang leaned against a tree, watching the naive “Delayed Adolescence Romance Live-Stream” in front of her.
Their dormitory had come together this time to accompany Wei Mu in chasing her future wife. After searching for so long, they had finally found the right person.
Wei Mu had made no secret of why she wanted to come to Mount Wu’an this time, telling them directly, “Do you want to go play at Mount Wu’an? It’s completely free of charge.”
When Ning Qing asked her why she suddenly felt like going, Wei Mu replied, “To accompany me while I chase someone.”
Ning Qing set down her phone and pressed, “Which lucky person?”
“That person from Hua University next door.”
“The one whose ear was yanked that night? The one named Kong Ning?” Upon hearing this, Guo Tong finally voiced her guess.
“WHAT?!” Ning Qing was dumbfounded.
“Are you coming or not?” Their Eldest Miss Wei blushed, a rare sight, and refused to listen to their teasing.
“WE’RE COMING!!!” three voices shouted in unison, including Jiang Youyang, who was tinkering with her computer.
With Eldest Miss Wei funding the trip on a company expense account, plus a romantic drama to watch, of course they had to come.
“I reckon it’ll be soon. Look, earlier our Eldest Miss squeezed that person’s hand, oh no, Mumu’s precious Comrade Kong Ning’s little hand. That means victory is right in her grip,” Ning Qing replied.
“Tsk, tsk, tsk. What a blessed person, having someone chase her across a thousand miles,” Ning Qing continued to exclaim.
She recalled how Jiang Youyang and Guo Tong hadn’t looked surprised at all when they found out Wei Mu liked Kong Ning, and she belatedly voiced her question.
“I say, why do I feel like you two aren’t surprised by our Eldest Miss’s love life at all?”
“Well, you’ll have to ask Jiang Youyang about that.”
Guo Tong was watching the interaction between the two not far away with great relish. Leaning her head against the tree trunk, she picked at the nearby bark while marvelling at how her deduction had indeed been correct. In the future, she might even be able to open a detective agency, or at the very least, a gossip agency.
If I take a photo of the two of them, would it sell for a good price? Guo Tong thought wildly.
However, certain young men and women with fluttering hearts at Peking University and Hua University would definitely be heartbroken if they saw it.
“That’s a secret,” Jiang Youyang said with a smile.
“A secret? You two really knew all along and kept it from me!” There was no love left in this dormitory.
“Ouch, ”
“Ning Qing, you, ”
Both Jiang Youyang and Guo Tong were lightly tapped on the head by Ning Qing’s hiking pole.
“That’s your punishment! Remember to share Mumu’s relationship details with me in the future. Realizing things late makes me look so foolish,” Ning Qing said.
She then looked into the distance with a silly smile and began to sigh, “Though I must say, the two of them are quite a good match.”
“Don’t you think this Kong Ning person is clever? To chase our Eldest Miss, she occasionally orders food delivery and packages to our dormitory. It makes me feel embarrassed to speak ill of her now,” said Ning Qing, whose mouth had been silenced by the food she accepted.
Ning Qing completely omitted the fact that they were currently accompanying Eldest Miss Wei to chase someone.
She didn’t care; the Eldest Miss was just being modest. It was definitely Kong Ning chasing Wei Mu, and that pile of snacks was ironclad proof.
If Kong Ning knew what she was thinking, she would probably be unable to laugh or cry.
She bought things for her archenemy just to chase her because she had money to burn, would you believe that?
Kong Ning would only admit that she had too much money and nowhere to spend it, absolutely refusing to admit it was “intentional.” At most, she was paying Wei Mu protection money so the other party wouldn’t report her to her mother.
As for why she paid it… well, she was just generous.
The atmosphere felt a bit off, making Kong Ning feel awkward.
“Ahem, so where do you want to go?” Kong Ning said, changing the subject.
“Anywhere is fine, as long as I’m with you.” Wei Mu linked arms with Kong Ning once again.
