Chapter 133: Missing You

After bidding farewell to Mo Li and Yu Qing, the two walked down the road side by side.

When they reached Chu Muyun’s place, Bai Chenxi prepared to leave, reminding him, "Remember to make some honey water when you get in to help with the hangover."

She waved and started to walk away, but Chu Muyun grabbed her arm, his expression unreadable. "Are you planning on going back alone?"

Bai Chenxi looked at his expression, thought for a moment, and said earnestly, "Brother Chu, you’ve been drinking. Drunk driving is wrong, I can just head back by myself."

Chu Muyun asked again, "Are you going back alone?"

Bai Chenxi nodded. Fearing he might be worried, she added, "It’s fine, I’ll just call a car. Don't worry."

"Stay here tonight! I’m not comfortable with you going back alone so late." Chu Muyun tried to keep his tone calm, refusing to dwell on the fact that Bai Chenxi never seemed to think of relying on him.

"That wouldn't be appropriate, would it? What if there’s another misunderstanding..."

"Haven't there been enough misunderstandings between us already?" Besides, in his heart, none of these were misunderstandings—he wished they were all true.

"Caesar misses you too." True to form, he played his trump card, and Bai Chenxi’s last shred of hesitation vanished. Caesar missing her was such a flimsy excuse that only Bai Chenxi would be willing to believe it.

***

After seeing Chu Muyun and Bai Chenxi off, Mo Li and Yu Qing began their nightly ritual: rock-paper-scissors.

As expected, Mo Li lost and took the initiative to clear the table. Yu Qing happily went off to take a shower. Watching Mo Li bustle about, Yu Qing brought a plate of fruit to the sofa and began to feast, calling out, "Little Li, keep it up!"

When Mo Li finished his chores, he sat down next to her and brazenly snatched an apple slice she was about to put in her mouth. Yu Qing glared at him, but he acted as if he hadn't noticed. "What made you think of inviting Chu Muyun and Bai Chenxi for dinner today?" He popped another piece into his mouth.

Yu Qing kept her eyes on the fruit he had taken, grabbed another piece for herself, and replied, "We just ran into them at the supermarket, so I thought it would be nice to invite them over for a meal."

Mo Li sighed, rubbing his forehead. Why was his wife so oblivious? "Why were Chu Muyun and Bai Chenxi at the supermarket?"

Yu Qing gave him a look of disdain. "To buy food for cooking, obviously."

Mo Li thought to himself, *I haven't even complained about you yet, and you’re looking down on me?* He continued, "Then why didn't they just eat out?"

Yu Qing was getting annoyed. "Maybe they wanted to cook for themselves? What exactly are you trying to ask?"

Mo Li tapped her on the head. "They went to the supermarket together—they obviously wanted to cook for themselves and enjoy some private time. Why did you insist on inviting them over?"

Yu Qing seemed to just realize this, slapping her forehead. "How did I not think of that?" She secretly regretted her actions; why was she always doing things without thinking?

Mo Li handed the fruit plate to her, comforting her, "It’s alright, don't overthink it. They won't mind."

Yu Qing thought about it and nodded. She reached for more fruit, only to find the plate empty. "Mo Li! I worked so hard to cut this fruit, who told you to eat it?" She set the plate down and moved to grab his neck.

"Yu Qing, let go!"

"I won't! Go cut me another plate."

"If you eat another plate, you’ll burst. I’m doing this for your own good, stop eating."

"That's none of your business. Even if you dump it, you're going to cut me another plate."

The two of them were like bickering children, back and forth, neither willing to yield. They stared each other down for a long time, so long that Mo Li swallowed hard, and Yu Qing finally realized how intimate their position was.

Yu Qing scrambled up, her bravado gone. Stammering, she said, "This... this time I won't hold it against you. I'm going to sleep." She ran back to her room and locked the door.

Mo Li pondered to himself: Was she shy, or scared? It had been so long—did she really have no intention of accepting him?

Inside her room, Yu Qing leaned against the door, constantly giving herself mental reminders: "Yu Qing, he doesn't like you. He only married you out of a sense of responsibility, to give his family an answer. Don't be a fool."

***

As soon as Bai Chenxi entered the house, she called out excitedly, "Caesar, did you miss me?"

Hearing someone return, Caesar had rushed to the door with excitement, but upon seeing Bai Chenxi trailing behind Chu Muyun, he let out a dissatisfied bark at his master.

Bai Chenxi looked hurt. "Caesar, how can you have the heart to treat me like this?" Before she even finished speaking, she had already crouched down to pet him.

With Chu Muyun present, Caesar couldn't growl at her, so he just looked at Chu Muyun with big, pitiful eyes. Bai Chenxi was happy, seizing the chance to pet him as much as she could. In Caesar’s eyes, Bai Chenxi had the ugly face of someone flaunting power because of Chu Muyun.

Chu Muyun was at a loss for what to do with the woman and the dog who fought every time they met. He patted Caesar’s head. "Caesar, be good."

Caesar calmed down instantly. Watching Chu Muyun pet the dog, Bai Chenxi felt it was remarkably similar to how he patted her own head.

She was distracted until Chu Muyun called her back. "Chenxi, feed Caesar some food. The dog food is on top of the cabinet."

Bai Chenxi happily ran to get it. She shook the food at Caesar, triumphantly saying, "See this? Your food is in my hands now. If you want to eat, you’d better butter me up."

Whether Caesar understood or not, he certainly knew that this person with the "ugly face" would not give him food easily. He let out a low growl at her and turned his head away, his back radiating the aura of someone who would rather starve than accept a handout.

Seeing Chu Muyun come over, he trotted toward him happily, barking a few times at Bai Chenxi as if to complain.

Chu Muyun comforted him, "Alright, she’s just teasing you." Having been appeased by Chu Muyun, the once bristling Caesar curled up obediently at his feet.

Chu Muyun walked over and handed Bai Chenxi a set of clothes. "The same ones as last time. Go take a shower."

Bai Chenxi took them, thinking that these were practically becoming her exclusive pajamas. Chu Muyun took the dog food from her to feed Caesar. He stroked the dog’s fur absentmindedly. "Caesar, she’s actually very nice. If you get along with her, you’ll see."

Caesar just kept his head down, eating voraciously.

When Bai Chenxi came out of the shower, she wanted to rush toward Caesar, but Chu Muyun blocked her.

"Dry your hair first."

Bai Chenxi said dismissively, "It's fine, it'll dry in a while."

"Be obedient, or do you want me to help you dry it?" Bai Chenxi imagined the scene and didn't dare refuse.

"I'll go, I'll go right now." Chu Muyun watched her figure with gentle eyes. Indeed, the house was much livelier with her in it.