"Honey..."

「Jiangling Hotel.」

Qin Luoli's eyes fluttered open. Seeing no one beside her, she sat up abruptly.

"Lin Mu?"

Qin Luoli called out again, a hint of nervousness in her voice.

After a long drive, the two had finally arrived in Jiangling in the afternoon. An exhausted Qin Luoli had suggested they find a place to rest properly. But when she woke up, Lin Mu was nowhere to be seen.

Despite being the president of a large corporation, she was, after all, still a woman. At heart, she was naturally timid. This was especially true when she was with Lin Mu; Qin Luoli would shed the strong exterior she maintained for others, always revealing a demure, girly side. Now, in an unfamiliar place, she was a little scared.

Glancing at the bracelet on her wrist, Qin Luoli took a deep breath, which calmed her considerably. This bracelet had once saved her and Shi Potian from danger in River City. Since then, Qin Luoli had never taken it off.

KNOCK! KNOCK!

A knock sounded at the door. Qin Luoli's head snapped toward it. "Who is it?"

"Someone here to rob you of your money and your beauty!" a cold voice replied from outside, sounding eerie enough to send shivers down her spine.

However, Qin Luoli let out a huge sigh of relief. Pouting playfully, she said, "I have neither money nor beauty, so you should go find someone else."

With that, she quietly slipped on her shoes and walked to the door.

"Is that so?" The voice outside sounded deeply disappointed. "Then I'll go find someone else!"

"You dare!"

Qin Luoli's playful anger flared. She flung the door open and huffed at the young man on her doorstep, "Aren't you childish!"

Lin Mu chuckled, holding up the food in his hands. "I brought you something to eat."

But to his surprise, Qin Luoli threw her arms around him and said with mock fierceness, "I want to eat *you*!"

BANG!

With a hook of his foot, Lin Mu kicked the door shut behind him.

...

Lying in his arms, her face flushed with a hint of crimson, Qin Luoli looked at Lin Mu with eyes brimming with star-like affection.

"Lin Mu."

"Hm?"

"Wouldn't it be wonderful if we could stay like this forever?"

"Don't worry," he murmured. "We will."

"Mhm!"

After they exchanged some sweet nothings, Qin Luoli suddenly sat up. "Oh no, oh no!"

Seeing her frantic expression, Lin Mu was momentarily taken aback. "What's wrong?"

Qin Luoli tossed the covers aside, searching for her clothes. "Where are my pants?"

"Right here."

Watching Qin Luoli fumble around, Lin Mu couldn't help but find it amusing. "What's the big rush?"

"Get up!"

She shoved Lin Mu aside, pulled her pants out from under him, and then asked, "And my... my underwear?"

Speechless, Lin Mu picked up her underwear from the floor and handed it to her.

Qin Luoli snatched it away, hugging it to her chest as a blush crept up her lovely face. "You hurry up and get ready too. I'm going to take a shower. And don't you dare peek, or I'll gouge your eyes out!"

As she fled into the bathroom like a startled fawn, Lin Mu shook his head with a mix of amusement and disbelief. "You weren't this shy earlier."

"Lin Mu, you jerk!" came her indignant, flustered cry from the bathroom.

Lin Mu shrugged helplessly. What's gotten into this woman?

When Qin Luoli emerged fully dressed and ready, she saw Lin Mu still sitting motionless on the bed, and a wave of frustration washed over her.

"Hey, are you ready?"

"Yeah, sure," Lin Mu replied.

Glancing at his casual attire, Qin Luoli pressed her hand to her forehead. "You're wearing *that*?"

Lin Mu gave a wry smile. "What else would I wear? I think it's pretty comfortable."

"Forget it, never mind." Qin Luoli grabbed her purse and pulled Lin Mu toward the door. "Come on, we're running late."

Seeing how urgent she was, Lin Mu was completely baffled.

「Half an hour later, he understood.」

It was a luxurious restaurant. Inside a private room sat seven people—three men and four women—all of them appearing quite young. Judging by their clothes and accessories, it was clear they were all well-off. Indeed, a single meal at this restaurant cost more than what many people earned in a year.

"What's going on? Didn't Luo Li say she'd be here in ten minutes? Why isn't she here yet?" a short-haired girl grumbled, glancing at her watch with dissatisfaction.

"Maybe there's traffic," the young man beside her offered with a smile. "You know how it is at this hour."

"If she knew there'd be traffic, she should have left earlier," another woman with heavy makeup sneered impatiently. "Making so many of us wait for her... Who does she think she is?"

"Yang Zi!" the young man beside her warned, his expression souring.

"Zhou Tao, why are you raising your voice? Did I say something wrong?" Yang Zi retorted, displeased. "Don't think I don't know that this Qin Luoli woman is your old crush." She then gave a disdainful, cold smirk. "Are you getting all excited to see your old flame again?"

"That's enough!" Zhou Tao's face flushed crimson. Unable to take it anymore, he shot to his feet. "If you don't want to wait, then leave!"

"Hmph, I'm not going anywhere!" Yang Zi declared coldly. "I want to see for myself what this woman you've been hung up on for so many years actually looks like."

"You..." Zhou Tao's face darkened, but as he was about to scold her, he saw her cold, mocking expression, and the fire in his eyes dimmed.

"Alright, let's all just drop it," a well-proportioned young man interjected, playing the peacemaker. "It's not often we all get to meet up. Let's just try to enjoy the meal."

"The class monitor is right. We should just enjoy our dinner," a petite girl piped up in agreement. She then discreetly nudged the class monitor and whispered, "Class monitor, I heard you used to like Luo Li too?"

The class monitor smiled faintly. "Who wouldn't like a girl like Luo Li? Back in the day, she was our school's belle. Plenty of guys pursued her, but unfortunately, she wasn't interested in any of them."

"That might not be true anymore," the petite girl giggled behind her hand. "I heard from Lu Jia that she's married now, and they're supposedly a very sweet couple." She glanced at a quiet girl sitting nearby. "Right, Lu Jia?"

The quiet girl simply offered a faint smile, neither confirming nor denying.

Zhou Tao's expression shifted subtly, and he forced a wistful, bitter smile. This only seemed to annoy Yang Zi further. I'll deal with that fox spirit when she gets here.

The class monitor's gaze sharpened for a moment before he too smiled. "True or not, we'll find out when Luo Li arrives."

However, he was inwardly dismissive. He simply couldn't imagine that anyone other than himself could possibly be worthy of Qin Luoli.

"I'm so sorry, everyone! The traffic was terrible. I'm late."

Just then, the door to the private room opened, and Qin Luoli walked in, her face etched with a sincere apology.

At the sight of her, the men's eyes instantly lit up, while the women's expressions became somewhat strained. Qin Luoli's beauty had only grown more enchanting, and she radiated an almost otherworldly elegance.

"Luo Li, come sit here!" the class monitor said, standing up like a gentleman and pulling out the empty chair beside him, which he had deliberately saved for her.

Qin Luoli gave him a polite smile. "Thank you, class monitor, but I'll sit over here."

With that, she chose a seat near the door where two spots were free—perfect for when Lin Mu arrived.

The class monitor didn't seem offended. He simply walked over to her. "In that case, I'll move too. I can help serve the dishes when they come."

Seeing the class monitor sit down right next to her, Qin Luoli's brow furrowed slightly. Just as she was about to say something, a calm voice cut through the air.

"Excuse me."

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