"Mu Qi, look, they're all looking at you," Yun Shu Nian said helplessly, gesturing to the group of people nearby who were "casting covetous glances."
Mu Qi frowned slightly. "What does that have to do with me being by your side?"
"You see, they're clearly here to do business and find partners. You're here with me, wasting precious time, aren't you?" As Yun Shu Nian spoke, she took another lick of ice cream. Then she looked up at Mu Qi with an expression that clearly conveyed she had his best interests at heart.
"Nian Nian, our family doesn't lack business, and we certainly don't lack partners," Mu Qi said, reaching out to wipe the ice cream from the corner of Yun Shu Nian's mouth.
"Uh..."
"That's true," Yun Shu Nian mused. She nodded, then looked up to see Mu Qi bringing the ice cream he'd wiped from her lips to his own mouth.
Yun Shu Nian's hand, holding the ice cream, trembled. The scene felt inexplicably nerve-wracking in this setting.
Mu Qi: "So, you just focus on eating."
"But so many people are watching us, Mu Qi," Yun Shu Nian said, feeling very uncomfortable as she looked at the crowd staring at them.
Mu Qi looked casually to the side, not feeling any discomfort. Su Dan Novel Network.
Indeed, after sitting in the position of Mu family patriarch for so long, Mu Qi was long accustomed to the subtle gazes of others.
"What about now?" Mu Qi stepped forward, blocking Yun Shu Nian's line of sight.
"Hmm..."
Yun Shu Nian thought, wasn't this just another form of burying one's head in the sand?
"Alright. Mu Qi, you should have some too." Yun Shu Nian stopped dwelling on whether Mu Qi should socialize with those people and instead found a not-too-sweet small cake for Mu Qi, handing it to him.
Mu Qi's gaze lingered on Yun Shu Nian's face for two seconds, then he took her wrist and brought the small cake in her hand to his own lips.
"Is it good?"
Yun Shu Nian looked at the cream smudged on Mu Qi's lips and instinctively swallowed. The small cake Mu Qi had just eaten seemed even more delicious.
"Let me try too."
As Yun Shu Nian spoke, when Mu Qi wasn't paying attention, she pulled her hand out of his grasp and shoved the remaining small cake into her own mouth.
Mu Qi watched Yun Shu Nian's actions, and for a moment, his eyes seemed to sparkle with a faint light, like stars in the sky.
Yun Shu Nian's cheeks puffed out. She slowly chewed the cake in her mouth, as if carefully savoring its flavor.
"It's really good," Yun Shu Nian declared, then, on her own accord, took two more.
She popped one into her mouth and offered the other to Mu Qi.
"Nong huai yao me (Do you want more)?" Yun Shu Nian asked Mu Qi, still chewing the cake in her mouth.
"Yes," Mu Qi replied. While saying he wanted it, his gaze was fixed entirely on Yun Shu Nian's face.
"Then eat it." Yun Shu Nian finished the cake in her mouth and stared intently at the remaining piece in her hand.
Mu Qi reached out, intending to take her hand as he had before and bring the cake to his mouth. However, before he could grasp Yun Shu Nian's hand this time,
Yun Shu Nian suddenly snatched her hand holding the cake away.
Caught off guard, Mu Qi instinctively and quickly grabbed her wrist.
Next, with lightning speed, Yun Shu Nian stood on tiptoe and bit off the small cake in her hand.
"My..." Yun Shu Nian's triumphant expression was short-lived; she choked on the cake.
Mu Qi's expression immediately shifted from doting affection to tense concern.
Mu Qi stepped forward, patted Yun Shu Nian's back, then got a cup of water from a server and placed it in her hand.
"Cough, cough." After gulping down the water, Yun Shu Nian coughed heavily and then, with teary eyes, buried her face in Mu Qi's embrace, acting spoiled.
"Mu Qi, I feel so bad," Yun Shu Nian sobbed, nuzzling his chest.
"The little cake bullied me." Without waiting for Mu Qi's comfort, Yun Shu Nian continued to "speak out of turn."
Mu Qi gently patted her back. "Then how do you want to punish it?"
Those near Mu Qi and Yun Shu Nian were shocked by Mu Qi's words.
They absolutely did not expect Mr. Mu to say anything about Madam Mu being the cause of her own misfortune. Instead, he played along with Yun Shu Nian's words, showing extreme indulgence.
"Let's punish it by making it endure a night of freezing cold at Qi Yuan." She couldn't ask for more, as Yun Shu Nian would eat them all first thing in the morning.
"Alright," Mu Qi said, detecting the excitement in Yun Shu Nian's tone. He indulgently ruffled her hair.
Suddenly, Yun Shu Nian's vision flashed, followed by a click. Yun Shu Nian and Mu Qi turned their heads in unison to look at a young woman in a beige dress standing beside them.
The young woman lowered her camera and smiled apologetically.
"Um, I'm sorry. I'm a photographer. I just thought the scene of you two embracing was so beautiful that I couldn't help but capture it."
Before Yun Shu Nian and Mu Qi could speak.
Another young woman suddenly appeared. She bent down, bowed, and repeatedly apologized to Yun Shu Nian and Mu Qi.
"Mr. Mu, Mrs. Mu. My friend is a bit impolite. I'll have her delete it right away."
Hearing her friend's words, the girl who had taken the photo looked up at her camera with a regretful expression, checking the photo she had just taken.
Just as the friend was about to snatch the camera from her and delete the photo, Mu Qi preemptively took the camera from her hand.
"What is it, Mu Qi?" Yun Shu Nian stepped forward, looking at the photo on the camera with him.
"What do you think of her picture?" Mu Qi asked, looking up at Yun Shu Nian's profile.
Yun Shu Nian: "Hmm, it's quite good."
"Then let's keep it, okay?" Mu Qi's slightly cold phoenix eyes seemed to hold a faint, indefinable light.
After Mu Qi spoke, Yun Shu Nian nodded. But then, with a touch of unease, she asked,
"Will it affect your work?"
Mu Qi's lips pressed together slightly. "No."
Mu Qi paused, then tentatively asked, "Will it affect you?"
"I'm at Qi Yuan every day, how could it affect me?" Yun Shu Nian said, then bared her two prominent canine teeth and smiled innocently at Mu Qi.