Kong Ning thought to herself: If we’re friends, linking arms should be quite normal, right? But Wei Mu’s words really make a person overthink things.
She decided to remind Wei Mu, “Um, don’t talk like that in the future. It really leads to misunderstandings, making it seem as if you like me.”
Although I am quite charming, and falling in love with me wouldn’t be a mistake, Kong Ning thought conceitedly.
“But I really do like you,” Wei Mu said, holding Kong Ning’s arm and whispering into her ear.
“Ahem, ahem, ahem, ” Kong Ning cleared her throat awkwardly.
Good heavens, can her archenemy stop joking with her like this?
“You see, it’s remarks like that which lead to major misunderstandings,” Kong Ning said with an air of experienced wisdom. She needed to lay things out clearly for Wei Mu.
If she kept talking like this to other friends in the future, what if they misunderstood and she turned them gay?
Straight girls really spoke without any sense of restraint.
“Oh~”
“I know I have great personal charisma and everyone likes being friends with me, so it’s completely normal for you to like me. Just don’t say it in the future, show it through your actions instead,” Kong Ning praised herself shamelessly once more.
“Then…”
Smooch, Wei Mu kissed the side of Kong Ning’s face.
Kong Ning’s face flushed red a thousand times faster than a steamed crab shell turning red.
“Not that kind of action! Wei Mumu, are you stupid?!”
“I don’t know how! You didn’t teach me, so how was I supposed to know?” Wei Mu lowered her head, her delicate voice sounding as if she might burst into tears the next second.
Kong Ning felt hopeless.
Here it came, that familiar feeling again.
Don’t you dare cry!
Kong Ning closed her eyes in despair and admitted defeat once again. She would just teach her, then.
“It’s my fault. It’s all my fault for not stopping you first. From now on, I’ll teach you how to express liking a friend.”
“You’re so good to me.” Wei Mu stopped clinging to Kong Ning’s arm and instead interlocked her fingers directly with hers.
Looking at Wei Mu’s smiling face, Kong Ning gave up resisting.
Holding hands as good friends should be fine, right? It’s better than her kissing me.
“Let’s head down the mountain first. If we don’t leave now, we won’t catch the helicopter. Oh, right, I came with my roommates too. It’s not good for the two of us to stray from the main group. How about after we meet up at the foot of the mountain, your dorm and our dorm all hang out together? Everyone can get to know each other, it’ll be more fun with more people.”
Kong Ning made plans.
“Okay, I’ll listen to whatever you say.” Wei Mu was completely obedient to Kong Ning, who was no longer acting like a “prickly thorn” toward her. Whatever Kong Ning did, the love-struck Wei Mu loved to watch and listen to.
If possible, she wanted Kong Ning to include her in her plans forever.
“By the way, where are your roommates?” Only then did Kong Ning realize the headcount was wrong; from the very beginning, Wei Mu had been by herself.
“Over there, ” Wei Mu pointed toward a few large trees near the bushes.
Among the three people over there, the excited Ning Qing couldn’t hold back her shouting.
“No way, the Eldest Miss’s acting skills are that good?!” Ning Qing exclaimed upon seeing the dynamics over there.
How was this the Eldest Miss Wei who was usually decisive, “awe-inspiring,” and possessed the aura of a domineering older woman?
How could she be so fond of acting spoiled in front of her lady love?
“She even kissed her! OMG, that’s way too proactive! When we get back, Mumu won’t make us poke our eyes out because she knows we saw it, right?”
“She won’t,” Jiang Youyang replied casually.
The Eldest Miss would probably be delighted to have others witness her love life; she likely wished everyone knew that Kong Ning belonged to her.
“Yeah, didn’t Mumu just tell us to wait for her here?” Guo Tong continued to observe.
“Wait, it looks like they’re walking over!” Ning Qing quickly straightened her posture.
“How do you think we should greet her?”
“Hello, Eldest Miss’s partner?”